Go Big and Bold with Bernie!
11
When you state you are announcing your endorsement on Jan 19, I expect to see it when I open the Times that morning, and not a 2 week old obituary. Please don’t turn the NYT into a reality show!
11
Sanders
9
Ex-Mayor Pete is the smartest, most thoughtful, most inspirational and best debater of all the candidates. He should be the Democratic Party pick. He will do more for African-Americans and Latinos than the other candidates who are left. He has the empathy and the perseverence to champion their rights. What's more, is that he will be able to convince the Congress to do what is right. Finally, his plans for small farmers to become more profitable by being more helpful to the environment is critical to winning the central states.
19
This is a great group of candidates, however I will be voting for Pete Buttigieg. I believe he is the best person to stand on the debate stage as a contrast to Donald Trump and has demonstrated an unflappable temperament that Trump will have a hard time infiltrating. Furthermore, once in office, I believe Pete’s policy plans for our country are both progressive and pragmatic. I believe he would end up having the best net-effect on improving our country and democracy.
18
Many great candidates this cycle! Democrats need someone not only with good policies, but someone who can encourage voters to vote blue, to take back the House, Senate, and ultimately Supreme Court. That way legislation can actually get enacted. Pete Buttigieg is my #1 because of his ability to make pragmatic, very progressive policies appeal to everyone, increasing the chance they get enacted. And helping people all over the arbitrary spectrum support him. You read things about candidates, then you actually hear them speak. It's different. Despite some of the division online, I've listened to candidates speak and read their policies. Whoever the nominee is, they will make the country much better than the current administration. We are fortunate to have several good Democratic candidates this cycle, and while I think Pete would be the best for America's future, many have strong points and are contributing to our future just by running.
16
I like that Bernie and Amy have talked about mental health in detail. Something needs to be done about the mental health crisis in teens and young adults.
Also, even though the two don't have a lot of policy overlap (he's a progressive, she's a pragmatist), I find them to be the most genuine of the politicians in the race. I could see either of them making decisions for the good of our country rather than self-interest. But I take the criticism that this is a surface-level analysis, and that supporting them both is somewhat of a contradiction.
5
All democratic candidates would be a vast improvement over the current president. However there are large differences in electability and coat tails between the candidates. Winning against an incumbent in a not-so-lousy economy is difficult. Only a candidate which can excite the base and at the same time attract many Obama/Trump voters can win. The first requirement is hard for Biden to fulfil, and the second is hard for Warren and Sanders. Pete Buttigieg has convincingly shown that he can do both. He is a pragmatic progressive that 'speaks Dem with a Republican accent'. For that reason his coat tails will be large. Not for nothing many Dems in purple districts have endorsed him, as these people would likely lose with a Warren or Sanders ticket. So Buttigieg is our best chance to win, and to help win House and Senate. It helps that his policies are generally most well thought out, and at the same time much cheaper than those proposed by Warren and Sanders. Buttigieg is best suited to create a large coalition bc he is not about 'us versus them'. He welcomes 'future former Republicans', but is not like Biden under the illusion that congressional Republicans will have good will towards Dems once Trump is gone. Finally, Buttigieg is young, i.e. his tech knowledge is current, unless that of the septaguenarians in the race.
17
Joe Biden with Pete Buttigeig as Vice President would be a moderate dream.
1
All in for PETE2020. A powerful uniter with the plan that is actually doable.
21
After the primaries, logic suggest that whoever is the nominee ought to stop campaigning on specific policies and instead hammer out the messages that (a) Trump and the republicans are pathological liars who wants to cut social security and take away your hard-earned retirement security and medical care (b) Trump has worked for the billionaires to make our economy even more rigged and Washington even more corrupt.
No need to get lost in the details. No need to promote UBI, which will cost politically in key swing states. Keep it simple.
2
The one not pictured here : Bloomberg
4
Not to undermine Yang nor take anything away from him. But, since he never was a threat to any of the other candidate, he, nor his his policies, never had to sustain the same degree of external scrutiny. There is some support from UBI but also some pretty solid mathematical evidence that UBI would be an enormously expensive redistributive mechanism and economists such as Krugman are doubtful. There are other ways to put money in people’s pockets.
Then there is the far more dangerous republican criticism that would inevitably come after the primaries: basically, in rural counties and particularly in Southern and Midwestern States, there is a deep cultural aversion to anything seen as a « handout ». Anybody travelling to Trump country will know what I mean.
UBI would be seen as a handout and my guess is the centrist middle would turn negative, far more than for M4A.
4
@R. Deep red Alaska loves their universal dividend, because it is universal... makes it feel not like a handout. And, FWIW, Yang spent the 7 years prior to running for president working in the south and midwest (the swing states and red states that Trump won)... he draws significant cross-over support from republicans in these places... more than any other candidate.
9
of course they like it because it is not paid by VAT that increases prices of goods but by oil revenue. If Yang was proposing to give everybody thousand dollars from oil revenue, everybody would love it, but he is proposing to fund it by increasing prices and by revenues of SS. That is a big difference.
3
Biden AND Warren, in that order. UNITY: it’s a GOOD word.
Seriously.
@AndrewYang is the only candidate that could unify the country. He has a positive vision built on innovative 21st century solutions for 21st century problems like automation/AI. Americans aren’t dumb, they see businesses closing or their opportunities for work shrinking. The economy is brutal for most people. They see tech replacing human workers at a fast pace and Yang is the only candidate even aware of this issue and the future of work.
17
I would endorse Sanders Warren.
5
Mr. Buttigieg has been able to forcefully advocate progressive values, and he offers sound pragmatic policy proposals based on these values. Mr. Buttigieg also has the executive experience -- in the past eight years, he fought at the front line most of the serious problems that have plagued our country. His management/leadership ability is evident in leading a positive, respectful and effective campaign, rising to the top contender from an unknown with a 4-person staff and an email list of 20,000 potential voters. He has done so without pandering.
His message of belonging is inspiring. He reminds us the danger of dehumanizing others, and insists that we must respect others no matter how much we disagree.
Mr. Buttigieg is the most vetted candidate among the top contenders. The way he deals with unfair characterization and misinformation demonstrates his unique combination of intellect, empathy and generosity -- the very qualities define an effective leader who we need to unite our country.
Finally, those who believe that the boldness of a policy proposal is measured by the price tag should read the recent report ("Who Killed the Knapp Family") by Kristof and WuDunn. One of the main findings of their report is that throwing money at a crisis doesn't work, and a well thought-out plan would deliver better outcome.
32
@Susie "Most vetted candidate" is optimistic. I took a look at the mayor early on... his bio is initially compelling. When I dug deeper I became less sure of what his core convictions are (besides his ambition). The piece in Slate about his wikipedia page spoke to me about his character. The fact that he has consistently plagiarized Andrew Yang was the last straw (check out #repete to see what I'm saying).
3
@Jon
Twitter is not a source of facts. You will find Mr. Buttigieg talking about his ideas in numerous interviews since he became a mayor, long before campaigning for Democratic nominee. Some of his ideas, as reported by reputable journalists, even go back to his days in college. The video's in #repete are misleading as they present video clips of recent interviews, and therefore with later time stamps. The wikipedia page for Mr. Buttigieg does not present any false information, and the Slate article does not offer anything meaningful.
12
Everyone (but especially Bernie supporters) keep talking about how a moderate lost the election and that is somehow proof a progressive should be nominated.
Here is another take. The person who lost is the boring person. No matter how high minded we want to be, for much of the electorate the person they want to vote for is the one who is cooler, who is more exciting, who you would hang with. From Kennedy to Obama.
Right now, the only person who qualifies on that front is Yang -and even there I wonder. And that is because he has the best chance of being seen as cool by the widest group of people - from those who support Bernie to those who support Biden. Plus someone made a Yang video game. How is that not cool?
But maybe everyone who wants to defeat Trump should think less about ideals and more about how people actually vote. If you need a refresher, just think about student body elections in high school. It may be depressing to think about, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
5
We can't downplay the value of charm, wit, and likability - not just in beating Trump but inspiring people and giving hope. This is another reason why I believe Yang is our best best in defeating Trump and moving the country into a new era.
17
The overwhelming focus on the presidential race overlooks an important reality. If Democrats don’t retain the House and regain the Senate, winning back the White House is an empty prize. With this in mind I am looking for a presidential candidate who has enough charisma to provide long coattails for down ticket candidates.
So far no candidate has been able to break out of the pack. This is not because there is an over abundance of charisma. Democrats lack a candidate who can electrify the crowds. Frankly, Democrats want to see a candidate who can mop the floor with Donald Trump during the debates. If all the current crop can do is debate Joe Biden to a draw, a candidate capable of creating a clean sweep of the executive and legislative branches has yet to emerge.
7
@Mark Hale I agree with everything you said. Except that I think Andrew Yang has the charisma to provide those long coattails and the *humor* to undo Trump in the debates. Interestingly, a Trump operative was just found in a Yang event... it's the latest indication that Trump fears Yang...
7
Pete Buttigieg. Calm, cool, collected. Our country needs an intelligent, young, progressive, pragmatic, thoughtful, moral role model for its children once again and that would be Pete. Pete is the most knowledgeable on foreign affairs. He is honest and compassionate and although less experienced on the hill, this guy is brilliant and will be a fast learner without heavy baggage. Give us a calm prez without Drama. And I think his youth is a plus.
31
Also, you never really know when a historic paradigm shift is occur in real time, but it certainly feels like we are in the middle of the “4th Industrial Revolution.” Is @AndrewYang is the catalyst for this shift? Or is Yang just showing us what is happening in our world that we are completely oblivious too due to TRUMP distractions and MSM. Either way he is the only Democratic candidate that I envision being a president WE NEED for the transition into the 4th Industrial Revolution, much like FDR was the President the country needed during the Great Depression.
13
I'm endorsing Elizabeth Warren. My second choice is Amy Klobuchar. My third choice would be Kamala Harris, but she dropped out. Yes, it does matter to me very much that we have a woman president and all 3 of these women would make a better president than anyone else I can think of.
Until we have a woman president, no one with a straight face can really tell little girls, "Yes, you can grow up to be president".
5
I don't understand Yang's appeal at all. He believes that throwing money on everybody will solve the problem. Extra 1k per month does sounds great especially for the people on the bottom, but without changing the system, it will do no good, just fuel the inflation. Yang is a typical businessman, charming with ideas that will not work. The UBI is like giving by one hand, and taking by the other, considering the VAT-based fund of the UBI. VAT is regressive tax. You can exempt some things from these tax but that mean that you will collect less money to fund UBI. So, there is the dilemma - to exempt more things to help poor, but that will result in less revenue to fund the UBI. Without significant reform, UBI doesn't solve any problems. It is good to have some money when you unemployed, but 12k per year, it is not livable salary even in MO, not talking about about high-priced places as CA. If you short on paying your bills, it doesn't matter how much you shot by 300$ or by 1k. They cut your electricity in any case.
5
That's why Yang has the most policies of any candidate (150 ). He understands that UBI is not an end all be all. I would honestly vote for him even without his UBI proposal, just for the structural reforms he is proposing such as ranked choice voting. That's why he appeals to me anyways as a disaffected voter who is tired of the increasingly polarized system. I think a lot of thought has gone into his platform. I encourage you to check out Greg Mankiw (Harvard Economics professor) and his pitch for Yang's UBI. If you read this far, thank you and hope you have a pleasant day!
26
@yulia "It is good to have some money when you unemployed, but 12k per year, it is not livable salary even in MO, not talking about about high-priced places as CA."
Exactly, the 12k is to enable you to seek employment, not to replace it. Most of the current safety nets you keep referring to actually disincentivize work because of the benefit cliff.
"If you short on paying your bills, it doesn't matter how much you shot by 300$ or by 1k. They cut your electricity in any case."
I do believe that bill paying-wise, $1000 in cash is absolutely more helpful than food stamps or housing vouchers. Heck, you're not even allowed to buy hot food with food stamps..
And please remember, that you also get that money. If you care about the poor folks, donate your dividend. Rally your friends. After all, it's still your tax money. The difference is that you get to decide how to spend it, not DC.
9
@r I like ranked choice voting, but it is just not enough to be a President. His other idea "Democracy dollar" seems to me wrong again - it doesn't reform how the campaigns funded, it just give people a little bit money to place on their favorite candidate, in hope it will overpower the corporation money, but because "Freedom Dollars" will be spread among number of candidates their may not make a big difference. Moreover, it is ripe for buying scheme, when "Freedom Dollars" could be purchased for any price that is less than 100$, that will actually benefit the wealthy candidates.
1
Most politicians are almost purely ego-driven. They may not have started this way but the drive to be president is usually fueled by the thirst for power and prestige.
When Americans say they do not want a politician, most are really saying they want someone who isn’t in this for their own self-gain.
This is what makes Andrew Yang so different-the kind of anti-politician that Trump isn’t. The one most Americans have actually been seeking. He doesn’t hang his hat on ideas because they lean politically to the left or right, but because they can best solve systemic problems without creating new ones. There’s an ingenuity to his ideas that weave their way through multiple ideologies simultaneously because they aren’t about any to begin with.
After looking through his array of policy proposals, perhaps his most important proposal is not the Freedom Dividend, but “The American Scorecard”. Rather than measure the economy by metrics like GDP, we should include ones that actually measure our progress as humans, like life expectancy. This way, corporations would be held accountable (and even incentivized) to improve these metrics, not simply the bottom line.
Unfortunately, folks who have slipped into the spell of identity politics quickly confront a Yang policy as libertarian, socialist, right-leaning, left-leaning etc., often times within the very same policy!
A Yang nomination would be the end of identify politics and perhaps the start of real unity in America.
17
I will be voting for Andrew Yang in the Pennsylvania primary. Yang has the best policies and the best chance to beat trump. Yang’s Freedom Dividend will help alleviate poverty, inequality, decrease addictions and incarcerations, and helps ALL. We can unite with Humanity First. I’m 60, female. The Yang Gang is not all young males.
19
..Will be voting for Andrew Yang , With his Not Left Not Right But Forward message . He's the one to bring unity back into our country instead of the division and hate that has infected us for so long ..His ideas might not be perfect ., but they aren't the same ones that have been hashed over and over ,which will just recieve more dispute from the other side of the aisle . for the simple reason of that's the way it always has been . We need unity and working together on new ideas as we go full blown into the 20's Not the same old ,same old ..Yang 2020..
20
Most voters choose not based on how left, how right, or how center a candidate is. They choose based on a combination of intuition and information, plus what their gut tells them about a person's character.
Pete Buttigieg has integrity, humility, compassion and brilliance that are visibly genuine. People who listen more than strategize, who meet and connect with him, are responding first with surprise, and then with support.
He just got a cheering standing ovation at a packed rally in the most conservative county in Iowa, a place where books referencing gay people have recently been burned. Attendees included Trump voters, Republicans and Independents.
Pete can turn the tide. America is drowning and we need a captain who is more focused on service than on himself.
21
I keep checking the polls in the three critical states that effectively demolished the "blue wall" in 2016 and helped usher in Trump: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. In a match up with Trump, Joe Biden is leading in the first two and is behind Bloomberg by one point in the third.
My sole voting criterion in 2020 is who's most likely to take back those states and that's Joe Biden.
He has my vote.
6
@Cordelia The last thing we need is another center-right technocrat (essentially Clinton 2.0) who offers nothing to the disaffected midwestern poor and working class folks who bought into Trump's populist message in 2016.
Bernie is the only realistic option, not only in terms of beating Trump, but, more importantly, in terms of the kind of leadership we need in order to deal with the massive inequality, climate catastrophe, and health care issues facing our country and the world.
Clinton lost the Electoral College in 2016 because in the midwestern former Rust-belt states that mattered, she was unable to inspire disenfranchised Obama voters who believed Trump's lies. All the evidence shows that many of these voters would have supported Bernie had he been the nominee. Sadly, the DNC and the mainstream corporate media preferred losing to Trump over letting a self-declared socialist anywhere near the White House.
As Megan Day and Matt Karp recently pointed out in Jacobin: "in the 206 counties that went for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then Trump in 2016, Sanders has out-fundraised all of his competitors — by a long shot. By September 2019, he pulled in 81,841 individual donations from 33,185 donors in these flipped counties. That’s roughly three times as many as Biden, Warren, or Pete Buttigieg."
A "safe" middle-of-the-road strategy won't get us there in 2020 anymore than it did in 2016. There is simply too much at stake to risk a repeat of 2016. It's time to Feel The Bern!
5
@Daniel
You and I read the history of 2016 quite differently.
Hillary won the popular vote, but lost the electoral votes she needed in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan and she lost them by only 78,000 votes. Those votes were the ones not cast for her by Bernie Bros. such as yourself.
Go Joe!
10
@Cordelia For the record: I held my nose and voted for Clinton. There is no evidence that Bernie supporters didn't vote for Clinton in the General. Clinton failed to secure the votes of disaffected former Obama voters who were fed up with a rigged system. Many of these voters would have voted for Bernie had the DNC not stolen the nomination from him through its undemocratic use of superdelegates. The only person they were never going to vote for was a neoliberal creature of the establishment like Clinton. Biden is no different, and that's why we must ensure that he does not receive the nomination in 2020.
7
"We created an online poll and asked users to respond to it. One candidate got many more positive responses than others... but that is probably just because his supporters use the internet more. Its probably not because more people support his ideas"
The cognitive dissonance of the authors is very apparent. It is understandable that an editorial team doesn't want to change their position too quickly. But if you ask for responses from the public, you need to report on the responses from the public, not put your hands on the scale.
The votes of Yang supporters are just as real as the votes of those supporting other candidates, and I for one am excited to see Yang's performance in the early states.
32
@Karsten If the popularity of a candidate represented their real world support, Yang would be leading in the polls. He's not. What does that tell you? What it should tell you is that, in your words, "his supporters use the internet more."
8
@Revelwoodie That’s because the polling sample does not reflect the real world at all
4
@Revelwoodie The polls are conducted primarily by landline. They are limited to DEM voters who voted in the previous 2 elections. So what does that tell me about "real world"? It tells ME that the polls are rigged against those younger voters who weren't old enough to vote 6-8 years ago, rigged against voters who previously voted Trump and are disillusioned, rigged against voters who use cell phones. Don't trust the polls to give a "real world" picture of a candidate's support. And as for "his supporters use the internet more", HELLO, how do you think Trump supporters communicate?
4
I've watched the delabtes. I believe there is a place in a new administration for each and every one of the candidates (in and out of the race). Theses are men and women with talents, knowledge, passion and integrity.
I will vote for whomever the party nominates. Remember there is still a VP candidate to choose. He or she will add another level to, hopefully an unbeatable combination.
11
Bernie Sanders. I feel the Bern!
I had the chance of a fantastic education, although I grew up among the poorest demographic in the US. After suffering health problems, I have returned to my home to retire. The poverty, and the ignorance here is breathtaking. Where a $100 is the difference between success and failure, where there is absolutely no relief from the unrelenting grinder of poverty. There are no happy times, no extra money for a meal out, no unexpected treats for the children. It is just figuring out how to make the next bill, the next rent check, the next child's illness.
I have traveled throughout the world, and have seen this level of poverty, this level of hopelessness, this level of desperation only in the most deprived areas of the world. Yet this is my home, and located what is supposedly within the boundaries of the richest country in the world.
The absurdly wealthy oligarchs have no idea of how angry these people are. The level of rage is palpable. The level of desperation is heartbreaking.
The Status Quo cannot be sustained. That is a recipe for civil war, no more, no less. We no longer have a functioning Democracy in this country, but a Plutocratic Oligarchy, a feudal system that cares not about others than themselves.
It will require a strong character, with strong moral vision, who is unafraid to oppose the most powerful special interests in this country, to restore sanity and vision.
BERNIE SANDERS; THE NEW FDR
12
If more Bernie supporters expressed their support for him as you have, I think he’d be farther ahead.
4
I like Andrew Yang's demeanor. He seems much more relaxed than the other candidates and he is humorous. I also could get behind the UBI.
However, Greenpeace only gave him a C plus on his climate action plan. That's not nearly good enough if we are to address this crisis with the urgency it requires.
I'm sticking with Bernie who got an A-plus on his climate action plan.
7
@A Stor mo Chroi Gree Greenpeace gave Yang a C+ because Greenpeace has an ideological vendetta against nuclear power, which is in fact an integral part of any climate change plan that can be effective. Yang sees nuclear as a necessary step in a transition to a green economy.
But enough about the flawed grade. The full text of Yang's plan is here (https://www.yang2020.com/blog/climate-change/) if you want to take a look. Personally, I think it's better because it talks about not just ending the damage we're doing but reversing it as well. He puts both reforestation and ocean algae seeding as well as 'nuclear options' on the table for further research.
20
All for one, one for all, like all clear thinking Democrats I'll vote for the candidate we Democrats are most likely coalescing around. Oregon's primary is not until Tuesday, May 19, 2020, so we could have a pretty good idea by then. After most of the idiocy has run its course hopefully.
Warren was my top choice as she was for those of us who thought she had a better chance than Bernie with a very similar platform. Its unfortunate that she has lost site of winning in favor of pushing positions that are not only pointless but are self sabotaging.
And please, people, just stop it with the pointless hair splitting. Who cares what Bernie said a year ago. And why is stating opinion and conjecture a capital crime?
Warren is self destructing at an alarming rate.
9
Yang is not divisive, in this crazy partisan government that is causing us to hate one another... I see it. I work in a very Blue area but live in a Red area. I hear it, I see it. We are all Americans, we love our country, we love our family and children. He is the only one that can united this country. Established politicians will just keep with the divide.
30
The original "survey" and these comments have relatively little value because of flooding by Yang supporters. Stick with scientific surveys.
17
@skeptonomist
By scientific, you mean polling predominantly land lines and older voters and ignoring young, first time voters, and voters changing party affiliations to vote for the Andrew Yang.
5
Biden, Warren, Klobuchar.. UBI is a non-starter (& is a political fantasy).. --- Educating people & teaching them a skill will bring a far greater sense of well-being then merely having them reliant upon handouts.
.. Health care, child care..these are things we should provide for people to help them live better.
4
@mike
I like Yang for being forward thinking but his UBI is not tenable. He references Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) as a precedent but it's clear that he hasn't taken the time to really research how the PFD
came to be, and what it has turned into. (From an
actual, variable dividend depending on investment
earnings to what most Alaskan residents now think
is a true entitlement). The problem with the UBI is
that, once established, good luck taking it away !
The only thing that can predictably happen is that
politicians will try to buy votes by promising a 'Bigger UBI'.
Which is exactly how Alaska ended up with its current Disaster of a Governor, Mike Dunleavy. He got elected on the promise of a YUGE PFD, which did not materialize. But he and his 'budget whisperer', Donna Arduin, did proceed to tear the state apart, fiscally speaking. Dunleavy is in Stage Two of Alaska's recall process at the moment.
3
I fail to understand how anyone can continue to believe that a middle-of-the-road center-right candidate like Biden (or Buttigieg, or Klobuchar) can beat Trump. Have we learned nothing from 2016? Bernie is the only candidate with the genuine populism, integrity, and authenticity who stands a realistic chance of beating Trump.
Clinton lost the Electoral College in 2016 because in the midwestern former Rust-belt states that mattered, she was unable to inspire disenfranchised Obama voters who believed Trump's lies. All the evidence shows that many of these voters would have supported Bernie had he been the nominee. Sadly, the DNC and the mainstream corporate media preferred losing to Trump over letting a self-declared socialist anywhere near the White House.
However, as Megan Day and Matt Karp recently pointed out in Jacobin: "in the 206 counties that went for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then Trump in 2016, Sanders has out-fundraised all of his competitors — by a long shot. By September 2019, he pulled in 81,841 individual donations from 33,185 donors in these flipped counties. That’s roughly three times as many as Biden, Warren, or Pete Buttigieg." (https://jacobinmag.com/2019/12/bernie-sanders-vs-donald-trump).
Bottom line: there is simply too much at stake to risk a repeat of 2016. The time for half measures is over. It's time to Feel The Bern!
9
@Daniel
Check out the most recent polls in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The majority of likely Democratic voters in those states most definitely are not feeling the Bern.
Had the bitter Bernie Bros. not voted third-party or declined to vote the top of the ticket in 2016, Hillary would have won the electoral votes in those states and been president today. As it is, she took the nation's popular vote by more than 3,000,000.
Will you Bernie supporters never learn? If you keep doubling-down on the mistakes you made in 2016, we'll have four more years of Trump in 2020.
20
@Cordelia You have it exactly backwards. There is exactly zero actual evidence that Bernie supporters declined to vote for Clinton. And the myth of the "Bernie Bros" has been thoroughly discredited. Bernie is by far the most popular candidate among those under 40, of all genders and races. He has the largest volunteer base, the largest donor base, and draws the largest crowds. He also does better against Trump in virtually ever national poll than any other candidate. Please stop disseminating misinformation. And he's the only candidate with the experience and the judgement to lead the country and the world out of the mess the DNC and
Obama/Clinton got us into by handing the White House to Trump.
4
@Daniel
One: I made 500 get-out-the vote calls for Hillary on election day and the day before the election. I called into Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin and other states. I spoke to countless Bernie supporters who told me they either hadn't or weren't going to vote for her or had or would vote for a third-party candidate or no candidate at all.
Two: You can check the NYT archives for articles about Hillary in the 2016 race and read their comments sections and you'll discover a plethora of Bernie-or-Busters who declared they would never vote for her.
Three: All readers should check out the most recent general election polls in RealClear Politics and FiveThirtyEight to judge for themselves who's disseminating misinformation:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/general_election/
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/
6
Amy would make us proud on the world stage.
8
I never considered Amy. She was overtly abusive to her staff. I hope those who are aware of this aren't considering voting for her. She needs major help.
10
Feel the Bern.
Get serious about climate.
Change the wealth gap while doing it.
10
My money is on NYT supporting Warren. Just in general, I've found that the editorial board is most effusive about her. Not my first choice, but I don't care.
It's really quite simple. For the primary, vote your conscience. For the presidential election, vote your party. Everything else is just noise.
13
@Vince
"For the presidential election, vote your party." - I disagree, vote with your conscience ... and vote for ANY Democratic candidate over 45th!
1
At this point I find the Democratic debates so boring and find the DNC absolutely devoid of new ideas or strong presentations.
Pete is easily the best. He has a cool presentation, and does not rage on about how bad the wealthy people of this country. There are perfectly good, very wealthy folks who would like to see trump in an orange jump suit too! No need to alienate them.
The only candidate who can really take on trump and not scare the pants of the stock market and every other huge business entity is Mike Bloomberg. I understand that he declined this chance, but let’s get real. He is cool, calm and knows the man across the debate stage for what he really is...a phony billionaire. He can intimidate trump and that is a good thing. Mayor Pete would be a super running mate with an eye toward the future of the party.
12
@Sandra Pete is only best if you want to see Trump reelected. The last thing we need is another center-right technocrat (essentially Clinton 2.0) who offers nothing to the disaffected midwestern poor and working class folks who bought into Trump's populist message in 2016.
A "safe" middle-of-the-road strategy won't get us there in 2020 anymore than it did in 2016.
Bernie is the only realistic option, both in terms of beating Trump, and in terms of the kind of leadership we need in order to deal with the massive inequality, climate catastrophe, and health care issues facing our country and the world.
5
@Daniel I'm sure Bernie Sanders, as a Presidential candidate, would do very well in places like Humboldt County, California and Portland, Oregon. However, I'm not sure he can win in the Midwest or Pennsylvania and Michigan. Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden or Amy Klobushar are best equipped to take Trump on in those parts of the country. Also, if you look at voting demographics (The NYTimes 2016 election map is an excellent place to start) the Presidential race of 2016 was largely lost in the suburbs. White suburban women voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton. I don't know how you think you're going to win them back with Bernie Sanders, because, if you do, get ready for Trump 2.0. That's all you're going to get. Say goodbye to Obamacare abortion rights and LGBTQ equality, and say hello to more flooding, tornadoes, forest fires and growing numbers of working people who are trying to get out of poverty, and failing, because of this President. Bernie Sanders hasn't really delivered much in the way of change. I like him, but I can see the writing on the wall.
9
If you care about your country, then please give Yang a chance to make his case. Listen to one his long form interviews, any one of them. Search on youtube for his interviews with Joe Rogan, David Shapiro, Karen Hunter, Sam Harris, David Axelrod or anyone else. That's all I ask.
19
Pete Buttigieg. Besides being brilliant, he is comfortable in his own skin and beholden to no one.
24
NOT Biden. He is too old, not that I care so much about age, but with Biden it shows. He makes me nervous. He tries so hard to show he’s a good oI’ boy so everyone will like him that he loses sight of the big picture. I always feel some embarrassing mistake is in the wings with Biden. I think it is very telling that people are making excuses for his mix ups or saying Whew when he doesn’t make any. Listen folks, we need someone solid for whom we do not need to lower the bar and count our blessings that he got through a debate without a disaster. What kind of measure is that!? The future of democracy is now and we cannot afford an almost ok candidate.
14
@Hortencia
Debates don't matter. Hillary won all three against Trump and still lost the electoral college.
For better or worse this country has two extreme wings (the progressives and the Trumpets) and the moderates in the middle. The latter group must be won over to take down Trump this year.
Biden has the support of the majority of African-Americans, is leading in the national polls, and most importantly is leading in the polls in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and is only one point behind Bloomberg in Michigan.
Despite his reported verbal gaffes, Biden is a Democrat with the experience and intelligence to lead this nation, appoint an able cabinet, restore respect for our country across the globe, and enact laws and policies to benefit the environment and the financial outlook for 99% of Americans. And unlike Bernie or Liz, only he will have the coat tails to turn the Senate blue this year, and if that doesn't happen little of value will be accomplished in the next four years and much more damage will be done.
Go Joe!
6
Will someone please explain to all these people (maybe in crayon) that if they refuse to vote for the Democrat nominee, whoever that is, they are handing the election to Trump?
20
@Madeline Conant not at all true. There are several Democratic candidates that will cause independents/disaffected/etc. voters to vote for Trump or stay home. Look at the candidates that are pulling in these types of voters. The top 3 are Yang, Bernie, and Tulsi. THEY will ensure Trump isn't reelected.
7
Did you interview Michael Bennett? If not, why not?
5
@Joyce kravitz Did you interview Michael Bennett? If not, why not?
"No one could call him a socialist."
Care to reread all the bile spit at Obama and Clinton, John Kerry and Al Gore. Where I was from in Southern California, it's just gospel that they're all evil socialists who either are up front about it or are devious cunning schemers trying to pull the wool over your eyes. It doesn't make you look good when you get onstage with Trump or any other Republican and say "look i completely agree with everything you say, but..."
You don't look nuanced, you look cowardly. "i also think Iran is a terrorist state threatening imminent danger, however Trump didn't fill out the proper forms because..."
It doesn't endear you to the GOP, it makes you look like a rat, a rat they have no respect for. Because if you agree with them on everything major, then why stand in their way? Why even be an opposition party?
2
Mayor Pete all the way!
23
To NYTimes, think about how many people can finally get through that paywall of yours if everyone gets UBI!
Joke aside, UBI would supercharge the economy, unite people from across the political spectrum, get the economic boot off people’s throat so they can lift their heads up and think about more longer term issues, like climate change.
You can’t find a better antidote to Trump than Yang: divisive vs unifying, narcissist bully vs humble humanitarian, thin skinned vs humorous and self-deprecating, pathologically lying hothead vs data-driven cool head. The similarity: both straight shooter and Twitter savvy!
18
Not one of them can beat Trump by fighting each other. Stop this competition now and just pick someone - any one - it honestly does not matter. Because anyone in their right mind will not vote for the corrupt lunatic and the swing voters need to be won.
The Demos must start throwing everything into the fight to beat this fool - start now.
3
Your readers take Bernie Sanders more seriously than your own columnists ever do. What should that tell you?
7
B.Moscher,
I would be hard pressed to decide between (gag) Dick Cheney and Julian Castro.
The first spews death to the country and the later will turn this country into a
Central American vacation spot with free everything for anyone; Sam Houston’s nemesis is Julian Castro.
This is a hoot…
Even if you haven’t, your hedge-fund and social media overlords already know who would cause the biggest upward – or downward – spike in (paid) NYT subscriptions…
My AI bot has known for weeks…
I still think you’re going with Joe…
But my AI bot is all in with its bit-lucre on the one most likely to pick an AI bot as a running mate…
(even though that’s still only a 3.374% chance of happening)
PS
If Liz reads this and says she’s now considering a bot as a running mate, don’t believe her…
On the other hand, if Joe offers this up – it just might happen…
And a GOP bot, at that…
3
Yang Gang! Humanity First!
16
The NYT will predictably choose a staid, uninspiring establishment candidate like Buttigieg or Klobuchar who will then be promptly devoured by Trump during the general election.
Andrew Yang is the only candidate who gives me hope and has a chance of beating Donald Trump.
18
Anyone but the lefties. That leaves Biden and Bloomberg. Flip a coin.
2
Only Bernie has the credibility and the staying power to win in November. Any other candidate would look like a joke standing next to Donald Trump, whose very presence on the stage will be a reminder that he has already made a fool of the establishment.
Think about it: Why did people think Trump was more truthful than Clinton? Because no one believes that there are any moderates in Washington. Reaching-across-the-aisle is just a tactic, not a sincerely held position. In middle America a 'thoughtful moderate' just looks like a politician who lies and thinks you're stupid enough to believe them.
Only Bernie's full-throated leftism can beat Trump's divisive neo-fascism.
6
BERNIE SANDERS!
7
What about the guessing game? I'm sure the NYT will endorse Warren.
3
@Joseph I'm guessing you are right. But having read the transcripts, I think they will do it for expediency or perhaps what they consider political correctness. Her interview (IMO) would not warrant an endorsement. I think if NYT's endorsement is based solely on the interview (which of course it won't be), Andrew Yang wins it hands down, followed by Buttigieg.
Bloomberg 2020
2
There's a theme here: the Democrat wins.
What more does the Times need to know?
2
Elizabeth Warren is the candidate with a decisive plan. I believe she can face Trump head to head. It has been proven beyond a doubt that Trump is intimidated by women of power. Elizabeth Warren is a woman of power.
She is intelligent, charismatic, energetic, tough.... . Her background is midwest and middle class. She excelled in academia and raised a family, despite working a full time job. She was a well respected law professor at Harvard. She was instrumental in establishing the Consumer Protection Act in 2011. Her integrity and who she would fight for, if elected, is unquestionable. She is relatable and trustworthy....sorely missing in our current political climate.
Her proposal for a 1% wealth tax to fund child care, college, raise wages is genius. There is historic precedent for it.
Climate change, human rights, gun control, environmental protections, immigration.....you name it, she has a plan for it.
We need a change… Desperately. Our very democracy is at stake.
I believe Elizabeth Warren is the person who can best represent the Democratic Party moving forward.
13
@Tmedley, Well said. Thanks.
Thank you for this article. I think this format was excellent at getting people to look at other candidates besides their own. I really enjoyed reading the in article comments about Steyer, Klobuchar, and Biden, three candidates I had basically written off for reasons.
-It is incredible the amount of support Yang is getting. I have been a Yang supporter since March of 2018 when there were what seemed like just a few thousand of us. I do hope someone does a deeper analysis of how his UBI will affect the savings rate, as well as the baseline inflation rate.
28
@Josh M I agree it is incredible. I guess, after all, many Americans do like handouts in form of free money. It doesn't matter that these money will not solve any of the existing problems of the society. On the other hand, Yang numbers in primary and general elections are not so good. I guess there are also many Americans who want rather to solve the problem than just to get cash.
@yulia Yang has numerous policies to address the problem, but dont discount how much the 1k can help millions of families. It is not a silver bullet and Yang acknowledges that. Suggest you read up on his many policies before finalizing judgment on him. And prepared to be shocked when he outperforms in the early states. Those polls are not reflecting all the former repubs, independents and libertarians newly registered as dems just for Yang.
9
I did read his policies. I was not impressed. His policies is really thin, but I will be shocked if he outperform my expectation in early primaries. I will not shock me if his performance will be much weaker than his fans anticipate.
Andrew Yang is the clear winner to me. Whether it results in him securing the nomination or the other candidates adopting some of his proposals remains to be seen.
Yang is positive, data-driven not ideological, doesn’t campaign on an Anti-Trump platform, and is the only candidate to have correctly identified the problems in our country that led to Trump being elected to begin with (automation). The government needs to respond to the loss of jobs resulting from the rise is automation asap and his UBI proposal does just that. The fact that teachers, dentists, and firefighters are all paying their fair share of taxes while Amazon pays zero (while eliminating jobs) is shameful. His VAT plan tackles that. And Yang seems genuinely kind, decent, smart, and hard-working.
I will be very disappointed if we are left with one of the septuagenarians. I hope we can nominate Yang, and my second and third choices would be Klobuchar and Buttigieg. It’s time to pass the baton.
40
I would endorse the candidate who could deal with Trump’s snarky remarks in a debate. It has to be someone who could undo Trump with one tactful cutting remark like attorney Welch's to Joe McCarthy in the Senate Army hearings.
5
I cried for America and the world, while reading your interviews. all these candidates at minimum would make excellent cabinet members for the nomination winner among them. several have time on their side for winning outright elections later on.
if the democrats can quickly agree on avoiding 2016s fight to the end, they will take the oxygen away from trump and win together, perhaps for a carry over cabinet winner unlike post Obama/Clinton. looking at you, Al Gore, to put forward such nonecho chamber thoughts.
crying, as can see this wont play out cleanly in Trump era.
1
Inshallah, Americans will see that Andrew Yang is the only candidate that inspires. There's a whole new generation of youth looking for deliverance from a world defined by class. They see the world as wide open, they see a world of freedom and choice and no one shares that world view other than Yang.
31
The problem in our non functioning democracy is a defective electorate.
The election of Trump is only the most egregious example of this.
I believe that many citizens will vote on the basis not of fact—based logical assessments of issues they judge to be critical, but on a “gut” feeling (or belief system and/or prejudice).
Sad to see our country getting worse each day.
6
Why is Bloomberg not on this list of candidates? What Hillary just advised us is correct. That is to vote for the candidate that can win!
To me, Bloomberg is that person.
4
Progressives have a split ticket. If Warren and Sanders could get over their egos we would have a landslide.
4
Andrew Yang!
Yang is the only candidate to solve today and tomorrow’s problem with brilliant solution without hate and division. He has the the most innovative solution for economy, democracy, And society. Donald Trump correctly identified the group of people who are in trouble in the modern society but uses hate as the solution which has completely poisoned the country in every direction. Yang will lift this same group up With everyone being happy.
Socialism also introduces hate. Hating rich people has the same ramification as hating immigrants lead by Trump. Therefore the far left progressive candidates are not the answer for America. Joe Biden is simply the past. Pete is a nice human being and may be a pleasant president for normal time.
But since this is not the normal time. The industry evolution has already made so many people lost their jobs and has already created Trump and Trumpism society. America has already lagging behind in technology, infrastructure, and social balance. Only Yang has the dramatic and innovative solution that can re-mold America for the new century!
33
A hint as to my vote:
On Monday I ordered a union-made Mike Bloomberg 2020 tote bag that will be delivered to me by the United States Postal Service.
That is one way to keep America great: support unions and the USPS.
7
Although at the moment I like a Klobuchar/Booker ticket , I believe the Democratic candidates, including those who have called it quits, would constitute a winning team as members of the Senate or Cabinet and a formidable opponent to the divisive, corrupt Trump and his Republican lackeys. Not sure who should captain the team as President, but Biden may be the odd man out in my “dream team”, although he is an experienced VP. Anyway, the Democrats prefer the circular firing squad to select the last Dem standing .
When the eventual survivor is selected as nominee I would suggest that in addition to naming a Veep the nominee should select primary opponents for specific administration positions and campaign as a team against Trump’s rogues gallery.
3
Not my election but from what I have seen of the debates and read in the NY Times' The Weekly potential endorsement feature of the candidates I think Pete or Amy or Biden, in that order; I think a Pete and Amy ticket would be grand.
5
Michael Bloomberg is the person who could have the best chance of beating trump. He is smart, able and has the background and knowledge to get trump.
6
I was all in for Harris. Was looking forward to her beating up Trump on the debate stage. But understood the problems too many people would have had voting for a black woman, from California. Ridiculous problems, IMO, but I knew they were real.
Regretfully, now its Biden. For me its all about beating Trump. Period. Beating Trump is about not just removing him, but all his despicable appointments.
Appoint Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg, Booker and even Yang to appropriate positions, Klobuchar as VP. Biden and Klobuchar in 2020. Lets get this done! Then prosecute Trump and anyone else worth prosecuting.
5
This is pretty cool. I just finished reading all the transcripts. Sanders and Yang came out on top for me. Maybe that is the dream ticket. I don't care what order. I know Yang has said Sanders inspired him in 2016 and think Yang can lend himself to a lot of Bernies ideas. Pete was honestly the worst IMO. I surprisingly didn't mind Steyer who I thought was a joke before I read this -so I guess there's that. everyone else I'm a pass on.
17
Unless I missed it, neither this article nor the other article about the board's selection process (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/13/opinion/election-nytimes-the-choice.html), articulated clear and cogent criteria guiding the board's selection of a candidate. Given the diversity of the board along with a very talented field of candidates, it will be nearly impossible to make sense of the board's selection without understanding the guiding principles that it applied when selecting a candidate.
I don't think anyone can contest the assertion that this field includes many talented and plausible candidates. Given the talent and diversity of the field and the urgency of defeating Trump, many of us have 3 candidates in mind (1) the "aspirational candidate" (i.e., the candidate we want if electability was not an issue) (2) the "pragmatic" candidate (i.e., the candidate we believe is most equipped to defeat Trump and (3) "the Frankenstein's monster candidate" which is an effort to reconcile (1) & (2).
Who is the board selecting: 1, 2, or 3? Will board members apply consistent criteria or will some select their "aspirational candidate," while others select the pragmatic candidate?
In this year's cycle, the "who" only makes sense is the context of "why" and "what are you trying to accomplish."
NYT, please kindly devote as many words to explaining the (hopefully consistent) set of principles guiding your selection as you do to the selection itself.
11
@Adam Congratulations! Probably the best comment in this thread. The NYT endorsement, in my opinion, will count a lot, probably more than it should. Each candidate who interviewed has supporters who are passionate about their candidate's policies, character, and electability against Trump. If my chosen candidate does not get the NYT endorsement, I definitely want to know why. I echo your call to NYT to clearly explain the "set of principles guiding your selection". Thank you for putting that request into words so eloquently.
2
"But mostly, I think Biden can beat Trump because he won’t be labeled a socialist..."
No matter who the candidate is, they'll be labeled a socialist, just like Obama was in 2008 and 2012.
5
I will vote my heart and go with Bernie. Well, if he's the nominee of the Democratic Party, I don't have a problem, do I? After all, I live in Massachusetts, where my vote doesn't count! Are the American people willing to accept a Democratic Socialist? I'll answer that question with a question: Why do the disenfranchised continue to vote against their economic interests?
I like Warren. Unfortunate that the "women can't win" thing even came up. Just more grist for the Republican'ts mill. In principle, a woman should have won last time, so why not support one now? (If the Convention is deadlocked I'm still hoping that people realize Hillary can win a rematch - this is not Eisenhower-Stevenson: after all we've heard and seen, she has the moral high ground.)
Ex-Mayor Pete. Is he another JFK? I would like to think so. VERY impressive in the debates and he came off well in his New York Times interview (thank you for the open process and will the US Senate please take note for the impeachment trial?).
Excellent campaigner is Buttigieg, but . . . "if the Wizard is a Wizard who will serve"? Also, I think he needs more seasoning on the national level. My advice? If the nominee is not Pete, he should be scooped up as the VP, if not Amy Klobuchar, to anchor the Midwest. Homosexual? Sure, it's an issue, but those who will not accept him are probably Republican'ts anyway. No loss there!
Anyone and Pete as VP is a sure winner. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it!
5
@Chevy
I usually don't reply to myself, but just a few afterthoughts:
What if Biden, Bernie or Warren (or Hillary!) actually agreed to be a one-term President at this point because of their ages and asked Pete to join the eventual nominee on the national ticket as Veep, like an apprenticeship for the experience?
Then he's perfectly primed to run for President next time. I think that's a good deal for Pete. He is, after all, unemployed at this time and it would solidify his (inter)national credentials.
Would you believe? I am hearing that many women from the Midwest (in particular, Wisconsin) who voted for Trump are now favorable disposed to the ex-Mayor.
8
@Chevy Seriously? We don't need a lame duck President to train another one. Eww that just blows my mind. What happens if Trainee Pete DOESN'T get elected after Lame Duck's term is over? Your comment tells me that Pete is clearly not ready to be President nor President-Trainee.
1
I'm a center-left voter, but I want Bernie Sanders this time around. I don't think half of his well-meaning proposals are feasible, but he's a thoroughly moral person who I would trust to always make compassionate choices (i.e. reducing human misery). And as one of your contributors put it, "It's the fight we all want to see." I want the whole country to see a battle between total decency and total scumbaggery (sure, it's a real word), then the country can reveal itself at the polls.
This is the most thorough consideration of candidate Sanders that I've encountered:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/1/7/21002895/bernie-sanders-2020-electability
7
Biden for one term. He has the experience plus the domestic and foreign connections to repair the damage. All the, “if elected on day one, I’ll...” are meaningless until the smell of 4 years of this cluster have been cleaned up. Then Klobuchar, a no nonsense, practical Midwesterner and, yes, a woman, to move the country along...but, whomever comes out of this with the D gets all our votes...no more fooling around!
3
BERNIE all the way!!!! Warren was my second choice until the back-stabbing events of the last week. Happy to be able to max out my donations to Bernie.
4
@Connie Dickerson Now in my second spot: Andrew Yang. Sanders-Yang!!!!
3
I can't imagine how you are going to make up your mind. All I know is I'm voting for whoever the Democratic nominee is.
6
Andrew Yang is a once in a generation candidate. Smart, Compassionate, Bold and Transformative #Yang2020
28
I will vote for the Democratic nominee in the general. But in the primary it is not easy, because none of them are impressive.
If I had to rank them today:
1. Biden
2. Yang
3. Buttigieg
4. Bloomberg
5. Patrick
6. Klobuchar
7. Warren
8. Sanders
9. Steyer
7
So they don't find Bloomberg a viable candidate worth interviewing. While Deval Patrick and Tom Steyer are. Did I miss something in the criteria of who gets the high honor of being considered worthy by the Times?
2
@jgury
Bloomberg declined the interview. I am sure they would have loved to interview him - after all, he was mayor of NYC and I bet they had great questions. But Bloomberg is doing his own thing and it may just work. He wasn’t snubbed here. He did the snubbing.
5
@jgury
"Three candidates — Tulsi Gabbard, Michael Bloomberg and Julián Castro — were invited but declined."
1
@jgury A combination of twitter and search answers this: Bloomberg’s team cited his late entry into the primary in explaining the most recent in a string of unorthodox strategy decisions. The Times, which had already established its own schedule for candidate interviews and will announce its choice Sunday, would not agree to bend to Bloomberg’s will by changing the newspaper’s timeline to meet his. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/14/bloomberg-new-york-times-edit-board-098924
1
It doesn't matter who, just vote blue. The alternative is too sickening to contemplate.
3
Food for thought:
When have the Dems won the electoral college?
Clinton & Obama
Both moderates which means that the progressive argument that we aren’t winning votes because we aren’t being bold enough doesn’t apply here..
So... What else did they have in common?
Answer: They were both COOL. Clinton and his Saxophone and admitted marijuana use and Obama... I mean, what wasn’t cool about Obama, right?
Now, when we lost, what did those candidates have in common?
Moderate... true, but all of them have been moderate. (It’s a fallacy to think that the reason we haven’t won is because we have nominated moderates. We have won with them and without.)
The losers were all BORING! Al Gore was wooden, John Kerry was droning, Hillary felt like a try-hard. We have a reality television president who is destroying the country to feed his own ego. The last thing we need is another boring candidate, and the best thing we can do is find one who can carry off a sense of cool. (And angry old man is kinda hipster cool, but it is not really hang-out cool).
The septuagenarian squad isn’t qualified on this score and as much as I like him. Pete comes off as a total goody-goody nerd, and Klobuchar, while funny, is not sending the right vibe. Deval Patrick doesn’t strike me as someone who can rally a crowd.
We lost Booker, we lost Harris, we lost Beto... If we want to beat Trump we need that sense of cool.
1
@Sarah
I find Pete good, and a nerd.
I am so ready for a good nerd.
You write, with your ageism showing,
"Twitter savvy #YangGang, whose
20- and 30-somethings flooded
our submissions."
I am decades distant from 20- or
30-something, and seemingly older
than the average NYT editor. And yet,
it is clear to me that Andrew Yang is
by far the best possible candidate
this cycle.
Please don't dismiss a friendly gang
you don't understand.
36
If I voted with my heart, Elizabeth Warren. If I voted with my head, Elizabeth Warren. When I vote, Elizabeth Warren.
6
In a perfect world for voters.
No president.
A new paradigm.
A presidential council with equal racial and political representation of all fractious players in government.
We need an overhaul of state lines and regions and the entire unified mess.
Our Constitution and Articles in our Bill of Rights is outdated and run it’s Bloody historical course.
First rid ourselves of trumpism.
And apply term limits and lobbying laws to congress and the Supremes should not have a life position. No more.
3
Andrew Yangs campain will actually help Americans in a way that is taylored to the individuals basic needs being met and will serve as a financial foundation. His freedom dividend will be a game changer on many different levels. It will be a trickle up economy and will be an accelerant to local economy. There really is no comparison to the others. Yang understands the economy, technology and the future. He really is a once in a lifetime candidate.
29
I love the fact that Pete Buttigieg has very progressive policies but can speak in a way that resonates with independents and conservatives. His policies make sense (bold but practical). Most of all, I want to see more kindness, hope, decency, unity and belonging in this world and Pete embodies all these.
17
Biden ranks fifth in my lineup of fav Dem candidates (and neither Warren nor Sanders is among my first four). Still I think the Biden has the best chance of beating Trump. At this moment, I can't confidently see any of the others drawing back the Obama/Trump voters of the Great Lakes states or bringing in the African American vote the way Biden can.
Currently Biden and most of the Dem candidates beat Trump in polling in the Great Lakes region, but the percent of "undecided" voters there is still fairly large.
1
I’ve been a fan of Mayor Pete’s campaign since June, when I first read about him. I do hope he becomes the nominee (I can’t vote in the primaries), although I will support the Democrat who wins the nomination.
I invited my Dad to see Pete speak in September. He voted Trump and I was surprised he even said “Yes” to seeing Pete. After we left the event, my Dad told me that he liked Pete better than the other Democrats running, and that he was inspiring to listen to. I hope that maybe if other people hear Pete speak, they’ll start to like him too.
19
@anna why can’t you vote for Pete in the primary? Every Pete fan who wants to see trump defeated could change their party affiliation for the primary. It’s easy and it’s worth it.
1
Bernie deserves a lot of credit for sitting for an interview with this body, considering their sustained campaign to either ignore, dismiss, or undermine his candidacy at every turn (for four solid years now!) If they were honest they'd have told him not to bother because they will never endorse someone with all that moral clarity and no corporate money.
17
Is it really even appropriate given the current state of affairs to treat this like any other election year and endorse one candidate? The differences between any of the candidates is minuscule in the context of the current White House occupant, so why not just endorse the whole lot of them as a collective. To endorse one particular candidate seems like a relic or a luxury of a bygone era.
15
The number one priority is to make sure Trump is not re-elected, and if you consider how people voted in the last three elections, it's clear the population that needs to be captured is the one that voted Trump and now regret it. Amy Klobuchar can capture those "moderate" heartland votes.
BONUS: Her record as senator is unbeatable, with more than three times as many laws *enacted* (no small feat) than Sanders or Warren, and most of them incredibly beneficial to the lives of US citizens. She has, concretely, done more for the world than her rivals. She works hard, is brilliant, and ethical. She was great in the debates. She is the perfect dark horse to take on Trump and blindside him.
3
As a 60 something, thank you for bringing attention to Yang. I want to leave the world a better place for my children and grandchildren. This may be our last chance to heal the harms that arose from not understanding rapidly evolving tech/AI. We need a candidate with new solutions to the problems of the 21st century. Those with money and data will manipulate us on social media, until we get someone elected who understands the urgency and threat to our democracy. We lose this, democracy may be just history — or erased from our digital collective consciousness.
65
@Lynn
Thank you! At 71 years of age, I echo your thoughts. Contrary to what some seem to believe, Andrew Yang's policies resonate to more than the 20-30-somethings. I've voted in every presidential election since 1968, so I've seen a lot of candidates and a lot of policies. I have never been as inspired or as hopeful for a candidate as I am for Andrew Yang, more even than Obama. I think the Dems are focusing on beating Donald Trump -- which is absolutely necessary -- but we also need a leader for beyond the election. Andrew Yang is the candidate who can defeat Donald Trump. Just as crucial: he is the candidate who can lead with 21st century solutions. His policies don't lean too far left nor too far right. They are Forward. That's worth repeating: Not Left, Not Right, but Forward. Humanity First.
5
In one way, they are all equal. They are not the same, of course. Each one would bring something different to the presidency. Each is a fine person, a brave person in his/her own way.
With each one there would be things I like/agree with and things I don't like/disagree with. There is no perfect candidate. That's like trying to find the perfect mate. We just need a good enough candidate.
It's hard to trust any politician right now. Part of this is the what we've been fed by Russian agit-prop including those pretending to represent the as left-wing and Fox and the Right Wing. (Don't buy it!) As long as the party stays reasonably unified behind whoever it is I'll be happy to support that person enthusiastically. Enthusiastically!!!!
And remember, as we are seeing, the Congress is equally important. If we get/keep a majority in either house we will have a spectrum Democrats.
Let's not let the perfect get in the way of the good.
So, I vote for a unified party behind any of these candidates. That's where the rubber meets the road. The power is in the party unifying based on common interests, even if less than perfect for any given individual's interests.
We could get a lot done if the party stayed unified for the next eight years.
8
When I first searched for a candidate for president, my goal was to bring together millions of Americans in defeating Donald Trump and healing the divided parties that I saw. I realized that Andrew Yang can accomplish just that. He is a true leader of the people and a citizen candidate, which is what our government severely needs right now. Not a career politician. Not a billionaire. A parent and a patriot who sees the problems of the 21st century and can address them with data-oriented solutions.
41
Andrew Yang is light years ahead of other candidates in terms of identifying problems that no one else talks about and proposes solutions that are innovative yet pragmatic and free from any political ideology. While running on issues such as AI and technology, his human centric approach (notably the Universal Basic Income) unifies voters across the spectrum in a diverse, previously unthinkable coalition. He’s the only candidate Trump never mentions by name, because he knows Yang is the only one who can defeat him in the general election.
88
I favor either Buttigieg or Warren, but I've been open to all the candidates (other than Tulsi Gabbard), and would be pleased to call any of them President. Until this week.
The vitriol coming from Bernie's supporters in the wake of the last debate is just jaw-dropping. I had been harboring the hope that after 2016, these "Bernie-or-Bust" voters would learn what happens when you choose to spend election day staying home and pouting. Boy, was I wrong.
They still blame the Democratic party for "stealing" the nomination from Bernie. They believe the same thing is happening now. Not only do they refuse to support Elizabeth Warren or any other Democratic candidates, they see their supporters as enemies to be destroyed. I can't read the comments on news articles or Youtube videos anymore without pushing down tears of rage at the constant stream of hatred and abuse directed at anyone who doesn't plan on voting for Bernie.
I feel like we are going to lose 2020 the same way we lost 2016, and for the same reason. Because these core "Bernie-or-Bust" fanatics will never, never, vote for anyone but Bernie. I feel like I'm being held hostage by an angry mob. I can not, and will not, reward that with my vote. Bernie is now out of consideration for me.
Will I vote for him in the general election if he gets the nomination? Of course! But Bernie has zero chance now of getting my vote in the primary.
29
@Revelwoodie If your main goal is to defeat Donald Trump, Andrew Yang is the candidate to do it! He has the highest favorability among Democrats, Independents, and Libertarians. Many many people like him, but they think he doesn't have a chance so they don't want to vote for him. I promise you if he becomes the nominee, it is a guarantee that Donald Trump loses in 2020 :)
52
@Joseph The social safety net as it currently exists is a group of protected entitlements with dedicated and discrete revenue streams. It was set up this way on purpose, to protect it from the vagaries of politics and the budgeting process. Yang's version of the UBI dismantles that, as he himself has admitted. Which is probably why this type of UBI proposal has long been supported by right wing think tanks and the most radical of anti-government conservatives. It's a back door to dismantling the social safety net.
I agree that some type of UBI will almost certainly be needed eventually. You can't tell your son to "go get a job" if all the jobs are being done by robots and computers with advanced AI. But there are OTHER visions for how a UBI could work. I urge you to dig further into this issue and be sure you support the particulars of Yang's plan, rather than merely the idea of it.
8
@Revelwoodie Greetings from Oregon. People who make this argument often make it sound like the social safety net is somehow going to be dismantled but all that Yang's plan does is expand it. Here's why. 25% of those under the poverty line are not receiving government assistance. Those that do often receive less than what Yang is proposing and live in constant fear of losing benefits as soon as they attempt to better their circumstances (i.e. the welfare cliff). What Andrew is doing is taxing lifestyle with his VAT (which he has said will be exempted from staple goods as to not affect the lower class as much). Due to the VAT, net benefits gradually decrease as you get richer (eliminating the welfare cliff and providing security for the lower class) until you pay more into the system than you receive above the upper middle class lifestyle. It encourages reducing consumption which is actually good for the environment if I may add. Believe it or not, Yang's plan is the fairest UBI plan that indirectly incorporates the ideas of a negative income tax and a wealth tax. So it is an upgrade, not just a replacement. Check out Greg Mankiw (Harvard economics professor) and his pitch for Yang's UBI. Oh and for the conservative support. Don't worry, plenty of them still call Andrew a socialist. Yang often uses conservative talking points to push a progressive agenda, so I'd say that the art of conservative persuasion (without becoming them) may be an important skill in a general election.
38
Andrew Yang! He is the only candidate who has a long-term plan for disassociating human value with economic value, which is something sorely needed as automation comes for all our jobs. Furthermore, UBI--a guaranteed monthly income for everyone--will make being a stay at home (or even part-time stay at home) parent/caregiver financially feasible. In other words, finally giving what is owed to a traditionally low-reward, unpaid, typically disrespected position held by countless women. That, in my book, makes him the most feminist, pro-family candidate. Because it is typically us women that must shoulder the uncelebrated roles of being caregivers and emotional supporters of households. And the only candidate that takes into account that our population is aging but yet living longer (and therefore requiring care longer) than other generations that came before. UBI will help us care for ourselves, for our families, and our society will become better for it. Investing directly in people and guaranteeing financial stability to pursue their dreams will return the most dividends for a country, and I think of all the candidates, only Andrew Yang truly gets it.
83
1K a month with increased VAT? I failed to see how it could make the idea feasible, especially for poor folks.
@yulia the VAT can be tailored to except stable goods like milk and things that purchase everyday and ratcheted up on luxury goods like yachts, luxury cars and watches. Yang has stated this multiple times. The last thing he wants to do is cause more financial insecurities to people that are living paycheck to paycheck. And the VAT is going to be half the European’s VAT.
3
Andrew Yang is the candidate that knows the most about Technology.
Technology has been improving at a rate we have not seen before. To name a few:
- Self-driving trucks will replace the 4 million truck drivers and all the ecosystem that served them, like the restaurants on the highway.
- Retail workers will be replaced by touch panels.
- Deep Fakes, if used wrongly, can cause serious trouble to the country. (Imagine a viral video of Donald Trump saying "I've just ordered to launch nuclear missiles to North Korea.")
- China is using Facial Recognition to track all of its citizens and building a rating system around it.
I believe in order to be a 21st century president, you have to at least know the concepts and the potential consequences of the various technologies coming out. I am not confident that the current President or the Democratic frontrunners are aware of these issues, least to say, can offer solutions to them. The problem of automation and AI only came in the debates as a topic because of Yang. Andrew Yang's knowledge on technology surpasses his competitor by far and is our best bet.
79
Andrew Yang is the only candidate who supports nuclear/thorium power to combat the existential battle of climate change. After tons of research it is clear that solar/wind simply doesn’t compare and going that direction would ultimately hurt the United States. It’s 6 times more expensive, many panels will eventually die out and the waste is very hard to dispose (nuclear waste can be used for power in thorium plants), solar/wind takes up way more land, nuclear/thorium is not nearly as dangerous as before after significant design modifications after those disasters, and weather disrupts wind/solar fields while that’s not an issue with nuclear plants. I can keep going but it’s obvious that there’s a clear answer here to deal with the issue. This part of Yangs plan might not be known to many people so I encourage you to look into nuclear by watching YouTube videos or reading the many scientific articles. Yang Gang!
95
Which Candidate Would You Endorse?
Whoever does not run on campaign donations from large corporations and millionaires.
That is, either on small donations from millions of ordinary Americans or on his own nickel
We need Democracy - not oligarchy
Thus
1. Sanders
2. Bloomberg
I had it with the stranglehold the Uber-Rich have on American politics.
The two have very different ideas about politics, but they both would free the US from the grip of the rich
2
@carmen Interesting, my choices too. Poles apart in philosophy, but your analysis is spot on: free us from the money.
1
@Carmen One of Andrew Yang's primary policies is "Democracy Dollars"
Every election, each eligible voting citizen would get $100 to donate to the candidate of their choice, drowning out PAC and corporate influence in the election cycles. Large corporations fear Yang for this very reason.
Along with that policy, Yang has more than 100 fully fleshed out, data oriented policies on his website! I was skeptical a few months ago, but as things progressed I am a full supporter of Andrew Yang!
He can bring us into the 21st century with an economy that works for the individual, not the billionaire.
If you want to know more, go to Yang2020.com and help us rewrite the rules of the 21st century economy to work for us!
34
It is really really 'not so smart idea' idea - you spread this money among thousand candidates, and those that have PAC and rich donors will have this money plus money of the donors, while other will have the reaction of electoral money. I am really surprised that Yang is a businessman. His ideas has so many pitfalls that there is no way they will work as he says. But maybe, it is the idea to con people in thinking that it will help while it will make no difference.
I read the comments by Michael Bennet in a recent NYT article, and I was impressed by his clear practical thinking.
Yet I didn't see his name included with all the others as a choice.
3
I saw him on Rachel Maddow and really liked him as a person—low-key, self-effacing, soft-spoken—but in taking a closer look at his stands on various issues, he’s too conservative for me. He seems like he’d be a good companion at a baseball game.
1
Bernie, Elizabeth, too old and too divisive. Way too radical for middle America and should get off the Medicare for all and moderate to Medicare available to all! Those who want private insurance now will switch to Medicare if it proves to be a good option and private insurance will die a natural death.
Joe Biden, as lovely a man as he is, also too old and seems to loose focus at times. Perhaps if he chooses a strong, young VP like Mayor Pete or Amy Klobachar, he would be good for next four years. The the VP will be seasoned and ready to lead.
Like both Amy and Pete but am not sure either can win, although I will be supporting one of them in the California primary.
In the end, I will vote for whomever the democrats nominate. We need to get rid of Trump and I don’t think the senate is going to do it for us.
10
@Stefanie
Eisenhower was a conservative Republican in his time. Reconsider the use of the word Radical in the context of mainstream ideas.
1
@Stefanie Andrew Yang has the highest betting odds to beat Donald Trump in a head to head election by a very large margin. If you want to get Donald Trump out of office, as do I, we need to nominate Yang to guarantee that he is no longer there at the end of this year.
We can beat Trump together by voting for Yang!
He has more than 100 data backed policies on his website, yang2020.com
I highly recommend checking them out! He can beat Donald Trump and rewrite the rules of the 21st century economy to work for us!
32
@Joseph I am yet to see poll that shows Yang is beating Trump. He is not even in top-tier as Dem nominee, so what odds do you refer to?
Being retired I've had time this election cycle to read and learn more about the candidates than ever before and have read two of their books, Mayor Pete's and Yang's. I've changed my mind several times about who to vote for. But have now decided strongly in favor of Andrew Yang.
Those who only know about his UBI plan are missing a far bigger picture. His UBI is a concrete, do-able plan for making a more inclusive society that gives all people at least a chance, a foothold. I also believe he has a strong, or stronger chance to beat the incumbent than most of the other candidates.
91
12K will not make big difference for most of people, but increased prices because of VAT will really hot everybody, but especially low-income because VAT is nothing more but regressive tax.
1
@yulia Yang's plan will exclude certain goods from the VAT. In addition, if you do the math, only those who spent over 10000 dollars a month in non necessary goods will be hitted by the tax. Check Yang's website.
20
@Alvaro IN this case, how he plans to collect enough money to fund his 12K UBI and Freedom Dollar? The math is simple - you need a lot of people who buy "unnecessary products", and in this case a lot of people will hurt by VAT because it increases the price, or you have few people buying these products and you have much less money to fund your programs. Yes, VAT along with other forms of tax (including the wealth tax in Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Italy) exists in the European countries, but none of that spend on UBI, instead they have extensive developed safety net that includes single-payer healthcare, free education, subsidies for the child care and so on. Yang want to increase prices, give a fixed amount to all, while leaving the system that inequality intact. I failed to see how it will fix the problem. And talking about radical - single-payer system has been shown to work to bring down the cost of health-care, UBI iis new untested concept with a lot of flaws. 12K may sounds as a lot of money for some, but with higher prices for everything including healthcare, education and "unnecessary" goods it will not make a dent in inequality.
2
Al Franken --
There's still time...
18
How about picks for a dream team or two of the best President and VP matchups?
3
I would much rather Klobuchar be the first woman President than Nikki Haley. I don't believe Warren is electable.
7
@Sparky If you want to get Donald Trump out of office, Andrew Yang is the absolute best bet! His betting odds of beating Trump in a head to head matchup are far greater than any of the other candidates. Also, Andrew Yang has gone on record saying he would love to have a female candidate as vice president!
If you want to learn more, Yang has more than 100 data oriented policies on his website, Yang2020.com
Help us beat Donald Trump this upcoming election by voting for Yang!
8
I support Warren but the vehement disdain many show to Sanders is so irrational that I suspect conscious or unconscious anti-semitic bias in many, but not all, Sanders detractors.
6
If you have a child and you want to leave her or him a more peaceful world, and a country that - once freed of the incalculable costs of its military entanglements - can actually afford the social welfare programs needed to address wealth inequality, then you have amoral imperative to support Tulsi Gabbard, the only candidate in either party expressing a legitimate desire to rescue the US from its downward spiral of endless unaffordable wars.
Trump won by flipping the Obama-won counties in WI, MI, OH, and PA that suffered high casualties in these no-win wars. Only Gabbard can win them back.
3
@Charles
* "a moral imperative" :-)
I and my husband will vote Andrew Yang in GA primary, and if he wins the nomination, we will vote for him in general election, if he doesn't, we will write him in. We have two young boys, we can clearly see how Andrew Yang understand the future so well. He is our only choice. I think other candidates are good people, but sorry, they are just not the right choice for our next generation.
88
@Orien and 4 more years of Trump IS the right choice ...??? NO, it's not ....we can sort out the next generation, and next few decades, later, for now in Nov: vote ALL BLUE no matter who !!!!!
6
Please - do not write in a candidate! Unless you are willing to risk another 4 years of our current policies - Vote blue - no matter who -
5
@Reb
I will vote for Andrew Yang in the Primary and General as a write in if necessary. I will only vote for someone that I truly believe has the best plans for the country and has earn my vote. I will not hold my nose and vote for someone I do not believe in ever again.
2
I switched to Andrew Yang right after this interview. I really liked his response about who disappointed him. He is the only one that answered honestly and really had a deep answer.
100
Thanks for looking at and posting our feedback. I'm honestly so glad to finally have a candidate that I can fully, and honestly support in Andrew Yang. He truly sees and understands the state we're in. There's so many people underemployed or who have completely given up. We need a leader like him to unite our country and help us move forward. #HumanityFirst
85
@Ukosi why did you copy and paste the joe biden response for an andrew yang comment?
yang is compassionate and very similar to bernie, the reason i pick yang is because his policy give people more power than giving government more power. bernie wants more federal jobs and force small businesses to raise minimum wage, yang just wants everyone to have free money and they choose what to do with it which would be better for small business and less government.
25
The candidates I would endorse are Biden, Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar in that order, I strongly believe that only a centrist can win this election over trumpf.
3
@Banjokatt but will you vote ALL BLUE no matter who ?? that is the only way to rid the USA & world of Trump ....
1
As I have done for some time now, I wish Mayor Pete the very best and hope he is the successful candidate. America will benefit greatly from his leadership.
20
Only Sanders and Warren have the moxie and the plans to restructure the economy to fix the inequality that eventually would bring down this great nation (Of course, big business doesn’t care for either of them) but I’m undecided between the two of them.
5
I've read the first two transcripts (Booker and Sanders) of the interviews these candidates gave to the endorsement committee for the Times. Booker's was not good and Sanders' was horrible. For example, they flubbed the answers to the questions they should have known were coming. Sanders refused to answer questions because his "world view was different." Booker at least has an excuse. I suspect he already knew that he was planning to withdraw. My question for Harris, Tarchak and the other folks at the Times is, "are they always that bad?" I guess I will still read the remainder of them but after the first two I have been in no rush.
3
@Robert Read Andrew's. You won't regret.
4
Pete, without question. He's brilliant, knowledgeable, reasonable, and kind. I trust that he can understand the most complex issues. I also believe he has the decency and good judgment to make the right decisions.
30
None of these candidates can defeat Trump. That's why I intend to vote for the candidate that reflects my values and extols my preferred policy positions. I haven't decided whether to vote in the general or not. I don't see much daylight between Trump and many of these candidates. None of them can win though.
1
@AB As I see it, Yang can defeat Trump. In a recent New Mexico poll around 40% of Trump supporters said they would vote for him. Why? UBI is a bipartisan policy. The House of Reps (majority repub) passed it way back in the 60's, but the senate (democrats majority) repelled it. Ronald Reagan was for it. MLK was for it. Trump hasn't acknowledged Yang until now because he knows (his advisers) he is the only candidate that can attract voters from all the political spectrum.
20
@AB Even if it's a vote for a third-party candidate I'd still encourage you to vote, it shows that you care and that you don't like the status quo.
1
IMHO we should focus on someone who can last 8 years, which leaves out Sanders and Biden. Warren won't get any swing voters. My vote is Pete, but I will reluctantly support any of the candidates.
20
Warren, Sanders, Yang. And after seeing her interview, I think Evelyn Yang would make a wonderful first lady. If not this time, next time.
43
Bush, Obama, and Trump, as well as candidate Clinton, stacked their cabinets with advisors tied to Goldman Sachs. I imagine Warren and Sanders would bring new resources to their cabinets but I am not sure of the others. Seems to me if we are to address the wealth gap and climate the president's advisors should not be tied to Goldman or other firms who have benefited so much from current policies.
6
On election day I would vote for the Democrat regardless of who or she might be.
In the primaries when we vote in Washington state 19 other states will have already voted or caucused so my vote hardly counts. But if I had to vote today I would vote for Andrew Yang. I started out with Warren, went to Sanders but after reading the NYT Editorial questionnaire I would gladly pick Yang. He is young, energetic, brilliant, well grounded, moral , genuine and understands the basic principle that if you are generating enough income many of the other problems we have get resolved. I like his idea of a revised income tax and a VAT tax.
77
Steve, this is exactly the reason we need to abolish the Electoral College. With California having moved its primary up, I finally get to feel as though my vote will actually mean something. It’s ridiculous that so many elections had been decided before the most populous state in the union had voted, and numerous other states as well. We need to move to the system where everyone votes in every state on the same day, just as we do in the general, and then the top vote-getter in each party is on the ballot in November. No conventions, no delegates, no deal-making—just your basic one-person one-vote deal, as we do with ALL OTHER ELECTIONS!
7
There is no candidate who sets me on fire. Like another commenter suggested, it is mind-boggling that in this moment when the country desperately needs a powerful leader, no one has appeared, man or woman. How were there so many at the time of the framing?? In the breach, I would choose Klobuchar, Buttigieg, Bloomberg in that order. I like Sanders not even a little bit and Warren a fraction more. I worry about Biden's inability to articulate a clear thought. Needless to say, I would vote for any Democrat over Trump.
6
@Sharon Maselli Thing is, you never know. Past presidents have always been less than ideal at the start. Some have turned out to be historic, others just meh. But the system survived. I think the spotlight on each one due to technology makes us aware of more negatives. Technology has been a game changer, but not necessarily for the good.
Perhaps we need to go all-in for whoever it is and see if they can grow into the job in a way that makes them a great president.
2
@Sharon Maselli Hi Sharon! I couldn't help but notice you didn't mention Andrew Yang at all. His support is growing very fast and he's an absolute genius. I recommend checking out his book The War On Normal People. It seems to me that he is the emergent powerful leader you are looking for. Yang can unify our people!
3
I won't for any candidate in the primary in their 70's, so that eliminates 3 out of the top 4 right now (and also Bloomberg if he gets that far). They have had their chance, and are on the descent, not the ascent, of their mental and physical capabilities. It's time for generational change, and Pete Buttigieg has the intelligence, demeanor and pragmatism to tackle the many issues facing this country.
I've seen Pete admit his mistakes, and then learn from them to move on and be even better. His also has said he does not want to be the smartest guy in the room. He will surround himself with smart people his is willing to listen to, not sycophants. He is willing to reach across party lines to unify the country. As the youngest candidate in this race, he also has the highest stakes, since he will be alive for a long time to see the results of his decisions. I will vote for whomever the Dems nominate, but my first choice is still Mayor Pete. I say this as a 62-year old retired boomer.
45
Look at the demographics of who is supporting whom. The strongest candidates will be those among the front runners whose support profile is most similar to that of the Democratic Party membership, maybe with a slight not to that of swing states. Also, there are few real moderates among this group. “Moderate” in this context has been used as a relative term for a Democratic partly that has developed a vociferous and twitter savvy left wing.
Biden is correct in saying that if fully implemented, his agenda would go down in history as one of the most progressive ever for the United States.
4
The Times endorsement is entirely irrelevant. What counts is who will win the primaries, especially the swing States. She/He will be the best candidate.
8
I think it's nice that the members of the editorial board get to be so public this year--even getting to appear on television! We can read their names in the transcripts and get a sense of their priorities, even sharing their "gotcha" moments. It must have been so depressing and debilitating just to be members of "the editorial board," anonymous and unknown. Why should the candidates be the only ones who get air time? I think the editorial board deserves even more exposure. How about a Netflix series? Transparency is such a lovely synonym for self-promotion.
3
Not a time for the fainthearted. Not playing to "not lose" and play it safe. Either or all or all out. Bernie Sanders. He is Presidential. He is the Future. His Time Has Come..........
11
@TWShe Said - Bernie is *presidential*??? Are you kidding? He’s the least presidential of any candidate running, unless, by “presidential,” you mean “president of the 1969 Anti-war Coalition.” He’s rumpled, always hectoring, flailing and pointing, seemingly unsophisticated. In the late 1960s I’d have thought he was very attractive and just my type. But not for president. Not that he has a chance at all of being one. #anydemocratbutbernie.
4
Undecided voters generally don't care much about left-right-center distinctions. They value the appearance of authenticity and honesty and they are deeply suspicious of "the system". Trump is a charlatan with verbal diarrhea; he only looked like a "straight talker" compared to the most focus-group-tested and opportunistic politician of our lifetimes. Bernie Sanders goes on Fox news and Joe Rogan and connects with these people. He also motivates and inspires lots of people who would otherwise not vote at all. I don't agree with him on everything, and some of his supporters are a bit, uh, single minded, but he is by far the best choice to beat Trump. Biden only looks viable if you're bound by fatalism or believing that 2020 political reality is unchanged since 1992.
15
You should endorse Trump because he will give the people what they deserve, an oligarchy that treats them like dirt. The majority of registered democrats are really conservatives and as such they are delusional about their cults and the need for equal justice under the law. They like their fellow conservatives in the republican party don't believe we can operate without powerful wealthy people pulling the strings behind the scene. Being such good serfs, they deserve more of Trump.
3
This question is easy--the Democrat.
55
@PJM Thank you.
3
This column sums up for me why change is so unlikely in American politics. The NYT and DNC only see two real candidates in this race, Warren and Biden, and they'll help push one or the other through in the same old fashion. Notice how dismissively this column explains away the young, unconventional "clear front runners."
27
I support the THE DEMOCRAT in 2020!
These times demand that the Democrats-- along with all people of good will-- unite behind the Democrat.
Every one of the DEM candidates are far superior to the current occupant of the Oval Office-- in terms of competence, work ethic, integrity, intelligence, emotional intelligence, courage, and morality. Each would behave more presidentially than the president we have. None would get us into WW3. None will drive our democracy off a cliff. And all will take the urgent action that climate change demands.
In the greater scheme of things, the policy differences between the DEM candidates are negligible and irrelevant in the run-up to the 2020 election.
Vote DEMOCRATIC up and down the ballot in November-- state-wide and nationally.
37
@Valerie I wholeheartedly agree.
2
Is there a problem between Bloomberg and the NYT? In many ways, Bloomberg is the best candidate. A Bloomberg-Klobuchar ticket might be our best chance of beating Trump.
9
I am an old codger now, but I've been a center-left voter ever since 1968 and 1972. In '68 I voted 3rd party because I couldn't support Humphrey (who I truly liked) for his betrayal in supporting the Vietnam War after Gene McCarthy's loss in the primaries. In 1972 I was overjoyed to support McGovern - "my candidate, yes!!" - only to see the worst Democratic defeat in my lifetime. I now spend nearly 50% of my time in rural Maine, which was strong Trump country, after supporting Obama twice, and the other half in the Portland area, which is as progressive as any other deeply blue district.
I support Amy Klobuchar at this point. She "gets it," and is in fact more progressive than she is characterized in the media. She is a pragmatic progressive. Biden's too old and out of touch. Bernie is a committed socialist and still won't join the Dem Party. Maybe Elizabeth, but she harmed herself with her Medicare for All position. Buttigieg? He needs 5 more years of political experience. I liked Michael Bennet, but he is maybe too far under the radar. It may come down to Bloomberg.
We gotta unite!
18
@greenhead Let me assure you: no one will unite behind your candidate except those that already support her. Expect millions to stay home if your candidate is nominated.
@greenhead - Bernie DOES join the Democratic Party — when he can use our party for his own needs. He’s as much a hypocrite as is any Republican.
2
If this were a world in which Donald Trump was known as nothing more than a has-been TV celebrity, our government had mild ideological skirmishes but otherwise hummed along nicely with everyone taking their responsibilities seriously, and the world was a friendly place without terror groups and foreign leaders plotting to destroy the US, I would endorse Yang, because I think he has the best domestic policies. But I think it’s naive to approach this election in a state of denial about the world the next president will be inheriting.
Instead, I would endorse Biden, for his experience, but also because I instinctively trust him in a way that I can’t say is true for most of the other candidates. That’s not to say there’s anything untrustworthy about the other candidates, but most seem either motivated primarily by personal ambition, or have values that don’t reflect my own. It’s rare for me to truly trust a president to act on my behalf, so yes, I’m excited about the possibility of having someone in the White House I believe in.
7
I still vote for none of the above. How can the Democrat party be struggling to find even one person who will handily defeat the WORST president in US history?
As a resident of NYS my vote will really not count, but as much as I would never vote for trump none of this crowd makes me want to vote for them either.
4
@JohnH Please reconsider. It is quite unlikely that Trump loses the Electoral College, but it feels, on some level, historically essential that he lose the popular vote again.
7
@Peter You have made my point. There is no reason that a superior candidate should not have a huge electoral victory. Where are the modern day Bill Bradley's?
3
@JohnH So, what qualities/positions are important to you. It's important to say what you'd like to see instead.
Yang's proposal of a universal income is an unwinnable proposition. As much as I see it's potential for redistributing tax revenue and wealth sharing, the public will never go for giving handouts to freeloaders.
If the universal income were tied to holding a full-time job, then yes, but as is...
A nonstarter and disqualifier.
4
@Captain Nemo It has the best chance of passing. Since Yang has been in the race approval for UBI has gone up from low 20s to high 40s. Americans don't want a hand out. They want econimic justice. Even Repiublicans. They won't say no to cash in hand, to everyone, no stigma, no big gov't program. In fact, 20% of the people at Yang rallies are republicans. I urge you to think again. UBI: biggest policy in the race, best chance of passing. It's not a dream. it's a reality. And it can happen here. This is why Yang - a complete unknown - has made it this far. Real change. Here.
73
@Captain Nemo
Listen to the NPR news interview with the family in NH that Yang gave the $12,000 in 2019. It's pretty interesting.
They put $10,000 of the $12,000 toward their daughters college tuition.
40
Congresswoman Gabbard is the one candidate that I would have a real problem supporting never mind casting a vote for.
I see her as someone almost as much a danger to our country as Trump.
Like him when I see her on TV , I want to call out 'By the way How is the Weather in Moscow'.
26
@Alec Back in the day we used to call that red-baiting. Today let's just say you are missing the point. Congresswoman Gabbard has demonstrated her loyalty to her country -- this country -- by serving in the military during wartime, a sacrifice, by the way, your friend Trump found a bridge too far.
6
@Lawrence Rogers So did Mike Flynn.
Integrity,electability,life experience For different reasons this excludes Warren,Yang,Bloomberg,Steyer I have my doubts about the rest of them .They all jumped into the race thinking beating Trump is going to be easy.They are all wrong.
6
The existential threat of another Trump term is certainly something we should all fear, but to allow fear to drive us is to risk having our fears become real. Those believing that Biden will be their "white knight", are allowing their fear to cloud their judgment.
Were this even 10 years ago, their rationale for choosing Joe might be well founded - although personally I would still object to him - but at this point, Biden's age, and the wear and stress he's undergone have visibly affected him. His once predictable "gaffs" have become even more numerous, and his inability to speak coherently is almost painful to watch. In short, Biden supporters are projecting the Joe of old, while denying what their own senses tell them.
Beyond Biden, this fear that "moderate" won't support a more progressive candidate is overblown. Sure, some "moderates" will be turned off by Sanders and Warren's agendas, but if they actually refuse to vote for them against Trump, then their votes were never in play to begin with, and therefore, to give weight to these counterfeit Dems is a mistake.
And consider: many who voted for Trump when polled said they would've voted for Sanders instead. While the MSM and his opponents call his platform "radical", man Americans don't think so. In 2016 MFA was "crazy", now every Democratic candidate talks about adopting some version of it.
Beating Trump requires courage and passion, and the one candidate who generates the most of that is Sanders.
20
@Kingfish52 - Before the recent he-said-she-said, I wasn’t going to vote for Warren (I thought Biden would be more likely to win against Trump). I now appreciate her more. I liked her bringing up the sexism issue. I’ve always disliked Bernie (and dislike has moved to loathing since the 2016 presidential election). Anyone but Bernie unless he somehow manages to win the primary. And if he does, he’ll lose the general election.
8
@Kingfish52 I'll be honest with you, if the Dems nominate Bernie I will vote 3rd party like I did in 2016. I could gladly get behind Amy Klobuchar even though I'm not a Democrat, but then again neither is Bernie.
6
@Moderate Voter It's mind-boggling to think that you would rather Trump and Sanders.
All the remaining plausible D candidates have significant drawbacks.
Any of the remaining plausible D candidates, if elected in November, would make our country and the world far saner and safer than would be remotely possible with four more years of Orange Jabba.
Of the remaining plausible D candidates, Joe Biden is the one most likely to win the crucial swing states, thereby defeating Trump. Biden is the one most able to re-unite our nation, even if just a little, which would count for a lot. And Biden is the one most likely to get something positive done in concert with the next Congress, even if it's much too incremental to satisfy impatient and frustrated Democrats.
Go, Joe!
10
@RBW I fail to understand how anyone can continue to believe that a middle-of-the-road center-right candidate like Biden (or Buttigieg, or Klobuchar) can beat Trump. Have we learned nothing from 2016? Bernie is the only candidate with the genuine populism, integrity, and authenticity who stands a realistic chance of beating Trump.
Clinton lost the Electoral College in 2016 because in the midwestern former Rust-belt states that mattered, she was unable to inspire disenfranchised Obama voters who believed Trump's lies. All the evidence shows that many of these voters would have supported Bernie had he been the nominee. Sadly, the DNC and the mainstream corporate media preferred losing to Trump over letting a self-declared socialist anywhere near the White House.
However, as Megan Day and Matt Karp recently pointed out in Jacobin: "in the 206 counties that went for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then Trump in 2016, Sanders has out-fundraised all of his competitors — by a long shot. By September 2019, he pulled in 81,841 individual donations from 33,185 donors in these flipped counties. That’s roughly three times as many as Biden, Warren, or Pete Buttigieg." (https://jacobinmag.com/2019/12/bernie-sanders-vs-donald-trump).
Bottom line: there is simply too much at stake to risk a repeat of 2016. The time for half measures is over. It's time to Feel The Bern!
1
I do not feel strongly about any of them. How is that? Each one has their own unique weakness issues. None of them could beat Trump. Sad.
6
If one candidate was “far above the rest” it might be because the candidate earned that. I missed Andrew Yang so much in the last debate that I changed my mind and decided to back him over a moderate choice. Not super sure about UBI, but I think it plays better than the government taking your money and telling you how it will be used. Plus he comes across as human, likable, and concerned about the people instead of his own ego. Not a bad foil to Trump, and not a bad middle of the road candidate for the Dems (somewhere between Biden and Bernie). Not to mention that his enthusiastic base could just help wage the war against disinformation that we know is coming.
Sanders supporters are Twitter savvy, and they flood the comment section here. Warren and Pete supports use twitter effectively. Let’s just give Yang some credit here.
I would be floored if the Times endorsed him, but I think anyone not sold on a candidate should take another look at Yang. And then vote for who you like. Guessing how the votes will play out is a losing strategy. We don’t beat Trump by putting forward a safe candidate, or a revolutionary candidate. We do it by putting forward a likable candidate that people want to hang with.
112
@Sarah
I tried to go to Yang's website but my computer's OS is 'too old'. (It's not that old !) I really like Yang but he needs to make his website more accessible to more voters.
We don't all have the newest systems, or the fast internet access to download fancy web pages. Keep the home page simple and add links for those with faster / newer computers !
Much respect for his wife Evelyn for speaking out about her experience. And to Andrew for his support.
39
@irene try his Reddit if you're having problems with his site. Here's a good page on there to get you started
https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/egi6o6/share_this_with_anyone_who_says_the_freedom/
2
@irene Thank you! I’ve tried to pass this on to the campaign. Meanwhile, may I ask what OS you are using? In case you are using Windows 7, Microsoft has stopped supporting it so you may want to update it to Windows 10 or something else to use it safely.
When the convention deadlocks here in Milwaukee this July, the dark horse that can appeal to the left and the moderates should be Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio. He won his third term as senator by a healthy margin even as Trump carried the state in 2016. Check him out.
7
@George Wagner I would vote for Sherrod Brown. He is smart and compassionate. I have always liked him, too, a feeling I do not feel for most of the current candidates.
5
@George Wagner But, Brown's Senate seat is too risky.
5
@George Wagner : Amy K won her third Senate term in 2016 in a state that is trending red, as is Ohio.
I know Sherrod Brown personally. His is a first-rate mind, a doer, a champion of the middle class. If she would pair with Amy K, we'd have a blockbuster -- Democratic Party to the core -- ticket to go up against Trump/Pence/Haley, Pluto, who stand for nothing beyond division and choose.
Dems need to regain their home -- entire big tent that has powered Democratic policies since the Depression.
3
I have to be honest. I am not excited about any of the democratic candidates.
But, I will vote for whichever democrat is on the ticket to end the current status.
9
I have been increasingly dismayed as the participating Democratic candidates have seemed to use each debate to attack the perceived front runner, rather than staying focused on the most important issue: our nation needs a change at the top in order to defend the principles upon which our country was founded, and those we have since chosen to amend to it, as the embodiment of our way of life. The only candidate who has consistently spoken well of fellow contenders and remained issue-centered, as well as refusing donor contributions (thus been ineligible to participate in the debates), has been Michael Bloomberg. I have been listening more closely to his stands on the major issues, and while i may not agree on every specific, I feel confident he'd be able to call upon his experiences in the business and political realms to work on reasonable solutions that would benefit the country in the end. I wonder if some of our citizens forget that we do not need a leader who is perfect in every detail. We are at present, however, desperately in need of one who is willing to uphold the Constitution, and work with others, regardless of party affiliation, with faithful intention to do what is best for our country and its people. So far, Mr. Bloomberg seems to be the only one who answers questions asked of him on the issues while grasping that duty, and appearing fully prepared to meet it.
7
@Reba I really believe that Yang hits your core concerns as well (maybe he can be your number two?). He has never attacked another at a debate, which has hurt his speaking time because the debate format allows rebuttals to go back and fourth. Yang is kind, compassionate, and constantly reaching across the isle to bring independents and republicans into the fold. He doesn't speak poorly about anyone, and the "Yang Gang" has also taken up that cause, being a truly wonderful and inclusive group of people, even in typically toxic internet environments.
9
@Nate Thank you, you make some good points. I will add Yang to my list of those to watch more closely going forward.
2
Bernie has the passion and drive and zeal to win the Democrat nomination. It's just that the DNC is terrified of him.
52
@KR Perhaps because because he is not a Democrat.
18
@KR Bernie has had decades and decades to achieve certain aspects of his dreams, dreams he's selling to his base, and he's done nothing in that time.
Bernie also has the exact same base, same size, same people as he did in '16. While he's swimming in money, sure, his campaign DOES NOT GROW. It's stagnant, and it's stagnant because he cannot draw any more votes. Period.
I admire *your* passion, but he won't win, and I think it's time for Bernie supporters to start coming to grips with that.
21
@KR His health is a major issue that the democrats are willing to ignore, but I guarantee you Trump and his minions will make into a huge thing.
3
Wharton business professor Adam Grant wrote, "When people disappoint us, it’s not due to their actions. It’s because their actions fell short of our expectations. You can’t control what people do, but you can choose not to let their actions drive your emotions. Be clearer about your expectations—or set more realistic ones." I think this encapsulates the Democratic primary. There may be some hurt feelings after the voting gets going because each candidate's supporters think their candidate is going to win. There's only one slot. Hopefully the Democratic candidates who come out on top can channel those emotions toward positive, productive and unifying goals, and also reach out to the defeated candidates to incorporate them and their ideas into their candidacy for the final push.
9
@David I don't know. Sometimes people are jerks who truly and deliberately disappoint us. They are usually politicians.
1
I am glad to see there are people who understand that taking out a one term president during a strong economy is nearly impossible. The last thing voters are going to go for is an overhaul of the entire system (Warren, Sanders). Mayor Pete does not have enough experience. Amy Klobuchar is great but she's nowhere near she needs to be in the polls. Only Joe Biden can pull this off. With the blue states under his belt, he only needs to win Florida and Pennsylvania and he's won the election. That is how easy it is for Joe Biden. Republicans will vote for him even. He just needs a strong VEEP choice.
30
@Sasha Stone I have to agree even though I worry about his health as we head into a brutal election season. A strong and young VP candidate, preferably a woman of color or Julian Castro should clinch it for him.
1
@Sasha Stone I fail to understand how anyone can continue to believe that a middle-of-the-road center-right candidate like Biden (or Buttigieg, or Klobuchar) can beat Trump. Have we learned nothing from 2016? Bernie is the only candidate with the genuine populism, integrity, and authenticity who stands a realistic chance of beating Trump.
Clinton lost the Electoral College in 2016 because in the midwestern former Rust-belt states that mattered, she was unable to inspire disenfranchised Obama voters who believed Trump's lies. All the evidence shows that many of these voters would have supported Bernie had he been the nominee. Sadly, the DNC and the mainstream corporate media preferred losing to Trump over letting a self-declared socialist anywhere near the White House.
However, as Megan Day and Matt Karp recently pointed out in Jacobin: "in the 206 counties that went for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then Trump in 2016, Sanders has out-fundraised all of his competitors — by a long shot. By September 2019, he pulled in 81,841 individual donations from 33,185 donors in these flipped counties. That’s roughly three times as many as Biden, Warren, or Pete Buttigieg." (https://jacobinmag.com/2019/12/bernie-sanders-vs-donald-trump).
Bottom line: there is simply too much at stake to risk a repeat of 2016. The time for half measures is over. It's time to Feel The Bern!
@Sasha Stone. Biden grew up in Scranton, PA. There is little chance he won't take the state if he is the democratic nominee.
2
There is how much change you want and how much change you can achieve. Most folks are ready for change away from Trump but many do not want to go "radical" in doing so, particularly those in America's center.
The one who can capture the widest range of voters will win. The one who is limited to energizing those in the extreme (left or right) won't.
We need to recognize that this is a journey from "A" to "C"' that requires passing by "B" (AKA "Electoral College") to win. So, such candidate must appeal to many liberals in the coasts as well as centrists in the Midwest and South to win.
Such candidate is Amy Klobuchar.
13
@Gian Piero Messi
Nobody "Radical" has been suggested. That word is a GOP talking point.
As a West Coast liberal, I want to say she’s my absolute last choice. I will vote for her if I absolutely have to, but I would do so with my fingers clamping my nose. Yuck!
I have one priority goal: get rid of Trump.
None of the people in the debates are capable of doing that for various reasons.
Biden is not aging well. He has problems enunciating words, must close his eyes to speak and then mangles the sentences that emerge with much of it being unintelligible. Many of us like him as a person but cringe when he speaks.
Trump would make mincemeat of him.
Bernie/Warren are too far left to win a general election. They would bring us four more years of Trump.
Pete and Amy must win Iowa and NH to be viable. They might but would not go on to win the rest of the primaries.
The only person who can absolutely beat Trump and who has decided, in his organized, methodical manner to do so is Michael Bloomberg.
He has figured out who the best people in the country are, hired 1,000 of them all at double their salaries, and opened many offices in 30 states. He has already met with Stacey Abrams to research his VP. Judge Judy, whom 10, 000, 000 Americans watch and adore daily is co-campaigning with him.
He is doing all of this on his own dime and not taking any donations.
If he is not the nominee he will financially underwrite whoever is.
This is a gift to our nation.
We need to all get behind the only person who realistically can beat Trump and usher in a new America.
20
@Simon Sez
Compared to Trump, Biden is a model of aging well and articulation, while Trump's verbiage is a word salad. Think kovfefe. What makes you think that Trump will get on the debate stage with any Democatic candidate, when sending out misspelled tweets in upper case is so much easier ?
16
@Simon Sez, I am a longtime fan of Biden but I am also a bit troubled of his speaking. But insofar as I can see, his experience and executive functioning are still good. You need to remember he always spoke this way to some degree with gaffes. But at least some of this is due to his childhood stuttering, of which he was always embarrassed. One of my favorite moral, grandfatherly figures as President was Dwight Eisenhower, who had similar issues with syntax. But his experience made him the right leader for the post-WWII years.
6
@Simon Sez I like Bloomberg, but to me, he is almost like buying the election. He didn't even participate in this interview. For someone who is serious, at least do some work and do some interviews.. not rallies. If you don't do work, you are not serious. Money 1 billion to him is nothing. If you don't do the interview, this shows he might not have the vast knowledge.
5
Joe Biden brings us together, a unifier an elder a trusted calm in a turbulent time. A one term Joe, then hopefully we can move on. Sanders are Warren are still caught up in the same old who is more progressive trap, Biden can beat Trump.
11
@Bill Evans Biden brings everyone together except the progressive side of the Democratic party, which is arguably about half of the Democrats. So no, he does not bring everyone together.
3
@Bill Evans I fail to understand how anyone can continue to believe that a middle-of-the-road center-right candidate like Biden (or Buttigieg, or Klobuchar) can beat Trump. Have we learned nothing from 2016? Bernie is the only candidate with the genuine populism, integrity, and authenticity who stands a realistic chance of beating Trump.
Clinton lost the Electoral College in 2016 because in the midwestern former Rust-belt states that mattered, she was unable to inspire disenfranchised Obama voters who believed Trump's lies. All the evidence shows that many of these voters would have supported Bernie had he been the nominee. Sadly, the DNC and the mainstream corporate media preferred losing to Trump over letting a self-declared socialist anywhere near the White House.
However, as Megan Day and Matt Karp recently pointed out in Jacobin: "in the 206 counties that went for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then Trump in 2016, Sanders has out-fundraised all of his competitors — by a long shot. By September 2019, he pulled in 81,841 individual donations from 33,185 donors in these flipped counties. That’s roughly three times as many as Biden, Warren, or Pete Buttigieg." (https://jacobinmag.com/2019/12/bernie-sanders-vs-donald-trump).
Bottom line: there is simply too much at stake to risk a repeat of 2016. The time for half measures is over. It's time to Feel The Bern!
2
Trajectory says it all--Bernie Sanders--most likely to ignite youth with Green New Deal and AOC backing
42
@TWShe Said - Sanders may or may not ignite youth, but older people dislike and distrust him — and fuggedaboud AOC! — and WE vote, too, and more dependably than the young these days. What he “ignites” in me is anger and disgust that he and his enormous ego and hostile, aggressive supporters are once again here to divide the Democrats and give us more Trump.
14
@A Dot Actually, that's no longer the case: younger people are voting in equal numbers to the outgoing generation now.
6
@A Dot
Give him a chance. He tends to grow on people. :)
Not Me, Us
Sanders 2020
3
It's Senator Klobuchar for me.
I recognize she may be too moderate for many (mostly younger) voters to get behind, but I am not young anymore and can't afford to indulge myself in the fantasies the more progressive candidates are pushing.
But it's not really about the issues for me either. I've lived long enough and have enough experience in the workforce myself now to say, without hesitation, that good ideas are great, but unless you can implement those ideas they really won't matter in the end.
Amy Klobuchar absolutely out-classes the rest of this group by miles when it comes down to who can get the work done. Let's be honest, Sanders has done virtually nothing in 30 years in the Senate. Warren, not a lot better. And Biden, his resume too looks incredibly weak upon scrutiny.
Our next president is walking into a mess that needs to be cleaned up and our systems rebuilt firstly, then the progressive policies can be approached. Amy Klobuchar will get that work done, I'm convinced of it, more so than I have ever really been convinced of a candidate's capabilities before. I have that much faith in here, and it's genuine faith.
30
I’d just like to add that the candidate at the top of the ticket is going to impact the House and Senate races, which underscores your point about getting stuff done. Without the senate nothing big gets done, and the candidates that win the swing districts and swing Senate seats aren’t going to be on board with Bernie, Warren et al. To quote Nancy Pelosi, what wins in Michigan, wins in San Francisco; what wins in San Francisco may not win in Michigan. You can substitute New York for San Francisco and any of the states Trump won by 77,000 votes in total. When Pelosi told her left wingers Medicare for All won’t happen I didn’t hear it as a policy point, I took it as a statement of political reality.
I object the pejorative tenor ascribed to “moderate” and “pragmatic.” All the legislation we associate with major progress in our history occurred at the hands of skilled politicians, real operators, be it Social Security, the Marshall Plan, Civil Rights including voting rights, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare (doa without Pelosi) and of course the EPA and Title 9 from that crazy old liberal Nixon. Reform, major change is less about ideas - ideas abound - it’s about enduring power and persistence to that retains public support.
In the 21st Century, “women’s work” is leadership, but like a 100 years ago it involves cleaning up after reckless men. Obama didn’t campaign on saving the auto industry or preventing the next Great Depression. Imagine the mess Trump will leave!
9
@John You're right that the legislation required skilled politicians, but the only reason any of that happened was from labor and social movement pressure. Without the CIO, there is no Wagner Act. Without the Civil Rights Movement (half a dozen major organizations and millions of people in the streets), there is no Voting Rights Act. Etc, etc.
You need a good politician, but you need one that is willing to work with and respond to pressure from below. More often than not, the political and media elite are intent closing the horizon of possibility and telling us what can't be done.
3
@M.A.A Klobuchar would be the strongest candidate against Trump if she can somehow secure the nomination. I also think she'd make a fine President.
12
There is no way Sanders or Warren can beat Trump. They would never win over the independents or the centrists. I hope the NYT isn't foolish enough to endorse either of them. The world is literally on fire; we need to unite to get this incompetence and blatant corruption out of the White House.
27
@Anon Sanders appeals to independents. It's one of the great advantages of his never having joined the Democratic Party, which partisans find so frustrating because they'd rather circle the wagons of the in-group than recognize that A) most people don't bother to vote, and B) many people don't like the Democratic Party as such.
3
@Anon Heh-- don't worry, even the world literally being on fire and people dying from lack of access to health care and children getting gunned down in schools and a criminal president with a Congress who can't stop him won't convince the Times it is the moment when we need to think about what is bold, what is right, and what is popular with the people, and not what is bouncing around the echo chamber of their privileged position. It will be Pete or Joe for them, I'm sure... Yet only Sen Sanders sees the world for what it is to the vast majority of us, and speaks plainly about it. And for that reason, only Sanders has a chance to win.
8