If only one thing can occur, this, please:
"Gail: I want everything to haunt him. Back to his first bankruptcy. His first bad marriage. That racehorse he ruined by making it run while it was sick. All the women whose privates he grabbed. The students who paid tuition at Trump University.
The fact that he’s gotten away with so many godawful things — any one of which would take down a normal politician — makes me lose confidence that he’ll ever have to pay for his sins. But no. As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. I sure hope Donald Trump gets it in the arc.
Amen to that Gail. Let us all hope and pray.
22
I suggest discussing the damage is doing with his policies instead of showing him at his staged rallies. Talk about his excesses, the shabby Middle East Peace Plan, the nuclear arms build up, the cost of his upkeep. The Bolton book, his taxes languishing in the Supreme Court, the number of Trump’s associates in jail.
15
Almost 50% counting done and Bernie is showing Americans that a vote for Bernie Sanders and his policies, is a vote for the America we always presumed existed, but didn't.
Regrettably we discovered that nearly 50 years of the two mainstream parties, passing the baton of power between them, was designed to make absolutely sure the poor and the middle-class would never ever be able to crawl out from under that baton, a baton which in truth was meant to be a club used repeatedly to keep the poor and the middle-class in check.
Look at the Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer Democratic choice, Joe Biden, look at his showing tonight and realize that this Democratic Party was attempting to saddle us with yet another status quo guardian, a guardian who would reimpose the status quo which gave us the inequality today that has garnered obscene wealth for corporate America and the wealthiest Americans, inequality which has reduced the poor and the middle-class to near penury and economic slavery.
Bernie Sanders will trounce the tyrant Trump, send him into oblivion, and "We the People" all the American people, will have recaptured our government, taken it away from those who are seeking to make our society into a kind of modern-day Feudalism.
They are terrified since Bernie Sanders first gave Americans hope in 2016, and now they fear that he cannot be stopped; Bernie is our modern-day FDR, he will lead back to the future FDR envisioned for all Americans.
Lets all help him get us there.
14
Trump is afraid of Joe Biden so Joe’s decline in the polls must be making Trump very happy! Let’s get real- Sanders is a socialist, Buttigieg is gay, Warren is a woman similar to Hillary and Bloomberg is a wild card. The majority of Americans will not vote for a socialist, a gay man, a professorial woman so there’s Joe. Joe may not be exciting but he can walk in to the Oval Office on Day One and know what to do-can we say that about anyone else? No!
I love Pete and Amy, I hope that Amy is VP. I want a Trump gone. Joe Biden is the only person who can beat Trump!
2
This conversation gimmick is lame and annoying. I could care less what total opposites talk about. It’s like watching Bill Maher who sows confusion in every show by bending over backwards to befriend his opposites.
10
Why don't you two start a reality TV show. It could be called "Point; Counter Point". Republican lite versus democrat lite. It should get amazing ratings. Good grief.
8
wow, great. and finally we're getting to Bloomberg as I think only Bret has written. of the dozen times I've advocated for him in comments, like only 1-2 have made it.
what's up NYT, does the thought bother you? Bret advocated for him same as I have (and will continue) as he's an amazing good choice because he's THE absolute polar-opposite of the obese disgrace. here's a short list of things he is that unmentionable isnt;
REAL billionaire. only billion number in that guys resume is # of lies he's told. zero bankruptcies, zero divorces, never impeached, never sued by 100's of contractors he's stiffed, dosent borrow from russian mafia, dosent admire nor have unseemly man-love for dictators, tyrants and thugs, dosent surround himself with same, dosent grab womens parts, dosent make repulsive comments about young women who in his warped mind would want ANYTHING to do with him, dosent have sex with, deny, lie about, pay off or consort with porn stars and has actual experience accomplishing
something besides low rent thug type of corruption and general thuggery.
and while maybe Klobuchar will be his VP (grow up a bit Pete, you'll have a chance next go) I still say the VP who would so utterly and completely embarrass, outwit, out charm and out think the current mannequin in that office is Oprah. I'd give a months salary just to watch him do a for real wicked witch of the west "I'm melting" gig when he got owned as Oprah would surely do.
1
Bret, you mention a friend who consistently defeats your best attempts to hate him.
But does he defeat your best attempts to get along with him? Bernie Sanders, like some university professors, has a certain charm across the distance separating the stage from the pit; but apparently not otherwise. In the personal interactions that are vital to productive politics, he's reputed to be a breath of wintry air.
If who wins tonight is stopped in the diverse states what then? In the diverse states what is the combined support of Amy.Pete and Bernie? Everybody thinking that people of color are just going to fall in line is a big mistake. Hillary made similar mistake in 2016. Bloomberg is more likely going to backdoor his way into the nomination. It was a reason he ignored Iowa and New Hampshire and it becoming clear as time goes by. The DNC is showing it is not ready for prime time once again. Biden is looking more like Jeb Bush daily. Trump must be loving all of this.
4
New Hampshire is the new Iowa ... whatever that means.
3
Thank you for summing up exactly why I am hoping that Michael Bloomberg will be the democratic presidential candidate.
"He surrounds himself with excellent people, takes thoughtful decisions, measures results, changes his mind when necessary, has an ethical core and doesn’t let ideology get in the way of pragmatism. "
15
Bret - "After that, Pete Buttigieg runs a strong second, hampered mainly by my fears that too many Americans will think he’s too young, that his resume is too thin, and that he’s skipping too many steps on the ladder to the presidency."
Well, considering who we have in there now, a fool who inherited real estate wealth, bankrupted companies, became a 'Reality' TV "star", then president, I'm not sure skipping steps is any impediment... though it certainly should have been, in the incumbent's case.
I think Butigieg is probably going to do better as a VP, if he gets to that this time; but he can run in the next five or six presidential races and not be as old as the other leading candidates are right now. His time will come, if he keeps trying.
We really do need a better way to do this... some very qualified candidates are out before any kind of 'representative' sampling of America has weighed in. Five or ten regional primaries, spaced a few weeks apart, rotating across a five-election cycle for which goes first. Full public financing, get the dark money out at least, and see if we can keep highly qualified people as options a bit longer.
Or we just end up with the biggest rabble-rouser, and we've all seen now that works. Thanks, Trump!
Campaigning should be limited to a couple months like it is in Britain. That would solve the big money problem we have right now and stop the candidates from spending years on the campaign trail. Our politicians are no longer responsive to us. They are responsive to their campaign donors.
5
I'm beginning to think the best thing that could happen for America is for Trump and his party of frightened sycophants to win and be forced to own the crash they are furiously driving towards.
5
@Memi von Gaza
I agree on the coming crash (think GW in 2007/2008).
But Trump will never, ever own it.
5
Briefly saw Warren addressing voters in NH. She seemed bored to have to repeat her own resume'. None of the candidates sound convincing when they do this; Biden even made one up a few years ago.
People know the resume', don't care about local sports teams, and want to hear about what the candidate will do and how they can help. Especially now, when so much needs to be done.
We still have a Mitch McConnell presidency. He has held up votes on everything important.
1
I've stopped reading Stephens column, and I've stopped reading these discussions with Collins. Seems to me that the effort to drag Collins into this is an effort to "warm up" Stephens. I rarely learn anything from these discussions and don't find them charming anymore. Can you please drop them?
7
Did the Editorial Board endorse a candidate? ;)
@Hayden
I believe they hedged their bets a bit: gave endorsement to both Warren and Klobuchar.
1
Biden was thoroughly humiliated.
4
Delightful exchange, thank you!
1
Is the candidate who can deliver the one-two punch to Trump on the ballot in New Hampshire? I don’t know.
Worst column in the entire paper. Collins is fine, but I couldn't care less what the climate denying Kavanaugh fan Bret Stephens thinks about the Democrats and the primary. No offense.
11
That Amy Klobuchar is still in the game is a powerful recommendation to vote for her if your main concern is defeating Trump (well, the only concern). She is a great campaigner, and she has the experience, maturity, and temperament to be president. But, if the Democrats are looking for someone who can outspend and go head to head with Trump, consider Bloomberg. Biden should just go home. Bernie should give up his grasp on the younger generation and admit that his time has passed. Warren should stay in the Senate, where her vote is most needed.
8
Warren, from the neighboring State of Massachusetts, is coming in a very distant 4th so far, about one half the vote that Amy appears to be getting. It looks like Bernie against Mike on Super Tuesday.
1
I note that Bret Stephens' choices are always the right-most candidates, the same tired "moderates" that have plagued the Democratic party since Bill, Hillary & others formed their third-way Democratic Leadership Council in 1992. Bill Clinton won on his outsized personality, though he was far to the right of the traditional progressive working class & trade union base. Obama, though a moderate in his policies & member of the 1%, won because progressives believed his presidency would break an historic glass ceiling for African-Americans. Other Democrats who believed the DLC myth that you had to court the moderates & undecideds & shun the progressives include non-president Al Gore, non-president John Kerry, non-president Hillary Clinton. Every great advance in the Democratic party from FDR's Social Security, Glass-Steagal Act, WPA, to JFK's & LBJ's Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid, Peace Corps, VISTA, War on Poverty, Pell Grants & a hundred more came from the progressive grassroots against the opposition of the middle-of-the-roaders. Clinton gave us Workfare, Don't Ask/Don't Tell, repeal of Glass-Steagall,. Obama, who was for single-payer insurance in the Senate, threw away his trump card before health-care negotiations even began. Then he compromised his Public Option to for-profit insurance for the Conservative Heritage Foundation's Individual Mandate, the core of Romneycare. Moderates only tweak around the edges of great issues. Progressives solve them
6
Warren should drop out.
4
A few issues these two don't address about Sanders. Like Buttigieg, his only leadership experience was mayor in a small town in Vermont years and years ago. His Senate record is remarkably unremarkable over decades. Why would he be a good leader? When the Gallup Poll says Americans are least likely to vote for a socialist (or an atheist) compared to all other possible identities, why is Sanders, a socialist, considered a strong candidate for the general election?
7
This morning, I registered to vote in my new home state of NH and then I took a paper ballot, a pencil, and walked behind a curtain and filled in my bubble like I did on the SAT's 40 years ago.
At the register table, a basket filled with eyeglasses and a sign: NEED READNG GLASSES??
On one side of the room were two tables manned by mothers with freshly baked goods and crockpots filled with soup, no prices on anything, just donated accepted with your choices.
I was shown the big brown box with slots and a simple bike lock on one side where the ballots were hand dropped from the top.
Tonight, 4 volunteers will bundle ballot in groups of fifty and then open them up and count them.
I asked several people if I was allowed to take pictures and everyone said of course you can (I think I could've been arrested back in Jersey).
This state is glorious- the best kept secret out of 50.
16
Gail: "Bernie has a yelling-guy affect I fear would be a problem."
Personally, I don't see Bernie that way.
Nevertheless, the problems facing America will only be exacerbated if anyone other than Bernie becomes president.
The oligarchy has got to go.
7
Just one word: Bloomberg. None of the others matter.
Bloomberg is the only one that Trump fears in his "heart".
7
It actually took two of you to write this.
I'll admit I'm very conservative and voted like many. For the Supreme Court.
Now that you don't like me let me tell you my biggest fear. Amy Klobuchar. She makes the same valid point on every occasion. That she has paid her dues and is capable. She would SHREDD 'ole Trumpy in any debate. If he had the guts to show up. Many moderate Rebs would flock to her.
Why do you Libs keep propping up Joe, Bernie and Liz. Sentimental?? And Fawning over Mayor Pete....Really??
Y'all better get serious or four more years will become a realty
8
You think Stephens is a liberal?
Hoo, boy.
2
It disheartens me to see these two glib, flippant people given front page on our country's newspaper of record. Not only is this not news, it is opinion of the kind that makes one frightened for the fate and future of well argued ideas. I have more nuanced conversations with my farrier.
9
Bernie is more of a Revolutionary Leftist than a Social Democrat.
And Danish people are nice and Bernie Bros are not.
2
I appreciate the hurrahs for Klobuchar and echo that myself but I think it's time the the Democratic pundits stop ignoring the fact that Pete Buttigieg is gay and that that most certainly is as much of an issue as his youth and lack of experience. As a lesbian, I see a collective amnesia that's stunning. He's gay. That's fine. Don't think for a second it doesn't factor in, heavily. I think the pundits need to start discussing this in a respectful way. It doesn't matter that Buttigieg does not view himself as the gay candidate for president. He is.
11
@Nicole Horvath
People just don't want to 'go there' because it's Politically Incorrect and invites accusations of homophobia. But the fact of the matter is, the only reason Pete has gotten so far in the first place is due to white male privilege. Imagine that he was a woman, married to another woman, (keep ages, life experiences etc. the same), and talking about starting a family (as Pete and Chasten are). That woman would be nowhere near the debate stage. Nor would a male of any color except white, married to another male, of any color.
Of course Pete does view himself as the gay candidate for president, although he tries to downplay it. But his dismissal of concerns, as in "well, they'll just have to get over it" comes across as blasé and entitled.
7
Kate of Philadelphia,
Over 60 million voters voted for President Trump. I am one of those voters who will vote once again for him. You call us losers like Hillary Clinton called us deplorables. That’s OK. I have been called much worse. It does not phase me in the least.
4
Frankly, the NY times opinion columnist who are pushing a female candidate got it wrong. Mayor Pete won Iowa because people like him and his message. Mayor Pete is the most articulate in the crowd and his moderate pragmatic views match mine, the silent majority.
I saw the debate, Amy has no charisma, Bernie to old to extreme will lose independents to Trump, Biden a nice guy but too old, not dynamic. Our best democrat presidents were young with limited experience and fresh ideas, Kennedy, Clinton, Obama.
3
Why? This conversation is as insignificant as overhearing some random people on the bus.
6
@Therese B. - Exactly. Why would ANYONE care what Bret and Gail think?
Who are they and what have they accomplished to make their opinions noteworthy? Absolutely nothing from what I can see.
5
It is not Sanders "confident stage presence and a well-honed delivery that never disappoints his fans" that "makes him the likely front-runner in the Granite State." I must disagree with Bret Stephens. It is Sander's authenticity, honesty and knowledge of Washington combined with his true desire to improve the lives of people that makes him popular. Particularly the lives of the people in the lower 50% i income and wealth group in the US. They are in pain and many are hopeless, in near poverty or poverty, have fear of their lousy heath care insurance and are feeling very insecure. I have often listed here, the problems of a huge swath of Americans in our declining country but that is now becoming clear to everyone.
"There must be something rotten at the very core of a social system which increases its wealth without diminishing its misery." Karl Marx
5
Candidate tales: is Robert Klara’s book “Roosevelt’s Funeral Train... “ p78 the basis for Amy Ks summary story? According to the book a young soldier was near the White House as the cortège passed by - and said to Labor Sec. Perkins “ I felt as if I knew him...I felt as if he knew me...I felt as if he liked me”.
3
Why?
Instead of this endless banter, can you two please explain why you and the Times are against Bernie Sanders so categorically?
Please do not insult people’s intelligence by:
1) saying a socialist cannot be elected since Bernie is not a socialist and his policies are not to the left of FDR who was elected FOUR times;
2) saying that he shouts too much given we have a president who cannot even shout in coherent sentences running the county who beat a centrist favorite of the Times in the electoral college in 2016.
Plus, Medicare for all is a human right and it is a common feature of most western democracies who pay for it by taxing their populations logically, fairly and progressively. The US should emulate Sweden and Denmark. Size is not relevant. These things are completely scalable if we have the will. We sent men in the moon when we wanted it. The reason was that the one percent was convinced that that was a good idea.
Both of you are educated people. You must have heard of John Rawls and “A Theory of Justice.” Bernie is the embodiment of principles expounded by Rawls. What do you have agains those? I never really met anyone who disagrees with Jesus with respect to “do not do to your neighbor what you won’t do to yourself.” Rawlsian Justice is a learned variation on that.
In any case, you may be observing that the candidate you despise is winning. He is leading in national polls. Maybe the people are seeing something that you two do not?
9
Sorry to see all the old memes repeated here. “Shouty Bernie.” “Scary Socialist” Bernie. Can’t these pundits address actual policy differences instead of stupid media-created labels?
Weird that Stevens finds Fascism less scary than universal health care.
8
'Warren not long for this political world'?...
...OK...she was useful so long as she split-off support for Sanders...
...but now that Bloomberg's in - and some of her camp is going for him - we don't need her anymore...
...Run it!
3
Can we please stop with the faked hype?
The idea that what has taken place in the DEM campaigns is anything but normal is the only abnormality in this election cycle.
1
Bret : "Trump is not going to be defeated with feckless snark, or smug jokes, or hyperbolic depictions of America as a fascist hellscape. Something else is required, though I can’t decide whether it will be the fierce moral passion of Sanders or the sober intelligence and dry wit of Buttigieg or Klobuchar."
The something is: show us his taxes, please, somebody. Everyone is tip toeing around it. It'll bring him down, he'll still be talked about for years (you know that's what he craves) and we must insist that Roger Stone be his cellmate.
6
Since you continuously utilize the pejorative "Bernie Bros" every time you write about Sander's supporters, could you please include the pejoratives for the the other candidates when mentioning their supporters? - "Warren's Waverly's", "Biden Buster's", " Kloubuchar's Klan","Buttiegieg's Billionaires". Or make up your own.
6
The race horse story is worse than the dog-on-the-roof story. Wish Gail would highlight it.
1
For every ad the Trump campaign runs showing Pelosi ripping up his speech, the DNC needs to run an add showing Lt. Col. Vindman being perp-walked out of the White House. Nancy was expressing her Free Speech. Personally, I think Trump was lucky she didn't spit in his face. That move probably would have increased Democratic voter turnout by a hundred-fold.
4
Sure Bret, extreme wealth has made this country great! Run that by the thousands living on the streets, working 3 jobs or declaring bankruptcy (500,000 last year) due to a medical emergency. And Pelosi tearing up a speech full of lies was necessary. You're a chicken, Bret. And your rabbi probably knows it.
8
Really? Pelosi's ripping up some paper will hurt the Democratic candidate's chances when the entire litany of Trump's horrible actions, including putting children in cages and deporting people to their deaths, gets a pass in Stephens' eyes? Do Republican talking points really control everyone in this country including NYT op-ed writers? Campaign on the truth. People still want it. Or why write articles for a newspaper?
3
Speaking of Trump’s cruelty: Did either of you catch Melania’s grotesque attempt to rally her Be Best followers against cyber bullying, alongside her husband’s latest tweet storm mocking Mitt Romney and Joe Manchin? Is she just being ironic? Or playing deaf to the endless stream of hateful, bullying bile flowing continuously from his ugly, contorted mouth?
5
Are Desperate Democrats making up stories about EPA being gutted? EPA is still around as far as I know. Children in cages were from Obama's times. They only increased because human traffickers tried to push them into the USA along with caravans. Mexico is now cooperating with the USA in keeping the central American caravans outside their southern border and not providing them passage to the US. Did you not read Jorge Ramos whining that Trump's wish came true thanks to Mexico? Have Dems not heard the devil is in the detail. Get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about things you know little about. NH Dems hold their failing party in their hands. Buckle up or face another debacle like the Iowa caucus.
1
Bret Stephens,
You are terrified of Sanders? Let me tell you what I am terrified of-- I am terrified that my husband will lose his full time job again and we'll be between jobs paying $1200 a month for insurance. I'm terrified that in my middle age with two graduate degrees the best work I can find is a minimum wage job. I'm terrified that the economy will crash and climate change will kill us. I worry that our 401 K will crash and medicare and social security will be cut. I worry that nazis are marching in American streets carrying guns and there's a white supremacist in the White House. I'm terrified of war with Iran. Collapse of pollinators. The murder of butterfly protectors in Michocan. The heating of our oceans. The calving of ice bergs. The melting of glaciers. Release of permafrost.
I am not terrified of Bernie Sanders.
21
Was reading another Times article on Iowa. A woman voter listed the criteria she was seeking and hadn't found until she heard Buttigieg speak. But her criteria perfectly described Warren. The point? Sanders may be right. How can a woman win if women ignore her. So I don't hold out hope for Klobuchar either. Sad.
2
"...Or at least those of us who can vote in a Democratic primary." was the most pointed line in this whole conversation. Good one there Ms. Collins.
Voter suppression is yet another tool the GOP (the Grand Old Politburo) is employing to further secure its new regime while keeping up the charade of democracy.
1
Bernie is getting half the votes that he got in 2016.
Can someone please explain to me how this means that he is doing well?
Biden leaving NH early is bad look.
2
@Lefthalfbach It’s in the high number of candidates the dnc is running against Bernie. In 2016 there were only three candidates for dems, this year six. 180,000 votes divided by three is better for Bernie than 180,000 divided by six. The rnc adopt the exact same divide and conquer strategy against the nameless president in 2016 by running 16 candidates. Good news is Bernie is still winning and quite convincingly.
4
After the rejected handshake, ripping the speech was a perfect response. It showed that we can platy tough too. Brit is so gifted with words but he just has persistently bad judgment.
4
Bernie Bash or Bernie bust, he has my vote and likely most working people’s
5
I'm pretty sick of blaming Democrats for not doing enough to save Republicans from themselves and the country from Republicans. Name-calling never changed anyone's mind: okay, but at some point a person has to take responsibility for not doing international crimes against humanity, and they can't blame others for not being nice enough telling them to stop.
2
What an extraordinary conversation, designed entirely to manage perception, in spite of the reality that Bernie Sanders is literally sweeping the nation, garnering ever increasing support from every ethnicity, every creed, and every sexual persuasion, the Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer Biden Democratic Party, it's corporate masters, it's wealthiest elite donors, and its mainstream media mouthpieces are literally terrified of Bernie Sanders becoming the nominee and our 46th President.
The great majority of Americans, especially the ignored disenfranchised poor and middle-class, are all now fully awake, champing at the bit, anxious as never before to defeat not only the tyrant Trump, but equally focused on preventing a return of the soul-destroying status quo guardians, the Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer Biden democrats.
This November will see our Democratic Republic reborn; Bernie Sanders is our modern-day FDR, returning to make the American Dream the reality we all know it could, and should be.
Americans have put up with 50 long years of use and abuse, savaged by corporate America and the government it purchased; its game over for these charlatans, November is just around the corner ...
7
PA, WI and MI. Focus! If the Democrats can take back those three states, they win.
2
It’s sort of amusing to watch Collins and especially Stephens write their way into irrelevance. The Times editorial board (sounds impressive, huh?) recommends Klobuchar and Warren. Klobuchar and Warren then bump along down in irrelevant territory of 12% and 18% in Iowa. Everyone knows NH is Bernie’s home turf and yet somehow Collins and Stephens are recommending Klobuchar and Warren for NH. Out of touch, clueless, irrelevant.
Bernie for the poor, Bernie for the powerless.
4
I can only think of one word after reading this and, yes, it is four letters.
If Mr. Stephens is absolutely terrified by Trump's policies, he does not show it. Trump has many more unhinged supporters than Bernie does bros; many if not most of Trump's supporters are unhinged, while if Bernie wins the nomination most of his supporters will not be unhinged and will work to dissuade Bernie from going with his Bros (which he does not want to do in any case, at least from his public statements).
What Bernie will likely be able to do is much less than his present or past policy likes. What Trump will likely be able to do is unknown at present, and people who estimated it have generally been very wrong. What he will be able to do depends mainly on Mitch.
To be more terrified of Bernie than Trump is an expression of values whose existence in an intelligent and educated person is beyond my understanding.
Bernie is not a Leninist. He wants his policies adopted as a result of massive popular support (what he calls a political revolution) rather than as a result of the abrogation (by ignoring it) of our constitution and laws. This abrogation amounts to a coup d'etat, and that is what we are seeing now. Perhaps Mr. Stephens' terror comes from a realization that Bernie might be able to create massive popular support that would include many who now support Trump, and give the money elite a haircut that crimps their style.
4
Maybe lots of folks are only now starting to notice, but Amy Klobuchar has represented rare class, quality, expertise, moderation and political common sense in this campaign, ever since she has announced her candidacy.
If only Americans would have the good sense to put their political lives in her hands. Over here, in Europe, we would welcome and loudly cheer an overdue return to sanity.
5
Mr. Stephens says he's "terrified" of a Saunders presidency but instead of conjuring imaginary demons he should get a new calendar.
On each of the approximately 300 days before the election, Mr. Trump will almost certainly provide something to jot down, large or small, that should scare all of us, absolutely regardless of traditional ideological differences.
For example, rallygoers greeting Baby Don with chants of "46, 46". Or Mr. Trump saying the Constitution was too difficult for him to read aloud. Or the sharpied weather data. Or we the people paying his press person to use the word "retribution" about elected U.S. officials, active military, and the press. Or any of dozens, if not hundreds, of other examples.
4
I’m beginning to move from Warren to Bloomberg. I simply don’t get the argument that he’s buying the presidency. He’s using his own money, for heavens sake, and therefore, unlike most of the others, he’s indebted to no-one. I recall Roosevelt and Kennedy. Like them, he’s smart, ruthless, and willing to spend what it takes to beat the incumbent.
7
"His policies absolutely terrify me." -- Bret Stephens
Health care for every citizen, a living wage, affordable education, campaign finance reform, a Green New Deal to create jobs and save the planet. If Stephens finds these policies terrifying, what sort of policies would he find more reassuring?
20
The world is past just watching, they are taking steps to adjust to the decline of the United States on the world stage. We have lost our moral compass and are now in a state of paranoia.
Over the years those in government have learned how to spend money but never learned, or maybe never cared, about getting results. Our children and their children will pay heavy price. Decline is a terrible thing to be a part of.
1
The Democratic presidential candidates do not have a chance winning against President Trump. Even the moderate candidates are still too liberal for many voters. Why would they want to vote for someone other than President Trump. He had 11,000 people attend his New Hampshire rally vs. Bernie Sanders 7,000. President Trump is a winner and people want to go with the winner.
4
@KMW
You do understand that 1 Republican will get all those fans. 9 Democratic candidates will split those D-I leaning supporters.
The fact Sanders drew 7,000, easily surpassing most other D candidates is something to take notice of.
Donnie is hearing footsteps; and acting like it.
7
@KMW
And how many Republican candidates held rallies? The Democrats' rallies are still split at this point, as is fundraising.
Only losers think Trump is a winner.
7
Hitler has some pretty huge rallies too.
And a winner is only a winner until they lose.
4
From what he's seen, heard, and read over the past several months this disinterested observer is with Mr Stevens. He gave his hypothetical vote to Amy Klobuchar when Kamala Harris dropped out, prior to that he couldn't make up his mind between them.
I find Warren too preachy, Sanders too shouty, Biden too wobbly, Buttigieg too waffly, and Yang too whacky. I just want y'all to elect someone who at least comes across as sensible/reasonable/pragmatic - like Amy Klobuchar.
8
Bernie is winning for very good reason. HIs policies are what this country needed 50 years ago to avoid the situation we are in now. A strong social democracy is what keeps corrupt fascism away. The democrats need to find their FDR fight again and push the fascists back once again. Bernie understands that more than any other candidate and the people are listening. Corporate democrats and repubicans need to go the way of the DoDo bird.
100
@kay
Someone please explain to a person from across the ocean, how can someone - Sanders - be in the running for the Democratic nomination, a second time(!!!), when he can't even be bothered to be a member of the party?
Also, just listening to Trump's relevant remarks, observing his manoeuvring, one would have to be deaf and blind not to see he is doing all he can to ensure that Sanders will be his opponent, come November.
11
@kay
Bernie, rme.
I'll vote for him if I have to, but he needs to keep his promise to release his medical records.
4
Kay,
"Corporate democrats and repubicans need to go the way of the DoDo bird."
They surely do, what they refuse to see is that their day in the sun is gone.
When Bernie Sanders becomes the nominee, which will occur, it will be hilarious watching as they try to undermine him; I expect a scorched earth campaign soon from this Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer Biden Democratic Party, with all manner of shenanigans deployed to try and stop his being nominated, I even expect some kind of covert alliance with the Trump Party, as these corrupt corporate owned Republican-Lites try to assist Trump; they would rather have a Trump second term than see Bernie Sanders in the White House.
3
Tired of “winning” with moderates such as Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry, and Hillary, three of them losing to clowns. Let’s try something else.
7
Warren-Buttigieg is the ticket I want to see. The dream ticket. But the reality is that I don’t think the Democrats have a bat’s chance in you-know-where of defeating Trump primarily because of the anachronism of the Electoral College. I would like to see the Presidential campaign quietly fold & the focus (and money) be shifted to taking back the House & Senate. Can you imagine a Trump in office unable to get things done because a Democrat-controlled House & Senate were holding him prisoner? Now there’s a dream that might be doable.
4
I know people are worried about Pelosi on a tear, but recall that Trump has a team that follows him with scotch tape because of all the documents he rips up by hand. I was reminded of it on the SOTU night and found the politico article of 2018.
4
I just wish Michael Bennet had somehow caught fire, but he's not a flashy guy, and our electorate seems to crave the big, the loud, the flash. Never mind that every time he's interviewed I think he's one of the least phony people running.
7
The King quote should really be attributed to Theodore Parker, (The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.) MLK rephrased the original quote which was taken from a sermon of Parker's.
1
I don't understand rearranging the deck chairs as the ship is sinking.The world will not end as the plutocrats deliver the coup de grace and Trump Nihilists take to the street.
Where is the America that looked to the future until the anti evolutionary forces brought America to its knees?
Only a united America can fix your country which as likely as the Rapture, Armageddon, or any other supernatural event.
In the words of Leonard "Everybody knows." The America of the 18% percent that controls the Senate wants the return of the 17th century and to get there they have a party willing to bomb us back to the stone age.
2
Abandon the silly, old-fashioned worries about "Democratic Socialism." Bernie's attempt to see that common folks will be able to fairly participate in a world they largely built is a goal now as it was for FDR in the 1930's & 40's. The wealth garnered today by the ultra-rich is obscene & extending health care to all is proper & necessary.
Don't worry, Bret - there will be enough arch-conservative forces in Congress to guarantee that Bernie won't have free reign, but he will be able to re-direct our country back to reasonable and proved SCIENCE to help clean up the atmosphere and make our planet a safe place for our children and grandchildren to live on, and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure so we all can be safe!
What's wrong with that?
9
I suppose it would be bor-r-ring, but why couldn't Bloomberg buy national tv airtime to give a speech on "capitalism in a democratic society." People are so terribly simple-minded, where either the rich propertied folks are right or the poor disenfranchised folks are right. What is right is caring for self and for others, which must mean a moderate, humane approach to social programs that does not hate wealth creation. Purist ideology may seem galvanizing, whether it comes out of Trump's or Bernie's mouth. But I believe the people would re-grasp the the whole integrated picture if they were shown it.
3
I'll just go way out on a limb here. Democrats have probably already lost the presidency for another four years. They've simply made too many mistakes at this point. If they still have a chance, it rests with Bloomberg. Let him spend his own money. Democrats should pour all their available cash into the Senate races. If Republicans manage to flip the House, then a Senate controlled by Democrats can block legislation coming from the House as well as judicial nominations coming from the White House. That will provide a failsafe for our democracy. Let's face it: the House has limited leverage with the budget (the government can be shut down for just so long), is not going to be called on to declare war anytime soon and can impeach but there will never be the 2/3 majority to convict in the Senate. So the Senate is the prize for Democrats in 2020. And if Bloomberg manages to pull off a victory in the general election and Democrats hold the House and flip the Senate, then we can all rejoice. Because then the real work to repair the damage to our country can finally begin.
928
@Blue Moon Bloomberg at top is best chance for a Democratic Senate and keeping the House. On the other hand, Sanders on top guarantees a Republican Senate and could cost the House.
The nightmare scenario is a Sanders ticket where he loses to Trump in a landslide and both House and Senate end up in Republican hands. Imagine Trump then.
Bloomberg is the safest bet.
Go Mike!
256
@Mad Moderate I would be fine with Mike Bloomberg if he gets the nomination. But a groundswell of young progressive voters is on the march and they could likely put Sanders in the White House. People feared FDR, too. Enjoying your Social Security and Medicare?
112
I have to agree - we have to take back the Senate or the democracy experiment is over.
143
In New Hampshire, both Democrats and Republicans can vote in the primaries. It is possible that Trump Republicans will vote for a Democratic presidential candidate that cannot beat President Trump. This has happened in the past and quite possibly happen tonight. Whether or not this occurs, President Trump is bound to be re-elected. He has many things going for him such as a strong economy and job market.
1
All of our candidates are really great people, but Bernie is leading in National polls. During the last election Sanders was drawing thousands, over twenty thousand at some rallies, compared to Clinton’s hundreds. Don’t get me wrong, Hillary is a smart girl and would have been a great president, but you never pointed out the throngs of voters rallying behind Sanders. You guys are the greatest newspaper in the world. Your anybody-but-Bernie dance is tiresome. It’s time to do better because we have got to beat Trump. If he wins the nomination that means supporting Sanders. You might want to steel yourselves for that possibility.
4
National polls are irrelevant. State by state polls that tally up projected Electoral College results are all that matter. Unless and until the MSM starts reporting THAT information, it does a disservice to us all.
Dems need to admit that to beat Trump they need America’s third party to vote for their candidate.
Without Independents NO Dem candidate will win, and there is No WAY Independents are voting for Bernie, Warren or Buttigieg.
Once again Dems are foundering with either weak candidates or platforms that are too left.
Time to smarten up
3
@Enough
Wait—Bernie actually is an Independent, you know that, right? At this point, I’m agnostic on many candidates including Bernie, but he would easily get all the Jill Stein votes from 2016. Independents come in all flavors. The conservative ones are likely to vote for Trump anyway.
3
@Enough
Amongst the Dem. candidates, Sanders leads them all in polling with Indy's. Example:
cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2020/images/01/22/rel1b.-.2020.pdf
Bern, 31%
Joe, 16%
Pete, 14%
Liz, 12%
Yang, 10%
Mike, 4%
By the by, Sanders won the Independent votes last primary. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/when-independents-can-vot_b_9834224
1
The best way to defeat Trump, personally because of his thin skin, and at the ballot box, is through ridicule. Bloomberg would mop up multiple debate floors with him. Also, most Americans are far to the right of Sanders and Warren. That this simple fact doesn't seem to register with either of them is astounding. They seem hell-bent on their agendas no matter what the actual priorities of Americans are. A lot of Independents and Republicans would likely vote for the Democratic candidate if they had even half a reason for doing so. The Dem candidates need to get their acts together soon.
8
Whenever I watch Mayor Pete, I feel like I'm watching a college student council president.
8
@Val Landi
Too polished, too scripted and NO policies, just criticism of other candidates who actually have them. An empty suit and a creation of the BILLIONAIRES who support him and to whom "Mayor Pete" will ultimately answer to.
3
@Val Landi, Nah, more like high school council prez layered with a veneer of smug McKinsey consultant (and I’ve worked with those guys, every single one of them full of himself and his cool competence)
Mike Bloomberg is the only candidate who might appeal to the the middle of the road Republicans intending to hold their collective noses and vote for Donald Trump. A blissful economy is seductive and there’s only one Democrat who isn’t beating the drum to screw that up.
5
@Nicola Possas
In last night small town primary, Bloomberg got a write in vote for both the Republican and democrat primary.
It would seem some are confused as to whether or not Bloomberg is a republican or democrat and ultimately, I believe so is he and for the democratic voter, that is not good.
4
So annoyed at the constant dismissal of Elizabeth Warren by all the men pundits, as with Bret here. But glad to see Gail here saying she is her favorite...as she seems to be with a lot of educated women, including others who write for this paper. She has the same understanding and passion about the problem of corruption that Bernie does, and has enough experience in Washington to understand how to fight it--as in the Consumer Finance Protection Agency that she helped to make happen! It would be thrilling to she her in charge! She came in third in Iowa--not Amy, not Biden, and yet I keep hearing about them, and not her!
17
Why do liberal folks keep asking conservatives what Democrat they want to see elected? Really. Why should I care what Bret or Ross or David think? They’ve each proven time and again they don’t care about what I care about at best. Mostly they’re hostile toward the world I want my government to facilitate. Stop asking.
17
You underestimate Tom Steyer. He made the strongest statement yet from any of the other Democrats about getting Trump out of office. Didn't know about T and the race horse. Make sure everybody knows about that before the end of the week!
Sad reality: Even though he got caught red handed, Trump's smear campaign against Biden has worked. Don't know why media fails to attribute Biden's drop in polls to success of Trump's Ukraine activity. It's simple: too many voters conclude that "all politicians are the same". Enough to make a difference.
7
If Trump wins the election, at least he will be the one who is faced with the economic crash his policies are going to produce once the bubble bursts. If a democrat wins, that poor president will be faced with trying to clean up the massive mess with no funding available to actually do anything else.
9
Excellent point!
I have yet to understand what motivates the Sanders/Warren faction. Their agenda is essentially revolution: expropriation of private property on a big scale + confiscatory taxation, in effect turning the economy over to the government even though the government is the least efficient economic manager known. That might make sense if it was failing, but it's not, it's booming. Do the extreme lefties just envy other people's success, do they hate America? What's going on, I'm at sea.
6
The economy is booming, and it was booming for awhile, but yet the deficit is up, salaries barely increased, healthcare is unaffordable for many, student loans are crushing the young generation. If that is going while economy is booming, people rightly are terrified to think what happen If the economy crushes. There is already talk about cutting social programs, while giving tax cut to rich. And every reasonable person will ask why do you need cut taxes when economy is so booming? And if you have enough money to afford tax cut, why can not afford the social programs, cost of which should go down anyway if the economy so good.
12
Tonight is the last chance for the Democratic party to get behind the Unity candidate, Elizabeth Warren. The progressive wing understands what is at stake and will only support Warren or Sanders. Times have changed and the so called moderate Dems using GOP talking points about healthcare are a sure fired way to keep a large voting block at home. Better to suffer through 4 more years of Trump and regroup in 4 more years.
2
If Trump wins another term, you won’t see a Democrat in the Oval Office for a generation.
2
I'm an older woman who would really like to see a female president before I die. That said, I do not like Amy Klobuchar. I'm tired of hearing her talk about how many times she's been elected and how many bill she's passed. One hundred bills? Is that possible? I thought the Senate was known for getting nothing done (except for tax cuts for the wealthy). If she has been so successful in the Senate, why is she so unknown? Just because she has a smart mouth does not mean she can take down Trump.
7
@CathyinManhattan She lost me completely with the tater tot hot dish. Anyone who thinks a tater tot casserole is good eating is stuck in the salty, fatty, fake-food, lily white America of the past rather than the clean-eating, healthy, vibrant, diverse America we want for the future.
1
@CathyinManhattan
Well, if you’re from Manhattan, that might explain this comment. Did you watch the Kavanaugh hearing? Everyone who watched it knows who Amy Klobuchar is. Had you ever heard of Pete Buttigieg before this campaign? How about Andrew Yang? And it is astounding to me that how many times she’s won elections (and in conservative red zones, I might add) and how many bills she’s passed doesn’t matter to you. What the heck does matter to you in a presidential candidate?
3
Sure Bret finds that Sanders "policies absolutely terrify me", The "haves" should be terrified, it is past time to pay your dues. You have been living off the rest of us for sometime now.
28
@Steve
that kind of socialism with a government by, of, and for the 1% is ok by them.
10
@Steve
I’m as progressive as the next person, but that vindictive approach is a losing strategy.
1
@Kally
Vindictive? Did they ask politely when they stole from the 99%. When they chested on taxes. When Wall Street nearly caused a world economic collapse. There is nothing vindictive about income redistribution.
4
"Trump hails heroic Tuskegee airman and centenarian"
This is the person who should have rec'd the Presidential medal of Freedom - NOT R. Limbaugh. *sign*
Michael B/Amy K. 2020!!
10
I love reading these conversations between Gail & Bret! They’re done with a respect for each other’s opinions, plus light humor, which helps. And I, unlike many others, I guess, am interested in hearing the other side of the fence too (which is Bret, for me). It helps me pull back from my own viewpoint. I too have supported Warren, but I appreciate hearing what Gail has to say, as she knows more than I do politically. Together, they give me a saner, broader view, & I appreciate the NYT running their dialogues (which, btw, I don’t find ‘elite’….just educated/intelligent).
6
Maybe I'm the only one who clicked Gail's link to the story about Trump's racehorse. It broke my heart. What drives his penchant for doing the most careless and cruel thing? No one can dissuade him from making hasty, ill-informed and erratic decisions. He's the expert on all things! His gut informs him, what more do you want? It also seems that in his mind there is no pain but his pain. He wants what he wants, even when he is clueless on the details and negligent regarding risks. According to the story, he even stiffed the breeder of the racehorse on the price that he had agreed to.
That poor horse suffered needlessly and died young due to the arrogance of Donald Trump. No one, but NO ONE, can say "no" to him. He forced the horse to race despite all advice from experienced equine specialists. His magical thinking and "seat of the pants" compass destroyed that horse. He had even changed the horse's name and named it after himself!
As someone who not only respects democracy, but who loves humanity, and horses, and values all sentient creatures AND biodiversity, this story adds to an expanding list of horrors and makes me livid. Other people's children in cages are simply NOT on his radar. But punishing truth tellers and dissenters? He's licking his chops.
From Gail, quoted in this piece: "As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. I sure hope Donald Trump gets it in the arc."
17
Bloomberg is the one to best Trump,IMHO. The winning ticket: Bloomberg and Klobuchar or Buttigieg or Sherrod Brown! Cabinet jobs for Bernie (HUD), Warren (AG), Yang (Commerce), Buttigieg (if not VP, then Secretary of State). As for Sec of Transportation, anyone without conflicts of interest. Sec of Treasury or Labor should be Robert Reich.
6
Just one more article showing the problem-free rarefied world of pundits. On the other side hundreds of comments showing people with real problems.
That’s what is teerifying.
8
@sapere aude
That is why those in the "Washington/New York Bubble" fail to understand the vast increase in support of Bernie Sanders and his policies. The same people in that "bubble" also have continued to fail to understand their line of thinking and rhetoric and decades old failure to deal with the issues of the vast majority of Americans is what got Donald Trump elected in the first place.
4
I just read a reply from someone stating that Trump voters should look at the new proposed tax cuts to social security, medicare etc and we should be afraid. Well, guess what. I am not. Those programs won't be around when I am 65. I am paying all this money out of my paycheck every month for social security and medicare and I won't even get to have it when I am old. You democrats think Bernie Sanders would win against Trump? HA. You have truly lost your minds. Yes, we want a socialist country. Tax the rich at 90% and they will just stay in America. No, all those large corporations will leave. Jobs will be crushed. Trump is killing it with the economy, actually killing Terrorist and he doesn't talk like some politician. He was voted in because he curses and makes fun of his opponents but he has also delivered. Look at the state of our country now. It makes me shed a tear of happiness. Since day one they have tried to take this man down using false documents and accusations and he hasn't gone down. You know who fell down? Hillary Clinton. Biden will fall at some point during this campaign. That old man just needs to sit on the sidelines along with Warren. Anyways, enjoy another 4 years of Trump.
2
@Bob Richards
A vote for Trump will make your personal prophecy come true.
5
And where will they leave? To Europe? That in general has highs tax rate? Or to China where the Government runs the economy? Let's them run and support the domestic business that could not flourish now because the stranglehold of the big corporations.
2
I was wondering and I bet you would know, Bob...what was the name of the character who plays the head house servant in, “Django?”
You’ll never be allowed in the limo, Bob.
Re ” If Warren were an alcoholic beverage, she’d be merlot.”
Just so ya know Gail, Merlot is around a 50pct. component of the great Bordeaux wines. That fact was overlooked in the film “ Sideways” wherein the lead character’s wine of his dreams, a great Bordeaux, was composed of 40-60pct merlot. Maybe Warren’s image will benefit from that distinctive characterization.
3
@RjW
Bret’s the one who called her a merlot.
It was Pinot Noir (Burgundy)...not Merlot Bordeaux)...that the lead character was interested in the movie “Sideways”.
Everyone needs to get over any resentment they might harbor against the uber rich running for office and acknowledge that the only Democrat who can go toe-to-toe against Trump & Co. is Bloomberg.
Who cares if he spends his own money? It's his to spend - he actually did earn it - and using his own money keeps him beholden to no one, and keeps him out of our pockets.
Bloomberg is an actual, honest-to-god, self-made, successful business- and job-creator, which needs to be promoted as the all-American success story we all wish we could achieve and that he will work to even the playing field, since he personally knows how uneven it is. He wasn't to the manor born - he went from nothing to the pinnacle of his industry by actually working for a living.
He needs to be promoted as someone with real-world success running a large city. He can acknowledge the failures and counter the criticism by admitting mistakes and subsequent growth from experience.
Bloomberg can look Trump dead in the eye and call him out, without flinching, and do so in a way that no one but the Kool-Aid swiggers can dispute.
Bloomberg is everything Trump falsely claims to be: An actual billionaire with a raft of real-world, provable success in business and government. Can you just envision the two of them in a debate? Bloomberg would eat him alive, then pick his teeth with Trump's pinky bone.
9
@Cynical Cyndi
I just checked the box for Bloomberg in the Florida primary. I think he and Amy K. would be a great ticket.
5
Yaw, he'd kick him in the arc!
1
What does President Obama think about Bernie Sanders? How about President Clinton? President Carter? Is it time for some if our leading Democrats to speak out?
5
Bret Stephens’ antipathy to Sanders is obsessive and irrational. Saying that Sanders’ policies scare him to death is simple knee-jerk Republican rhetoric Republicans have been trained to believe ever since Louis Powell published his memorandum and the war on the New Deal began.
Whatever is financially impractical about Sanders’s policies will not be passed by the Congress anyway. He’s running for president, not all the seats in the house and senate. If you don’t like his policies, elect a congressman or senator that you believe will best represent your views.
Stephens would have opposed Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, minimum wage laws, unemployment insurance, work place safety laws—-maybe even child labor laws except as to girls. Stephens isn’t FOR anything.
That said, Stephens is a reality, and Sanders has done nothing to mitigate the extremism perceived in the term “socialism.” He could have explained that he still believes in the formation of capital by private investment. That he believes in a fundamental capitalist foundation for the economy, subject to regulation that would level the playing field. And that some essential services should be administered by the government, like roads, massive public works projects like dams and flood control, and health care. But he hasn’t done that.
For that reason, he will be an easy target as a scary socialist. As such, I don’t think he can win.
I am hoping Mike Bloomberg doesn’t bomb out when he finally takes the s
3
@Robert, As best I can tell, Sanders has never faced seriously negative opposition, running vicious attack ads etc. To my recollection, the Clinton campaign didn’t do that and he’s never faced serious opposition in VT. He’s already a bellowing old man and seems rather thin skinned. I think he’d explode when the attack ads begin and there’s certainly a lot of material available beginning with the fact he’s supported dreadful people and hasn’t done a damn thing in the Senate
4
@Robert
"Stephens isn't For anything".
You just nailed the "text book"description of ALL Republicans.
Dear Mr. Stephens,
"Feckless snark" has made my day. But I agree with Ms. Collins about Pelosi's ripping. I have seldom seen a more uplifting and well choreographed performance. Tap and straighten; rip; tap and straighten; rip; tap and straighten.
Oh, my. I nearly wept with joy
7
Vote for what you want and not what you think they can get.
I read the NYT Opinion pages and shake my head. You miss the point again and again. The movement has a name: #NotMeUS. Supporters of #NotMeUs aren't for Bernie Sanders per se. Rather we support breaking the stranglehold that neoliberals champion to maintain status, in spite of their way having fueled a gaping inequality gap, accelerating global climate crisis and no better than a third-world health care system in America.
And dare I say wars? Neoliberals love a good fight. Even when armed conflict is based on a lie. Iraq became Obama's War every bit as much as George Bush's War. Hillary and Joe voted for the War while we were in the streets protesting. Our "War on Terror" is a battle to memorialize as a Right for all Americans health care, livable wages, education, clean air and water. Yours is a message of limiting expectations and quashing ambition. Your ammunition is an arsenal of platitudes and doomsday rhetoric. Sanders supporters aren't drinking your Kool-Aid anymore. It's toxic. Young voters don't want it; most older voters have been intoxicated by it. You hark for Democratic unity? Yes we are mammals, but that doesn't make us rats.
I am all for ranked choice voting. In 2020 I want a candidate who champions the #NotMeUS agenda. That would be Bernie Sanders. My second choice is to dig in for another four years of decline. That will hasten, not perpetuate, your political system. Your way is killing us.
4
As a lifelong Democrat, if Bernie is the nominee, I'll work hard canvassing to support him in our town.
But I don't buy the NotMeUs tag line; Bernie and his supporters don't show a lick of support to any other candidate, badmouthing even Elizabeth Warren. Enough with the phony messianic jingo.
1
@Greg
Of course, neither the media nor his opponents have consistently bad mouthed Sanders. Really?
1
@Jim Neal
Hey Jim, get real. All you say is well and good but Trump is the danger here. Please see how dangerous this man is and enthusiastically support whoever gets the nomination or there may never be another Democratic primary season.
But no. As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. I sure hope Donald Trump gets it in the arc.
Gail should get a Pulitzer Prize for this!
4
Bret: "Trump is not going to be defeated with feckless snark, or smug jokes, or hyperbolic depictions of America as a fascist hellscape. Something else is required."
What's required is Bernie Sanders and a massive Get Out the Vote plan and for the corporate Dems to and DNC to just stay out of the way or else come into the Sanders wing of the party.
7
Hate to say it but Trump will win reelection. Why would I say that?
Trump is a sociopath and a pathological liar. Anyone who would dispute either of those two things is incapable of being honest with himself or herself, or, perhaps more frighteningly, doesn't care.* Trump is the President of the United States and he lies and viciously attacks people, largely American citizens, with impunity every single day. Yet he has the full backing and foam at the mouth support of close to 45% of the US population.
And that 45% controls the Electoral College by a large margin, and they know it. I've said it before in my comments to other articles in this newspaper and I will say it again: Trump could lose the general election by 20 million votes but will again win the presidency because of the Electoral College. Why would anyone think it will not be different this November? Do you think people in Wyoming, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, and even Texas would vote for any current Democrat candidate, particularly Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg? I believe that even Joe Biden will lose decisively in the Electoral College vote.
*There will be no civil war or meaningful protests against Trump's reelection by way of the Electoral College because, just as his supporters do not care that he lies and viciously attacks others, those who detest him don't care enough - at the end of the day - that Trump will be the President for at least four more years.
1
Regardless of progressive pundits opinions, the Democrats will lose in November for two reasons......the party is so internally fractured that it will never come together in a way to effectively beat Trump but more importantly Democrats and notably progressives have never taken their responsibility for so many gravitating to Trump. The 40 year economic and social agenda has ended.
1
Mr. Stephens seems to not enjoy reading the NY Times coverage of the Trump administration's treatment of Latinos.
A statement like "hyperbolic depictions of America as a fascist hellscape" ignores the brutal policies of zero tolerance, family separation and remain in Mexico. It ignores the regular abuses of ICE to subvert the rights of asylum seekers and people applying for marriage visas.
Mr. Stephens should read more of this paper before making flippant remarks.
8
I just received my mail in primary ballot, which I have yet to fill out or mail back in. I have it narrowed down to two or three — Klobuchar, Yang, and Buttegeig — but I have a month to decide. I have reservations regarding Buttegeig’s youth and inexperience and the way he has managed his campaign staff.
Why is it that none of the articles on the New Hampshire primary deals with the 800 lb gorilla in the room: the New Hampshire primary is not closed, meaning that is effectively open to all, not just Democrats. Undoubtedly, as in South Carolina, Republicans who have no real primary of their own, will line up to vote for whom they believe will be the weakest candidate against Trump. It is journalistically irresponsible, while touting "winners" and "losers", not to continually place such narratives in the context of who can vote.
208
@Steve Fankuchen That's not exactly right. Registered Republicans can't vote in the Democratic primary, although undeclared (aka independent) voters may. The problem is that there are more undeclared voters than either Democrat or Republican voters in NH.
19
@Mary
That is the case with Independents throughout America. Unfortunately, as we found out in 2016, the largest block of voters, by far, were the ones that "didn't vote".
12
It's hard to know how this turns out on the face of it. Because Bernie supporters have tended to be independents, this might help him. OR, in the middle moderates may come into the race to vote for a more moderate candidate.
2
Please, get a grip media: New Hampshire Democrats do not "hold the fate of the party in their hands"--and certainly neither did Iowa.
2018 stats
Iowa: Pop. 3.16 million, 91% white
NH: Pop. 1.36 million, 97% white
These early states are merely dress rehearsals for the big event. The last primaries occur on June 2, but that is only the beginning.
the Democratic Convention is not until July 15 in Milwaukee;
the popular vote is on November 3.
Perhaps most important to our presidential election results these days: the Electoral College votes are not cast until about 6 weeks after the election, and those results are reported to Congress on Jan. 6 before being announced to the public.
It ain't over 'til it's over, so don't sweat the small states these days, or even the most populated states. It is really all up to the Electoral College in the end--isn't it.
And even then it may not be over, for if Trump loses the Electoral College vote, raise your hands if you think he really will leave office. And as further incentive for Trump, he actually can be indicted for his crimes after he is no longer president.
4
Bloomberg's past interviews and comments are going to trip him up. An interview was released today where he explained why he had the NYPD specifically target minority communities. It was not flattering. It will be hard for those same minorities to support him.
2
@KR - minorities and women support Trump. It's a sad state of affairs these days, assume nothing about anyone; people have collectively lost their marbles.
1
No they don’t. None of the polling remotely comes close to this.
@Diego - There are minorities and women who support Trump and my point to KR was to not assume that there's "a done deal" no matter what majority polling says about what groups will and won't do. Remember 2016?
1
Trump had triple the number of voters participating that W Bush had in the Iowa Caucus when he ran for a second term. I think we will see the same turn out in New Hampshire primary as well. This kind of turnout does not bode well for the Democrats.
1
@KR
Say what? Are you comparing Trump’s Iowa turnout to Bush’s turnout as an incumbent? How is that a meaningful comparison? Was Trump’s turnout triple Bush’s for his first term?
I surely agree with Bret Stephens opinion about Michael Bloomberg. Let’s hope the Dems can get their act together and settle on him as their candidate against Trump. So tired of candidates bashing the rich.
8
Seems like a lot of people in the Dem Party are tired to hear how wonderful capitalism is and how great rich people are. They want change.
3
These two speak from an ivory tower. What exactly is appealing about Pete Buttigieg? Amy Klobuchar? They appeal to boomers who have a stake in the status quo that their generation has forged.
I'm not interested in continuing to living in the richest nation in the world where corporations go untaxed and people starve to death in the streets, or go bankrupt to pay for cancer treatment. Stephens is threatened by Bernie because Bernie will actually change things. Bret can't bear to drink wine that's a little less fancy, even if that's what it takes to keep hundreds of thousands from sleeping on the streets in the city he lives in.
15
Brett, comparing Bernie Bros to trump supporters is bit extreme. They may be vocal and, given the DNC's propensity to be kingmakers, defensive of their guy, but I don't recall any of them gathering together with AK's slung over their shoulders to intimidate duly elected officials as they did in Virginia, or driving cars into peaceful counter protestors as in Charlottesville. Get some perspective, my friend. I would suggest that this journalistic false equivalency is one of the reasons we have trump.
18
Some democrats, especially those between 18 and 35 years old, overlook or are unaware of the fact that a large population of voters, while may not be the majority, but certainly majority in some red states, fundamentally do not believe in big government. A great majority of voters in this country agree that we have problems - access to affordable healthcare, affordable education, climate crisis, etc. But some of these voters do not believe government is the solution, not because they lack compassion or awareness. The mistakes made by the far left, such as Warren and Sanders, is to moralize the difference, and thus alienate those who are sympathetic but disagree on approach. Even if they win the Democratic nomination, they will lose the down ballots, and will not get the Democratic congress to help realize their agenda.
7
@Outsider of Echo Chamber
The people you describe that say they don't like big government is because they vote republican and republicans have been ramming this mantra down their throats for years.
The counter to that is that the last republican President that left office with a balanced budget was Dwight D. Eisenhower. When it comes to tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, securing record amounts of money to feed the military industrial complex to fight never ending wars around the world, and last but not least, controlling people's lives, republicans REALLY, just LOVE big government.
3
Too many of the commenters on this page are ignorant of that fact, choose to ignore it or display gratuitous scorn for those who fundamentally believe that government is not the solution to most problems. Yet they front candidates whose platforms are built upon ingratiating more and more government into our lives. Come November 4, they’ll be the ones wandering about in shock after Trump is re-elected.
2
@Deus
Even democrats don't always agree on how big the government should be - it is a spectrum, not just two sides. Unanimous agreement is the hallmark of a cult. In a democracy, there will always be disagreement, but we must disagree respectfully. My point is that the combative style of Warren and Sanders may earn them the nomination, but will surely lose the congressional majority. Just look at the result in 2018 - none of the congressional candidates backed by Bernie got elected.
3
Once again the "serious" columnist who told Gail last time he would never vote for Trump, Warren, Sanders is now taking the opportunity to demean her.
Then he tells us that Sanders proposals terrify him. Gail should have asked him for an example. Universal Health Care terrifying? Tuition free higher education? Parental leave?
What century does Stephens live in?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
13
@jaco
Taking away health insurance, you mean the insurance you have because of either a union and/or company in which you work? If that is the case, what happens if you lose your job?
In my country, I never have had to worry about that problem and Sanders will see to it that you don't either.
3
A column written by upper middle class elites disconnected from the plight of the majority of Americans, who are in economic distress. Wine & cheese really says all you need to know. Here we have the safety & security of financial means, so we see a repose on social issues. The 80% of Americans don't quite see that way and don't have the luxury to ponder that. The reason why Trump won was the ignorance of the DNC and their centrist candidates. Trump peeled away lower income vote as he called out the Bushes and Romney's for what they were, duplicitous. The democratic elites (Collins) simply don't realize that most Americans a sizable majority are in economic distress in large part to the removal glass-stegall - nafta, etc.......brought to you by the Clintons at the behest of Bob Rubin. When will they learn?
55
@Northcountry
A column written by upper middle class elites disconnected from the plight of the majority of Americans, who are in economic distress.....Trump peeled away lower income vote as he called out the Bushes and Romney's for what they were, duplicitous.
Would you prefer one written by right-wing regressive reactionary elites? Because they're also elite.
Trump peeled nothing away. Idiots voted for him to rattle people's cages, and rattle away he did, to no avail and for no good reason.
Republicans are the most duplicitous of all. Just look at your lovely Senatoress Collins. Time to show her the door.
29
@Northcountry
You reduce a much more complex issue, economic difficulty and who has it and how the burden is met, to a very simplistic partisan trope. Truth is trickle down from Raygun is what got us here, which the GOP has embraced for many decades now.
When you start throwing around "elites" you lose all credibility, we are all people struggling to move forward, no matter your income level or your education. I know many Silicon Valley "elites" that have health issues that can't be address by their insurance like cancer, and who have mental health issues in their family.
Compassion and a sense of shared purpose. Got any? Or just mouthing off when it's easy to do?
8
@Draw Man
When it comes to health insurance your ONLY option is to vote for Bernie Sanders, all the other candidates would do nothing about the problems you describe.
3
It's an interesting conversation, I feel the same as Ms. Collins about the nomination, but whoever wrote the headline? Yes, Democrats are just voting today. That's not a small story, but it's not deciding the fate of their party. It's electing a few delegates.
3
My concern is not who the Democratic nominee will be as much as it is about what will happen when Trump losses the popular vote by 10,000,000 votes but wins the Electoral College and is reelected. Getting out the vote doesn't really matter so long as we have the archaic, elitist and totally undemocratic Electoral College on place.
8
@Joseph Thomas
The EC is not archaic and it’s not elitist.
It’s a fundamental part of the US Constitution which was debated and approved by smarter, more learned people than us.
Democrats and ‘progressives’ hate the EC because it does not permit geographically localized majorities to lord over the rest of us. In this case, mostly urban leftists in densely populated counties (people who, before the French Revolution and Marx and Engels, the Founders never could have envisioned).
Dems and ‘progressives,’ in their endless pursuit of power, want to overthrow the Constitution in favor of whatever maintain their rule.
1
Were these smart people the slave-owners who thought it is OK to own human being completely but for purpose of getting power for themselves generously considered count the slaves as 3/5 worth of free man? These people wanted minority to rule over majority. EC was a horrible system before and still horrible now. It denies the people vote, and should be thrown out as was the slavery
4
I thought the right didn’t bother with the Constitution anymore?
3
Votes from Dixville Notch are in and so far, so good. No indications of Russian interference. Nobody bussed in. No reports of illegals voting. Things look good.
2
More like all Boone’s Farm with Trump as Blanton’s Single Malt.
1
Did the Manchester Union Leader endorse Chris Christie again, or did their editors return from their trip to the alternate universe?
1
Two ivory tower NYT pundits alarmed by the prospect that the Democrats could nominate someone who would work to make healthcare affordable for everyone and available for the millions who can’t get it.
Elizabeth Warren is like a merlot? Step out of the wine cave, seriously.
11
Democrats, and Stephens and Collins, are merely rearranging the chairs on the Titanic.
But they can't run away from the visuals.
Starting with Nancy, through Biden ... onto Bloomberg saying just a few years ago that 95 pc of crimes are committed by minorities, and in 2011 essentially providing a profile of the typical killer with a gun: black or minority, 16 to 24 yrs old. Good luck Mike.
4
@rsr
Maybe his diehard supporters should ask why some progressive leaning voters don’t support him and support say Elizabeth Warren. Could it be that she has pushed through more significant legislation in half the time in the legislature? Deed vs word?
3
She may, but she is not catching momentum now. On the bright side, with Sanders is the office, Warren will have a sympathetic war in the WH.
Democrats are once again their own worse enemies...the sum of moderate/reasonable candidates, Klobuchar, Biden, Mayor Peter, Bloomberg, and Tom Steyer add up to roughly 65% of the vote, but that vote is spread and split between 4-5 candidates, which is allowing Bernie to lead the pack with a plurality.
Several of these candidates need to drop out now, or else they're going to inadvertently result in Bernie being the nominee, or worse a brokered convention where all hell will break lose.
4
Ah, the yelling guy effect. Bernie is impassioned, knows his stuff, and has a strong delivery, perhaps overwhelming for the very nice milquetoasts of the MidWest...
... but imagine polite and reasonable Mayor Pete or Amy Klobashar going up against the bully from Queens in a presidential debate in the Fall. Trump would steamroller anybody but Bernie. Bernie is best suited to oppose Trump and bringing out for Democrats and Independents (the majority of voters) how odious and unqualified Trump is in every way.
Of course, Trump’s odiousness is what appeals to his base, but they are a lost cause anyhow, as far as votes for a Democrat are concerned. Showing Dems,Independents, and the few waving or disgusted Republicans that someone can beat the incumbent is the heart and soul of Bernie’s strength.
And, of course, Bernie is right more often than he is wrong, he is running for President, not king, and knows and understands as even his detractors must admit, how our government works.
Sadly, when Bernie wins the nomination there is likely to be a big increase in anti-Semitism as the right comes out swinging against the Godless Commie who wants to sell out our “Christian nation.”
9
Warren needs to let go and run TV ads, if it's not already too late. She is the only rational knowledgeable person about the economy.
Trump's economy is an inflatable balloon composed of greed, vanity, and stupidity. It will implode, and this time, Democrats may not be able to fix it.
Meanwhile, please can we get a Democratic Senate. The current bunch seem to have sold their consciences for filthy lucre and bullying as public policy. Their religion is all hypocrisy and exploitation. Not a good look. Jesus of the Gospel might join in saying with me: who sups with the devil must use a long spoon.
The crash that's coming, enhanced by increasing effects of climate change/global warming, will be like nothing we've ever seen before. Nature doesn't recognize anything but truth, it has the only seat at the table, and it bats 1000.
8
Why not Bernie? In a Sanders administration, guys like Gordon Sondland don't write million dollar checks and get to be Ambassadors. Guys like Igor and Lev don’t get to use borrowed money to buy themselves 80 minutes with the POTUS and ask to have an ambassador removed, even if they can’t remember the ambassador’s name. You can not make this stuff up, folks. This is our country. This is what is considered SOP. Enough! How hard is it to get this message out?
15
@San Diego Larry
Clearly, all of the MSM and the top wealthiest percentile in America have been in a consistent "state of denial" about all that you describe OR could it be, because they have benefited from it all and they really just don't want any change to affect the "status quo", it is clear they don't want to talk about it.
I chuckle when I continue to see some democrats honestly believe that Michael Bloomberg would be the best choice for the democratic nominee. When, all of a sudden I see Bloomberg being concerned about massive inequality in America, it is he and all the others like him that largely contributed to that inequality in the first place and to look for solutions on this and other vital issues from such individuals as him is being extremely naive.
"Trump is not going to be defeated with feckless snark, or smug jokes, or hyperbolic depictions"
...neither will Bernie. Nice try though, Brett!
11
Dear BRET,
"he’s a reminder that starting great businesses is good for America, that great wealth can also do great good, and that you should never judge the moral worth of a person by the size of his or her bank account, no matter how small or large."
REALLY? So a little taxation of the rich would totally dynamite BLOOMBERG's ability as entrepreneur and wealth generator? I'm not buying it and you sound like you just react using the REP DOGMA of old.
7
To all those who complain about this or that candidate "buying the election":
I have yet to see a television commercial vote. I don't even think billboards are registered to vote.
PEOPLE vote. And last I looked, I am not legally obligated to vote as instructed by a commercial.
3
But if the candidate flooded the all bill-boards and TV -channels with his ads, how people will know about other candidate? Isn't it how propaganda works?
3
@ImagineMoments
During these times, America has shown it self do be quite different from other countries around the world, is in its clear and unabashed obsession with personalities, i. e. "style over substance" and that is why, to a certain extent, the money Bloomberg spends on ads do work and why Trump got elected.
One would hope most Americans would see this for what it is, an Oligarch and his bottomless pit of money whom through a $300 thousand dollar "payoff" to he DNC has been able to circumvent the democratic process and conduct his campaign outside of the boundaries of everyone else.
1
@ImagineMoments
Tom Steyer and to a lesser extent Bloomberg have been running TV ads in our isolated city of about 100,000 (counting the surrounding area). Because they can afford it.
We will probably never see a TV ad by anyone else.
They do make a difference. I can't stand Bloomberg but Steyer's ads caught my attention. Although I'm hoping for and donating to Amy for America.
Part II
Since Brett alludes to "hyperbolic descriptions of America as a fascist hellscape," I hope the moderators will finally allow an open discussion of fascism in this space. To Brett's specific point, the "hellscape" does not, for most people, come at the onset of fascism, but later.
As Jason Stanley's book, "How Fascism Works," explains, fascism is not an epithet; it is an intertwining of ideologies, techniques, and behaviors. I will not attempt to recapitulate Stanley's entire argument, but, as I understand it, fascism culminates in the subversion of legal principles and structures, and in the inability to judge what evidence is reliable and separate truth from falsehood. We are seeing that already.
Fascism, I would submit, is clearly on the table in this election. There is no point in performative hand wringing and linguistic contortions to avoid saying plainly what is at issue. When the Democratic ticket, no matter who, no matter what their platform, will inevitably be tarred as a socialists, it is imperative that the Democratic ticket be completely candid about what is on offer from the other side. Even if the election comes down to a choice of democratic socialism or fascism, that should be an easy choice to make, and the Democratic ticket must make that case.
7
@morton ,
Extremely well said. Regrettably, the Times seems to think that using the term "fascism" is somehow just a derogatory label. They haven't examined our nation's circumstances sufficiently to see that it is a huge - and real - risk in this country now.
You mentioned Stanley, who has as you note written a very substantive book on the subject. Readers could also go back and read the works of Bill Shirer and Robert Paxton as well.
1
It's great to see establishment soothsayers like this carrying out their assigned task in the face of the great truths uttered by Bernie Sanders.
We don't need Health Care for All when every other major country on earth has it?
We don't need free college tuition when every other major
country on earth has it?
We don't need a rise in the disgraceful national minimum wage of $7. 50?
The chief cause of the '08 meltdown was not caused by the greed of the big banks?
Wait till Bernie gets these issues by the throat. These soothsayers will be throttled along with them.
7
Thanks, Gail, for supporting Warren! As for the debate, when Warren was allowed to speak, she was fabulous as usual. But the moderators didn't call on her even when she had her hand up. And now she's getting very little coverage in NH. Unfair!
4
Bret,
Have you ever visited Burlington, Vermont?
It's an attractive, livable city, home to a fine public university. Little kids ride the public buses to school – along with all the other residents – a common practice in Europe.
Bernie Sanders was once its mayor, and managed to work with the city's businesses and community members to preserve Burlington's spectacular waterfront.
Sanders is also, quite arguably, one of the few candidates who can think deeply ad honestly about what's troubling the nation and the planet, and who can clearly articulate policy to address these problems.
Why do you fear a Sanders administration so much that you label – or libel?! – its prospect as "kooky"?
Do you fear Americans will reject a social democrat because they suffer from "ism-phobia"?
Do you suffer "ism-phobia"?
15
Bret, you left out the sterling moment at the SOTU when Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to, shall we say, an unworthy recipient? That overshadowed the entire "show" for me.
9
@Marilyn
Unworthy or just someone whose politics you don’t like?
@EGD Considering Rush is known as the farther of Hate Radio where he admonishes minorities, women, democracy and equal rights, yes, he is unworthy of any award in any humane civilization. It's not about politics, it's about a civil society which Rush has spent his life trying to destroy.
1
@EGD
Please peruse and tell me this is just a matter of differing politics.
http://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/rush-limbaughs-most-outrageous-moments-25
1
Re Churchill's versus Trump's motto, does anyone remember this line from the brilliant "Yes, Minister" series:
"You know the PM's motto: In defeat, malice; in victory, revenge."
5
The arrogance of Pundits who promote candidates based on poll numbers, debate performances, and the remarkably flawed Primary system where both the demographics of the voters and the unreliable methods cast dark shadows over thoughtful consideration. Money continues to inflict the most dangerous threat to this democracy...and pundits ride the advertising stream.
4
The fruit durian and Limburger cheese, although considered delicious are both notable for their foul smells. Of course, that's not what was meant here.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, Gordon Sondland and "another Ukraine witness" were practically marched out of the White House recently. It's hard to remember that Vindman's identical twin brother Yevgeny, also a Lt. Col. and an ethics lawyer for the NSC was marched out with them, however, he didn't testify and was fired with no explanation.
'
5
@LS
As an 'ethics lawyer' Yevgeny vetted documents and may have been behind the Bolton Book Leak.
Stephens' assertion that "Bernie Bros" are the mirror of Trump supporters is dispicable. First off, there no substance to the charge that Sanders or his supporters are sexist. That was something started by Clinton campaign in the last election. Second, other than being passionate about their candidate, what to Sanders supporters have in common with Trump supporters?
8
I know a number of Trump supporters who are not “sexists” as you say. I imagine Bret is referring to the blind love that both Sanders and Trump supporters have, a “my way or no way” attitude.
3
@Jess, Obviously NOTHING on this Earth could really mirror Trump and those who support him, but I am with Bret on this one, there is something reminiscently creepy about Sanders and his "Bros"
1
@Jess Irrational exuberance? Magical thinking? Delusion? Zero sum attitudes?
"He reminds me of a friend of mine, a loquacious rabbi, who consistently defeats my best attempts to hate him." Bret Stephens about Bernie Sanders.
Bret, seems redeemable! He should keep listening to his Rabbi on spiritual matters and to Sanders on economic philosophy!
8
The lethargy of Democratic voters in New Hampshire is disturbing. Why? Too many candidates? Maybe. Or is it the belief that any candidate can beat trump? Good possibility there.
Trump can easily be defeated. How? Just look at his record. A history of lies,swindles, slanders. Incompetent to hold any public office. No Democrat candidate needs to make any promises other than restoration of what we had under Obama.
I will cheerfully support any Democrat chosen.
4
It seems that democrats-independents-Never Trumpers are waiting to coalesce behind the democratic candidate winner. If that's true......why would they participate in any state primary......anybody would be better than Trump, based on the current field. will there be a significant reversal from the 2018 mid-term result? Keep you eye on the prize. JMHO
3
Exactly. Across the last 3 years I've spoken to thousands of voters of every political stripe who'll vote against Trump. All of this primary drama, infighting, pontificating by pundits....meaningless.
For 3 LONG years, our ONLY beacon has been the knowledge that in November of 2020, we'll get to vote against Trump & his GOP sycophants. With every passing day, moral outrage, international embarrassment, cruel policy, vicious attack, overt nepotism, enabled crime, lack of accountability, middle finger to the rule of law, disgusting rally, bigoted statement, insane medal ceremony, obvious grift, episode of dementia, and indication of hatred for any dissent, our conviction has only been made STRONGER. Yes, we have primary candidates we prefer. But in this deeply divided time, one thing we all agree on: if a stale ham sandwich gets the nomination, we'll hold our noses and vote for it. Anyone and anything is better than Trump.
Go ahead and write your think pieces and op-eds. Pundits & media: predict as you like, foment all the foolishness you can. Come November 3rd, with Trump's ignominious name & crime family on the ballot, you'll see a coalition unlike any before arrive to vote him out. We know what we have to do, and we will. All the rest is just noise.
Trump must think he’s a god after being adored, not honored, at the National Prayer breakfast by the GOP and Christian Coalition in attendance. According to scripture, God said, “Vengeance is mine” and Trump has displayed plenty of that.
He’s also modified the old axiom into “It’s better to get forgiveness from the GOP and Christian Coalition than permission.” He never asks for forgiveness; it’s the default option with those poor lost GOP souls. Blind obedience practiced by a national political party is all that’s needed to sink into an irreversibly damaged nation.
3
"The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice" was said by Theodore Parker, a Unitarian Minister, Transcendentalist, and abolitionist.
His writings inspired Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Truth matters.....
3
It might soon become clear that Mike Bloomberg will inevitably run the table.
4
Here's an idea--maybe stop asking middle age+ columnists for their status quo political recommendations and ask why Sanders has overwhelming support from those under 40 who stand to bear the greatest costs of this election. These 2 need to step out of the bubble.
161
@rsr These middle aged commenters can vividly remember the left wing causing the Democrats to lose 40 or more states in multiple Presidential elections. I wish some Berners would actually address the concerns of James Carville (who is from the wing of the Democrat Party that actually elects Presidents).
30
@Burke S. The planet is on fire, the nation is impoverished and living in wage slavery. If we can't lift people up then we have nothing to look forward to. Bernie is the only candidate who has a chance to change the political conversation. A return to the status quo isn't good enough any more.
17
@rsr
Better yet, how about the adults explain that we can't afford another noble defeat by nominating Bernie.
Let's explain that the only "win" that matters in politics is the kind that wins elections in order wield legislative power, and that Bernie is not the person to put together the coalition needed to win elections (or govern for that matter).
The only person I see in the Democratic field to have a fighting chance is Bloomberg. He may be a billionaire and a capitalist, but he is ethical, non-ideological, smart, caring, decent, pragmatic, competent and boring in the most wonderful ways.
We could do a lot, lot worse than a President Bloomberg who makes significant adjustments to the left on economic, tax, and social policy. For instance, another four years of Trump.
14
Ultimately, democrats MUST choose a candidate that starts immediately to deal with the important "neglected" issues of the past few decades that ultimately, helped get Donald Trump elected in the first place, and if acted upon, will help negate someone like him coming out of the woodwork AGAIN.
The reality is, just another corporate/establishment centrist and even Michael Bloomberg with all his money will not attempt to even begin trying to make the bold decisions that are necessary to turn the tide. This is already evident in Trump's current budget proposals that will all but destroy the social safety net and environmental safety provisions in America.
The days of "tinkering around the edges" on policy is over.
4
"They hold the fate of the party in their hands"? Only if the party and the electorate assume the race is just about over.
How many states have yet to vote or caucus? How many
Democrats have yet to vote? It is absurd to assume this
primary , along with the Iowa caucus, speaks for the majority of Democrats. It's absurd to assume especially with this number of candidates, that the leaders now will carry the votes at the convention. Democrats who allow the race to be "called" this soon are shooting the party in the hoof.
6
I agree with Bret. Nancy Pelosi shouldn't have ripped those pages. I'm sure she felt like it, but it was getting down to Trump's level. Remember Michelle Obama's "we go high when they go low." Dems need to remember that when tempted.
4
@Chris she was making a point that presidential lies are not worth preserving they should be shred.
4
Ms Collins and Mr. Stephens,
Thank you for a continuing set of examples of civil dialogue on important issues and "news-making personalities."
I can agree or disagree with either one or both of you without my temper flaring, my worst instincts jumping out, or feeling amazed/chagrined at the words and actions of those who hog the daily political scene.
I wish there were more opportunities for us all to read or hear your conversation on the personalities and issues whose prevalence tends to drown us every day.
Again... thank you.
2
Ms Collins and Mr. Stephens,
Thank you for a continuing set of examples of civil dialogue and discourse on important issues and "news-making personalities.
I can agree or disagree with either one or both of you without my temper flaring, my worst instincts jumping out, or feeling amazement at the words and actions of those who hog the daily political scene.
I wish there were more opportunities for us all to read or hear your conversation on the personalities and issues whose prevalence tends to drown us every day.
Again... thank you.
1
Ms Collins and Mr. Stephens,
Thank you for a continuing set of examples of civil dialogue and discourse on important issues and "news-making personalities.
I can agree or disagree with either one or both of you without my temper flaring, my worst instincts jumping out, or feeling amazement at the words and actions of those who hog the daily political scene.
I wish there were more opportunities for us all to read or hear your conversation on the personalities and issues whose prevalence tends to drown us every day.
Again... thank you.
1
Is it true that republicans can vote in the Presidential primary? If so the strongest candidate will be sabotaged. And the weakest declared the winner. I guess, Bernie, the candy man it is.
@Kim Ruth In some states they can but mostly not. I believe.
1
@Tiny Tim
In 27 states the primaries are open or semi-open (or really called semi-closed, but same difference)—you can either vote for either party or change your affiliation the day of the primary. New Hampshire is closed, but people registered as Independents or non-affiliated can vote for either party. So it’s semi-something. I’m in Ohio which is semi-closed, so in the primaries, you declare Republican or Democrat when you walk in and they hand you a ballot—they don’t check your registration—but you can’t just vote for the entire ballot of both like in open states.
"As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. I sure hope Donald Trump gets it in the arc."
HA! That is a great line that I'm going to have trouble not borrowing.
2
Why all this love for Amy Klobuchar among the literati? You think she had a good debate. So what?
Even at the superficial level, Amy Klobuchar seems to me a fake. Her tearjerker story about the Franklin Roosevelt mourner is fake news -- one of those stories that get made up years after the fact and become false folklore. The story can be molded to answer almost any question, just as Amy Klobuchar did. When you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.
And her comment that Donald Trump blames the king of Denmark for our problems is delusional. Denmark has no king, but (since 1972) a queen, Margrethe II. Was Amy Klobuchar talking about the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, and the dustup about the United States wanting to buy Greenland? A female prime minister is not a king.
Rather odd to go on a riff about Donald Trump that makes less sense than he does. He's more Ciceronian than Cicero, so hyperbole is expected. But Amy Klobuchar is supposed to be witty and sober. Instead, quivering often in her excitement, she seems at times, and more and more, to be (to use a technical term) a ditz.
Where's any evidence that Amy Klobuchar can get things done? We need a president that is a master at getting things done, not winning debates. Getting things done is a quality, unlike sincerity, that cannot be faked.
6
Amy Klobuchar is the top rated Senator for passing bills. What did you mean by “where’s the evidence she can get things done?”
6
CG, the only bill Amy Klobuchar has had much influence on is the farm bill, and she can't claim much even there. She's not a leader in the Senate and, most importantly, has no experience as an executive, in government or the private sector.
Senators write laws. Executives do things. The president of the United States is its chief executive. Amy Klobuchar has no qualifications for that office.
2
@John Smithson
She’s legit because she’s one of the fews Democrats not consumed by hatred.
3
How come no one mentions nuclear weapons? Climate change as a threat is something to consider but it won’t wipe out the human race is one bad day. Another reason to retire Trump.
6
Republicans have one policy. Tax cuts for the rich and powerful.
A vote for Republicans means a vote for reduced healthcare, an attack on social security.
6
The fate of the party is on the ballot. Not just in N.H. either.
In my district NY-14, AOC now has a viable primary challenger. Former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera filed paperwork last night — while AOC was on stage at the Bernie concert in N.H.
Game on.
4
In interview after interview, Democratic voters have said the main thing they are looking for is the one that can beat Trump.
I've voted in every election, local to national, since I was eligible. In my 75 years, this is the first presidential election where the majority of voters don't seem to be voting based on which candidate would make the best president, but instead, which candidate they think OTHER people are going to vote for.
Pretty amazing and, I believe, the main reason such a high percentage of voters are still undecided at this late date. They know how they feel, but are trying to figure out who everyone else throughout the United States is going to vote for.
4
Oh the intellectual gravitas of Bret Stephens:
" If I were a New Hampshire voter, I’d vote for her, not only because I like her"
3
All of us who care about the damage that Trump can pile upon the damage he has already done may want to consider going after his kryptonite - the economy. No one listens when his economic record is measured as only good while lacking the robustness of the economy under Obama by most if not all measures. The numbers don't matter. Last night in New Hampshire, Trump recommended that his followers vote not for republicans, but for for the democrats who hold the lowest chances of winning. Just one more example of the extremes he will go to in order to win - there are absolutely no limits with him. To combat him, we must all think about the limits we put on ourselves and fight against those limitations by taking aim at his so-called "best economy in history." So, I ask, what if those who want Trump out go on a 2020 austerity program, and reduce their spending significantly. After all, austerity is always good for the soul - and the pocketbook - and on a grand scale, not so good for the economy this year. Gosh, that sounds like exactly what Trump would do if it fit his needs! The thing he touts the most is probably his achilles heel - (pun intended).
4
This isn't substantive. But the conversation between Collins and Stephens is my favorite read in the Times when the disagree and when they agree. A little more of it would be a great relief from what we read, see, and hear in today's discourse. A model from which others might profit.
1
"They hold the fate of the party in their hands. And maybe not only their party."
November will be a vote for or against our system of democracy, for or against our values and aspirations, for or against a textbook demagogue. Their vote today will play a part in which side wins in November. Be smart, fellow Americans. Don't try to call the race. Put everything you have into wining the race. Make America smart again.
7
Witty,interesting article and gives a few laughs as well as pause.I am the white senior citizen in a wonderful rural community where I happen to be of the 15% Democrat persuasion!And I'm not moving! I've liked Klobushar from the get-go and resented the immediate attack upon her that "she's hard on her staff" sexist remark.I still like Cory Booker,Mike Bloomberg,and Elizabeth Warren-and even a small part of Sen.Harris!I'm no fan of Sanders this time round.Love Joe as a person; not a candidate.Pete is brilliant, dynamic,and charismatic-too new to the scene...I think.
Civility,respect,love of country not party, and cultural diversity are the values-so like the folks from NH, my vote is a work in progress!And yes like a progressive rural,health insurance, climate change and equal rights are my 3 top priorities.
No doubt,we are not an easy crew! Really liked the article
dialogue!
5
"These are the days that try one's soul." How exactly to beat the (in my view) the most unlikable person to run the Country since Richard Nixon is something every person who thinks we can do better struggles with. The Republican mantra for so long was that they could not win an election with moderate republicans so when Trump came along and espoused view that were previously considered rash, ignorant or ill advised he drew all those people who felt disaffected by the status quo and won the Electoral College.
Democrats have the opposite problem, if they go too far to the left, they will scare the middle class (what is left of it). but there are many of us like myself who sat out the election the last time and would vote for any Democrat that did not espouse socialist sympathies. Democrats should focus on what is achievable and explain how they intend to achieve it. Soaking the rich is not a plan. It may resonate with some voters but not the majority of voters who reject class warfare.
5
There was once an American ethos that said “What we dream, we can achieve.” Whatever happened to the country that once shot for the moon?
2
There is absolutely no way that the people who agonized over voting for Obama or a woman are going to vote for a man married to another man. Come back in 30 years when that generation is gone. He's still be younger than every front runner. In the meantime, get elected to something bigger than a sewing circle and it may just be your turn.
7
Biden will rise, too many candidates make for a confusing start.
Come Super Tuesday the field will condense and sure up the true finalist.
3
I share Gail's description of Sanders as having a "yelling-guy affect." And Trump is a blowhard. A televised debate between Sanders and Trump would be a spectacle for this country... and not in a good way.
7
The 0.38% of the USA who live in New Hampshire are absolutely wonderful people, but it is absurd that they should "hold the fate of the party and not only the party" in their hands. That is both absurd and incredibly undemocratic. What about the rest of us who live in America?
12
David, truth is that they don't hold the fate of the party or the country in their hands. The importance of Iowa and New Hampshire is overrated. Something needs to winnow down the field of candidates. Might as well be those two states for the first voting.
Many seem to think that they have a better plan for doing that, but all other plans have their own problems. With complex systems like electing a president, the learning that comes from an evolutionary process should not be lightly discarded. Let's stay with what we have, making minor changes if needed, rather than throwing it all out and starting over.
2
@John Smithson
Absolutely huge amount of time, energy, money that was spent on Iowa and New Hampshire - with extremely small populations not representative of America any more. It makes a totally mockery of our claim that America is a representative democracy and the people of America as a whole choose our presidents. Tragically, strongly motivated candidates with limited national appeal are playing the system, while they claim that they are the very essence of democracy. It's a con game and a corruption of democracy. Hypocrisy. We need to go back to the drawing board to design a more rational democrat system of choosing presidential candidates.
David, no one pretends that Iowa and New Hampshire going first is a perfect system. It's not. As you point out, that system has some faults.
But good luck finding a better system. It's a lot harder than you think.
Winston Churchill said this about democracy: "Many forms of government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
What Winston Churchill said about democracy in general can be said about our party primary system. Let's stick with what we have. While it has its faults, at least it works.
I don't find Klobuchar convincing or presidential just because she uses energy and her ego to make her points. I do agree with Mr. Stephens the Sanders is a frightening mirror image on the left of Trump on the right. Buttigieg is a phenomenon and I hope he wins.
4
I think the media has created a monster in terms of elevating the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire. First and foremost, the two states combined population represents just under 1.5% of the total population - that sample size is meaningless.
Having lived in both states I would say that they are generally biter, angry people who resent the world because they realize that society, as a whole, has left them behind.
All-in-all, the media has put these two states in a position of importance where the opinion of the voters is considered meaningful.
This is the original "fake news" and it was created by those who now cry the loudest against its use by the President and his followers.
7
William, it's easy to criticize a system like the parties have adopted for presidential primaries. It's a lot harder to put something that works better in its place.
It's like the fable about belling the cat. Not hard to think of a plan, but to execute it? That's a different story.
1
"As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. I sure hope Donald Trump gets it in the arc."
Thanks Gail! Proving once again that the pen is mightier than The Trump, and a few well-chosen words are worth 1,000 pictures.
At this point, morality and Republican politics have divorced. And it is more than ironic that Trump's and the GOP most loyal supporters are white evangelicals who attend church regularly (77% support), according to Pew Research.
That arc of history clearly has taken a wrong turn in the 21st century. And I am no longer confident the people of this country will vote to readjust the arc in a constructive and democratic direction.
Trump and his right-wing pirates den cannot be handed 4 more years. Today I think it maybe could be Amy Klobuchar
4
I don't know who to agree with in this discussion. I like merlot and hate cabernet sauvignon, but cabernet franc is another story. Now I do like a good 20 to 40 year old Port, preferably from a small locally owned quinta mid-way up the Duoro. Email me Gail, if you want a recommendation. As a newly reformed Colorado ex-Republican, now unaffiliated, I can vote for the presidential nomination in either party. Having no choice in the Republican primary, I'm going to vote for Klobuchar, or maybe Warren, or maybe Klobuchar, well definitely not Sanders. I recognize all of Bloomberg's adminstrative qualities and ethics, I just think he should be running as "the real Republican". Maybe we'll have "The Real Republican" vs. "the real donald trump".
2
@Condelucanor: For the record; Trump was once a Democrat; his "Republican" label is as fake as the he is.
Bloomberg started out as,a Democrat who became a Republican and then an Independent. Now, that he rejoined the Demicratic party, that spells "having come full circle" in my book.
...Just sayin.'
2
Vote like your democracy depends on it. Vote for the children and grandchildren of America. Vote for democracy, decency, women's rights, science. This is bigger than policy, bigger than Democrats versus old-style Republicans. It's about protecting the nation from a textbook demagogue and his idolatrous personality cult and his bad-faith immoral sycophant Republicans. All of the Democratic candidates agree on the same broad aims. All of them plan to do significant stuff. All of them are well left of center. All of them will be able to get the same amount of stuff done depending on their own executive and leadership skills. All of them are worlds better than he who shall not be named who will be on every line of every ballot from now until November. Don't pay much attention to the woe-is-us doomsayers here. At least half of them are Trump supporters making trouble. We're a heckuva lot tougher than that.
9
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I appreciated hearing your reasons.
I look forward to more, as the primaries move on.
First Brett, how about dropping the false equivalency, comparing "Bernie Bros" to Trump's Storm Troopers? How many people have been assaulted or killed by Bernie Bros? Can you say the same about Trump's Militia?
Moreover, can you provide any statistics or supporting evidence for the percentage of Sanders supporters who call themselves Bernie Bros? Do you even stop to consider that Russian - or Trump/Republican - cyber actions may be fueling the reported number of incidents? Of course not, because you're letting your "terror of a Sanders Presidency" affect whatever journalistic principles you have.
And speaking of "terrified" Brett, why? Does the prospect of returning some equilibrium to the system so that the majority of Americans who make all this wealth and prosperity possible get to share in it, really terrify you? Perhaps you ought to look at yourself and see why you feel that way. Sort of like the aristocracy when the peasants stormed the Bastille?
And Gail, while you don't admit to being terrified, why are you opposed to Sanders, given your support of Warren? They argue for much the same things. And while I can understand that you might prefer a woman over another old white guy, she's faltering and doesn't seem to be able to get back her momentum, while Bernie is continuing to climb. He's got a long, and unquestioned career of being a populist, and that's what it will take to beat Trump.
I think you both need to be more objective.
15
@Kingfish52 Thank you for putting my thoughts into words.
Question - Where can an almost 80 year old man, with a bad heart and lousy disposition, find a new job?
Answer - becoming President of the United States
6
Alank, Bernie Sanders has found a new job, but it's not being president, it's running for president. He's made a fortune doing that. A modest fortune, of a few million, but a fortune nonetheless.
3
For the record, Sanders is 78, Biden is 77, Bloomberg is 77, Trump is 73
1
@Is
And your point is what, exactly?
Part I
Gail says *Bernie has a yelling-guy affect..."
If one looks at videos of Senator Sanders' campaign speeches and other sorts of meetings, such as his meeting with the LA Times editorial board, it should be easy enough to see that Senator Sanders is, in fact, "a calm, reasonable person."
As far as "the so-called Bernie Bro phenomenon" that concerns Brett, I would refer him and readers to Keith A, Spencer's piece in Salon, "Why does the "BernieBro" myth persist? Because pundits don't understand how the internet works". https://www.salon.com/2020/02/09/the-berniebro-myth-persists-because-pundits-dont-understand-how-the-internet-works/
Lazy, misleading cliches are a disservice to us all.
17
Biden is running as the nostalgia candidate from a bygone era that never existed.
Buttigieg is the untested younger version handpicked by monied elites to hedge against national trends
Klobucher is the best of the Conservatives, but has too many skeletons.
And Bloomberg is going to eat them all alive.
So it's Warren or Sanders, simple as that.
7
It's incomprehensible at this stage of the race that Mr. Stephens can enumerate Mayor Pete's challenges and completely ignore his marriage....fair or not, it seems unlikely that in 2020, in a race determined by swing state voters, that Americans are ready for the image of its Democratic presidential candidate kissing his husband from the Milwaukee Convention stage.....ignoring that reality is naive, disingenuous, or both......
9
Americans appear far more likely to accept Pete’s marriage than the fact that a candidate like Bernie or Bloomberg doesn’t celebrate Christmas.
3
@Pottree Nobody talks about it, but you're both right.
1
Regarding Bret Stephens comment, "Trump is not going to be defeated with feckless snark, or smug jokes, or hyperbolic depictions of America as a fascist hellscape. Something else is required, though I can’t decide whether it will be the fierce moral passion of Sanders or the sober intelligence and dry wit of Buttigieg or Klobuchar."
Bret, I'm afraid it won’t be either. Democrats need to be reminded that the majority of the country will never support Sanders, Buttigieg OR Klobuchar, and they would do well to remember what they're up against, which is Trump's huge number of supporters, who unlike the democratic electorate are unwavering.
3
To answer Bret's question, Trump stands the best chance of being defeated by the "sober intelligence and dry wit of Buttigieg or Klobuchar." Both of them would crush and humiliate Trump on the debate stage. The problem: Trump will refuse to debate the Democratic candidate. He has already stated so much. Trump knows he won't get another chance on the debate stage. Democrats are too smart to let him slide again.
6
If he refuses to debate, the Dems will label him a frightened loser. If they make that stick, Trump might actually lose some supporters who love his strongman schtick. If he doesn’t show after an invitation is extended, the Dem should debate an empty chair like Clint Eastwood.
2
@Pottree
If Trump refuses to debate, the Democrats had better have a strategy for using that to their advantage. I'm not sure what the strategy should be... but behind closed doors Democrats should be planning it now.
3
I do not understand why so many of us who despise Trump are willing to concede that he deserves credit for "the good economy".
First, the economy is only good for Trump, fellow billionaires, multi-millionaires and wealthy corporations. For everyone else it's not. And, this is the Obama economy we're enjoying. The stock market did better under President Obama, and Obama created more jobs. President Obama saved the auto industry which is a big contributor to the jobs picture and to the health of the overall economy.
In addition, President Obama prevented a collapse of the financial markets, and he successfully turned what was nearly another Great Depression into a Great Recession. Plus, it is NECESSARY to increase SHORT TERM government spending in such circumstances, but R's did not cooperate. Since Trump's election, R's gave gratuitous, massive tax cuts to the wealthy (lying to the middle class) and have created the largest budget deficits and national debt in history.
Lowering federal interest rates has cause irresponsible borrowing by businesses. This guarantees a much more severe recession (or depression) when the next downturn comes. And there's no where left for the feds to go with lowering interest rates.
Under Trump, the economy is a mirage. It's going to implode!
20
NY Times Fan, why give credit to Barack Obama for saving the auto industry? That was George W. Bush's doing, using funds from the TARP legislation that was enacted in his last year.
2
@NY Times Fan
The economy is a top heavy delusion that isn't working for many of us in the working class. The best description of our reality is the poem "Food Heat Medicine" posted on the working class lit mag site of the Blue Collar Review. For many of us Sanders is the only candidate that matters.
1
Elizabeth Warren is by far the best candidate, but for some reason the monied elites in the Democratic party have declared war on the progressive wing. Bernie Sanders is not only immune to their attacks, but grows stronger each fight. While my first choice remains Warren, it appears the Conservative Democratic need to run as Republican-lite all but guarantees the nomination will go to Sanders.
Or we could have Warren who represents the best of all options.
4
The next time you hear someone suggest Buttigieg is too young, you may wish to remind them the average age of the US founding fathers was 40 years of age. He will be 39 in his first year of a term. I’d be far more suspicious of someone turning 80 before their first term expired. I am 56 years old, halfway between Biden and Buttigieg, and already know I no longer have the strength, determination, and competence to learning I held at forty. Even George Washington was just 44 in 1776.
5
“She put in her best performance yet”. What’s next, and the Oscar goes to...? These are perilous times and the country is sitting at 5-love with the other guy having the serve. The only issue is Trump. How do you beat him, then, how do you get him out of the White House without triggering Civil War, Part Deux? The rest of this...student loan, free college, Medicare for all, is just window dressing, because, boys and girls, the building is about to collapse! “Her performance”?Really?
6
If Senator Sanders defeats President Trump the country may quickly run out of paper toilet, gasoline and import Cuban doctors trained in USSR to treat everything with aspirin.
2
Congratulations pundits like Bret Stephens, you have once again demonized candidates like Warren and Sanders successfully, and the kleptocracy will continue.
You are not as clever as you think.
9
Here is what “should” defeat a Trump. Sure, our economy is strong....but we don’t need Trump to keep it strong. His contribution to our financial strength is a nest full of rotten eggs (massive tax cuts for wealthy; unsustainable deficits; reckless financial and environmental deregulation) that will hatch into ugly ducklings. But his lying, hyper partisan divisiveness, bigotry, autocracy, kleptocracy, reliance on conspiracy theory instead of expertise, on and on...means our Democracy cannot survive with him.
6
If Bret Stephens were an alcoholic beverage, he'd be a kind of odd melon-flavored liquor. You assume there must be some old-timey, weird 1920s cocktail that requires it, but you've never met anyone who actually drinks it.
6
Are you referring to Midori? I happen to like it and can make a few decent cocktails with it. To each his own. And that’s OpEd in a nutshell.
"His policies absolutely terrify me, and the so-called Bernie Bro phenomenon is a mirror image of a lot of the ugliness we see among Trump’s unhinged supporters."
The "so-called Bernie Bro phenomenon" is a myth, The MAGAts are real. Both sides *don't* do it, Brett.
https://www.salon.com/2020/02/09/the-berniebro-myth-persists-because-pundits-dont-understand-how-the-internet-works/
8
Virtually all of the Democratic candidates sound as though they are dishonest (or at least misinformed) on the most important issue, global warming.
We now know that global warming is real, that average temperatures on planet earth will rise, most likely reaching 3.7 to 4.8 degrees C above preindustrial levels by 2100.
This warming is due to higher carbon in the atmosphere and may persist for hundreds of years into the future.
Biologists might study fish in a pond and find that a low population of fish gradually rises to the carrying capacity of the pond.
With global warming, we confront a different phenomenon described in the 1972 book "Limits to Growth" by Randers et al. This book described "overshoot and collapse" in which due to time lags population on planet earth temporarily exceeds carrying capacity, then falls back in a "die-off".
The carbon in the atmosphere will likely produce such a die-off of humans, perhaps leading to the extinction of Homo sapiens.
We are trying to shift from coal and oil and natural gas to solar and wind. But every year the usage of fossil fuels continues to rise because of population growth.
Population growth is in fact the cause of global warming, and neglecting to confront this is almost as disastrous as doing nothing.
None of the Democratic candidates mentions population growth. Or the need to stop population growth in Guatemala which leads to illegal immigration.
Trump denies global warming, Democrats deny population growth.
4
Two out-of-touch New Yorkers compare presidential candidates to premium wine and cheese varieties. No wonder the working class scares them so much...
11
Bizarre. Brett is terrified by universal health care.
9
@Chris r
Funny isn't it - Republicans hate the idea of universal affordable healthcare. I guess its important to them to be able to punish someone
1
I love reading this column, and that said, a caption which reads,
"[New Hampshire Democrats] hold the fate of the party in their hands" is just plain silly. Hopefully some over-eager youngster on the editorial team came up with this hook and not either Gail or Bret, but really, we're all getting really tired of journalistic hyper-thyroidism.
In this case, super Tuesday is just a few weeks away and will be far more important than the primary thoughts of Iowans or New Hampshire voters...and when it comes right down to it, the Convention is likely to be brokered.
2
Hopefully they are engaged enough to bother to come out and vote.
Not so much in the Iowa Cauc-up.
It's time for a large midwestern state to simply proclaim their primary is always to be Iowa's caucus day, no matter what date Iowa chooses.
This would disarm and render irrelevant this absurdity.
I share Gail's frustration with how many "godawful things" things Trump has gotten away with. Remember, this is a man who stated he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters. What is it about Trump that allows for such poor behavior to go unchecked? The prayer breakfast last week is a good example. Why didn't anyone walk out and share with the Press how disgusting his behavior was? Pelosi or Romney could have easily done that? Why don't we see more people stand up with integrity and boldly humiliate him in public? It was a rare show of unity against Trump when he was booed at the World Series last October. Imagine if Trump were humiliated publicly all the time? How would that affect him? How would it affect our perception of him? One of the ways you bring a bully down is to humiliate him in public. Sadly, Trump gets away with "godawful things" because we let him.
9
There is a lot of angst over the possibility that Bernie or Bust people mean just that. I worry a lot about it, I know that.
I first voted in a Presidential election in 1968. For those who weren't there, the political climate then was at least as toxic as it is now. Disputes over basic civil rights on top of conscription to fight in an unpopular war made for hard lines being drawn - and that's just in the Democratic Party itself. LBJ was driven from the 1968 race by his own party members, in case anyone doesn't know that fact.
I was in college at the time, about to run out of deferments. My first preference was for Eugene McCarthy. I think I voted for him in the primary, although I can't recall for sure. When RFK entered the race, his charisma and anti-war stance drew me to him. I, like a lot of college age Democrats, was opposed to Hubert Humphrey for his allegiance to LBJ almost all the way to the election. I was prepared to make a protest vote, although I don't recall who it would have been anymore.
By the date of the election, though, at age 22, I understood the necessity of voting for Anybody But Nixon, even if he wasn't my preferred candidate. I drove 110 miles to my hometown so i could cast a ballot for HHH. I have never regretted that vote. I hope Sanders voters, if he isn't the nominee, would do likewise. I would vote for him, even though I don't think he is our (Democrats) best chance. He needs to make clearer that he feels the same as I do.
8
If Sanders wins the nomination:
Bernie Sanders believes he can convince a majority of swing state voters to vote for a revolution. Trump thinks he can convince a majority of swing state voters to stay the course.
It would be interesting to see the opposing forces in action. I want Trump removed from office more than anything. But as a student of history and political science it would be a teachable moment to see which way America will go.
Extreme views in the right and left clashing to see which will prevail. Nothing can be more exciting than that. I should caution the Trump supporters to be careful with their over confidence. Hillary Clinton learned that the hard way.
6
The FED keeps injecting money, every night into the economy via repurchase agreements.
The markets will soar. Inflation will be lied away. The average person will be drunk on poison wine until the wild pony is reelected.
9
Stephens's descending ladder of desirable Democratic candidates for president––Klobuchar and Buttigeig at the top, Warren and Sanders at the bottom––is a perfect reflection of the ex-Wall Street Journal writer's satisfaction with the socio-economic status quo, his eagerness to retain it, and his fear of losing it.
5
If your dichotomy were true, then Trump would not have won as many suburban districts as he won, particularly here in Texas.
3
We should all oppose Trump because he is a hateful man who hates many people, especially people who don't look like him (God forbid...) He is a racist, a xenophobe, a misogynist and total egotist. The economy is good for people who already have money. Social mobility is slow and many people are afraid of his neofascist supporters. That should be enough to convince anyone who is not one of the above characteristics that Trump is the WORST president in many years!
10
Trump IS the absolute worst and anyone who isn’t Trump will get my vote.
My preference though is for Elizabeth Warren because I think she understands what needs to be done, what can be done and ‘has a plan’ to accomplish it.
Next would be Michael Bloomberg. I liked Michael Bennet but unfortunately he’s not going anywhere.
Democrats have to stop administering ‘purity tests’. Did Bloomberg do everything I love while he was mayor? No, but he ran an effective and efficient administration and since he left office, he has supported (words, work and money) projects that I believe it - climate change, education, gun reform.
As to ‘buying the election’ - don’t all candidates try to do that. Difference is he’s using his own money. I get tons of emails from Democratic candidates - his are the only ones I actually read. They are substantive, they tell me things. All the others are light to non-existent as to policy and very heavy on asking for money. I’ve contributed to some and will contribute to Bloomberg when he opens that part of his campaign.
One last reason I would look forward to a Bloomberg candidacy - it would drive Trump nuts. Bloomberg is real billionaire who made his fortune rather than inherit it and who NEVER went bankrupt next to the 4-5 Trump bankruptcies. Bring it on BankruptDonald.
2
I could really care less about the Iowa and New Hampshire outcomes. Given their size and delegate count, it is miniscule for all except the press. The real test comes on super Tuesday when more and larger populated states come into play.
3
Imagine for a moment what 4 more years will really mean for America. If he gets his way we’ll likely see the end of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and just about every other program trying to keep people falling thru the increasingly shrinking Safety Net. Already we’re being told that our Air and Water is not as clean as it was before Trump took Office. He wants to gut the EPA along with the FDA and just about every other good program out there. We’re quickly seeing our Country weakened as a Superpower with a crumbling infrastructure. The Middle Class is quickly disappearing becoming the new poor while the poor today are losing shelter and relying on Food Banks with SNAP cuts. Don’t take today’s low unemployment as something that’ll stay low. As more jobs are automated those jobs will disappear and with no training for displaced workers it’ll be out onto the streets. I honestly believe this Country won’t survive another 4 years with the current occupant in the WhiteHouse that has divided this Nation unlike any other
10
You tell the truth.
Trump lies about his ‘accomplishments’ and stupid people, many of whom are living the results of Trump failed policies believe the lies. That includes farmers (many of whom are still in trouble even after the massive government bailout and folks who have lost and will lose health coverage, etc., etc.,)
Unfortunately you can’t fix stupid.
2
If we're talking about commercials, how about a commercial showing just some of the insults (often women), attacks (members of the military and Gold Star families), and lies by the country's worst human over the past few years?
If he feels vindictive and unleashed now, all the better going into the election. Even some of his supporters find his behavior *ahem* troubling.
Come on Dems, show some spine fercryinoutloud!
14
@citizenduke Add his unfulfilled promises please. Where is that better "replacement" health care? What happened to curtailing immigration "until we figure out what is going on"? What happened to protecting safety nets?
Bloomberg is doing some of this with his ads. But I agree, it should be a constant deluge.
3
I know Bloomberg would do this, but the others need a campaign ad highlighting the Trump proposed budget cutting Social Security and Medicare, and call out his lying tweet that says otherwise.
9
@Robert kennedy Bernie has tweeted about that.
1
@Robert kennedy Agree! The candidates are missing a huge opportunity by not discussing the threats to Social Security. I don't know why this is not mentioned more often.
"to win, the Democratic candidate will have to convince the country that he or she is a calm, reasonable person who would end the high-drama traumas we’re undergoing now. Bernie has a yelling-guy affect I fear would be a problem."
To win a place on the guest list of my next dinner party, a Democratic candidates will have to convince me they can comport themselves with a modicum of self-control, if not charm.
Mr. Sanders, need I add, is out of the question - good lord, the man is a vulgarian!
3
@Jackson I don't think this election will be decided by guys hosting fancy dinner parties, but by average folks.
5
@Jackson
You believe that Bernie Sanders is a "vulgarian"?
Compared to Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders is Little Lord Fauntleroy.
I want a president who doesn't embarrass the whole country while he is on the world stage.
MAPA. Make America Proud Again.
@TinyBlueDot
I thought "comport themselves with a modicum of self-control, if not charm" was the tip-off to what I hoped was understated irony re rejection of Sanders based on upper middle class values...
...evidently it didn't read that way for you.
If Micheal Bloomberg somehow purchases the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, what will that connote about America? If anything, say goodbye to the notion that the USA is a constitutional republic, and that it's an oligarchy instead. And just when one thought you could only associate that view with Trump and the GOP.
5
@Arcticwolf
FDR, Jack Kennedy and Teddy Roosevelt were all filthy rich and they all did a great or good job. MB will probably do a good job too.
What is important is the content of their character, not the size of their bank roll.
2
Money in politics is a new thing to you?
What you think the corporations, unleashed by Citizens United, are doing when they spend their billions on a candidate? Do you know how much candidate and campaign time is devoted to raising money?
Michael Bloomberg is a true billionaire- he is using a lot his money to spread his message. He’ll put a lot of ads out. Believe me, so will every candidate.
Voters will still have the final word. That’s what makes this a democracy!
3
@Maxi
The degree to which money influences politics in America has no equal elsewhere. The excessive duration of your election campaigns rewards the ability to raise money, not meaningful discourse; my home province has laws prohibiting corporate and union donations during provincial election campaigns.
While that sounds alien to Americans, it's commonplace in Canada which, as a constitutional monarchy, allegedly remains under the yoke of the British crown--sarcasm intended. Even while America's political system segregates executive and legislative bodies of government, it also produces a sad illusion. Americans may think they're participating in their democracy, but it's more chimerical than in other Western nations.
1
If Micheal Bloomberg somehow purchases the Democratic Party nomination for president, what will that say about said party and America? If anything else, bid adieu to the idea that the USA is a constitutional republic. Instead, it will confirm the criticism that America is an oligarchy in reality. And just when you could associate that view with Trump and the GOP.
6
If Micheal Bloomberg somehow purchases the Democratic Party nomination for president, what will that say about said party and America? If anything else, bid adieu to the idea that the USA is a constitutional republic. Instead, it will confirm the criticism that America is an oligarchy in reality. And just when you could associate that view with Trump and the GOP.
3
Why am I getting a sinking feeling that none of the Democratic hopefuls has a chance against Trump? The impeachment (which I thought couldn't be avoided) has turned out to be a win-win for Trump. His acquittal was inevitable and he's at his highest poll numbers. The idea that Bloomberg would be the nominee was initially inconceivable but maybe the adage "money talks" positions Bloomberg as the best hope of returning to normalcy.
2
@nzierler Don't worry, polls show the leading Dem candidates beating Trump.
2
Bret wins the metaphor contest regarding Warren. Sorry, Gail, Warren is no fine cabernet, no claret. Remember that her big thing, her quite irksome thing, is the prize for lucky donors to "have a beer with Elizabeth." But look at what she herself is drinking in those ads, not even an interesting brew. OK, so she eschews any symbols of elitism. But given that whoever wins the Democratic Party's nomination would be facing a world class boor, a bit of class might actually means something. She represents Massachusetts in real time, so at least a Sam Adams: it's classy enough but because it's local, it wouldn't necessarily be considered elite. Then again, tea might be better.
2
The primaries on March 3rd will largely decide the Dem nominee. CA will be key. New Hampshire is a warm up.
1
It’s interesting what different people find terrifying. To Brett Stephens, it is the very idea living in a more egalitarian society in which the most fortunate few pay their share of taxes to help maintain the society that maintains them.
He is terrified of living in a country in which everyone has access to health care as a human right, and in which young people have an opportunity to get a good education and find a place in society and establish a family without being burdened with tens of thousands of dollars of debt.
He is terrified at the prospect of living in a society that doesn’t waste its treasure on its military might, but invests it in the well-being of its citizens and their environment. The idea that the government might take money out of maintaining Guantanamo and spend the money on early childhood education gives him nightmares.
If these are the terrors that keep Mr. Stephens up at night, he needn’t worry. It’s only the remotest possibly. Those are things that could happen only if enough Americans were willing to fight for them, and that hasn’t happened for nearly a hundred years.
9
Stephens thinks Buttigieg is too young, his resume too thin, and he’s skipping too many steps to the presidency.
Well, Stephens' apparently didn't fret when his party picked trump the obese geezer, with a gossamer resume, who had never run for, or held any office. He was also a former democrat and pro-choice, but never mind. That was fine with the GOP. Because, tell me again, why?
After trump there is no threshold for anything. After trump, any old New York mobster boss can become president, and if you get a Russkie mobster boss to help you, even better.
So, somebody like Pete, with a working noggin and ability to speak like an adult in multi-syllabic words to express his precise thoughts, well, it's refreshing to say the least. He puts Stephens' president bone-spurs stable genius to shame. In every way.
And if trump thinks Pete looks like Aflred E. Newman [Google it], then trump looks like an aged, obese Dennis the Menace [Google it]. I know who I'd rather have a beer with.
9
This is just spring training until Bloomberg gets in the race for real. Super Tuesday can't come soon enough.
4
With all their reservations, would Bret and Gail have imagined they would have spoken this warmly about Bernie Sanders five years ago?
6
@Robert Roth Ha, indeed! Let's imagine their hot enthusiasm about President Sanders in another five years.
1
@Gray Goods A very nice thought.
Lawmakers should listen to the voters and then exercise their best judgment as to how we govern ourselves. What problems do we solve (and pay for) through government? What problems are best solved by individual effort and voluntary association? Bernie Sanders at least has strongly held ideas about this that seem to draw on Scandinavia.
In his 3/5/19 NYT op-ed “The Oppression of the Supermajority,” Tim Wu listed policies which a substantial majority of voters support: higher taxes for the ultrawealthy, paid maternity leave, net neutrality, stronger privacy laws, buying cheaper drugs from Canada, and allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
He then said: “The defining political fact of our time is not polarization. It’s the inability of even large bipartisan majorities to get what they want on issues like these. Call it the oppression of the supermajority. Ignoring what most of the country wants — as much as demagogy and political divisiveness — is what is making the public so angry.” Trump for all his flaws at least seems to listen to many of the voters who feel forgotten and ignored.
I’d happily be all in for Warren or Klobuchar if I were convinced they would turn the Ds into a center left party that truly does its job and addresses needs according to circumstance, not lefty theories of race or gender.
3
Bernie has done his job; he moved the national conversation so that the needs of real working people, not only capital gains recipients, are important policy issues. That said, his solutions aren’t realistic and he has NO LEGISLATIVE TRACK RECORD that proves he can work within our three branch system to make necessary changes. Where are his PLANS? He can’t shout his solutions into legislation....
Elizabeth Warren has similar priorities and SHE HAS THE EXPERTISE AND PROVEN TRACK RECORD to start making necessary changes! And she is pragmatic so that she can (has already) adjust to accommodate what is short term possible, while continuing to work toward long term goals.
I truly wish Bernie would step aside; I believe Elizabeth Warren would be a much more effective and productive President!
6
She’s my second choice after Bernie.
She’s fourth of fifth in the polls, though, so it is premature to ask him to drop out until her numbers get better.
4
You write "have a very decent shot at bringing down President Trump."
In the past, a more civilized person probably would have written : " a shot at winning the election".
We have all gotten nasty and that is a shame.
2
Agree, just like the word “enemy/enemies list” was shocking to hear in 1973 and now is commonly used by elected leaders at all levels, commentators, etc.
We need a revolution, and none of the conservatives you folks seem to like/want will bring it. If we get another Democrat candidate who pretends to care abut the people and then really is a shill for the large corporations and banks, people will rightly choose the real Republican over the fake one. Bernie is the only candidate who draws a real line between left and right, and for the left to win, it has to show that it means there will be real change. Less wine and cheese, and more beer and sausage...or bread and roses.
3
If you haven't voted yet, please go to YouTube, find and watch Senator Bennet's speeches on the government shutdown, last year, and during Trump's impeachment. He deserves another look, as the best candidate to both defeat Trump and bring back normalcy, decency, intelligence, and no divisive behavior.
IMHO, someone who is more terrified of Bernie than Donald does not belong on the pages of the New York Times.
Doesn’t he understand that presidents don’t make law? That the overwhelming majority of congressional Democrats are moderate and centrists and will not allow Bernie to enact terrifying laws even if he is in the White House?
Doesn’t he know that most presidents never fulfill even a tiny fraction of what they would like to do?
Doesn’t he understand that in a negotiation you always ask for more than you want and then you settle for at least something of what you want?
9
We live in two different countries simultaneously, one is rural the other is urban and each doesn’t understand the other. They watch two different television channels, one is almost totally white people, they shop in different stores, eat different foods, have different levels of education, and go to different schools. This election is about which country is bigger than the other and who get more of their citizens out to vote, the candidates are irrelevant.
219
@Bruce Pippin - I think this primary season is much more split along Economic issues. Both parties have moved too far to the right, and become unable or unwilling to support the working and middle class vs their big-money support "campaign donors and lobbyists." Hillary Clinton was unwilling to support #FightFor15 and unable to support a strong #StopTPP movement against free-trade agreements. Senator Sanders called the Trans Pacific Partnership "another lousy free-trade agreement like NAFTA" and he won almost every county in Michigan urban and rural.
25
@Bruce Pippin Your comment had an almost physical effect on me: its clarity conveys understanding that very well compares with a whiff of ammonia hitting the nostrils!
6
@Bruce Pippin
Except...
not all rural voters vote red, and not all urban voters vote blue.
The sooner we cancel stereotypes, the faster we will achieve something like the truth.
But the truth is like poetry. And most people hate poetry.
40
Dem voters need to vote with their Heads, not with their Hearts.
I get that many would love someone like Bernie to lead the country and help it reverse course. But can he really beat Trump? In order to win, we need a candidate that can pull enough votes from Moderates, Independents and ex-Trumpers. A candidate such as Bernie will Not secure such votes.
4
@Lisa Actually, Bernie is the most popular candidate among Independents (beating Trump there by 18 points) and has been endorsed by popular libertarian podcast host Joe Rogan. In almost all polls versus Trump, Bernie is the winner. So, don't worry, please.
2
I thought Bret might have had the best zinger in saying that he was watching Joe Biden's performance "the way I might watch a high school play: grading on a curve and just happy that nobody forgot their lines". Gail acknowledged that this was a good line.
But Gail's "...the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. I sure hope Donald Trump gets it in the arc"...
"Gets it in the arc" is a thing of beauty.
3
Elect Sanders for a faster end.
1
“He surrounds himself with excellent people, takes thoughtful decisions, measures results, changes his mind when necessary, has an ethical core and doesn’t let ideology get in the way of pragmatism.”
And one wonders why Bret Stephens never voted for Obama.
5
I think the only one who truly unnerves Trump is Bloomberg. A man who actually is a billionaire and who can appeal to moderates, independents and all those 1%ers out there who worry about the health of their wealth under most of the other candidates. No one wins without the middle and I only see Klobuchar and Buttigieg there with Bloomberg. And sadly homophobia and sexism are still alive and well in this country.
I almost feel a little like those so-called Evangelicals who set aside their faith to support a golden idol who represents the antithesis of it. I'll set aside my deep concerns about money in Democracy and vote to fight fire with fire.
4
Hey! I heard on NPR last night that Dixon Notch was unanimous for Bloomberg as write in winner of both parties' primaries. Where is the bounce? Mr Trump must be red faced --- errr or some color.
It was two for Bloomberg 1 for Buttigieg and 1 for Sanders not unanimous.
And Klobuchar decisively won in the other small towns, leaving Bloomberg with a small minority of votes equal to joe Biden and less than Yang.
1
I am a lifelong Democrat. The kind that goes into a voting booth and pulls all the levers (remember levers?) straight across the Democratic ticket.
And I'm scared. I'm scared of a repeat of 2016. I'm scared that Democratic voters will vote their hearts instead of their heads.
I'm scared that the majority of Democrats will pick a candidate who will not be able to stand up to Trump.
Keeping in mind that the the Democratic party represents roughly a quarter of the electorate. A majority of that is only 13 percent of the voting public. We cannot risk selecting a candidate solely based on progressive issues. How many Democratic voters did we lose in 2016 because Sanders was not the nominee. That was just plain petulant stupidity on their part. "I didn't get what I wanted, so I'm not playing anymore!" Look where that got us.
This time around we need to pick someone who can appeal to the greatest number of Americans, Independents and moderate (read sane) Republicans.
Free tuition for all, wealth taxes and universal health care are great ideas. They are worth striving for, but if Trump gets another four years and gets to appoint more Supreme Court Justices, the liberal progressive dream will die. It could be generations before it has another chance.
We need to put aside our principles, put on our boxing gloves and get into the ring with the most unprincipled and vile individual who ever occupied the White House.
It's going to be a nasty fight.
5
@Larry That's brilliant, eloquent, and right on the money! You speak for millions; if only they would listen.
2
Our decline of Democracy began when the United States Supreme Court block the counting of votes in Florida in 2000. The next deterioration is the citizens United case that made corporations citizens, a case that by the way, Began in earnest by Democrats and had unintended consequences. One of the most egregious complaint I have as a citizen was the blocking of Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Until the next election. All of which has led us to an impeachment process that failed, until the next election.
Well, by God, I am not giving up and will be voting for Joe Biden, The only candidate Donald Trump fears for good reason.
The New York Times editorial board needs to move some offices to the south instead of scaring Democrats to get clicks. It’s interesting to note that the Washington post does not accept comments.
Once upon a time a letter to the newspaper that got published was a big deal.
@ Larry
“It’s going to be a nasty fight”
Exactly.
That’s why you would want some passionate supporters, savvy with social media, on your side.
You know, like the much-maligned Bernie Bros.
NOT a bunch of senile Clinton, Biden, or Buttigieg supporters.
3
"They hold the fate of the party in their hands. And maybe not only their party."
Didn't we hear this last week about Iowa. Surely we'll hear it again about South Carolina & Nevada. As a DEM voter: none of these small & narrow demographic states matters [unless you're in the Media.] No matter how sincere these voters might be.
Get real: Bloomberg or Bust!
2
"New Hampshire Democrats Aren’t Just Voting
They hold the fate of the party in their hands. And maybe not only their party."
That's why I opened and read this. Overpromise and underdeliver does not a satisfied reader make. And every time you're tempted to declare that you're "terrified" by some candidate or other, stop and think about how much authority that revelation is giving what you have to say.
Democrats should be very concerned that Trump's approval ratings continue to tick up. He will run a campaign highlighting a strong economy, rising wages, a strong stock market and new trade deals. He will absolutely bash Sanders as a Socialist, reminding people of the failed practices of Venezuela and the USSR. He will run a slick campaign, as he did in 2016, using everything at his disposal to discredit his opponent and deny real news as fake news.
And in the face of this, we have Democrats fighting each other for the "soul" of the party. Honestly, Democrats couldn't have picked a worse time to turn themselves into a band of infighting juveniles. "Assumption" in politics is a fools errand, so anyone assuming that Democrats will enthusiastically rally around a single nominee are kidding themselves. Bernie Sanders campaign is being run as a do or die movement with no capacity for pullback or compromise. This portends another devastating failure for Democrats.
138
@John
The Dems are hardly :a band of infighting juveniles".
They are doing what they should be doing--pointing out their strengths and weaknesses and testing their ideas to the American public before competing against Trump. It's far better to thicken one's skin and hone one's argument with competitors than with one's opponent.
I see nothing but healthy democracy taking place, with a bunch of overly anxious pundits weighing in (too often, I'd add), trying to forecast the future rather than let it happen.
64
@John There is no compromise about leaving people out of a health care safety net. Sanders supporters just want for Americans what the rest of the developed world already enjoys. My great niece died because she lived in Georgia where a doctor visit was not accessibly priced. She finally discovered that she had stage 4 lung cancer! Is this civilization? We should compromise on this?
44
@John
The fight within the Democratic Party is absolutely necessary.
It is comical, that the scared of Sanders, Wall Street supporting, war mongering, status quo protecting moderates, are promoting a Republican for the Democratic nominee.
Sanders is fiercely fighting for the soul of the Democratic Party.
The moderate, Wall Street supporting Establishment abetted and enabled
the obscene, colossal and growing inequality of opportunity, income and wealth, where the richest .1 percent take in over 188 times the income of the bottom 90 percent...
That Establishment watched, abetted and enabled the death of the American Dream.
That Establishment intends to protect its status quo.
Sanders, more than any other candidate understands the societal deterioration represented by the obscene inequality.
Sure, his policies of medicare for all, quality, free child care for all, quality early childhood through grade twelve education for all, and tuition free continuing education... these policies will have a significant price tag upfront.
America is the richest country in the world, and it has the highest rate of incarceration in the world.
With Sanders policies the American Dream will be revived and a better educated, healthier, more thriving citizenry will create a better society and economy.
And for those who value American ideals, worth the investment.
Sanders' integrity, bold ideas, vision and courage are desperately needed now to renew America's soul.
22
The health of the economy is a false facade because corporations are still laying off people even though they got their giant tax breaks. It’s not enough for them - they want more. They won’t be happy until we are all unemployed and sleeping in doorways.
5
I continue to read this collaboration with a rapidly waning belief that evidence of wit and reason would eventually appear. But once more, Brett pushes his irrational, propagandist fear and loathing for Bernie Sanders, while the man who truly personifies that anemic imagery, reminds us daily that he is scarily unfit to occupy the office of President. Trump now has a foul record from his private and public life to prove it. Bernie Sanders does not. Those in the main stream media who fawn over lackluster candidates as viable options for Democrats to win the White House, could have a hidden agenda to see Trump return for a second term. Predictable, clicks driven journalism assures Trump's return to office, just as CNN's mindless, irresponsible, obsequious presence at his every vomitous rant in 2016, helped to drive up his numbers among those to whom he had been viewed as a thorough going sideshow. Trump is a master at distracting an unimaginative media with crazed, outlandish rhetoric, knowing that society's peeved and marginalized underbelly will turn out for their man, to wallow in his rude language and help him win. Then, the rest of us will be subjected to four more years of duplicitous hand wringing from the press. No wonder Trump is so convinced that the media is a proponent of fake news. His current presence in New Hampshire reflects that mission. He knows that every gullible media house will appear to regurgitate his 2020 retelling of "the snake".
2
“Nothing in this nomination season has gone as any of us would have predicted six months ago.” With that fact let’s end any more Primary reporting like its a horse race. It’s not.
2
Collins and Stephens are coalescing around Klobuchar. The lions are laying down with the sheep under the great Minnesotan's vision. Go with the Klo!
I think a Bloomberg/Klobuchar ticket may be the strongest team the Democrats can field. The other Democratic candidates should see if Bloomberg can create ads for them.
I’m concerned that Tom Perez is not the right choice to head the DNC. Right now the DNC should be hammering away at Trump’s attacks on Colonel Vindman and Mitt a Romney.
9
@Javaforce I second this idea. A Bloomberg/Klobuchar ticket would be Democrats' strongest, most formidable team to defeat Trump. A very likable, centrist, results-oriented Midwestern woman would be so complimentary in working with one of the most successful self-made business leaders/entrepreneurs of our time - also very results-oriented - who earned his political bona fides (in part) as successful former NYC mayor. An awesome team they would be, & a political force to be reckoned with. (Apologies to former English teachers for ending former sentence with a preposition) :-)
I hope Bernie wins big and Tulsi Gabbard comes in a strong third or fourth in New Hampshire. They are the only two Democrats worth my vote. I think Trump is going to win by a landslide no matter who the Democrats nominate. What Democrats need is to get rid of the DNC altogether which seems it would rather re-elect Trump than allow Sanders or Gabbard to get the nomination. If the DNC nominates anybody else, I'm voting for Trump.
6
The sick cruelty of Trump regarding the incident with the thoroughbred race horse is beyond the pale--enough to make some of my neighbors see how ugly this empty shell of a human being is and throw away their MAGA hats.
The problem is that they would never believe what they read and call it fake news. That's where we are.
The moderate Democrat party is dead.
Academia has failed to distinguish for 2 generations of young kids the differences or advantages of socialism over capitalism and free market economics.
They will never vote for a Bloomberg or Biden let alone a Buttigieg. Thank you Academia
for destroying our hopes of ridding the world of Donald Trump!
1
What an compassionate plea to vote Democrat.
If only the Democrats had a candidate worth voting for.
Ok, maybe Bloomberg, but that's not the guy the NYT or the DNC wants you to vote.
Also Bret, stop trying to make Joe Biden happen, it won't.
4
Iowa and New Hampshire are about white goose-steppers. Super Tuesday will help clean up this awful mess.
1
Piggybacking on The NYTimes brilliant Sunday Review piece on decadence (by the far more brilliant Ross Douthat) is the ominous worry that prosperity currently "reveals a slowdown -- a mounting difficulty in achieving breakthroughs." Hence even worse when Bret Stephens is just as -- if not more -- decadent.
Any reminder that his "affections wobble" while "antipathies remain the same" only mirrors the IRKSOMENESS he then projects unto Tom Steyer. You'd think with a column in The NYTimes, Bret could actually have something more interesting to say in between mundane pants merely punctuating the uninteresting nothings old/money-bags Steyer has to say.
But no! In fact, if Bret were a fence, each side would be the irony of other side's indifference.
It's not too scary living in a social democracy. We enjoy health care for all, a hunting and gun ownership culture where people generally do not shoot other people. Life expectancy averages 6 years longer than in the US and infant mortality rate is much lower.
Blame Canada (and social democracy).
Oh, and Canada rated #9 in the World Happiness Report (after most Scandinavian countries, New Zealand and Switzerland).
The US rated #19
9
I have always been deeply interested in politics and followed all previous nominating contests closely. But I find that I just cannot watch the Democrats this time. I think it is because I don't care which one of them wins because I know that I will fully support whichever of them comes out on top. Every single one of them is a thousand times better than Trump.
4
In NH today I'm voting Buttigieg to blunt Sanders momentum and then hoping that Bloomberg can rally Democrats around a candidate who can actually beat Trump in a walk.
The second Sanders gets the nomination, his national poll numbers will tank forcing the party to reallocate resources to saving the existence of the party in the down ballot races.
Sanders general election number are a chimera that will disappear as soon as his policies and past are reported on.
I would add, we don't need the Bernie Bros to win. They cost us the election in 2016, but as 2018 and 2019 proved beyond a shadow of doubt, there are tens of million more voters who want to end the chaos and realign to the middle. The will come out hard for a moderate Democratic candidate, but not for Sanders or Warren.
5
@OrchardWriting No what cost you the election last time was Hillary’s wars in Iraq, Syria, Lybia and her being out of touch with your average person.
It is not Sanders "confident stage presence and a well-honed delivery that never disappoints his fans" that "makes him the likely front-runner in the Granite State." I must disagree with Bret Stephens.
It is Sander's authenticity, honesty and knowledge of Washington combined with his true desire to improve the lives of people that makes him popular. Particularly the lives of the people in the lower 50% i income and wealth group in the US. They are in pain and many are hopeless, in near poverty or poverty, have fear of their lousy heath care insurance and are feeling very insecure. I have often listed here, the problems of a huge swath of Americans in our declining country but that is now becoming clear to everyone.
"There must be something rotten at the very core of a social system which increases its wealth without diminishing its misery." Karl Marx
6
No one seems to be talking about the fact that the combined percentage of Bernie and Elizabeth in Iowa was very nearly 45%. They share essentially the same platform, the one that keeps being touted as dangerously left-leaning. From here on out, I want the pundits to regularly address this in the wider conversation... 45% is an enormous market share.
8
Why is everyone so ticked off about Pelosi tearing the speech in half but not about trump refusing to shake hands with her at the beginning.
21
@Publius, I take your point, and I agree with you. But you and I, perhaps, actually spent some time observing the events that unfolded when trump had his reality show- themed SOTU spectacle. On the other hand, many of us are too busy or lazy to actually follow the sequence of events. Instead, we are taking an edited video making the rounds on fb and Twitter that apparently shows Congresswoman Pelosi tearing up the speech apropos of nothing during the speech at face value. The video intentionally lacks context, and both media refuse to take it down. Propaganda will win over facts when we can't be bothered to take the time to learn the facts.
2
@Publius
Because the White House occupant knows how to bait and switch by tossing in a “dead skunk” and the media always goes for dead skunk.
2
Bret's assessment of Bloomberg: 'He surrounds himself with excellent people, takes thoughtful decisions, measures results, changes his mind when necessary, has an ethical core and doesn’t let ideology get in the way of pragmatism. And in this season of nonstop harping on the rich, he’s a reminder that starting great businesses is good for America, that great wealth can also do great good, and that you should never judge the moral worth of a person by the size of his or her bank account, no matter how small or large.' trump's team are already gleefully digging for Bloomberg dirt, and his adoring base is waiting to snap it up.
Somehow I just know that trumpies will not only be able to hate him simply because he's running. And the ugliness will flow!! Changes his mind when necessary? No Democrat is allowed to change their mind, it's weakness! (Republicans changing their minds on impeachable offenses? Totally defensible.)
republicans have reached a nadir of hypocrisy and have perfected the art of projection. When they're reduced to insisting that only one man in the entire nation can ever be trusted, and he must never be questioned, let alone corrected, you know it's only because they walk willingly in darkness.
That darkness is called ONE PARTY RULE and white power for a few more divisive years. Oligarchs lead the way; after all, Mitch and Elaine would be losers to pass up what Oleg Deripaska et al are offering them, amirite?
2
Bloomberg "has an ethical core ... "
"Police stops not only soared 600% between 2002 and 2011, but stop-and-frisk also disproportionately targeted black and Latino men, with an estimated 86% to 90% of those stopped not charged with any criminal offenses during Bloomberg's administration."
-- Business Insider
" I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little."
-- comment made during interview with WOR-NY host John Gambling
Mayor Mike ended stop-and-frisk only when it was ruled unconstitutional. Then he apologized after he announced his presidential run.
Maybe Mayor Mike's ethics are rotten to the core, if so, another Trump similarity, eh, what?
Look, these billionaires have too much confidence in their judgment, that is, they lack intellectual humility, a very dangerous character deficit. Pride is the fiercest sin.
8
I lived in New Hampshire when I first came to the US. The climate was not to my liking and the state was too rural but I met many smart and admirable people. Now I appeal to these people: please don’t inflict Bernie upon the country. I am an immigrant, a woman and a liberal who lived in (or visited) many of the countries he falsely claims as his inspiration, like the UK and Norway. I know that what Bernie’s cult is selling has nothing to do with social democracy. Maybe I’ll have to plead with Europe to take me and my American husband in if Bernie wins the presidency. The Sanders administration would be worse than the Trump administration. The more likely outcome, of course, that if Sanders is the nominee, Trump will be president for life. In either case, American democracy is in peril. Please, people if New Hampshire, choose wisely.
3
@Mor. I’d really like to hear how you think a Sanders administration would be “worse” than a Trump administration. What are the specific things you see happening? I mean, assuming Sanders wins and he’s actually able to get any legislation through our Republican Senate.
5
@Mor
How could any Democrat running be “worse” than the White House occupant? Give us more facts, less doomsday predictions.
2
Why would the Sanders administration be worse than Trump’s? Easily. Like Trump, Bernie is running on an ideological narrative. Like Trump, he is beholden to his ideologically driven base. So he’ll do things to pacify this base, while disregarding the rest of us. Let’s start with disruption to our international alliances, turmoil in the Middle East, empowerment of Iran, abandonment of Israel, and more bloodshed when Iran and Saudi Arabia are clashing in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen without any pushback from the isolationist USA. Next comes the massive tax hike on the “wealthy”, which means all of us paying taxes. Then the stock exchange crash and what it would do to your 401 K. M4A won’t happen but if it does, the USA will join the exclusive club of countries that outlaw supplementary or alternative private medical insurance. I think this would be the club of one but perhaps Cuba is also in this category. And finally, the only thing left would be fear- and hatred-mongering. Jus follow Bernie bros on Twitter and you’ll get your earful.
I don't get it. Why should I, an Illinois voter, care about how people in Iowa or New Hampshire vote? To me it's irrelevant. Am I to assume that people in either of those states know something I don't? I'm not a lemming; I can do my own evaluation. It's lazy and irresponsible not to. This is all just a huge media circus.
For me, a far-left progressive, the Democratic party is in disarray. I like Sanders or Warren, but the average voter (including Bret Stephens) runs on emotion rather than critical thinking.
None of the Democrats have a simple, appealing message.
And now, along comes Bloomberg with a strong message ripped from the pages of Donald Trump ("Mike will get it done") that appeals to the average voter. His platform is practical - healthcare, jobs, and gun safety. He doesn't have to worry about raising money. His wealth is buying him exposure and he is gaining momentum in the polls. His image and experience say that he can go head to head with Trump. Black voters appear to like anyone who can beat Trump.
Stay tuned. I think this may become the Mike Bloomberg Show. Oligarchs rule. "One man, one vote" and "government of the people, by the people, for the people" - not so much.
5
Historically speaking, and it applies this time as well, NH does not influence the democrat candidate selection significantly. The early caucuses are hyped by the media as big because they want ratings, but really they hardly represent democrats nationwide. SC has a bigger influence than Iowa and NH combined, and no one will likely know the winner until super Tuesday. This is just an opportunity for the times (and all media) to push their corporate agenda and help protect the oligarchs from Bernie and Liz.
4
The whole country should vote in primary at the same time. We should select a first and second candidate so if the first choice is not viable the vote automatically moves to the second. We can do better. Such a small group of voters should not have so much power over the rest of the country.
10
This people have no idea about the suffering of the Americans face everyday
8
I could really get behind Bloomberg, it would be a fair fight without name calling (just think of the dirt Bloomberg has on Trump). Bloomberg could bring the RNC to its knees and to get beyond his money think of Roosevelt and how much he was worth and what he did once in office.
5
There is only one question I want to hear from Stephens before I listen to any more of his dribble: who he would support in a Trump vs. Sanders general election.
Unfortunately since Collins hasn't asked him, I presume the NYT has forbidden their columnists to publicize a choice for the general election.
3
The horse story puts Mitt's dog story in perspective.
3
""to win, the Democratic candidate will have to convince the country that he or she is a calm, reasonable person who-"
Hey Ms. Collins? Did you know no-friend-of-Bernie Nate Silver projects Sanders dominance in almost every Super Tuesday from here on in?
I just wondered if you knew.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbS5WUPjlh8]
3
Wow, Bret can read my mind!
I had enough with these two.
By the way, Merlot is the main grape (95%) of Chateau Petrus, arguably the best wine in the world. I don’t know anyone who drinks wine who doesn’t like it.
7
I too thought: who doesn’t like Merlot??? Seriously....
Iowa and New Hampshire are done as gatekeepers to the election.
"...Three tickets out of Iowa..."
"...Two tickets out of New Hampshire...".
We're done with that in the Democratic Party.
1
To all you Bloomberg supporters: it is perfectly fine to express you preferences, but please get off the script you have been handed by his campaign. All of you are using the same phrases, the same intonation, the same points in the same order. Yes, we know you think:
"Mile can get it done!"
"Go Mike"
"now convinced he is the only candidate...."
"that's why I'm supporting Mike Bloomberg"
"the choice is now clear: Bloomberg"
"he will be spending his own money"
And so on for another ten or twelve phrases I have been tracking in almost the same language.
7
Yes, and other voters should get off the script "fake news," "witch hunt," "unfair," "deep state," "never Trumper," "stable genius," "he's got my back."
4
@Duke If those are different supporters at all and not simply two guys at an ad agency...
1
I wonder when (or if) a pundit will dare to mention the elephant in the room regarding the otherwise excellent former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. If Mr. Stephens can imagine The Leader's ads about Speaker Pelosi, can he imagine the foul sneering - and targeted mailings and robo-calls - focusing on sexual orientation, same-sex marriage, and the like? Is this not, after all, at least one reason that Mayor Pete does so poorly in some polls?
8
Can we quit reading the tea leaves and simply get behind Joe Biden in a bigly way.
Joe Biden is the only candidate that Donald Trump fears.
Enough of this nonsense and infighting.
1
@Bill Tyler -- You are giving the decision to Trump, and your reason is some assumed deep correct insight he has into what he should fear.
Is that really what you think of Trump? No, I didn't think so. So the argument doesn't work either.
2
Bret Stephens: go vote any third-party candidate you want. Please do it. You vote in New York and we don't need your vote there to dump Trump, we'll already have 60% of the vote without you.
3
Gail, Bret, and most of the media are handicapping a horse race that unfolds a week at a time. These could be the practice workouts for all we know. What matters is the whole race, which at the convention. Too many people are trying to predict the finish based on the practice rounds.
Remember 2016? Some wild outsider named Trump kept showing up and trying to shoo off the others. No one except Jeff Sessions and Lindsay Graham took him seriously. And then, Boom.
Let's all take a deep breath. Stop talking about the Big Split within the Democratic party. Give these candidates space to sell themselves to voters. Stop with the predictions and the "electability" and second-guessing.
7
Pelosi’s snarky move draws disapproval but no review of Trump awarding the Medal of Freedom to a racist. Really?
48
Yes, the elephant in the room is Bloomberg. And in about three weeks, if the polls continue to move, especially among blacks, he'll be a herd of elephants.
2
@Mark Merrill Bloomberg was mayor for 12 years. There haven't been many negative stories about him till now.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/11/audio-mike-bloomberg-tells-aspen-elites-all-the-crime-is-in-minority-areas-throw-them-against-the-wall-and-frisk-them/
There is another story in the NY Post. Somebody wants to chop him off at the knees. Who would do this?
@Mike Who would do this? Maybe all of the New Yorkers who were unconstitutionally stopped and frisked? Or people who don't like oligarchs who ignore term limits and take a third term because 'only they have the answers the people need.' Bloomie has had a ton of press - it just didn't reach you in Texas yet because he wasn't on the national stage.
3
@Mark Merrill I am no prognosticator, but here's a guess: Americans are not in a hurry to vote for a guy who won't let them buy whatever size soda they want.
1
Turn out will be below expectations again.
2018 high turn out came just before the Mueller report stating (to quote) that it found no evidence that “ any American citizen knowingly or unknowingly conspired with Russians” in regard to 2016 elections.
The 2018 election came at the height of the Russian collusion story with anonymous leaks confirming it and intel chiefs hinting at super secret evidence on TV and Schiff claiming almost daily that he has seen damning evidence he cannot disclose while Mueller is still investigating. In my local cafe people were discussing the collusion revelations every day. Politics every day. It was getting old. Since than - zero political talk. Nobody is bringing up FISA or FBI but also not a word during impeachment. Night and day.
The ballon has popped. No way to stitch it together
4
Granted, I don't even come close to reading everything about this election, but I've seen no one comment that maybe Biden's fading prospects have something to with Trump's constant attacks on him.
6
Every time a Democrat writes in the paper, or appears on TV and declares that Iowa and NH doesnt count because they are too white, and dont represent America, you know what happens?
You insult the rest of white America, who still make up 75% of the US population.
Its like Democrats cant get out of their own way.
They just never learn.
Enough with the identity politics.
Go ahead... Carry on.....
7
@Capitalism4Ever Christians are also very misrepresented...if you take out the so-called evangelicals in the red states, the vast majority of Christians support Democratic values and legislation. Even most Catholic women are pro-choice under many conditions/circumstances, and the vast majority of all Catholics support the Democrats' relatively generous (compared to GOP doctrine) support of social programs. Most other Christian denominations are even more supportive of the Dems' philosophy/programs.
4
This discussion was ostensibly supposed to be of the New Hampshire Democrat Primary but a good portion of it delved into loathing of Trump and his "unhinged" supporters.
2
Please stop frightening democratic voters. Don't you realize that people may not vote in fear of making the wrong decision?!?!
1
Collins is funny by herself, but Stephens is a real drag. Does he still deny climate change science or aren't we talking about that anymore?
9
Don’t agree with almost everything Gail and Bret just said.they need to get out of the office more.
9
It's the system stupid.
A decade or so ago we sent a multi-billion dollar mars probe to oblivion because some engineers mixed up the metric system with the English units of measure.
If we don't change we can expect the same old failures.
Money won't buy us love in our money riddled election process.
Iowa and New Hampshire should not be determining who our presidential candidates are.
But, hey, it's only earth's only super-power we are talking about.
Democrats, in their infinite wisdom, opted for proportional delegates instead of “winner take all” primaries.
No one will have the required delegates to win the nomination outright and there will be a “brokered” convention.
Republicans will sit back and enjoy the knife fight.
4
Go Elizabeth!
"Bret: Don’t rule it out. Nothing in this nomination season has gone as any of us would have predicted six months ago."
So I support the candidate I think would make the best President. And when it's all over, the columnists and pollsters who got it right can preen and pontificate until they screw up and we can start all over again.
1
Congrats to the authors of this piece.
They have the Democratic play book down pat.
Anybody but Bernie.
If I were he, after he wins New Hampshire, I would definitely hire a food taster.
It is amazing to see the limits the democratic maistream will go to discredit him.
And discredit him they wiil do.
11
I suspect that the DNC is more afraid of a President Sanders than four more years of Trump.
13
“Or at least those of us who can vote in a Democratic primary. Sorry, Bret.” From the article which leads to these thoughts...
Gail, it is a Democratic primary. I don’t understand this comment except that it reflects a general confusion about the distinction between parties electing their candidates and elections. As for “sorry Bret,” in Iowa Bret can registers at the door as a member of either party- which I happen to think is open minded but yet another distortion of what a primary is about. The problem with both the Republican and Democratic process is we don’t have strong parties selecting candidates. We have individuals mounting popularity contest. This is a breeding ground for non-party candidates like Sanders and Trump. To the parties I say - why do you allow Non-party members to rum in your primaries?
Political parties are for people who are too lazy to have their own opinions.
One-third of the American electorate is independent, so your contempt of them is what causes surprises in the general election.
Tell me, where in the US Constitution does the subject of political parties appear?
4
Buttigieg all the way. Voters do not care about experience. Obama was a freshman senator. Trump..well, basically never worked a day in his life. The 2018 blue wave brought in first time politicians up and down the ballot. Voters are desperate for intelligence. Buttigieg is not only that but he is the best communicator. People like to hear him speak.
1
Not exactly an informed conversation, is it? They might as well be discussing how to garnish a hot dog at a baseball game?
8
Gail and Bret, why don't use your writing skills to fight for a total reform of the election system. It's like you consider it as much less crazy than it is.
3
The problem with the Democrat field is their ideology. They all are in agreement to use your taxpaying dollars to give free healthcare to whomever can sneak into the United States illegally. This is not a moderate ideology. Many want open borders so that the cartels can come in and take over our border states. They want Socialism so no one is inspired to get ahead. The country will vote in November with their pocketbook and go with Trump again.
2
Stephens is, of course, terrified of Sander's administration, but he is also terrified of basic science and anything that smacks of equity. I find it irresponsible of the New York Times to allow a climate change denier and someone who believes in phrenology to espouse any particular opinion about anything. Why should the public be subject to his opinion? You've given him a mighty soapbox to legitimize his pseudo-science and hawkish politics, but I don't understand why. Neither science denial or war has done the American people much good. And it just makes the New York Times look like an accomplice.
11
The opinions of The NY Times columnists about the front runner Bernie Sanders are well known at this point. Do we need to repeat them ad nauseam?
Enough already.
8
Like Iowa, the political influence of New Hampshire is vastly overrated. I want real electoral reform that gives us majority rule instead of being chained by the dictates of a Republican minority that clings to power through the Electoral College.
1
Assuming Bret cannot participate in the NY primary because he is registered as a Republican, he can switch his registration in order to vote in the NY Democratic primary for someone he feels would be better suited to the job than our current president.
Many folks in the GOP might feel more comfortable with Bloomberg than Trump? Remember who established the EPA!
Deadline to change registration is Friday, Feb 14th. How better to spend Valentine's Day?
It makes little difference who the Democratic nominee is as long as Bloomberg continues his truthful ads. He is landing punches where they really hurt.
This republican cult is a dark violent force in American politics and needs to be exposed as the authoritarians they really are. They are not American and have no ideals that even approach what our founders or better spirits of our country have exhibited in the past. Only Bloomberg is showing this.
Words do not show the evil of these people adequately. The visuals are very important. They cannot hide from what they are.
Keep it up Micheal. These people deserve it.
6
Gail & Bret,
Since our politicians Pledge the Allegiance and Speak well of Voting & Democracy,
could our Congress soon repeal the Electoral College of the slavery era,
and start our election primaries in Massachusetts and California?
1
@Steven of the Rockies I would be happy to see the anti-democratic Electoral College demolished. Their demise would be a breath of fresh air!
2
"They hold the fate of the party in their hands. And maybe not only their party."
That is ridiculous. Bernie won New Hampshire in 2016 by 60% and he did not win the nomination. He may hit 30% today but that means he has lost half of his support since 2016. And assuming he hits 30%, that means that 70% want someone else. Bernie Sanders only joins the Democratic Party when he runs for president, and in 2016 he had the nerve to actually cancel his membership after the election. In 25 years in Washington he has been the original sponsor of seven bills, two of them naming Post Offices and one declaring Vermont Appreciation Day. He is not going to be the nominee.
New Hampshire is a lovely place but it actually has a larger percentage of white voters than Iowa. Not only does New Hampshire not represent the demographics of America, it does not represent the demographics of the Democratic Party.
3
Bret's "Yelling Man" characterization of Sanders is spot on, and gets to the heart of why Sanders should not be the nominee. This zealot attracts a fringe group of Democrats, but repulses most mainstream Democrats, Independents, and even those Republicans who now regret having drunk the Kool-Aid. If his supporters think he can beat Trump with - say 30 percent - of Democrats, they are clearly letting their personal "best" become the enemy of the national good.
1
To those that believe campaigning on the unfair economy is a winner: "Fifty-nine percent of Americans say they are better off financially today than they were a year ago, the highest since 1999, according to a Gallup survey released last week. And nearly three-quarters predict they will do better a year from now, the most optimistic reading that Gallup's annual "Mood of the Nation" survey has ever recorded."
4
I'm all in on Mr. Bloomberg. He may have made a mistake on stop and frisk but he got so many other things right as mayor. The economy is doing too well for someone like Sanders or Warren to win and Bloomberg has got things right on the climate and will be seen as a better shepherd of the economy than trump ( I know how bad trump is but perception of the populace is what counts). Plus those many billions don't hurt either and I view it as a positive that someone dedicates their money to a good cause rather than trust funds.
6
@TS: Many mathematicians have made more money on Wall Street than they would have in labs. This tranche are called "Quants". Bloomberg has a fair number of them in his organization.
Stop & Frisk was NO mistake; it was the best gun control plan this country ever had. If he is elected, I hope he brings it back
1
I support Warren.
I’m an old white woman and I’m sick and tired of (old) white men running everything!
That said, VOTE FOR BLUE, NO MATTER WHO!!!!
11
@XxXx Warren is not in a very good position to win anymore. We need to defeat Trump.
Please consider Bloomberg. A Bloomberg/Klobuchar ticket could be a winning ticket and a step in a positive direction for our nation. (I'll settle for a female VP for now. A little at a time suits me for now.)
1
@XxXx Would you vote for Sara Palin too? What if Ivanka Trump were in the running? Just because neither is an "old white man?" I doubt it. You must know there are differences in policies between the candidates, with some that would serve women much better than others. Just because someone is a woman doesn't mean they're looking out for you--that's silly. To put it bluntly, you should ask yourself whether Warren's proposed policies are in fact the best option for women. Considering that an enormous number of women would benefit from comprehensive single-payer healthcare--which only Bernie Sanders has unequivocally supported--I doubt Warren can claim that title. Essentializing someone down to their surface-level distinctions is not really good politics, it's just superficial tribalism.
2
Vote RED or our economy is dead
I love reading all of the doomsday headlines and articles in the NYT concerning President Trump. We've had War was imminent with Iran, our democracy is ending, he colluded with Russia, he fired the courageous Lt. Col Vindman, et. Now you guys are stooping to talking about his first marriage and a race horse. Get over it - he was duly elected. If you want to beat him find a suitable candidate.
6
@Bill Hillary was duly elected by, "We the people." Trump was elected by the Electoral College.
Trump was elected by outsiders. Time to change the constitution.
4
Gets it in the arc. Oh Gail..
2
The holier-than-thou crowd on the left dismiss Klobuchar as too conservative, but I think their real problem is with her gender. To my mind, she's the best of the lot, in terms of electability, energy, experience and common humanity, and would make a superb president.
If elected, she’d be ready to go on day one. All the others except Biden, but including Bernie, would need two years on the job training, to learn what they can and cannot do—just as Obama did—thus giving the Republicans time to regroup and build their defenses against any democratic initiatives.
2
@Ron Cohen nope! we love Liz she’s pretty left. We adore her more so because she’s a woman and she’s very capable. She grew up Republican in the south so she knows the conservative mind and worldview intimately. She’s brilliant.
1
You can get discourse of this depth and intellect in any diner in Iowa, good thing neither of them is running the New Hampshire primary...
6
Please stop the the silly panic. They do not hold the future of Democrats in their hands, they are the first primary!
3
"to win, the Democratic candidate will have to convince the country that he or she is a calm, reasonable person who would end the high-drama traumas we’re undergoing now. Bernie has a yelling-guy affect I fear would be a problem."
X-TRA! X-TRA! Read all aboouuut it! "Sanders Crushes Trump by 18 Points Among Independent Voters in New National General Election Poll!"
[https://twitter.com/Reuters?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1227068915982925824&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2020%2F02%2F11%2Fsanders-crushes-trump-18-points-among-independent-voters-new-national-general]
Poll also finds "Sanders leading Trump nationally among all registered voters" vs. other candidates"!
[https://twitter.com/Reuters?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1227035618531848193&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2020%2F02%2F11%2Fsanders-crushes-trump-18-points-among-independent-voters-new-national-general]
5
@Jackson . Those polls mean next to nothing, sitting here in Feb. Most people know nothing of Sanders. Few of us are even paying attention this early.
It is kind of difficult not to know Sanders with media attacking him everyday from the right and the center.
5
@Lee Herring
"Those polls mean next to nothing...in Feb."
'Course they don't, Lee. Btw, did ya know Nate Silver predicts Sanders dominance in almost every Super Tuesday from her on in?
But what's he know? And 'sides, it's only Feb - let's give Bloomberg's daily carpet bombing of the US with 100s of millions in ads a little time to do their work...
"Most people know nothing of Sanders."
Eh...so long as you're talking about people who don't read papers or watch TV or ever think about politics or healthcare or the last election...That is who you mean...right?
1
To use a phrase coined by Joe Biden, “Here’s the deal.” Bernie is going to win New Hampshire and all the wine tasting references and hoping for Klobuchar shows just how out of touch your meritocracy elite pundits are with reality.
Bernie is about policies, policies that matter to Us. Plainly and simply too many working Americans are coming to realize that this is about stopping an age of neofeudalism. This nation is in fact run by fascist loving billionaires for billionaires and Bernie is our last best chance to fetter unbridled greed, and the grifters who foment it.
You might better serve this nation by letting go of your tired neo-liberal and failed meritocracy views and take a realistic, pragmatic and honest view at the institutions you seek to preserve at the expense of democracy.
8
Succinctly said Gail, "I want everything to haunt him"....me too.
2
I donated a few times to Sanders in the run up to 2016; think about where we'd be with Bernie instead of Trump. And he would have won.
But the country's had enough shaking up. I feel like a mustard bottle at a Nathan's contest.
As much as it pains me to say it, I agree with Stephens about Bloomberg. What we need right now, after four years of the worst executive in history, is someone who is a really good executive. I think Klobuchar or Warren or probably Buttigeig could do this too, but Bloomberg is a successful leader. I trust him more than anyone to lead the government back to sound fiscal dynamics, and I think we'd actually find that he addresses things like climate change and health care, too.
He should throw in some anti-corruption plans for good measure.
3
Personally I feel this election is two poor choices.
If we elect a Democrat, when the economy tanks again [as it always does after GOP control], they will be blamed for the mess like Obama was and face a finger pointing GOP that will do nothing again except stonewall.
or.....
We reelect Trump so he can finally completely demolish our economy and sit there playing fiddle as DC and our country burns, destroying the GOP for the near future.
Neither option is appealing, but that's what we're stuck with.
1
@galtsgultch Check your facts. Democrats pull us out of a poor economy engendered by misguided Republican economic policies. "Trickle-down" theory is nonsense and always has been. You can start with Reagan to follow the history, if you like.
In a TV comedy show, a dim-wit praised, "Tinkle-down" theory." I think he had it right.
2
One more thing, for better or worse, Donald Trump is showing the world how to be a strong President.
As concerns the Not Trump International Order:
Merkel - soon gone if not already
Emmanuel (as contemptuously referred to by the French media and French public because of France's malaise) - ? ?
Theresa May - somewhere in the Carribean relaxing?
Trudeau - hanging...on
2
One thing' for sure: We know the kind of job Trump would do as CEO of Boeing. Applying the same question to any of the Democrat "front-runners" is both laughable and scary.
@Edgar Numrich You mean Boeing, the corporation that puts faulty planes in the sky killing hundreds all for a profit? That seems like a good fit for this president's lack of a moral compass..,... yeesh. You need higher ideals.
5
@Laurie Surely, you didn't miss my sarcasm completely ?? To be clear: I'm a registered Democrat and not impressed with ANY of the Democrat candidates "in the lead". No one is perfect, but Bloomberg is the only person who has demonstrated an ability to run a major business successfully.
The writing here is almost always first-rate, but the headlines seem written to only gain attention and often are misleading and just plain wrong. For example:
"New Hampshire Democrats aren't just voting. They hold the fate of the party in their hands. And maybe not only their party."
How could the vote in such a small state, which is 98% white, determine the fate of the nation?
3
Why is everyone in the media afraid to say that Pete is not electable because despite what they say publicly, not enough Americans are Open minded enough to accept a gay couple in the White House.
7
I disagree, I would wager Americans are more likely to vote for a white gay man, than a woman, or person of color. Americans are shallow and they make surface level judgments, gay carries no physical markers.
Not to mention there have been gay white men quietly tolerated even in the most conservative circles through out history.
That is my cynical defense, I wish it weren’t so.
1
The bigger story is lukewarm support for Joe Biden, who was the perceived frontrunner a few months ago. He's struggling to get donations, which speaks loudly about his lack of support. If he finishes 4th or 5th in New Hampshire, I don't know how he recovers from that.
The whole Ukraine kerfuffle has hurt Biden, and many Democrats view him as damaged goods. Trump walked away scott-free from the scandal, but it seems to have had its intended effect anyway.
3
I hear many say don’t worry. The Democrats are united by a single desire to remove Trump. I hope I’m wrong but I think the Sanders supporters are more wedded to the revolution than removing Trump. So if Bloomberg is the nominee I don’t see Sanders or his supporters getting behind him.
Maybe I’m wrong. I hope so. Politics has a way of making strange bedfellows. But Nina Turner, a high level surrogate of Sanders, called Bloomberg an oligarch. I don’t know how you get behind Bloomberg once you’ve said something like that. 
1
It is true, Bloomberg could have a hard time to unite the party, because he is playing by different rules, and seems hope rather buy nomination than built support for his candidacy. Actually, it was contrary to Trump who spent not so much of his own money.
2
@Oliver Maybe we shouldn't replace one business man from New York with another business man from New York (who likes ignore term limits....). Seriously. How anyone can think Bloomberg is anything but a business man who is seeing how much Trump is profiting off the office and now wants his shot at it. Open your eyes, people! Bloomberg is not here to help you, he is here to help himself.
3
@Oliver
I'm hoping people are like me. She's right. He is an oligarch, but an apparently benevolent one. There are very few people I would vote for over Trump - he's one of the worst people alive. All the egregious faults of the ruling elite with none of the restraint, intelligence, or acumen. Just slobbering greed and vitriol.
Well....Harkin took Iowa, and Tsongas took New Hampshire with Bill Clinton finishing nearly 10 points behind, yet the self-proclaimed "comeback kid" Clinton took the election.
The headline was a bad tease for a conversation that was as predictable and as unoriginal as it gets these days. Neither of these two have much to say on a good day, and this was an 0 for 4 with nothing but strikeouts. At lest spring training begins soon and we can enjoy that and the prospect of a lot of high inside fastballs for the Houston Astros.
8
"..holding the fate of the party in their hands" is certainly the kind of breathless lede that gets attention but in what universe is it actually true? It just burdens the particular voters with anxiety (my theory about what Iowans stayed away from their caucuses). It promotes "play not to lose" thinking which is a losing strategy. Get a grip.
4
The Democrats are going to continue to cheat Sanders.
Trained as consumers rather than citizens, a lot of Americans seem to prefer the shiny new products. The less history they have the better, so we can attach our own fantasies to them (e.g., Barack Obama). The devil we don't know (Trump) as opposed to the devil we know (Clinton). But when Buttigieg campaigns that the country needs something new, he isn't it. He dates right back to the 1950's, which he's too young to remember. He's Biden's Dorian Gray. All wizened, old, corrupt and out-dated under the youthful exterior.
It is actually rather depressing that Buttigieg, this bland parvenu, seems to be seducing all of the liberal “intellectuals” with his empty abstractions and evasions, and obviously does not want to have a discussion of any particular policy proposal (or lack thereof) on the merits.
The full competence and integrity of the Hillary Machine is on display.
The Iowa caucuses could not have gone better for the Hillarites, demoralizing the Bernie supporters and elevating a CIA cypher as a placeholder, until they can get someone "better"-- essentially another Republican to run against deranged Trump. Bloomberg.
12
@Chris - I thought I was the only one who saw through this establishment-based strategy.
4
@dennis tinucci
No, you’re not alone. Welcome aboard the Truth Coalition.
Much of our political class is unsalvageably corrupt.
This is why so many Sanders voters aren’t interested in the other candidates; they represent the very thing those voters want to change.
Especially the Bs: Buttigieg, Bloomberg and Biden.
3
Everyone talks about the economy, but almost no one understands how money actually works in our modern world. Yes, I'm talking about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). I don't believe the term has come up once in any Democratic debate, and that's tragic--because it's a splendid insight that's true no matter how oblivious folks choose to be.
Republicans do something that's a little bit right when they run huge deficits, which is a good thing except that they do it for the wrong reason--they help the wrong people (the 1%). And they don't care if this "evil" choice contradicts their own cherished (supposedly) philosophy of fiscal responsibility. Democrats think it's wise to run a balanced budget (an idiotic idea) and so they unintentionally hurt millions of Americans even as they believe they're acting virtuously. This is why Republicans win elections when the nonsense they espouse should always cause them to lose.
Fact: your federal taxes DON'T PAY FOR ANYTHING. Your payment is simply destroyed the moment the IRS records it.
Fact: The "national debt" is not a debt at all but simply a tally of the portion of each annual federal budget that the gov't. chooses not to claw back in taxes. It is the ONLY source of our collective FINANCIAL WEALTH, because all of the money created by the commercial banking system is spoken for. A loan (an asset for the bank and a liability of the customer) and the deposit created (the customer's asset and the bank's liability) must sum to zero.
2
It appears at the moment that the Democratic candidates constitute the B-Team. Good enough to run but not enough to grab the nomination. They are, unfortunately, basically trying out for positions in a cabinet.
All this goes to show that Bloomberg's team has, up to now, properly gauged the candidates. More than that, Bloomberg has made the need to force a decision on one of the B-teamers not necessary. And that's their plan.
Run for the nomination through a subtle marketing approach, promises of support for whomever wins the nomination, and wicked advertisements that out-Trump Trump.
By Super Tuesday it should all come clear. Whatever happens it will still be a win-win situation for the Dems since Bloomberg's machine has been promised to the winner.
1
After watching Trump’s political rallies and the tremendous support he gets,it is clear that the Democrats are facing an up hill battle. The man babbles on about nothing, insults his rivals and the crowds cheer him on. They are like horses with blinders who only see what is in front and not the total environment. Ross states that Warren frightens him, but if he and Trump supporters are afraid of better health care, more inclusive education,a cleaner environment and transferring power from companies to the public,then the Democrats messages are falling on deaf ears.
3
As a lifelong Californian, it's about time that my state will have an actual say in who the nominee is. This will be 13th national election and in most of the,m, the nominee was decided long before we got to the June primary. AND...We have 20% of the Electoral college---55 Electoral Votes.!
Trump can be defeated!
1
This is so similar to the argument of letting 2 states, NY and California, decide who gets to be president.
There's a reason for the Electoral College, to stop allowing a few states to decide for everyone else.
It seems Iowa and NH get to decide the candidates...
3
I thought that people should decide who their President, not States.
1
I think the people should decide who is their President, not States.
1
@Randy L. But a huge percentage of people in New York and California have moved there since WWII because they needed to find work. For a majority of Americans that's the history of their families' economies. I'm sure a most of them would have preferred to stay in their ancestral states/towns, but they had to move to where the jobs were. Why should those people (again, the majority of Americans) have to settle for less representation via the Electoral College than people who refused to move and now complain about being left out? Why should people in states like Wyoming have twice the EC power than people in NY and CA? Most people I know in my profession have actually had to move two to four times over their lifetimes to stay employed and/or be promoted and make enough money to support their families.
2
Democrats can do without a couple of GOP centrists reminding us that the center in the US is far to the right of where it is in other developed countries, and at they fear living in a country with the sort of leadership that in EU countries is called Christian Democrat, or Social Democrat. Universal healthcare, free education, a living wage, guaranteed annual leave, maternity leave, federally subsidised housing and nutritional assistance threaten no one.
6
@expat But, in those countries, Russia threatens them and the USA has to protect them. Do you think they would have all that if they had to protect themselves? I think not.
That's why we don't have all of that...
2
They never got the chance to check it, because the US insists on their protection.
1
It was encouraging to learn that Sen. Amy Klobuchar won the midnight township tallies in New Hampshire. She is a wise choice for confronting Trump, who struggles with strong women. She can win midwestern states that were Trump's 2016 electoral bulwark. She has energy and debate prowess that Vice President Biden lacks, but can also offer seasoned/reasoned leadership that attracts independents. She's not a political neophyte like Buttigieg, who is largely a media phenomenon, so has a better chance of going the distance against Trump. And she's not so far left like Sanders/Warren to frighten away the American middle. Hopefully New Hampshire will propel her into the conversation more fully...
9
@Wesley
The holier-than-thou crowd on the left dismiss Klobuchar as too conservative, but I think their real problem is with her gender. To my mind, she's the best of the bunch, in terms of electability, energy, practical experience and common humanity, and would make a superb president.
If elected, she’d be ready to charge out of the gate on day one. All the others except Biden, but including Bernie, would need two years on the job training, to learn what they can and cannot do—just as Obama did—thus giving the Republicans time to regroup and build their defenses against any democratic initiatives.
3
And where did she get her experience? Being the Senator? But Bernie, Warren are the Senators as well, plus Bernie was a mayor. Why should believe that Amy is more ready than Bernie?
1
@Ron Cohen
Hey Ron, most of us out here will elect a rock if it means overthrowing Trump. I love Bernie, but Ill vote for anyone else at this point and I think most of his followers will too.
1
Methinks Iowa Democratic participation was off because the voters have lost hope with the current crop of Democratic candidates, who seem to come off in their interminable debates as medieval theologians arguing about how many angels will fit on the head of a pin.
Bloomberg, by contrast, seems to be the only candidate who appreciates the gravity of the times, who has the full measure of what's at stake, and the intellectual and financial resources, and the grit to meet it head-on. We’ll know shortly enough.
5
Sitting here in my New Hampshire kitchen, about to walk to our polling place (paper ballots of course!) - and after weeks of discussions, attending candidates’ rallies, and reading about their positions (not to mention hanging up on innumerable robo-pollsters) - I’m STILL not completely decided. And I’ve never seen more of my politically savvy cohort in the same boat. As a healthy 70-something, this much I’ve realized: we cannot keep sticking our heads in the sand about the age issue. Humans are by nature in denial about the changes brought
on by age, but voters in this critical election year cannot afford to be. The Bernie surge worries me, as does the good-enough (on one of his good days) Biden bid. With so many fine candidates to choose from, any one of whom would be such an improvement over our current
(words fail me), surely we pragmatic Granite Staters can choose someone who will be younger than 78 years old on Inauguration Day.
Okay — think I’ve finally got it — gonna put on my mudboots and slosh over there and do it — and good luck to us all, I fear we’re going to need it in the months to come.
4
Bloomberg/Klobuchar is the ticket I really want to see line up against the historically corrupt, vapid and dangerous Trump/Pence.
C'mon Dems, moderate Indies and Never Trumpers, please give this pairing a real thought. Separately either one will make a fine president; Bloomberg for darn sure. But together they'll make history for all the right reasons.
17
Klobuchar Booker. The winning ticket for the country.
4
Don't forget about Michael Bloomberg, who has already won the first district in New Hampshire... And he isn't even running in NH!
6
None of this matters, except the part about the voters voting. Did you two pompous , self important, navel gazers mention that.
As many people as possible need to vote. that's all thats important.
The people will decide who the nominee is and who the next president is. Please stop acting like this is a sporting event.
5
Bloomberg all the way. With Amy or Pete as VP. A Democratic version of “The Apprentice”. When it comes to IQ Trump is very short. And Mike is tall enough. Clearly I like Mike.
7
As much I respect and like Joe Biden and would be happy to have him as POTUS, more and more I thinking he may not be the one to beat Trump. I am starting to come around to Klobachar: smart, precise, pragmatic, Mid-Western, very little baggage and the Socialist label won't stick on her. Please Dems, on behalf of your country, do not nominate Bernie. He will not beat Trump. All we are going to hear for months will be "Socialist, Socialist, Socialist" - don't make it true.
8
Bret: "Sanders' policies absolutely terrify me"
In other words, Bret: "Canada, France, England, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and similar capitalist countries with a humane social structure terrify me"
Bret should just admit that he likes to keep his head firmly planted in clueless "We're #1" American sand as the nation collapses in a neo-feudal state with one of the most robust 0.1% socialist welfare queen programs in the world.
For a smart guy, Bret is easily terrified by reasonable ideas that are working fine in the rest of the world.
Sad.
231
The rest of those countries don’t have to fear another Trump presidency. Better safe than sorry. We can’t afford to take a chance with a socialist who will bring out Trump voters in droves. Timing is everything and now certainly is not the time.
4
@Socrates
"For a smart guy, Bret is easily terrified by reasonable ideas that are working fine in the rest of the world."
The problem, dear Socrates, is that Bret is NOT a smart guy. He is an ideologue of the one percent (including pretty dumb people who support Netanyahu's Israel -- and it is relevant because reasonable people do not support apartheid and fascism in my book).
I understand the art of polemics and debate at times require such language as you use in your comment (it also helps in getting it printed here). But we all progressive people with some claim to intellectual rigor that this paper became the eloquent mouthpiece of the oligarchy that runs the country. It seems to hardly matter to them whether the person on top is a pathological liar land buffoon like Trump or a Rhode Scholar and philanderer called Bill Clinton, or even a Harvard Law Review president and son of a radical African intellectual called Barack Hussein Obama. The net effect is pretty similar.
Bret Stephens is a lightweight. He even does not understand that the merlot grape, being the main ingredient of Chateau Petrus (95%) makes it hard to dislike by people who have a palate and a nose :-)
7
The thing is that Trump so bad, any candidate in this field can beat him. Voters who aren't showing interest in this primary have made up their mind, ANYONE in the field is better than Donald Trump, and will turn out in droves to throw him and his enablers out of office. Count on it.
3
@bobdc6
I wish that were true, bob. That is simply not true that "any candidate in this field can beat him".
Remember we will be asking people to displace a sitting president who, as vile and corrupt as he is, will probably have a strong economy to take credit for. Dislodging an incumbent president during a good economy has never really been done before. It will take someone who nearly everyone is confident of carrying it on with a bonus of that person not being the vile creature that Trump is.
So for me that person is Bloomberg.
1
Mr. Stephens - It might help your perspective to focus on the central theme of Trump's ascendency and time in office: He lies to fool people so he can take from them what they they would not willingly give them if they knew the truth. This is what he has done his entire career. He is a criminal, who surrounds himself with criminals and lawyers. In the office of the presidency, he is attempting to not only enrich himself, but to corrupt others so that they will enable his deceitful behavior, will carry out his venal impulses, will excuse his violations of law, and will ultimately change the very laws themselves so that his undemocratic behavior is legalized and he can escape accountability for all the wrongs he has committed.
6
A really really bad recording of Bloomberg saying very racist things regarding his support for Stop and Frisk was unearthed this morning.
It wasnt just the policy. It was his characterization of the African American community.
Its bad. Really bad.
Until this morning, I thought Bloomberg would be the guy, if for nothing else, to beat Sanders.
Not after this morning. He's done.
3
probably dug up by trumpists. doctored by same?
@Capitalism4Ever
Really bad? I think minorities living in crime ridden neighborhood are tougher than you think, It's not really bad.
A question for those who believe they can predict who is most likely to win the election. If the Republican voters in 2016 had viewed it that way, does anybody believe they would have voted for Trump? It sure worked out well for them.
Instead Dems appear to be going back to the same strategy that resulted in a Hillary Clinton nomination and ultimate defeat. We have so many, including Clinton, refighting 2016. It reminds me of the old saying about the Bourbon royalty in Europe "they remember everything and learn nothing."
As to Mr. Stephens' support of Bloomberg. Mr. Stephens is a Jew and I wonder how comfortable he was with Bloomberg keeping in business the Independent Party which was co-headed by an anti-semite. She ran for president on the Communist Party and then as VP on a ticket with Pat Buchanan. And when she said that Jews were the cause of all the world's problems, Bloomberg said no one believed that stuff anymore.
And I assume Mr. Stephens recalls that Bloomberg essentially bribed the City Council to over rule term limits, which the voters has twice voted for, just for him. Does Mr. Stephens consider that democracy?
2
I read this because of the headline and deck and then just about nothing was said on that subject. Still going on about the debate. It’s interesting to watch them but I certainly don’t pick my candidate just on debate performance. And neither do a lot of voters, obviously, because Trump did horribly against Clinton in his debates (well, but then he did lose the actual popular election by a lot). Debate performance figures in a little, but policies and track record are more important to me, and in this election, definitely electability, which is why I wish we could trust polls (I’ll never trust another poll again after 2016). I don’t know where Bret resides, but I’d like to point out to Gail that 27 states have open or semi-open primaries. If Bret lives in New Jersey, he can vote in the Democratic primary there.
Look, as Warren would say, one thing we all have to remember is Trump won the electoral college by less than 80,000 votes. That is the slimmest of margins—in an election where so many people assumed he couldn’t win or didn’t care and didn’t vote. The economy may be “good” and he may have a strong base, but overall, I’d say he is the most hated president of my lifetime. Just recently in an Met live HD opera performance, the audience actually cheered and applauded when one of the interviewed performers said something about truth and justice. How many times have you seen anything like that happen? I have hope.
295
@Kally I prefer a President who is unlikable, but, gets results over a nice guy who gets nothing done.
2
@Kally
"...in an Met live HD opera performance,..."
Not where I'd expect many Trump sympathizers. Check your local Walmart.
20
@Randy L. Unless the results are bad, like a giant tax cut for the rich that we don't need.
19
President Trump used the Breakfast Prayer to remind his Republican elected officials he expects their full support this coming November. He was sending a secret message to his Republican elected officials; make sure he gets reelected at any costs. Our President’s only valuable asset is his ability to lie and create a false image of the Democratic Party.
Democrats must recognize that Mike Bloomberg, a social liberal billionaire and a 12 year run as Mayor of New York is the perfect candidate. The mayor has the political capital to prevent any illegal interference at the polls - making sure the candidate who gets 220 votes or more from the Electoral College’s electors is the winner as declared in the Constitution.
4
It gives my hope that my order of candidates is almost exactly the opposite of Stephens. That Amy Kobuchar appeals to a republican makes perfect sense to me, and reinforces my belief that she worships at the church of Don't Rock the Boat. Has any pundit, especially those in thrall of her recent debate performance, pointed out the absurdity of her riffing on FDR in her closing statement? Seems a little insincere given her previous "pipe dream" classification of progressive ideals. Thankfully she wasn't around to go all pragmatic on social security, or there be even more people living below the poverty line.
7
For something as critical, given the fate of the world is supposedly at hand, they just don’t seem to show up for most of these characters.
Bernie can draw a good sized crowd, but the rest of them draw crowds about the same size as your average funeral.
Then there’s Trump. Largest venue available filled to the rafters. Lines of people outside days in advance. Most knowing they won’t get in.
That should scare Democrats more than anything.
6
Wouldn’t it be funny if the next president really looked at the voting in 2016 along with the primary election in 2016 and found out Trump never came within striking distance of Republican candidates running that year.
2
The Times does a disservice to the public discourse by perpetuating the myth that Bernie and Warren are "socialists." It plays right into the hands of the Right who for decades has labeled anything progressive involving government funds as "socialism" despite not a peep about tax benefits for oil companies or real estate developers. It's a buzzword to scare voters. We have lot's of socialism in our mixed economy...from public schools, parks, libraries, hospitals, universities, health clinics, treatment centers for special needs, museums, medical research, social security, medicare and medicaid, water treatment, power grids and on and on. Use of the pejorative "socialism" is a red-scare tactic. Believe me I hear it all the time at the Y I attend in upstate NY. "Bernie's a dang Communist, etc, etc. Campaigns point out how ignorant many voters, and pols prey on this with their messaging. Columnists like Bret Stephens, a brilliant man, should not further muddy the waters.
25
@Al Singer. You don't know what socialism is. For one, Social security is certainly not. If you don't pay in you don't participate. The more you put in the more you get out. Once you do learn the true meaning, you'll understand many of B's policies are socialism.
2
@Lee Herring
Except when Social Security was first proposed, opponents labeled it as socialism. So was Medicare labeled when it was proposed. I can still recall the AMA and its mouthpiece Ronald Reagan opposing it on that basis.
Conservative Americans have always labeled everything they oppose as some form of socialism or communism to frighten people.
That's why Trump cites Venezuela and Cuba but not countries like Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland where the average person does far better than he or she does in America.
And if a national health insurance plan is socialism, then you must believe the Conservative Party in the UK is filled with socialists. I guess Corbyn lost because he didn't out socialism them.
13
SS is most definitely is a socialist programs, because a) people paying for others - today's 20-64 old paying SS of 65 and older, b) those who pays more also pays for those who pays less, otherwise it would be not a SS but a saving accounts.
4
I fear that the Bernie Bros will be as vindictive as Trump, except that where he hates individuals and states who oppose him, they will hate the entire country when he doesn’t get the nomination. I hope that Michael Bloomberg does get the nomination and selects a strong woman VP running mate, but I don’t know if he will be able to assemble enough centrist voters to overcome the rancor on both sides.
10
@Mike Iker
Maybe he'll choose Lenora Fulani, who was co-head of the NY Independence Party that he kept in business so he could run on its line when he was a Republican.
She's perfect. She once ran as a Communist for president and then for VP on a ticket with Pat Buchanan. Oh, and she has made vicious anti-semitic statement.
Bloomberg once felt her voice was a valid one. Maybe he will again.
1
Except Bernie Bros has been shown to be a fabrication whereas Trump is a very real threat. Btw where have all those scary Bernie Bro’s gone, has anyone heard from them in this election cycle, they just evaporated? Hmmmm.
3
I like Klobucher, but with clear frontrunner, the chances of a brokered convention are increasing. That’s when delegates can select Bloomberg as the nominee — the only candidate in the field that can beat Trump. He’d get the Democrats, most Independents, and many disgruntled Republicans.
7
@Pragmatist in CT I'd vote for a Bloomberg/Klobuchar ticket. I like Buttigieg, but he needs more experience before running for the nation's highest office. Bernie's too old and Warren is waning. Everybody else is - well - anybody else.
1
@Pragmatist in CT Agree Bloomberg is our best hope.
@Pragmatist in CT
To beat Trump we need massive turn out from young people and minorities. Bloomberg is too tainted from his stop and frisk policy and his late apology reeks of political expediency.
1
This past Sunday on ABC George Stephanopoulos asked both Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden, "Do you believe that the Democrats can defeat Donald Trump if they have to defend socialism?"
What an obnoxious question! But it does perfectly illustrate Bernie's problem: American oligarchs are terrified of a Sanders administration. They occlude and misrepresent him and his platform at every turn. Why? Upton Sinclair's famous quote supplies the only answer, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
15
I wish we as a country didn’t care about sexual orientation, but I don’t think we are ready for Pete and his husband in the White House. It will take time and more LGBT office holders for voters to get comfortable with that as a non-issue.
And there’s enough anti-Semitism in both far left and far right that I worry about the chances for a Jewish candidate.
I would love to be wrong.
7
@Lawyermom Sadly I would also argue that this country is not ready to take a woman seriously enough to elect her as president.
2
@Lawyermom
Sadly, our current scenario is much, much worse than either an LGBT or a Jewish President.
1
I keep hoping we are wrong in that regard and comfort myself with the thought that
Obama was thought to be unelectable because he was black.
For national elections all states should have primaries on the same day.
9
@Mark That would bias to the name brands, who had the early money to build a ground game in many places at once.
Imho the NYTimes should take a long hard look into all those pro-Bloomberg comments that show up since a few days, even in threads that aren't about politics. Many of them sound suspiciously similar, despite allegedly coming from different people. Are there really actual people behind this or is this the output of an ad agency working for the billionaire? Imho this deserves some investigation.
8
@Gray Goods No Suspicion.Many people like me, real people as far as I can tell believe that Bloomberg has what it takes to beat Trump, No candidate is perfect, but Bloomberg is a reallyu good choice.
1
And I always wonder why? Is it because of his money?
This whole "conversation" - with its pop cultural witticisms and cozy, genteel banter between right liberal and liberal right pov's - seems so awfully...cushioned...from the harsh, desperate, angry populist urgencies driving politics now...
...out of touch...
...in its way, accurately reflecting the ultimately financial security of a certain type of NYT reader and the political biases that go with it - that view populism as a political threat, but also boorish - an uncouth guest at a dinner party, an ugly brawl in the street.
9
All the current favorites in NH have one drawback against Trump—he fears none of them. This means he will unleash all his pettiness and bullying against them. He would love Sanders because he is an avowed Socialist. Many Americans equate this to Communism. Barr and Giuliani are busy digging for dirt on the Bidens. A conspiracy might emerge from their efforts. (Remember the one against Clinton — unbelievable, but one loon believed it enough to pick up a gun.) Some people will believe anything. The currently almost-silent “Evangelical” wing of the Republican party can almost be counted on to voice displeasure (citing Bible ) to a gay couple in the White House. Trump dislikes women, so Clinton’s treatment will be mild compared to what awaits either Amy or Elizabeth. They can take it and handle it, but the damage will be done. The Base will be entertained and ready to go.
The only candidate who can handle Trump and is already doing it with smart ads is Bloomberg. A real billionaire with plenty of governing experience. Any dirt Trump can come up with Mike can handle. Those who dislike him because he’s rich and plan to grab their marbles and go home will guarantee Trump’s win. And where will their plans for a complete change go? Down the drain. For a very long time. Maybe forever.
6
@Norma Gauster
Trump is, in a layman's sense, paranoid, just as anyone with a mountain of secrets is. He fears people who speak the truth and who have genuine accomplishments. Trying to out-bully a bully is rarely better than a coin flip.
If a candidate does not clearly have both of these features, vote for someone else.
To Alan—My point was not t “outbully” the bully. Bloomberg was mayor of a city that is larger than many states (30 or so.). He is civil, intelligent and informed. He was re-elected. The stop and frisk is a blot, but everyone makes mistakes. We will never get a perfect candidate. How has Trump governed? Mostly by executive order—with a majority in Congress, unlike Obama. He claims to be a Christian and is cruel to children. His properties are raking in the profits from his frequent visits. He lies constantly. And doesn’t bother to hide seeking help from a foreign nation for political purposes. He says those who attack unarmed protesters are somehow okay. He dismisses a soldier who obeyed the law and stands up for Roger Stone, who is accused of many things, not for the first time. How does Mike compare against this short list? I was just trying to get across that this is someone who is not intimidated because he is so far superior.
Gail talks about things coming back to haunt Trump. Our family was wounded by that disaster of a human being, as were thousands of others during his career as a builder. My son's small company needed to work with Trump's in a major construction project in northern NJ. Long story short: Trump refused to pay anything for their quality work completed and bankrupted them resulting in layoffs which hit my son. Plus he had to listen to slimeball Michael Cohen screaming at him with profanity-laden blasts, threatening lawsuits and blackballing. The universe does contain karma and it will take care of things in the long term.
45
@Mike M
Thanks for your story. I hope you and your son tell as many people as you can about it. The guy is a crook.
2
Do you mean someone will have to be the "calm, reasonable person who would end the high-drama traumas we’re undergoing now"--like the person who won the last election?
No, you don't mean this. Decode. This is really the argument: a democratic socialist could never win the presidency.
So let's consider that. Is a Sanders presidency more unlikely than an openly misogynistic, bigoted liar, with absolutely no political experience, whose business practices were full of deceit and corruption, and who attained celebrity as a reality TV personality, winning the White House? (add to all that the discovery of a recording, just before the election, in which the candidate said he grabs women by...well, you know the rest)
But somehow a Sanders presidency is beyond belief.
Last time around the NYT almost assured us that a Trump presidency would never happen. Do you remember that? Do you remember your predictions in 2016?
The NYT gave Hillary Clinton an 88% chance of winning on the eve of the 2016 election. Awesome predictive powers concerning the American electorate....
22
@Craige Champion. Sure, long shots sometimes win, but putting you best odds forward improve your chances.
@Craige Champion. Sure, long shots sometimes win, but putting you best odds forward improve your chances.
@Lee Herring But the polls I'm looking at DO NOT SAY THAT SANDERS IS THE LONGSHOT. We cannot simply construct a narrative and say it's so because we say it's so.
1
What the MSM refuses to mention under any circumstances is that Bernie, the supposed death of the Dems, beat Trump handily throughout the Rust Belt exit polls in 2016, and would be running for his second term today if Dems has not committed suicide by hurling the whole Rust Belt into Trump’s arms by nominating the most hated nominee in party history. Anyone who thinks Bloomberg is a stronger candidate than Bernie in the Rust Belt which will again decide the election is nuts. There’s a reason Bernie basically ties the neoliberal darlings of Wall St., Bloomberg and Biden, in the ability to crush Trump in the coming election. Bernie would do much better than the “moderates” in the Rust Belt, just as they would do better in the ‘burbs that went Dem in ‘18. But either formula kills the Trump Godzilla. So drop the absurd, counterfactual propaganda that nominating Bernie would guarantee the triumph of Trump fascism. There a reason Bernie crushes Bloomberg in the latest poll, just as he crushes Trump: Bernie is, indeed, the Trump of the left, in the sense that lots and lots if people love the guy, and his Teflon is just as impervious to Bloomberg and Trump attack ads as Trump’s is to the truth. After Bernie beats Bloomberg in CA and MI on Super Tuesday, possubly taking all the delegates because all the moderates keep each other from getting 15%, Bloomberg and Biden can retire to a fancy rest home to watch Bernie kill Trump, live on TV.
8
@Fred White Bernie has no chance in this economic climate.
"... too many Americans will think he’s too young, that his resume is too thin, and that he’s skipping too many steps on the ladder..."
Are you forgetting something, Mr. Stephens?
He's gay.
100% completely gay. A "committed bachelor."
He's married to a man.
This may not bother you, or the rest of the New York Times staff, and it certainly doesn't bother me, but this is an absolute, 100% deal breaker for the vast majority of Americans ("Americans," not "New Yorkers"), who will hold their noses and pull the lever for Trump before they hold their noses and pull the lever for Pete.
He may be a great guy, he could possibly be great President, but he will NEVER be elected in a national vote in 2020.
2028, he's got a good chance.
7
Who wrote this headline?
Somewhat on the Drama King and Queen level, isn't it? High Kabuki?
I think the people of New Hampshire can mellow out. I believe if they have a friend check their backs, they'll can be assured the fate of the universe is not on them. Relax.
What they have is an opinion. Here in the Golden State, we will have our say soon.
6
They hold "nothing in their hands", it's just another Primary on the way to many bigger and wilder events. Nothing will be determined by New Hampshire.
4
Some of these comments are a little crazy. Mike Bloomberg is an awful choice for president. The man literally endorsed Bush in ‘04, brought the RNC to New York. He was pouring money into republican senate races as recently as 2016! How can you say this man would be good for America? Buttigieg is a similarly bad proposition. He has so little support among nonwhite voters it’s practically in the negatives. Biden and Warren cannot best trump in a general. He would wipe the floor with both of them. Sanders is the only one with the popular support, the organizing power, and the right policies to beat trump and start bringing the US back on the right track. And to those who whine about “Bernie Bros”, I ask you to please look at the facts. Over half of sanders supporters are women. He performed best with nonwhite voters in Iowa. A small contingent of sanders supporters are vocal and mad online, it is true. Do you not think they have a right to be? No guaranteed healthcare that kills thousands every year. Unions that would have protected the rights of workers broken and shattered by the republicans. Climate change bearing down like a freight train. Millions dead in endless wars that continue to grind on. The list goes on. Indeed I ask of all of you. Why are you not angry? Why are you not enraged at the mismanagement of the DNC and the outright criminality of the republicans? If anything, it just goes to show how important a sanders victory is. We need this if we hope to survive.
41
@Sam wrote,
"Why are you not angry? Why are you not enraged at the mismanagement of the DNC and the outright criminality of the republicans?"
My thoughts exactly!!
Sanders supporters, it’s not that his policies are bad, or that they aren’t needed. We certainly need universal healthcare, wealth equality, some better way to deal with college costs, etc.
It’s that the Trump liars decry socialism as some kind of dread disease; Trump has called it communism, and said Bernie wants to turn us into Venezuela or Cuba.
Just look at all those maniacs in the article about the Trump rally. It’s a Jim Jones cult.
But, of course, no Democrat is going to change those people’s minds. It’s those at the margin, the independents, even the Democrats who are afraid of losing their personal health insurance—-although once a typical system of universal health care is in place, they will find they’re better off——that we must convince.
Nominating Bernie is a risk. Losing and giving Trump another 4 years to complete his destruction is beyond imaginable.
But whoever wins, must be given 100% support from Democrats. No pouting and not voting. No wailing sound bites the Republicans will seize and repeat.
Some historians say a democracy lasts about 200 years. Is Trump the person to verify?
7
"I have the opposite reaction to Sanders. His policies absolutely terrify me, and the so-called Bernie Bro phenomenon is a mirror image of a lot of the ugliness we see among Trump’s unhinged supporters. "
How out of touch Bret is with reality. Mind you he never goes into which of Bernie's myriad policies he disagrees with, but I suppose he doesn't want to because they are backed by a majority of the country. Pretty lazy of Bret though.
In either case, I feel like a broken record but whoever the Democratic nominee is deserves our support and we all need to rally around that individual like it's our job. This is about turnout and defeating Trump with a stake through the heart.
27
I am sick of the Bernie Bro shtick started by the Clinton campaign in 2016. I am a Bernie supporter who has never encountered a single one. All of the Bernie supporters I have met are empathic, caring, and principled people. There are more women supporters than men. The younger ones are sweet and energetic, but there are quite a number of people older than 50 as well. These are people who care about the most vulnerable and about the survival of life on this planet.
As for Bernie, he is not an orator. He yells when he is on a stage - to be heard. In interviews, he has a great sense of humor, which speaks well for him. Furthermore, he is empathic, listens and cares about people. For that, he gets pilloried.
He is outraged by the treatment of children at the border, aren't you?
He is outraged that people are dying for lack of access to health care, aren't you?
He is outraged that greedy people are destroying our earth for profit, aren't you?
He is outraged at needless human suffering in a land of plenty, aren't you?
If you aren't outraged by these things, what is the matter with you?
Life, folks, is in the balance.
32
@nora m my daughter and son-in-law have been Bernie supporters so I am confident in your claim that many are empathic and principled. However, there is also a group - and I have read their comments many times- that vow to vote Trump if Bernie is not nominated. And, according to NPR, that happened also in 2016: 1 in 10 Bernie supporters voted Trump and it was enough in the Blue Wall states to swing the election entirely. We ought to be thinking vote blue, no matter who - but for many Bernies, that's not going to happen.
@Al Warner This is a useful myth that is often repeated endlessly through comments sections around the country. If you can’t attack the candidate on his platform, attack the followers.
This 74 year old retired female teacher who has a track record as a human rights defender is supporting Senator Sanders. Enough already with the bashing.
3
@Al Warner
In 2016, more Sanders supporters voted for Clinton than Clinton supporters voted for Obama in 2008. Also, many of the people who supported Sanders the last time around were never going to vote for Clinton.
"But I must admit I yelped with appreciation when it happened."
I won't lie, I yelled at the TV every time Obama was talking. I cheered every time stumbled. It just feels good to yell at someone that isn't listening. By observation, most readers here feel the same way about Trump.
2
Republicans in op eds and in comments boards call on Democrats to nominate a Republican as the Democrat nominee . It just boggles my mind that anyone anywhere would take them seriously.
3
@gene. Maybe they are saying, 'give me a chance to vote for a Dem'. Nominating the most leftist candidate to ever be nominated will not bring them over.
They do have the chance to bit for Dem. That's not what they want. They want to nominate the Dem candidate as well as Rep one.
A serious country/party wouldn't let Iowa NH "decide" anything.
I hope this is the last presidential election they get to.
5
Amy Klobuchar has two big things going for her: of all the leading candidates, she is the only one who is a reasonable age to be president in normal times and she is the only one from a swing state. As the campaign wears on, this is likely to become more apparent - especially once Bloomberg stops hiding behind TV and YouTube adds. We do not need another media-focused rich New Yorker. NYC policies and the forces that have influenced them simply do not play well in other regions.
Joe Biden gets a bit of a pass on this because these are not normal times and he has a track record that could help heal divisiveness. Without that factor he would be out by now.
Mayor Pete is a talented guy, but since someone can only be president once why on Earth would they run so young? Are they in a hurry to run before everyone realizes they are a fraud? I was a fan of his run when the race was less clear, but it makes no sense now that Amy has stayed in and has significant support.
Hillary Clinton was so unimpressive she had to carefully pick a VP that would not outshine her. Who on earth could Mayor Pete pick for VP that is qualified but does not seem more worldly? If someone cannot answer that question, it is a big problem.
3
@Alan I like Amy Klobuchar too, but can you name even one proposal she is behind. She is running to tamp down every policy proposal advanced by the other Democrats in the race, but doesn't seem to have any of her own.
2
As a fan of the president and very hopeful of a second term, I hope these 2 get in the arc as well. I find them less than perfect and I'm sure their regrets in life lead to a karma moment.
2
Up here in NH, we take our role very very seriously. Everyone is scared this year about making sure they pick the correct person...I've never seen it like this before. So many people undecided so late because we have too many 'moderates" (lets get real: every one of them has a progressive platform) in the field.
NH wants what America wants. We vote thinking about our nation and not just our own demographics. For instance, Cory Booker would have done very well in NH (he has charisma, great ideas, brilliance...)...but Biden sucked all the oxygen out of the room and blocked good people like Cory. Note to the eventual nominee: I want an African American person and, (if the nominee is a man) a woman on the ticket. We can make that happen in our party where we have so many great Democratic politicians across the nation.
NH is a pragmatic state.
(Primary season is my favorite time in NH.)
4
Unfortunately, this election, like the past three years is all about dealing with and standing up to Trump. The absolute best person to do a good job in the White House is Elizabeth Warren, however, she as well as Amy Klobuchar don't stand a chance because American voters can not imagine a woman defeating Trump. My money is on a moderate male with lots of money and confidence. In the end I think Bloomberg will buy his way into the nomination and be more than able to take on Trump.
7
I dispute that one small state this early holds the fate of the Democratic candidate in their hands. Early primaries are way too hyped and mean nothing. The only take-away from the primaries so far is your shock that Biden is not electable which myself and others have been telling you in the comments for months.
4
Re: "can't decide if it will be the fierce moral passion of Sanders or the sober intelligence and dry wit of Buttigieg or Klobuchar" As much as I'd like to, I just can't imagine dry wit and intelligence being what swings an election in the United States-- or even in France for that matter.
3
Trump's support is visceral, not rational. There must be a percentage of them who will respond to a fact based argument. And we only need a small percentage to win the swing states. But I don't think addressing his fan base with logic and information will convert most of their votes. Ridicule, shaming and condescension will not win hearts and minds
Maybe the best method is to try to cast doubt their position. To not create a contest between their loyalty to Trump vs. Dem elites, but to make the question one of American Patriotism vs. Russia. A good response to Trump voters could be:
Be Careful! Russia Wants You to Vote For Trump
or,
"Protect America Don't support Russia's choice"
Any ideas on how to address the support of true believers? They seem not to care that he attacks refugee children, honorable veterans and diplomats and uses the state to investigate and seek retribution on his enemies. How do we change the dial?
5
If your favorite is not the nominee, act like an adult.
Don’t stay home. That helps Trump
Don’t vote third party. That helps Trump.
Don’t help Trump.
Any Functioning Adult 2020
37
The Democrat Party is going to have a hard time convincing the electorate that it hasnt gone full blown socialist, with a socialist at the top of their ticket. He'll drag the entire party down with him. Forget trying to flip the Senate or keep the House. Every Democrat will be asked if the support their nominee. When they say yes, Bingo, they're a socialist too.
And I think Bernie's going to take the nomination. He has an energized and loyal, albeit misguided base. While Bloomberg seems to be Democrats only chance to beat him (yes, stick a fork in Biden, he's done), Bloomberg doesnt have enthusiasm on his side. And how many Democrats are going to show up in droves for an old white billionaire who obviously bought his way in, and skirted the same rules that pushed out all the minority candidates?
Some, but not enough.
Seriously folks, do you want a great economy or not? Thats what we have now. Save the "but the economy isnt working for everyone" speech for someone else. No matter how great the economy does, not everyone will participate. Want equality, so everyone is on the same level? Thats socialism. There just arent enough 1 percenters to take from to spread the wealth to everyone. And once you start taking, they dont just sit around and hand it over. They leave for tax friendlier shores, and take all that precious capital with them.
And then what are you left with?
Collapse. Down the tubes. Just like Greece and Venezuela.
Thats why capitalism works.
3
@Capitalism4Ever Like Canada, Sweden & Germany?
2
@Capitalism4Ever
Do you read deeper things than slogans? Do you understand today's ecomony? Do you know that many successful countries have socialized medicine where people live longer lives and are happier than in your little misinformed bubble? No? I didn't think so.
NH holds the fate of the party in their hands. Are you serious? Who are these people? Have you ever been to New Hampshire? Other than pols and a few Dartmouth Hitchcock workers, do you know anyone who lives there. They don't matter a bit in the bigger scheme of things. John Sununu was the governor and his son got elected stopping people from voting. No industry. No diversity. No charity. Cold and dank and they have a lot of trees. NH only gets visitors who don't want to pay taxes on booze.
3
I think we need someone who can neutralize Trump in a debate. And unlike last time, "when she is president" is now a good neutralizer that could absorb the insults, hold firm, and admonish those insults into sobriety whether cabernet or mertlot
It may be the sign of the apocalypse but I agree with Bret on Bloomberg. God save us all!
3
This is all very interesting but, in the final analysis, I’ld vote for a headless chicken before voting for Trump.
6
Can you be a little less dramatic and still hold our attention? I think so. You don’t have to hype up absolutely everything. It is exhausting to read. Reign it in media pundits.
1
Vote for Bernie and Trump wins. Simple as that.
Vote for Biden, Trump loses. Trump knows it.
Vote for anyone else? Risky business.
1
@American Abroad
You and the rest, as FDR said, have nothing to fear but fear itself. The polls show Bernie beating trump by a bigger margin than any other candidate.
9
@American Abroad The moderate candidate worked out so well last time for Democrats!
3
@Linda McKim-Bell
Thanks to Bernie being a stick in the mud. I won't vote for him. I don't think he's accomplished anything in his almost 30 year tenure in congress.
I don't trust him to get any of his socialist agenda through and I don't trust him to be honest.
Just look how he changed his stance on guns only when he decided to run for president and it was no longer helpful fo him!
And I believe Elizabeth W. was telling the truth that Bernie had told her a woman couldn't win, ie Bernie was lying!
I don't like either the sexism that pervaded Bernie's 2016 campaign that he turned a blind eye to!
1
If Biden continues to collapse, it looks like Bloomberg, who is now #2 among Black voters according to one poll, and who has so much money that he can carpet bomb the USA with ads and make New Hampshire and Iowa irrelevant, will be the alternative to Sanders.
4
I'd love a president with the fierce moral passion of Sanders.
After the sever lack by the current occupant, America needs a good palate cleansing.
We know the sickness, take the dang medicine and lets get America back to the shinning beacon on the hill it never was but should have been.
6
People aren't stupid. They know everything there is to know about Trump. And they know what goes up must come down and those at the bottom will come down first. Those at the top never really falling all the way to the ground. If you want the voters who held their nose in 2016 and voted for Trump, those people have to be willing to vote for whomever the Democrats nominate. If they aren't, then the devil you know applies. So that has to happen AND the Democratic voters have to be willing to go into the voting booth no matter who winds up as the nominee. If they do not it is most certainly game over. Bernie won't get another crack at this. Once the nominee is selected, everyone: all the ousted candidates, Hillary,and Obama all have to go out and publicly support the nominee. It's not really that hard to figure out.
1
I wish there was as much hand wringing over the fact that the GOP has become the party of liars and racists and sexists, a group that was always there but now has taken over and is headed by Trump.
That the Democratic Party may be moving to the left, with visions of a better society for everyone, seems okay with me.
Please harp more on the travesty that the GOP has become.
12
Perhaps not enough consideration of Bloomberg, you two.
How are Democrats going to finesse getting this highly
qualified guy on the ticket, with Amy maybe right there
beside him? That's the question.
The party should realize they are being invited to a lavish
dinner, you might say, and Mike says "I'm picking up
the check". Could all work to stop The Terrible One in his
lyin' tracks.
3
After watching the first episode of WWII in Color yesterday , I'm not sure that we don't need " hyperbolic depictions of America as a fascist hellscape."
Why study history if we cannot evaluate the past in terms of the present?- particularly the propaganda.
2
As usual, Bret is dismissive of anyone who is not an elitist, establishment hack. Nonwithstanding his comments on Bernie, take, for example, the following: "I won’t count Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer, since everyone knows they are auditioning for some job that isn’t the presidency — secretary of commerce, I’d guess."
Who is he to say that? These people have campaigned tirelessly to put their respective messages out. Every time I read one of these columns on NYTimes, or anywhere for that matter, I am reminded of that classic ESPN interview of Mark Cuban and Skip Bayless.
"You guys like to talk in complete generalities where no one can question you! No facts, no substance"
5
The Trump campaign has already honed its anti-Joe Biden message: The Bidens are just like crooked Hillary. Nuance is not their style, nor the difference between looking the other way because your kid might have something to help with his addiction and yeah, well, it looks bad, but one son is dead and one is floundering and organized crime level corruption. They will crucify him. Politics has never been fair, but we will spend the whole campaign with Biden trying to defend something that was probably wrong, but not particularly corrupt and Trump turning it into yet another circus.
4
Some say that Sanders will ruin the economy. It wouldn’t ruin it for everyone. We that work for the government will not be effected at all. And those on welfare and assistance will still get checks. And the people now out of work can join them. And there is more to life then money and material things. We in the government will tell you how to live happy without stuff. The US will be just fine in a bad economy. And with the condos selling for cheap in Florida the public serpents will be able to buy them. It will be great when the public servers get there due!
2
Sanders is the candidate who can bring in the voters who voted for Trump as a protest vote against the establishment, he can also bring in the Progressive voters who reject people like Clinton and Biden because of their positions such as voting for the invasion of Iraq, and he is very popular with the young voters who are the future of the Democratic Party and our nation.
12
So far, no one has brought any message that can beat Trump. Biden has shown almost every day why he can't. The latest was calling a questioner a "Lying Dog-Faced pony soldier." It was described as a joke but imagine what the reaction would be if it had come from Trump. Bloomberg said Trump would tear Biden to shreds. I don't know about that but the gaffs so far might predict Biden could do that all by himself. He has claimed he could do more push-ups than Trump and that might be True. Biden also attacked Trump for killing Soleimani. This is a person who has been responsibility for killing of at least 700 of our military and wounding thousands of others and Biden would have let him continue killing and maiming thousands more. Maybe he was the one who convinced Obama to trade the lives and limbs of our military so that Soleimani could live. The candidates spend a lot of time attacking Trump or themselves rather than bringing a message that's worth voting for. Sanders and Warren both put forth socialistic plans for America. They want to have the government control everything, especially health care and higher education with the promise that both would be free. But that has costs and it's not just the trillions of extra taxes that would sky rocket. Voters know nothing's free.
3
Who cares about the elections if those fail to solve the chronic problems?
No peace with North Korea and Cuba for more than a half century while exporting our industrial base, manufacturing and technologies to a communist China with five times more population than the USA?!
The endless wars in the Middle East at the cost of several trillion dollars.
The cozy relationship with the worst dictatorial and inhuman regimes in the Middle East.
The reckless spending and $22 trillion national debt.
The budget deficits of $1 trillion.
The corrupt free press that lives of polarizing and dividing the fellow Americans.
The elections are not going to change those problems but just a spokesperson...
1
Amy Klobuchar is the mom this country needs - not a dottering grandpa, not a too clever kid brother, but a realistic hard worker who will get things done in a pragmatic way. Plus she is the only candidate who doesn't have a ton of baggage to constantly explain!
3
@Lisa
Her baggage has just been overlooked.
She is notoriously abusive to her staff, sending email rants at 3am, throwing binders and staplers at them and hitting them, humiliating them in front of others. She has the highest turnover in the senate. And it goes back to her Minnesota days. I like her moderate politics, but abhor her intolerable behavior. Is Trump worse? You bet. Does that excuse her horrible behavior? Nope.
5
Really, can’t this paper get beyond the “anybody but Sanders” campaign? How about some discussion of why he’s doing so well, both in New Hampshire and nationally? Sanders’ supporters get accused of a ”my way or the highway” approach, but I get the feeling the expression applies more to these columnists.
29
Democrats have lots of work to do. Since Trump was ‘elected’ in 2016, the Dems- 1) spent 2 years on ‘Russiagate’. The Steele dossier (aka Trump–Russia dossier), which served as the basis for Russiagate, has been shown to be completely fake by MI6 as recently reported in the London Sunday Times, 2) instead of censoring Trump for his actions, they spent a year + on ‘Ukrainegate’, which was supposed to serve as the basis for impeaching Trump. Result- Acquittal, 3) created an ‘Epic Fiasco’ in Iowa, which was deliberately caused by the DNC to rig the primary and insure Bernie Sanders was not the winner. The DNC does not want a Sanders win; it appears that Pete Buttigieg is their default candidate. Michael Bloomberg is spending lots of his own money to potentially buy his way as the Democratic candidate in November. Just think, we can have an election where working people get to choose between 2 NYC billionaires. What a choice!
2
Amy Klobuchar for the win! Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?
That being said, Iowa and NH are ridiculous. Nothing means anything until Super Tuesday. And Bloomberg could blow it up in a way to have made all the previous states a joke of distant memory.
There should be 3 or 4 "Super Tuesdays" carefully balanced by geography and demographics and randomly rearranged each election cycle. Having any one or two states "start the race" is just dumb and unfair.
The good news: ALL of the Democratic contenders are fine people and when compared to the Pyschopath....ALL of them are highly qualified.
2
Well, I've changed my support several times---why not do it again...First I was for Warren...then Biden...now, I feel it is time for some Midwestern wholesomeness---yes, I have a gut feeling Senator Klobuchar could take Trump down..Not only does she present a calm presence, but she is smart, but in a Midwestern way--sorry to say, a smartness that males are OK with. As to Bernie, he would be entertaining, but too much socialists baggage...Bloomberg...voters are tired of New York billionaires calling the shots.
2
Stephens is a republican and wants a center, right candidate to be the democrat's nominee. He wants to have his cake and eat it too. Rest assured he'll vote for Trump if Sanders or Warren gets the nomination. Brett's never Trump rhetoric is totally dishonest. Brett seems to forget that never Trump means NEVER Trump.
6
It's not "just" the vindictiveness. Essentially, Republicans are saying if you are a government employee who obeys the law (subpoena) and tells the truth you're out, but if you defy the law and go along with Trump's lies you'll be fine. That is the hallmark of an authoritarian state: everyone must show allegiance to "dear leader" no matter how lawless and dishonest that leader acts. Such thinking is totally contrary to how this country was founded and operated for more than two centuries … until now. We've fought wars at great sacrifice to stand up to such tyrants.
3
Mike Bloomberg. No one drives Trump crazy like Bloomberg. That’s the path to victory, and not just the squeaking-by victory that’s the absolute best for which Sanders or Buttigieg can hope, but a fever-breaking, Trump-humiliating, GOP-shredding beat down that is badly needed to save this country from a bunch of crazed zombies on either end of the spectrum. I Like Mike!
5
I would find it strange that in the most valuable opinion column real estate in the US, we get a conversation between two stalwart defenders of the status quo, both wildly out of touch. But I have read Manufacturing Consent.
To give just one example of how off-base these writers are, Stevens says “Bernie Bros” - a fictitious carryover from Clinton’s 2008 effort to smear “Obama Boys” - are a mirror image of unhinged Trump supporters. I literally don’t know how anyone could write that sentence with a straight face.
No, Mr. Stevens, racist violence against people of color at Trump rallies & elsewhere is not the same as someone supposedly being mean in your mentions because they want universal health care and you don’t.
14
It gets exhausting to read self-feeding rhetoric about hype. Another outlet ran something trashing Amy to complement the glorification of Pete, how ridiculous.
The Apprentice mentality helped get us into this mess: it will not get us out. I would not walk five blocks to see Joe Biden, but I would vote for him in a split second. It was a mature black woman who shocked me months ago with her strong opinion of Biden (we both recently shared kudos for Bloomberg) and I was also shocked more recently by a mature black man who liked Pete, at the gym. But in the grand scheme - - admit it, Biden personifies the best of the party as well as its pathetic shortcomings. I think it's amazing, with political action, Biden helped Pete realize he could get married. But strangely that seems a truth that dare not speak its name.
Journalism should provide perspective, not foreshorten it.
I hope that media distraction and distortion does not get DoTrump get elected again, as they did the first time. He will not be grateful, and if it happens journalism may find itself in a very bad way.
Bret: I have the opposite reaction to Sanders. His policies absolutely terrify me, and the so-called Bernie Bro phenomenon is a mirror image of a lot of the ugliness we see among Trump’s unhinged supporters."
I am sooooo fortunate. I have two unhinged people in my family. One is a Bernie-or-nobody-else member and a Trump-is-greater-than-Lincoln member.
IMO, they are both nutjobs who have no idea how detrimental their overall attitudes will definitely not MAGA.
2
Repeat after me: CLIMATE CHANGE. Say it again: CLIMATE CHANGE. Say it loud: CLIMATE CHANGE.
That's the overriding issue of the future. By the end of the next presidential term, if it isn't already, it will be obvious to all but the most willfully oblivious -- and maybe the super rich ensconced in their bunkers -- that our planet has transformed. Even Mar-a-Lago will be threatened by sea-level rise.
Except for the obligatory shout-out, no candidate has seriously grappled with the real challenges of climate change. It should be at the center of the debate:
Why do we need universal health care? Because CLIMATE CHANGE will bring new and dangerous diseases to the US and we need don't need to deal with a sick population in the face of catastrophic climate issues.
We do we need an infrastructure project? Because CLIMATE CHANGE demands the implementation of a carbon-free economy and we will need the structures in place to move millions of Americans away from the coasts.
Why do we need free higher education? Because dealing with CLIMATE CHANGE requires an educated population who can work out new ways to live in a new world.
Why do we need to end income inequality? Because an America where the super-rich can escape the effects of CLIMATE CHANGE thanks to their wealth while the rest of the country suffers in an increasingly unlivable environment is a recipe for deep-seated and dangerous social unrest.
Climate change is the one issue affecting everyone. We must act like it.
8
The problem Democrats are having is that none of us can understand how anyone but Trump's rally goers can tolerate this man's presence in the White House. How can they acknowledge his moral failings and accept them to get policy that any other Republican would provide. So without that understanding and with the profound need to beat DJT, it is really hard to chose among all these ethical, knowledgeable, intelligent and accomplished people.
2
In general, I wish the candidates would show more of a sense of humor and a joie de vivre, especially about the policies they promote.
Also, I wish Sanders and Warren would stop demonizing the top 2%, especially people who have come from modest backgrounds and worked their way up. It is one thing to go after a man like Trump that inherited $400 million, and has largely used his wealth as a weapon to commit fraud, stiff contractors and steal from banks, etc., but people like Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Michael Bloomberg, etc. do not deserve to be demonized, because of their financial success. Just because a person has had financial success, even great financial success does not make them a bad person.
2
What terrifies me - and an awful lot of Americans - is our health care system. I dream of a country where having health insurance is as easy and stable as having a library card.
We need Improved Medicare for All. With the half measures of the moderates, private insurance companies will end up with the healthier people, and the public will end up with everyone else. Better if everyone is in one system. Simpler, cheaper, and better.
Sanders and Warren get it.
11
Thank you so much for an intelligent conversation. They're hard to find these days. I am struggling with my Democratic primary vote choice. Here in Ohio we have until St. Patrick's Day so things may well be decided before I ever get to the ballot box. Klobuchar and Bloomberg are looking better to me every day. I fear a Sanders ticket because I think that Trump wants to run against him and that means only one thing--Trump thinks he can beat him. We shall see...
7
I am a democrat. I hate myself for saying this but once you set aside the vicious tweets Trump is actually one of the best presidents of my lifetime. Strong economy. Low unemployment. Lowest minority unemployment possibly ever. Tell me again why I am supposed to hate this guy?
4
@Josh. F. Well there is the matter of Welfare tax cuts for the rich, children in cages, his abuse of women, his vicious treatment of the disabled, veterans such as John McCain and Muslim war heroes, his branding all black countries as hellholes, his trashing every Mexican as a rapist and murderer, his use of birtherism against a black president, his appointment of SC judges who sanction gerrymandering and other Republican causes to name but a few. You might consider that your own economic well being is not the only thing when choosing a president.
6
@Josh. F. Here are a few reasons that go beyond my personal distaste:
He's profoundly, maybe pathologically narcissistic. Which means, practically speaking, that you and I and all those red-shirted folks behind him in his appearances don't really exist. Which means that when there's something he perceives will benefit him, he'll act with total disregard for the rest of us.
He doesn't reason. In his words, he goes with his gut. That's the same gut that's driven him repeatedly into bankruptcy, that has stiffed attorneys, suppliers and employees, that buried an airline and a hotel/casino, among other enterprises. In a complicated world, I don't want a guy who's actually proud of the fact that he doesn't think.
He's a bully. Pretty much describes his character.
He lies. Constantly. Unnecessarily. What makes you think he's going to tell the truth to you?
While he'll take credit, he really has little influence on the economy (as is true of all presidents), and this strong economy was actually engineered an entire term ago, by the guy Trump would like to erase.
Obama had better job creation numbers, and if there are more members of minority groups employed, it's likely because there are more members of minority groups.
I could continue...
5
@Josh. F.
For the same reason the glamorous and lavish casino in Atlantic City went bankrupt while leaving the creditors on a hook but not Donald Trump...
If you trust in me I will protect you at all cost with all my wealth and personal possessions.
That's the basic credo of the honest, smart and hardworking people.
Bernie terrifies Brett? Brett should be doing PR work for Wall Street.
6
@Salvatore Murdocca
Oh, but he is.
4
“ Soon a whole lot of us will get a chance to be heard.”
Oh please. Like we haven’t been able to avoid hearing you for years.
Please, Bret, spare us the pearl clutching about Nancy Pelosi tearing up the speech. He had just insulted her on national television in Congress by refusing to shake her hand before spouting his lies. Everyone has their limits.Trump is the epitome of the smarmy, sleazy, hypocritical old man who thinks he's the center of the universe that most women have had to put up with in their work. He's also a nasty liar who loves to dish out the insults but whines the minute someone stands up to him, especially a woman. Nancy Pelosi has shown admirable restraint in dealing with him.
46
@Mary K
Yes. Trump was giving his lie-ridden speech in Nancy's house.
For the SOTU, the president---any president---is there at the invitation of the Speaker of the House. Maybe Bret would have preferred Nancy kick Trump out mid sentence; I know I would've. I agree that "Nancy Pelosi has shown admirable restraint in dealing with him."
I think Amy Klobuchar started the most important thing for the Democrats: To tell as often as possible who and what Trump really is:
A man with a severe narcissistic, megalomane disorder who only thinks about himself and isn't the least interested in anybody of anything else.
He only braggs about himself and disparages, insults and even threats others.
But in fact he is a low-developed person and doesn't have the needs a President should have.
He is a danger for the USA and for the whole world.
Klobuchar started nice by saying: “We have a president that literally blames everyone in the world, and we have not talked about this enough. He blames Barack Obama for everything that goes wrong, he blames his Federal Reserve chair that he appointed himself. He blames the king of Denmark. Who does that? He blames the prime minister of Canada, for, he claims, cutting him out of the Canadian version of ‘Home Alone 2.’ Who does that? That’s what Donald Trump does.”
12
Do Gail and Bret email back and forth, or is this a transcription of them talking on the phone? It's my favorite part of the Times, so I am fascinated to learn how it happens.
3
Nonsense. You have a man who for more than half a century has had a consistent record of principled and progressive politics — and then you have a Buttigieg who every thirty seconds changes his position depending on the weather and which billionaire offers him more cash — both of them come up neck to neck in Iowa primary — and the fate of this planet hangs in the balance of this banality called “American democracy!”
3
Some one please answer to me, why a moral women (irrespective of political position) ripping up some paper of lies told by a immoral vindictive manipulator, is being judged for that? And what that has to do with the quality of life in American now and in the future.
Yes, I get that shallow images seem to rule elections (remember Dean's cheer that the press used to bring him down?). But for goodness sake, how do we get our fellow American focused on the real stuff? How ever you think the problems of the country can be solved, why can't we seem to focus and think!
Looking for answers....!!!!????
3
Just pray they know how to count in this state.
4
Your colleague Damon White did a good job capturing trump in Manchester yesterday. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/opinion/trump-rally-new-hampshire.html
Trump joked about one democratic candidate drawing a crowd of 104, his rally boasted attendance of 11,000! Many who stood in line overnight to see Trump. They like he is crude rude brash crass, they think he tells the truth as he sees it. What they don’t know is he is the biggest Con Man of our century. His personal lawyer Michael Cohen called him con man cheat and racist.
Trump’s budget proposal is blatantly robin Hoodish. Now he’s proposing middle class tax cuts while cutting back on food stamps student loan forgiveness and Medicaid. But those attending his rally don’t care. To them he is their comedian in chief, their entertainer, full of bluster who will destroy anyone who stands in his way! They perceive him as strong other candidates as weak. They live in an alternate world and the entire world laughs at them for becoming the Conned.
6
I think we need someone who can neutralize Trump in a debate. And unlike last time, "when she is president" is now a good neutralizer that could absorb the insults, hold firm, and admonish those insults for our collective sobriety whether cabernet or merlot
1
@Livingston I would give Bloomberg the best chance for that.
But, have you noticed there is almost no bad press about Bloomberg and his mayoral record? He was mayor for 12 years. If he does well on Super Tuesday, that will change.
Looks like tiny northern New Hampshire towns (Dixville Notch, Hart's Location, etc.) have been the first to give Klobuchar and Bloomberg the nod in their first primary results for the 2020 Elections. So, Gail and Bret, Griots of the the Newspaper of Record, does this mean plenty o' nutting (h/t, Porgy and Bess) or a real deal? Will Trump be re-elected unless our economy tanks soon? NH primary voters aren't holding the fate of the Democratic Party in their hands.
1
Is the prospect of watching Bernie Bros and MAGATs go face to face for months giving anyone pause?
4
@Revoltingallday Isn't the prospect of MAGAs unopposedly mobbing people at the Dem nominee's rallies giving you pause? Resistance needs resisters, not mere hand wringing!
2
When you say Sanders policies scare you to death you are showing the world your cowardice. We are one people. If you want to take food away from poor children to build another bomb to stack on top of the pile of bomb we already have we see what kind of mind we are dealing with. Twisted and perverted ,full of fear and hate.
8
Wait. After all of Trump's despicable behavior and lies, we're now critical of Nancy Pelosi tearing up the bunch of lies speech? She didn't go far enough! Afterwards, she should have hiked up her skirt and wiped her bottom with it! I say anyone but Trump. I'd love to see Bernie tear him to shreds, in a debate, but Trump is too cowardly for that and won't debate, of course. If we got all the young people out to vote Bernie would win. But I'll vote for whatever nominee. Just get the Conniver in Chief out.
18
It's tiresome to read Bret. He's a one string guitar that can't help but play the same tired tune
11
"If Warren were an alcoholic beverage, she’d be merlot."
This is the best description of Liz Warren I have ever seen.
@John. I found The Who wine thing about Warren to be completely demeaning.
3
Bloomberg & Klobuchar would be my perfect ticket. Both are the antithesis of their opponents. Bloomberg is the real deal, everything Trump feins to be. And I believe Klobuchar would mop the debate floor with fellow midwesterner Pence.
7
Gail,
Does Mitt Romney's vote last week count toward absolution in the dog-atop-the-car matter?
2
Again and again, Bret Stephens is making more sense to me – a fiscally moderate, socially progressive Democrat – than Gail Collins. Since the day she arrived, Gail Collins has consistently been the most gifted New York Times columnist with the best sense of humor. Long ago, I forgave her for being from Cincinnati.
Why does Bret Stephens see the attractiveness and electability of Michael Bloomberg and Amy Klobuchar so clearly – as I do? Why doesn’t Gail Collins?
2
let's stop all the talking, go to work today, fill-out the vacation form, and take-off November 3 in order to vote.
No excuses for not voting. You'll have all day.
-C
5
@Charlie
Also, 38 states and DC have no-excuse early voting and an additional 3 have mail-in-only voting. Early voting is not as exciting as going to the polls (if you have a good polling station without long lines), but it’s really easy. Texas has no-excuse early voting so you can save your vacation day!
Contrast Michael Bloomberg and President Trump: Bloomberg devotes a portion of his fortune to the creation of a highly respected School Of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. I't mission is to protect health and save lives.
Trump endows "Trump University", a fraudulent money grab which supposedly teaches "The Art of the Deal" in real estate transactions.
13
Is this the sort of thing that passes for humour in the Acela Village? Is that because it is beyond parody?
2
The new never ending election cycle will alienate many voters.
I just dropped my party affiliation and ordered my ISSUES ONLY primary ballot.
2
So if Bret were a NH voter he would vote for Amy Klobuchar. So he’s not a Republican?
And he could already see a GOP ad showing the Tuskegee airman spliced against Pelosi tearing up Trump’s speech, because it’s already airing.
But this quote from Stephens on why he likes Bloomberg EXACTLY demonstrates the divide between Left and Right in this country:
“And in this season of nonstop harping on the rich, he’s a reminder that starting great businesses is good for America, that great wealth can also do great good, and that you should never judge the moral worth of a person by the size of his or her bank account, no matter how small or large.”
I wonder (sarcastically) if Sanders would agree?
2
Everyone should vote. But let's not fool ourselves. The American electoral and representative systems are so broken that the election is unlikely to express the will of the majority, and Trump and his Republicans are likely to preserve disproportionate power, enabling them either to rule (if they do well) or to obstruct (if they do less well).
The problems are legion:
First, some 40% of the voters are strongly behind Trump and his party. It's a minority, but it's the largest minority in the nation, with cult-like devotion to Trump and with the power, thanks to the structural flaws of American democracy, to exert its will over the majority.
Second, those structural flaws are serious: first-past-post voting in the House and Senate; uneven representation of people from large and small states in the Senate and Electoral College; a winner-take-all system of allocating electoral votes—all ensure that the minority can win big if its supporters are simply distributed advantageously as the Republicans now are.
Third, our elections themselves are poorly run and vulnerable to all sorts of manipulation and distortion. The list of problems is long: few effective limits on money; a long primary and election cycle; vulnerability of the voters to manipulative marketing from foreign and domestic sources using big data and social media; gerrymandering; voter suppression; open primaries; and insecure voting systems and processes.
Voting matters in the US, but not as much as it should.
508
@617to416 The GOP is the SMALLEST party in the US, the largest block are Independents followed by the democrats, I do not believe that 40% number, the media wants everyone to believe what they create for us, I dont ever take the bait.
28
@617to416 All of this is true about American elections, and yet once again here's another NY Times Gail n' Bret column about Democratic candidates that treats this very important moment in history as celebrity gossip fodder. Pretty depressing, actually.
25
@617to416 - I would agree with your summation. But with 42% of registered voters self-declared "Independents" I would have to disagree that Open Primaries are a problem. Not allowing independents to vote in primary elections is another form of voter suppression in states like Florida, which has a completely CLOSED PRIMARY, and then awards all 29 Electoral College votes to one "winner" in the elections. I believe the Iowa Caucus could have been much easier if people had indicated their first and second choice on the first vote. This is called Ranked-Choice and would greatly improve all of our primary elections, as well.
38
I'd like to say these pundits are playing their fiddles as Rome burns, but the fire has ignited at more than one place, and their focus on who can beat Trump is part of what needs to be done to put out the fire.
Nevertheless, one feels like a stranger in a strange land as pundits focus on personalities and policies without mention of the most important and immediate emergency our country and globe faces.
Fossil fuels have brought modern civilization to it's heights of production and human population. In my lifetime, we've used these cheap energy sources to triple agricultural production, to triple human population, to allow many of these billions born as a result of this boon or disaster to focus on developing new technologies instead of brutal labor.
This is complicated stuff that requires most of our attention right now- the raging fire that these pundits consistently ignore. It's a transformation that has occured without an iota of long-term planing, or much of any holistic planning at all.
Time is slipping away as the pundits dither with superficial analysis.
Those who see reality as I do are either crazy or visionaries, but if its the latter, it's the first time in history that visionaries have had to point out something so obvious.
77
@alan haigh
Still waiting for the vision of how the world, developed out on oil, gas and coal, can function without continued fossil energy inputs into the infrastructures built on fossil energy. Wind and solar are the easy parts. But the conundrum of replacing oil and gas, not so easy. And too, maintaining the imperative, almost universally accepted across the ideological spectrum, to sustain the growth of capital while keeping the great quantity of fossil energy in the ground when the capitalist empires have invested so much already in taking it out and keeping the pipelines full. Even without the existential threat of climate change, oil will mostly play out 50 years from now and in the interim require much more investment in capital and energy to obtain in much more environmentally risky ways. So, what is the vision for getting the world off of oil while we still have the means to do it before burning it to the end?
6
@sentinel Good points and no silver bullets. The first step is obvious and seemingly not so hard- stabilize population growth and stop cutting down trees to accommodate the 200,000 additional humans joining us daily. Subsistence farming on poor soil is responsible for about half of the deforestation occurring now.
Of course, we also will have to change our own culture and economy based on constant growth and uber-consumerism, and that is probably even a tougher political lift. Everyone should check out this lecture that a Times reader shared with me yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhcrbcg8HBw
6
@alan haigh Well said! And an interesting point, as well, is whatever your view is on green energy trump and others lack of support for it is a very ignorant and shortsighted. A great business person who can invest for the long term KNOWS THAT THE MARKET BELIEVES IN GREEN ENERGY SOLUTIONS AND IS PAYING FOR THEM. And it represents a trillion+ market. So, pulling out of climate agreements and having trade wars (while your tech secrets are being stolen due to lack of focus on cyber crime), means no one will buy your products--some one else wins that market and I wonder who that would be!
7
You’ll be glad to hear that people, at least in my NH Seacoast community, take this primary very seriously. There has been lively debate around town for weeks. And to make it even more interesting, this time around, with a wider field of candidates, the situation is still very fluid, with voters changing back and forth between favored candidates, as they learn more. My wife changed her mind about her vote just last night. Of course, we do not represent the amazing diversity of the US, we never will, but as long as we have this privilege, I think you’ll find New Hampshire people try to live up to their obligations. May the best candidate win today! And be the best choice to oust this odious man from the White House.
547
@Gerald
I’m a NH native and I am proud to see NH finally becoming a swing state.
21
@Gerald and @L in NL
What do you mean "New Hampshire finally become a swing state"?? I has been for decades now.
It was New Hampshire that elected George W. Bush. Without those 4 votes Gore would have won the election and Florida would not have mattered. That long national nightmare of a recount could have been avoided.
President Gore would have addressed climate change instead of Bush's disastrous wars and tax cuts. Trump would never have been elected. Because the American people would not have been so angry and desperate.
New Hampshire has a lot to answer for in the decline of this nation and the possible loss of our democracy forever if Trump is re-elected. So go ahead and vote New Hampshire but realize that you can never make up for the mistakes of the past. And I will never cross the border into New Hampshire without a feeling of despair.
11
@Gerald Nope, sorry. All the cozy stories about people changing their votes as they listen to the candidates in the coffee shop, and all the stories every four years about how "seriously" the residents of Iowa and New Hampshire take "their responsibility" - none of it changes that it's a ridiculous way to begin our primary season. There is no good reason that two tiny states have this much power.
11
Gail : Hey Bret do you think it will be a repeat of Iowa?
Bret: I just hope the count goes smoothly. We looked as dumb as dirt in Iowa.
Gail: JB is looking beatable Bret.
Bret: Bernie May actually pull away with the nomination Gail.
Gail: Gee what will we do then?
Bret: pray!
3
"What worries me more are some of the more stupid and self-defeating moves by Democrats, not the least of which was Nancy Pelosi meticulously tearing up the pages of the president’s State of the Union address."
I expect those torn pages will be in the Smithsonian some day.
Imagine what they'd bring at a benefit auction!
4
Enough already about Nancy on a tear. How about Trump & Co ripping up the Constitution, Bret?
41
"What worries me more are some of the more stupid and self-defeating moves by Democrats, not the least of which was Nancy Pelosi meticulously tearing up the pages of the president’s State of the Union address."
The Speaker's action is a self-defeating? Perhaps it is what the present occupant of the WH, an amoral narcissist, serial liar who debases his office and this country every minute he presides over it, deserves and more.
And if Pelosi's action lessens the chances of the Democratic win, then the country indeed deserves the president it has.
3
OMG, readers must click on Gail's link to the racehorse episode, a story that passed under my radar back in 2017 that shows the Trump core that we've come to know all too well: cruel, narcissistic, stupid, lying, deceitful and did I say cruel? Everyday we see every one of these traits play out as our country crumbles under the weight of one man's very, very sick ego.
3
The race is really intelligent people against trump
11
@Robert Schmid True, but it’s not a given that there are enough intelligent people to overcome Trump’s base.
3
@Robert Schmid The problem is, really intelligent people are frequently overwhelmed by the profoundly ignorant.
2
I haven’t read this yet but how can NH possibly hold the fate of the Democratic Party in its hands? It’s headlines like these that do a disservice to the reading public. Please stop it!
3
Pelosi did the right thing. trump never does. Vindman was courageous. trump never is. Democrats are protecting the Constitution. trump spits on it. Obama helped pave the way for this economy. trump is getting a free ride. Destroying the environment might help Wall Street, but our children will pay a price.
It is so clear that trump is guilty of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. It is so clear that he was always the wrong choice as president. He is crass, stupid, cruel and he revels in all of it. He makes America small and ugly.
Republicans in Congress have shown themselves to be unworthy and unfit to be in office.
Vote Blue. Save a tree. Save an ocean. Save America.
9
I have finally figured out why Sanders can’t win the general election. It’s not because of Medicare for all. It’s not because of decriminalization of the borders. It’s not because of eliminating student loan debt. It’s not because of giving Medicare to undocumented immigrants.
It’s because if you don’t agree with his vision you are stupid. Voters in CA and MA won’t mind. But voters in swing states will see right through this no matter how much Sanders tries to hide it. 
2
@Oliver
The latest reutiers national poll shows Sanders trouncing Trump by 18 points -- more than any of the other candidates.
5
I remember the horse incident but used the link to refresh my memory. Everyone should read it. It is Trump in a nutshell. In his lust for all that's new and shiny he goes into horse racing. First he changes the horse's name to, what else, DJ Trump. Horse has great bloodlines. Trump makes excuses and doesn't pay agreed price. Virus runs though the stable. Trump wants him run anyway. As predicted sick horse ruins something, in this case his hooves and needs operation. Trump sours on deal and terminates it after he is responsible for horse never running again. The seller bragged he knew the mafia don John Gotti. Trump claims he never knew seller.....
This happened in the 80's and it the same playbook now. Fool me once.....
3
I appreciate the debate here, though the title and subtitle are misleading and unhelpful: "holding the fate of the party" is exactly the kind of pressure that no state should be subjected to. Iowa has already shown that candidates aren't going to drop out just because the first (or second) predominantly white states have their say.
On Bret's question of what will defeat Trump, I think the winning candidate needs to hammer home Trump's insecurity, which causes him to lie incessantly, call people names like a sixth grader, and project all his fears on to his opponents.
Then, whatever Trump does or says, the candidate just repeats, over and over, calmly, that it's Trumps's insecurity coming through. There's no way Trump can overcome that label once it sticks.
Then, I'd hammer home a few points:
That he went bankrupt six times and is building up our national debt to bankrupt the US.
That he's so insecure about losing an election, he asked for foreign help on the last one and this one, instantly lied that he had the highest electoral college vote in 2016, made up 3 million fraudulent voters, because he couldn't stand the idea that he lost the popular vote, lied about the inauguration crowd size, had the picture taken down on the govt website, etc.
who he is is all there, before he even stepped into the job: Insecurity, lies, insecurity, lies--and a propensity to use foreign governments--and our own--to help cover up his insecurities and lies.
2
It's looking more and more that polls are meaningless. The polls now look like an attempt to sway one way or the other, in the old days where there were only 3 networks that game may have worked, it doesn't work well in the cyber world.
Things that never change are integrity , honor, truth, work ethic, empathy, patriotism, and inclusiveness. Instead of polls, how about a checklist of things we would all love to see in a president and lets see who checks off all the boxes.
3
Almost every comment here that praises Bloomberg says the exact same thing: he is the only one that can win. What makes them so sure? Two weeks ago, many of the same people were saying that Biden was the answer. They say nothing about what Bloomberg stands for, about what he would do, about what a Bloomberg presidency would look like. About what actually 'he did get done'.
He does stand for things, but it's not clear they will serve him well when Democrats become more familiar. Here's someone who was actually a Republican in office, avidly supported the Iraq War, imposed racist stop and frisk policies in NYC (which he only apologized for literally the day before he decided to run for President). He gave $10 million dollars ($10 Million!) to GOP senator Pat Toomey in 2018 to help squeak out a victory against a terrific Democratic WOMAN candidate. You don't like Judge Kavanaugh? Well, that was the one vote we needed during those hearings. Well, 'Mike got that done'.
And most of all, Bloomberg is a fierce defender of Wall Street, and it's privileges and priorities. And that's a huge problem. Americans increasingly realize that what's good for Wall Street is not good for them. Quite the contrary. Many people who read the NY Times have a stock portfolio, but the overwhelming majority of Americans have no skin in that game, and are much more apt to feel the corrosive influence of the financial sector much more than it's benefits.
17
@blackman
Doesn't Bloomberg's company provide the data on which Wall Street operates on a daily basis - so there may be a less than nefarious reason why he supports Wall Street - like it's an obvious business decision?
1
@blackman
Indeed, Bloomberg should be running against Trump as a Republican. It would be a more honest representation of his positions as a deficit hawk and he might be more effective.
3
@blackman Those comments do read weirdly similar, indeed. Who knows if they're for real at all.
1
It’s bothersome to me that the state of the economy seems to be the canary in the coal mine when it comes to predicting if Trump will get re-elected.
If I was over the age of 55 (which I am) I would be terrified of cuts to health care services and the rising health care costs in general. Whereas if I were a young person under the age of 30 I would be terrified of the direction global warming is headed and what sort of nightmares are going to affect my generation. Neither of which I think Trump or the GOP seem to care about.
This is just my opinion but I think both the media and general democratic strategy is to get people out to vote and dump Trump by continuing to slam dunk this notion that Trump is almost a shoe in to get re-elected based on the economy only. I simply do not see Trump getting re-elected under any circumstance. The man has simply worn out his welcome with Americans in general and I hope for the sake of the Union I am right.
768
@Ted Siebert
For those Trump supporters and others considering voting for him, I would take a long hard look at the budget Trump has recently introduced where a TRILLION dollars potentially would be cut from social security, medicare and medicaid.
450
@Deus Yes. It was obvious were the tax cut was going to go (if you got a tax cut). I think the whole strategy from the beginning was the bankrupt the government so social services would continue to be cut. the Ultra right has been working on this a long time, and as distasteful as trump was to them as a person, they found their man. And 4 more years of chaos with this guy would just add even more debt.
118
@Ted Siebert
I appreciate your comment. The stuff that gets repeated can be poisonous. Really anyone has a very good chance of beating trump (though I think Warren & Sanders might scare the middle too much). We have to remember that many who voted for him are disgusted by him and his popularity is still remarkably low.
29
I’m tired of tiny little non-representatives states holding so much power. All of this insanity must end. Tom Perez should be fired or resign. We should have simultaneous nationwide primaries. The corporate-owned media hostile debates must end. Billionaires shouldn’t able to buy their way into a nomination. We should have ranked voting.
3
Did you not see that Trump already posted a video of Pelosi ripping while he was praising the Tuskeegee airman?
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1225553117929988097
Enough with the horse race reporting that's made the presidential campaign into a beauty contest not about the morst important job on the planet.
And Brent, to give you back a little of what you dish out, Winking Owl Melot, crab apple, American cheese, Jeremy Camp. You get my drift right? Your comments are inappropriate, mean, and only encourage more of the same.
3
I am fascinated by Stephens claims if Democratic stupidity when the GOP supports Trump....what's more stupid than that? Maybe the only thing more stupid is his fear of a Bernie Sanders presidency. I mean let's get real here.
8
Hmm...This is what I just read...
Gee Gail what do you think?
Beats me Bret but I think Trump will win. How about you?
Well, I don't have a clue Gail but I think you might be right.
Sounds good Bret. Talk to you in a couple weeks then.
See ya Gail.
3
Feel the Bern, New Hampshire!
Sanders 2020
14
Don’t be a fraidy cat, like Bret Stephens, NH voters. Feel the Bern!
Sanders 2020
9
When we listen to the majority of voting Americans, (the ones who voted in 2016 & 2018), we know that New Hampshire will not decide any fate or the dem candidate. POC and young voters will decide and this will happen in southern state primaries. Elizabeth Warren is listening and many POC feel she reflects/gets that all policy moving must be anti-racist, this is in the best interest of all of us locally, nationally and globally.
However, the majority of Americans will actually vote ABT, which is evident again from the past two elections and the voices of POC & young voters.
I truly see our democracy as on a precipice. The monied, powerful, capitalist elites (oligarchs frankly) have been taking over national politics and media discourse and are working their way down. If there is any hope for we the people to have any say in how we are governed, change needs to happen. Here's how I see it:
-- reelect Trump and we are headed to hell in a (space force?) rocketship
-- elect Bernie and there is hope. But, even though the Republicans have been seeing to power being concentrated in the presidency, what really need to change is Congress. The squad shows us hope, and Bernie in the White House will expedite the needed change back to Congress really representing the people
-- elect one of the other Democratic hopefuls and we're still headed to ruin, just not as fast. They're as owned by the monied elites as are the Republicans, but they have a bit more backbone and hold on to a bit of their interest in truly representing the people
What we need to do is elect Bernie, institute real, meaningful campaign finance reform, and elect congressional representatives who represent us and not the oligarchs. Oh, and the media needs to go back to covering news in depth and not just reporting on themselves covering how they cover the news and endeavoring to bend the minds of the masses to the interests of their corporate overlords.
8
I do not understand why our primaries do not use Ranked Choice Voting.
Is there a better way of deciding which candidate makes the most never-trumpers most likely to dethrone the GOP's would be king?
11
To my knowledge Joe Biden has not yet offered a palatable explanation for his son's 50 thousand dollar a month job on the Board of Directors for the Ukrainian energy company, a job he was not , to my knowledge, qualified for.
At 50 thousand dollars a month, he was paid more than the President of the United States.
Does Joe Biden naively believe that he will never have to explain this to the American public?
Spare me the lectures about Trump's kids making fortunes off their father's position.
We all know that there are separate nepotism rules governing Democrats and Republicans.
2
@two cents Surely this is in the back of many a voter's mind. And it matters. It's not just nepotistic, it shows lousy judgement at a couple of levels.
@two cents
Last time I checked, Hunter was an adult. Our adult children get to run their own lives, even if we disagree.
I agree that even the appearance of nepotism is bad. The real scandal in this mess is that it is legal. That is what needs to change. Yes, even for the family of grifters in the WH
2
@two cents
You know, I have only seen speculation as to Hunter Biden's paychecks from Burisma.....
And I think it might be educational for us all to see just who the board members are of various corporations here and abroad....
Hunter Biden is seen as some kind of unqualified outlier, when he probably is not....
(Nikki Haley, who as Governor of South Carolina made some decisions very helpful to Boeing, was named to its board, with an annual payday of more than $300,000 - or should I be cynical and say payoff?
3
These days pretty much anything Bret writes about the election is a hit piece on Bernie.
Last election we were harangued that we had to vote for Mrs. Clinton as a vote for Bernie would be a vote for Trump.
This election, we are not to be so tricked.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
8
@Hugh Massengill and the haranguing was spot on, wasn’t it?
Cabernet is much more similar in character to ruby port rather than tawny and bespeaks a certain charlatanism that I find very unappealing.
1
I still don’t understand.....and don’t like.....how 2 tiny, tiny states get to winnow a field of candidates before other states get a chance to vote. I’m all for a single primary day across the USA.
8
I don't think Donald Trump acquitted is Donald Trump unleashed. For all the Bravado, I don't think we'll see another open attempt at election interference during the Trump administration.
Don't get me wrong. He'll still cheat. However, I think Trump will be more guarded about flaunting it to everyone. The last thing he wants is a very public and very ugly "I told you so" from Democrats on the eve of an election. We need to worry about Trump getting reelected. Then we'll have problems. For now though, I think Trump is just relieved things didn't go worse for the administration.
@Andy While I don't agree with you, and think that the Presdient unleashed is a president ever more unhinged, you are ignoring important issues. Having succeeded at meddling in our elections, can there be any doubt that the Russians will do so again? No. Now that we know that China has hacked the information pertaining to millions of us, can there be any doubt that they may get in the game too? The gerrymandering of counties and prison populations, part of the GOP Monopoly strategy since Reagan, and the closing of polling places in blue zones have contributed to electoral imbalance and continue to do so. Let's get real: our system is broken, and those who broke are going to continue with the wrecking.
3
@Ambroisine
And? I addressed your point. Trump will still cheat. We just won't see another smoking gun. Especially a transcript released by the White House under the President's orders. He's going to be more careful from here on out. That doesn't change the structural problem. I never said it did.
@Andy And again, I am going to disagree. Feeling invulnerable, and seeing how the GOP twists in the wind to help him, I think he will leave breadcrumbs. He has no self-control. And now that he has been handed the keys to the kingdom by Barr and McConnell he’s more likely than ever to disregard the law in full view of the public.
1
So Bret is terrified by all Americans having healthcare and affordable college. By bringing the tax rates for the super wealthy back to a rate when inequality was far less. Oooh how scary.
Well most of us are terrified by keeping those things the same. Let the people vote and we will see.
21
@LFK Bret probably doesn’t have kids facing college and prohibitive tuition costs. Maybe he himself is a trust fund kid who didn’t have to worry about paying back student loans. Maybe he has earned enough to enjoy Trump’s tax cuts and maybe he continues to vote republican because the party is now morphed into the biggest bunch of hypocrites preaching Christ on one side of the mouth and robbing the poor on the other side of the mouth.
8
If the options are;
A) President Sanders (or whoever), a Republican Senate and a Democratic House.
Or
B) President Trump, a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House.
I would chose “B” every time. Trump would be a fish in a barrel, quickly impeached and removed. Time would be on the side of all methods of oversight (no real ability to use the legal system to stall). There would be the distinct chance that Mike Pence would be impeached as well. McConnell neutered. Power would be clawed back from the Executive, which under Republican Presidents has clearly become an Imperial threat to the world. For those that wish to see Donald Trump’s comeuppance it would be the most delightful. Tarantino wouldn’t need to revise it!
7
@Dudesworth I takes a 2/3 vote in the Senate. No way that happens anytime soon.
Democrats should start running TV ads showing Nancy Pelosi ripping up Trump's State of the Union address. Then Pelosi herself should explain exactly why she did it.
Because Rush Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in part because he has terminal cancer? No. Because Trump overtly lied to the American people about protecting pre-existing conditions, while Pelosi has tirelessly fought for these protections. And while Trump is trying to take away health care from tens of millions, with plans to replace it with absolutely nothing.
Because a Tuskegee airman was honored? No. Because Pelosi thinks soldiers "with headaches" need to be protected.
Because a young black girl was awarded a scholarship? No. Because Trump is destroying public education using DeVos as his conduit.
Because Trump honors the fight against drug addiction? No. Because Trump fights to repeal the ACA (including Medicaid expansion) which has helped many overcome opioid addiction.
Because unemployment is low and the stock market is high? No. Because climate change is killing our planet, and Trump is doing nothing about it other than eviscerating environmental regulations at every turn.
Democrats must fight Trump on a level playing field.
They must fight!
That reckoning is at their doorstep, and it will not be ignored.
27
So true Blue Moon- if only the DNC would pull their heads out.
1
Medicare for All is “the Beatles”, and our present healthcare non-system is a drunk crooning and leaning against the light pole on the corner, or maybe at it’s best, Ragtime music. Bret is not ready for the Beatles music yet, and he rightly doesn’t think the country would be inclined to it yet as well. However the Beatles raised popular music to an art form, and eventually Medicare for All will raise healthcare to the same level and people will naturally prefer it and “come together” over time. Probably not for a few more elections, after the Republicans destroy healthcare, and the music dies.
2
Bret Stephens is a conservative who is desperately hoping for the most rightward-leaning Democrat to win the Dem nomination.
Take everything he says with a huge pile of salt. "Bernie terrifies me"? Really? Compared to Trump? I'd give you the old "OK Boomer" except you're much younger.
11
Many of my neighbors are stuck in their echo chamber of Fox “News” and right-wing radio. It is news to them that the Republicans would even think of cutting Medicaid or Social Security. Somebody needs to show that clip of Trump at Davos over and over and over.
I think my neighbors missed that moment when John McCain—by one vote—saved us from pre-existing conditions. And yet, my state still lost 13 hospitals in the last decade, including the one in my town. Who made that happen? Paul Ryan is so yesterday.
Bless Bloomberg for buying all these ads in Alabama. But my money is on Bernie and his loyal base. When Trump starts cranking out the anti-Bloomberg “stop and frisk” videos, the insidious form of voter suppression will work its magic. Message to the Democrats: it is so rude to take the African-American vote for granted.
12
Bloomberg has a big problem that the press hasn't really talked about yet--his extensive business ties to China. And because of those ties, Bloomberg is on record defending Xi. This is a huge problem, considering the fact that we really ought to be rethinking our relationship with China, and a "let's-appease-China" attitude is not likely to be a winning one in a presidential campaign.
2
I find this conversation increasingly useless. They are both so out of touch with voters. I don’t expect any insight from Bret Stephens, but I’m surprised by Gail Collins. I’m not a Sander’s supporter, but I can see how ridiculous it is to compare him with Trump. Sanders is focused and authentic, not a deranged vulgarian screaming obscenities. One may not agree with his policies, but there’s no doubting his good intentions. So how can Gail possibly compare him to Trump? It makes me seriously doubt her judgement—especially when I remember that she championed Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama.
3
@Mirjam I think she was comparing the cult-like devotion of some of his supporters to Trumpkins...
If Sanders gets the nomination, there is the chance that he beats Trump by the slimmest of margins because people that hate Socialism hate Fascism even more.
At the same time, his campaign will guarantee that democrats will lose state and local elections in a *landslide* because those same regular folks will want some sort of way to prevent socialism. Thus the gerrymandering that allowed Trump and the Republicans unfair advantage will continue and get worse.
But really, Sanders will lose and lose very badly -and- take the rest of the party down with him. Like Corbyn, McGovern, and all the rest.
5
@J c
So, your take is eat whatever tiny crumbs fall from the Billionaires Banquet and be grateful because otherwise, they will kick you away from the table legs and give the crumbs to their dogs?
Gee, that's inspiring. I can't wait to vote for someone who will cower in a corner or lick the hands of the plutocrats to get a whiff of real food.
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My oh my, haven't the Republicans succeeded in scaring the living daylights out of people with their hysteria about democratic socialism being the equivalent of communism. It is not. Can we end this lie that is being perpetuated as if it were fact --- fear generated for political ends --- now? Please? We're smarter than that in this country.
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@Barbara, some are not smarter than that in this country if they cannot see what a revolting awful man Trump is and what a danger he is to our nation and the world. What is the flaw in them that they excuse his lawlessness and support his vile rhetoric?
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I guess we're pretty much ignoring the article we're commenting on... sorry Gail & Bret.
Bernie has every right to be here. We're the inclusive ones.
Amy did great in the debate but I'm seriously concerned about the staff stories.
Uncle Joe is my favorite pol of the last 25 years, but his time is past.
Immense respect to Warren, but she went too far chasing the left wing.
Really hoping Pete can convince black America he's for real.
I don't hate that daddy big bucks is flooding the air waves down here with anti-propaganda...
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@br
Pete is not real. He is imitating Obama. He says nothing of substance, although he says it nicely. He has good manners, but shows no empathy. At this point, he needs a lot more experience. Then maybe he will develop more than platitudes for policy positions.
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Four years ago Bernie Sanders was awakening two generations of Millennials drowning in Student Loan Debt, individuals hanging around campus having just gotten around to differentiaitng Bernie Sanders from Colonel Sanders.
And now he's back touting his standing as what can remove Trump from office.
Well, he's not the only candidate who can unseat Trump. And he's extremely fortunate to have New Hampshire right out of the gate, but let's get real here and look down the pike a bit.
The road's about to get wider and rougher from here on out.
With that said, there are plenty of Americans NOT packing a ton of Student Loan Debt and aren't going to be called Socialists, are not the same ol'generatioinal white guy from four years ago elbowing his grumpy, finger-pointing self from behind the podium complaining and promising rainbows with lottery tickets attached to their collars like how econonmists pegged him last time around.
Buttigieg, Warren, Biden, Bloomberg await. Take your pick, it's time the Democrats moved on in a new direction.
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I really enjoy these conversations.
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Who is really meddling into the American democracy, Kremlin or the DNC?
Who has conspired to prevent the independent candidates from participating in the highly televised presidential debates, thus preventing the USA from finding the best solutions to the endless problems and crises?
Who had conspired to nominate a less qualified candidate 4 years ago by providing her with the questions for the next primary debate, through an ex-operative of the Clinton Administration that found a new job as the CNN consultant?
Who runs the primaries to preselect the most obedient candidate instead of going directly to the general elections and letting the American people make the decision?
Who did overrule the will of the voters by allowing the hundreds of non-elected super-delegates to change the outcome of free elections?
Why did this party intentionally embrace the additional divisive and illogical policies over the last few decades to evenly split the voters 50%-50% so the ultimate decision is solely made by the wealthiest?
Who tried to replace the incumbent president on the purely partisan base?
Who tried to organize the Iowa caucuses and failed miserable in finding the result?
Who claims that the candidate trying to alleviate the tax burden on 95% of the people is allegedly unelectable?
If he were unelectable, why did the Committee try to stop him with the aforementioned measures four years ago?
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"Trump is not going to be defeated with feckless snark, or smug jokes, or hyperbolic depictions of America as a fascist hellscape. Something else is required..."
How about running on a platform based on what we teach (perhaps taught) in grade school civics, separation of powers, personal accountability, public service, transparency?
How about a platform based on honesty and transparency supported by a pledge to release 10 years of tax returns.
How about a pledge to listen to alternative arguments and welcome dissenting voices when making difficult choices.
I think a lot of people simply want to vote for a decent human being.
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So Bloomberg is not even on the ballot yet the byline to the piece is that New Hampshire voters have got the whole world in their hands, to paraphrase the song.
Not so much.
"Gail Collins: Bret, let’s get right to it. How do you want to see New Hampshire vote? Give me your ideal Democratic finish."
Gail, this is the problem with Democrats. We are so afraid of our own shadow that we ask conservative Republicans like Bret Stephens for their opinion of our candidates.
Gail, it's time for Democrats to show some guts. It's time for Democrats to stand up and fight for our values, and against the emerging tyrant in the White House.
Couldn't care less what climate change-denier Bret Stephens says about us.
We need to stand up for universal healthcare as a right, for free public university education, for a major effort to stop global warming by investing in alternative energy production and infrastructure.
Time to fight, Gail.
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Dear Ms. Collins & Mr. Stephens,
If anyone other than Donald Trump were running for re-election, they would win in a landslide. What passes for peace and prosperity reign, the incumbent (by his lights) relentlessly operates in America’s interests, has driven the opposing side to madness and his own side to abject submission, all while providing entertainment rivaling the Roman colosseum.
In a word, NO Democrat is going to defeat that combination, so my condolences, my friends, better luck in 2024.
Cordially, a never-Trumper who knows a steamroller when he sees one,
S.A. Traina
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Anyone with any sense and a preference for something resembling democracy rather than the dictatorship we are headed to should recognize that any of the Democratic candidates are miles better than the current occupant of the Oval Office. So by all means extol the virtues of your favorite guy or gal. But don't threaten to stay home and pout if they aren't the nominee. That's just bullying others to vote your way. It's not a good look.
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Bed Bugs
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And despite all your hand-wringing and fear mongering, Bernie will win.
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"Bernie will win."
I wonder if Democrats have been losing elections because they insist on calling their favorite candidates by their first names.
With so many candidates remaining in the Democratic field and potshots now ringing out, it is increasingly likely someone will get shot in the foot (or worse).
And with the plethora of guns and the rising tide of unhinged zealotry it is quite possible actual and not just metaphorical gunfire will erupt. Is our president or our Speaker of the House soon to be our own Archduke Ferdinand?
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"They hold the fate of the party in their hands. And maybe not only their party."
How sad is that?!
A Democratic candidate for President lives or dies because of Iowa and New Hampshire?
The current "system" isn't broken, it's insane.
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Hey Gail, I don't understand how you think it's remotely possible that a Sanders administration would end the "high-drama trauma" we currently suffer. You do understand that Sanders is literally calling for a revolution. That means you will go from sipping wine as you watch the maid load your front-loading high-efficiency clothes washer to being a refugee. Your UES co-op would be appropriated as living space for "the workers". He explicitly states that he wants to tear the country down and rebuild it. He is not the candidate of aromatherapy and track lighting.
“though I can’t decide whether it will be the fierce moral passion of Sanders or the sober intelligence and dry wit of Buttigieg or Klobuchar.” ... when has sober intelligence and dry wit ever won out over fierce moral passion?
I do not understand the antipathy to Warren, perhaps because I believe in having plans in place on day one delivered by a woman who has worked hard and knows how real people struggle. But then I do not understand at gut level how this country backs Trump, a con man and crook with no morals. No matter who I will vote Blue and environmental green.
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