Tulsi Gabbard announces

[PDittie]

Looked around for a thread but didn't see one.

Link to tweet

"I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week," the Hawaii Democrat told CNN's Van Jones during an interview slated to air at 7 p.m. Saturday on CNN's "The Van Jones Show."

Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, currently serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She is the first American Samoan and the first Hindu member of Congress.

"There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve," she said, listing health care access, criminal justice reform and climate change as key platform issues.

"There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace," Gabbard added. "I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth when we make our announcement."

Also:

Gabbard, who's been in Congress since 2012, is a rising star for progressives but also somewhat of an anomalous figure. Her positions on foreign policy, in particular, have at times put her at odds with many on the left over the past year or two.

But the Hawaii US House representative has many of the ingredients of a strong candidate and would make history on multiple fronts if elected president. Gabbard would not be only the first woman president, but also the first Hindu and female combat veteran to serve in the highest office in the land.

One more (hopefully staying withing the board's excerpting guidelines).

Many took issue with a meeting she had with President Donald Trump shortly after Election Day in 2016, for example. But her most controversial move came when she traveled to Syria to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad, who's widely regarded as a war criminal.

The congresswoman was broadly condemned for the trip and seemed to make matters worse when she subsequently expressed skepticism regarding allegations that Assad had used chemical weapons. Subsequently, she was bashed by Clinton loyalists and Democratic figures, such as former presidential candidate Howard Dean. In response to Gabbard's comments on Assad, Dean in April 2017 tweeted, "This is a disgrace. Gabbard should not be in Congress."

While noting that the Neera Tanden and Howard Dean's Tweets are linked at the original, I have deleted them from the graf above because they violate DU's TOS about "bashing Democrats".

So with that said, let's discuss, exercising calm and rational arguments.

[hlthe2b]

1. There were several. Here were two:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211658420
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142242122

And, critiquing primary candidates does not equate to "bashing Democrats"...That is clearly a role for DU.com in aiding us all to discuss and make up our minds about the potential Presidential 2020 field--even if that means ones own favorite candidate is not favored by others.

This is one candidate that requires a much closer assessment as evidenced by comments by the majority of DUers.


A couple more very recent posts including Gabbard's attack on fellow Dems re: "religious intolerance"
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211651953

and of course her controversial views on LGBT:
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100211659976

She definitely reminds me of someone, but I'll leave it at that....

[TexasTowelie]

2. The search function yielded these results

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211658420 (GD)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142242122 (LBN)

[pnwmom]

3. It's okay to have constructive criticism about Democrats, particularly during primary season.

We are now in the primaries, since we already have announced candidates.

[Recursion]

4. Is she seeking the BJP or Ba'athist nomination? (nt)

[Codeine]

13. That's gonna leave a mark. nt

[PDittie]

5. Just thought I would kick this

in the hope I get some replies that I don't have to log out to read.

[hlthe2b]

8. why would you have to log out to read the comments?

unless you have half of DU on "ignore", I can't imagine why that would be necessary?

[SidDithers]

6. For which party?...nt

Sid

[Iggo]

11. LOL.

Not far off.

(FTR, I subscribe to the "no clay pigeons" policy, but, um...Tulsi Gabbard?)

[EffieBlack]

9. What's with "I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week"?

When you say "I've decided to run," you just made the announcement.

Sheesh!

[msongs]

10. sounds like an inability to properly express one's thoughts lol nt

[Blue_true]

12. Maybe she is going to order up a fireworks display for the "real" announcement. nt

[Recursion]

14. The "formal announcement" has implications for campaign finance

There's a bunch of tax/donation/accounting/etc. reasons your formal announcement needs to be on a particular day.

[EffieBlack]

15. The "formal announcement" has no legal meaning or effect

All of the official activity is triggered and conducted by filing certain documents and reports with the FEC. Standing on a stage doing a "formal announcement" is purely a PR thing. A candidate can become a candidate without making a speech about it. And a person can make all the speeches they want, but if they don't file the appropriate paperwork, they're not an official candidate.