Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forum'They are so nervous:' Congressional Democrats stay out of unsettled 2020 primary
But with just four weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, most of their Democratic colleagues are choosing to stay on the sidelines. By comparison, Hillary Clinton had secured 181 congressional endorsements by the first week of January 2016, an overwhelming show of force that solidified her as the partys frontrunner. Biden, who leads national polls of the 2020 primary race, isnt even at a fifth of that total....
Everyone wants to talk about their angst over the Democratic primary, said Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon who contemplated a 2020 campaign himself and is now neutral. They may lean towards one of the candidates, but theyre nervous. They are so nervous. Theyre nervous about each one of the leading four for different reasons.
...For some, the political risk of making an endorsement outweighs any potential reward. Others are still waiting for candidates to address their pet issues. And then there are those who are ducking a choice altogether....
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article239012293.html
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BeyondGeography
(39,379 posts)Theres way too much about nuances on health care, said Merkley. Thats driven by the moderators of these debates. Tell the damn moderator I think weve talked about the differences between an opt-in, opt-out Medicare for All plan enough.
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article239012293.html#storylink=cpy
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
mia
(8,362 posts)Warren would be my fist choice.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BeyondGeography
(39,379 posts)last month even when it had bipartisan support. Richard Neal, a Democrat, put it on hold. He also happened to take a $29k donation from Blackstone, which owns a firm that stood to take a hit from the measure.
Democrats are divided on health care not least because they take a lot of money from health care interests and that holds true at the candidate level as well. Both Biden and Buttigieg are raising money with the help of higher ups at BCBS and Blackstone, eg. What I think Merkley is saying is that hair splitting over this or that plan at the candidate level is a waste of time because none of them stand a chance in hell of making it through Congress as is, and not just because of Republican opposition. It wasnt Republicans who killed the public option ten years ago.
In addition to squishy Dems, you have nihilist Republicans and, most important, the health care lobby itself, which equates the public option with M4A and is already fighting against it just as hard. My point is choosing a candidate (or not) based on their health care plan is misguided. Nothing meaningful will happen until our Party unites against the for-profit system and doesnt allow itself to be picked about by the health care lobby which is presently the case. That doesnt mean you shouldnt evaluate candidates plans. It does mean, to Merkleys point, that we shouldnt spend the first half hour of every debate on them.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided