Which of our candidates would you have the most confidence in a crisis?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

48 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Tom Steyer
	0 (0%)
	Mike Bloomberg
	1 (2%)
	Amy Klobuchar
	1 (2%)
	Joe Biden
	18 (38%)
	Pete Buttigieg
	4 (8%)
	Elizabeth Warren
	17 (35%)
	Bernie Sanders
	7 (15%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

1. Has Biden lost any of these hypothetical polls on du?

Just wondering

[totodeinhere]

15. Not that I know of. Obviously DU does not represent the greater Democratic Party

very well.

[highplainsdem]

2. You left Sanders' name off.

[William769]

3. 3 of the 7 for me.

[BusyBeingBest]

4. Bloomberg has run shit. Large organizations, and one of the most important

cities on earth. This would be up his alley.

[Tweedy]

6. The Mayor's judgment is often shit

Unfortunately

He supported the Iraq war.
He supported George Bush.
He funded Lindsay Graham, along with many other GOP enablers
He still claims stop & frisk worked despite zero evidence to support it (crime went down more where I am without treating human beings like criminals simply because of their skin tone)
How long did it take to get the right masks to the World Trade Center heap? Way too long.
He believes Wall Street got a bad rap for tanking the economy
He treats women like objects

& many, many more.

Any one of our other candidates, since none have demonstrated such bad judgment, utterly disconnected from the fact based world, would deal with a crisis better than Mayor Bloomberg.

[BusyBeingBest]

7. He had, and still has, a reputation for competence and success.

[redqueen]

13. Because marketing

Not because he actually deserves it

[Tweedy]

16. In business

helping the already well heeled get a leg up in our markets over the rest of us -- yes. He deserves credit for exploiting the heck out of the loopholes and enabling flash crashes.

In government? Did you read my post?

When did the mayor show good judgment?

He did leave the Democratic Party long after it was clear the bankrupt GOP had lost all hope in the state. After he left the party, he is on tape saying he really supported Mitt Romney, of the 49%.

Mitt Romney is a courageous man who kept his oath. He still had ridiculous beliefs (like the "taker" tape) that reveal his lack of touch with the lived reality of most Americans.

When did the Mayor demonstrate good governmental judgment when it was politically inconvenient?

It certainly was not when he altered the NY state constitution to stay in power like some 2 bit 3rd world dictator.

So when was it?

Billions do buy a reputation, true, in our current world. How very unfortunate for us.

[BusyBeingBest]

17. When did he show good judgment? Maybe when he supported women's choice as a Republican?

Or when he supported pro-environment causes, as a Republican? Or supported gun control, as a Republican? What did that get him, in his own party--support and applause? No. Joe Manchin can't bring himself to wholeheartedly support this stuff NOW, and he's always been a Dem, right?

[Tweedy]

20. Good grief. He lived in New York City

None of that was politically inconvenient for Mayor Bloomberg.

You are proving my point.

Comparing Joe Manchin's legislation for gun background checks when he is from West Virginia to a New York mayor's support for the grocery list of items New York City residents support in large majorities is quite simply breathtaking.

Joe Manchin's background check bill was a courageous move with little political upside.
One could call that bill a profile in courage.

Mike Bloomberg's support for reproductive freedom or the environment in NYC? Just, no.

Still waiting

[BusyBeingBest]

21. You've got to be kidding. Even when the GOP became absolutely nuts,

he never wavered in his support of those causes. He stopped being a Republican instead. You're holding him to a standard much higher than pretty much everyone else in politics today.

[Tweedy]

23. You have got to be kidding

New Yorkers would have run him out of office on a rail if he flip flopped on any of it.

Have you not noticed how quiet the GOP is about Senator Collins' further question vote? The GOP does not enforce its litmus test on the NYC mayor. The GOP is quite happy to control that great city whenever it gets the opportunity.

[BusyBeingBest]

24. He maintained his support and funding long after he was out of office.

And not in the GOP. If that doesn't prove sincerity of heart vs. political convenience, I don't know what else will. Collins is the pretend moderate the GOP uses to try to convince us they aren't in lockstep, right up until they vote in lockstep.

[Tweedy]

25. Yes

He supports democrats now, as he supported republicans before

Looks like that too is for his political convenience. Looks like he is trying to buy the nomination.

There really isn't anything called profligacy for a billionaire.

Bill Gates could spend one million a day and not run out for 218 years.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/years-for-bill-gates-to-spend-his-fortune-2014-10%3famp

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. You raise some interesting points

[BusyBeingBest]

9. Also, Joe Biden supported the Iraq War.

Joe Biden called Obama "clean and articulate". And made up stories about Nelson Mandela that were easily disproven (good judgment?). Joe Biden has the Anita Hill fiasco in his past, and more recently has stopped being over-familiar on the campaign trail. Joe Biden sometimes had some questionable judgment RE bussing, segregation, etc. Joe Biden was super into protecting banking and credit card co's, until he wasn't . Elizabeth Warren--I mean, she was a Republican longer than Bloomberg. The weird DNA testing that backfired, etc. Everyone has questionable judgment In their past lives. Edit to add: Geez, I haven't even touched Bernie. The only person without a long history of dubious judgment is probably Pete Buttigieg.

[Tweedy]

18. Joe Biden did not

Joe voted to authorize inspectors entering Iraq to look for WMD. President Bush went to war despite the inspectors finding nada.

This is my lived experience. I watched those debates and listened to the arguments.

I don't remember how soon after Joe Biden took to the floor to condemn the invasion, but it was quick.

Should Joe have voted that way? It is easy to say no with 50/50 hindsight. The whole build-up was so fast, I never made up my mind before the downhill race began. I live in a glasshouse, I cannot throw any stones.

Nonetheless, suggesting Joe Biden supported an Iraqi invasion works only if you ignore everything Joe Biden said on the Senate floor during the debate and after the invasion

Conversely, Mayor Bloomberg continued to support the war long after it was clear Rumsfeld was clueless and the whole operation was a serious mess.

[BusyBeingBest]

19. Come on. That's not even the reason he gave in 2004:

(CNN)As the US War in Iraq continued to unravel in the spring of 2004, then-Sen. Joe Biden delivered a commencement speech at the University of Delaware where he addressed the original decision to go to war.

"Let me tell you what I see with Iraq," Biden told the graduates. "We had to go into Iraq, not because Saddam (Hussein) was part of Al Qaeda, there was no evidence of that, not because he possessed nuclear weapons or because he posed an imminent threat to the United States, there was no evidence of that."
"The legitimate reason for going into Iraq, was he violated every single commitment he made and warranted being taken down. And the international community and us had a right to respond."
His speech more than a year after the war began reveals how Biden continued to stand by the decision to invade Iraq and his vote to authorize President George W. Bush to do so, even as some of his Democratic colleagues began to turn against the war. The comment is one several examples found during a CNN KFile review of Biden's speeches and television appearances between 2003 and 2006 where he defended or explained his vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq.

[Tweedy]

22. I thought Biden had stopped the war when I heard him say

Last edited Fri Feb 28, 2020, 05:55 PM - Edit history (1)

"President Bush did not lash out precipitously at Iraq after 9/11. He did not snub the U.N. or our allies. He did not dismiss new inspection regimes. He did not ignore Congress," Biden said in a 2002 floor speech given during the debate over legislation authorizing action against Iraq.

"At each pivotal moment, he has chosen a course of moderation and deliberation, and I believe he will continue to do so. At least, that is my fervent hope," Biden said. "I wish he would turn down the rhetorical excess in some cases because I think it undercuts the decision he ends up making. But in each case in my view he has made the right rational calm deliberate decision."

When we heard that in my home, we thought Senator Biden might have stopped the war. Obviously, he didn't. Biden was an inside ball senator, like Dick Lugar, as my husband just said when I was trying to figure out how to say this accurately.

Thinking about it today, I still see it the same way. Yet, I can see how those words sound very little like the meaning we derived.

There are other things I recall as well which contain no ambiguity:

How Mayor Bloomberg refused to let us try anyone from Guantanamo which was very politically convenient for him.

How the 9/11 pile did not have enough respirators long after the mayor knew, or should have known, those masks were desperately needed to save lives. NYC firemen were practically begging for them.

No. I would not trust Mayor Bloomberg in a crisis. He has already failed that test.

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. In a hot natural disaster crisis yes, he has the chops

In the realm of foreign affairs it gets much murkier. A wrong policy can lead toward a crisis. In the domestic policy realm he would not exasperate our problems the way that Trump does, but I do not trust him to reverse the slow moving crisis of wealth redistribution to the top and income inequality that has gripped this nation for decades.

Anyone who says with a straight face, like Bloomberg did in his first debate, that "I worked hard for my billions" fundamentally doesn't get it. Like a cop, a teacher, a plumber, or a line staff worker in a drug treatment half way house doesn't?

[BusyBeingBest]

12. I think he feels defensive about his money. Like people are implying

he inherited, swindled or cheated his way into his fortune. He shouldn't though, it's never a good look.

[emmaverybo]

26. In a crisis, 9 /11, Bloomberg denied Muslims their civil liberties. To fight crime, he shredded the

constitution for a race-based theory of crime. Both times, his policies were ineffective.

[Kaleva]

5. I would have about equal confidence in 5 of the 7 & the other 2 are just barely below that.

I wouldn't lose sleep worrying about any being able to handle a crisis situation.

[underthematrix]

10. Since we could only select one, I chose Biden but Bloomberg would be my second choice.

That's it.

[gollygee]

14. Really, there are two: Biden and Warren. nt

[AngelicaHora]

27. Pete Buttigieg by quite a margin

Due to his executive and military experience. Not to mention his calm temperament, his discipline, and his endurance. He also would know what he's talking about if it's a more modern emergency like a cyberattack.

[LuvNewcastle]

28. I think Buttigieg would be fine in a crisis.

I wouldn't support him if I thought otherwise. Any President is going to have a security council and he/she is going to most likely take advice from them. Maybe the President will come up with his own solution to the problem, but more than likely he'll draw heavily on the advice he's given. But whatever he decides, the decision will be his alone and he will have to accept the praise or the blame for the consequences of his decision. I think Pete would be up to the challenge.