Trump

[Sandydragon]

Trump in backing rapists shock. Though in truth there's no way out of this that doesn't involve them

Quite. Whether this will hold is another matter, but the very significant support the Taleban has amongst the Pashtun must be factored into any peace deal. Hopefully it works out.

[Galfon]

Deal done with the Taliban. Seems....odd.

Another draw? Vietnam 2.0?

18 years - DT wants out..it must be a success.

[cashead]

Deal done with the Taliban. Seems....odd.

They've been making deals with them for ages.

[Banquo]

Deal done with the Taliban. Seems....odd.

They've been making deals with them for ages.

that so- like this one?

[cashead]

Deal done with the Taliban. Seems....odd.

They've been making deals with them for ages.

that so- like this one?

They've been doing a lot of prisoner and hostage exchanges for years. How do you think the US got Bowe Berghdahl back?

[Banquo]

They've been making deals with them for ages.

that so- like this one?

They've been doing a lot of prisoner and hostage exchanges for years. How do you think the US got Bowe Berghdahl back?

Entirely different sort of ‘deal’ I’d think. I was merely highlighting the significance of this move, especially in a Trumpian context.

[Digby]

Buttigieg out ahead of the mass voting on Tuesday. Taking a view the effect of him remaining in the race would have when he's not going to be the nominee, but resolves to work hard to seek a Democratic win (learning from Bernie's mistake, or just not being as daft to begin with)

[Banquo]

Buttigieg out ahead of the mass voting on Tuesday. Taking a view the effect of him remaining in the race would have when he's not going to be the nominee, but resolves to work hard to seek a Democratic win (learning from Bernie's mistake, or just not being as daft to begin with)

must have boosted Joe's chances.

[Digby]

Buttigieg out ahead of the mass voting on Tuesday. Taking a view the effect of him remaining in the race would have when he's not going to be the nominee, but resolves to work hard to seek a Democratic win (learning from Bernie's mistake, or just not being as daft to begin with)

must have boosted Joe's chances.

Over to Bloomberg to see if he cares about that, and indeed to Warren and Sanders (really Warren given the majority want the bloke with the less impressive policy and detail background) to jump on the other side

[paddy no 11]

Pete's numbers weren't so bad that he needed to drop out yet, Biden gets the swing

C'mon Bernie

[Digby]

Pete seemingly figured if he wasn't in it to win it then get out of the way. Why the establishment would be rowing in behind Biden I've no idea

[gransoporro]

Pete's numbers weren't so bad that he needed to drop out yet, Biden gets the swing

C'mon Bernie

Buttigieg thought he had no path to the nomination, and did not want to split the moderate field, which would favor Sanders.

Same for Klobuchar.

So now the moderate field has Biden and Bloomberg only, with both Buttigieg and Klobuchar supporting Biden.

Keep in mind that there is still the chance of a brokered Democratic convention, and Buttigieg could come up as a white knight because of his early drop and early success. I heard Senator Brown is groomed for that role as well, but frankly it is too Byzantine for me to follow these scenarios.

We will see what happens tomorrow and what Warren and Bloomberg will do if they are in single digit, low tens.

[gransoporro]

Pete seemingly figured if he wasn't in it to win it then get out of the way. Why the establishment would be rowing in behind Biden I've no idea

This is the moderate wing compacting, not the establishment. It is always about an electable candidate to beat Trump. Biden always had those credentials, shaken by the initial lack of success. The landslide in SC showed a return to that belief.

[Digby]

Pete seemingly figured if he wasn't in it to win it then get out of the way. Why the establishment would be rowing in behind Biden I've no idea

This is the moderate wing compacting, not the establishment. It is always about an electable candidate to beat Trump. Biden always had those credentials, shaken by the initial lack of success. The landslide in SC showed a return to that belief.

I find it hard to concede Biden has much in the way of any credentials, a poor speaker with a poor background in policy and seemingly no ideas. He's very similar to Trump, bar he at least doesn't seem a piece of shit as a human being

[gransoporro]

Pete seemingly figured if he wasn't in it to win it then get out of the way. Why the establishment would be rowing in behind Biden I've no idea

This is the moderate wing compacting, not the establishment. It is always about an electable candidate to beat Trump. Biden always had those credentials, shaken by the initial lack of success. The landslide in SC showed a return to that belief.

I find it hard to concede Biden has much in the way of any credentials, a poor speaker with a poor background in policy and seemingly no ideas. He's very similar to Trump, bar he at least doesn't seem a piece of shit as a human being

I find it hard to find ways Biden is similar to Trump.

He is not my favorite candidate, but who am I to judge. He has those credentials with the democratic voters. That is all that counts.

There are also factors like:
Sanders followers are trumpians in methods.
Sanders campaign is favored by the Russians, like Trump.
Sanders is Trump’s preferred democrat candidate.

All reasons to prefer another candidate over Sanders for the moderates. And Biden is the only credible one, from the look of it.

[Digby]

Klobuchar and Butigieg both look much more credible to me than Biden, if there is to be a standard bearer it'd be better to find one who can bear things. Biden barely had any cash on hand, so if this isn't the party apparatus falling in behind the former VP its hard to know what it is

[Puja]

This is the moderate wing compacting, not the establishment. It is always about an electable candidate to beat Trump. Biden always had those credentials, shaken by the initial lack of success. The landslide in SC showed a return to that belief.

I find it hard to concede Biden has much in the way of any credentials, a poor speaker with a poor background in policy and seemingly no ideas. He's very similar to Trump, bar he at least doesn't seem a piece of shit as a human being

I find it hard to find ways Biden is similar to Trump.

He is not my favorite candidate, but who am I to judge. He has those credentials with the democratic voters. That is all that counts.

There are also factors like:
Sanders followers are trumpians in methods.
Sanders campaign is favored by the Russians, like Trump.
Sanders is Trump’s preferred democrat candidate.

All reasons to prefer another candidate over Sanders for the moderates. And Biden is the only credible one, from the look of it.

I don't know Sanders would be Trump's preferred democrat candidate actually. Sanders portrays himself as an outsider, taking on the establishment, which is where Trump gets a lot of his votes from. I'm concerned that, if they put up another middle-of-the-road politician, they'll lose to his inane claims of being for the people against the DC machinery. Especially since Trump's already got his attack lines against Biden all lined up - it doesn't matter if the Ukraine claims are completely fabricated or not, what matters is that Trump will continue to repeat them ad nauseam and simple slurs will last longer in the minds of idiot voters than reasoned explanations.

Buttigieg's dropping out now to maintain credibility under the cover of being noble and stepping down for the good of the party and country. He's gaining himself support from people who will be invaluable to his future career and saving himself a battering on Super Tuesday from the fact that he has zero electability amongst minority voters.

Puja

[gransoporro]

Guys, they are just keeping the power dry. The attack will be on Sanders being a socialist. He even honeymooned in Moscow, as Trump and his minions said.

They can get videos of Sanders praising USSR, communism, Cuba, Castro, Sandinistas, while denouncing capitalism. All they need is to galvanize their voters, and make independent think that Trump is the lesser of the evils (cannot have a socialist and all the stigma associated).

If you disagree, feel free. This is what I sense here, in the Bible Belt. And I bet I have a better view than yours. Evangelicals here are already campaigning behind the scenes against “socialism”. Sanders gives Trump the perfect opposition. And he is not widely liked in the Democratic Party either.

What if the opposition was someone that is an actual adult, proven, responsible and even religious? Now the Bible Belt will not be that energized unless you promise them to overturn Roe vs Wade. You like it or not, Biden is seen like that guy. That is why they are fighting Biden here and now: he is the big problem. Sanders can wait until after the nomination, if he gets it.

[Digby]

I'm not exactly a huge Sanders fan, he has long history of saying things that'll make any run in a general election tricky, he's too old, he's had a heart attack, and on losing the nomination last time he threw his toys out of the pram and helped elect Trump, but Biden is an even weaker candidate - both it should go without saying are on their worst days better than Trump

[Mikey Brown]

Guys, they are just keeping the power dry. The attack will be on Sanders being a socialist. He even honeymooned in Moscow, as Trump and his minions said.

They can get videos of Sanders praising USSR, communism, Cuba, Castro, Sandinistas, while denouncing capitalism. All they need is to galvanize their voters, and make independent think that Trump is the lesser of the evils (cannot have a socialist and all the stigma associated).

If you disagree, feel free. This is what I sense here, in the Bible Belt. And I bet I have a better view than yours. Evangelicals here are already campaigning behind the scenes against “socialism”. Sanders gives Trump the perfect opposition. And he is not widely liked in the Democratic Party either.

What if the opposition was someone that is an actual adult, proven, responsible and even religious? Now the Bible Belt will not be that energized unless you promise them to overturn Roe vs Wade. You like it or not, Biden is seen like that guy. That is why they are fighting Biden here and now: he is the big problem. Sanders can wait until after the nomination, if he gets it.

Is picking a moderate or republican-lite a tactic that’s known to actually work?

[Digby]

I wouldn't want to say picking someone with the label progressive isn't going to work, not least as were she some years younger Warren would be my preference, but American has moved to the right over the last few decades and it's hardly unfair to think someone with the label moderate if a better electoral hope, and that any shift to the left should be demonstrated as being responsibly done in increments and not as part of a revolution.

[Stom]

I wouldn't want to say picking someone with the label progressive isn't going to work, not least as were she some years younger Warren would be my preference, but American has moved to the right over the last few decades and it's hardly unfair to think someone with the label moderate if a better electoral hope, and that any shift to the left should be demonstrated as being responsibly done in increments and not as part of a revolution.

You don't make change in increments. You make change by drastic change. America has many problems, but medicare seems like the biggest. Any watering down of plans to kill off the current system means they won't get change.

That message needs to be made loud and clear.

But hey, socialist policies have always been a "hard sell" thanks to no-one explaining them in simple bloody language!

[Mikey Brown]

Fair enough.

Seems from a very superficial glance that the American system is almost designed to see-saw from one to the other with the presidential election often prompting a swing the other way in the house.

The idea of incremental steps towards a better future is great but how long is any one party ever going to get? I feel like you may as well try and get someone in there who’d actually shake things up a bit.

As much as anything it might just be very funny. And after all, that’s what politics is really about.

[Digby]

I wouldn't want to say picking someone with the label progressive isn't going to work, not least as were she some years younger Warren would be my preference, but American has moved to the right over the last few decades and it's hardly unfair to think someone with the label moderate if a better electoral hope, and that any shift to the left should be demonstrated as being responsibly done in increments and not as part of a revolution.

You don't make change in increments. You make change by drastic change. America has many problems, but medicare seems like the biggest. Any watering down of plans to kill off the current system means they won't get change.

That message needs to be made loud and clear.

But hey, socialist policies have always been a "hard sell" thanks to no-one explaining them in simple bloody language!

Or they're just not very popular with a lot of people. Though if Socialist means Bernie or Warren rather than Corbyn that's far less alarming to me, but whilst their medicare plans don't alarm me they do alarm many people in the USA, it just seems a bit of a risk, maybe the time for that fight has come, but for myself I'd look to work in increments and not alarm so many people, especially when the alternative isn't a Republican whose policies I don't much like but is in fact a walking quasi-talking piece of shit

As an aside even Bernie has of recent times object to the word revolution, somewhat oddly given he's talked in such terms for a long time, maybe he's just figured he's got the nomination and it's time to start running the general election campaign not the Democratic nomination

[Digby]

The idea of incremental steps towards a better future is great but how long is any one party ever going to get? I feel like you may as well try and get someone in there who’d actually shake things up a bit.

If you can't show people you're making a difference maybe you don't have the right plans for a country, even if you happen to like them very much