Your 2020 Presidential Candidate Speculation Thread

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/29/cnn-town-hall-kamala-harris-1135735

During the town hall, Harris laid out several policy objectives, including an endorsement of a “Green New Deal” to combat climate change, calling the issue an “existential threat.”

I feel bad for not watching, let alone going to the Kamala Harris CNN thing. Did anything interesting pop up? I think it took place on the other side of my neighborhood

I hope Kamala Harris likes martinis. She looks like she does. If so, she has my votel

Re Garcetti: me neither

I guess you could argue with her stance but imo this was a thoughtful reply about criminal justice reform from the Harris town hall (this was the only tweet with the full clip that I could find):

Oh, Riley Fink, you tried it.

Kamala Harris takes a ‘gotcha’ question on her record as a prosecutor and just shreds it.

pic.twitter.com/dADW24j19w

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) January 29, 2019

yeah she's gonna win

lol

Yeah I dont think this is gonna derail her

i'm glad to see her making it a point to not only say she opposes the death penalty but also explain why. haven't heard that from a politician in a long time actually

I get grossed out by the idea that one should be opposed to the death penalty because it “costs taxpayers money” rather than because it’s murder

I'm not sure that's her point

I think the point was wrongful convictions

She made both points

Wrongful convictions is a very important reason the death penalty is horrific.

But it is also wrong to execute guilty people.

yes

completely agree

it was a really good answer tbf

Harris "open to multiple paths" re m4a

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/29/politics/kamala-harris-medicare-for-all-eliminate-private-insurers-backlash/index.html

Some people listen to arguments that involve money, though. Capital punishment is less of a party/partisan issue than most other wedge issues, so if you can swing people by saying life in prison costs less than executing convicts, give it a shot.

no outright waffling on M4A yet AFAICT but it does seem like her positions are still somewhat in flux xp

Fine its appealing to assholes who love money. Still find it an offputting answer.

I’m not really a consequentialist, i’m discovering.

xp

Is there any county with single payer healthcare that bans private insurance? I don't think so, right? I can't imagine the US *ever* leading the way on that front.

re: m4a, being willing to support other plans is fine, and her spokesperson reiterated her m4a support, which is the right move. the time for compromise is when the bills are actually being considered, not during the campaign

Afaik, Canada bans private insurance for services that are covered by the public system (which does not currently include vision, dental care, or a lot of outpatient prescription medication).

Though some of us are loudly advocating for it to include all of those things. :)

I mean, what does "single payer" mean if not that there is only a single payer available?

I would hope they do those CNN things for all the candidates. Except Tulsi and the Starbucks guy though

I'm already exhausted

aaaand let's head over to frank luntz for a focus group

oh god no

No not that. I was watching some clips of the Kamala thing. Would like to watch clips of the others in same format. Plus seems unfair if only Harris gets that sort of showcase.

nate silver which candidate do the polls guarantee will win, only twenty-two short months from now?
well wolf at this point in the race we really shouldn't be looking at polls as any sort of predicti-
-let's head over to john king who has pulled up a new tab on a gigantic touchscreen

lol

I think I'm ready to move someplace where I don't speak the language

Plus seems unfair if only Harris gets that sort of showcase.

Tapper said at the end she was just the first who would get one of these. They're going to attempt to do them with everyone (by everyone, I assume they mean the top group and not, like, Jay Inslee).

i bet lincoln chafee's name recognition % is STILL below 4

i follow politics closely, and my only memory of lincoln chafee is that kyle mooney played him in a debate sketch

has Harris said anything about what she wants to do w/r/t drug policy?

xpost My favorite thing to do in other countries is to tell them it's s surprise bill when you go to doctors in the US. How much will this be? Who knows!?!

you only really need the slug for this one

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/morning-joe-asks-howard-schultz-how-much-a-box-of-cheerios-costs-he-does-not-know/

Trying to remember last major candidate that came out against the death penalty. Dukakis?

xp I don't know that either, though.

Cue banana gif

i follow politics closely, and my only memory of lincoln chafee is that kyle mooney played him in a debate sketch

― my tweet portal is whack (voodoo chili), Wednesday, January 30, 2019 8:58 AM (fifty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The one thing I remember about him is that one of his big policy positions was converting to the metric system.

In my mind, Chafee is played by Carson Kressley.

Simon Kamala talks a little bit about drug policy in her book:

"Something else it's past time we get done is dismantling the failed war on drugs—starting with legalizing marijuana," Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) writes in her new book. "We need to legalize marijuana and regulate it," Harris writes, pointing to racial disparities in cannabis enforcement. "And we need to expunge nonviolent marijuana-related offenses from the records of millions of people who have been arrested and incarcerated so they can get on with their lives.

When it comes to other drugs, the senator says "we also need to stop treating drug addiction like a public safety crisis instead of what it is: a public health crisis."

"When someone is suffering from addiction, their situation is made worse, not better, by involvement in the criminal justice system," she writes."

which, I'm sure someone will point out, is quite different from her public positions just 5 years ago but this just (yet again) illustrates my point that the best politicians are the ones that are able to adjust their positions to suit their constituents and the times.

simon kamala for pres imho

my point that the best politicians are the ones that are able to adjust their positions to suit their constituents and the times.

and what if she's lying her ass off now?

Politicians generally govern on the policies they run on to maintain the support of the people who voted for them. Maybe there are cases in history where someone did the dramatic heel turn and reversed a stance upon getting safely elected?