2020 Democratic presidential primary

vision* but also version, fine

The first primary debate will take place on June 26 and 27 in Miami.

With this many candidates it will take two days to finish the debate

Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it. pic.twitter.com/Ya2mf5ODts

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 3, 2019

^ gets it, gets it

It looks like that lamp is sticking out of the side of his head. Which it very well might be.

Most awkward way to start a campaign since the "I promise not to drive off any more bridges" video in 1980

always been about making love connections

also, on Joe the tieless w/ jacket choice looks like he's showing up for the early-bird buffet in Coral Gables

Coral Springs more like

So is he running for Kiwanis president or

Biden 2020: Emotional Support Animal for All

Biden 2020: He's Doing That Because You Look Nervous

love that he's like basically saying "back when i did this it was ok" when the people coming forward are like "back when you did this it wasn't ok" lmao ok bye joseph

jeez that video is a deeply uncomfortable HR meeting where you're expected to say "uh... yeah, i mean i guess he's fine to come back?"

never really wanted to see joe run but this is all so weird i wish he would just go the fuck away

tbh it's still so weird to me that anyone takes him seriously as a candidate that i find it equally hard to wrap my head around actively cancelling him.

i mean, name recognition and some residual obama nostalgia i guess but... he's just old. he looks old. he sounds old. he should be like maybe booking an easy billable 20 hours a week as a consultant on a campaign, holding meetings on golf courses, whatnot. why he'd even want to put himself through a campaign at this point is beyond me.

It’s weird anyone would want to do this

hands hands hands

now its all about taking selfies or whatever

STRATEGIST: mr vice president we need to explain the hands thing

BIDEN: well there are just so many people who need solace

STRATEGIST: yes good

He should somehow incorporate the consoling hand on the shoulder motif into his campaign materials. I know some designers who could mock up a logo for him

The slogan's already in place but the logo needs work.

https://img.songfacts.com/calendar/17694.jpg

That and Halley's Comet were the biggest disappointments of 1986.

the "you can hug me anytime" responses to that tweet make me ill

https://www.mediaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-14-at-11.25.58-AM-650x467-1.jpg

yes thank you, I've been trying to forget for the last two and a half years

lol hadrian

https://i.imgur.com/rPlIJdU.png

At least it's by the shoulders! You people, gawd.

lmao

Thank you for listening Joe 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Ic5Sg9lFRA

— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) April 3, 2019

haaaaa

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) has joined the fray

What? pic.twitter.com/cu70Idc9tm

— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) April 4, 2019

uh.jpg

dad of the year

I swear some of these motherfuckers put less thought into deciding whether to run for president than I put into deciding which kind of bagel to order at the coffee shop in the morning.

my top 2 bagel options were out of stock when i went to the coffee shop this morning.

and that's when i decided i had to run for president of the united states

NEVER AGAIN

Bagels 4 Beto

BUTTIGIEG on free college: Americans who have a college degree earn more than Americans who don't. As a progressive, I have a hard time getting my head around the idea a majority who earn less because they didn't go to college subsidize a minority who earn more because they did

— Stephanie Murray (@StephMurr_Jour) April 3, 2019

I've heard some variant of this argument before and it always strikes me as dumb

i have decided that buttigieg in fact Sucks

im on the warren wagon btw choo choo

That's a weird argument tbh. For one. thing, that's not really how a progressive tax system would work, I don't think. (Those who earn more do pay more.) I am not sold on free, as opposed to affordable, uni, though, when it is neither required nor standardized. 2xp

also, and I am far from the first to point this out, people who didn't go to college and earn less have kids who might want to go to college!

in scotland this is a debate. right now for undergrad you have tuition-free university for student's coming from the scottish school system (there are some fees for post-grad i think). the previous system was affordable university tuition (i owed something like 4000 pounds after finishing a four year undergrad degree), which you didn't pay until you graduated, and only paid after earning a certain minimum income, was extracted directly from payroll, and had a reasonable interest rate. the criticism from "the left" is that abolishing fees has not widened access to university in any meaningful way (it's still mainly middle-class kids going to uni) and has caused funding issues in higher education including colleges (community college equivalent) with more working class student demographics

but if you object to free college and your answer isn't affordable college then gtfo

yeah this is just the kind of empty nonstarter policy answer i expect from "pragmatic" centrist types who cloak themselves vaguely in progressive language. there's no class analysis, no recognition that skyrocketing tuition and debt loads reinforce a haves-and-have-nots model of society, roll back the clock on access to education, etc. if it was paired with some brilliant scheme to force tuition back down, then maybe, MAYBE there'd be a conversation.

I could see this more as an argument against college loan debt forgiveness than free college, personally I would love if student debt was forgiven because my wife and I have a shitload of it but it does seem like the kind of thing that would benefit the middle class disproportionately compared to the poor

that buttigieg argument is also an argument against public funding for parks and the arts and the SEC and everything else the government pays for that benefits the rich more than the poor.

it's also tactically unsound, like pretty much all centrist attempts to meet the right half way by means testing a benefit.

But he read Joyce so it all evens out

I don't quite understand that Butt quote. I've never heard this argument before. I can kind of interpret it in my own way, that a lot of well paying jobs technically don't need higher education expertise but discriminately only hire people with college degrees. I have a liberal arts degree from a good school that has never been applicable to any of my nice jobs that would only hire higher ed graduates.