Your 2020 Presidential Candidate Speculation Thread

lol

heck of a job, brownie!

hoping some more candidates make this case as well

Bernie Sanders: Democrats Need to Rein In Our Out-of-Control Military Spending https://t.co/pcJslXrNV3

— In These Times (@inthesetimesmag) January 15, 2019

Hard to do when MSNBC hasn't reined in its military spending on advisers, consultants, etc.

don't starve Our Great Military, Democrats

(not a chance)

lol Sherrod Brown is doing a "listening tour" in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.

Just some random states

I wonder how much more attention Wisconsin will enjoy this round

CA gonna be a big deal this time

would be nice, for once

Careful what you wish for.

Gillebrand is fine. I like her. surprised to see every post about her on social media being people enraged about Franken though (and a lot of them are midwestern rust-belt liberal women, and they don't appear to be fake accounts either) but I don't actually see this hurting her in general. But I still feel like Harris/O'Rourke is what we're going to be looking at in a few years, and that's a good matchup to me.

the franken thing with gillibrand is even dumber than warren's DNA test as far as potential negative non-issues go, anyone who has a real problem with that is just telling on themselves

I still can't figure out if people are mad because they don't think Franken did it or they think it was fine what he did.

Both of those people are extremely disappointing.

I wanted him to be properly investigated, as he requested when the allegations came out. I’m also friends with his brother, who had a differing account of the USO tour than was offered by that particular accuser. Most Minnesotans who voted for him regret that (even though his replacement is good).

I still can't figure out if people are mad because they don't think Franken did it or they think it was fine what he did.

― Yerac, Wednesday, January 16, 2019 6:45 AM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the main objection afaict from facebook comments is that calling for franken to resign was letting the republicans win

yeah it's stupid as fuck

His ass grabbing thing had been circulating for years before this. He probably would've been allowed to stay on if there had been an investigation because there is nothing people like more than bartering with how much shit you are allowed to do to women. But whatever, he's gone, maybe he can do something productive still.

But yeah based on what I am seeing people/democrats really hate Gillebrand because of Franken.

idk I just think nobody who is photographed making the bazoom-honking gesture at a sleeping woman has a lot of credibility as a sitting senator regardless of anything else

^^^This is exactly why I will never run for public office.

that's not funny, if it's supposed to be.

well it's a bit funny to me since women don't generally take these types of pictures with other women like that ^ because we are not generally as garbage as men. I can't go through my old slumber party pictures to check.

This also goes back to shady guys that still have the ego/manifest destiny to think they should run for public office without addressing these things completely. Like Sherrod Brown.

I think there should have been an investigation, regardless, because afaict the accusations were brought up, he was pressured into resigning, and that was the last I heard of it, him or the victims. If he was innocent and somehow set up, that would have been good to know. If he was guilty, and resigning was the right thing (at least), that would have been good to know, too. An investigation would have provided some closure/answers. I think what irked so many people is that he was one of the louder, more liberal, more aggressive voices in the senate, and he was pushed out for a fraction of what the fucking president has done even more definitively, which makes it tough to feel good about even doing the right thing. That's where we're at, thanks Trump.

Come to think of it, I don't even know what his successor even looks like. Has she done anything at all since getting in office?

yerac, omg i'm so sorry! i misgendered you and read that as a like, dude at a bar going "hey i mean who here DOESN'T have a photo where they're doing that with a sleeping chick, am I right fellas?" v dumb on my part.

As an aside, doing a quick search, it turns out he is out of the spotlight but still sort of contributing from the sidelines:

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/01/how-al-franken-would-question-william-barr.html

Damn he seems to be doing OK for a guy who's had his life and career irrevocably destroyed

He had to step down. Ray Moore may have slithered into a win otherwise.

People need to forget about Al Franken unless he actually does something worthwhile and good now that he is out of office. He did grab asses. Or at least one ass that was documented when it happened years ago (when he was in office) as being really wtf at the time. I don't need closure. It sucks that people can't let it go or that he won't just admit to it.

His life wasn't destroyed. People still have huge hard ons for him.

cosign all that, and there's a Democrat in the seat now, I fail to see what was lost or why anyone holds a grudge. All Gillibrand did was stick to her well-known principles, I mean she thought Clinton should have resigned as well!

Clinton should've resigned but now we will all have to hear about him in every discussion until we die.

I mean she thought Clinton should have resigned as well!

With politicians, it's generally more accurate to say he/she SAID. Their thoughts are unknowable, usually irrelevant, and probably unpleasant.

His life wasn't destroyed. People still have huge hard ons for him.

I was mocking the Franken protectors there.

He was right to resign and it's probably good that he's gone, but I'm on the fence about whether he should have been pressured to do so pre-investigation. Or especially in lieu of an investigation.

The broader question is whether the senate would be better off with him in it, though I suppose the way around that rhetorical is just to support and encourage candidates *like* him. Problem solved.

eg other former SNL writers

The senate would not be better off with him in it, we know that even without the investigation. There were seven allegations when he resigned, and he apologized for a number of them.

Senator Guido Sarducci imo

Has my vote.

he made the best speech at that goofy Jon Stewart rally a few years ago

9/11, Seth Rich, Vince Foster truthers are the worst. I'm sure Franken is overjoyed at having his own batch.

NOTABLE: Gillibrand already talking bipartisanship:

"I would bring people together to start getting things done. If you want to get health care done, you have to bring Ds and Rs to the table on the shared values of this country. We all love our children.”https://t.co/Q5OSCWOWM4

— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) January 15, 2019

We all love our children

I don't think they do, actually

let's ask Sting

I mean maybe they love *their* children (or at least some of them) but they sure as shit don't love *our* children.

bleah that is a terrible statement

diving for 'the center' already

seems like the smart thing to do is be one of the last candidates to declare. recency bias and all that. when we hire new people at my office we always have to make a concerted effort not to overrate the last person or two who interviews.

Yup

After having seen most of the potentials speak recently, I am feeling Kamala Harris the most.

gosh i can't wait to see what this great and long-awaited bipartisan health care bill might look like, with all the good-faith ideas the children-loving republicans have brought to the table on this critical issue over the last few years

what a terrible position. just run on M4A for chrissakes.