The 2020 Presidential Election Primary Thread

[Moliere]

This election is going to be lit, or maybe woke is a better word.

[Uncle Ted]

Embedded Tweet

Pocahontas shouldn't be so hard on Northam... I am guessing his DNA test results would show that he is at least 1/1024th African American. And its not like he used his African American heritage to gain privilege in college or something.

[myboynoah]

Embedded Tweet

Pocahontas shouldn't be so hard on Northam... I am guessing his DNA test results would show that he is at least 1/1024th African American. And its not like he used his African American heritage to gain privilege in college or something.

Yeah, I think that's a big swing and a miss.

[Moliere]

Embedded Tweet

Pocahontas shouldn't be so hard on Northam... I am guessing his DNA test results would show that he is at least 1/1024th African American. And its not like he used his African American heritage to gain privilege in college or something.

My favorite candidate in each election is the tone deaf one. Warren is perfect for this role.

[Surfah]

Embedded Tweet

Pocahontas shouldn't be so hard on Northam... I am guessing his DNA test results would show that he is at least 1/1024th African American. And its not like he used his African American heritage to gain privilege in college or something.

Her Republican or Democrat line is weird. I've seen this quite a bit this weekend from Dems. And of course there was CNN whose ticker showed Northam was (R). I even saw another report that talked about how the GOP recruited Northam when he first entered politics which was true, but curious to include I thought. It almost seems purposeful....

I still can't believe Northam hasn't resigned. BTW, a PAC for Northam ran one of the worst ads I've ever seen against his opponent Gillespie. Can I get an irony ruling on this?

Update: Not irony since I guess Gillespie could want to mow down minority children independent of Northam wearing blackface and being called coonman.

[frank ryan]

Her Republican or Democrat line is weird. I've seen this quite a bit this weekend from Dems. And of course there was CNN whose ticker showed Northam was (R). I even saw another report that talked about how the GOP recruited Northam when he first entered politics which was true, but curious to include I thought. It almost seems purposeful....

I still can't believe Northam hasn't resigned. BTW, a PAC for Northam ran one of the worst ads I've ever seen against his opponent Gillespie. Can I get an irony ruling on this?

Update: Not irony since I guess Gillespie could want to mow down minority children independent of Northam wearing blackface and being called coonman.

That line doesn’t bother me. I took it to mean Democrat’s shouldn’t give the guy cover because he’s one of them. Maybe it was a dig at the GOP for Steve King but I don’t think so, or care that much.

Too many people look for the letter before a politician’s name before deciding if they should be outraged or not.

[BlueK]

That line doesn’t bother me. I took it to mean Democrat’s shouldn’t give the guy cover because he’s one of them. Maybe it was a dig at the GOP for Steve King but I don’t think so, or care that much.

Too many people look for the letter before a politician’s name before deciding if they should be outraged or not.

The thing about that race was that Gillespie who always was an establishment and moderate by today's standards Republican decided part way through to go full Steve Bannon in that race by choosing to run a ton of very provocative anti-immigrant type ads. It backfired and he lost, after which both Trump and Bannon ridiculously blamed it on Gillespie being "too late" to embrace their message.

[beefytee]

I haven't followed this too closely.

I'm trying to understand the outrage. Is this only about an incident that happened about 35 years ago when the guy was still a student? Does Northam have a history outside of this that would make him suspect?

[Commando]

That line doesn’t bother me. I took it to mean Democrat’s shouldn’t give the guy cover because he’s one of them. Maybe it was a dig at the GOP for Steve King but I don’t think so, or care that much.

Too many people look for the letter before a politician’s name before deciding if they should be outraged or not.

That's exactly what it meant-- not sure how that was in any way unclear to anybody.

[BlueK]

I haven't followed this too closely.

I'm trying to understand the outrage. Is this only about an incident that happened about 35 years ago when the guy was still a student? Does Northam have a history outside of this that would make him suspect?

I don't think he had a suspect history that anyone knew about.

The sticky political issue for him on this is that he ran hard against his GOP opponent's hardcore anti-immigrant platform, who despite not being that type of Republican in the past had been convinced to go with the full Trump/Steve Bannon approach and make it the main point of his campaign. Northam ran as a unifier. Now the unifying candidate ends up having to answer for this even though it was a long time ago and no one today seems to see him as a racist guy. In the world of social media outrage culture, it's probably harder for a democrat to get through this type of controversy because he made anti-racism part of his campaign.

[Walter Sobchak]

I haven't followed this too closely.

I'm trying to understand the outrage. Is this only about an incident that happened about 35 years ago when the guy was still a student? Does Northam have a history outside of this that would make him suspect?

If that was Northram in the picture, then it also appears he has a beer in his hand.

Why Does Ralph Northam Deserve No Mercy?

Perhaps just a few years ago, Northam’s apology and Saslaw’s defence would have been enough for the governor to be able to move on. We have all done things we’re not proud of in the past, and our most offensive and obnoxious moments do not encapsulate our lives. But given an American elite culture that is regressing to a secular version of old puritanical norms, whereby sinners are branded for life and there are political points to be scored for casting them into hellfire, it is not surprising that Northam was immediately deluged with calls to resign.

[...]

Northam may very well buckle under the weight of the liberal intelligentsia, who have decreed that certain forms of emotional offence make someone irredeemable while at the same time demanding mercy for those who have committed felonies. On the other hand, he has had a long and distinguished career in government which may save him. But this new puritanical movement also threatens people with less power and prestige—ordinary folk who fired off an ill-thought tweet or Facebook status update. We know many lives have been absolutely ruined needlessly, especially among those who don’t have access to political power or crisis communications public relations staff.

I’ve spent a decade working in liberal and left-leaning non-profits and news outlets. During that time, I’ve seen the culture of these organizations grow increasingly judgmental and increasingly interested in the personal destruction of those with whom they disagree. More and more, elite liberalism is embracing modes of thought that I once associated with the political Right: joy in punishment and us-versus-them thinking.

[Uncle Ted]

If that was Northram in the picture, then it also appears he has a beer in his hand.

Why Does Ralph Northam Deserve No Mercy?

BEER!!! OMG, there must have been sexual assault associated with the governorship as well...

UPDATE: Stanford Fellow Hints At Possible [Virginia Lt. Gov] Justin Fairfax Sex Assault

A woman named Vanessa Tyson, who is a fellow at Stanford University, says that a man who allegedly sexually assaulted her at the 2004 Democratic National Convention is now an office-holder about to get a “very big promotion,” according to a screenshot provided by a tipster. A friend of Tyson’s named Adria Scharf, based in Richmond, Virginia, shared the “heartbreaking” message, which Tyson wrote as a private post.

Tyson is a fellow at California-based Stanford University and professor at California-based Scripps College, which means the alleged sexual assaulter must hold office on the East Coast. Tyson says her alleged attacker won statewide office in 2017.
[...]

https://bigleaguepolitics.com/stanfo...x-sex-assault/

Swish!

[BlueK]

If that was Northram in the picture, then it also appears he has a beer in his hand.

Why Does Ralph Northam Deserve No Mercy?

Those are good points. But he did himself no favors by apologizing for it Friday, but then Saturday changing his story by saying he doesn't believe he was really in that picture, although he did put shoe polish on his face once for a dance contest. Seriously? Just go with the first one.

[Uncle Ted]

I don't think he had a suspect history that anyone knew about.

The sticky political issue for him on this is that he ran hard against his GOP opponent's hardcore anti-immigrant platform, who despite not being that type of Republican in the past had been convinced to go with the full Trump/Steve Bannon approach and make it the main point of his campaign. Northam ran as a unifier. Now the unifying candidate ends up having to answer for this even though it was a long time ago and no one today seems to see him as a racist guy. In the world of social media outrage culture, it's probably harder for a democrat to get through this type of controversy because he made anti-racism part of his campaign.

Yes... "Some of the biggest champions for black people in America's past have been white politicians who were racists." https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/03/us/ra...sis/index.html

And look at Drumpf... lowest unemployment for blacks ever.

Maybe white racist politicians aren't so bad... or does that only apply to democrats?

[BlueK]

I don't think you can twist it to the point of saying racism isn't that bad because a few good things in race relations at some point in history were done by politicians that could have had racist beliefs.