The 2020 Presidential Election Primary Thread

[Walter Sobchak]

That stuff was an obvious, desperate stunt on Warren's part. CNN was ready to go right into lockstep; the next hour of CNN's airtime was an exercise in motivated reasoning on her behalf.

CNN’s Debate Performance Was Villainous and Shameful

Over a 24-hour period before, during, and after the debate, CNN bid farewell to what remained of its reputation as a nonpolitical actor via a remarkable stretch of factually dubious reporting, bent commentary, and heavy-handed messaging.

The cycle began with a “bombshell” exposé by CNN reporter MJ Lee. Released on the eve of the debate, Lee reported Warren’s claim that Sanders told her a woman couldn’t win in a December 2018 meeting.

Lee treated the story as fact, using constructions such as, “Sanders responded that he did not think a woman could win,” and “the revelation that Sanders expressed skepticism that Warren could win.”

[...]

Although Lee said she based the story on “the accounts of four people,” they were “two people Warren spoke with directly soon after the encounter,” and “two people familiar with the meeting.” There were only two people in the room, Sanders and Warren. Lee’s “four people” actually relied on just one source, Warren.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same construction that’s driven countless other shaky stories in the past, from WMD reports to Russiagate speculations. An unconfirmable hearsay story is conveyed by one source, who gives the reporter the numbers of two or three other people in the office who’ve heard the same tale from the same place. Voilà: A one-source pony is now factual “according to several people familiar with the matter.”

[...]

After the debate, Trump fans online were in full schadenfreude mode, crowing about how “the left” finally understood that CNN really is fake news. Overall, #CNNisgarbage trended and #fuckCNN wasn’t far behind.

If the network doesn’t see trouble in this, it’s delusional. Voters on both sides of the aisle have changed since the Bernard Shaw days. They pay more attention to media manipulations, and it doesn’t get much more manipulative than punching above the facts to advance transparent political narratives, which is a new and accepted habit in the commercial news landscape.

We’ll find out in Iowa and New Hampshire what Democratic Party voters believe about that Warren-Sanders meeting, but that grimy story pales in comparison to the bigger picture: Episodes like this are why people hate the media.

[SeattleUte]

CNN is indeed fake news, but it has always hated Sanders. This is all like watching the Iran-Iraq war unfold in the eighties.

[Topper]

The Native American lie was a very big one. She'd have never been hired by Harvard much less tenured if not for that. How do I know? Look at their faculty. They basically only hire from Harvard, Yale and maybe Stanford, and the only top of the class and Supreme Court clerks. That was even more true when she was hired. She was the only professor from a public law school. She graduated from Rutgers and I don't think she was ever Law Review.

She's also lied that she was fired when pregnant with her first child because she was expecting.

She lied about not taking big money, as Pete B. exposed in the debate before last.

She lied that she didn't send her children to public school.

Every one of her policy papers is a lie. She's got dozens of them. If you added up Medicare for all, canceling all student loans, and on and on the expense grows preposterously. She lies about the wealth tax; they never work and can't pay for even one of these programs, and she knows it. When she released her policy statement on how she'd fund Medicare for a all and her poll number tanked, she shifted her position.

She lies and she also stands for nothing, believes in nothing, but her own ambition. She's an empty suit.

Thanks for the information.

[Uncle Ted]

The Native American lie was a very big one. She'd have never been hired by Harvard much less tenured if not for that. How do I know? Look at their faculty. They basically only hire from Harvard, Yale and maybe Stanford, and the only top of the class and Supreme Court clerks. That was even more true when she was hired. She was the only professor from a public law school. She graduated from Rutgers and I don't think she was ever Law Review.

She's also lied that she was fired when pregnant with her first child because she was expecting.

She lied about not taking big money, as Pete B. exposed in the debate before last.

She lied that she didn't send her children to public school.

Every one of her policy papers is a lie. She's got dozens of them. If you added up Medicare for all, canceling all student loans, and on and on the expense grows preposterously. She lies about the wealth tax; they never work and can't pay for even one of these programs, and she knows it. When she released her policy statement on how she'd fund Medicare for a all and her poll number tanked, she shifted her position.

She lies and she also stands for nothing, believes in nothing, but her own ambition. She's an empty suit.

She sounds perfect for the office of the president.

I am guessing all that lying happened while she was a republican but now she is a democrat she is a straight arrow. Frank, can we get a ruling on this?

[Uncle Ted]

Bernie supporters to throw a tantrum if someone like Sleepy Joe is the Dems pick...

'People will sit at home': Sanders supporters threaten to boycott vote if Democrats pick a centrist

Bernie Sanders supporters in Iowa are warning that a lack of enthusiasm for Joe Biden could bring the same result the nomination of another milquetoast Democrat did four years ago: electing Donald Trump.

Sanders backers fret the socialist Vermont senator, 78, is being consistently ignored and underestimated by Beltway insiders and a Washington-based press corps — the same bunch, in their view, who failed to predict Trump's 2016 White House win and were sure Hillary Clinton, who beat Sanders for the Democratic nomination, would easily prevail.

They're particularly steamed Sanders, a socialist who has been in Congress since 1991, isn't getting his due though he's proven to have staying power in public opinion and fundraising, even after suffering a heart attack last October. As of last week, he leads a tight four-horse race in Iowa ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Feb. 3, raising a record figure of $34.5 million in the final financial quarter of 2019 for a total of $96 million.

Nominating a career center-left candidate such as Biden, the former vice president and 36-year Delaware senator, would dampen enthusiasm by the liberal populist grassroots, Sanders backers contend.
[...]

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...ate-a-centrist

But Bernie may still has some fight left in him and may fight dirty. He is a communist! Those guys always fight dirty.

[Omaha 680]

Bernie supporters to throw a tantrum if someone like Sleepy Joe is the Dems pick...


https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...ate-a-centrist

But Bernie may still has some fight left in him and may fight dirty. He is a communist! Those guys always fight dirty.

It's amazing that over three years later, the committed wings of both parties continue to learn the wrong lessons from Trump's election. I guess people truly see what they want to see.

[SeattleUte]

She sounds perfect for the office of the president.

I am guessing all that lying happened while she was a republican but now she is a democrat she is a straight arrow. Frank, can we get a ruling on this?

I meant to say she lied when she said she didn't send her children to private school, not public.

The lie about not taking big money has gone on while she was a democrat running for president.

I was, however, thinking that you could accuse her of being cynical as well as lying about being Native American, as a liberal democrat. But I think she was a republican when that lie occurred for the most part. So the cynicism is less remarkable.

[All-American]

Who said the word vote? The "joke" was so dumb I just ignored it.

You’re doing well in this thread. Let’s save our fighting for when we aren’t on the same side.

[All-American]

It's amazing that over three years later, the committed wings of both parties continue to learn the wrong lessons from Trump's election. I guess people truly see what they want to see.

Have they, though?

If the lesson is follow the fringes and you’ll get a terrible president, yes, it would seem they aren’t learning the lesson.

But if the lesson is that the fastest road to power is to harness the boundless stupidity of the American voter, I’d say they are on to something.

[Uncle Ted]

I am guessing Bernie won't get Hillary's endorsement...

Clinton weighs in on Sanders: 'Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done'

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) attacked Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in an upcoming documentary as her former 2016 rival sits among the top Democratic contenders in several early 2020 presidential primary contests.
[...]

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...-work-with-him

Yet another reason the Dems should pick him to be their candidate.

[Walter Sobchak]

I am guessing Bernie won't get Hillary's endorsement...

I'm on the Bernie train now. Bernie/Tulsi 2020! Bernie then croaks after a year; Tulsi becomes president. Best outcome.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I'm on the Bernie train now. Bernie/Tulsi 2020! Bernie then croaks after a year; Tulsi becomes president. Best outcome.

[Pelado]

Yes, a Bernie/Tulsi ticket could very well lead a charge for national legality for weed.

[Uncle Ted]

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[Bo Diddley]

Never gets old!