Daily Archives: February 10, 2020

About a half-hour before Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbards town hall here on Thursday, a guest at the Fireside Inn & Suites in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, ducked into the conference room to inquire about all the signs. When a volunteer filled him in, he sounded skeptical. Shes running forpresident?

Yes, and to hear some of the folks here tell it, she might even win.

Gabbards long-shot campaign has yet to take off nationally, and there are a lot of reasons for thattheres her strange familycult?; her public feud with Hillary Clinton; her failure to qualify for the last three debates; and the obvious fact that Bernie Sanders, who she backed in 2016, is still here and now may be the frontrunner. But Gabbard is holding down about 5 percent of the vote in New Hampshire, according to the Suffolk University tracking poll. Thats potential spoiler territory, with the first-in-the-nation primary just days away.

So wheres all that support coming from? If the crowd at the hotel was any indication, its a whole lot of Republicans and independents who supported President Donald Trump four years ago.

She has a lot of class, but shes sort of the Democratic Trump, said Anthony Stevens of Vermont, who was there with his fiancee, a Democrat who was still undecided. Stevens meant it as a good thingafter all, hed voted for the president four years ago. This time around he was looking for someone different (Trump does not have a lot of class). He liked Gabbards anti-war stance and was drawn, again, to a candidate who had clashed with her own party.

Shes got to feel like Rudolphthey wont let her play in the games, Stevens said, alluding to her exclusion from the most recent debates. (Gabbard has failed to meet the qualifying threshold for Fridays debate at the University of New Hampshire.)

A few seats over sat Bob Gill, a former Marine who is now a horse farmer in New Hampshire. He had also voted for Trump. Gill was still undecided, but liked Gabbard because he thought she might be the kind of voice who could maybe bring people back together. Plus, I like that shes looking to save some money on the wars and everything, he said. But he had no patience for the rest of the field, particularly the septuagenarians topping the polls in some of the Super Tuesday states. Id put them out to pasture, he said.

Sitting in the back, Lisa Buck-Rogers, an Air Force veteran and New Hampshire voter, told me she also supported Trump, but would most likely vote against him this fall. Gabbards criticism of American military actions struck a chord with her. I like how she feels about respecting our veterans and making sure their lives are spent accordingly. She likes some of what Sanders says, too, particularly on health care, but shes Gabby as long as I can.

Ask a voter what they like about, say, Pete Buttigieg or Elizabeth Warren, and you might get a range of answers. But the responses I got about Gabbard were unusually consistentwhat Scott Decker, a supporter from Burlington, Vermont summed up as anti-imperialism. Other candidates oppose foreign intervention to varying degrees, but it dominates Gabbards message, so much so that to these supporters, it supersedes the kinds of policies (like single-payer health care) they might consider a deal-breaker in the eyes of someone else.

Ken Rafferty, an independent from Lebanon, New Hampshire, voted for former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in the Republican primary in 2016, but he didnt vote in the general election that year. Im glad I didnt, because I never would have voted for either one of those guys, he said, referring to Trump and Clinton, though, in retrospect, Im kind of concerned about Trump. Rafferty disagreed with much of what Gabbard was pushing, particularly when it came to health care. But because of her criticism of American military action in the Middle East, and of her own party, Gabbard was the only Democrat hed even consider supporting.

Independents can vote in whichever primary they choose in New Hampshire, and Gabbard is leaning into her support from unaffiliated voters. At the town hall on Thursday, she asked, as she often does, for a show of hands from the Democrats in the room. There were maybe six of them, in a crowd of about 40. Another half dozen were Republicans, the rest independents. (Though unfortunately for Gabbard, many of these independents were from neighboring Vermont.) A few people in the audience applauded at the results.

For these Republicans and independents, it helps that Gabbard sometimes seems to have as much of a beef with the Democratic Party establishment as they do.

Anybody who is banned from the mainstream media and who gets shit from Hillary Clinton is my kind of person, said Decker, a Burlington, Vermont, resident who said who would also support Sanders in the general election if he gets there.

Gabbard knew right away that the DNC was fixed, Buck-Rogers said, referring to Gabbards decision to step down from her post as Democratic National Committee vice-chair in 2016.

Still, while Gabbard is happy to go on Fox News, engage Trump voters, and feud with her party, theres still one line she wont cross. During the Q&A that followed her stump speech, she took a question from a man in a Tulsi T-shirt, named Paul Woodman, who was sitting next to a man wearing a Fuck Trump pin. I voted against Hillary, which means I voted for Trump, Woodman told her. He just might do it again, if Democrats dont nominate the congresswoman standing in front of him. Gabbard was the only Democrat he could stomach, and he was convinced she wasnt going to get a fair shake from the DNC, even if she ended up with enough delegates to compete for the nomination. Have you ever consideredchanging parties or re-affiliating?, he asked.

She smiled, thanked him for the question, and tried to dispel, once more, the idea that theres no longer a place for her in the party. First of all: no

More here:

Trump Voters Have Found a Democrat They Can Get Behind in New Hampshire - Mother Jones

Sanders vulnerabilities, Chait writes,

are enormous and untested. No party nomination, with the possible exception of Barry Goldwater in 1964, has put forth a presidential nominee with the level of downside risk exposure as a Sanders-led ticket would bring.

Chait bolstered his critique of those arguing for full-throated support of the most liberal policies by citing the success of moderates and the defeat of more radical candidates in flipping seats from Republican to Democrat in the 2018 congressional elections.

The recruitment of moderates by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Chait writes,

was a good strategy to win the House. Democrats flipped 40 seats. Tellingly, while progressives managed to nominate several candidates in red districts Kara Eastman in Nebraska, Richard Ojeda in West Virginia, and many others any one of whose victory they would have cited as proof that left-wing candidates can win Trump districts, not a single one of them prevailed in November. Our Revolution went 022, Justice Democrats went 016, and Brand New Congress went 06. The failed technocratic 26-year-old bourgeoisie shills who were doing it wrong somehow accounted for 100 percent of the partys House gains.

Sanderss ascendancy in the nomination fight places the Democratic Party in a double bind. Not only is he potentially a dangerously weak general election candidate but, if an Anybody-But-Bernie movement materializes and successfully defeats him at the convention, Sanders supporters more than backers of any other major candidates are likely to bolt on Election Day and vote for either a third-party candidate or even Trump (as many Sanders supporters did in 2016), or sit out the contest altogether. In 2016, more than 7 million votes were cast for third-party candidates, more than enough to have given the election to Hillary Clinton.

A January 22-23 Emerson College survey asked Democratic primary voters will you vote for the Democratic nominee even if it is not your candidate? 87 percent of Joe Biden supporters said yes, as did 90 percent of those backing Elizabeth Warren and 86 percent of those aligned with Pete Buttigieg. 53 percent of Sanders supporters said yes, 16 percent said no, and 31 percent said they were undecided.

If that were not enough, Sanders loyalists have been primed by their belief that in 2016 the Democratic National Committee backed Hillary Clinton and view the Democratic establishment with deep suspicion as evidenced by the displays of anger and resentment toward party leaders at two Sanders events earlier this month in Iowa.

As Michael Tomasky pointed out in a Daily Beast article on Feb, 4, Iowa Caucuses on the First Day of Whats Poised to be the Ugliest Democratic Primary Fight Ever, if Sanders becomes the clear front-runner and the party establishment tries to block him, the story line will be

that party establishment corporatist hacks are moving heaven and earth to thwart the pure insurgent, the man of the people. The Sanders army will push it, and so will Trump and Fox News and the Republican Party, because they want Sanders as their opponent. Fox is going to run more poor Bernie stories than Jacobin.

There are election analysts, including a number of conservatives, who say that they believe that Sanders would be a credible nominee with a good chance of beating Trump.

In Dont Believe Anyone Who Says Bernie Sanders Cant Win, David French, who used to write for National Review and is now published in The Dispatch, argued on Jan. 30:

Every single factor that caused reluctant Republicans to hold their noses and vote for Trump will apply to reluctant Democrats. Binary choice, theyll hear. Judges, theyll declare. And, unlike 2016, when a host of people on both sides of the aisle thought there was no way that Hillary Clinton would lose to Donald Trump, not a single member of the Democratic coalition will be complacent. Theyll attack the election with fierce moral urgency.

Now imagine, French continued,

not just a theater full of young, hopeful faces. Imagine stadiums. Imagine that enthusiasm and sense of hope magnified by a mainstream media (especially online) that will march happily behind Bernies banner.

French concluded:

We coldhearted analysts and nerds always seem to underestimate the power of victory and hope. If Bernie wins the nomination, he would have triumphed over impossible odds and a small army of scoffers. Just like Trump. If Bernie wins, his core base voters will start to believe that their dreams can be a reality, and theyll stand with him even if he shoots a man on Fifth Avenue.

Along similar lines, Drew Holden, a Republican consultant, wrote Of course Bernie Sanders can win, on Feb. 3 in The Washington Post:

All of these criticisms ignore Sanderss considerable strengths. He commands a passionate, dedicated and active army of volunteers and small-dollar donors. Sanderss message, whether you agree with it or not, is consistent and resonates deeply with millions of Americans.

On the liberal side, Matthew Yglesias took on the assignment of making the best case for Bernie Sanders in Vox: Bernie Sanders can unify Democrats and beat Trump in 2020:

The Vermont senator is unique in combining an authentic, values-driven political philosophy with a surprisingly pragmatic, veteran-legislator approach to getting things done. This pairing makes him the enthusiastic favorite of non-Republicans who dont necessarily love the Democratic Party, without genuinely threatening whats important to partisan Democrats.

Toward the end of his essay, however, Yglesias sounds more skeptical. At the end of the day, Sanderss record is not nearly as scary as many establishment Democrats fear. His revolution rhetoric doesnt make sense to me, but hes been an effective mayor and legislator for a long time, Yglesias writes, adding Some of his big ideas are not so hot on the merits, but its not worth worrying about them because the political revolution is so unrealistic.

Most political scientists I contacted this week saw greater disadvantages for the Democratic Party in a Sanders nomination than in the possible selection of other leading candidates.

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If Bernie Wins, Where Will He Take the Democratic Party? - The New York Times

The Democratic Party wont have one lawmaker giving a response to President Trumps State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

It will have four.

The Democrats have anointed two up-and-comers, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar, to deliver their official televised rebuttals in English and Spanish respectively.

Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, speaking on behalf of the progressive Working Families Party (WFP), and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders are giving their own rebuttals.

Aside from Sanders, every Democrat speaking is a woman in her first term. Trump is expected to preview his priorities for the 2020 general election in his speech. Theyre tasked with presenting another vision to voters.

Heres how you can watch their responses:

Whitmer was chosen to deliver the Democratic Partys official response to Trumps address, which will air on all major broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS and on cable news networks after the State of the Union.

Michigan, which Trump won by fewer than 11,000 votes in 2016 in defiance of expectations, will be critical for 2020 Democrats. Whitmer, who won the governorship in 2018 by an 11-point margin, is in a good position to make the case for why her state should turn blue in 2020. (For more on Whitmer, check out this brief explainer from Voxs Dylan Scott.)

Traditionally, the party delivering the rebuttal chooses one of its rising stars to showcase its vision for the future, and this year is no exception. Its the second year in a row that Democrats have tapped a Washington outsider to give the rebuttal last year, they chose former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, the first black woman to be a major partys nominee for governor, who narrowly lost to Republican Brian Kemp in 2018 in the solidly red state.

Escobar, one the first Latinas to represent Texas in Congress, is giving the Democrats official Spanish-language rebuttal from a community center in El Paso. Her address will air after the official Democratic rebuttal.

Escobar won the seat previously held by former Democratic presidential candidate Beto ORourke in 2018. She has been a vocal critic of Trumps immigration rhetoric and policies sending asylum seekers back to Mexico, arguing that they have stoked the kind of hate that led to last years shooting in El Paso, in which 22 people died.

The Spanish-language rebuttal, which has been delivered by both Democrats and Republicans over the years, is a relatively new tradition that started in 2011 in an effort to reach out to the 37 million Latinos living in the US who speak Spanish at home. While Spanish is the USs most common non-English language, the share of Latinos who speak Spanish is actually decreasing, in part because many Latinos living in the US are US-born.

Latino outreach will be important for 2020 Democrats in states like Florida, which Trump won by a razor-thin margin in 2016 and where Latinos make up nearly a quarter of the population.

For the third year in a row, Sanders will deliver his own rebuttal to the State of the Union address. It will be live-streamed on his presidential campaign website at 10:30 pm Eastern from the Currier Museum of Art Auditorium in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he is campaigning ahead of the February 11 primary.

Sanders won the New Hampshire primary in 2016, and his ability to replicate that win in 2020 will be closely scrutinized. Sanderss rebuttal could be an opportunity to appeal to voters after he couldnt claim success in the Iowa caucuses. Candidates who perform well in Iowa have historically gotten a big boost in the polls, but since the results of this years caucuses remain inconclusive, Sanders might be able to grab some attention from his rebuttal instead.

In his response to Trumps State of the Union address last year, Sanders slammed the presidents characterization of Americas economy as the hottest ... of anywhere in the world, arguing that income inequality has obscured the financial struggles of the middle class.

Ayanna Pressley, one of four first-term members of Congress sometimes referred to as the Squad, will deliver a response on behalf of the left-wing, Democrat-aligned Working Families Party right after the official Democratic rebuttals. It will be streamed live on the partys Facebook page.

Pressley announced Tuesday that she is boycotting the State of the Union, along with other progressive members of Congress:

Both Pressley and WFP which prioritizes universal health care, family leave, paid sick leave, and a living wage have endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren to be the Democratic nominee, and Pressley has hit the campaign trail on her behalf. WFPs decision to back Warren surprised Sanderss supporters, who considered it a snub given that the party had endorsed the Vermont senator in 2016.

WFP also backed Pressley in her run for Congress. She has so far pushed back against abortion bans and filed an impeachment resolution against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Shes also introduced a House resolution that calls for abolishing cash bail and the death penalty, as well as other criminal justice reforms.

See the rest here:

These 4 politicians will give a Democratic response to the State of the Union - Vox.com

This will be the Trump campaign agenda throughout 2020 if Mr. Biden gets the Democratic nomination not to portray himself as ethical, but to get voters to say, Well, both of them have scandals, so whatever. And some political journalists will feel compelled to acknowledge the accusations against the Bidens. Theyll offer caveats, of course, as one news story from 2019 did, saying, Theres no evidence that Hunter or his father acted improperly or violated any laws. But the arrangement, government ethics experts say, raises concerns. The raises concerns part is the key it will be just enough to plant seeds of doubt in voters minds about the Democrats ethical commitments.

But the Trump approach is nothing if not flexible. Hed use it against any Democratic nominee. If Mr. Sanders is nominated, Mr. Trump might pull from many things in the senators long political history. For one, Mr. Sanders honeymooned in the U.S.S.R. in 1988. It wouldnt take too much effort for Mr. Trump to suggest that Mr. Sanders did something untoward or un-American during that 10-day trip, and he has friends in high places in the Russian government who could help in this regard.

If its Pete Buttigieg, hell accuse the former mayor of being racist through his leadership in South Bend, Ind., or of being corrupt through his consulting work with McKinsey. If its Elizabeth Warren, hell accuse her of racism, of fraudulently using ancestry claims to get into schools and of taking millions of dollars in shady legal consulting fees.

My argument here is not that Democrats should focus on picking a clean nominee who cant be smeared with scandal. The leading Democrats are all pretty clean. Rather, Im saying that Mr. Trump and his Republican allies will attempt to make the nominee look dirty, legitimately or not, no matter who it is. Thats his one go-to campaign tactic.

Now, its not obvious that this tactic works all that well. According to John Sides, Michael Tessler and Lynn Vavrecks study of the 2016 election, Identity Crisis, media coverage of the general election was a net negative for Mr. Trump. Even while tearing down Mrs. Clintons reputation, he was still at a disadvantage.

On the other hand, the relentless focus on the email scandal most likely pressured James Comey, the F.B.I. director at the time, to announce the agency would review new material in the investigation of Mrs. Clinton in late October of 2016, and that may well have influenced the elections outcome.

But once Mr. Trump starts going after the Democratic nominee this way, Democrats shouldnt kick themselves for not picking a cleaner champion. No matter who it is, Mr. Trump will find a scandal.

Read the rest here:

Trump Will Slime His Democratic Opponent, No Matter Who It Is - The New York Times

Veterans of the Obama administration say that the candidates have a lot of work to do to convince voters even those who reject Mr. Trumps worldview to focus on their approaches to building alliances, using force and competing with an aggressive Russia and a rising China.

Every presidential campaign Ive ever been a part of, theres a commander in chief ad, Wendy Sherman, who conducted the day-to-day negotiations with Iran for the 2015 nuclear agreement, told an audience at the University of New Hampshire last week. Everybody says at least once, you know, You can rely on me at 3 in the morning. But the issues are rarely central except when were in crisis.

She noted that only a month ago, with the targeted killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the Iranian military leader, we were on the brink of war.

And the Democrats, it turns out, even disagree on whether that killing was legal, or wise.

Perhaps the most striking takeaway from the survey was that the candidates have sharply different views on what circumstances justify the use of military force, aside from responding to an attack on the United States or a treaty ally.

Their disagreements were particularly clear on whether they would consider using force to pre-empt an Iranian or North Korean nuclear or missile test in other words, to prevent a launch that was meant to prove a countrys capability, but not to attack American territory, troops or interests. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama each faced that decision and decided not to strike.

Most of the candidates campaigning as moderates said they would consider it: Mr. Biden, Mr. Bloomberg, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado and former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. Interestingly, one of the most liberal candidates, Mr. Sanders, said the same.

Link:

Democratic Candidates Reject Trumps Foreign Policy, but Dont Agree on Theirs - The New York Times

Although Im a pessimist by nature, deep down I think I always believed that the Republic would survive Donald Trump.

The majority of Americans have never accepted him, and his ascendancy fueled a nationwide civic awakening, starting with the Womens March and proceeding through airport protests, health care town halls and finally the midterms. Its been devastating to see how quickly so many American institutions have been corrupted the Department of Justice turned into an engine of Trumps paranoid vendettas, the State Department purged of nonpartisan professionals, evidence of Trumps Ukraine extortion scheme buried by his Senate lackeys. Its outrageous that the countrys being forced to endure four full years of lawless kakistocracy, but surely, I thought, the majority would put an end to it in the next election.

But now that election is approaching, and the debacle of the Iowa caucuses only highlights how the Democratic Party is threatening to fracture. In its aftermath, were left with a national race led by two very old and extraordinarily risky general election candidates whose weaknesses were underscored by Iowas results, muddled as they were.

Bernie Sanderss supporters have argued that he can expand the electorate to make up for the suburban moderates hes likely to lose, moderates who were, incidentally, responsible for many of the gains Democrats made in 2018. But while Sanders claimed a popular vote victory in Iowa, there was no surge in voter turnout since the last election, and an NBC News entrance poll showed that the number of first-time caucusers actually went down.

Sanders still has the advantage of energy and ardor; young people are overwhelmingly on his side, and his campaign will be carried along by the same sort of ebullient cultural ferment as Barack Obamas. (When the pop megastar Ariana Grande met Sanders in November, she wrote on Twitter, I will never smile this hard again.) I try to talk myself into believing that his passionate base, combined with a polarized electorate, will be enough. Still, with the survival of American democracy at stake, it seems like a wild gamble for Democrats to turn the fight against Trump into a referendum on Democratic socialism at a time when Americans personal economic satisfaction is at a record high.

Heres the place for disclosure: My husband is consulting for Elizabeth Warren, the candidate I believe in more than any other. But I recognize that Warren has electability challenges of her own, and the truth is Id be fine with any nominee who could generate enthusiasm without scaring suburbanites, if I could only see who that was.

Im not the only one feeling panicked. The recent rush of mayoral endorsements for Michael Bloomberg is partly just a function of the money hes poured into cities through his philanthropic work, but it also indicates a worrying lack of confidence in the existing field.

Michael Tubbs, the innovative mayor of Stockton, Calif., who pioneered a universal basic income experiment in his struggling city, became a national co-chair of Bloombergs campaign in December. Every candidate at this stage of the primary has real serious questions about how theyll bring the party together after they become the nominee, he told me.

How did it come to this? Mostly, I blame Joe Biden and those in the Democratic establishment who pushed his campaign. Its been obvious for some time now that Biden is not nearly as vigorous as he once was. While hes always been gaffe-prone, his speech has grown tentative and meandering in a way that engenders sympathy but also profound anxiety. In Iowa, where voters had a chance to see him up close, the most recent results show him with a distant fourth-place finish. Even if he somehow limps to the nomination, the general election will be a grim slog, like racing on a wounded horse.

Yet with his unmatched biography and name recognition, he deprived younger center-left candidates like Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Michael Bennet of oxygen even as he failed to consolidate centrists himself. Thats left the erstwhile novelty candidate Pete Buttigieg as Bidens strongest competitor for moderate votes, but while hes shooting up the polls in New Hampshire, he has virtually no support among voters of color.

According to the polling experts at FiveThirtyEight, Sanders now has a 1 in 2 chance of winning the majority of delegates in the Democratic race. The next most likely scenario, with 1 in 4 odds, is that no one does, which would spell a contested convention.

Should that happen, there will be forces in the Democratic Party that try to block Sanders. (A few members of the Democratic National Committee have already discussed rule changes meant to thwart him, though so far its just been marginal chatter.) But if Sanders emerges from the primaries with a plurality of votes, denying him the nomination would be not just unfair but potentially suicidal. I worry about Sanderss chances against Trump, but a candidate foisted on the party over the furious remonstrances of a disempowered base would almost certainly fare worse, while permanently alienating the young people who should be the Democratic Partys future.

The way things are going, the fate of American democracy could soon be Bernie or bust. I envy those who find that exhilarating rather than terrifying.

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The Harrowing Chaos of the Democratic Primary - The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re How Buttigieg Became Surprise of the Caucuses (front page, Feb. 8):

A political party that has serious problems with addressing people in small towns and Middle America is behaving foolishly. Pete Buttigieg can and should argue that he has faced the issues troubling a great swath of this country. The other candidates should not play down the experience he has had being the mayor of a small Midwest city. That is where the problems are most acute: unemployment, opioids, suicides, struggling farmers and systemic racism.

Listen to Mr. Buttigieg. At least dont make fun of his work with Americans who are largely forgotten. He is not part of the coastal elite nor a Washington insider. Do not make fun of that experience.

William ElwellRochester, N.Y.

To the Editor:

I read The Donald Trump Theory of Bernie Sanders, by Frank Bruni (column, Feb. 9), and wondered how we could avoid a replay of Jeremy Corbyns whopping defeat by Boris Johnson in Britain. Imagine if starting now, the Bernie Bros changed the script and pledged to make 2020 a different election than 2016 by committing to put all their force behind whichever candidate fairly wins the nomination.

And heres a radical idea! Imagine if Bernie wins the nomination and leads his troops in coming forward to acknowledge the mistakes they made in villainizing Hillary Clinton. Imagine if Bernie then transformed our fractured party into one inclusive big tent? A tent full of passionate voters who could decisively beat President Trump.

Jill DearmanBrooklyn

To the Editor:

Re The Harrowing Chaos of the Democratic Primary (column, Feb. 8):

Michelle Goldberg says she envies those who are exhilarated, rather than terrified, that the fate of American democracy could soon be Bernie or bust. I share her sense of terror. I do not think the vast majority of voters will embrace Bernie. I believe that this is President Trumps dream scenario. We cant afford the risk.

But there is one candidate who is gaining traction and could well be a viable alternative: Amy Klobuchar. She had a stellar debate performance Friday night. She has been endorsed by this newspaper (with Elizabeth Warren), as well as by three large daily New Hampshire newspapers. This isnt a Buttigieg-Sanders fight. Ms. Klobuchar is a serious contender, and its time she received the attention she deserves.

Anne L. FingerTeaneck, N.J.

To the Editor:

Michelle Goldberg blames Joe Biden for the chaos? President Trump clearly went after Mr. Biden because he knows the former vice president is the candidate best positioned to beat him. The question is, why do Democrats and the liberal media also attack him, at best damning him with faint praise?

We need to choose a candidate who cant be immediately dismissed by many as a socialist, or inexperienced, or buying himself an election, or perhaps even, I am very sorry to say in 2020, a woman. That candidate, who has, as Ms. Goldberg concedes, an unmatched biography and name recognition, is Joe Biden.

Cut the chaos, fellow Democrats, or well have no one to blame but ourselves for Mr. Trump and the Republicans continuing destruction of our Constitution and our democracy.

Ann Dorton BellMalvern, Pa.

To the Editor:

Re Buttigieg, Not Sanders, Emerges as a Problem for Warrens Candidacy (news article, Feb. 8):

Your article on Elizabeth Warrens problem with former Mayor Pete Buttigieg ignores her biggest problem national skepticism over her wealth tax proposal. But it is easily solved: Rename it the patriot tax.

Jonathan GerardDurham, N.C.

To the Editor:

The Iowa Democratic caucuses appear to have been designed to imitate the Caucus-race from Alices Adventures in Wonderland. The Caucus-race was designed by the Dodo: Everyone started when they wanted to, and left off when they liked. It was not easy to see when the race was over, until the Dodo shouted that it was. When asked who had won, the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, but eventually replied, Everybody has won, and all must have prizes.

For the sake of democracy and the Democratic Party, the Iowa caucuses should be allowed to suffer the same fate as befell the actual dodo bird.

John Gordon RoyNew Fairfield, Conn.

Read this article:

As Democrats Try to Move On From the Caucus Chaos - The New York Times

Agroup of senators, including Sen. Sherrod BrownSherrod Campbell BrownMcConnell displays mastery of Senate with impeachment victory End of impeachment trial to leave deep scars in Senate Trump bashes 'Medicare for All' in swipe at Sanders MORE (D-Ohio) and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersSanders campaign to request partial Iowa recanvass Trump under pressure to renew last nuke treaty with Russia Buttigieg takes delegate lead in Iowa after updated results released MORE (I-Vt.),pressed Amazon in a letter on Mondayover the higher-than-industry-average injury rates in its U.S. warehouses, pushing the company to take "concrete actions" to ensure its facilities are as safe as possible.

Citing recent reports from aunion-backed advocacy groupand the Center For Investigative Reporting, the senators accused Amazon of placing profit over worker safety. The letter emerges amid reignited scrutiny ofhow Amazon treatsits hundreds of thousands of employees, some of whom havegone public with personal anecdotes that blame Amazon for encouraging them to work until they injured themselves.

"Amazons dismal safety record indicates a greater concern for profits than for your own workers safety and health,Sanders, Brown and Sen. Tammy BaldwinTammy Suzanne BaldwinWhat the impeachment vote looked like from inside the chamber Dairy industry doesn't own the word 'milk' Senators ask FDA to crack down on non-dairy milks, cheeses MORE (D-Wis.) wrote.We urge you to overhaul this profit-at-all costs culture at your company and take the immediate steps identified in this letter to ensure Amazons managers treat your workers fairly and do not require them to risk their own health and safety in the course of doing their jobs."

The Center for InvestigativeReporting reported that the rate of "serious" injuries for 23 of Amazon's fulfillment centers across the U.S. was more than double the national average for warehouse employees.

Amazon says some of the allegations are based on faulty math. The company says it "over-reports" employee injuries, meaning its injury rates lookhigher than averageonly becausemany other companies donot report the bulk of injuries they come across. Amazon reports any injury that can't be addressed by first aid, thetech behemothsaid on Monday.

And it noted that around 70 percent of all injuries reported are strains, pulled muscles, stiffness or soreness.

Twelve Democratic senators, including 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenTrump under pressure to renew last nuke treaty with Russia In New Hampshire, high anxiety about beating Trump Moderates battle for edge in crowded lane ahead of New Hampshire MORE (D-Mass.), signed on to the letter alongside Sanders, Brown and Baldwin.

"We urge you to take immediate steps to protect your employees from workplace injuries. Your employees lives and well-being depend upon your swift action," the senators wrote.

They laid out a set of proposalsaround how Amazon should tackle the rising number of workplace injuries,some of which Amazon already does and some that would mark a significant change for the company.

For example, the senators suggested that Amazon "reduce workers quotas and speed requirements" and ensure its on-site medicalrepresentatives are licensed professionals.

The senators also called called for a "comprehensive ergonomic evaluation of all warehouse tasks." The company said it has already employed many ergonomic experts to observe and update how workers are advised to move on the job.

The senators asked for a written response by Feb. 21.

Labor activists and lawmakers have long criticized Amazon over its bruising working conditions, pointing to reports that found Amazon warehouse workers weretreated like robots, were forced tourinate in bottlesin order to save time andlived in fearof harsh treatment by managers. Multiple Amazon workers have spoken up on the issue,with some groups of employeespushingto unionize. Amazon has disputed those charges.

Amazon has insisted it is investing enormous sums of money and manpower into ensuring its warehouses are safe for all of its workers.

Updated 8:49 P.M.

Originally posted here:

Democratic senators press Amazon over injury rates | TheHill - The Hill

Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville sounded the alarm bells on Tuesday night over what he described as the Democratic Party turning into an ideological cult, specifically singling out would-be presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

In the wake of Monday nights chaotic Iowa Democratic caucus that featured delayed vote results due to a faulty app, Carville appeared on MSNBC to warn that regardless of the final tallies, the Dems appear to be in big trouble.

The polling averages have not been very good the last 10 days, he sighed. And Ive seen some pretty good polls that show enthusiasm among Democrats is not as high as we would like it. So theres something as people are watching this process that is concerning.

Saying the party needs to wake up and make sure that we talk about things that are relevant to people, the former Clinton adviser grumbled that he is not very impressed with the Democratic field and suggested DNC chair Tom Perez should be canned.

After complaining that the campaigns have to be more relevant, Carvillewho is backing longshot presidential hopeful Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) was asked if he would get behind Sanders if the progressive senator ended up getting the nomination.

Well, Ill get behind him. I have no choice, an unenthused Carville replied. But look at the British Labour Party. Were like talking about people voting from jail cells. Were talking about not having a border. I mean, come on, people.

He continued to rail against Sanders policy positions, describing the independent Vermont lawmaker as being for open borders and stressing that he doesnt want the Democratic Party of the United States to be the Labour Party of the United Kingdom, something he's told The Daily Beast before.

Carville would go on to exclaim that Democrats need to be more concerned about taking power back in Washington, repeatedly stating that only 18 percent of the population controls 52 Senate seats.

It matters who the candidate is, it matters what a party chooses to talk about! Carville shouted. Im 75 years old. Why am I here doing this? Because I am scared to death, thats why! Lets get relevant here, people, for sure.

I just love you, former Democratic senator and current MSNBC contributor Claire McCaskill cooed in response.

Carville, meanwhile, went on to make his case that the party was leaning towards a centrist candidate over a liberal one, wondering out loud: Do we want to be an ideological cult? Or do we want to have a majoritarian instinct to have the majority party?

You and I know that 18 percent of the country elects 52 senators, he continued, addressing McCaskill. The urban core is not gonna get it done. What we need is power! Do you understand? Thats what this is about.

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James Carville Rages Over State of Dem Party: 'I'm Scared to Death!' - The Daily Beast

[applause] Good evening. Im honored to be here and grateful that youre tuning in. Im Gretchen Whitmer, the 49th governor of the great state of Michigan. Tonight, I am at my daughter Sherry and Sydneys public school, East Lansing High School. Were here today with families and parents, teachers, and, most importantly, students. I want to thank you all for coming. But tonight, Im going to talk to those of you who are watching at home. Id need a lot more than 10 minutes to respond to what the president just said. So instead of talking about what he is saying, Im going to highlight what Democrats are doing. After all, you can listen to what someone says, but to know the truth, watch what they do. Michiganders are no different from Americans everywhere. We love our families and want a good life today and a better life tomorrow for our kids. We work hard, and we expect our government to work hard for us as well. We have grit and value loyalty, and we still root for the Detroit Lions. We and all Americans might be weary of todays politics, but we must stay engaged. Our country, our democracy, our future demand it. Were capable of great things when we work together. We cannot forget that despite the dishonesty and division of the last few years and that we heard tonight from the president of the United States, together, we have boundless potential. And young Americans are proving that every day by taking action. Thats what I want to focus on tonight. Monty Scott is 13 years old and lives in Muskegon Heights, Mich. Montys street was covered in potholes. They were ankle-deep, and he got tired of waiting for them to get fixed. So he grabbed a shovel and a bucket of dirt and filled them in himself. During my campaign, people told me to fix the damn roads because blown tires and broken windshields are downright dangerous, and car repairs take money from rent, child care, or groceries. And we, the Democrats, are doing something about it. In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker passed a multibillion-dollar plan to rebuild their roads and bridges. Gov. Phil Murphy is replacing lead pipes in New Jersey. All across the country, Democratic leaders are rebuilding bridges, fixing roads, expanding broadband, and cleaning up drinking water. Everyone in this country benefits when we invest in infrastructure. Congressional Democrats have presented proposals to keep us moving forward, but President Trump and the Republicans in the Senate are blocking the path. When it comes to infrastructure, Monty has tried to do more with a shovel and a pile of dirt than the Republicans in D.C. have with the Oval Office and the U.S. Senate. Bullying people on Twitter doesnt fix bridges. It burns them. Our energy should be used to solve problems. And its true for health care, too. For me, for so many Americans, health care is personal, not political. When I was 30, I became a member of the sandwich generation. That means I was sandwiched between two generations of my own family for whom I was the primary caregiver. I was holding down a new job, caring for my newborn daughter, as well as my mom at the end of her brain cancer battle. I was up all night with a baby, and during the day, I had to fight my moms insurance company when they wrongly denied her coverage for chemotherapy. It was hard. It exposed the harsh realities of our workplaces, our health care system, and our child care system. And it changed me. I lost patience for people who are just talk and no action. So as a state senator, I worked with a Republican governor and legislature to expand health care coverage to more than 680,000 Michiganders under the Affordable Care Act. Today, Democrats from Maine to Montana are expanding coverage and lowering costs. In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly is working across the aisle to bring Medicaid coverage to tens of thousands. In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham enshrined A.C.A. protections into law. Every Democrat running for president has a plan to expand health care for all Americans. Every one of them has supported the Affordable Care Act with coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. They may have different plans, but the goal is the same. President Trump, sadly, has a different plan. Hes asking the courts to rip those lifesaving protections away. Its pretty simple. Democrats are trying to make your health care better. Republicans in Washington are trying to take it away. Think about kids like 17-year-old Blake Carroll from Idaho, who organized a fund-raiser to pay for his moms colon cancer treatment, or 19-year-old Ebony Meyers from Utah, who sells art to help pay for her own rare genetic disorder treatment. No one should have to crowdsource their health care, not in America. But the reality is, not everyone in America has a job with health care and benefits. In fact, many have jobs that dont even pay enough to cover their monthly expenses. It doesnt matter what the president says about the stock market. What matters is that millions of people struggle to get by or dont have enough money at the end of the month after paying for transportation, student loans, or prescription drugs. American workers are hurting in my own state, our neighbors in Wisconsin, and Ohio, Pennsylvania, and all over the country. Wages have stagnated, while C.E.O. pay has skyrocketed. So when the president says the economy is strong, my question is, strong for whom? Strong for the wealthy, who are reaping rewards from tax cuts they dont need? The American economy needs to be a different kind of strong strong for the science teacher spending her own money to buy supplies for her classroom. Strong for the single mom picking up extra hours so she can afford her daughters soccer cleats. Strong for the small business owner who has to make payroll at the end of the month. Michigan invented the middle class, so we know if the economy doesnt work for working people, it just doesnt work. Who fights for working, hard-working Americans? Democrats do. In the U.S. House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats passed a landmark bill on equal pay, another bill to give 30 million Americans a raise by increasing the minimum wage, and groundbreaking legislation to finally give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices for Americas seniors and families. Those three bills, and more than 275 other bipartisan bills, are just gathering dust on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells desk. Senator McConnell, America needs you to move those bills. Meanwhile, Democrats across the country are getting things done. Pennsylvanias Gov. Tom Wolf is expanding the right to overtime pay. Michigan is, too. Because if youre on the clock, you deserve to get paid. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper are working to give hard-working teachers a raise. And speaking of the classroom, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers unilaterally increased school funding by $65 million last year, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has enacted free, all-day kindergarten. In 29 states, weve helped pass minimum wage hikes into law which will lift people out of poverty and improve lives for families. Thats strength. Thats action. Democracy takes action, and thats why Im so inspired by young people. They respond to mass shootings, demanding policies that make schools safer. They react to a world thats literally on fire with fire in their bellies to push leaders to finally take action on climate change. They take on a road filled with potholes with a shovel and some dirt. Its what gives me great confidence in our future, and its why sometimes it feels like theyre the adults in the room. But it shouldnt have to be that way. Its not their mess to clean up. Its ours. The choices we make today create their reality tomorrow. Young people, Im talking to you, and your parents and grandparents. Democrats want safe schools. We want everyone to have a path to a good life, whether its through a union apprenticeship, a community college a four-year university, without drowning in debt. We want your water to be clean. We want you to love who you love and to live authentically as your true selves. And we want women to have autonomy over our bodies. We want our country welcoming and everyones vote counted. 2020 is a big year. Its the year my daughter Sherry will graduate from high school. Its also the year shell cast her first ballot, along with millions of young Americans. The two things are connected, because walking across a graduation stage is as important as walking into the voting booth for the first time. Her future, all our kids futures, will be determined not just by their dreams, but by our actions. As we witness the impeachment process in Washington, there are some things each of us, no matter our party, should demand. The truth matters, facts matter, and no one should be above the law. Its not what those senators say. Tomorrow, its about what they do that matters. Remember, listen to what people say, but watch what they do. Its time for action. Generations of Americans are counting on us. Lets not let them down. Thank you for listening. God bless America. Good night. [applause] [cheers]

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Democrats Counter Trump on Health Care and Condemn His Conduct - The New York Times