Democratic Party Presidential Candidates for 2020

[Cristalle]

To be honest, it seemed like a format for "lets make sure that the progressives/moderates don't show up for whoever we choose after the primary is done". I also don't care that much what people did fifty years ago compared to what they've done lately. Coming to a debate with a boatload of "gotchas" from the past versus "here is my unique plan to do xyz" seemed like a cheap way to score points without studying for the test.

My other big issue is when they dismiss tough questions about how to pay for stuff with the "Republican talking points". Trump was /ALREADY/ running commercials last night asking those questions. Yeah, they /are/ Republican talking points. To me, that makes it more important they have a ready answer for them. Elisabeth Warren has plans that are supposed to pay for these things. That needs to be the answer, not "don't bring that up". If it looks like there's a bunch of plans to spend money and no way to get that money, or "we're going to tax you more but you'll save money elsewhere" there is very little chance the Dems can win anywhere.

How the question is framed matters. CNN, etc. keep framing the conversation from the right, and we never get beyond having to defend against lies.

 

[Eunoli]

How the question is framed matters. CNN, etc. keep framing the conversation from the right, and we never get beyond having to defend against lies.

This entire election is going to be defending against lies and attempting to be heard over the scandal of the day. If we don't have a better strategy than "I'm not engaging", we might as well pack it in now.

 

[Cristalle]

This entire election is going to be defending against lies and attempting to be heard over the scandal of the day. If we don't have a better strategy than "I'm not engaging", we might as well pack it in now.

I certainly expect a ton of lies, but we will never educate the public more thoroughly if we keep up with that framing, always having to defend against lies.

 

[Han Held]

W.R.T. disinformation ...I don't hear anyone proposing serious plans for education. Unless and until we do, none of this means a fuck of a lot because too many people will be manipulated by whatever they see on facebook.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

On a side note: Is that our Ann O'Toole, from the SLU days? It's been a long time since I last heard from her.

 

[Romana]

This entire election is going to be defending against lies and attempting to be heard over the scandal of the day. If we don't have a better strategy than "I'm not engaging", we might as well pack it in now.

Also, if it's Warren, ignoring "Pocahontas"--or using it against him.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Stop It With Your Marianne Williamson Stanning, She Is Bad Bad Bad Bad Bad

It's time to have a little chit chat about Marianne Williamson, aka "Chakra Khan," the mid-Atlantic accented Texas native, who once worked as a singer in some cocktail lounge in 1930s Atlantic City, or 1980s Los Angeles. Marianne Williamson is no longer merely the "Queen of the Moon People" after Tuesday night's debate, she is now queen of the post-debate Google search too. Know what else she's queen of? She is also the "Queen of people who like to fall for shit because someone said something they found super meaningful but it wasn't." This is clearly very stupid, and I don't like it. Guess who DOES like it?

This guy.

See what I mean by stupid? If you ended Tuesday's debate "Ready for Marianne," you just hit Don Jr. level dumb. This. Is. How. We. Got. Trump. Stop playing.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

Yeah, I really get annoyed when people lump all Pagans in the same pile. You have woo-woo people like Williamson then you have people (myself among them) who are atheists but enjoy the company. My entire time at my Circle was like one long joke and everyone there knew it.

And then there are those of us in the middle who understand that science is not invalid just because we believe in gods too; like most sane people in other religions. For the record, I don't know much about her, but Williamson does sound to be one of those people I'd put in a garden with very high walls. Not sure she's an active volcano punt-ee but her views on things that I have been dealing with for 35 or so years now just piss me off to no end.

 

[Kara Spengler]

And then there are those of us in the middle who understand that science is not invalid just because we believe in gods too; like most sane people in other religions. For the record, I don't know much about her, but Williamson does sound to be one of those people I'd put in a garden with very high walls. Not sure she's an active volcano punt-ee but her views on things that I have been dealing with for 35 or so years now just piss me off to no end.

Exactly. She might be entertaining but that is it .... I would be VERY scared of anyone that took her seriously! Could you just imagine her in charge of the country's health policy?

 

[Cristalle]

This is pretty amazing.

NYT map visualization.

 

[Aeon Jiminy]

The Political Compass

I found this graph of US Presidential Candidates 2020 interesting. There is also a place on the upper left where you can take the test, yourself, to see where you fall in relation to the candidates.

 

[Clara D.]

My results:

ETA: I doubt I'm *that* Libertarian, I'm probably closer the the middle on the up/down scale. Personal freedom for all, but Corporations can't be trusted as far as you could throw one. And the last time I took one of these tests I was actually slightly Authoritarian because of that.

 

[Romana]

I took the test, and it landed me way over in the lower left corner.
I don't consider it accurate, however, because there were no choices for "none of the above" or "wat?", which would've been my preferred answers for a number of questions.
Pretty much where Clara D. is, but a bit lower down for some reason.

 

[Clara D.]

I took the test, and it landed me way over in the lower left corner.
I don't consider it accurate, however, because there were no choices for "none of the above" or "wat?", which would've been my preferred answers for a number of questions.

I would have been more "ummm...depends" on several questions but there was no middle option.

 

[Romana]

I would have been more "ummm...depends" on several questions but there was no middle option.

Yeah, that too.

 

[Free]

The Political Compass

I found this graph of US Presidential Candidates 2020 interesting. There is also a place on the upper left where you can take the test, yourself, to see where you fall in relation to the candidates.

Once again, these graphs are effectively bullshit. For one, do you think the candidates themselves provided the responses? They were "estimated," and are based on no clear methodology.

The Political Compass Test | Daniel J. Mitchell

 

[Cristalle]

Framing matters. He calls Jake Tapper Tapp Jaker to avoid demonetization and copyright strikes. It's silly, but YouTube is amping up the censorship.

 

[Clara D.]

This one was more accurate as far as to my actual position: https://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz

I did all the epic amount of "more questions," and as I said above -- I'm pretty much dead center of authoritarian/libertarian scale while fairly far to the left.

I don't know how accurate it is for candidates.

Buttigeg and I don't seem to agree as much as I do with Sanders/Gabbard/Harris/Warren/O'Rourke (which were all in the 90+ range)

 

[Jolene Benoir]

ETA: I doubt I'm *that* Libertarian, I'm probably closer the the middle on the up/down scale. Personal freedom for all, but Corporations can't be trusted as far as you could throw one. And the last time I took one of these tests I was actually slightly Authoritarian because of that.

My Results:

Yep, here's mine. In these tests I always end up in the lower left quadrant (as do many of us here with the occasionl differences) with some movement on the vertical scale depending on the nature of the questions. This particular test had some more volatile questions than usual and as already has been stated has no middle option or more nuanced answers.

 

[Brenda Archer]

I always land in the lower left hand quadrant on these tests.