I mentioned this a few times: for several months, I was debating who to vote for in my state’s primary next year, and I was trying to decide between Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren. I like them both so much, but over the last month, I decided that I would give my vote to Senator Harris. But now I can’t. Kamala Harris has dropped out of the presidential race, two months exactly before the Iowa caucus. I knew that Senator Harris’s poll numbers were lower than they should have been, and I had heard the stories about internal drama within her campaign. But I’m honestly a bit shocked that she pulled out. I still believed that people were sleeping on Kamala, and that by Super Tuesday (March 3rd), Kamala would be a significant contender. I was wrong.
So what went wrong? A lot of the talk over the past few weeks has been about some bad decision-making inside the campaign, like not putting enough time and resources in Iowa and New Hampshire (perhaps she was betting on South Carolina and Super Tuesday, like me). Plus, she had significant fundraising woes, and she didn’t have enough cash on hand for an ad buy in Iowa in the final months. There are a lot of commentators (men, mostly) arguing that Kamala herself made some bad decisions internally within the campaign. It might be true, but again – Donald Trump’s campaign was run by Paul Manafort, who is sitting in prison right now because of all the crimes he committed AS campaign manager.
Of course there are other conversations too… like how there are so many double-standards applied to women, and double standards on top of double-standards when the woman happens to be black or mixed-race black and Indian. The Bernie Bros screaming about how “Kamala is a cop” didn’t help. I could go on. But I won’t, because I’m tired and sad.
You can read Kamala Harris’s statement below, on Medium. I’m so sad.
It has been the honor of my life to be your candidate. We will keep up the fight. pic.twitter.com/RpZhx3PENl
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 3, 2019
To my supporters, it is with deep regret—but also with deep gratitude—that I am suspending my campaign today.
But I want to be clear with you: I will keep fighting every day for what this campaign has been about. Justice for the People. All the people.https://t.co/92Hk7DHHbR
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 3, 2019
Also:
Don’t worry, Mr. President. I’ll see you at your trial. https://t.co/iiS17NY4Ry
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 3, 2019
Some reactions:
Kamala Harris is an incredible talent with unlimited potential. Her career has been defined by taking on those who abuse power and seeking equity and justice for all people. Her intellect and insight will continue to be needed by the Democratic Party and the country.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 3, 2019
Thank you @KamalaHarris for your commitment to fighting for the people, for justice, and to holding Donald Trump accountable.
Kamala is right—our system is deeply broken when billionaires can buy their way in. I'll fight with you to make sure our government works for all of us. https://t.co/EU0Esl2oBN
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) December 3, 2019
My dear friend @KamalaHarris is a trailblazer. I've loved serving with her in the Senate and every moment we've run into one another on the trail. Her campaign broke barriers and did it with joy. Love you, sister. pic.twitter.com/HzLXw88NrM
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 3, 2019
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
this bummed me out. She was in my top two, along with Warren. I wish that all of the nonsense people that have no chance in the hell of winning even the primary will drop out already though. if Kamala has the sense to realize she’s not going to win it, the rest of them should as well. anyone who doesn’t have a shot should quit and throw their support behind whichever candidate they like the best.
I’m hoping that this won’t be the last time she runs, and maybe in four years the country will be in a better place. maybe.
Yeah, so bummed. My sister who just turned 18 this year is too…she really wanted her first vote ever to go to Kamala Harris.
She was my first choice as well. My hold-out hope is that she would be considered for a VP slot or as AG. She would kick ass in BOTH spots!
I was so sad yesterday. And mad that this interesting, intelligent and well respected legislator couldn’t get traction. Too many people running and having billionaires jumping in and having all white tiny states like Iowa and NH decide our nominee is a joke. My main hope is that if Biden get the nomination he will pick Harris as VP. His age will preclude 2 terms and she would be well positioned to become president in 2024.
I agree that Iowa gets way too much weight the way it’s structured now. But, it is not ALL white (I’ve been there!) And I really think that saying things like that is a disservice to the PoC there.
It has three times the population of New Hampshire. So, while I agree that the system is wildly unfair, Iowa is not “tiny.” Hell, even tiny-azz NH has more people than Wyoming, Vermont (ahem), Delaware, probably Rhode Island…
Also, please not Biden! We already have plenty of old white dudes. Just about any of the candidates would be better than Biden. (Well, except for Bernie. STAHP!)
I know Biden thinks it’s his turn but he’s got too much baggage. He’s super old already, plus the excessively touchy thing. And the douchey son. He’d get absolutely lacerated.
Biden and Bernie need to have several seats, and to stay in them at least until after the primaries. Enough!
It’s very nice to see the Democrats supporting each other publicly.
Yes, it is.
Of all the people to drop out…..the rest need to follow suit and start supporting the front runners.
The all white front runners? The white Senior Citizen club and their grandson Pete?
Good luck with that.
@Darla-You are always making things racial.
Okay Karen.
@Robim. Actually, this country is always making things racial. It’s just that people of color don’t have the luxury of ignoring this simple fact because it shapes our lives meanwhile white people get to pretend they don’t see color.
Darla, black voters didn’t support Kamala Harris. Black men didn’t want to vote for her. Black women didn’t want to vote for her.
Cory Booker has the same issue.
Pretending otherwise is a bit silly and gets us nowhere.
Yeah I gotta agree with Mahala here- all I kept hearing about Kamala from POC was “I don’t like how she was a prosecutor…she betrayed her race” or some such argument. I am not sure how much of the AA vote she’d get.
However, there is something to be said for optics and how now the Dem party looks like it doesn’t care about POC and pushed the black woman out. So I can see AA voters saying, “well I wouldn’t have voted for Kamala, but I at least wanted the option” and feeling slighted. I kinda think this is what Darla means?
Well we don’t know who they support, not one vote has been cast. What we know is polls SAY they support biden. Biden has been kept from public events as much as possible on account of his losing his marbles. He’s fixin to be a disaster, and while i understand black people’s distrust of white voters, and their fear white people will not vote for a POC, I don’t think Biden was going to hold those numbers. Remember Obama in 08, it’s very instructive as to where we were at the day before yesterday. Now, we’ll never know. I think staging a huge white backlash to Obama’s presidency, electing the white supremacist trump, and then blaming black voters for being worried about supporting a black candidate, is pure filth.
Rapunzel, I see what you’re saying, but the DNC didn’t kick her out of the race. The Dem party didn’t decide she wasn’t allowed to continue. It’s not even as though the bar was set too high and she didn’t qualify for debates – she would have been on the stage.
She couldn’t raise money. She couldn’t raise money from voters – so they have removed her from the race.
It’s bullsh*t that people like Steyer and Bloomberg can buy their way in through ads, but does anyone really think they were taking away voters from Kamala Harris?
Quite honestly it could be Yoda as the Democratic front runner and we would still need to unite behind him. It is going to take years to undo the damage Trump and his Senate cronies have done. Our environment is going to poison all of us if we don’t enact regulations and require all citizens to sacrifice for the sake of the planet. Race is a dirty word in America no doubt but when you beat that drum over and over for the sake of Only African-Americans people tune out. The combined minority’s in this country are the majority. Let us not forget the Asian, Hispanic/Latino, African people’s who have streamed into our land in the past one hundred years and made it their own.
Actually, Rapunzel, the “kamala is a cop” meme was started and disseminated by berners, including David Sirota. Then picked up on twitter, and who knows how much of that was bot activity. A lot of it I am sure. So don’t blame black people for that either. Sure a few black male pundits, on the far left, okay. But it’s mostly Berners and Ruskies.
Darla- yeah I know the Kamala cop thing didn’t start with black people. But it seemed to me like it was bought into by black people. But I agree, one never knows how accurate the online conversation is due to manipulation and bots, and online is admittedly where I’ve had most of my conversations on the subject.
@Mahalia and yet EVERY black woman I know planned to vote for her. So yeah…I guess if you buy into the narrative sold on social media and in polls (which also had Hillary winning in 2016 btw) then you would believe that.
Robim, really!? I’m always so struck when I hear people like you pull out such nonsense. The fact that people like you are still trotting out the “not everything is about race” argument makes my heart hurt. WHY is it so damn hard for so many white people to understand how racism works and their part in it? Because, Robim, by you saying that, you’re only enabling racism. With that attitude, you are part of the problem.
And if you are black or brown, do read up on internalized racism.
VV, I’m black and none of my friends or family, male or female, were planning to vote for her. They could have been lying, of course, but there was no enthusiasm or interest in her campaign that I could see. Anecdotal evidence, however, at this point about who was going to vote for her is meaningless. She needed money and a more coherent & consistent message and she didn’t have either.
@Mimi the fact that you think she didn’t have a coherent message only further proves the point of #blocktheblackwoman on social media. She HAD a full platform. Policies, etc. but the media simply wasn’t covering her like they did the white candidates. Period.
As for the money thing. She had reached her fundraising goal for the month and was due to stand on stage at the next debate. She had a huge SuperPAC pledge to give her money for ads in Iowa. And then suddenly- that support was gone. And no one is asking why that happened. Meanwhile – Tom Steyer – who really doesnt have a coherent message other than “impeach Trump” and who is polling at less than 1% will be at the next debate. And Bloomber has bought up all the spots that Kamala was going to buy in Iowa You dont think that’s a tad suspicious?
@VV-
You are 100% correct on all of this.
MSM did Kamala NO favors. It sickens me. She is amazing, and was my #1 from the beginning.
This, Valiantly. The attacks against Harris are reminiscent of HRC, especially from the staff now working for her competition. If a woman doesn’t fit a certain mold, she’s attacked and people fall for every anti-whomever campaign. Never seeing the wealthy old white guy behind the scenes pulling the puppet strings again.
VV, you raise valid points. The only thing I would say is that me & mine don’t get our news primarily from social media so I am not sure what that hashtag is referencing. It is my own viewpoint, as someone who works in DC close to the hill & has a strong interest in policy & politics, that it was hard for me to articulate her platform. I respect that her supporters feel differently.
What gets me, is this: If Kamala had to drop out due to financing (and don’t get me started on how “Act Blue”, which solicits donations for candidates, takes a BIG bite of of what the actual candidate gets from what people donate *for* their candidate), WHY isn’t it coming out WHO is financing Tulsi Gabbard (and HOW!) to keep her in the running (Russia/Syria (Assad apologist!)/NRA).
WHY isn’t some investigative journalist digging into her financing??
Kimmy, YES. I’m terrified that all this in-party discourse will let the Republicans slide right in like the slime they are. They are party above people. They will take any Republican so long as it’s not a Dem and effing dopey Dems are too busy fighting with each other to keep their eye on the ball. At this point, I’d take ANY Democrat over Trump or his repungnants. Let’s get in the office first. I may not like who could be chosen buy it’s better than the nightmare alternative. I keep saying this.
Kamala dropping out means that we are going to have all-white debate stage in December. No POC, no black people, no black women. When Black women gave the popular vote to HRC and pretty much single-handedly won Alabama for the Democrats. Just saying.
Vote LIKE a black but not FOR a black woman, am I right?
It’s a disaster. People, and I mean white people, have no clue how much of a disaster yet. But they are gonna learn.
You don’t think POC will vote for a white candidate? That’s horrific if it means essentially voting for Trump.
There is no white candidate running who can even match Hillary’s AA numbers. Never mind surpass them. So you tell me. I don’t know what the plan is here. Is it if Warren is the nominee she taps Cory? And Biden, Kamala? Will it work?
Or, are you peeps actually thinking you’re gonna go into 2020 with an all white ticket? I mean, you’re putting on a whites-only debate later this month, so I dunno.
No democrat gets elected anywhere without POC. And black women specifically are the backbone of the Dem party. They do the door knocking. They are the boots on the ground. How tired are they of being taken for granted? I guess we’ll find out when my dem peeps get their way and we march into the year of our lord 2020 with white face.
One of the Kamala’s very early strategies was to concentrate on capturing the black vote, specifically is South Carolina, the third primary state. Her campaign was betting they could lose Iowa and NH and make it up in SC and on Super Tuesday. Her support among white liberals is pretty good but that vote is split about 1,000 different ways this primary. The person currently with the most support from the African American community is…Joe Biden. By a wide margin. You are absolutely right that black women have been the backbone of the democratic vote for years now but they weren’t showing up for Kamala either and that’s one of the reasons she had to drop out. The voting block she had been counting on wasn’t moving towards her.
I think POC will vote for a white candidate, sure. But, if I were an African American in this country, particularly a AA woman, I would be tired of the Democrats always looking to me to “save” them and to come out to vote in droves for yet another white candidate because the white Dems cant bring themselves to fully support a black candidate. So, I would not be surprised if turnout was lower among the AA community, if the ticket is something like Biden-Warren.
@Becks1 this is where I and a lot of other black women I know are at. We are so tired of being used as the saviors for white voters who either don’t show up or vote for Trump. We aren’t carrying the slack anymore – especially for white candidates who spend a couple days visiting black churches and think that’s enough. A perfect example: Warren released a policy aimed at gathering black women voter’s support. But I havent seen a single black woman as part of her core group of her candidacy. We aren’t stupid. We see what’s up. And we are over doing all the work. I would not be surprised if we see a downturn in black female voter turnout. We’re over it.
My Mr. keeps wishing aloud that Obama would run again.
I told him Michelle wouldn’t allow that. I know I wouldn’t, were I she.
@VV — Yep. Because, really, Biden or Mayor Pete is basically the same as Trump. So, what’s the point?
(Of course I will vote for whomever the dem candidate is, but I’m getting sick of dealing with white liberals’ casual racism, only to have to bail them out come election time. What I won’t be doing is volunteering for any of them.)
@NotSoSocial Sad to tell your Mr. but Obama can’t run again. He did two terms he’s done. Michelle could! But I’d bet money I don’t have that that would never happen.
Darla, I’m not going to get into a debate because us decent people want the same bottom line. But if we keep fighting amongst each other, they win. Keep your eye on the prize.
First of all, Yang and Gabbard, though I think they’re both garbage candidates, are on the verge of making the cut, so it’s unlikely to be all white.
Second, none of the candidates of color have had any minority support along the way. In fact, it’s support from older black voters that is hugely propping up Joe Biden’s candidacy – an old white centrist who can’t go five minutes without a gaffe.
My parents are AA in Atlanta, and I feel like they’re representative of a large demographic. I’ve largely been away from US politics living abroad, but they are full out Bernie supporters. They also like Warren. I think many AA are either going traditional with Biden or full out left with Bernie, AOC, Warren, etc. While they liked Obama, they were disappointed in what he didn’t do, and Kamala and Booker feel like they are pulled from the same cloth. After Trump, they don’t want centrist democrats. It’s not enough to want Trump impeached. They want to see drastic policies.
I’ll likely vote Warren or Bernie myself. People don’t want to get behind them because they are too liberal, but we need to go to another extreme to even start repairing the damage Trump has done.
Are all of you for real? Do you actually think Andrew Yang either is white or doesn’t exist?? He has more of a shot at moving forward than you think. I’m seriously tripped out by how the fact that he’s an Asian-American man seems to make him utterly invisible to the commenters (to be fair I have not read them all yet, I’m so agog at this.)’ He’s a fascinating candidate and I would implore people to do some minor research on him, you might be surprised. Either way, he exists, he is not a “white man” and deserves acknowledgement. This omission is creepy.
This is sad. I wish she had been able to hold on until the caucus but candidates do have to spend some time in New Hampshire.
But Kamala Harris is still a United States Senator and she will continue to serve us admirably in that capacity.
“but candidates do have to spend some time in New Hampshire.”
Or we could reform the primary system, or at the very least change the order of the primaries/caucuses. Why should so much importance be given to a tiny state who is whiter than Boston in January when the country is getting more and more diverse? The United States don’t look like NH, and the Democratic Party does not either.
Yes, change the primary system and the damn electoral college. Tired of the minority getting special emphasis.
@sarah and @Rapunzel – yes, agree one hundred percent. Nate silver had a tweet about that – I only saw it bc Castro retweeted it lol – I cant remember what it was exactly but something about how if Dems want candidates that better represent the party, they need to reconsider having Iowa and New Hampshire as the first primaries/caucuses. It’s ridiculous that those two states have so much power in the primaries.
I’m actually in the middle of a podcast series about the Iowa caucuses and someone made a good case for why it’s okay for Iowa to be first in this primary in particular. While the state may be majority white, it’s also disproportionately rural compared to most states. It’s that rural population that voted twice for Obama and then voted for Trump in 2016. Approval for Trump is lower than the margin that got him elected so they may have a good sense of who might be able to beat Trump this time around.
All that said, I’m devastated that Harris dropped out. Especially with candidates like Tulsi still in the race.
Changing the primary system is a way to approach it but the primary system is not going to be changed between now and February. To run now, you have to deal with what is in place now, not ignore half of it. And NH voters take their first in the nation status very seriously. They go listen to candidates. They try to meet and hear as many as possible.
It’s not the rural population that gave the vote to Obama in Iowa. It’s their colleges, which are home to more people than the rural areas in between. Iowa State, university of Iowa, UNI, and the capital of Des Moines are spread out across the state. The turn out in those areas determines how the state goes. Steve King’s district is the quadrant that doesn’t have a big college…and that’s not a coincidence.
My thought is that she will totally eviscerate Nikki Hailey in the VP debate.
With just a glance and a shake of her head, she’ll leave Nikki gasping for air.
We could only be so lucky. I don’t even like Biden but his VP debate performances againt Palin and Ryan were a highlight.
Haley is not dumb like so many of the men around her. I don’t think a Haley/Harris debate would be anything but a draw because debates are only about post-debate spin. Rs would go with Haley & Ds with Harris. And the press ALWAYS grades Republican debaters on a curve. Folks would be obsessed with two Indian descended women going toe to toe & there would be a bunch of Isn’t America the best! I’m already annoyed. . . .
Haley showed her true colors when she publicly ass kissed the mango (he’s sane! The most truthful man ever!) during her book tour. Kamala would demolish her. Need proof? See how she made Bill Barr sweat in his confirmation (he had to stop and get a drink of water).
Good thing is now she is there for the impeachment trial!
Kamala seems so wonderfully All American and so smart. Warren has been my first choice forever though. I was hoping they would pair up. Fact is: we have too many people in the pool. Just because anyone would be better than tRump, doesn’t mean everyone should jump in!
Get ready for four more years of Trump.
It’s funny, when I watch leftist Twitter celebrate bad polling numbers for certain candidates, or the dropping out of others, I wonder if they’re just incapable of looking ahead to the future. They act like children – “I want THIS candidate, and I’m going to complain about the rest of them constantly, and if my candidate isn’t the nominee I’ll throw all my toys out of the crib!”.
The right coalesced behind Trump because they don’t care who it is as long as they win. The Dems are too busy drawing dividing lines everywhere. And so we’re going to end up with Trump re-elected, using the system to enrich himself, and picking, what, two or three more SCOTUS judges?
Seeing those leftists celebrate was especially bizarre because their candidates need to have as many people as possible in the race. Because if it’s a classic 2 or 3 candidate race, the candidate with the most support among Black voters will win easily. That would be Biden.
This, honestly. Some Dem-supporters are doing Trump a huge favor by running these smear campaigns against the candidates they don’t support.
This is the primaries…of course people are happy to see their candidates move forward and the ones they don’t want drop off. But we need the supporters of the candidates who are dropping out to support those still in the race.
Oh, fvck.
😭
Personally, I’m glad she called it. She’s my senator and I’m a bit salty we elected her and she ran for president during her first term (it’s an irrational pet peeve of mine). I like her and look forward to more good work on the judiciary committee.
Yeah, the silver lining here is that we will still have her on the judiciary committee. That’s important.
Kamala still made Beer Bash Bret Kavenaugh cry. So there’s that, at least.
She’s my Senator and while she wasn’t my top choice for the Dem primary (I want a Warren/Castro ticket), I’m disappointed she didn’t make it farther for many reasons. Mostly I’m pretty disgusted with the billionaires swanning in to the campaign, as if that’s what the party needs, while other candidates like Booker and Castro struggle to qualify for the next debate. I know lots of political commentators were talking yesterday about how an all white debate stage isn’t a good look for the Dems, and I agree.
Me too! They balance each other perfectly.
“There are a lot of commentators (men, mostly) arguing that Kamala herself made some bad decisions internally within the campaign.”
The biggest proponent of this argument was Kamala Harris’s former Iowa State director (a woman) who gave the NYT her resignation letter, where she stated that she had never worked on a campaign that treated its workers so poorly.
Kamala has a great roll out but then her campaign never had a case. What was she running to do, besides prosecute Trump? That’s fine as far as it goes, but doesn’t speak to presidential voters. How will you help people?
Every other candidate can sum up their campaign in a few words—Booker is love and equality, Pete is generational change, Warren is structural change, Biden is a return to normal, Yang is everyone gets a check. What was Kamala’s case? It just got muddled.
All good points Sandy. She sort of started off positioning herself as the next Obama, and that didn’t work, and from there it was a new campaign every month but nothing seemed to stick. The field was too crowded to not have One Big Thing that you can sell to people.
Dropping out now at least puts her in decent position for a VP pick, but again, what reason is there to choose her unless it’s to tick the “token minority” box ? California is a blue state, no need for her help there.
I should be clear, I meant what reason would there be for the other candidates to choose her based on the real role the VP always plays – balancing the ticket. If it’s a white dude or a white lady, they’re going to be looking to diversify.
The aide now running the campaign for ‘I’m going to buy this election’ old white guy Michael B? Every reason for her to attack Harris in order to secure herself a new position, or to do so because her new boss wants Harris taken down. I’d take every word written by her with a ton of salt.
I didn’t say anything about that NYTimes piece, actually, but I think Kamalas management problems predate that article. She had a lot of potential but never created a theory of why she should be elected, and She never settled on whether she was running as a centrist or a liberal or whatever.
Yes, she’s a hack, like most of the political professional class. But most of the time this crowd slinks away and just worms into another campaign quietly. It’s rare for these types to say these things because it burns a lot of bridges; politics is a small, incestuous world. I’ve been observing politics for a long time. It is rare to see someone so critical about a candidate with attribution. But in any event, the Times had over 50 sources for the piece and they all seemed to agree it was badly run. Point being, it’s not just male political commentators making these points.
Typical. A woman doesn’t show up at the office with milk and cookies, hand-holding everyone through their day, and it is open season attacks on her. By staff now working for her competition and you cannot even see how you’re being manipulated.
The examples cited in the article wasn’t “Kamala Harris didn’t bring milk and cookies,” it was “Kamala Harris didn’t have a cohesive, coherent message, and her staff was scrambling day to day to create one.” But yeah, more lying NYT fake news.
Can’t upvote you on this site but 100% agree with your points.
Missing the point. If a woman dares not to act a certain way, if she doesn’t mother the employees, if she doesn’t choose to have children? There are always certain women who will attack her. Seeing it all over this thread from people who don’t recognize their own prejudices and how they’ve been manipulated.
I wasn’t sure if kamala had kids or not. Or Klotchubar. Warren has kids but they’re older, right?
It’s not about kids or no kids. It’s about how Kamala seemed to not be able to pick a direction for her campaign.
There’s this faction of the electorate who doesn’t want to see that kamala was a) talented politically b) didn’t run this campaign well, and these two things happened within a society that doesn’t take women of color seriously.
I know this is a big Warren place. All I can do is speak for myself. i maxed out to Kamala. I was going to go to my nearest swing state and knock on doors.
I’m out. I’ll vote for the dem in Nov, but ya’ll better get your wallets open and your walking shoes on, cause you’re on your own till then. Unless Cory were to catch fire, but let’s be honest; ain’t happening. It’s Warren or Biden. So get busy peeps. Get to knocking and don’t forget to open those wallets! You get nothing from me, except my vote while I hold my nose.
After what they did to Hillary…and Kamala?
I will vote down ticket…and support down ticket…
Other than that? This Dem Base voter is DONE with being a political mule for a party who shows NO respect for its base when it comes to the POTUS election…
The most infuriating part is that you just know that if, or rather when, Donald Trump is reelacted, the hot takes and the think pieces are all going to blame Black voters.
Lala- so you will vote 3rd party? Or for Trump? I may not like any democratic potus candidate (Kamala was actually my choice right now) but I’m voting Dem anyway.
I’m genuinely interested in what you as a black woman decides here and what you think not voting Dem for POTUS will accomplish.
Lala says right in her post she’s voting downticket. Not third party, not trump, downticket. That means she’s not filling in a Prez choice. I think coming for black women and trying to guilt them into voting for your whitey savior, is such a terrible look. Black women are not responsible for trump. White people are. White people voted for him. White snowflakes left their 2016 top of the ticket blank, or wrote in bernie, or voted stein. White people, and i am really talking to white women, need to check their own before coming for anyone else. Collect your own peeps, don’t worry about what black women are doing.
Woah, Darla… I’m not trying to guilt anyone into voting for anybody. I wanted to vote for Kamala. I am simply trying to learn from others and was asking for clarification. I wasn’t aware voting downticket meant leaving POTUS blank. Apologies if I came off wrong… i was genuinely just explaining my thought process and asking for lala’s thought process to try to understand so I can be an ally.
At lala and darla et al. Thanks for voicing my thoughts. Older white person from L.A. here. Kamala was my candidate of choice, but now she cant be. I’m just so appalled at how our country drags on with its bs. We’re as bad as the Brits with their outdated Monarchy. I’m just so frustrated. TYT explained some other points which I agree with about Kamala having to drop out. She’s not going anywhere! I’m hoping for Biden/Harris because I just know we’ll be stuck with him. I’m definitely not a Bernie Bro but am leaning toward him now. (I voted for Hillary.) I was throwing $ toward Castro because he needs to be there. Get Yang and Pete and Bloomberg out of there.
Same Lala. Im done with being treated like a second class member of the party- until they need us to show up on election day and save their asses.
@Rapunzel instead of attempting to guilt and shame a black woman – the demographic that ALWAYS shows up – perhaps you should be asking the 53% of white women who voted for Trump what THEY will be doing.
Why attack @Rapunzel? Kamala is gone, in large part, because BLACK PEOPLE did not support her. This is on black folks, the press, & white voters furious that she called out Joe’s race issues. The press (white men predominantly) were furious that Kamala had the temerity to question Biden. The press also piled on Castro for daring to point out that Joe is not at his peak. White Dem voters couldn’t fathom a black woman going after an older white Democrat & turned on her. White and other Bernie voters hated her because of a mix of racism, for some sexism, and for others honest anti-Capitalist sentiment.
After Trump, older people seem to be afraid to do anything but Biden, but Biden will be a disaster because he is in obvious cognitive decline. So after Obama, the best we can do is two old white men in decline.
Feelings are raw now, but I think that when it’s time to vote, black women will vote for anyDem but Trump because black women always show up for the most vulnerable. Finally, why are we blaming the Democratic party because Harris did not resonate with black voters? How is this the Democrat’s fault?
Again, I wasn’t trying to guilt anyone. I completely understand how upsetting this is to POC and am disappointed. And VV, what you said about Kamala’s funding is
troubling in particular.
I’m starting to think similar – I’m in CA so my vote for president won’t matter though I’ll definitely vote down ticket.
Wooooo AMEN. This is how I feel too. Barring some surge from Castro, I’m just along for the ride. See y’all in November 2020.
I am confused by Darla and others appearing to have voted their entire lives as a favour to white people. Does Darla gain nothing from having a Dem president rather than Trump? (I am not American, please speak to me like I’m stupid or 3 years old, whichever comes more naturally :-))
There are several I wish I would’ve dropped out before her, I’m disappointed she didn’t make it to a primary at least.
However, I’m so glad she ran, and I hope she does again in the future. I also love to see her added to someone else’s ticket as VP, or Attorney General.
Whoever gets the nomination we vote blue en masse. My dream team is Buttigieg and Abrams.
Abrams is busy with her iniative against the GOP’s incessant electoral rigging and stealing. She has no time to attach her bright star to Mayo Pete’s nonsense.
How are either of them in any way qualified to be President??
I agree with you on Mayo Pete. Pete as president is a joke to put things nicely. He is the mayor of Indiana’s 4th largest city, he’s pulling at 0% with Black voters, because we are all homophobes apparently. You have to be really white to think he has earned in any way, shape or form, the White House.
But I like Stacey. I think she ran a good campaign in one of the hardest states for Democrats in general and for Black democratic candidates specifically. And I’ve been impressed by the way she has acted after her tough loss. She called out the GOP and her wicked opponent in her non-concession speech. She did not wander in the wilderness only to come back and launch a vanity presidential bid like a certain would-be Texas senator.
And her initiative on voter suppression is much needed.
Abrams is doing AMAZING work. As much as I liked her and wanted to see her in the mix, I’m so grateful she’s doing what she’s doing. I do hope she runs in the future though.
Buttigieg is very low on my list…but I’d still vote for him over Trump. I don’t feel Pete’s experienced enough AT ALL and definitely wrong on a lot of issues, but sadly anyone is better than Trump. If he gets 4 more, our Supreme Court is going to be destroyed for generations, and the environment as well.
I’m with you on Buttigieg. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know everything about his policies, but I feel safe in saying that he will surround himself with intelligent people and he’s a calm, kind human. (not that the other Dems won’t, mind you, but I like his calm demeanor, I think we need that right now)
And this is why black Dems don’t trust y’all. You are throwing your support behind a man who will NEVER get the black vote. Who has a history of racists statements, decisions and policies. But sure he’s such a kind man. He’s also grossly unqualified.
@Valiantly Varnished, thank you for being a voice of reason. Mayo Pete, seriously? After his reaction to his police force killing a black man DURING the campaign? After the firing of the black sheriff? After his campaign basically called southern black voters homophobes for not considering his overrated a** presidential material?
I can’t.
@Valiantly Varnished @Sarah most people don’t know this because the press (predominantly white men) identify with Pete. Pete is going almost totally unvetted by the mainstream media because the press loves him and wants him to be the presidential nominee or VP pick. The bias is out of control and the complete opposite of Harris & Castro’s treatment.
Thank you @Valiantly Varnished. Mellie’s comment is basically white privilege in a nutshell. This man has such a shady racist history and no qualifications for the presidency compared to his peers, yet white people will vote for him because he “looks calm/reasonable”. Ridiculous.
@joanca
I wish you were kidding but I know you’re not. Seriously, that is so messed up!! (Yes, I realize you are entitled to your opinion.)
His experience is being the mayor of a small college town. He is frankly…completely and utterly unqualified to be President of the United States. It’s a joke. If we were going to roast Trump for being completely unqualified, we can’t have double standards when it comes to Mayor Pete. I’ll vote for him if I have to, but honestly I’d vote for Biden or Bernie first, and that’s saying something.
Mayor Pete doesn’t belong in the race. You’d think he’d understand bigotry, being gay, but he doesn’t! It’s extremely offensive. Anyway, he won’t make it so we should just ignore him. Somebody’s behind him and I’m surprised that the higher ups who talked Kamala into dropping out didn’t do the same to him. Actually, they’re letting him stay in and fizzle out. Kamala’s a force to contend with and I think she’ll be the VP choice for Biden, as I said above. Whether she’ll accept it is a different story. She probably will, but she will be major in a couple elections from now and she won’t need Biden’s as–.
@Soupie I agree with you when you say Pete isn’t going to make it so we can ignore him. Because no way he is going to be the nominee.
Booker will probably be next and then it’s official all my favorites are out. Electoral college is bs, letting the tiniest and whitest states have so much pull in who gets the nomination.
Will vote Warren now, but not with any enthusiasm. I can’t see her doing better than Hillary did (and Hillary did good, just too much stacked against her).
That said I could really see Biden picking Kamala as VP.
Warren’s numbers with AA voters are not great to say the least.
Black voters, especially eledery black voters, who make up a significant part of the AA electorate, value loyalty. I don’t see them being that enthusiastic about a white lady who was still a Republican in her 50s.
I agree. I am not sure she even has a lot of name recognition with the older black demographic. Her being a woman is certainly not going to be enough to convince them to vote for her.
“I could really see Biden picking Kamala as VP.”
It certainly looks that way. He asked her to drop out and will reward her in the future. (See TYT video from yesterday.)
We were pretty sad around here last night. Kamala is a shining light.
+1
Am looking for Kamala as the VP nominee
I was so sad about this – I was torn between her and Warren too. And the fact that Castro and Booker may not be on the next debate stage is so wrong. I also agree we’ve got to change our primary schedule. And yes, we need to stop relying on WOC while taking them for granted and elevating more white dudes.
Yeah, and Yang and Mayor Pete and Gabbard still there? And Bloomberg. What a joke. They should go and Castro and Booker should be there.
I feel the same, Kaiser. Tired and sad.
I want the best candidate to win, and firmly fall in the camp that I frankly don’t care who it is as long as they beat Trump. However, there were, and continue to be, candidates that I am not so thrilled about. Tulsi, Bernie, Booker, and Kamala were/are on that list for me. I lived in California when Kamala was AG and there was something about her that I never liked. She had a questionable track record and a rise into CA politics due in large part, supposedly to an affair with Willie Brown, sooooooo yep, she was never going to get my vote unless she was the nominee. I’m sorry she never gained a lot of traction and it really seems like she wasn’t expecting this outcome. I feel sad for her but there’s a lot more to her career to come.
“a rise into CA politics due in large part, supposedly to an affair with Willie Brown”
Wow.
Seeing those kind of smears on here very much proves the point, doesn’t it? The right didn’t even need to worry about taking down Kamala. The left was busy doing it themselves.
I hate that narrative about Kamala. I’m from SF and sure, she dated Willie Brown, but she worked her butt off for years. Who cares who she dated?
“a rise into CA politics due in large part, supposedly to an affair with Willie Brown”
This is the kind of misogynistic thinking that has resulted in us having 45 male presidents and 0 female presidents…
UGGGGH.
I second your wow. I guess it’ll never stop. No matter how smart, how hard working, how accomplished women, there’s always still sexist crap like that said about them.
Its really too early for disgusting comments like this.
Sadly, it is apparently never too early to attack the intelligent, forthright WOC.
That’s just the kind of misogyny that will Keep America Great. 😡
Wow, I wasn’t smearing anyone and was not being misogynistic. Kamala has some flaws, that’s all my point was. As do many of the candidates. None of the current candidates is a great, perfect candidate but honestly almost all of them could get the job done with a great team and legislative, judicial, and constituent support. I would have voted for Kamala if she were the nominee. This election should be about getting behind whoever the democratic nominee is. One of my greatest fears is Trump being reelected because voters don’t throw their support to whoever the democratic nominee is.
And yes, I am an educated, Black American woman and I will be voting for the democratic nominee, as I always have and will continue to do regardless of who that candidate is.
God forbid an adult woman have a sex life. I’m also from California. Kamala is awesome and has worked so hard to be where she is today. The fact that some other candidates (I see you Mayo Pete) are still in the running and she stepped down infuriates me.
It’s such a weak field. We are going to lose 2020. I live in MA on the NH border & NH is Trump territory. The town halls are held in Portsmouth, which is a young affluent city, and Manchester, a poor crime ridden area. Neither are an accurate representation of what NH really is. You have coastal (wealthy) NH they vote based on the GDP, period. Interior NH is pretty redneck. They REALLY love their guns and the REALLY hate taxes. None of the Dems can pull NH, unfortunately.
NH has gone to the Democrats since 2004? And in 92 and 96. It’s all about voter turnout.
It sucks when our candidate of choice doesn’t make it, especially when it leads us closer and closer to an all old white man field AGAIN, but not a single vote has been cast yet and people are already giving up and throwing in the towel. THAT is how we lose again.
When the race started, I don’t think it was a weak field at all. I think we had a lot of really good, smart, talented people up there. I’m really sad Kamala’s out. I’m going to be even sadder if I have to vote for Biden. But I’m still going to vote for him, donate and volunteer. There’s just too much at stake – the Supreme Court, healthcare, the environment, and all those kids still sitting in cages.
I have so much to say about this but I will first say that I am utterly heartbroken. For so many reasons: the way – once again- the black woman is treated and covered differently, the fact that Tom and Michael Bloomberg who are polling at less than 1% will be on the next debate stage but Kamala won’t…yeah I’m hurt and I’m angry and I’m sad. The misogynoir was so obvious and disgusting. She was the only candidate I was interested in voting for. And also – Im tired of the Democratic party taking black votes for granted. Whoever gets the nomination better work their a$$es off to earn it. Because right now – none of them are even TRYING.
Just FYI Bloomberg won’t be on the December debate stage.
But Steyer will. And so will Tulsi Gibbard. So my point stands.
I had hoped noted Russian assett Tulsi didn’t make the cut for the December debate. What a joke.
@VV: YES. EXACTLY THIS.
It is so damning that Kamala Harris had to drop out, but Michael Bloomberg, Mr. Carding Black People Is Good Actually, got to buy his way into the race. Like it’s so obvious that they only care about the money here. Disgusting and disgraceful.
I was sad to hear that she dropped out. I was also thinking about voting for her in the primary. IMO the media held a black woman presidential candidate up to a higher standard. I noticed how the reported about her on the campaign trail about her word choices and image choices. They downplayed her policies and victories.
Trump must not win in 2020. As an earlier poster said, we MUST unite around the Democratic candidate, whoever that is. We MUST have no third party candidates to lose the election for us. Everyone must vote! People of color and women (myself included) must understand that Trump is the worst possible person to run this country. Get the power out of his hands however with whomever. Disappointments aside, we must get him out!
Yeah black women understood that back in 2016. And 53% of y’all voted for Trump anyway. So maybe worry about uniting them. But black women are done with being the Democratic pack mule. Good luck in 2020
That’s too bad Valient. She was a more centrist candidate, voting for a more leftist one will actually help the most disadvantaged people more. It seems like you’re diregarding what has been sketchy about KH because you want the optics. She’s younger than a lot of them so I hope she’ll try again next time. I like her and think she needs a bit of time to be consistent in her positions not being pro prison. As is she is great when speaking about anything and I love how she questions people… BUT people had many problems with various things she did in quite recent history, and since some of her positions have changed authenticity (or the appearance of it) would have been an issue for voters.
@Oui oki Im not disregarding anything hun. Im simply not buying into the misogynoir narrative around her. I took the time to actually do my OWN research about her record and policy. No candidate is perfect. But some are certainly more problematic than others. And the sad part is the MOST problematic candidates are still in the race.
^this! (VV’s reply)
You’re right. Trump is an existential threat. Pence/Haley is just as dangerous. A big, blue wave is the only thing that can save us–no matter who is at the top of the ticket.
You need to tell that to white people. People of color, and espacially black women, are perfectly aware of just how dangerous Trump is.
She was my favorite too and I’m sad. I guess I’m Team Warren now, but I’ll vote for whoever is up against Trump, even if it’s someone I don’t really care for.
The US electoral system seems broken. Why does it cost so much to run a campaign? And if campaign donations are supposed to reflect electability, fine. But why then why can someone pay their way in?
Exactly.
It’s incredibly broken. As is the electoral college system.
I died inside a little yesterday. Our elections are so corrupt and our culture is so weighted to favor ancient white dudes. I’m still voting for whoever but my passion for this election is gone.
As a Brit bystander POC Kamala dropping out is a sad day.
That said I am still waiting for the day that a dark skinned POC run for office. Someone who is not held to the higher standard of Yale, Harvard or Stanford because they are a POC. Maybe even someone who went to Howard or another HBCU. And most importantly someone who themselves is coming up through the political ranks with a real understanding of social issues and foreign policy….
OOps and snap – doesn’t the above sound alot like Kamala and that is why the right came at her so hard with the rhetoric and bull that even minorities themselves bought into. I see the same shyt happening in our elections in the UK where it is open season on black MP’s whom are already an endangered species….
I really wish that a handful of states didn’t have such an inordinate amount of power to decide who the party’s candidate would be. It’s ridiculous, we should really have primaries/caucuses on the same day just like we do for the general election.
She was not going to get the nomination. It’s crystal clear and her dropping out is a good thing. Booker, Tulsi, and Yang need to do the same. I don’t hold this opinion because they are all POC, simply looking at their polling and their fundraising numbers shows these specific candidates are DOA for next year so stop wasting everyone’s time.
Harris was never my candidate but I’ve been impressed by her throughout her run. I’ve read other places that she would make a good AG and I fully support that. We really need to win next year so some of the dem assets we saw this year have an opportunity to lead from within. Another example of that would be making Jay Inslee secretary of energy. His passion for the environment and climate change is desperately needed, especially after Rick Perry was purchased by the oil and fracking companies.
If the four old, past their sell-by date, let me buy this election white men would recognize reality, Harris would have had the nomination.
Would she? She wasn’t raising enough money. It’s annoying af that 2 billionaires get to just pop in this late in the game but they weren’t actively taking money from Harris or any of the other candidates. And I find it a smidge annoying that Berie gets lumped in with the “old white man” group. He obviously is but he is not the same as Biden and the others. Bernie returned money from a billionaire donor and he’s still in the top 3. Bernie has the support of his working class base, the other stragglers in the race don’t, including Harris. Kamala didn’t resonate with voters enough for them to donate to her so she’s out. It’s as simple as that.
It is as simple as the old white guys taking all the oxygen in the room, including their oxygen pumps. Refusing to get out of the way so the viable, will still be alive and kicking for the next decade candidates can be heard.
I disagree, notasugarhere. Harris’s performance thus far was disappointing and she failed on her own merits. She is incredibly intelligent and has so many skills, but for some reason they didn’t translate to her campaign. She didn’t do a good job of articulating her positions and selling them. Candidates need to be able to quickly summarize why them and what they will do.
And to be clear: I was totally team Kamala in the beginning. After the Kavanaugh hearing, she was my favorite. But as I started to really pay attention to her campaign, I was disappointed. I heard an NPR interview with her where they tried to clarify her position on healthcare, and it was really hard to understand what her policy idea was. She didn’t seem to know. I thought it might be bad editing of the interview, so I went to her website and it was also pretty unclear. There were too many times where she would make a statement and then walk it back.
Being an effective communicator of the democratic platform is a necessary characteristic of the eventual nominee.
I’m saying it. No one who will be, let’s say, 70 years of age or older on Election Day should be on the Presidential ballot. Similar to airline pilots having to retire at 65. End of
That would cut out a vast swath of current candidates, including Biden, Warren, Sanders, Bloomberg..and Trump…but so be it.
Two old wealthy white guys trying to buy the presidency, another old white guy who will kick off any day now with heart trouble, and an old white guy who promoted segregation, attacked Anita Hill, has an incredibly shady adult son, and has been ‘inappropriately touching’ women for years. But really, Kamala Harris failed on her own merit? No, she was shoved aside because old white guys and the party machine decided to shove her aside.
Kamala had a spike in popularity after a great debate performance June…but she didn’t do a good enough job in the follow up after that to maintain momentum. She peaked and then her numbers went down drastically before Bloomberg was even in the race. She made many fumbles, including going back and forth about whether her health care plan would allow for private insurance to exist. How can a candidate not have a solid understanding of whether or not their vision includes a space for private insurance?
I have no doubts that sexism and racism played a part in her campaign. I also know that I had very high hopes for her candidacy and she failed to live up to the expectations she set in the Kavanaugh hearing. Her poll numbers and contributions don’t reflect the “party machine”, they reflect the voters. She wasn’t attracting the voters and I think her failure to pinpoint a clear vision for her presidency was the main reason.
Her inability to get oxygen in a room filled with the past was the main reason.
Yeah, a lot of these comments have me scratching my head. Kamala, like Warren, has great appeal to the professional/managerial, upwardly mobile class but otherwise her support base is lacking and her poll numbers and fundraising reflect that. This is pretty obviously a calculated move to position herself as a team player for a VP or future cabinet post.
You mean the one who went to work for BLOOMBERG?? Yeah I would take all of what she says with a huge grain of salt. Anyone who would go from working for Kamala to Bloomberg is a lost cause
Exactly.
On my fb timeline, the ones that yelled the loudest “she is a cop” were white people 🙄. Hopefully, she is being considered as a VP.
We need a serious overhaul of campaign financing. The whole thing is so f-ed up.
Lost a bit of respect for her when she gave in to the drug apologists instead of standing firm on her record as a prosecutor.
im not sad she’s out. She’s like an algorithm. very opportunistic and to my eyes pretty insincere. had no real platform and was trying to have it both ways on so many issues. I was not impressed with her at the debates either-she had no policy breakaway moments and what moments she did have it was like someone pressed GO on the identity politics button.
I fear regardless of who the Dem nominee is, the electoral process can’t be trusted. Hillary won the popular vote by THREE MILLION but Trump is president because Russia hacked into the voter databases for all 50 states in addition to hacking select voting machines. That’s how he eeked out the 11k votes needed to win the electoral college. We know Russia paid for Cambridge Analytica to mine data and run propaganda on Facebook that created immense disenfranchisement. Then, there’s gerrymandering to consider.
Both the White House and Moscow Mitch have blocked election security bills and Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear he intends to continue allowing shenanigans on his platforms.
Unless the country comes out in DROVES to vote the majority of Republicans out, that it. Not game over but the fight will be much more difficult.
To those saying we’ll have four more years of Trump, what makes you think he’ll leave once his second term is supposed to be up? The man is facing multiple federal and states charges the minute he leaves office. HE AIN’T LEAVING! If there is not a resounding defeat of the Republican party next year, we are in for a dictatorship. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump steps only when enough laws are changed that he won’t be prosecuted.
Has anyone noticed that Ivanka attends a lot of world leader events on his behalf? Not trying to sound like a conspiracy theorist but watch out for him grooming her to be his heir.
It won’t just he another four years of this show if we lose next year is what I’m saying.
I agree with you, the situation is dire. If he ‘wins’ again it is (supposed to be) his last term. But what is he going to live for during that term? All he has cared about since the last election was winning the next election. Rallies, polls, etc.
I also agree that Ivanka or Don Jr will be heavily groomed to be the future of the GOP. Probably Don Jr to be honest because he caters to to the base in a way that even Ivanka does not.
I’ve heard rumblings that Trump may dump Pence and replace him with Ivanka as his VP. Then with the help of social media spreading Propaganda, Fox News, gerrymandering, voter suppression and Russia tipping the scales Trump is re-elected. His AG will scheme to change laws and what not so he won’t be charged when he leaves office. Then he resigns, wanting nothing more to do with the presidency as he “accomplished” everything he wanted to in his first term and resigns.
Ivanka is sworn in.
@Sean, yes there is basically NO reason to keep Pence on the ticket as VP for 2020. His usefulness in 2016 was his Midwestern religious-right credentials and those people are now FULLY locked in embrace with Trump. So now Pence is totally superfluous. It does seem the obvious play for Trump to replace him with Ivanka—the U.S. government is now their family business operated for their own profit, so why the heck not?
Voter suppression is also a major reason. A bunch of those swing states that Trump won by a couple thousand votes? They had TONS of people purged from the voter rolls. Polling stations and hours were closed and restricted to make it harder for people to vote. It’s GOP targeted suppression, and it’s worked.
If you can, please consider supporting Stacey Abram’s Fair Fight initiative. This link has the numbers on it.
https://fairfight.com/why-we-fight/
And check your own info to make sure you will be able to vote!
I’m sad to see Harris go. But she’s incredibly smart. I’m assuming she was offered the VP ticket by Biden and/or Attorney General by Warren to bow out now. She’s an exceptional debater, so that VP debate will be 🔥🔥 if she runs on the Biden ticket.
I was thinking that too!
I really wanted Harris for President. I donated a little money – I am broke basically- the day she announced. I had such high hopes once the primaries started.
So deeply disappointed.
If it’s Warren or Biden, I want Harris as VP.
I’m European so this is an outside and superficial perspective, but I found Kamala the most presidential candidate, as in someone who seemed like a US president from a movie: intelligent, competent, moderate, charismatic, good-looking. The other candidates seem underqualified, too old, too extreme… So, I’m disappointed.
Dear God.
You’re European and you think Bernie and Warren are too extreme? Where are you from, Hungary?
I meant for a US context, sorry. Definitely not extreme in Europé, and perhaps it was the wrong choice of words. Perhaps too left wing, rather. I’m talking electability, not my personal opinión. I’m left wing, but mainstream for Europe. I just want Trump to loose, it’s up to you guys so good luck:)
um what? In most Euro countries Bernie would be considered centre-left at most, and Warren central or centre-right.
Many Californians who remember Kamala from her San Francisco District Attorney days, and then CA Attorney General find her professed positions unclear & sometimes in contradiction with her record. We also think she needs more legislative experience before jumping up for the Big Job. She’s articulate & charismatic but perhaps too adversarial & eager at this point in her career.
California is a big state & we want Kamala to spend at least as much time dealing with some major CA issues as she did campaigning. She & her sister, Maya, are very close but I’m not sure that Maya was the best choice to be overall head of K’s campaign. K would have done better with a more experienced & traditional campaign team who’d gotten her to focus on achievable goals besides getting rid of DT & bashing old Joe.
I’ve been undecided on who I’d pick in the primary thus far, but my underlying belief was that Kamala would be the last one standing, and that she would be the one who really could stand up to Trump. Out of all the people in this race, looking at you mediocre white guys with no experience, I’m disappointed that she’s dropped out.
I hope she stays in the fight, and I hope she finds a place in the next administration.
I’m glad and I hope Buttigeig follows suit. Not that I don’t like Harris, but I am between Bernie and Warren, and my biggest nightmare is if Biden gets it. The number of people saying they will now vote for Warren makes me grateful to Harris, as this is the right move to get a candidate who will truly bring change to the party. I was extremely worried that all the other candidates would divide the vote and Biden will get it, and I’m still worried Bernie and Warren will divide the progressive votes. We need to address climate change, medical care costs, and inflated tuition, we need to address them ASAP, we need a POTUS who can fight an obstructionist congress instead of trying to work with them by soft-peddling their own proposals before even bringing them to the floor for negotiations. We also need to root out all of the Trump and Bush appointees that are hamstringing our democracy, and stat. I believe Warren is more likely to institute policy change than Bernie (he’s more of an ideas man IMHO, and in a perfect world, Bernie for VP) but I will vote for whoever of the two has the bigger lead by the time the primary hits my state.
Good post, but looking at Warren over the years, she’s too negative and emotional and anecdotal for my taste, and I’m a cradle Dem now Progressive for many years. I don’t think she’s presidential-looking enough, meaning her stance and m.o., not her looks. It’s her manner. Maybe I’m wrong. And she’s not truly progressive. We need Progressive, not the same old same old Dem party bullcra-. It’s so tiring and frustrating. Still, I’d vote for her if she wins the nomination (but she won’t).
Too emotional, not impressive looking enough, and not a real progressive (absolutely no examples or definitions given)- sweet Jesus on a bicycle, this is the kind of stupid misogyny I’ve been hoping against hope we would avoid in 2020!
I disagree. Kamala is stronger general election candidate than Warren. She has the potential for a broader coalition than Warren. And while many of white women might vote for warren. I don’t see or hear the same enthusiasm for warren from black or brown women and I think most of them will land on Biden ( the older pragmatic ones) or Castro or booker. And if warren can’t improve her numbers amongst black and brown voters she is gonna have a hard time winning a primary.
I also think it’s disappointing you’re glad the only black woman is out, wether she’s your candidate or not you shouldn’t be happy the next debate stage now looks to be an all white debate…
I think people are ready for a substantial change rather than the usual milque-toast reaching-across-the-aisle centrism appeasement. I think revolutionary spirit is what the entire planet is feeling at this moment, to be frank. Obama-style hope didn’t work. It would have been nice if it did, and I realize he faced historical levels of Congressional obstruction, but we need a severe change and I think a lot of Democrats are ready to move past the typical political platitudes.
While I would love to have a female WOC Potus, I’m looking at what Warren is saying and she has plans for substantial change that addresses medical care, education, and the wealth gap. She has proven she will go after banks and people in power. She has proven she won’t rely on corporate or Super PAC money, which gives her to power to institute real change. My second choice is Bernie because he also realizes our system is broken and bought and we need to fundamentally change it. Are they white? Yes. Am I going to dismiss them because they are white? No.
Am I going to vote for a woman who fought to keep the overcrowded California prison system from releasing non-violent offenders? No. And while she disavowed the arguments, arguments were explicitly made on her office’s behalf that releasing prisoners would deplete California’s pool of prison labor. That is more troubling to me than the fact that Warren, like many white people I know, made too big of a deal of her very very minimal indigenous ancestry. I do care about voters of color. I think the plans that Bernie and Warren have put on offer will have the best results for systemic inequity. On the one hand whiteness does put blinders on you and I think Buttigeig is a great example of that. Role models are not going to solve racial educational gaps. I think Yang has absolutely been erased. However, I am not going to accept that the presence of melanin guarantees solidarity. In fact it puts pressure on a candidate of color to make gestures that reassure white voters. Remember how galling it was to watch Obama criticize the black community? To the point that articles like this were written? https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/opinion/my-brothers-keeper-obama.html
So, respectfully, I disagree.
This is very disappointing because when she is on her game she is FIRE! I would have loved to see her stick it to Trump nine ways to Sunday on that debate stage. You think that fat blob would have intimidated her, stalking her on the debate stage and standing too close–like he did Hilary? Hell no. She would have smacked his jello ass back to the other side of the stage with one of her stares.
At the very, very, very least she should be VP or Attorney General. Although, I would like her as AG to go after Barr and his ridiculous sh** and bring up charges on those traitors in Congress who keep doing Russia’s bidding. IF she can make a SC Justice cry — I want to see her make all the other POS cowards cry while she holds their feet to the fire for their brazen law breaking while holding office.
I’m upset that she’s not going to be on the debate stage. Even if she wasn’t going to win, having PoC and the perspectives of PoC really brought something to the debates that I’m afraid having 6 white people won’t. I’d be shocked if moderators asked questions about Black issues or if candidates tied overarching issues (rent, housing, healthcare) to people of color like Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, and Castro did.
Hell, my memory may be hazy, but I’m pretty sure they stopped asking questions that affected the latinx community when Castro stopped making the debate stage.
This is exactly where it’s going to hurt people now that she’s dropped out. I can’t imagine that these issues will ever be brought up again, at least not in a way that they’ll be done justice. I feel like the lack of represented view points is what sucks the most.
It’s going to be Biden v Bernie. Apparently Bernie has the support of the young working class and Biden the old. It’s just a matter of where the affluent white liberals end up going. First they liked Harris then Warren and now Mayor seems to be their man. But who knows where they’ll land?
I read from one of the Pod Savve America folks that she didn’t have the $$ to compete with the billionaires who are blitzing ad buys. That sucks imho as this means once again our elections are being influenced by people who think being rich makes them presidential material because that is working so well at present. It makes me want to scream.
I’m just gonna say that I wasn’t surprised, sad but not surprised. She hasn’t had the money or the numbers for a while. Also I kinda want her to be Attorney General now. If she wants to. She was AG of CA, she may not want to do it. But I just kinda love the thought of her running the DOJ (and clearing out Congress).
Hell VP is great too! Everybody wants to be “President” but there are so many limitations on being President. VP is defined by the VP. just my thoughts
She’s only 55 (I was shocked she is even that old) so she is so young in Presidential years, given the fact that apparently only septuagenarians and octogenarians need apply. I’m glad she is a Senator, she’s great.
Harris was already offered AG by Obama and turned it down.
A number of people In the comments here claiming POC didn’t support Kamala, this isn’t quite accurate.
It’s true that Biden has the black vote down for the time being but it’s also true that Kamala had the highest percentage of non white voters of all the people running (47%). Meaning her support was the most diverse in the party.
Buttigieg on the other hand has less support( 7%) amongst non white voters than even Bloomberg and yet he’s the one the media and the donor class has anointed at the expense of people like Beto and Kamala who actually had the ability to draw a diverse crowd. Meaning the potential to ignite the coalition that propelled the last democratic president to the White House..
It’s also true that of all the female candidates Kamala was the one who polled almost evenly with men and women. So in every way she was up there as one of the people with the potential for a big tent. So I think this decision to not support her ( I assume donors have pulled out since she’s citing fundraising issue) will come back to bite democrats in the ass.
I like Warren but unfortunately she hasnt shown she could create a broad coalition. Her support isn’t anywhere near as diverse as Kamala. It’s also pretty tragic that a person who consistently polls in the top 5 have to drop out while there’s at least 10 candidates polling lower and with no appeal to Pocs who are still in the race. Including a number of billionaires. It says a lot about the state of the primary and the DNC.
Harris wasn’t my first choice, but she is my Senator. I felt like this wasn’t her time and really like her as a Senator. Think she’d make an excellent AG or Secretary of State. Maybe future election because she is super intelligent and has the nerves. However, I want her to have at least another term as Senator. I will miss her in debates because her voice was needed, especially now that the Democrats are trying to push the centrists on us because they’re afraid to alienate the Trumpsters or the “mainstream”.
It wasn’t the Bernie Bros. A lot of black people and other minorities had some big issues and disagreements with her stances on policing and law enforcement and criminality in general. I find it deeply insulting and rather racist how everything is being framed as “white Bernie Bros sabotaged Kamala Harris by spreading a rumour that she’s a cop!” Black and brown people are perfectly capable of reading her very public stance on these issues and assessing for themselves what her opinions are and whether they align with theirs or not. This assumption that these people can’t think for themselves is really f-cking maddening as a whole. This assumption that minorities can’t POSSIBLY oppose other minority candidates without either being secretly white or somehow misinformed has also got to go. Good grief.
I liked Kamala Harris just fine. She was definitely a smart, capable individual. I think she was significantly hampered by funding issues, and that’s depressing since she had a great start. It’s so obvious that so many of her issues with this campaign stemmed from the fact that she was a minority candidate who was done a disservice with how the media covered her. Plenty of people I know had issues with her stances on policing and other things, but those people didn’t bring her down. The complete lack of spotlight and awareness about her as a candidate in the media did. But it doesn’t surprise me, considering I still hold the media coverage entirely responsible for providing us with Trump.
It disgusts me that the people we have left in the Dems category are Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and, for whatever f-cking reason, Michael Bloomberg.