What kind of nominee wins elections?

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 14, 2016 · 3:03 PM PDT

2016/03/14 · 15:03

We hear a lot about “electability” being a key criterion in choosing a presidential candidate. There is polling data showing that many Clinton supporters are voting for her, less out of ideological conviction than a belief that a more centrist candidate is likely to win the election in November.

Is this actually true? What does the historical evidence say on the subject?

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday September 02, 2009 · 1:32 PM PDT

2009/09/02 · 13:32

Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-AR, has finally taken a clear stand - on the wrong side.

"For some in my caucus, when they talk about a public option they’re talking about another entitlement program, and we can’t afford that right now as a nation...I’m not going to vote for a bill that’s not deficit-neutral, and I’m not going to vote for a bill that doesn’t do something about curbing the cost in the out years, because it would be pointless ... I would not support a solely government-funded public option. We can’t afford that."

Of course, the public option isn't government-funded - it's to be paid for by premiums. The CBO has scored versions of the bill with the public option as costing less than those without it.

I don't know whether Lincoln is being dishonest, or is leaving herself a little wiggle room to sound moderate and still support the real public option later. It doesn't matter. She's up for re-election in 2010 and needs to feel a little heat.

Contact her here.

There's other stuff in the bill besides the public option, you know

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 27, 2009 · 12:22 PM PDT

2009/08/27 · 12:22

The fight over the public option has taken on a symbolic importance well beyond its actual impact. For some of us, it has become a litmus test of whether a congressman is a "true" progressive, or some kind of sellout.

The public option is vital part of the bill. Without it, there is little incentive for the private insurance firms to reduce costs. They won't have the heavy regularly apparatus countries like Switzerland or the Netherlands have. And no private firm has the purchasing clout to force prices down the way Medicare or the public option does.

But there are other reforms in the bill too. There remains the possibility that, if the final bill doesn't contain a public option, liberal votes could sink it. This would be a terrible, terrible mistake.

Poll

84 votes Show Results

If the final bill has no public option, what would you want your congressman to do?

84 votes Vote Now!

If the final bill has no public option, what would you want your congressman to do?

Half a loaf is better than none

6 votes

No public option, no deal

44 votes

"No public option no deal" as a negotiating tactic only

8 votes

Depends on what's in the rest of the bill

22 votes

Don't know

4 votes

Does the public option have the votes or not?

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday August 17, 2009 · 9:25 PM PDT

2009/08/17 · 21:25

The assumption that most people on this site seem to be making is that a bill with the public option can get 50 votes in the Senate, but not 60. The Speaker has insisted that she has the votes in the House to pass a bill with a strong public option.

But what if we don't have the 50 votes?

Poll

67 votes Show Results

How many votes do you think the public option will get in the Senate?

67 votes Vote Now!

How many votes do you think the public option will get in the Senate?

60 or more

3 votes

55-59

6 votes

50-54

36 votes

49 or less

22 votes

What is Obama's NAFTA position?

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday February 25, 2008 · 1:19 PM PST

2008/02/25 · 13:19

I'm not being snarky. I really don't know what his position is. I hunted around his web site and all I could find were plans to "renegotiate" the deal. Renegotiate what, specifically?

Poll

74 votes Show Results

What should we do with NAFTA?

74 votes Vote Now!

What should we do with NAFTA?

Withdraw completely

38 votes

Renegotiate along Clinton's lines

6 votes

Renegotiate along this diary's lines

22 votes

Nothing; it's fine as is

8 votes

My Doubts about Obama

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday February 24, 2008 · 1:11 AM PST

2008/02/24 · 01:11

It really does mystify me why this community, and most of the liberal blogosphere, has been so enthusiastic about Barack Obama as a candidate. Yes, he is a compelling and inspiring speaker, and yes, he had the courage and foresight to oppose the Iraq war even at the height of the militaristic frenzy of 2002.

But there are negatives about him too; negatives that bother me as much as similar complaints about John Kerry in 2004. Once again, I feel I am getting a candidate I have to hold my nose for; rather that someone I'd truly get excited about - such as, say, John Edwards.

This is not to say Hillary Clinton is any better; I have just as many doubts about her, for some of the same reasons. However, her negatives hardly need elucidation on this site; she is already deeply unpopular here, and with her chances of winning looking increasingly slim, there is no point in criticizing a candidate who may soon be on the way out.

My doubts about Obama go all the way back to late 2005, when he posted a diary here at Daily Kos. In it, he was sharply critical of not just the netroots' policy positions, but the entire way we view the world.

Poll

146 votes Show Results

What do you think of Obama's rhetoric?

146 votes Vote Now!

What do you think of Obama's rhetoric?

Oh, go fry an egg, you Hillaryite

62 votes

You have a point but a minor one; Obama's speeches are brilliant

25 votes

I support Obama, but this does bother me

20 votes

Go Hillary!

39 votes

The Greatest Living American

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday July 31, 2007 · 8:16 AM PDT

2007/07/31 · 08:16

There is an American, still alive today, who saved lives.

Not one life, not two, not even ten. Not even thousands. Not even millions. This man has saved hundreds of millions of lives. This is a man who changed the world, who gave life and hope to uncounted multitudes.

You won't hear about him on Fox News. Or on CBS News. In fact (until now, of course) not even on Daily Kos.

Who is he? Below the fold.

Poll

55 votes Show Results

What is the most useless story the MSM has ever wasted time on?

55 votes Vote Now!

What is the most useless story the MSM has ever wasted time on?

The O.J. Simpson trial

5 votes

Various missing white girls

12 votes

Monica Lewinsky, Whitewater, etc.

1 vote

Swift Boat Veterans, other Kerry non-scandals

4 votes

The 2008 Republican "presidential race"

3 votes

Too many to count

29 votes

Other

1 vote

Give me a green card

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday May 22, 2007 · 11:08 AM PDT

2007/05/22 · 11:08

I have been in America for seven years.

In that time, I have come to feel, live, and think like an American. I spent Election Days 2004 and 2006 stumping for John Kerry and Tammy Duckworth. Despite all the harm Republicans have done to it, I see America's entrepreneurial zeal, Americans' thirst for excellence, their never-ceasing ambition to achieve all that they can. I enjoy a technology industry that is the envy of the world, and I mean that literally.

Why can't I stay here?

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 16, 2006 · 1:08 PM PDT

2006/10/16 · 13:08

...because I don't live in her district. Nor that of Melissa Bean.

Why then am I seeing ads for both of these candidates, on WGN-TV? Read More

Canada is turning Conservative

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday January 16, 2006 · 11:56 AM PST

2006/01/16 · 11:56

It has been drowned out a bit by the focus on the Alito hearings, but Canada has a federal election scheduled for Jan. 23. And the Conservative Party is headed for a majority government.

Stephen Harper's Conservative Party is at 38 percent in the polls, nine points ahead of the incumbent Liberal party. The social-democratic NDP has 16 percent, the Green Party 5, and the Quebec-separatist Bloc Quebecois 12.
Read More

The Fighters and the Sellouts

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday December 07, 2005 · 11:57 AM PST

2005/12/07 · 11:57

Wesley Clark has come out against the Murtha plan.

The key sentence in his op-ed:

Yet a more rapid departure of American troops along a timeline, as some Democrats are calling for, simply reduces our ability to affect the outcome and risks broader regional conflict.

It has been pointed out that most of Clark's op-ed is every bit as unrealistic as the Bush policy. Clark claims to support eventual withdrawal, but he then gives a long list of tasks for American troops to do - patrol the borders, disarm Shi'ite militias - that would expand the scope of the already impossible task list they face. He even wants the US to tell Iraq to modify its constitution again, which would turn Shi'ites and Kurds against us too, and not help much with Sunnis. Read More

The path to victory

tyronen

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 28, 2005 · 10:13 AM PST

2005/11/28 · 10:13

It may seem out of place that a diary here is devoted to discussing an article from the Weekly Standard. This article outlines a path to victory its authors think Republicans should use. In fact, it is nearly perfect for Democrats. If we have the courage to push for it - and Republicans the self-absorption to reject it - it outlines a path to regaining Congress and the presidency. Read More

Newer
Older

RSS

What kind of nominee wins elections?

Blanche Lincoln comes out against public option

There's other stuff in the bill besides the public option, you know

Does the public option have the votes or not?

What is Obama's NAFTA position?

My Doubts about Obama

The Greatest Living American

Give me a green card

I will not vote for Tammy Duckworth

Canada is turning Conservative

The Fighters and the Sellouts

The path to victory