Pragidealist Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 1 hour ago, klaatu- said: I could see myself voting for Robert O'Rourke but I don't think I can pull the lever for Beto. You're running for President of the US, not high school student council. Drop the nickname like the rest of us did when we became adults. Guess we all base our votes on wildly different criteria Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
9 Nines Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 (edited) One of the best things about Beto O'Rourke is that he does not throw his Irish heritage into your face, even though he is clearly Irish, the way another person throws her very remote Native American ancestry every chance she gets. Edited January 5, 2019 by 9 Nines Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
klaatu'sAngel'sUncle Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 34 minutes ago, Pragidealist said: Guess we all base our votes on wildly different criteria Still extremely early in the process and it was a joke. I just think he would fare better with a traditional name. Bob or even Bobby would be ok. Rob is iffy and Robbie doesn't sound presidential at all, like Beto. thor 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
9 Nines Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) While Cherokee Hillary Dukakis is taking more NDA tests and other stuff that helps President Trump, Beto O'Rourke will be touring America. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) “is asking aides to create an itinerary for him to take a solo road trip outside of Texas where he would ‘pop into places’ such as community college campuses, as he considers whether to enter the 2020 Democratic presidential primary,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Mr. O’Rourke’s trip would begin from his El Paso home and keep him away from Iowa and other early-voting states.” Edited January 7, 2019 by 9 Nines Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legaltitan Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythos27 Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 I like Beto and would likely vote for him but I think he speaks in too many vagaries and platitudes for me personally. At the risk of sounding like a Trump voter, I like politicians that are a little more plain-spoken. I worry he might come off as a "phony politician" to many Americans. That said, the Trump era might have very well paved the way for a more standard politician type like Beto. He also doesn't really dive into specific policies enough for me though maybe that just means that I have to be more proactive in seeking out his policy positions. All in all he's shaping up to be a decent candidate though I would personally prefer Bernie or Warren. My worry with Beto is that much like Obama, he'll campaign as a progressive but govern like a moderate corporatist. After Trump though, Obama-lite is looking mighty good right about now. MadMax 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkiller Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Obama didn’t campaign like some big liberal. I think people on the left just saw what they wanted to see. Partly that was by design, because he didn’t let himself get pinned to any particular part of the political spectrum. But going back to 2008, there really weren’t many differences between Obama and Hillary on politics. The biggest difference was Iraq. But he wasn’t out there like Bernie campaigning for free college or anything like that. Mythos27 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legaltitan Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 15 minutes ago, Mythos27 said: After Trump though, Obama-lite is looking mighty good right about now. THIS. If the biggest risk is that Beto ends up governing more moderately than progressives hope, I can live with that. Also, you have to remember why Obama tried to govern as a moderate, and how it screwed him. Rather than stake out a progressive position, Obama would make his opening position fairly moderate. And because he had been successfully branded by the GOP as "Leftist/socialist/radical" anything Obama proposed was immediately deemed to be ultra-leftist/socialist/radical. this is why and how, more than anything, the country lurched to the right. What used to be relatively moderate, left of center suddenly became the "radical far left." Obama never seemed to realize this was happening, as he did it from the very beginning of his presidency through the end. Well, at least after the automobile bailout. So even if Beto is more moderate, as long as he doesn't make that huge mistake Obama made again and again and again (see health care, immigration, Justice Garland, etc.) Mythos27, thor, Pragidealist, and 1 other 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legaltitan Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 10 minutes ago, Starkiller said: Obama didn’t campaign like some big liberal. I think people on the left just saw what they wanted to see. Partly that was by design, because he didn’t let himself get pinned to any particular part of the political spectrum. But going back to 2008, there really weren’t many differences between Obama and Hillary on politics. The biggest difference was Iraq. But he wasn’t out there like Bernie campaigning for free college or anything like that. This is very true and something people forget, or weren't paying attention to from the beginning. He drew alot of flack in the primaries when he talked about how Republicans were the party of ideas, and how he admired Reagan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkiller Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 In the end of the Dubya era, Dems/libs/moderates would have been willing to support anything new. The same will be true in 2020. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythos27 Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 2 minutes ago, Legaltitan said: THIS. If the biggest risk is that Beto ends up governing more moderately than progressives hope, I can live with that. Also, you have to remember why Obama tried to govern as a moderate, and how it screwed him. Rather than stake out a progressive position, Obama would make his opening position fairly moderate. And because he had been successfully branded by the GOP as "Leftist/socialist/radical" anything Obama proposed was immediately deemed to be ultra-leftist/socialist/radical. this is why and how, more than anything, the country lurched to the right. What used to be relatively moderate, left of center suddenly became the "radical far left." Obama never seemed to realize this was happening, as he did it from the very beginning of his presidency through the end. Well, at least after the automobile bailout. So even if Beto is more moderate, as long as he doesn't make that huge mistake Obama made again and again and again (see health care, immigration, Justice Garland, etc.) 100% on the money. Obama for all his salesmanship as a candidate had very little charisma and lost damn near every PR battle while in office. The poor bastard expected the American people to be fair and knowledgeable enough to see through the partisan BS the republicans were pushing. He wised up but the damaged had been done. If Beto can sell his policies and counter the right wing spin machine he might govern well enough to not find himself cornered. Legaltitan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythos27 Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 17 minutes ago, Starkiller said: Obama didn’t campaign like some big liberal. I think people on the left just saw what they wanted to see. Partly that was by design, because he didn’t let himself get pinned to any particular part of the political spectrum. But going back to 2008, there really weren’t many differences between Obama and Hillary on politics. The biggest difference was Iraq. But he wasn’t out there like Bernie campaigning for free college or anything like that. There is a lot of truth to this. I was 20 when Obama was running and admittedly knew very little about politics so I'm sure I did project some of what I wanted on to him. I still struggle to accept the fact that any time someone wants to do something for working families like universal pre-k, healthcare, or college they're vilified while corporate hand outs are so commonplace no one bats an eyelash. Legaltitan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkiller Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Just now, Mythos27 said: There is a lot of truth to this. I was 20 when Obama was running and admittedly knew very little about politics so I'm sure I did project some of what I wanted on to him. I still struggle to accept the fact that any time someone wants to do something for working families like universal pre-k, healthcare, or college they're vilified while corporate hand outs are so commonplace no one bats an eyelash. You can count on right wing media to attack any Democrat as “socialist” nowadays. It just comes with the territory. Mythos27 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Legaltitan Posted January 8, 2019 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 1 hour ago, Starkiller said: You can count on right wing media to attack any Democrat as “socialist” nowadays. It just comes with the territory. Correct, and Obama never figured this out. He was damned no matter what he did, so he might as well have fought for progressive policies. But I still really liked Obama and still like him. He was and remains very inspiring to me, and I liked the civility and intelligence and class he and his family brought to Washington. He made many mistakes, but that comes with the territory. But at least he did it all with class and grace. Mythos27, MadMax, thor, and 2 others 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragidealist Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 4 hours ago, Starkiller said: Obama didn’t campaign like some big liberal. I think people on the left just saw what they wanted to see. Partly that was by design, because he didn’t let himself get pinned to any particular part of the political spectrum. But going back to 2008, there really weren’t many differences between Obama and Hillary on politics. The biggest difference was Iraq. But he wasn’t out there like Bernie campaigning for free college or anything like that. What was liberal and pulled things left then and now - are not the same. He ran on a much more left agenda. By the end - they were much closer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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