All these wannabe Democratic nominees are wasting everybody's time

[DonViejo]

By Colbert I. King June 21 at 1:50 PM

The chance that Democratic Party convention delegates assembled in July 2020 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee will choose as their nominee for president of the United States a gentleman from the great nonstate of the District of Columbia named Colbert Isaiah King is zero.

Of course, there is a reasonable degree of certainty that the same fate awaits Bill de Blasio, John Delaney, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Jay Inslee, Tim Ryan, Michael F. Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand, John Hickenlooper, Eric Swalwell, Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang. The difference between them and moi, however, is that I am not going to waste time, money or any thought whatsoever over that foregone conclusion.

Those wannabe Democratic nominees, on the other hand, are going to fritter away energy next week in Miami in what are billed as the first Democratic presidential primary debates. In fact, the debates are little more than a cattle call in which contestants try mightily to stand out from the herd. Good luck with that.

The sheer volume of noncompetitive competitors is a distraction that Democrats can ill afford, given the enormity of the disaster at hand. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important than getting that mean-spirited, embarrassingly gauche, wishy-washy blowhard out of the White House.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/all-these-wannabe-democratic-nominees-are-wasting-everybodys-time/2019/06/21/f7221116-9417-11e9-aadb-74e6b2b46f6a_story.html

[vlyons]

1. They are auditioning for something else

The VP slot, a cabinet position, or name recognition to run for another office

[rampartc]

4. some may be selling books

and garnering a few delegates might give some state's favorite governor a decent bargaining position at what may well be a brokered convention.

[shanny]

9. or public awareness of "their" issue

like Inslee, for example*


*fwiw that one should be "our" issue

[marylandblue]

19. Warren has one issue - wealth inequality. That seems to be selling better.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I couldn't agree more.

"This is no time for start-ups. A party that spends time, money and energy enabling Don Quixote primary campaigns fueled by delusions of grandeur is stupid.

Democratic convention delegates face deadly serious business next summer. Party leaders organizing and directing the primary season should act like it."

I hope that after these debates the candidates who never had a chance in the first place will finally get a clue, drop out, and help the party put together a solid campaign for a candidate who really can win.

[emmaverybo]

14. Agree with every word. NT

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I don't know this author, but he is dead wrong.

We are not wasting our time, listening to all these candidates make their pitches.

Of course, many will fall by the wayside, esp. after the late June debates and that will help bring the primary season into sharp focus.

These "noncompetitive competitors" are not a distraction! They help us sort out what the important topics are.

He just doesn't know what he's talking about.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Colbert King is a very well-respected, well-known Washington Post columnist.

He's been around for many years; he's the deputy editor of the Post's editorial page and has won a Pulizter for commentary. He most certainly does know what he's talking about. You might disagree with him, but he's very definitely someone who doesn't pull his opinions out of his butt.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Thanks for the info! OK, I'll say I disagree with him. I sure do.

[shanny]

10. Me too.

We don't need gatekeepers, we can figure this stuff out on our own, and in good time.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. Exactly.

[Autumn]

7. Maybe the author of the WP piece has never seen a primary and has no clue how our

President is chosen.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. See #6. Colbert King has been writing for the WaPo for almost 30 years.

He's the deputy editor of the Post's editorial page and has won a Pulitzer for commentary, and had a very distinguished career before joining the Post. I'm pretty sure he's seen a few primaries during his long life.

From 1961 to 1963, King served as an officer in the United States Army Adjutant General's Corps, then worked as special officer for the United States Department of State through 1970, eventually leaving over objections to the Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO). He then spent a year on a fellowship at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, working with James Farmer to draw national attention to sickle-cell anemia and other underserved minority health care issues.

From 1971 to 1972, King was a VISTA volunteer. In 1972, he became minority staff director of the United States Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, where he helped draft the District of Columbia Home Rule Act.

In 1976, King became Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department, then was appointed U.S. executive director to the World Bank by President Jimmy Carter.

In 1980, he became executive vice president for the Middle East and Africa at Riggs Bank, where he served for 10 years and became a member of the board of directors.

King joined The Washington Post's editorial board in 1990, then became the editorial page's deputy editor in 2000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colbert_I._King

[Autumn]

15. Well whoever he is he's wrong. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. In what way?

[Autumn]

21. I happen to think that a full and robust primary with a lot of choices is a good thing. nt

[tishaLA]

20. And some of them, like Castro and Inslee, have great policy ideas

Inslee on the environment and Castro on immigration and housing. Their ideas push the rest of the field to be better

[Doreen]

5. I think it is dangerous for a successful

outcome with so many in the pool. I think with so many people spread out that when it comes to voting in the general that to many people will just turn away and not vote at all because their candidate did not make it.

I also feel there are to many people attacking each other making their opponents look so bad that it will be much harder to get their followes to turn to the opponent that won the primary.

[R B Garr]

13. We have been talking about and noticing that, too.

It’s way too much and is meaningless. It’s a senseless “cattle call,” to quote the article.

[marylandblue]

18. Why do we think we have powers we do not have, and visions that everyone shares?

We knew that we would have a lot of contenders this time around. It was obvious the day Trump won. Everybody in the world said, "If that idiot could do, why can't I?" Plus, this time, there is no heir apparent and no golden boy. The closest we have is Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg and we aren't even all settled on that. So of course we were going to have a cattle call to start, it was predicted years ago.

Second, we are in fact disunified. Of course we are. We just got our asses handed to us by complete moron and nobody actually knows what we should do about. If they say they know, they are lying. It's not like there's a How To Defeat Morons handbook out there. Calls for unity are pointless. It isn't going to happen. Yet. First we have to settle some questions.

The first question is: Is this election about the future, or is it about defeating Trump? Don't worry we'll decide soon. We are going to see a lot of Joe Biden arguing it's all about defeating Trump. If most people agree, he's in, we're done, hope he wins.

If most people think this election is about the future, Biden is going to get old really fast, and he will sink. Then we will have to decide what that future ought to be. But that's a question for another day.