Bullock says Democrats 'are well on our way to losing this election'

[left-of-center2012]

Democratic presidential hopeful Steve Bullock warned Wednesday that intraparty rifts within the crowded primary field threaten to undermine the party’s larger ambitions of defeating President Trump in 2020.

Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the Montana governor recalled the explosive clashes between centrists and progressives that erupted during the second round of Democratic primary debates in Detroit last week. “Let me put it plainly: We cannot defeat Donald Trump’s politics of personal destruction if we practice the politics of self-destruction,” he added. “The fact is, we are well on our way to losing this election long before it ever really even is started.”

Tensions between competing factions of the Democratic Party have simmered in the presidential primary field for months. But they burst into public view last week as the candidates argued over their views on health care, immigration and criminal justice reform.

The debate saw some candidates turn on the legacy of former President Obama, one of the Democratic Party’s most popular figures. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) repeatedly pressed former Vice President Joe Biden on what he did to curb immigrant deportations during the Obama administration. And Julián Castro, the Housing and Urban Development secretary under Obama, suggested that Biden had failed to acknowledge the shortcomings of the administration in which he served. “It looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and one of us hasn't," Castro said, addressing Biden.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/456605-bullock-says-democrats-are-well-on-our-way-to-losing-this-election

[DrToast]

1. I'm not worried.

I haven’t seen anything to indicate we won’t come together around a nominee.

[zackymilly]

2. Once the field of candidates is thinned out, things will come together. n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I think after this week we won't see much criticism of Obama,

which was stupid in the first place, but this was a wake-up call for the candidates to think about what they're really trying to do, and that's not to bust on Obama or pick apart the minutiae of each others' health care reform ideas. Trump is an existential threat, a fact of which this week is has been a reminder, and taking pot-shots at Obama's legacy is not just dumb but political suicide. Of course, neither Castro nor De Blasio has a chance at the nomination (nor does Bullock), so maybe it's not such a big deal anyhow.

[rocktivity]

4. Don't believe the hype

Not according to the Real Clear Politics polls, which are as GOP as you can get:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/national_general_election/

As of August 6, even Fox News has Biden AND Sanders ahead by cheat-proof margins.

They're just trying to plant the idea in our heads and intimidate us into accepting it.


rocktivity

[George II]

5. So, he's complaining about "intraparty rifts" as he creates a new "intraparty rift". Go figure.

[JI7]

8. no, he is complaining about those that attack Obama

[BeyondGeography]

6. Moderate scaremongering

Curb your enthusiasm, people. A surefire path to victory.

[JI7]

7. the nominee will be a pro Obama Democrat

[Atticus]

9. Who? nt

[YOHABLO]

10. If everyone agreed on the same ways of solving problems there'd be no need for debate.