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[Trekkin]

So before the Democratic debates start, did anyone else read about the NRA?

Not only did they lose their propaganda network, they also lost their top lobbyist on the same day.

I'd just like to remind everyone that politicizing such a tragedy would be crass so soon after it's happened, and we should all confine our attempts to aid them to thoughts and prayers.

[Lord Shonus]

This has all been known for weeks. The NRA's had multiple acrimonious lawsuits with the agency that operates NRA TV, and the power struggle at the top levels was reported on quite some time ago.

[Dunamisdeos]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha these people are insane.

[Alabama car dealership offers free shotgun, Bible and American flag to customers]

(They are apparently handing out bibles and vouchers to go to a local gun store where background checks and the like are performed before handing someone their car shotgun. It's also a town with a heavy hunting community.)

[MrRoboto75]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha these people are insane.

[Alabama car dealership offers free shotgun, Bible and American flag to customers]

(They are apparently handing out bibles and vouchers to go to a local gun store where background checks and the like are performed before handing someone their car shotgun. It's also a town with a heavy hunting community.)

Brings new meaning to 'riding shotgun'

[LordBaal]

Bottomer line, trust no one but your used car, your bible, flag and shotgun.

[smjjames]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha these people are insane.

[Alabama car dealership offers free shotgun, Bible and American flag to customers]

(They are apparently handing out bibles and vouchers to go to a local gun store where background checks and the like are performed before handing someone their car shotgun. It's also a town with a heavy hunting community.)

I suppose nobody would mind getting another flag, though most in that area would already have a bible and at least one gun, so, I'm not sure how far that marketing is going to go. I suppose it might be aimed at youngsters who don't own their own bible and haven't gotten their personal shotgun yet for whatever reason. It's probably also playing heavily to stereotype.

Anyways, first round of the first Democratic debates is starting soon, like 10 minutes.

[nenjin]

Shit's getting (even) weirder in Oregon.

[smjjames]

What's a debate without the occasional technical glitch, heh, something about the moderators microphones accidentially being switched off in the control room I think.

I guess Trump thought there'd be more contentous stuff or more attacking of him because the only tweet so far is BORING!

[MrRoboto75]

Not like I could name even half the democrats running, much less why they are running.

[Frumple]

I might be able to name most of them if i tried, but im less sure i could identify them. Name, maybe, match name to correct face, eeehhh...

Whys are a bit easier, though, for some. Inslee's probably angling for sec of energy or EPA position (which might actually be pretty legit given how hard he's hammering climate issues), yang's fluffing UBI, de blah wants a vacation away from NYC, etc. Some folks are probably aiming for VP or cabinet pick, stuff like that.

[wierd]

Here I was thinking they wanted to show solidarity (of a sort, through numbers) that they are against Trump.

Sure, each has their own policies they want to trumpet, but I thought it was mostly "Hey! We aren't trump! We strongly oppose his bullshit! Pick one of us, PLEASE!"

[MrRoboto75]

"Not Trump" isn't a platform though.  No shit you aren't trump.  That's literally the default, people basically already know that as you have a big D next to your name.

[wierd]

It's sorta the same psychology for why there were 23 GOP candidates in the 2016 election.  "We aren't Obama! We're all white dudes that love money! Vote for one of us!"

In this case, it's "We aren't Trump! We are a diverse group of people that want to fix social issues!  Vote for one of us!"



They might not be aware of this, (or they might be, not sure) but basically the subtle message is there. Yeah, it's a no brainer that none of them are Trump.  However, if few candidates ran, what subtle message would that send? (Take for instance, the unconscious message that would be sent if only Bernie, Biden, and Warren were running. 'those are all old leather bags of skin!' et al, would be common epithets. The DNC seems to be playing the field, so to speak, and presenting a selection of candidates which correspond to a smattering of biases, hoping that one of them will stick. Party leadership likely wants one of these contenders to steal mindshare from Sanders and Warren, because those two would seriously upset the status quo apple cart.)

Ultimately, the number of candidates will be culled strongly in the primaries, but at this point, making a big show of having lots of "eager, willing" people that want to replace President Toupee sends strong subconscious messages of the sort I just mentioned.

[Lord Shonus]

That implies that there was a deliberate choice to have so many candidates, which I doubt. The wide.field is mostly due to a lack of an obvious first string candidate, combine with identity politics ensuring that there was a huge variety in the "just notable enough to build a platform" tier.

[Trekkin]

That implies that there was a deliberate choice to have so many candidates, which I doubt. The wide.field is mostly due to a lack of an obvious first string candidate, combine with identity politics ensuring that there was a huge variety in the "just notable enough to build a platform" tier.

Yes, this; the DNC didn't choose to have 24 candidates, because that's not how the primary process works. Even the circumspect controls they usually have are less powerful this year, if only because the progressive wing is breathing down Perez's neck looking for evidence the DNC's sold itself to a candidate under the table again.

I think the large field is also just the new normal; whether you want to blame Trump for removing all sense of what makes someone presidential timber or social media for changing how we talk about candidates, the fact remains that the bar to entry into the primary is now low enough that it's a viable strategy to get on a crowded stage, emit a viral sound bite, and ride that wave as far as it goes before just turning it into whatever off-ramp you want. The median level of ambition is somewhere around getting enough of a bloc together to trade an endorsement of the eventual front-runner for a Cabinet position; offhand, maybe a quarter of the current field is seriously trying to win the nomination, with another quarter just looking for a national platform to parlay into something in the private sector.