I voted in the TX Democratic primary today. Here's what I can tell you.

[Laelth]

I live in conservative, East Texas. If there's some "operation chaos" going on, I didn't see it. My daughter and I were the only two people at our polling location who requested Democratic ballots. Everybody else in the room requested a Republican ballot, and there were more than a few. My daughter was the youngest person in the room. I was the third youngest person in the room, and I am not that young. I got the sense that the people around me would have been embarrassed to request a Democratic ballot. They didn't. Everybody else that we saw in the thirty minutes that we waited to vote selected a Republican ballot.

Now, as to my vote. Please remember that I think that Daffy Duck could beat Donald Trump in November if he ran as a Democrat. Each of our three viable candidates (Biden, Sanders, and Bloomberg) will beat Donald Trump in November in my opinion, so I went into the voting booth assuming that I was voting for President. Whom, of our three viable candidates, do I want to see leading the party and America? They all have strengths and weaknesses. This is the toughest vote I have ever cast in my life.

I decided to go with the energy in the party. I decided to go with the future of the party. I decided to vote with the youth of the party. I decided to vote with the enormous number of Latinos who, this year, are voting Democratic for the first time. I decided to vote with them (and with my daughter).

Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised us a chicken in every pot in 1932. We want the whole chicken in our pots, and we want it now! I voted for the candidate who is saying "Yes, we can" and not "No, we can't" to the following policy proposals:

1. M4A
2. Massive increase in the minimum wage
3. Free state-run college for all who qualify
4. Student loan debt relief
5. Address climate change in a significant way

Only one candidate is promising us this chicken in our pots, and we don't care whether or not he can actually deliver it. It matters, to us, that he agrees that we deserve these things (things enjoyed by all the civilized nations on Earth). Only one viable candidate has proven his willingness to fight for these things. No half-chicken is gonna do at this point. We want THE WHOLE CHICKEN. We deserve it.

I voted for BERNIE SANDERS.

-Laelth

[Reader Rabbit]

1. Um...I am of the opinion that we have FOUR viable candidates.

Was Warren not on the ballot in Texas?

[Laelth]

3. I had seventeen choices.

I only considered three truly viable (Bloomberg, Biden, and Sanders).

I adore Elizabeth, truly. I just don't think she has a shot this year.



-Laelth

[TwilightZone]

2. "we don't care whether or not he can actually deliver"

If a candidate makes promises that can't be delivered, the promises are meaningless. If that's all it would take to win elections, every candidate would promise the moon every cycle.

[LonePirate]

6. The current president has made numerous promises he hasn't delivered but his supporters do not care.

[LongtimeAZDem]

14. I think TwilightZone's point is that we should be smarter than Trumpers, but OK

[LonePirate]

24. If that was the case, Warren would be running away with the primaries as she backs up her promises

She has blueprints on how to make all of her promises a reality. None of her male counterparts can match that. So, I would say meaningless promises are not the exclusive province of Republicans.

[LongtimeAZDem]

28. No, because she has no realistic chances of winning the necessary swing states.

Policy is useless without a path to implementation.

[LonePirate]

32. What good is winning if you have no significant policies beyond band aids to implement?

[LongtimeAZDem]

36. I agree, and given his long record of actual legislation, including the VAWA and the first-ever

proposed effort to confront global warming, Biden can do both.

Warren might be able to get some of her agenda passed if shoe could win, but since she almost certainly can't, it doesn't matter.

[LonePirate]

37. You and I certainly disagree on the depths of his proposed policies.

I guess it is easier not to break promises if you don’t promise to do anything if elected.

[LongtimeAZDem]

38. We do, and again, if Warren can't win the swing states, she can't win the presidency, and

her policies are irrelevant.

Maybe she should endorse Biden and begin advocating for her proposals.

[LonePirate]

40. Except she can win them, especially if people want actual solutions to their real world problems.

Unfortunately, many people do not want their problems solved or they want fake problems solved, such as the one that can only be solved with a wall at our southern border.

[LongtimeAZDem]

45. OK

[pampango]

39. We want our candidates to have lofty goals. They will inevitably not achieve all or even most

of them.

All presidential candidates 'promise' more than they ever actually deliver. I suspect that Biden or Bloomberg will not be able to deliver on all of their 'promises'.

I want our candidate to have a vision even if that vision will be hard to achieve. And making the US more like the rest of the developed world in terms of the safety net does not seem like unreasonable. We may not be able to achieve it in the next 4 years but not talking about the idea is not going to help make it happen.

[Doremus]

43. It's the difference between aiming high and shooting your own foot,

i.e. "single payer is off the table."

Does that sound like a sincere attempt to negotiate the best deal possible? Not to me it doesn't.

[dansolo]

46. A public option is aiming high

I think that insisting that M4A is the only option is a better example of "shooting your own foot". The problem with Bernie's approach is that he leaves no room for negotiation.

[TwilightZone]

47. It's the difference between fantasy and reality.

Congressional leaders understand their members and generally know what can pass and what can't. So do the members themselves, including Bernie Sandres.

When they tried to get single-payer through in 2010, there were fewer than ten Senators in favor. Sanders even said at the time that it had no chance.*

How is a politician promising to do something they know can't pass better than someone else telling you - correctly, I might add - that it won't pass?

Was Sanders trying to get the best deal possible? All it should have taken is a little negotiation. Why couldn't he get another 50 votes? Because it had no chance. Sanders even said so. Do you believe him?

Politicians understand the political environment better than we give them credit for. Sanders *knows* that he can't pass some of these things and promises that he alone can do so anyway.

That's...good?


*Source: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/sanders-single-payer-never-had-a-chance

[Alpeduez21]

55. I seem to recall Biden promising repukes

Would work with him. I’ve already seen that not be the case from 2008-2016.

At least the proposals in the OP are potentially realistic goals

[TwilightZone]

60. Most of the 300 bills sitting on McConnell's desk are bipartisan in some form.

They either had Republican co-sponsors or Republican support, if limited in many cases.

So, the underlying assertion that he can't work with them is false.

The assertion that no one can work with them is also false. We're working with them now to some degree, including attempts to limit Trump's war powers, which passed with a majority in the Senate.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/us/politics/iran-war-powers-trump.html

Did he promise they'd give him everything? Nope. Is a promise that they'd work with him in some form false? Nope.

"At least the proposals in the OP are potentially realistic goals "

Not compared to bills that were already passed.

On a similar note, what's your take on this? See this as the same problem?

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/09/bernie-sanders-says-hell-work-with-trump-on-working-class-issues.html

[HarlanPepper]

4. Hate to bust up your narrative

But it was actually Hoover who had the chicken in every pot line:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/187095

You have the whole thing backwards, actually. Oh well. I suppose for someone who doesn’t care about results according to your OP, accuracy is a secondary consideration as well.

[still_one]

9. Ya beat me to it

[HarlanPepper]

13. Here's my favorite picture of FDR

And here is FDR as a youth:

[still_one]

15. LOL

[JustAnotherGen]

19. Oh!

[Moderateguy]

23. Oh wow..

I did not realize until today that FDR had the use of his legs as an adult

[Turin_C3PO]

16. No need to insult her.

People make mistakes and misremember stuff. We’ve all done it.

[Laelth]

18. Well, darn! That does bust up my narrative.

Still, I appreciate the education and respectfully stand corrected.

My ultimate point, however, that the people want what Bernie is promising to fight for, stands.

-Laelth

[Doremus]

44. Yes, and they want someone who WILL fight, not capitulate after a half-hearted effort. nt

[drray23]

20. It was Henry the fourth, a french king who first said it.

At least, that's what every French kid learn in elementary school.


https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poule_au_pot

[jimfields33]

27. Good grief now we have to match step in the primary?

This is such a shame. It used to be primary who you like. General vote who won. Very disappointing that we no longer have a choice. Well I guess we have a choice but if we don’t go with the popular kids then we are bashed over and over again. Sad what is happening.

[Turin_C3PO]

5. I support most of Sanders' policies.

But I don’t like some aspects of his personality and especially don’t like his army of toxic supporters (not the majority of Bernie voters, of course) on Twitter and Facebook. But good on you for voting your conscience and here’s to winning in November!

[CentralMass]

7. Many thanks to you and your daughter Laelth.

[still_one]

8. Chicken in every pot was Herbert Hoover, not FDR

[Kaleva]

10. As mentioned, it was Hoover who promised a chicken in every pot

[mvd]

11. K&R and thanks for your support!

Your sentence about “we deserve these things” is very important. There are candidates who think there is no big structural change needed at all, and I highly disagree. I know Sanders doesn’t have a magic wand, and I am sure he knows too. But now is the time to point out your vision. Some compromise can come later. I feel great that he is an advocate for so many ideas that should be common sense. Of course, if Biden has a big night tonight, I will accept that.

[Laelth]

64. It won't be big enough to guarantee the nomination.

We are almost certainly heading for a brokered convention, for better or for worse. Bernie is going to clean house today.

-Laelth

[LizBeth]

12. Come to a blue state. Our Democrats are raising that minimum wage and taking care of the

workers. I care if they can actually get something done. Life and death for some of us. But then, I am not youth, just an old person. Meh.

[Laelth]

21. I would if I could.

I am currently trapped in Republican hell.

-Laelth

[LizBeth]

25. I get that. I was too. You miss the points. The Democrats are doing the damn work where they

can. Where they have the vote. It is not the establishment holding back these plans, but you and you daughter blame them. It is Republicans stopping progressive law. But, you are good with promises you know cannot be done, while weakening the down tickets, stopping Democrats from getting into office so you too can have federal laws passed to help you like we in blue states already have because we have the damn establishment in office.

It doesn't make a bit of sense.

Edit: To be clear, I am good with both you choosing Sanders. Your vote. But the reasoning is skewed.

[LongtimeAZDem]

17. "we don't care whether or not he can actually deliver it" So, not only are you selling your vote

for a promise, you don't even care if it can be done?

Do you seriously think this sounds rational, or responsible?

[zackymilly]

22. I thought we decided you were going to vote for the candidate who has always been a Democrat.

What happened?

[Laelth]

29. Sigh. That's a tough one.

I really did agonize over this decision for about 24 hours. In the end, I had to support my daughter on this. She chose Bernie, and she convinced me to do so as well.

In case Biden or Bloomberg gets the party’ nod in July, you know I will vote blue no matter who, but today, I had to support my daughter (and her future).

-Laelth

[zackymilly]

30. Never let your kids run all over you.

[mvd]

42. Same here

We have to get Trump out. But I feel some miss the point. People who believe in Bernie’s ideas would not be better off with someone who dismisses them entirely.

[relayerbob]

26. Thank you for your vote

However, it will be interesting to see whether the "youth" will turn out on this day. They haven't in the previous four contests

[LenaBaby61]

33. The statement you made below 👇🏻👇🏻

"It will be interesting to see whether the "youth" will turn out on this day. They haven't in the previous four contests."

Is extremely troubling

[JCMach1]

31. Exact opposite experience in Still reddish Collin County

That's North Dallas Burbs (red trending purple area).

Virtually no one voting Republican in a very Republican precinct

On a positive note, Collin now has any polling place voting and a paper trail

[Laelth]

34. That's a good sign, imo.

If Collin county goes Democratic, we could win TX in the GE.

I am in the Free State of Van Zandt (Van Zandt County). It’s going Republican without a doubt.

-Laelth

[Sloumeau]

35. Roosevelt never promised a chicken in every pot.

On October 30, 1928, the Republicans ran an advertisement that mentioned a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. In the 1932 Presidential Election in which FDR was the nominee, the Democrats sought to embarrass then-President Hoover by recalling Hoover's alleged statement. However, there is no evidence that Hoover ever made the statement, but Republican operatives definitely printed the advertisement in 1928 claiming that this is what the Republicans had given America. One can view the ad here:

https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/great-depression-and-herbert-hoover/chicken]

About one year after that ad was placed, the Great Depression began. So much for Republican claims of prosperity.

In 1934, politician Huey Long talked about a chicken in every pot, and every man a king. However, I can find no record of FDR ever talking about a chicken in every pot, and the Democratic Party only mentioned it because of the 1928 Republican advertisement.

Roosevelt believed in underpromising and overdelivering. He believed in promising general improvements and then hitting it out of the park in office. Roosevelt was a die-hard Capitalist and a believer in the people. He never wanted to be called a Socialist and fought hard against that label. Roosevelt would have thought that Bernie Sanders was foolish both for calling himself a Socialist and for making huge promises without really knowing the costs of those promises.

[msongs]

41. no chicken? how bout an F35 in every garage nt

[Laelth]

50. Admittedly, those planes are awfully expensive.

But my daughter and I are willing to settle for the chicken. That said, we’re voting for the whole chicken this time.



-Laelth

[TwilightZone]

53. It sounds like you're voting for the promise of a chicken.

And don't really care if you actually get it or not. The promise is enough.

[Laelth]

58. You nailed it, and I hope you get the message.

My sense of the Democratic electorate, at the moment, is that we want to vote for someone who is promising to fight for what we deserve—the things that other civilized nations have and take for granted. At least, that’s what much of the Democratic electorate seems to be saying. I think that the party needs to listen to this message. The consequences may be severe if we don’t.

-Laelth

[DemocratSinceBirth]

48. "Now, as to my vote. Please remember that I think that Daffy Duck could beat Donald Trump in Nov. "

What a profoundly dangerous assumption in light of everything we have been through.

[TwilightZone]

51. Excellent point.

I kind of blew right by that.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

54. Where is he getting that notion?

[TwilightZone]

57. No idea.

The situation really hasn't changed much since 2016, except for a couple of states moving a little here and there. Approval rating is about the same, state polls are about the same. Wisconsin looks a little shaky. There's really no reason not to believe that we're looking at a situation very similar to 2016.

Maybe it's something about Sanders. It seems that his supporters more often than others tend to think anybody can beat the guy, so why not Sanders?

[Aaron Pereira]

49. Thank you and nice to have you aboard!

I've seen so much hostility directed toward Sanders recently it's good to know that people are willing to get into the voting booth and listen to their own instincts.

[beachbumbob]

52. Last time a "youth back movement" to get "their" candidate happen was 1972, I dare say

not much has changed with America and if you don;t study history, likely will repeat the same mistakes.

You do know how THAT election turned out right?

[lapucelle]

56. FDR didn't promise "a chicken in [sic] every pot" in 1932. Republican Herbert Hoover did in 1928,

almost a year to the day before the stock market crash. It was a empty slogan backed by a worthless promise whose purpose was to manipulate regular folks into voting against the Democratic Party.

*********************************************************************************************************



https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/great-depression-and-herbert-hoover/chicken

[Laelth]

59. No chicken?

Well, darn! That just destroys my whole argument, doesn’t it?



-Laelth

[lapucelle]

61. Which of the F.D.R. Wannabes Actually Understands New Deal Liberalism?

Suddenly, Franklin D. Roosevelt is all the rage. But many Democrats don’t understand what his legacy means.

Suddenly [...] Roosevelt is alive again in the 2020 Democratic primary campaign: His ideas for using government to improve lives echo through stump speeches across Iowa and New Hampshire.

But there’s a right way and a wrong way to revive Roosevelt. Before we allow anyone to assume his mantle, let’s separate candidates merely seeking inspiration for big ideas from those misappropriating his legacy.

Bernie Sanders, the most explicit of the Roosevelt wannabes, is in the latter category. He has repurposed the “Second Bill of Rights” address on his website to report that Roosevelt was constantly attacked as a socialist, so he must have actually been one — just like the independent senator from Vermont. He’s betting that a younger post-Cold War generation won’t conflate his brand of democratic socialism with communism, as many of their elders wrongly do.

But Roosevelt was an improvisational pragmatist — a “juggler,” he called himself — not a socialist. While his idea for Social Security contained socialistic elements (as did George W. Bush’s 2008 bank bailout), he understood that in a nation of strivers, the concept is a political loser.

When asked his political philosophy, he replied: “I’m a Christian and a Democrat, that’s all.”

snip===============================================================================

Running for re-election in 1936, Roosevelt said of his big-money critics: “They are unanimous in their hate of me and I welcome their hatred.”

But when Mr. Sanders quotes that line in his stump speech, he doesn’t mention that Roosevelt soon tacked to the center. He rebuffed calls for national health insurance as impractical, backed a balanced budget, insisted that most welfare be connected to work and supported free trade.

As World War II approached, he abandoned the New Deal entirely and invited the corporate titans who loathed him to help him win it. With the end of the war in sight, he renewed his liberal domestic agenda with the landmark G.I. Bill, which inspired today’s Democratic focus on affordable education.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/opinion/fdr-democrats-2020.html

[lapucelle]

62. Well accidently attributing the slogan of the Republican who ushered in the Great Depression

to the liberal Democrat FDR is unfortunate.

But if anyone voted for BS because

Only one candidate is promising us this chicken in our pots, and we don't care whether or not he can actually deliver it

then Hoover's catchy but empty campaign slogan probably fits the bill.

[Laelth]

63. LOL. You're right.

The “empty” slogan we’re talking about seems to appeal to a great number of Americans at this time.



-Laelth