RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/03/06/dnc-changes-debate-rules-after-tulsi-

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday announced its updated debate guidelines, which essentially eliminate the chance of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) participating in the upcoming CNN/Univision debate.

In order to participate in the March 15 debate, a candidate must have earned at least 20 percent of the pledged delegates allotted up to that point. That effectively eliminates the chance of Gabbard, who remains in the race, participating, as she currently stands with two delegates.

The previous debate requirement allowed a candidate to participate if he or she had a single pledged delegate. If the DNC stuck to the previous rules, Gabbard, who did not qualify for any of the debates ahead of the caucuses in Iowa and Nevada or the primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina, would have been able to participate.

Joe Biden (D), as of Friday, held the lion’s share of delegates — 664. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) easily surpasses the 20 percent threshold as well, with 573 delegates. According to Politico, “Biden had earned 48 percent of delegates awarded thus far, while Sanders had 41 percent. (Some delegates have not yet been awarded from states that held primaries this week on Super Tuesday.)

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2020/03/warren-of-lies-the-forked-tongue-of-a-very-red-indian/

“President Trump is another example of the non-cookie cutter politician. He’s an archetype, in fact.  Has anyone noticed that, more than any other politician I can think of in my lifetime, Trump has delivered on his promises.  At least he’s done so to the extent Congress has permitted.  He’s appointed only solid, non-activist, interpretively conservative judges off the very list he promised he’d use.  (Maybe the Liberals here in Australia, who have a truly terrible record on judicial appointments, might learn something. )  He has cut taxes massively, not a tiny bit (like here), that won’t even keep up with bracket creep.  Trump has deregulated more than any President, including Reagan.  He’s doing everything he can to get a functioning border in place.  He’s completely jettisoned Obama’s foreign policy.  As I said, he’s basically gone down the list of his election promises and tried to deliver on them.  It’s so startling that you realise ‘he must not be a career politician’, for such is the novelty of any public figure actually treating ‘a promise made as a debt unpaid’.

My basic attitude to people who want to enter the democratic fray as candidates for elected office is ‘good on ya’.  I’m something of a sceptic of the modern world’s embrace of massively over-powerful judges who, to varying degrees, have left behind old-fashioned judging and, under the guise of ‘human rights’, entered the arena of social policy-making.  Judges, and the lawyerly caste as a whole, are today’s aristocracy.  And they’re getting more powerful by the day.

So I’m nothing if not a fan of those prepared to try to get elected and enter the hurly-burly of the give-and-take of electoral politics.  Some of these people will hold political views I agree with.  Some won’t.  Some will seem competent. Some won’t.  Some will have charisma.  Some will be blander than a loaf of white bread.  On the whole, though, I like the fact that people go into politics.  Sure, I wish that in Australia we drew from a wider pool of backgrounds – far too many of our elected MPs follow the cookie-cutter route of being ministerial aides out of university, or think-tank types, or union officials. And then, having built up contacts, go on to win a pre-selection and all too often a seat in Parliament.

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/03/07/bernie-v-biden-brand-identity-trumps-identity-politics/

Like, wow. The Democratic presidential field has shrunk from the most diverse ever – in race, gender, age, background and even sexual orientation – to two old white guys duking it out.

Even, and perhaps especially, in the age of “woke,” brand identity is triumphing over identity politics.

That was the very point of the first (second, if you count JFK) great political “brand:” Barack Obama. His carefully crafted image was described as “post-political,” “post-racial,” and yes, “beyond identity politics.”

Youthful, irresistibly “cool,” and for many, an ideological blank slate, Obama would be The One ushering in “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” His rising sun logo and the independently designed “Hope” poster emerged as iconic brand symbols – equal parts aspirational and soothing in a time of social and economic turmoil.

Brand power ascended again in 2016, when a casino mogul and reality show host – whose real business was marketing one of America’s most recognized names – leveraged his notoriety to smash political norms to smithereens.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/03/when_asked_trump_zeroes_in_on_what_made_liz_warren_lose.html

Although Tulsi Gabbard, a woman, remains in the race, the Democrats are assiduously ignoring her. As far as Democrats in both politics and the media are concerned, Elizabeth Warren was the last woman standing in the Democrat primary race and now she’s gone. With her departure, they are falling back on the old standby, which is that it was sexism that brought Warren down (never mind that the sexism, if it exists, is confined to Democrats).

During a press conference at the White House before President Trump left to visit Tennessee following the horrific tornadoes, a reporter asked the President if he thought sexism accounted for Warren’s downfall. Trump’s answer was blunt – and, typically, quite funny too:

REPORTER: Do you think sexism was a factor in Elizabeth Warren pulling out and do you think you will see a female president in your lifetime?

TRUMP: No, I think lack of talent was her problem. She had a tremendous lack of talent. She was a good debater. She destroyed Mike Bloomberg very quickly like it was nothing. That was easy for her. But people don’t like her. She’s a very mean person, and people don’t like her. People don’t want that. They like a person like me, that’s not mean.

Trump, of course, is correct. Warren always had the air of a scolding schoolmarm about her. Despite the light, fluffy voice, she was right, you were wrong, and she was going to put you in your place and tell you how to do things. Warren didn’t sound like a leader; she sounded like a know-it-all, the type of person you dread having as your teacher or team leader. And that was when she wasn’t mean.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/03/a_biden_candidacy_whats_the_plan_there_is_always_a_plan.html

Why, when Joe Biden’s mental decline is so obvious, are so many former Obamaphiles pledging their spurious support for the man?  Something’s up.  It is beyond clear that Biden is not up to the job.  This fact cannot escape the notice of Susan Rice, James Comey, John Brennan, et. al., all those conspirators who tried so treasonously hard to destroy Donald Trump.  They surely know better than most that Biden is a dead man walking. So why the all-out campaign to support his candidacy?  Hmmm.  They must have a plan.  Is their plan to submarine Joe before the convention, admit he is incapacitated and put up a heretofore  untested candidate at a brokered convention?  Or do they have a plan to appoint a VP candidate they assume will become president in short order? Perhaps, as Joel Gilbert speculated here yesterday, the plan is to install Hillary as the candidate to run against President Trump in a last-ditch effort to derail his fabulously successful presidency.  They certainly have some devious scheme to replace Biden by hook or crook for his dementia cannot possibly have escaped their notice.

The now-available Hillary documentary for all to see is probably meant to prime the public for her potential last-minute candidacy. It is not very likely to be successful.  She is the kind of harridan who makes Elizabeth Warren seem kind and gentle!  Hillary is also a narcissist of the worst order, the kind who never takes responsibility for the havoc she has wrought on the lives of others, let alone her country.  She is in fact one of the most corrupt politicians ever to  prevail for so many years, to become fabulously wealthy for her many deceits and crimes.  She has been a blight upon the U.S. since she gained power as the wife of the governor of Arkansas.  She spent forty years covering up for her husband’s crimes against women and has somehow lived to tell no tales.  Her fans are certifiable morons, susceptible to any and all of the propaganda the left propels into the mainstream media.  She has yet to endorse Biden.  To support his candidacy is to deny his indisputable advancing dementia. 

https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/06/can-andrew-yang-really-become-mayor-of-gotham/

“One thing, though anecdotal, that should make Yang feel good about a potential run for Hizzonership is that I’ve spoken to both Democrats and Republicans here who welcome the idea. That’s a very good sign. We will see soon what he chooses to do. But this not a laughable idea. And frankly, after Bill de Blasio, America’s largest city, and the best one in the world, could do a lot worse.”

To understand mayoral politics in New York City, you have to think about two basic facts. First, the city is five to one Democrat to Republican. Two, Since 1992 non-Democrats have been mayor for 20 years: Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg, and a Democrat, Bill de Blasio for only 7. Today’s Democratic Party in the Big Apple is no Tammany Hall; the city’s voters are willing to vote for outsiders.

The news is now swirling that former presidential candidate and famed Asian good at math Andrew Yang is considering a run at Gracey Mansion (that’s where the mayor lives). Right off the bat, it’s one of these wonderfully provocative political ideas to consider. But in practice what would it look like?

The first question is whether Yang would run in the Democratic primary or launch an Independent bid. Let’s assume he does the former. This is a heavy lift. He has no substantial contacts in the local party, and would only have until November 2021 to develop them. There are also rumors that Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., of impeachment fame is weighing his own candidacy for mayor.

One way to ingratiate yourself to a political party, in fact the best way to do so is to give the party tons of cash. On Friday Yang announced the launch of his new non-profit “Move Humanity Forward.” The organization will support candidates in favor of Universal Basic Income (UBI), a fancy way of say a thousand smackers a month for everyone.