Soulthinker
Well-Known Member
True indeed. Warren is suited for cabinet job or just be a senator. Bernie is clueless on Black issues and old, Beto is wishy washy,I guess my point was that I see upsides to every candidate and I wasn't trying to "force" my preferences on you guys! Here is my list of most obvious upsides/downsides for each major candidate:
Warren
Upside: Incredibly policy savvy. Very strong liberal credentials. Strong woman.
Downside: policy-heavy candidates tend to do worse than personality-heavy candidates. Her strong woman credentials are good to me, but some people find strong women off putting (not that it's a good thing, just true)
Sanders
Upside: been extremely important in to the return of the progressive movement in the US. Has been central to making terms like "Democratic socialist" socially acceptable again. Very focused on the the needs of the poor and needy.
Downside: Often comes off as self righteous and preachy. Can seem like a one trick pony, as (for instance) his foreign policy credentials are non-existent. *Very* old. While he's been great at getting the liberal message out, has been very bad historically at actually turning liberal ideas in to real policy.
Buttigieg:
Upside: Young, charismatic, strong grasp of policy, progressive, avoids "insider" label, very calm and thus avoids the "shrill/preachy progressive" problem of the above two candidates
Downside: Almost entirely unknown up until now, perhaps *too* young, being openly gay may turn off some voters, has no federal-level government experience
O'Rourke:
Upside: Young, charismatic, and like Butiggieg, avoids the "insider" label. His showing in Texas not only gives him a national profile but gets Democrats excited about the potential of winning a state rapidly turning purple. I also like his ability to shrug off silly controversies.
Downside: relatively weak on policy specifics, has a more centrist voting history than I think a lot of voters realize (note: I don't mind a centrist, but in the Democratic primary its definitely a benefit to be more progressive). Zero executive governmental experience.
Biden:
Upside: very well known, well loved figure in the Democratic party, has shown a passion that Democratic voters are looking for right now. Obama remains the most beloved figure in the modern Democratic party, so being so closely associated with him is a huge benefit.
Downside: not actually in the race at the moment, and *really* vulnerable to both age and metoo concerns. These are blowing up as we speak.
Klobuchar:
Upside: very pragmatic and policy oriented, is sort of the anti-sanders in this regard in that she has passed a *ton* of laws and policy. In fact, Klobuchar has written more than 30 laws herself since coming to the senate 10 years ago, while Sanders has written just 7 in his nearly 30 years. Has extremely credibility as a get-things-done candidate.
Downside: centrist who will not excite progressives, has been hit hard for her treatment of her aides, is very much an "Establishment" politician.
Kamala Harris:
Upside: dream candidate demographically. An Indian-African American woman has a lot going for her right away. Has done very well at fundraising given limited exposure so far.
Downside: has a very unliberal history as a prosecutor in California. Has not handled policy related questioning well so far.
I might be missing someone but these are the people currently polling at 4% or more that I know of!
