Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
Joe BidenCongratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
 

TeamPooka

(24,156 posts)
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 01:47 AM Dec 2019

I'm officially an undecided voter now. It's weird.

My Candidate dropped out (Kamala) and I find myself in unfamiliar territory, undecided.
It's a place I haven't been in at least 20+ years, if ever.
I literally can't remember when I was undecided in primary season last, maybe 1988?
Worse yet, I'm not even sure what will win me over.
I want to beat Trump, and I want solid progressive policies moving forward too.
We can have both IMHO.
I have general amiable feelings for most of the candidates in our field.
Win me over, make the case for your candidate.
I'm not going to debate any of it.
I'm on a listening tour.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
 

HerbChestnut

(3,649 posts)
1. If you're looking for a progressive candidate that polls well against Trump
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 01:55 AM
Dec 2019

Bernie Sanders is probably your best bet. Not only does he poll well against Trump nationally, he does very well in the midwestern states that decided the election in 2016. If you have any questions on his policy positions ask away and I'll do my best to answer.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

HerbChestnut

(3,649 posts)
4. Even better. Thank you.
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 02:03 AM
Dec 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

JoeOtterbein

(7,698 posts)
2. Welcome back to the Primaries! It's always fun trying to decide! nt
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 01:57 AM
Dec 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

elleng

(130,156 posts)
5. Been here from the beginning,
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 02:05 AM
Dec 2019

only place to be, imo, considering all the variables.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

comradebillyboy

(10,119 posts)
6. I'm also undecided but I'd happily support Biden, Warren, Klobuchar or Mayor Pete. My
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 02:20 AM
Dec 2019

state's primary is in June so we should have a pretty clear nominee by then.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Sucha NastyWoman

(2,725 posts)
9. I'd support any one of them except Gabbard
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 02:35 AM
Dec 2019

Of course I’d still vote for her in the General election. But that would be really depressing.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

judeling

(1,086 posts)
8. Take your Time
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 02:34 AM
Dec 2019

I had a hard Time choosing between Warren and Klobuchar. Because I was not sure going big and fighting hard would get us more progress then going smaller and more incrementally but never stop doing that would.

The M4A debate convinced me that the party is not ready for big and way to much effort getting the party inline will be expended before we even get to deal with the Republicans and the media.

So Nancy Pelosi basically convinced me, it had to be Amy. The two most effective Democratic legislators of the past decade in control will get us the most progress possible.

It was always Warren or Klobuchar because they are exactly the type of candidates that drives Trump crazy nd that he has no way to deal with.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

tishaLA

(14,176 posts)
10. Same. I've ruled some out
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 03:41 AM
Dec 2019

(Like the junior senator from VT, the retiring congressman from Hawaii, the mayor of the tiny hamlet in IN, and Bloomberg), but many of the rest are still in play. I'm sure it will sort itself out by the time of the CA primary

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
11. My only suggestion... the analyses at the League of Women Voter's website.
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 12:20 PM
Dec 2019

Non-partisan, no editorials pro of against any given candidate, none of the "this is a bad look" or "uh-oh, this is concerning" malarkey.

Just objective analyses of policy and issue. It's my go-to toe-in-the-water guide I use at the beginning of every election cycle.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Uncle Joe

(58,112 posts)
12. Here is Bernie's position on a few issues that may be of interest to you
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 12:56 PM
Dec 2019


Bernie Sanders says 'NO' to $1 trillion nuclear arsenal on Today Show







Bernie on legalizing Marijuana








Bernie Sanders’s criminal justice reform plan, explained

Bernie Sanders is unique among Democratic presidential candidates as an early critic of mass incarceration. His criminal justice reform plan, released over the weekend, is his map for how he’d do something about it.

The proposal covers a variety of issues, including reeling back long prison sentences, ending cash bail, improving oversight of police, boosting public defenders, legalizing marijuana, and banning private, for-profit prisons.

The plan notes the unique position the United States is in today: The country locks up more people than any other in the world, even authoritarian regimes like China, Cuba, and Russia. Sanders points out that this has disproportionately hurt black and brown Americans, who face racial disparities in arrests, incarceration, police use of force, and other kinds of law enforcement.

The rise of Black Lives Matter and a broader bipartisan push for criminal justice reform, which most Democrats support, have led the Democratic candidates in 2020 to take a more aggressive stance on criminal justice. Sanders is far from the first candidate to release a criminal justice reform plan; Joe Biden put out a similarly comprehensive plan in July, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker have unveiled clemency reform proposals, and Kamala Harris released proposal focused on marijuana reform.

(snip)

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/8/19/20812138/bernie-sanders-criminal-justice-reform-plan-mass-incarceration






Bernie Sanders kicked off his campaign promising to take an ax to US defense spending

"Today, we say to the military-industrial-complex that we will not continue to spend $700 billion a year on the military — more than the next 10 nations combined," the White House hopeful told the crowd. "We're going to invest in affordable housing, we're going to invest in public education, we're going to invest in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure — not more nuclear weapons and never-ending wars."

Sanders, a Brooklyn native, staked out his campaign as the antithesis to Trump, striking policy contrasts on everything from social policy to taxes, from environmental policy, to approaches to health care reform.

"Trump wants to divide us up by the color of our skin, our country of origin, our gender, our religion and our sexual orientation. We are going to do exactly the opposite," Sanders said. "We are going to bring our people together — black, white, Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight, young and old, men and women, native-born and immigrant."

(snip)

"Make no mistake about it, this struggle is not just about defeating Donald Trump. This struggle is about taking on the incredibly powerful institutions that control the economic and political life of this country," he told the crowd. "I’m talking about Wall Street, the insurance companies, the drug companies, the military-industrial complex, the prison-industrial complex, the fossil fuel industry and a corrupt campaign finance system that enables billionaires to buy elections."

(snip)


https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-promises-to-cut-and-reinvest-us-defense-spending-2019-3





Bernie Sanders Proposes Huge Renewables Build-Out and Publicly Owned Power


Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential candidacy, on Thursday released his long-awaited climate platform. The document adopts the "Green New Deal" moniker and calls for a climate and justice-centered revolution “from the Oval Office to the streets.”

The Sanders Green New Deal promises a remake of essentially all aspects of U.S. society by eliminating support for the fossil fuel industry and buoying clean energy through investments in wind and solar, energy efficiency and electrified transport. “Climate change will be factored into virtually every area of policy,” the plan reads. It requires 100 percent renewable electricity and transportation by 2030 at the latest.

The document confronts the plan’s ambition with characteristic Sanders candor: “The federal government electrified America as part of the New Deal. The United States of America put people on the moon 50 years ago,” it reads. “We can sure as hell transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to 100 percent renewables today and create millions of jobs in the process.”

All told, the campaign said the plan would require investment of $16.3 trillion — the biggest spend a Democratic candidate has proposed thus far — with $1.52 trillion going directly to renewable energy and $852 billion to the build-out of energy storage. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s proposal is a close second, at $2 trillion for clean energy programs.

(snip)

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/bernie-sanders-proposes-renewables-buildout-and-public-electricity




Thanks for the thread TeamPooka and best wishes in your deliberations.
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

UniteFightBack

(8,231 posts)
13. Who has the BEST chance to win the swing states by the widest margin? That is who you
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 01:06 PM
Dec 2019

should vote for.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

redqueen

(115,096 posts)
14. I agree we need a candidate who can win in swing states.
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 01:59 PM
Dec 2019

I'll just leave this here


If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Penn Voter

(247 posts)
15. I have decided
Fri Dec 6, 2019, 02:58 PM
Dec 2019

I am a registered Independent and I support whomever wins the Democratic nomination

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Igel

(35,197 posts)
16. I stay non-decided until I need to decide.
Sat Dec 7, 2019, 01:03 AM
Dec 2019

To commit to a candidate, I think, tends to introduce bias into what I read and how I read it. I'd rather read what comes along, track down some things, and then a week or two before voting review everything. I find I have a clearer view of some things that way, since I don't find myself arguing to defend "my" candidate. And it makes arguing that another candidate is unsuitable on anything but disinterested grounds difficult.

It also means that if a candidate drops out or is clearly not passing muster with the voters I don't really bother to consider him/her.

It rules out some activities, though. Don't have the time, energy, or inclination to be a campaign worker, to proselytize, or walk precincts. But since my opinion until I cast a vote is pretty unimportant, I don't find fretting over how individual candidates' fortunes wax and wane to be worth the cortisol.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»Democratic Primaries»I'm officially an undecid...