dc koop

Here's a frightening thought. If Trump were to be removed from office after impeachment and Pence removed (if also found involved in the Ukraine affair) then Pelosi would become interim US President. God help us all.

civilservant

Acting President. There is no title of 'Interim President'

Anian

That's not the requirement, it is to be a "natural born citizen". Clearly this means that you can't have been born from a caesarian but as long as you were a citizen at birth then you're fine.

dc koop

Still a frightening thought. Do nothing Nancy in the WH.

UkWinds5353

Deval brings to the table a great many strong leadership skills that have served him well over the many years in office. To be quite honest I'm surprised he did not get into the race for president early on because he is a natural fit for the job. He is a progressive yet fiscally moderate candidate that probably would be in the lead had he joined from the beginning. But let's see what happens moving forward. Anyone that can reunite the Obama coalition can easily beat Trump. And I'm all for any ethnicity or gender running the White House. I just want to get rid of crazy Donald Trump and put someone in there that is good at governing. In my opinion that equals Biden or Deval.

UkWinds5353

I'm trying to make heads or tails of your post and I have to be honest it's challenging to do so, but if we subtract the in artful opinions and emotions from the conversation and look at just facts we can get down to the bottom line. What evidence can you point to that proves Buttigieg is popular with the core voting blocks which make up the Democrat party? One would think, if he is extremely similar to Obama then he must be very popular. Mayor Pete while pandering to moderate voters in Indiana has criticized Obama policies. Seem like he did something like that just recently but retracted his statement? Sounds strange for someone you say is much more like Obama than Deval. Btw, Obama and Deval are good friends. Something additionally, you seem not to know.

Facts are stubborn factors to ignore. He is polling horribly in most states except for tiny Iowa, a state with very little diversity. He is nothing like Obama(other than both being Democrats) and you can see that in the way he has run the small city of South Bend Indiana. A city where his policies are not popular among key demographics in the Obama coalition.

I can tell based on your response you are not familiar with Deval Patrick who btw has garnered far more votes from Democrats, than Mayor Pete ever has and for good reason. One is a two time governor of a major state in America and the other is a small town mayor with very little governing experience. It really comes down to if people are going to take this election serious or if they will allow their emotions to get swept away with the use of words like "love" or seeking some sort of purity test. It is a complete absurdity to even consider electing or sing praises of a guy that runs a tiny city to be the next leader of the free world. That same kind of thinking is what delivered to the country, Donald Trump.

Less emotions more thinking! Btw, a voter can be a conservative yet moderate or progressive on a great many issues. There are very conservative Republicans that are 100% for gay rights. There are shades of grey.

dc koop

You seem to have great faith in the Obama coalition. Why particularly? Why is Deval a "natural fir for the job?" That's your opinion but not all Americans would agree. Biden or Buttigieg or Nikki Haley could also be natural fits for the job.

Don't mistake me for a racist but because he's black and the second coming of Obama (as you believe) that doesn't mean that he should supersede any other candidate in choice. This is a multicultural nation and there are millions of Hispanic and Asians in the melting pot many of whom have all the ingredients to make a worthy president. I would hope that one day either of those groups would have someone in the WH. As for myself I would vote for Nikki Haley if she decided to run one day.

Trump's mouth is his worst enemy but I fail to see anything he's done so far is wrong. Immigration and unfair trade with China needed to be addressed for a long time and he stepped up to the plate. The economy is still doing great, unemployment lowest in years so what could Deval do better than that?

Leslie

Snort. You do talk some twattery. The problem is just that I'm not familiar with Patrick? How can that be? With him being the second coming and all?

UkWinds5353

Why is the Obama coalition a force to be reckoned with? Numbers! Obama's two Presidential elections set records for voter participation. Even in his second term election which is historically always lower for presidents running the second time around, Obama's second election voter total was higher than Trump's first total vote count. And Trump has lost a lot of moderate Republican voters like myself, which mean his numbers will be lower in his second run for the White House.

I'm going by pure facts and numbers. Young voters, White women, Hispanics Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Muslim American, Jewish Americans, are all a consistent voting block for the Democrat party. And now add to that list angry life long Republican voters like myself that don't recognize my former party. And I say former despite still being a registered Republican but I no longer feel connected to a party that has abandoned most of the principles it once held as the party charter. Fiscal responsibility, promoting democracy in the country and around the world, the rule of law, supporting free elections, not constantly lying to the American people, keeping Russia's influence from harming smaller countries in the world including in Europe. All of that has been thrown out the window since Trump.

Deval Patrick was a very popular and effective governor in Massachusetts, a state by the way with excellent healthcare compared to most of the other 49 states in America. A state with a strong economic base that includes understanding the importance of partnership with the business community. As a business owner I can tell you how important that factor is.Numbers tell the story, meaning the right candidate drives up voter participation. Patrick has the type of personal charisma that attracts a higher voter count among Hispanics, young people, White women and African American voters. Drive up those numbers and you have the Obama coalition reunited.

Nikki Haley? I don't think she was a bad governor but if you look at South Carolina's economy, it's nothing to get excited about which is a reflection on her leadership. But more than that I would not support anyone that has served in Trump's Administration because they have all been tainted by him. In all my many years following politics I have never seen a more scandal ridden Administration than the current one in power. Haley is nothing more than an enabler.

Trump was well known as a charlatan, fraud and crook for years in New York. So it does not surprise me that Trump would put his business deals with Russia and Turkey above the national security of America. It does not shock me that Trump tried and succeeded to attain Russia's help in damaging his 2016 opponent in our Presidential election by putting fake information on our social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where millions of voters get their political information.

I'm curious, do you have a problem if one of our candidates for president were to try and enlist foreign help to steal and corrupt our elections?

I'm a straight shooter, I don't like liars whether they are attempting to lie and cheat in a way that supports my opinions and goals or if they are using lying and cheating to go against my values. I don't put political parties above the country. If Trump's only problem was his mouth I would not have a problem with him. But his actions speak to who and what he is. It does not surprise me he is good friend with the child molester Jeffrey Epstein nor is it shocking about the multiple videos of them hanging out together discussing women in nefarious ways on video. Essentially Trump is a horrible person that has done nothing good for the country worthy of being saddled with such a person of low humanity.

Is the economy better now compared to when he came into office? For some people it is, but they are mainly those that are among the wealthy classes. It's down to the numbers. Allow anyone the ability to write off much of their expenses and have the tax payers foot the bill for that change, and you too can look better than you actually are. As a country we simply rewrote the tax laws to shift national wealth from most working classes to corporate America and the wealthy. And we did so while allowing the country to run up HUGE amounts of national debt. 1.3 trillion per year.

DC, you are a millionaire as am I. Where is the fiscal intelligence of running up mountains of debt and pretending that artificial stimulation in any economy is similar to consumer demand that stimulates productivity and growth? Econ 101 states that when an economy is flatlining and the private sector is not providing stimulus that is when the public sector can step up and infuse stimulus but it's never meant to substitute organic supply and demand. And certainly not while driving up huge amounts of debt with no end in sight. That is how world economies collapse. And before anyone say it's not possible remember 2007-2008 when a collapse happened because the Bush Administration over heated the real estate market by promoting unchecked funding for the banking industry and drove the world economy into a historic recession. I'll take my chances with a smart savvy politician like a Deval with a history of doing what's right for the citizens(which is why Republicans and Democrats respect him) or steady leadership of Biden.

UkWinds5353

Pointless!

dc koop

Being an effective governor of a small New England State is a far cry from being President of the United States. I disagree entirely that being a good Governor necessarily makes a good President. Several years serving in Congress or the Senate and being conversant with the way the Constitution works, the system of checks and balances, the limits of power in certain areas is the groundwork for becoming an effective President. Don't count on Deval surging full bore ahead of the other candidates to win the nomination. The scene is already set. The recent results from North Carolina speak for themselves. Biden is way ahead of the rest, Warren trailing. The black and most of the Hispanic vote is solidly behind Biden because they know and trust him. Short of doing anything stupid beforehand he will be the nominee. The fact that he used his name to win a cushy job for his unqualified son with a large Ukraine energy company will it seems be overlooked. He will however face a challenge from a sitting president who is presiding over a strong economy and a record breaking low unemployment rate

As for Trump he has begun a new way of communicating with the voters and I think future Presidents will follow suit. it's an improvement over WH press conferences without a doubt. Now Trump may speak at times like a truck driver at drinking session with his buddies and his choice of companionship a little on the lower scale but Presidents are not saints and never were. Thomas Jefferson had several kids out of wedlock with his mistress a slave girl named Sally Hemmings. FD Roosevelt was cheating on his wife with a mistress for years and it's often said that his wife Eleanor the first lady was involved in a same sex relationship during their marriage which overall by modern standards was a chronic basket case. John Kennedy's philandering was legendary and at one time an affair with the German born wife of a US Air Force Sergeant (She) having some connection with members of the East German Communist party. It got so bad that his brother Robert the Attorney-General fearing that FBI Director Hoover might resort to some form of blackmail made a deal with Hoover to drop support of Martin Luther King in exchange for Hoover turning the other cheek to John's extra marital activities. It's entirely possible had he lived that sooner or later there would have been calls for his impeachment thus the sleaze factor is nothing new in Presidential history.

I'm only a millionaire if my house value and my 401k is bundled together. It's no big deal. Probably half of the people on my street could be counted in the same category

robin1234

civilservant

Agreed!

So Koop and Winds, assuming you vote for the Dem nominee as Trump is so repellent, who would you like to see out of the current top 4? Biden for 'steady-as-she-goes'?

Leslie

+1

robin1234