Buttigieg is someone you only would have heard of if you were in Indiana or someone who follows Democratic politics pretty closely. I haven't met him yet, but all my friends who have met him say great things. Still, I think he should have tried for something statewide in Indiana before breaking onto the national scene. He'd make a great VP or cabinet secretary though.

It'll be longer than that. The stuff that requires people to go on the record won't happen unless it looks like she's a contender since doing so would require people to risk their careers.

 

I mean, by the same token, 38% of Democrats wouldn't, so...

Oh wow, geez. It's even worse than I'd expected, even after you hyped it up for a week. God damn, what kind of psycho is this lady?

 

Reading @Giovanni 's posts makes me wonder who he is irl.

Seriously, "Yeah, there's this one presidential candidate that I haven't met yet. It's okay though, my friends met him and say he's great. By the way, I know everyone's dirty laundry - sorry I can't leak it."

 

Gio knows lots when it comes to politics. The guy's the kingmaker's kingmaker, a trump card organizer and event-maker folks pull when they badly need a win. The crumbs he feeds us are throwaways compared to what the NDAs prevent him from sharing.

Tread lightly around Gio. He scoffs at our naiveté.

 

I thought the issue was there are no statewide offices for Democrats? Or do you think he could've gotten nationally profiled á la Beto?

 

The kind where throwing a binder (and having it hit a staff member) was a common enough occurrence for it to not be personally identifying if someone told a reporter about it.

Politics is a really small world filled with people exceptionally gifted at networking, and I don't know everyone's dirty laundry. The thing is, if you listen hard enough sooner or later you'll hear some very faint whispers. Then you get to ask people questions and get the answers you wanted.

I just died laughing.

@Solfege He would have gotten a national profile and a ton of money if he'd run. It would have been a tremendously difficult campaign for Senate or for Governor, but I think he could have won it with the right team in place.

 

What makes people with this type of history/attitude run? They're obviously intelligent enough to know that this will all come out during the campaign. Is it pure narcissism?

 

I'd be willing to bet a splash of narcissism along with a dash of "this is my only realistic chance at the Oval Office".

 

The thing you have to understand is that everyone who has played on that level for long enough has more than a few friendly contacts in the press corps and the money to hire singularly gifted advisors. They also have a currency that you can't replace with cash: Power. You need the narcissism and ambition to want to run for office in the first place. Throw all that together in a pot, and you declare your candidacy with a plan to handle your known negatives.

There are also a lot of things that you know won't come out about you, because you have plenty of levers for retaliation against the sole source for the information. That's why, as in life, the most dangerous person in politics to pick a fight with is someone with nothing to lose.

 

Gio is obviously Jeb!

 

Nah, too much clapping

 

Please, can you imagine ¡Jeb! doing carpentry?

 

I agree with that. I mostly hear good stuff from the Fort Wayne Dems, though that was only recently, and before that I only heard him in context with his relationship with Chief Ruszkowski. I wish he'd have run for something statewide because I think there's untapped potential for the Democratic party in Indiana, it's just not the Democrats' usual talking points. I'm not particularly acquainted with South Bend unless I'm passing through for Chicago, nor am I particularly familiar with Buttigieg, but the statehouse is stale and has been stale and the Republicans generally run without much effort because the familiar Democratic talking points are non-starters for a lot of people.

 

Guys, I think you're missing the obvious clues.

Gio is the guy who wrote that op-ed about adults in the room of Trump's administration. And he did it just for the lulz.

 

He thumbs upped all the other speculation but notably neglected to do the same for this one (as of rn).

I think Scott figured it out.

 

Man's got a very unfortunate name.

What are everyone's thoughts on Bloomberg? He's not officially declared yet, but it's a likely thing. Personally, I'm of two minds. He perpetuates the white, rich guy, status quo, and I'm not sure I really want a guy who is the tenth richest person in the US behind the desk when campaign finance reform is one of the big issues on the table.

That said, he's undoubtedly intelligent and competent. I also like his politics. He is very liberal on issues of climate change and gun violence, but fiscally, somewhat conservative. It's a good balance to strike, in my opinion.

 

Bloomberg is on my list of "I would vote for with very little problem." Don't care for his stance on abortion, but I understand his reasoning and he is internally consistent.

His intelligence, competence, and integrity lead me to believe he is a man of high virtue who has given a lot of thought to his actual policies. He seems the type to be willing to do what is the best for the country even if those on his side don't support him.

All in all he's one of my top choices.

 

Documents reveal former Starbucks CEO and potential presidential candidate Howard Schultz invested in controversial for-profit school Capella University, which later admitted to overcharging student lenders.

Opposition Research is scary. Quick and efficient - should be the subtitle of this election.

Anyway, Bloomberg is an excellent choice and would be an excellent president. But the Dem primary would eat him alive, I feel. He's also just everything both sides hate a lot, besides being a huge asshole. I'm afraid of a Clinton 2.0.

 

I don't see Bloomberg making it through the primaries at all, and I'd be hesitant to give him good odds in a general. Feel like he, more than anyone else in the Dem field, would get painted with the out-of-touch-swampmonster brush from the GOP. (To be fair, all Dems would, but Bloomberg has more issues with this than anyone, up to and including Biden, who's been in DC for ages.)

I think Beto has a higher chance of making it to the highest office - and even then I feel it's already <0.2 % chance.

 

The problem with American Presidential Elections, is we rarely vote for the best person for the job.