#2016 democratic primary

[ourwitching]

California is a place of superlatives and extremes — it’s the most populous state in th...

[dailydebatecom-blog]

Should Bernie Sanders run for president in 2020?

With the presidential election still nearly three years away, you would think it would be too early to talk about it. But with President Trump’s record low approval ratings for this stage of a presidency, there is more and more talk of who might challenge the president in 2020 for the Democrats. One name continues to surface as the possible front-runner and that is Senator Bernie Sanders from…

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[bartroberts]

New Post has been published on Black Barth News

New Post has been published on http://blackbarth.com/100-page-report-shows-staggering-evidence-election-fraud-democratic-primary/

100-Page Report Shows Staggering Evidence Of Election Fraud In Democratic Primary

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A recent report from Election Justice USA shows as many as 184 delegates were stolen from Bernie Sanders due to election fraud in the Democratic Primary

While it’s unclear whether the super delegates would have voted for Sanders, the EJUSA report does make one thing clear: Bernie Sanders won the majority of pledged delegates in the Democratic Primary at 2030 to Hillary Clinton’s 2021.

These numbers were arrived at by EJUSA’s intensive research and verification into claims of voter suppression, unintended party affiliation changes, heavy voter purging, and registrations never being honored by the Board of Elections in various counties throughout the U.S. during the Democratic Primary. In some cases, signatures were even forged on party affiliation documents and evidence of computer hacking being involved has come to light.

In the following excerpt from the executive summary of the report, EJUSA explains how as many as 184 delegates should have gone to Sanders:

Election Justice USA has established an upper estimate of 184 pledged delegates lost by Senator Bernie Sanders as a consequence of specific irregularities and instances of fraud. Adding these delegates to Senator Sanders’ pledged delegate total and subtracting the same number from Hillary Clinton’s total would more than erase the 359 pledged delegate gap between the two candidates. EJUSA established the upper estimate through exit polling data, statistical analysis by precinct size, and attention to the details of Democratic proportional awarding of national delegates. Even small changes in vote shares in critical states like Massachusetts and New York could have substantially changed the media narrative surrounding the primaries in ways that would likely have had far reaching consequences for Senator Sanders’ campaign.

Source

[graciousk]

I did the US Senate race a while ago, and here's everyone else! (Why yes, I did put this off until the night before the election. How better to honor my academic history? ;) Candidates are listed in ballot order, with lots of links provided so you can check things out and decide for yourself. Author endorsements marked with ⋆stars⋆ for your ease and convenience. Florida State Senator, District 19

Ed Narain:

Also experienced in the Florida House

Sponsored a lot of bills, mostly good stuff, though little of it passed

Mixed bag issues page; lots of good ideas, but a focus on "Reducing Crime" rather than criminal justice reform irks me (YMMV)

Doesn't think fast food workers deserve to make $15/hr which is pretty gross imo

⋆Betty Reed⋆

Experienced in the Florida House

Did some pretty decent stuff while she served

From all appearances seems a pretty solid pick

Augie Ribiero:

Has sent me fully one fucktillion mailers

Seems like a fairly stand-up guy

Issues page checks out, including and especially on issues that disproportionately affect Floridians (environment, utilities, education)

Apparently isn't popular enough to get invites to events like this forum?

Darryl Rouson:

Also experienced

Voting history is a big mixed bag. Tried to put Kratom on Schedule 1, and ban the sale of "powdered alcohol" - but also sponsored some decent bills that would have helped support people in poverty. None of these bills have actually passed tho so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Issues page is decent, and specifically mentions reproductive rights, so that's cool

Florida State Representative, District 70 (Which happens to be Darryl Rouson's current House seat) (Which means ideally I'm looking for someone who is better than Rouson, if possible.) CJ Czaia:

I found his Facebook page and this red-white-and-blue HTML monstrosity before I found his official page, and I hate to admit that's coloring my view of him but there it is

His issues page is decent, focusing a lot of attention on the needs of communities of color

Pulled a Bernie and announced endorsements he didn't have

Dan Fiorini:

Issues page is mostly cool, but is more notable for what it leaves out, namely any mention of discrimination by race, gender, sexuality, etc. The only reference he makes is about refunding Planned Parenthood, which is good, but not enough. Great stances on labor, though!

One of the things I found is his response to a paper's endorsement of someone else, which is informative for both its content and its tone. I am less than impressed

Wengay Newton:

His website looks like something I might have made in Geocities in the early aughts and it hurts us, precious

I was really hoping his issues page would redeem him, but... ugh. Nope. I'm sorry. I am having trouble seeing the substance through the lack of style

(None of these are better than Rouson, from what I can see. I endorse no one. Good luck.)

County Judge, Group 8

TBT overview of the heads-up race

⋆Dora Komninos⋆

Lead trial attorney for domestic violence unit at the Pinellas-Pasco Attorney's Office.

Her record (which I assume is reflected on her News page) is reflective of her experience, involving DV cases

CK Korsko

Runs civil / personal injury law firm, served as a traffic judge for 11 years

I didn't find much about his record, but I did find this news story about his unprofessional behavior, which makes me question dude's judgment

He also included some subtle digs at his opponent in that TBT interview which turned me off

County Judge, Group 9

Dwight Dudley

Served in the Florida House, representing District 68, for which his record is pretty decent

The second page on his website (and his attack mail) claims his incumbent opponent is inexperienced, because... she got admitted to the bar later than he did? That's super gross, dude.

⋆Myriam Irizarry⋆

Incumbent

Neither of these jerks fine upstanding folks has a proper issues/history/news page, but Myriam at least includes a video of a forum they both attended

School Board Member, District 1 (At Large)

Based on the info I've found on Ballotpedia, especially their answers to the TBT forum questions, I am likely voting for ⋆Joanne Lentino⋆ as she:

Is a retired teacher

Is actually endorsed by teachers' and educational associations

Seems to actually know what she's doing, including basic stuff like "answering the questions as asked" (you would think this wouldn't be a problem, but seriously, check out some of her competitors' answers).

Amendment 4:

Basically "Do you want solar power equipment to be exempt from property taxes Y/N?"

I like solar, so I'll probably say yes

More info on Ballotpedia

Check out my review of the candidates for US Senate here. If there is something I left out that you think is important to know about these candidates, please share it with me in comments! The more we know, the better able we are to make good decisions in the upcoming elections. Know your candidates, know your districts, know your dates, and GO! VOTE!

[butchrosser]

Come With Me, Hail Michelle

This would never happen in a quadrillion years but I w i s h POTUS was about to strut out here in full Barackaveli mode, you know?

♬  First off, fuck your steaks and the clique you claim | Joey Bide when we ride | come equipped with game

You claim to be a playa but that's your 3rd wife | Claims to come with class but all she do is bite... 

[...]

START TO VOTE WHEN YOU HEAR BARACK | CALL THE COPS WHEN YOU SEE BARACK 

SINCE Y'ALL RIDE MY JOCK GO AHEAD AND BLOW THIS | NOW Y'ALL BOUT TO FEEL THE DICTION OF A @POTUS | I HIT 'EM UP ♬

[butchrosser]

I Was Sleeping When I Wrote This.  Forgive Me If It Goes Astray.

'08 Obama has a resume that on the national level is more like a res. Actually, probably more like an R. HRC is supposed to have this big, unstoppable machine full of clout. Loses. Like 13 states in a row and still sticks around to the complete disbeliefs of many observers loses.

'16: Cantakerous democratic socalist who hasn't even aligned with the party until he runs is supposed to be the March Madness equivalent of a 15 seed yet wins about 2 dozen states and exposes a massive gulf between the establishment Democratic party and the next generation of young voters who they manage to turn off by pulling a Casablanca when suggestions of a fix being in are put up for months and months, only to (admittedly on low levels) being proven true hours before the DNC, formerly run by someone very tight within her circles. She is now facing a facist reality TV star looking to become the first anthropomorphic summer squash to ascend to the Presidency -- and losing in several polls to him.

Perhaps while there's a problem with a small subset of Sanders supporters (+4 alliteration), the bigger problem is actually...her and/or the post-Dean disrepair on a macro level that the DNC is stealthily in?

Hey, look!

It's Kermit! He's a frog! But he's sipping tea? How is THAT possible?!

[graciousk]

I recently received my sample ballot for my state and local Democratic primary, which in Florida is being held on August 20. I'm doing some basic research into the candidates and offices, and figured I'd share my thoughts and research for the benefit of my fellow Floridians. It will not surprise you to learn that my particular interests skew towards social justice issues, so my takes will examine these heavily, with a particular eye towards candidates' statements on police and criminal justice reform. Candidates will be listed in ballot order, with links to their official websites and wikipedia pages if available. Today's set of candidates are running for Florida's seat in the US Senate, which is currently being held by Marco Rubio. Every district in Florida will be voting on this one, so this post should apply broadly. Feel free to read on to get my take! Rocky De La Fuente (Official campaign site) (Wikipedia), a Mexican-American businessman and Reagan fan. I wish I had learned this first instead of last, because I probably would have stopped there. He ran for President this year, coming in fifth after Clinton, Sanders, O'Malley, and Uncommitted (lol, sorry Rocky). Do NOT recommend.

Calls for a reevaluation of how the 2nd Amendment is interpreted. Also wants to create a database of "individuals who exhibit mental issues" (among other things) saying, "This is an area in which the social concept pf [sic] political correctness must yield". So: mixed bag.

Issues pages do not lay out any clear policy plans or goals, but instead have a series of leading questions on each page. This gets really clunky in some of the sections, as when he asks in his Education Policy page: What if student loan repayment was stratified on a basis of contribution to national needs in critical sectors. For example: a 1:1 ratio of debt reduction to dollars paid in non-targeted careers and a higher debt reduction ratio in other critical career paths (e.g., teaching, health care, first responders, etc.)?  Dude, just... just say what you want to say. This isn't Jeopardy; you don't have to phrase things in the form of a question.

Refers to entitlements like Medicare, Social Security, and the ACA as "Ministerial Policy" and seems to want to send this kind of thing back to the states? If I am reading his leading questions on the topic correctly, which I'm honestly not sure I am.

No mention of women's rights, QUILTBAG by any name, racial justice, or criminal justice reform. The closest thing I could find on the topic of police accountability was this blog post. It is not great. It's not the worst, either! (The GOP exists and is much worse!) But this definitely sends him to the bottom of my list.

Alan Grayson (Official House site) (Official campaign site) (Wikipedia), a Harvard-educated white dude who is currently representing Florida's 9th District (southeast portion of Orlando, including Kissimmee and St. Cloud) in the House of Representatives. The first thing I found about him is this article about his call for independent police civilian review boards at a local Black Lives Matter rally, so that's good. DO recommend.

Endorsed Bernie Sanders, and I can see why. Strong positions against Citizens United, for adding a Medicare-buy-in option to the ACA, reinstating Glass-Steagal, etc.

Includes LGBTQ+ Equality, Women's Rights and Racial Justice as three of his ten major issues pages, which I appreciate. Supports Planned Parenthood and the ERA; opposes voting restrictions, bathroom laws, police militarization, and conversion therapy. Also brags about using the word "cisgender" but /shrug. I will accept a small amount of ally theater from people who do actual ally work.

Pam Keith (Official campaign site), a Black woman who served as a Navy JAG, then civilian lawyer. Her About page features some really adorable photos btw. DO recommend.

Offers thorough and concrete policy recommendations on criminal justice reform, which is by far the most detailed page on her website, and most detailed plan of any of the candidates. A+++++ I like her already.

She doesn't mention women's rights by name, or QUILTBAG by any name, but combines these into a general statement On Respecting Privacy & Individual Choices. I'll take it.

Has some interesting ideas about how to address economic issues like unemployment and income inequality which involve fiddling with corporate tax rates and subsidies. While these read as awfully lax on corporate greed, they also seem very practical and implementable. This isn't anywhere near my area of expertise and I'd very much appreciate commentary by people who know more about this stuff.

Reginald Luster (Official campaign site), a Black man with a long and distinguished legal career, ranging from the Civil Rights division of the DOJ to the Jacksonville Bar Association and more. Meh.

Supports a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. While mistyping it as "United Citizens vs FEC" which might bug me more than it should, but there it is. There are other grammatical errors throughout the page as well.

Includes Criminal Justice Reform and Voting Rights as two of his eight major issues pages, which would be cool if they included anything more than a brief paragraph of broad goals on each page. "Reginald would end the era of mass incarceration of Floridians and other citizens;" cool, but how? Could you be more specific? Not really? Aight then...

No mention of women's rights or QUILTBAG by any name.

Six out of his eight issues pages mention Florida in the title, which is cool and all, but he's running for national office, and I feel like it's probably important to focus on national issues too.

Patrick Murphy (Official House site) (Official campaign site) (Wikipedia), a White guy who's caught a lot of favorable breaks from his rich family. Former Republican and Romney supporter. Currently representing Florida's 18th district (which includes Ft. Pierce and Palm Beach) in the House of Representatives. Meh.

Has a section on Criminal Justice Reform which has some nice points, but isn't at all comprehensive (or honestly very convincing in regards to this being a priority of his).

Pretty solid LGBT equality page and Women's Health Care page - which goes beyond his support for Planned Parenthood and the antidiscrimination elements of the ACA, and also supports the VAWA, which is something I haven't seen on the others' pages.

He's the only candidate who includes a Standing With Israel page among his issues which, in addition to the obvious pro-Israel sentiment, also specifically condemns antisemitism.

There are many important topics I didn't spend much time on, in part because all of the candidates have similar policies - for example, they all want to repeal Citizens United, and they all want immigration reform with a path to citizenship - but in part because my time and ability is limited. If there is something I left out that you think is important to know about these candidates, please share it with me in comments! 

I especially want to encourage you to share informational posts about electoral slates in other states or districts. If you know of someone doing a similar analysis in their region, please link me - and if you are doing your own research, please share or promote it below. (I am willing and eager to publish guest posts on this topic!) The more we know, the better able we are to make good decisions in the upcoming elections.

Know your candidates, know your districts, know your dates, and GO! VOTE!

[phroyd]

Primary 2016 Exit Polling!

Phroyd