Democratic Primary Endorsement Tracker

[Tintrlvr]

https://twitter.com/KatieHill4CA/status/1090470842092347392

That's actually pretty big. Hill is one of the most high profile freshman in the House. Not to mention she made her being a millennial a big part of her congressional campaign. Maybe she could work on drumming up support for Kamala amongst younger voters?

It's one congresswoman. It would be big if, you know, the Governor Newsom or senior senator of CA  Feinstein endorsed her.

Yeah, okay. You know the entire California delegation more or less is going to line up behind her other than maybe someone super-mavericky like Eric Swalwell for whom she is too liberal.

[Tintrlvr]

https://twitter.com/KatieHill4CA/status/1090470842092347392

That's actually pretty big. Hill is one of the most high profile freshman in the House. Not to mention she made her being a millennial a big part of her congressional campaign. Maybe she could work on drumming up support for Kamala amongst younger voters?

It's one congresswoman. It would be big if, you know, the Governor Newsom or senior senator of CA  Feinstein endorsed her.

Yeah, okay. You know the entire California delegation more or less is going to line up behind her other than maybe someone super-mavericky like Eric Swalwell for whom she is too liberal.

That has never happened in D primary history, so it would be a first. But seriously, she's one congresswoman, its not a big endorsement. Katie doesnt have
1. The clout to get support among the grassroots like AOC
2. The connections to help get more endorsements like Lee, Pelosi, or Newsom
3. The name rec to make this a big endorsement

This is just an endorsement from a sitting congressmember from CA, just like Ted Leiu's. Nothing more, nothing less. This isnt a big deal, nor a game changer, just an endorsement.

Barbara Lee has been at all of her kick-off events. She's obviously going to endorse at some point. Newsom is a close ally of Harris. He's obviously going to endorse, too. Pelosi doesn't usually endorse at all until the final result is clear, so that's not meaningful.

And AOC is not really that important an endorsement, and the idea that she is somehow more important than other Congresspeople is ridiculous. But feel free to spin and look like an idiot.

[Tintrlvr]

Sam Liccardo, the mayor of San Jose and a previous supporter of Kamala Harris, will support Bloomberg, and co-chair his campaign: https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/12/09/sam-liccardo-endorses-mike-bloomberg-for-president/

Bloomberg and Steyer personify one of the American political establishment's worst impulses: this idea that somehow being a wealthy businessman should automatically make you a credible candidate for public office.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying businesspeople can't sometimes turn out to be excellent public servants because it has happened before...but more often than not, it doesn't work.  The mentality that the top priority making money for oneself and one's partners, friends, investors, shareholders, etc is antithetical to a public service mindset where making money is never an end in and of itself because public service is about putting the community's best interests first and foremost, even at the direct expense of one's own personal interests. 

Moreover, this idea is really rooted in a pretty gross, ego-driven belief held by both parties' donor classes that if you're rich, that's somehow proof you can handle anything.  To be fair, Steyer seems to generally mean well-ish – granted, I still don't know all that much about the man - and while I've never been a fan (to say the lest), even I have to admit Bloomberg has done some good things.  That said, they both have no real support base among the public, no one really wanted either of them to run, neither seems to have a comprehensive platform compared to any of the four frontrunners, there was no great sense of dissatisfaction with the Democratic field amongst the primary electorate, and both Steyer and (especially) Bloomberg are waaaaaaaaasaaaay out of step with what the voters want. 

Their candidacies are rooted in this awful elitist belief that their wealth entitles them to instant credibility and that they should be able to buy the nomination.  If it about were more than just their personal vanity, they'd be putting the money they've been burning running for President into things like supporting Democratic candidates in competitive congressional races and state legislative races (imagine if they maxed out to Democrats in key state legislative races across the country, it'd go a long way), GOTV, helping fund legal challenges to anti-voting rights legislation, etc, etc, etc. 

Instead, Tom Steyer spams the TV with ads where he sits in a chair like some odiously Sorkinian* pseudo-wise man come down from on high to lecture the voters in their living rooms.  Bloomberg doesn't even bother with any pretense of trying to get into a debate so he can make his case to the voters and isn't even competing in the first four states because apparently those voters don't matter as long as you have money.  They represent a deliberate, anti-democratic effort to buy a major party's nomination - Bloomberg barely even pretends this isn't the case - and that alone should be reason enough to vote against either of them. 

*albeit speaking at a much slower pace

/RantOver

Bloomberg has already proven himself in politics (whatever your views on his merits as a politician) with twelve years as mayor of a city bigger than most states.

Fair enough re: Steyer.

[Tintrlvr]

I mean I never understood how a paper could endorse a person which has zero chance to win. I would understand it at the begining of a campaign but now..

It covers part of Iowa, and Klobuchar at least in theory has some non-zero chance of winning Iowa, though it's very low.

[Tintrlvr]

Reports are that de Blasio will travel to Nevada to campaign with and for Bernie.

Sanders really needs to get better about choosing popular surrogates instead of morons.