quote:

Originally posted by StarTraveler:
None of them appear to me to have a reasonable chance of beating President Trump, which makes me wonder if the Democrat power brokers will do everything in their power to deny Sanders and try to push for a dark horse at the convention. That would tick off the Bernie bots but could attract the moderate Democrats...if there are any of them left.

That could be awfully difficult to do in a party that defines itself according to interest group politics, especially since Hill 'n' Dankie's attempted putsch in 2016. Considering how carefully New Hampshire ran their count and Nevada promises to run their count, I think the party's emphasis is still on trying to drum up another grand coalition of the liberally disparate.

I'm sorry folks but I don't believe the debates will amount to a pitcher of warm spit in the final analysis. The DNC will make sure that they get the person that they want regardless of "public opinion" and it won't be that hard for them to pull it off. Look at what happened in 16, and the dumpster fire that was (is?) the Iowa caucus.

^^^ That's kind of my point - the DNC is starting from a position where they're widely distrusted and are already being actively opposed by the Bernie Bros. The DNC isn't going to have a whole lot of room to unilaterally act "for the good of the party".

Do the dems still have “Super Delegates” which are not bound but their states election results?

Last I heard, the superdelegates were deactivated, at least for the first ballot. They got too much shit for stifling Bernie last go around, after the Hildabeast crashed and burned. If there isn't a winner after that, they'll come into play. But I could see that scenario happening this year.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Do the dems still have “Super Delegates” which are not bound but their states election results?

They should bring back Danky Wubberman Stoltz! She knows how to get this done. Candidacies killed, no questions asked.

^^^^Thanks, chellim1!

^^^Il Cattivo, I agree with your point as long as that coalition isn’t centered on Bernie. Unless several someones get out (and soon), that coalition to keep Bernie out becomes less and less likely.

Regarding the possibility of a brokered convention, it would likely be a disaster for them among their constituents but it is a possibility. From the debate last night, Bernie thinks the person with the most delegates should win even if it’s not enough to win the nomination according to the rules (because he would be the one most likely to benefit from that this year), but he and his minions are scaring the hell out of the Democrat elites. If they can’t see how to build the coalition then they need to keep the field split and siphon off enough votes to keep Sanders from getting the nomination on the first round. The greatly reduced number of superdelegates come into play in the second round (unless they change the rules midstream again) and the party bigwigs can then potentially influence the result. It won’t make Bernie’s folks happy (and some might stay home in November) but the Dems can potentially cobble together a coalition to nominate someone else who might be seen as more acceptable to the less far-left-wing part of the party and independents.

Of course, finding such a broadly appealing nominee would be another major hurdle for them. Thank goodness!

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Last I heard, the superdelegates were deactivated, at least for the first ballot. They got too much shit for stifling Bernie last go around, after the Hildabeast crashed and burned. If there isn't a winner after that, they'll come into play. But I could see that scenario happening this year.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Do the dems still have “Super Delegates” which are not bound but their states election results?

That's correct. After 2016, they reduced the number of superdelegates greatly (down to about 560), with the superdelegates not voting on the first round. They can vote on round 2 and beyond, if that's required.

RCP betting average for DEM presidential primary on 14 Feb 2020

Sanders 39.0%
Bloomberg 34.6%
Buttigieg 12.4%
Biden 9.8%
Klobuchar 5.4%
Warren 2.0%

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

RCP betting odds today

Sanders 50.5 %
Bloomberg 22.4 %
Buttigieg 13.5 %
Biden 10.4 %
Warren 4 %
Klobuchar 3 %

next debate:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/s...moderators-cbs-news/

CBS News has announced the moderators for the 10th Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina on February 25 , the last time the candidates will face off before the state's critical primary.

"CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell and "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King will moderate the debate, joined in questioning by "Face the Nation" moderator and senior foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan, chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett and "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker.

CBS News is co-hosting the debate with the Congressional Black Caucus Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on CBS stations

quote:

....and "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker.

60 minutes, get outta here. Aren't they dead after they faked GWB's military records?

Ex-Sanders Criminal Justice Adviser Arrested After Plotting Violent Jailbreak

https://www.zerohedge.com/poli...ng-violent-jailbreak

A former consultant to Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign was arrested after he allegedly planted loaded weapons and ammunition inside a soon-to-be-opened Tennessee prison, according to authorities.



On Wednesday, Nashville police said that prison reform advocate Alex Friedmann - who helped shape Sanders' criminal justice agenda - spent months plotting to help prisoners escape after the facility was opened. He was arrested on Tuesday on one count of felony vandalism - however the allegations go far beyond that according to Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall.

"Throughout the last several weeks it was discovered that Mr. Friedmann, over many months, had developed and implemented an extremely deliberate – and in my opinion evil – plan," said Hall, adding "Understand, this plan went far beyond vandalism. Ultimately it included planting various tools, weapons, security equipment throughout this facility. All designed to assist in a massive escape plan."

The stashed weapons included loaded guns and ammunition, according to Hall, who added "What disturbed me most is not that this was about an escape ... It was also about loss of life."

Sheriff Hall said the arrest came after an investigation stemming from a previous case involving Friedmann, who was arrested in January on charges including attempted burglary for allegedly posing as a construction worker to enter a different detention center multiple times, stealing keys, and diagraming the layout of the center, which was still being built and not in use at the time.

A press release from the sheriff’s office said that corrections officials noticed on Dec. 30 that two keys were missing. They viewed surveillance video and saw someone dressed as a construction worker who matched Friedmann’s description taking a key ring, then coming back and replacing it with two keys missing. -Fox News

Friedmann was one of several consultants to Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign advising him on criminal justice issue. According to Fox News, his input resulted in Sanders introducing a bill aimed at eliminating private prisons. In 2015, Friedmann told The Atlantic that the bill didn't go far enough.

"It appears to be more for political purposes than to actually address the many problems in our criminal justice system," he said.

Friedmann, who was associate director of the Human Rights Defense Center and managing editor of its Prison Legal News publication, was released following that arrest after he posted $2,500 bond, and the case is still pending. HRDC director Paul Wright declined to comment on the allegations but told Fox News that Friedmann resigned from the organization following his January arrest. -Fox News

Friedmann's attorney, Ben Raybin, told Fox News that it was "important to clarify that the new vandalism charge stems from alleged conduct arising last year, and not any recent actions occurring after his previous arrest," adding that his client returned the keys to the sheriff's office and had been cooperative.

"Mr. Friedmann surrendered himself immediately after being advised of the new charge," he said.

Friedmann is currently in custody with a $2.5 million bond. His next court appearance is Feb. 26, while the previous case has an April 6 appearance.


More info here from a local news station:

https://www.newschannel5.com/n...nside-the-metro-jail

This message has been edited. Last edited by: wcb6092,

^^^^^
Birds of a feather...

Nate Silver:

Nevada will report three separate sets of results, just like Iowa did.

Namely: initial vote preference,

vote preference after realignment,

and county delegates (equivalent to Iowa's state delegate equivalents). The media will likely emphasize county delegates on caucus day.

Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren each started the month scraping perilously close to the bottom of their campaign bank accounts, posing an existential threat to their candidacies as the Democratic primary goes national…

While Sanders started February with nearly $17 million in the bank, according to campaign finance disclosures filed Thursday night, his next closest rival (nonbillionaire class) was Biden, at $7.1 million. Warren was closest to the red, with just $2.3 million left in her account, while Buttigieg ($6.6 million) and Klobuchar ($2.9 million) were in between…

On Thursday, Buttigieg issued a new call for money to his supporters, asking them to give $13 million to keep his campaign competitive after he raised just $6.2 million in January


Elizabeth Warren’s finances were in the most precarious condition in January, according to the campaign records filed on Thursday night. She spent almost $23 million — more than double the $10 million that she raised — and her campaign had to tap $400,000 of a $3 million credit line as a contingency plan. She entered February with only $2.3 million in her account.

Warrren has so far spent only $300,000 on adverts in the Super Tuesday states, which together will deliver more than a third of all the Democratic delegates available across the US in a single day .

Neither Joe Biden, 77, nor Pete Buttigieg, 38, had bought a single Super Tuesday advert as of Thursday night, according to the spending tracker Kantar/CMAG. Amy Klobuchar, 59, had spent $874,000 in smaller Super Tuesday states.

https://hotair.com/archives/jo...roke-start-february/

^^^^^^ I'm only on my first cup of coffee this morning so I'm slow on the up take, so I'll admit I have no idea what that picture is about.

Jim

DNC is about to hit Bernie with a pipe to take him out

In 1994, Nancy Kerrigan was kneecapped by Tonya Harding's spouse before an Olympic competition.