Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General Is it too soon to be talking 2020?

AOC is not a Progressive?

97 seconds. Colin Powell got more time. John Kasich got more time.
Bill Clinton got more time.

Okay, I'll bite, what is she?

And I like all three of them. I rate Bill Clinton as the 3rd or 4th best president in my lifetime. Right behind IKE and JFK. Colin Powell, he was my CG at FORSCOM. I'd go to the moon and back for him. Kasich, in 2016 I started out supporting Jim Webb, when he didn't campaign, probably because the fix was in, I switch to Kasich. I would have voted for him. He has a head on his shoulder. I think he provides more of an American agenda than an agenda for either party. I ended up voting against both Trump and Hillary.

AOC,I'm very leery of her. I'd probably never vote for her. Not even against Trump. I have no qualms voting third party when I dislike both major party candidates. I have done so 5 times since 1968 when one had to be 21 to vote.

Democrats are aiming at your demographic, Pero, reckon you can swing the election for them without the left or the youth vote?

Let me put it this way, I've been left scratching my head in many elections due to the fact both parties always seem to ignore the independent voter, I call them swing voters. Independents put Trump into the White House while Hillary was busy trying to placate Sanders supporters. Not that Trump went after independents, he didn't. Independents basically voted for the candidate they least wanted to lose, not win, but least wanted to lose. What I don't understand is why both parties always seem to ignore a group of voters who according to Gallup make up 40% of the electorate today while concentrating on their base. Then again I'm not a member of either major party, so I have no idea of their inside thinking.

Independents gave the Democrats the House in 2018 by voting for the democratic congressional candidates 54-42. Independents gave the GOP the House back in 2010 by voting for Republican congressional candidates 56-37. Four year earlier they gave the house to the Democrats in 2016 voting for them by a 57-39 margin.

Obama won the presidency in 2008 because he won the independent vote 52-44 over McCain. Bush won in both 2000 and 2004 because he carried the independent vote 49-45 over Gore and 50-48 over Kerry.

All demographics make up the independent group, their ideology is a pure mixture of everything, so they're not monolithic. Perhaps it's hard to target them as a group because of that. Perhaps that is why they always get ignored.

So who is the left going to vote for if not Biden? Perhaps you're implying they'll stay home. I highly doubt that, they're too angry at Trump and anger is the prime get out to vote motivation force. I'm not worried about democrats turning out. What I'm worried is further shifts to the left turning off independents, the largest voting block at 40% of the electorate vs. 31% for Democrats and 26% for Republicans.

As I stated before, history shows that on average 90% of Republicans and Democrats will vote for their candidates regardless of who that is. Independents are in flux. But we have three types of independents, independents lean Democratic, independents lean Republican and independents with no leans, what I call pure or true independents. Those independents that lean toward one party or the other on average vote for the party's candidate they lean toward roughly 70% of the time. The true or pure independents, no one knows, they're all over the place and impossible to forecast.

AOC? She is a young turk; full of passion, ideas, principles as are all young people. She just needs some time to season, to baste in the world as it is, to grow under the tutelage of great political leadership such as Nancy Pelosi. I think we are seeing the growth of a future Speaker of the House, AOC just needs seasoning.

That makes it kinda difficult to appeal to them, I would think.

Quite right! She's also growing under the tutelage of terrible leadership, Trump, McConnell, obstructive Democrats and centrists.

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So far the Dems have been doing pretty good. They have encouraged Trump to keep on running his mouth and turning off supporters and they have also pretty much shut down the more mouthy of the so-called progressives so as not to offend the middle too much. Trump is tough! He has at least 30% of the voting public as a VERY SOLID base. I sincerely hope the Dems win and win big! All they really have to do is watch their mouths which it seems they are doing. If the Dems win they will certainly have their work cut out as there is a LOT to fix!

My wife has been glued to the so-called Democratic convention every night. I run and hide. I know how I am going to vote so I don't need any inspiration. She also knows but wants the inspiration (worked for the DNC when she was in college - political science and hooked on politics). I guess my only quibble with it all is that they are not really hitting as hard as he deserves to be hit. Obama, I am told, did a fair job of it but, for the most part, Trump is being almost ignored. Nobody, for instance, even bothers to mention that Americans are no longer welcomed in most of the world, including Canada and, now, even Mexico! We are also the laughing stock of the world. There are a bunch of details but those two thing kinda define it all. We have a president who publicly, and with some vigor, pointed out he is responsible for NOTHING! He REALLY needs to go and, hopefully, it can be done without a civil war which, I also believe, he is actually capable if he thinks he can pull it off.