2829 replies to this topic

[Jessica]

GA-Climate Nexus: Biden +1, Warren tied, Sanders -2, Harris -5, Buttigieg -7

 

Georgia: Climate Nexus, Nov. 4-10, 688 LV

Approve 47
Disapprove 50

Strongly approve 30
Strongly disapprove 40

Biden 48, Trump 47
Warren 47, Trump 47
Trump 48, Sanders 46
Trump 49, Harris 44
Trump 49, Buttigieg 42

Biden 31
Sanders 14
Warren 14
Harris 4
Buttigieg 4
Yang 2
Booker 2
Williamson 2
Others 1 or less

[caltrek]

California High Court Strikes Down Candidate Tax Return Law

 

https://www.courthou...tax-return-law/

 

Introduction:

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Courthouse News) – The California Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a win to President Donald Trump and blocked a newly passed state law that would have required him to release tax returns to California voters before the March primary.

 

The state’s high court ruled that the law violates a constitutional amendment that requires all “recognized” candidates for president to have primary ballot access.

“Insofar as the act would make such a candidate’s disclosure of income tax returns a requirement for inclusion on a qualifying party’s primary ballot, its provisions conflict with this intent, and are therefore unconstitutional,” the 53-page order, written by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, states.

 

The decision is the latest blow to California Democrats’ brazen attempt to expose Trump’s tax returns and falls in line with a September order by a federal judge who called the law a “trampling” of the constitutional standards for running for president.

 

In response to the unanimous ruling, California officials said they will be dropping their federal appeal, signaling the end of the legal fight over SB 27...

[Jessica]

New Iowa St./Civiqs (NR) IA Poll: Pete 26, Warren 19, Sanders 18, Biden 12, Klobuchar 5, Yang 4

https://civiqs.com/d...ook_2019_11.pdf

[Jessica]

ARG economic survey (monthly), Nov. 17-20, 1100 adults including 992 RV

Adults:

Approve 37 (nc)
Disapprove 60 (+1)

RV:

Approve 36
Disapprove 61

[Jessica]

Morning Consult/Politico, Nov. 15-17, 1994 RV (1-week change)

Approve 41 (+1)
Disapprove 55 (-1)

Strongly approve 24 (+1)
Strongly disapprove 45 (+1)

[caltrek]

This is a disturbing article on what we have to look forward to in the 2020 campaign. It is also longer than the normal article that I link.

 

How Social Media Amplifies Trump’s Rants And Disinformation

 

https://ourfuture.or...-disinformation

 

Introduction:

 

(Our Future) As 2020 nears, disinformation—intentionally false political propaganda—is increasing and getting nastier. Central to this disturbing trend is President Trump, whose re-election campaign and allies revel in mixing selected truths, half-truths, knowing distortions and outright lies, especially with messaging sent and seen online.

 

Trump’s rants about impeachment, Ukraine, the Bidens, Nancy Pelosi, the media, and any opponent abound: On Twitter, in statements to the press, at rallies, he sets the angry tone. His White House staff, right-wing media, 2020 campaign and surrogates embellish his cues. Hovering above this cultivated chaos is a larger goal, propaganda experts say, to create an omnipresent information operation driving news narratives.

 

Thanks to Trump, Americans have been subjected to a crash course in propaganda. When Russia used similar tactics in the West in recent years, its goals were to increase polarization, destabilize society, and undermine faith in democratic institutions, as noted in a 2019 report by Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center. When Trump and his supporters propagandize, it is to assert themselves, smear critics and rivals, and manipulate “unwitting Americans,” according to NYU’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

 

With the continuing rise of online media, there is no end in sight to the trend of escalating disinformation. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter are the most direct way to target and reach any voter. They share an architecture built to elevate, spread, and track provocative content—designed to push impulse sales. When used by political operatives, these tools favor inflammatory material and its most aggressive purveyors, namely figures like Trump and the messaging that promotes him.

 

Today’s presidential campaigns, led by Trump, are spending more online than on television, exacerbating disinformation’s spread. Making matters worse is that the biggest online platforms, led by Facebook and YouTube, have inconsistent standards on blocking ads containing clear lies.

[Jessica]

Suffolk New Hampshire poll Sanders 16%, Warren 14%, Buttigieg 13%, Biden 12%

https://www.realclea...v_26th_2019.pdf

Undecided is over 20%.

[starspawn0]

https://mobile.twitt...137670062133254

The reason MSNBC puts their thumb so heavily on the scale to help the candidates they favor and erase the ones they don't is that's what the DNC does. There's a reason it's known as
@MSDNCNews
. Just give the qualifying candidates equal and fair time and quit cheating.

Could be true. Though, it probably won't be a huge loss. I like Andrew Yang, not that I've listened to his message that closely, but I worry that he is considering technological unemployment to be a bigger threat than it is at the moment. Economists like Paul Krguman say that he is wrong; they should be listened-to.

I'm a believer that tech unemployment will happen, eventually. A little caution would suit Yang, though. (On the other hand, people who are too cautious tend to make lousy politicians -- they speak and act in half-measures.)

[Jessica]

Quinnipiac national poll: Biden 24 Buttigieg 16 Warren 14 Sanders 13
https://poll.qu.edu/...?ReleaseID=3650

Biden 24%
Buttigieg 16%
Warren 14%
Sanders 13%
Bloomberg 3%
Harris 3%
Klobuchar 3%
Booker 2%
Castro 2%
Yang 2%
Bennet 2%
Gabbard 1%
Delaney, Williamson, Bullock, Sestak, Steyer, Patrick 0%

[Jessica]

CNN poll: Biden 28%, Sanders 17%, Warren 14%, Buttigieg 11%,

Harris & Yang & Steyer & Bloomberg 3%, Booker & Klobuchar 2%, all others 1% or less

https://www.cnn.com/...-doc/index.html

[Jessica]

POLITICO

@politico

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock announced this morning he is suspending his campaign for president amid fundraising struggles and a repeated inability to qualify for the debate stage

[caltrek]

We asked 2020 Democratic candidates 7 key questions on technology

 

https://www.vox.com/...ogle-technology

 

Introduction:

 

(Vox) Tech has been given surprisingly little airtime during the 2020 Democratic primaries. It has rarely come up on the debate stage. While candidates such as Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, and Amy Klobuchar have made tech-related issues part of their platforms, the matter is often eclipsed by other political hot topics, including health care and taxes.

 

That exclusion, however, belies how important technology — and the conversation around how if at all it should be ruled and regulated — has become for constituents and candidates alike.

Consolidation and sprawling growth have seen fewer and fewer tech companies eating up a greater share of total profits, leading to federal and state investigations of monopoly behavior that potentially leads to less innovation. Tech platforms have become bastions of misinformation, influencing American elections and even, arguably, infringing on our human rights. Meanwhile, technologies such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition are bringing up a whole host of concerns about largely unregulated areas, from how law enforcement should be allowed to employ these technologies to the responsibilities companies bear if this “fourth industrial revolution” results in a widespread elimination of human jobs.

 

We put these seven questions to every candidate:

1. Should Facebook, Google, Apple, and/or Amazon be broken up? Why or why not?
2. How should platforms be held responsible for misinformation or hate speech on their sites?
3. In the event of a crime, should the government be able to access Americans’ encrypted conversations?
4. Who should control Americans’ online data, and how should tech companies be punished when they fail to properly protect and steward this data?
5. How, if at all, should tech companies be held responsible for the jobs they eliminate with their innovations?
6. Facial recognition is largely unregulated in the US. How, if at all, would you regulate facial recognition technology for surveillance and policing?
7. What’s the most important tech-related issue that Americans are facing in the next four years?

We reached out to all of the 2020 Democratic primary candidates and received responses from (in order of early December polling averages) Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, billionaire Tom Steyer, and Sen. Michael Bennet. Here are their answers (click hyperlinks above for answers to each indicated question).

 

[Jessica]

Kamala Harris drops out of presidential race.

Source: Politico

Kamala Harris is dropping out of the presidential race, she told staff on a call Tuesday. She will release a video momentarily announcing her plans.

Kamala Harris drops out of presidential race after plummeting from top tier of Democratic candidates
PUBLISHED TUE, DEC 3 20191:09 PM ESTUPDATED MOMENTS AGO

 

https://www.cnbc.com...ntial-race.html

Read more: https://www.politico...al-race-074902?

[caltrek]

Starspawn found this article concerning Pete Buttigieg:

 

https://www.currenta.../all-about-pete

 

Edit:  I should add that the article is a rather long read.

[caltrek]

Mother Jones has also written up an article on Buttigieg:

 

https://www.motherjo...egs-iowa-surge/

 

While  Buttigieg is far from my favorite candidate (Warren and Sanders top my list) I do think the Mother Jones  article suggest a rebuttal of one point made in the Current Affairs article:  If Buttigieg is so bad at being able to listen to voters, why is he surging in the polls in places like Iowa?

 

Does that not suggest that he may not be so bad at listening to voters after all? 

[caltrek]

Immigrant Rights Groups to Mayor Pete: Return Donations From ICE-Enabling McKinsey and Its Employees

 

https://www.latinore...tigiegmckinsey/

 

Introduction:

 

(Latino Rebels) WASHINGTON, D.C. —  On December 5, Four leading immigrant rights organizations sent a letter to Pete for America, which urged the presidential candidate to return all contributions to his campaign from McKinsey & Company. This request comes after a New York Times story exposed McKinsey’s contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. It also comes as increasing public scrutiny has focused on Pete Buttigieg’s time working with, and ties to, McKinsey, including a New York Times editorial published Thursday.

 

Center for Popular Democracy Action, Make the Road Action, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action, and United We Dream Action understand that McKinsey’s recommendations to ICE have only served to support Trump’s mass deportation efforts, which target, abuse and even kill members of our communities. We also know that the next President of the United States must use her/his moral and executive authority to drive policymaking in a direction based on the vision of “helping people without hurting people.” This means that no presidential candidate should benefit from money from a company whose outrageous behavior goes against these values.

 

The four organizations have asked the Pete for American campaign to return all the contributions made by McKinsey employees by no later than the end of the day (5pm ET) on December 12. The full letter is included...(in the article linked above).

 

Edit:

 

For more on the McKinsey ICE connection:  https://www.propubli...ration-policies

 

For more on the McKinsey Buttigieg campaign connection:  https://prospect.org...pete-buttigieg/

[caltrek]

I guess Butigieg now has a good oppurtunity to demonstrate how well (or poorly) he listens to voters and organizations like Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

 

Demand Grows for Buttigieg to Come Clean About His Time at 'Corporate Greed Machine' McKinsey

 

https://www.commondr...achine-mckinsey

 

Introduction:

 

(Common Dreams) Days after reports surfaced about the global consulting firm McKinsey's work advising the Trump administration on immigration policy, calls are growing louder for South Bend, Indiana mayor and 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg to disclose details about the work he did for the company.

 

Political observers took notice Thursday evening when the New York Times editorial board joined ethics watchdogs in demanding that Buttigieg release the information, saying his claims that he is bound by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) create a situation that is "untenable."

"Mr. Buttigieg owes voters a more complete account of his time at the company. Voters seeking an alternative to Mr. Trump should demand that candidates not only reject Mr. Trump's positions, but also his behavior—including his refusal to share information about his health and his business dealings," the editors wrote. "This standard requires Mr. Buttigieg to talk about his time at McKinsey."

 

Conclusion:

 

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Buttigieg's refusal to release information about his time at McKinsey could soon draw comparisons to President Donald Trump's failure to disclose his tax returns.

 

"It's a real fear of ours that Democrats and future Republican candidates for president will say, 'Well, Trump got away with it, so we are going to, too,'" CREW communications director Jordan Libowitz told the Huffington Post. "Part of that is not letting Trump get away with it, part of that is holding Democrats to the same standard."

[Jessica]

morningconsult.com/2020-democratic-primary/

Biden 30% (+1)
Sanders 22% (+2)
Warren 16% (+1)
Buttigieg 9% (-)
Bloomberg 6% (+1)
Yang 4% (-)

Booker and Steyer at 3%. Everyone else under.

[Jessica]

Link: https://morningconsu...cratic-primary/

Biden 30%
Sanders 22%
Warren 16%
Buttigieg 9%
Bloomberg 6%
Yang 4%
Booker 3%
Steyer 3%
Gabbard 2%
Klobuchar 2%
Bennet 1%
Castro 1%
Delaney 1%
Williamson 1%
Patrick 0%

[Jessica]

SC-FairVote/YouGov: Biden leads Sanders, Buttigieg, and Warren 39-13-10-10

 

Biden — 39% (-6%)
Sanders — 13% (-2%)
Buttigieg — 10% (+2%)
Warren — 10% (-7%)
Steyer — 7% (+5%)
Gabbard — 4% (+3%)
Yang — 3% (+3%)
Bloomberg — 2% (-)
Booker — 2% (±0)
Harris — 2% (-3%)
Klobuchar — 2% (+1%)
Delaney — 1% (±0)
Patrick — 1% (-)
Bennet — 0% (±0)
Bullock — 0% (-1%)
Castro — 0% (±0)
Sestak — 0% (±0)
Williamson —  0% (±0)

https://fairvote.app...4tagfb5fqc74s6k