Primarily Speaking

Welcome to another edition of Primarily Speaking, because presidential primaries now begin fully one million years before the election!

If you're like me, you CAN'T WAIT until the Democratic debates start literally a year and a half before Election Day, so you'll be super excited to hear that we've finally got some BIG NEWS on that subject! "The first Democratic debate of the 2020 presidential primary will be held on June 26 and 27 in Miami, NBC News, the host of the debate, announced on Thursday. MSNBC and Telemundo will also host. Details on the venue, moderators, and timing will be announced at a later date, NBC News said in a release."

Yep, that's right! It will be held over the course of two nights, because there are so many people running! I bet you're wondering how they'll pick who will be on the debate stage which night, and that's where things get really terrific!

The Democratic National Committee previously said the lineups for each debate will be chosen at random, not strictly from how candidates are ranked in polls. To qualify, a candidate will need to either have at least 1 percent support in three qualifying polls, or provide evidence of at least 65,000 unique donors, with a minimum of 200 different donors in at least 20 states. Already, more than a dozen Democratic candidates have launched presidential bid while other big names, like former Vice President Joe Biden, appear poised to enter the race.

If more than 20 candidates reach one of those two qualifications, the top 20 will be selected by using a separate method that rewards contenders for meeting both thresholds, followed by highest polling averages, and then the most unique donors.

DEMOCRACY!

*jumps into Christmas tree*

* * *

Yesterday, Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan, who oversaw the bank through a series of scams and frauds, resigned. Senator Elizabeth Warren responded to the news by tweeting: "About damn time." LOL!

By the way, getting fired shouldn't be the end of the story for Tim Sloan. He shouldn't get a golden parachute. He should be investigated by the SEC and the DOJ for his role in all the Wells Fargo scams. And if he's guilty of any crimes, he should be put in jail like anyone else.

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 28, 2019

Hey, speaking of Warren, her proposal to take on Big Agriculture was so good that Senator Bernie Sanders decided to push the party left by making the same case she did, except not as well and without the detailed proposal. Thanks, Bernie!

I appreciate Julián Castro's willingness to say forthrightly that Donald Trump is a liar: "The American people deserve to see what is in that report. And the truth is, unfortunately, that this administration has fudged the truth or outright lied or made exaggerations so many times that why would we believe them on this most blockbuster report about the president." Good point!

Oh boy, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is really not endearing himself to me with more of this stuff:

Buttigieg also spoke about Trump supporters & the idea that ppl on the coasts “have trouble believing that Trump voters actually exist.”

Trump supporters, he said, are "just human beings making choices on their situations, sometimes their biases & we need to talk through them." https://t.co/g1w3hArWkn

— Dan Merica (@merica) March 29, 2019

There is a lot wrong with that — like the fact that many marginalized people have no interest in "talking through" with Trump voters why they hate us, and that is a valid choice — but I can't even abide listening to someone suggest that people on the coasts don't believe Trump voters actually exist, because FUCK YOU my next door neighbor is a Trump voter, and I had to look at his Trump yard sign and be reminded that my next door neighbor thinks sexual assault is A-OK for months. I couldn't forget or disbelieve that Trump voters exist if I wanted to.

This type of "unity" politics in which people who are targeted by conservatives' cruel policies and interpersonal hatred are admonished to try to better understand the people who hate us has just never resonated with me, and it is even less appealing in an age of reemergent Nazism.

And, yes, I realize that Buttigieg is himself targeted by the same folks as a gay man, and he is welcome to want to "reach out" to his oppressors if that's his choice, but I'm not interested and that is my choice.

Speaking of Nazis, Politico thought it was a good idea to publish a piece about who Steve Bannon thinks would make for the strongest Democratic ticket. (Kamala Harris and Beto O'Rourke.) So, you know, that's where the political press is. Really learned a lot of good lessons from 2016.

Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker will address LGBTQ activists at a major Human Rights Campaign dinner in Los Angeles this weekend.

And Beto O'Rourke stood on some more stuff:

#BetoStandsOnStuff pic.twitter.com/ykn9U82Zf2

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 29, 2019

John Hickenlooper is still definitely running for president.

Talk about these things! Or don't. Whatever makes you happy. Life is short.