Tag: 2020 Democratic primary

The S.O.B from South Bend

Buck Banks

“Maybe it’s his calculated manner, or the way he waves at a crowd like an animatronic member of the British royal family, or his Midwestern aw-shucks niceness. But more than a year into his presidential campaign, despite all the attention paid to his candidacy, people still miss how aggressive Buttigieg is. … That’s what the victory-without-a-victory speech he gave last night was about.”

— The Atlantic

The Bloomberg State of the Union

Buck Banks

“The real state of the union: a nation divided by an angry, out of control president. A White House beset by lies, chaos and corruption. An administration that has failed the American people. It doesn’t have to be this way. Next year we can have a leader who brings people together, solves problems and gets results. Mike Bloomberg will get it done.”

— Michael Bloomberg’s new ad tied to tonight’s State of the Union address

Iowa Has Probably Screwed Up the Primaries, at Least for a While

Buck Banks

“Maybe there will eventually be a decent-sized Iowa bounce despite all of this. But there’s a good chance that the candidates who did well in Iowa get screwed, and the candidates who did poorly there get a mulligan. To repeat: There’s very little importance in a mathematical sense to who wins 41 delegates. Iowa is all about the media narrative it produces and all about momentum, and that momentum, whoever wins, is likely to have been blunted.”

— Nate Silver

The Iowa Caucases Are Dead

Buck Banks

“This fiasco means the end of the caucuses as a significant American political event. The rest of the country was already losing patience with Iowa anyway and this cooks Iowa’s goose. Frankly, it should, The real winner tonight was Donald Trump, who got to watch his opponents wallow in a mess. A lot of good Democratic candidates and people who fought their hearts out here for … nothing.”

— David Yepsen quoted by Politico

Iowa to be a Nail-Biter

Buck Banks

19%

A new Focus on Rural America poll in Iowa finds Pete Buttigieg leading the Democratic presidential race with 19%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 17%, Elizabeth Warren at 15%, Joe Biden at 15% and Amy Klobuchar at 11%. “Our biggest takeaway… The top four candidates are in a virtual dead heat, and Klobuchar isn’t that far off. That means precinct by precinct delegate counts and realignments are going to make this a nail-biter to the very end.”