The Demo debate was actually better than the others. Part of it was that it did not include opening remarks, a departure from earlier debate itinerary. For some reason, I couldn’t tell you why, but it was more informative and detailed in where the candidates differed and where they were alike. For that you have to give credit to MSNBC, they found a format that worked. It could have been the deletion of opening statements, it could have been the more in depth questioning, it could have been the extended time for the candidates to answer, it could have been the candidates themselves who actually made really good points and challenged themselves on honest differences.

I agree with some of the commentary and disagree with other parts. My takeaways are that Sen. Sanders is still the most relatable candidate in the Democratic field. His mix of humor and hard nosed policy decisions stand out. Sanders is spry, quick witted and seemingly a good decision maker. The one thing that voters look at is his age. As unfair as it is, and it is, people look at his ability to do two terms as President. I, for one, don’t have a problem with it.

Mayor Pete came under the most scrutiny by his counterparts but not only did I think he handed it well, I think he got the better of the conversation. When Klobuchar challenged his credentials, he hit back by saying that you’re complaining about how things are going on in Washington but that’s where you work. When Gabbard challenged him on his readiness and judgement, Mayor Pete, well, to put it simple, he called bullshit on what she was alluding to. Mayor Buttigieg is 38 but he, along with Sen Booker, is a Rhodes Scholar, what does that mean exactly,

Mr. Rhodes’ Will contains four criteria by which prospective Rhodes Scholars are to be selected:

1. literary and scholastic attainments;
2. energy to use one’s talents to the full;
3. truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship;
4. moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one’s fellow beings.

Only 32 people from the U.S. get selected yearly, so there is a great honor in it. There is a certain vigorous rigor that goes into qualifying for such a prestigious honor. Mayor Pete also served in Afghanistan, as an intelligence officer, and he was elected as Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, which has a population of over 100,000 people. He is young in comparison to other candidates and past Presidents. Theodore Roosevelt, 42 when he took office, was a year younger than JFK when he took office, who was 3 years younger than Bill Clinton when he took office. You might have to be a Rhodes Scholar just to understand this paragraph. All were good Presidents, Teddy being the sole Republican but maybe the best of the bunch. Bill Clinton was also a Rhodes Scholar and the last President to actually balance the budget. My point here is, out of all the Presidents, the younger guys did pretty dam good. Oddly, my two favorite candidates are the youngest and the oldest in the field.

It doesn’t mean I’ll vote for them, I’m independent, I haven’t decided yet. President Trump still has a way to go before his term is up and he has to campaign but I am of the reasoning that if you put the two best people forward from their respective parties, the country can’t go wrong. Only one party has that distinction of nominating a person this time around and that’s the Demo’s, the Repub’s have an incumbent.

Sen. Harris might be the smartest person in the field of candidates. She has unequivocal logic and reasoning. Sen. Harris makes points that you can’t help but agree with because you know she is right. The senator’s problem is if it resonates with the voters and their nostalgia of what seems to be a really good President in President Obama, which seems to be leaning towards former Vice-President Biden. Her other problems were the shellacking she took from Gabbard the first time around, and I hate to say it, but the fact that she is a …well … a she. I want a female President. I want to know the difference in managing styles. It may be the best kept secret on how good a female President is or can be but there is this male hysteria that, whether we want to admit or not, makes people hesitant. People fear the unknown, they like to play it safe, it’s a natural human response. Fear is a powerful weapon. Sen. Harris has to be strong, authoritative and be a woman at the same time, not that women can’t be strong and authoritative, I’m just talking about the stigma or biases that we hold in this society. It’s completely unfair. She figuratively has to punch you in the nose and make you feel wanted at the same time. All her male counterparts have to do is… talk. If she raises her voice, people label her an angry woman or on that time of the month, if her male counterparts raise their voice, their labeled enthusiastic, committed or passionate. If she corrects you, she is labeled a know it all, if her male counterparts correct you, their labeled intelligent, at least that’s the way some people see it. Those are the biases that are holding this country back from electing a woman president.

One point I would like to make is that over 72 thousand people died from illicit drugs last year. That’s from overdoses to homicides to other factors. That’s more than all terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, I think. If you get rid of the cartels, you get rid of a lot of what is wrong on this hemisphere. If you had an idea to try and pressure and persuade Mexico to man (woman) up and that included using military factors, then, by all means, what is the military for if not to combat foreign entities of any kind to stop killing our citizens. It would also reduce other monetary and pecuniary obligations like rehab centers and prisons. Also seizing the cartels monies would be a pretty good windfall. I’m not sure what international law and foreign policy is but it should include stopping the flow of drugs in a more permanent way instead of playing the gopher pop up game. Take one cartel leader in and another pops up.

I also think Congresswoman Gabbard gets a raw deal and that Yang should get more time to speak. Yang seems like the real deal but his talk time is limited. Funny enough, it might just work out in his favor.

After watching the Demo debate in Ohio, I can see why people voted for Trump. It was dizzying with the same message in prior debates. It’s blaming Trump, it’s blaming corporations (which is not totally untrue), it’s blaming billionaires without a practical solution. We had a Demo President prior to Trump and none of those issues were fixed. We had plenty of Demo Presidents prior to Trump, all who made the same promises, and none fixed the problem. How do we pass these ambitious goals through congress and a senate who make money off of these problem makers? That’s what I want to know. I like all your ideas, I love your ideas but how do you get it through the legislative body? Pork, not the other white meat, but the lobbying firms that persuade law makers to see things their way, is the biggest problem. If I was on that stage I would call you bullshitters because you are not addressing the real problem. You can’t enact anything when it goes against the interest of the people  that are suppose to enact it. I did not hear one person mention lobbying firms or pork (except Bernie). To me, while your goals are benevolent in its nature, I think are almost impossible to enact. I have my personal opinions but they are opinions of a person that has no experience in politics.

1. If you can make a wall a national emergency, then you can make national healthcare a national emergency. No one is dying because of a lack of a wall but people are dying in droves from poor or non-existent healthcare. AND, no one logical person believes that a private insurance company that thrives off of profits would do better than a non-profit or government agency where profits are not their goal. Are you effin crazy? Everyone invokes the Former President (Obama) in their debate, but they fail to realize that his goal was to have the best national healthcare plan not necessarily his plan. What he did is move the needle in the right direction, an amazing feat given the political climate, but I’m sure he would say that he would want you to do better. President Obama gave us a push in the right direction, it’s time now to finish it by pushing it further, which in my opinion is to have affordable care that covers everything, which is what Bernie Sanders is proposing.
2. How do you fight pork, have your Justice Department file in federal court against lobbying firms being able to exist in the form it is presently. You have to find a way to keep big corporations out of the decision making process.
3. How do you make corporations pay a living wage and stop them from fleeing the country due to higher taxes? Don’t raise their taxes, lower them when they meet specific criteria like paying everyone that works for them a minimum of $20 an hour, lower it more when they meet a criteria of how many people they hire in the country, lower it more when they donate to communities. If they don’t meet that criteria (just examples), then impose a tax that would make their heads spin. If they flee, then impose a tax that only goes to companies that don’t employ anyone in the country. You need to incentivize cooperation, the carrot or the stick, Teddy Roosevelt had it right. Honestly, I wouldn’t care if they didn’t pay a penny in taxes if they paid the money to their workers that would allow us to pay for all that good sh*t you guys want for us. If they leave, then promote the companies that stayed, make it easier for them to get their products to be sold. It might sound nationalist, but we are a diverse nation that is supposed to be blind to race, color and creed but we don’t have to turn a blind eye to companies that would usurp our national values and harm our economy for the love of their bottom line.
4. I think you guys have a great foreign policy.

You see what I did there. I put out solutions that most likely won’t work because I’m just a silly blogger but not one of my answers blamed President Trump, billionaires or big corporations (sort of). They tried to address what is wrong with the system and find a solution. To me, it’s like trying to finish a puzzle and you can’t find a particular piece and you start blaming the guy that couldn’t finish the puzzle before you instead of trying to find a realistic solution like finding the missing piece or seeing if your kid brother just ate the piece, little bastard.

By the way I think Bernie is right because I believe that when he blames big corporations he is blaming their lobbying firms and their self interest in the bottom line.

I liked Gabbard’s bravado. The criticism laid out by the media, how she has support by the Repub voters, probably insured that she will be a vice president nominee if she doesn’t win the nomination. She obviously has cross over appeal. They did her a favor.

Sen. Sanders seems to be the person with the right game plan and the one that is willing to fight.

Sen. Harris is right, keep your fucking hands off of women you perverted fucks. I know that’s what she was thinking. Justice shouldn’t be delved out by your social position but by the crimes you commit and the laws you break.

Yang is intelligent, practical, logical and realistic. His chances aren’t very high to get the nomination (just due to name recognition) but if he got the nod, he would win.

And holy shit, Mayor Pete is significantly qualified, just the fact that he wants to give away power of the office in depoliticizing the Supreme Court is amazing, letting the justices decide who should serve on their court, instead of having someone that can’t do the job make the decision. Mayor Pete has the right answer. Why would someone that is not qualified for a job, hire or promote someone that is. That would be like me hiring a rocket scientist when I can’t even figure out how to finish a Lego set or fly a kite (I’ve been told to go fly a kite a lot). Mayor Pete just showed that he knows his limits and figured out a solution on how to fix it. That makes him a problem solver, exactly what a President should be.

Don’t be afraid to agree with you competitor cohorts because the person that believes that they are the only ones that have the right answer and the other person doesn’t, isn’t the person for the job. If I wanted someone that thought they are the only one that can do the job, then I would move to a communist country. The fact is there are lot of qualified candidates, from Mayor Buttigieg, Mr. Yang, Sen. Harris, Sen. Sanders, Congresswoman Gabbard, pretty much all the candidates. It isn’t the person that thinks that they have all the right answers that impresses me, mainly because they’re wrong, but the person that recognizes the right answer when it is presented. It doesn’t have to be your idea or solution, it just have to be the right solution. Set yourself apart by saying that I like her/his idea, I’m going to take that idea because it is the right way to go. Bill Clinton did and he got elected.