Tag: 2020 election

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Joe Biden Officially Jumps Into The 2020 Presidential Race

Former Vice President Joe Biden officially jumped into the 2020 presidential race this morning. In an announcement video, Biden focused primarily on the hideous white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia where a woman lost her life, and Donald Trump declared that there were “fine people” on both sides.
Former Vice President Joe Biden 

Former Vice President Joe Biden officially jumped into the 2020 presidential race this morning.

In an announcement video, Biden focused primarily on the hideous white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia where a woman lost her life, and Donald Trump declared that there were “fine people” on both sides.

“With those words, the President of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it,” said Biden. “And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime.”

The video was accompanied with this message: “It’s time for respected leadership on the world stage—and dignified leadership at home. It’s time for equal opportunity, equal rights, and equal justice. It’s time for an economy that rewards those who actually do the work. It’s time for a president who will stand up for all of us.”

Even though he’s just now officially entered the race, his entry has been anticipated and he’s instantly the frontrunner.

It is VERY early, but RealClearPolitics’ average of recent polls shows him leading the Democratic contenders by an average of 6.3 points.

And an average of hypothetical matchups against Donald Trump indicate that (today) he would thump Trump by 7.8 points.

By comparison, an average of hypotheticals pitting Sen. Bernie Sanders against Trump shows Sanders coming out on top by only 2.7 points.

I’m totally good with Joe Biden as our next president. Experience, dignity and respect for others. Eight years as Vice President and 36 years in the U.S. Senate.

Oh, and sanity. Let’s not forget that.

He came out for marriage equality before Barack Obama did. And he’s been an outspoken advocate for transgender soldiers serving in the U.S. military.

Folks will point to earlier positions in the 80s or 90s, but people do evolve as society evolves.

Donald Trump used to speak in coherent sentences, and look at what he’s ‘evolved’ into.

People will say Joe is an “old white guy.” Age doesn’t bother me as long as folks are healthy.

I would enthusiastically vote for Biden. That said, I’ll also be happy to vote for Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders or former Rep. Beto O’Rourke if they clinch the Democratic nomination.

Biden quickly racked up three endorsements from Sens. Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Bob Casey (D-Penn) and Doug Jones (D-Alabama).

Biden will attend a fundraiser in Philadelphia later today, and he’s scheduled for an appearance on ABC’s The View for his first post-announcement television interview on Friday.

On Monday, he will hold his first official event in Pittsburgh, followed by a swing through early voting states Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Predictably, Donald Trump mocked the announcement via Twitter:

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Joe Biden To Announce Presidential Campaign Thursday Morning

Former Vice President Joe Biden will announce his long-expected presidential campaign for the 2020 election on Thursday morning, according to CNN.
Former Vice President Joe Biden

Former Vice President Joe Biden will announce his long-expected presidential campaign for the 2020 election on Thursday morning, according to CNN.

Axios reports that he’ll open his campaign with a “climate of the nation” message that takes on President Trump but doesn’t directly attack any of the other 2020 Democrats.

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Joe Biden Leads 7+ In New National Poll

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden

The latest poll from Monmouth University shows Joe Biden currently has the support of 27% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, which is similar to his 28% support in March and 29% in January.

Sen. Bernie Sanders garnered 20%, slightly down from 25% in March, and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg currently has 8% support. Just to show how much he has surged in recent weeks, the 37-year-old mayor registered less than 1% in prior Monmouth polls.

California Sen. Kamala Harris has 8% support, Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 6% and former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke at 4%.

“You cannot deny that Buttigieg is experiencing a real moment right now, but it’s important to remember there is a lot of fluidity in this field,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

“Voters are not only moving from candidate to candidate but also from candidate to undecided,” he added. “Right now, the top tier is determined largely by who has a high national profile. This may not gel with how the contest will play out in the early states.”

From the chart below, it looks like Biden is holding onto his position, but clearly Buttigieg is pulling from Sanders, Harris and Warren.

(source)

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Poll: Sanders’ Supporters Not All That Dedicated To Democrats

A new poll from Emerson shows the 'Bernie bros' aren't quite down on solidarity with the Democrats 'no matter what.'
Sen. Bernie Sanders (L) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (R)

A new poll from Emerson shows the ‘Bernie bros’ aren’t quite down on solidarity with the Democrats ‘no matter what.’

Forbes’ analysis of the new survey shows 26% of Bernie supporters say they would vote for Donald Trump over Sen. Elizabeth Warren should she clinch the Democratic nomination.
Similarly, while 100% of Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s supporters say they would vote for Bernie should he prevail as the Democratic nominee, only 79% of Sanders supporters say they would support Buttigieg in a general election against Trump.
The Emerson poll is the first to show Sanders getting more support than former Vice President Joe Biden, who has seen his numbers slip a bit of late.

Sanders got 29% support, followed by Biden at 24% and then Buttigieg at 9%.

Harris and Beto O’Rourke garnered 8% and Warren just 7%. 
“While still early in the nominating process, it looks like Mayor Pete is the candidate capturing voters’ imagination; the numbers had him at 0 percent in mid-February, 3 percent in March and now at 9 percent in April,” wrote Director of Emerson Polling Spencer Kimball said of the results.

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Mayor Pete Makes It Official “I Am Running For President Of The United States”

An enthusiastic crowd came together today in South Bend, Indiana, as Mayor Pete Buttigieg officially announced his candidacy for president of the United States. "My name is Pete Buttigieg, they call me Mayor Pete." said the mayor standing before a crowd of thousands in his hometown. "I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana and I am running for president of the United States."
Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, officially enters the race for the White House

An enthusiastic crowd came together today in South Bend, Indiana, as Mayor Pete Buttigieg officially announced his candidacy for president of the United States.

“My name is Pete Buttigieg, they call me Mayor Pete,” said the mayor standing before a crowd of thousands in his hometown. “I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana and I am running for president of the United States.”

In speaking those words, he becomes the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate in the history of the country. Should he make it to the finish line, he will not only be the first openly LGBTQ president, but the youngest person ever elected to the office.

“I recognize the audacity of doing this as a Midwestern millennial mayor,” he added, “more than a little bold, at age 37, to seek the highest office in the land.”

The South Bend mayor thanked his husband – “my love, Chasten” – “for giving me the strength to do this and the grounding to be myself as we go.”

Buttigieg hugs his husband, Chasten, after his speech in South Bend
Buttigieg hugs his husband, Chasten, after his speech in South Bend

The young mayor told the crowd, and the world, that the guiding principles for his campaign are “simple enough to fit on a bumper sticker: freedom, security, and democracy.”

Expanding on the topic of freedom, he shared, “Take it from Chasten and me, you’re not free if the county clerk gets to tell you who you ought to marry ‘cause of their idea of their political beliefs.”

He also noted that it was just one vote on the Supreme Court that gave him the freedom to marry his husband.

“Our marriage exists by the grace of a single vote on the US Supreme Court,” said Buttigieg. “Nine women and men sat down in a room and took a vote and they brought me the most important freedom in my life.”

Buttigieg, currently serving his second term as mayor of South Bend, is Harvard educated, a Rhodes scholar, an Afghanistan war veteran who speaks seven languages.

In other words, the polar opposite of the current occupant of the White House.

In recent weeks, he’s surged from zero support in political surveys to 3rd place in multiple polls.

A Monmouth University poll published this week showed Buttigieg in third place in Iowa with 9% support behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, who garnered 27% and 16% respectively.

In New Hampshire, a Saint Anselm College poll put Biden at 23% support, Sanders at 16%, and Buttigieg at 11% support.

Those results put him ahead of more well-known names like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Amy Klobuchar.

Annise Parker, CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, was present at the announcement event, and said in a statement Buttigieg “shattered a lavender ceiling once thought unbreakable, becoming the first openly LGBTQ Democratic presidential candidate in American history and our first real shot at the Oval Office.”

“There is enormous power in an openly gay presidential candidate stumping at town halls in Iowa and speaking to Americans from the presidential debate stage – it changes perceptions of our community and raises the bar for candidates who seek LGBTQ support,” added Parker.

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Sen. Kamala Harris Releases 15 Years Of Tax Returns

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA)

Democratic White House hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris of California has released 15 years of tax returns in an effort to provide transparency to the voters.

Via Politico:

Sen. Kamala Harris and her husband reported a total income of about $2 million in their 2018 federal tax return, according to a large release of filings on Sunday by the California Democrat that her presidential campaign is billing as the “most transparent” of the sprawling 2020 field.

Harris released 15 years of tax returns in all — three more than any other candidate. Harris’ records cover every year since 2004, when she was the elected district attorney of San Francisco.

In their 2018 return, Harris and her husband, attorney Doug Emhoff, listed an adjusted gross income of $1.89 million, including Harris’ Senate salary and the $320,000 she made from writing a book, “The Truths We Hold.” Harris and Emhoff were married in 2014, then began filing jointly. In 2018, they paid $563,426 in federal taxes and donated $27,000 to charity.

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Mayor Pete To Pence: We Don’t Need To Feud About Religion, Just Stop Being Homophobic

Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)

During his appearance on ELLEN Friday, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg addressed an accusation by Vice President Mike Pence that he has been attacking Pence’s “Christian faith” as a means to further his presidential aspirations.

“I’m not critical of his faith,” the mayor told Ellen DeGeneres. “I’m critical of bad policies.”

“I don’t have a problem with religion – I’m religious, too,” he added. “I have a problem with religion being used as a justification to harm people, and especially in the LGBTQ community. So many people, even today, feel like they don’t belong. You can get fired in so many parts of this country just for who you are. And that’s got to change.”

Back to Pence, the 37-year-old White House hopeful told Ellen he isn’t “interested in feuding with the Vice President.”

“But, if he wanted to clear this up he could come out today and say he’s changed his mind,” said Buttigieg. “That it shouldn’t be legal to discriminate against anybody in this country for who they are.”

Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)

Buttigieg also spoke about the influence of religion on his life and how it guides him.

“When I’m in church, the scripture that I hear is about taking care about the least among us it’s about lifting up those who are most vulnerable,” he explained. “It’s a message that is fundamentally about love. Love and humility. Humbling yourself before God and putting other people before you.”

Noting that many people were disappointed a woman wasn’t elected president in 2016, Ellen asked the mayor why those people should vote for him in the 2020 election.

“You gotta vote for the person you think best speaks to your values and is best able to lead the country, and you may decide that’s me and you may decide that’s somebody else.”

Underscoring the importance for administrations to have gender diversity and gender balance, Mayor Pete was quick to say he’d definitely be open to having a female running mate should he win the Democratic primary.

In related Mayor Pete news, the recent Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll shows he has surged to third place among Democratic voters in New Hampshire.

With former Vice President Joe Biden coming in on top with 23 percent, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders second with 16 percent, Mayor Pete garnered 11 percent support.

The pollster wrote in his report, “The emerging dark horse in this race may be Pete Buttigieg, who has gone from a virtual unknown to vault to 11% support, trailing only Biden and Sanders and ahead of Warren.”

The poll indicated Buttigieg has seen a 33-point increase in name recognition in recent weeks, almost all of it favorable.

And the latest poll out of Iowa from Monmouth University also shows Buttigieg in third place (9% support) behind Biden (27%) and Sanders (16%).

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Trump “Batman” Campaign Ad Taken Down For Copyright Infringement

After Donald Trump illegally used music from The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack for a 2020 campaign video, Warner Bros. had the video taken down for copyright infringement.

After Donald Trump illegally used music from The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack for a 2020 campaign video, Warner Bros. had the video taken down for copyright infringement.

Now, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale is pointing the finger at CNN’s connection to AT&T for the removal.

Parscale tweeted an image of the dead link with the caption, “Sad to see an ⁦@ATT⁩ owned company pull such a great video made by an every day American in good fun. AT&T now owns ⁦@CNN⁩ and is positioning themselves as a weapon of the left.”

CNN is owned by WarnerMedia News & Sports, which is owned by AT&T, which also owns the Warner Bros. entertainment company.

The fact of the matter is Trump’s campaign has repeatedly run into the same situation using music without permission by its creators.

Neal Young, Rihanna, Elton John, REM, Adele, Axel Rose, Pharrell and more have all asked Trump to stop using their music as they feel it represents an endorsement of Trump.

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Mayor Pete Wows The Crowd At LGBTQ Victory Fund Brunch

Mayor Pete Buttigieg wowed the crowd at this year's LGBTQ Victory Fund brunch in Washington DC.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana

It was quite the heady weekend for White House hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.

He began his Sunday on the front page of the Washington Post. That was followed with a full Meet The Press segment with NBC News’ Chuck Todd.

From there, he went straight to a fundraising brunch for the LGBTQ Victory Fund which supports – who else? – LGBTQ candidates.

Speaking to the audience, Buttigieg shared that his dream as a child was to explore space. Clearly, things took a different direction.

“As a kid I was hoping one day I’d be an astronaut,” he shared, “but no way would I have believed that one fine day in the spring of 2019 I would be standing in a ballroom in Washington, 37 years old, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, in my eighth year as mayor of my hometown, a couple hours after going on Meet The Press as a credible contender for the American presidency, with my husband looking on from his table!”

Funny how that happens, no?

The 37-year-old mayor confided that he wasn’t always so comfortable being open about his sexuality. In fact, he says he would have “done anything” to change that part of himself.

When I was younger, I would have done anything to not be gay. When I began to halfway realize what it meant, it launched in me something I can only describe as a kind of war. And if the war had been settled on the terms that I would have wished for when I was 15 or 20 or, frankly, even 25 I would not be standing here. If you had offered me a pill to make me straight, I would’ve swallowed it before you had time to give me a sip of water.

Mayor Pete added, “Thank God, there was no pill.”

The military veteran also spoke eloquently about his marriage to his husband, Chasten. In doing so, he referenced Vice President Mike Pence, who has a long history of anti-LGBTQ positions including opposing same-sex marriage.

“Being married to Chasten has made me a better human being because it has made me more compassionate, more understanding, more self-aware and more decent,” he said at the fundraising brunch.

“My marriage to Chasten has made me a better man. And yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God,” he added.

The two-term mayor also told the crowd that if Pence and others have a “problem” with him being gay, then their problem is not with Buttigieg but with his “creator.”

“Speaking only for myself, I can tell you that if me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade,” Buttigieg said.

“And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand,” he continued. “If you’ve got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”

Buttigieg has announced an “event” for Sunday, April 14, where he is expected to officially announce his entry into the 2020 presidential race.

His team has announced he raised over $7 million in the first quarter and has surpassed the 65,000 donor threshold in order to qualify for the first two Democratic debates scheduled for this summer.

You can watch Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s full speech at the LGBTQ Victory Fund brunch below.