Tag: Bernie Sanders

Posted on

Partial Iowa Results (It’s All We Got) Show Buttigieg With Slight Lead

Partial results from the Iowa caucuses show former Mayor Pete Buttigieg leading the pack with 26.9% of the vote followed very closely by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) with 25.1%. From CNN:

Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, held a narrow lead in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday night, according to a partial release of a majority of the results by the state Democratic party a day after an embarrassing organizational breakdown that marred the biggest night of the election year so far. Buttigieg was trailed closely by the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren with former vice-president Joe Biden in a distant fourth place, based on a tally of 62% of the precincts reporting. Iowa awards only 41 delegates, who eventually nominate the Democratic presidential candidate at the party’s national convention in July, which represents around just 1% of the national total.

Posted on

Final Iowa Poll Cancelled After Polling Mistake

L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Bernie Sanders supporters, of course, believe it’s a conspiracy against a Bernie. From USA Today: A highly anticipated release of the Iowa Poll, one of the most respected political surveys in the nation, was canceled Saturday night  ahead of the Iowa caucuses after Pete Buttigieg’s campaign complained that his name had been omitted by a poll interviewer. “The Iowa Poll was founded in 1943,” Carol Hunter, executive editor of the Register, said in an interview Saturday. “It’s built its reputation over many decades for accuracy, and we feel the utmost responsibility to uphold that reputation.” CNN did an internal investigation and found that an operator had enlarged the font on their computer screen, cutting off Buttigieg’s name, which had been at the bottom.  

Posted on

News Round-Up: January 28, 2020

Jeff Ferreira (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Jeff Ferreira (above), standing in Times Square, “Kiss me, use me! Today I will be all yours!” #HoldMyBeer You can follow Jeff on Instagram here. • MetroWeekly: A pastor and right-wing broadcaster who was recently granted press credentials by the White House has claimed that the coronavirus was sent by God to “purge” LGBTQ people. • Advocate: Thanks to public outcry by queer Los Angelenos, the L.A. LGBT Center will not be losing its funding to offer free tests for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. On Monday, the center was informed its resources were scheduled to be cut – but queens will rise up. • Super Bowl: Rupaul’s Drag Race alums Kim Chi and Miz Cracker are featured in a new commercial for Sabra hummus scheduled for the big game on February 2.

• Instinct Magazine: Porn star Armond Rizzo took to his social media after being approached by an adult studio that reportedly pays performers in the bottom bunk less than their co-stars. Armond was not having it: “It’s just unjust you pay bottoms less, and for that I decline working for you!” • Washington Blade: The Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday voted 63-34 to repeal the state’s statutory same-sex marriage ban. House Bill 1490, introduced by state Del. Nancy Guy (D-Virginia Beach), would officially repeal Virginia’s prohibition the U.S. Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional in its 2015 ruling in the Obergefell case. • LA Times: Sen. Bernie Sanders has taken a significant lead – 6 points over Sen. Elizabeth Warren in number two spot – in the Democratic primary race in California. Under state Democratic Party’s rules, delegates go to candidates who get at least 15% of the vote statewide or in a congressional district.

Posted on

News Round-Up: January 24, 2020

Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Ramses Principe (above) waxes grateful about the journey thus far. Always a good idea, no? Follow the hunky fitness expert on Instagram here. • Washington Blade: A woman falsely accused a circuit party that caters to queer people of color of being “an organized sex party” setting off a string of investigations. • ABC News: Two-thirds of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say the U.S. Senate should call new witnesses at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. • Talking Points Memo: Sen. Elizabeth Warren has pledged to release all impeachment-related documents that the White House has barred should she become president.

• KIT212: Kenneth rounds up the what’s what in local gay rags across the country. Check the latest from Gloss Magazine (below) here.
The latest issue of Gloss Magazine (via Kenneth-in-the-212)
• The Gaily Grind: A Republican ‘family values’ candidate was busted for joining a dating website for married men looking to cheat. • CNN: Bernie Sanders is facing a backlash from some Democrats after his campaign trumpeted an endorsement from comedian Joe Rogan, a popular podcast and YouTube talk show host with a history of making racist, homophobic and transphobic comments. Sanders’ national press secretary issued a statement that read, in part: “Sharing a big tent requires including those who do not share every one of our beliefs, while always making clear that we will never compromise our values. The truth is that by standing together in solidarity, we share the values of love and respect that will move us in the direction of a more humane, more equal world.”

Posted on

Hillary Clinton On Bernie: ‘Nobody Wants To Work With Him’

In an interview in advance of the upcoming 4-part docu-series for Hulu titled, Hillary, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave some pretty candid answers when asked her thoughts on Sen. Bernie Sanders. You’ll recall Sanders held on to the bitter end in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination. Many felt his eventual ‘endorsement’ of Hillary was half-hearted and credit his supporters (sometimes called ‘Bernie bros’) for being part of the equation that led to her loss in the electoral college to Donald Trump. From The Hollywood Reporter:

In the doc, you’re brutally honest on Sanders: “He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.” That assessment still holds?

Yes, it does.

If he gets the nomination, will you endorse and campaign for him?

I’m not going to go there yet. We’re still in a very vigorous primary season. I will say, however, that it’s not only him, it’s the culture around him. It’s his leadership team. It’s his prominent supporters. It’s his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women. And I really hope people are paying attention to that because it should be worrisome that he has permitted this culture — not only permitted, [he] seems to really be very much supporting it. And I don’t think we want to go down that road again where you campaign by insult and attack and maybe you try to get some distance from it, but you either don’t know what your campaign and supporters are doing or you’re just giving them a wink and you want them to go after Kamala [Harris] or after Elizabeth [Warren]. I think that that’s a pattern that people should take into account when they make their decisions.

As the political world commented on her remarks, Clinton took to Twitter to say she “thought everyone wanted my authentic, unvarnished views,” and added that she will do whatever she can “to support our nominee.”

Posted on

Poll: Joe Biden Continues To Lead By Double Digits

Former Vice President Joe Biden (image via Instagram)

From The Hill:

Former Vice President Joe Biden leads the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls by double digits a month ahead of the Iowa caucuses, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill.

The poll shows Biden registering 30 percent support among Democrats nationally. In a relatively distant second place is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who notched 17 percent in the survey. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is lingering in the No. 3 spot with 12 percent support. No other candidate registered double-digit support. Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg came in fourth place at 7 percent, while former tech executive Andrew Yang notched 3 percent support.

Still, recent polls in early primary and caucus states show a more fluid race. 

An Emerson College survey of likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers released last month showed Biden and Sanders in a statistical tie for first place, with 23 percent and 22 percent support, respectively.

And a WBUR-MassINC poll of New Hampshire Democrats from December showed Buttigieg and Biden knotted at the top with 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively. Sanders wasn’t far behind in that survey, with 15 percent support.

And here’s some eye-popping news – former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has tied Warren for third place in the latest Hill/HarrisX poll:

The former New York City mayor is now in a dead heat for third place with top-tier candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who also received 11 percent support. Biden, meanwhile, continues to lead the Democratic field with 28 percent followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 16 percent.

Posted on

Trump, Sanders, Yang & Buttigieg Announce Fundraising Totals

Mayor Pete Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa
Pete Buttigieg raised more than $24.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the New York Times. Buttigieg’s campaign announced it had now received more than two million donations from more than 733,000 people since he entered the race, and 326,000 people had donated to the South Bend mayor’s effort in the fourth quarter. Since entering the race, the 37-year-old White House hopeful has raised more than $76 million. CBS News reports Sen. Bernie Sanders scored $34.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Sanders’ best fundraising month was December, when he collected 900,000 donations totaling over $18 million. Still seeking a last-minute boost in the polls that would allow him to qualify for the January Democratic debate, entrepreneur Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign announced he had raised $16.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 putting him among the Democratic field’s top five fund-raisers. And over in Trump Land, the Donald’s re-election campaign pulled in $46 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The Trump campaign begins the 2020 re-election year with cash on hand of $102.7 million. Update – Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign announced the Democrat from Hawaii raised $3.4 million in the last quarter of 2019. The New York Times reports Joe Biden reported raising $22.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, a significant improvement from his lackluster fund-raising performance in the previous three months.

Posted on

Monmouth National Poll: Biden Leads Sanders By 5 Points

The latest Monmouth University polling on the Democratic race for the 2020 presidential nomination shows former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders leading the pack of contenders. Biden leads with 26 percent support with Sanders statistically within the margin of error at 21 percent. Sen. Elizabeth Warren trails Biden by nine points at 17 percent, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg is in single digits with 8 percent support. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has already moved up to 5 percent support thanks to heavy campaign ad spending. As I’ve said on The Randy Report before, I don’t put much stock into national polls because the race will be won in individual states. But I do find them to be interesting as a snapshot in time in gauging something of a ‘national mood.’ The current RealClearPolitics average of polls shows Biden averaging 28.6 percent nationally with Sanders (his nearest competitor) 11 points behind at 17 percent.

Posted on

New Poll Indicates LGBTQ Voters Have A Double-Digit Favorite

Photo of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Photo of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg
L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
A new poll conducted by YouGov/Out Magazine shows LGBTQ voters are definitely leaning towards a particular Democratic presidential candidate and it’s Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. I’ll say upfront any polling should be taken with a grain of salt, but this does provide a glimpse into what some folks may be thinking at this time. Announced as a ‘first of its kind’ survey of likely Democratic primary voters who identify as LGBTQ, the results show Warren easily outpaces her fellow Democrats garnering 31 percent of those polled. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) came in second with 18 percent, former Vice President Joe Biden pulled in 16 percent, and out South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg received 14 percent support. Everyone else in the field scored in the single-digit range. 31% – Elizabeth Warren 18% – Bernie Sanders 16% – Joe Biden 14% – Pete Buttigieg 6% – Kamala Harris 3% – Cory Booker 2% – Julián Castro 2% – Amy Klobuchar 2% – Andrew Yang 1% – Tulsi Gabbard 1% – Marianne Williamson All other candidates scored zero support. The data-crunchers at YouGov surmise Warren resonates so strongly with LGBTQ voters because LGBTQ voters tend to be more liberal than the average Democratic primary voter. According to Alissa Stollwerk, Vice President of YouGov Blue, “Seventy-seven percent of LGBTQ+ Democratic primary voters identified in our survey as very or somewhat liberal, approximately 20 percentage points higher than the percentage of Democratic primary voters overall who identify as very or somewhat liberal in our surveys.” For instance, respondents said they overwhelmingly prefer bold structural reforms (68%) versus incremental changes in policy (28%). Asked who could beat Donald Trump in the general election, 53 percent said Warren could win, 52 percent said Biden would trump Trump, 46 percent indicated Sanders could come out on top, 29 percent gave the nod to Buttigieg, and 26 percent said Harris could beat Trump. More from the survey: • 93% disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president; 89% strongly disapprove • 89% say Trump should be impeached and removed from office • 73% say the epidemic of violence against transgender women of color is the most critical issue facing the LGBTQ Community today; 60% said complete nondiscrimination protections; 59% indicated LGBTQ youth homelessness In a statement to Out, Stollwerk notes that such polling “is a snapshot of a group of people at a given time” and should be viewed as such. But the results do offer insight into “the viewpoints of these Democratic voters, what issues are important to them, and what they want to see in the next Democratic nominee for president. (source)

Posted on

Democratic Race Tightens Ahead Of Iowa Caucuses

Photo of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg

L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
The latest New York Times/Siena College poll shows the Democratic field tightening in the 2020 Iowa caucuses race as Sen. Elizabeth Warren holds a slight lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders while Mayor Pete Buttigieg is surging to third past former Vice President Joe Biden. From the New York Times:

Ms. Warren appears to have solidified her gains in the first voting state while Mr. Buttigieg has climbed quickly to catch up with Mr. Sanders and overtake Mr. Biden, the one-time front-runner. Ms. Warren is drawing support from 22 percent of likely caucusgoers, while Mr. Sanders is at 19 percent, followed by Mr. Buttigieg at 18 percent and Mr. Biden at 17 percent.

The survey is full of alarming signs for Mr. Biden, who entered the race in April at the top of the polls in Iowa and nationally.

He is still in the lead in most national polls, but his comparatively weak position in the earliest primary and caucus states now presents a serious threat to his candidacy. And Mr. Biden’s unsteadiness appears to have opened a path in the race for other Democrats closer to the political middle, particularly Mr. Buttigieg.

(image via NY Times)