Nate Silver asks and answers the question: Who Will Win The 2020 Democratic Primary?
Biden is ahead of Sanders for the first time since February 3.
“No Candidate” In the Lead
Interestingly, no candidate has topped 50% until now.
Amazingingly, “no candidate” is now in the lead with a 67% chance.
Biden is in second place with 17% to Bernie’s 16%.
Pete Buttigieg Will Endorse Joe Biden for Democratic Nomination
The New York Times reports Pete Buttigieg Will Endorse Joe Biden for Democratic Nomination.
Mr. Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Ind., sought to portray himself as an agent of generational change, his presence in the race an implicit argument against Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders. But he rarely had a cross word to say about the former vice president, and in September pivoted his campaign to the center, making ever more forceful arguments against the progressive candidacies of Mr. Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Plan B
The same applies to Klobuchar.
I made note of that several times during the debates. It seemed clear that plan B for both Klobuchar and Buttigieg were both angling for the future as well as VP selection.
For discussion, please see Klobuchar Drops Out: Did She Make a Deal with Biden?
My short answer is “yes”, and it was a very smart move.
Q&A on VP Selection
Q. I was asked earlier today “If Biden hasn’t made any VP deals as of yet, wouldn’t Warren be the best deal to make?”
A. Absolutely not. Warren is a lightning rod and a Marxist. Biden needs to pick someone independents and crossover Republicans can support can support.
My premise for over a month is that the Democratic nominee or VP candidate cannot be a lightning rod or Trump might easily win. My lightning rods were Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders.
Stop Bernie
The New York Times reports Democratic Leaders Willing to Risk Party Damage to Stop Bernie Sanders.
Dozens of interviews with Democratic establishment leaders this week show that they are not just worried about Mr. Sanders’s candidacy, but are also willing to risk intraparty damage to stop his nomination at the national convention in July if they get the chance. Since Mr. Sanders’s victory in Nevada’s caucuses on Saturday, The Times has interviewed 93 party officials — all of them superdelegates, who could have a say on the nominee at the convention — and found overwhelming opposition to handing the Vermont senator the nomination if he arrived with the most delegates but fell short of a majority.
Such a situation may result in a brokered convention, a messy political battle the likes of which Democrats have not seen since 1952, when the nominee was Adlai Stevenson.
Backwards
The Times has this story backwards.
Party damage would come from nominating Bernie, Harris, or Warren.
This is Not 2016
Repeat after me: This is not 2016. This is not 2016. This is not 2016.
Keep repeating that until it sinks in.
I commented back in January this is more like the lesson from Brexit. In that case Jeremy Corbyn went increasingly radical with Socialist and Marxist ideas, so much so the center Left dropped him.
The result was a landslide for Boris Johnson.
Flashback January 13
Six Things That Make a Brokered Democratic Convention More Likely
“The odds of a brokered convention are greater than most think.“
1: The superdelegates do not get to vote in the first round this year unless a candidate has a majority. Unlike 2016 when they all went to Hillary, this year they don’t vote until round 2 unless it is already decided.
2: California is now part of Super Tuesday. In 2016, the California primary was held on June 7. This year, the survivor bias bandwagon effect will be significantly reduced and possibly eliminated.
3: Following NH there will be two debates, and likely 4 candidates minimum at each. Currently there are six.
4: This will likely not be a two-way races headed into Super-Tuesday. Elizabeth Warren may have little overall chance, but she does have a chance of getting 15% in many states.
5: Progressive Split: Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are battling each other for the Progressives. Bernie will get most of this vote, but Warren will likely have have enough money to stay in until the end if she wants.
6: Bloomberg and Steyer may target a couple of states hard: Texas, Colorado perhaps? They may each pull 15% in a couple of them.
Flashback February 17
A Contested Convention Is Looking More Likely.
Moderate Split vs Liberal Split Analysis
1: Warren likely has the funds to say in until the end, if she wants to.
2: Warren certainly will stay in until Super Tuesday.
3: Warren cannot stand Bernie. They have an open feud.
4: Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg are more likely to run out of money than Warren.
5: Klobuchar and Buttigieg supporters are more likely to prefer a moderate as second choice not a socialist.
Silver Repeatedly Behind the Curve
Nate Silver was repeatedly behind the curve on a contested convention.
Ironically, I now think Silver is more than a bit too high.
Looking Ahead
- Florida (March 17) has 219 delegates. Sanders may get none of them.
- Georgia (March 24) has 105 delegates. Sanders may get none of them.
State of the Democratic Race
Wow. What a change.
About a week ago Sanders was trading at 67 cents for the nomination.
If Bloomberg drops out after Super Tuesday, Biden has a very good shot at a majority.
Disclosure
I bought Biden at 8 cents and Bloomberg at 23 cents. Those were for winning it all, not just the nomination.
One More Flashback
January 18, 2020: Six Reasons Biden-Klobuchar Would be a Strong Presidential Ticket
Six Reasons for Klobuchar
1: She is not a lightning rod nor has she offended anyone that I am aware of.
2: She would appeal to many of those wanting a women on the ticket.
3: She was against most of the nonsense in Iraq although she did support a boondoggle in Libya.
4: She is a good debater.
5: Like Biden, she is a moderate. If Democrats want to beat Trump, their best chance is a moderate ticket that independents can support.
6: Her youth counteracts Biden’s age.
Global Recession
If Biden-Klobuchar is indeed the Democrat ticket, I predict Trump will get crushed.
A Global Recession Now Baked in the Cake.
A recession matters so much that possibly even Sanders could beat Trump.
Bear in mind that I voted for Trump against Hillary and would do so again vs Hillary, Warren, or Harris. Against others, I might sit it out.
I don’t like Biden, I am just telling you what I believe the reality to be.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
Two points about Warren:
Indeed, I suspect she is staying in the race in order to ‘earn’ her favorable consideration for the VP slot. Otherwise, makes no sense.
I think today will clear up a lot. Unless Sanders wins big, Biden will be the nominee.
If Biden can do a debate with Trump without looking like he’s lost his marbles, he’ll win. Far from given.
I suspect Biden will pick a black running mate and try to win by dominating the black vote.
Biden doesn’t need to pick a black running mate as they’ll vote for him anyway (as evidenced by the SC primary). Going with Klobacher as a running mate will be a good choice for him.
“Stop Bernie”
It is all about stop democracy. The democrat elites want to prevent the democrat voters from choosing the candidate. Republicans tried to stop Trump and Ron Paul, as well.
Trump has been attacked because he is not one of the insider career political club.
The elites choose the candidate, not the common party members.
As Goldman Sachs said in 2016, JEB and Hillary were acceptable to them. They were to be the candidates of their respective parties. Vote for who we tell you to.
Or else.
Bloomberg is the only likey candidate to beat Trump and the only democrat in the race I find tolerable. Joe is a pandering, dithering, senile, corrupt idiot. He would appeal to those that like most of Trump’s policy ideas but can’t stand his persona. Bloomberg is the only rational adult in the room amongst the candidates.
We know it’s you, little Mike.
The little guy intimidated by too big soda mugs, is the “rational adult” (???) in the room??
If Sanders has the nomination “stolen” from him again in a brokered convention, don’t you think there is a chance he could leave the Party and run as an independent? He was an “Independent” until not too long ago. This would be a disaster for Biden or whoever the chosen Democrat nominee is.
I doubt Bernie would do it. He always says he would back whoever the nominee is. And I take him at his word.
The entire process of American elections has been warped and corrupted by , primarily, the Democrat voting. Whereas for 200 years we all voted on the same day on, presumably, the same set of facts we now have early voting such that many people may have already cast their vote for candidates no longer in the race. No way for those folks t get their ballots back. They’ve been disenfranchised by operatives of the DNC.
Back in 2016, Trump was forced to call in an experienced political hack , Paul Manafort, due to GOP operatives attempting to bend the rules and allow delegates won by Trump in primaries to vote for another ( establishment) candidate. Manafort had similar experience from 1976 when Ford needed to stop Reagan’s insurgent campaign for the GOP nomination.
Face it, the DNC will find a way to nominate who they want. It might not even be Biden. He can always step aside at the last minute and has a lot of reasons to. Imminent criminal investigation, mental or physical heallh problems and allow party leaders to vote his delegatees
That’s such an odd map. I don’t want to dwell on race, but it’s tough to see why else the southeast and parts of the midwest would go for Biden. Either the status quo plays really well there, or he’s fondly remembered as Obama’s goofy sidekick.
Still can’t believe that 77-year-old Biden is the youngest of the three men still vying for the DNC nomination. Maybe the Coronavirus is trying to tell us something.
Sadly we will again get the worst of there choices. It will either be Bernie or Biden and Trump. Bloomberg is a technocrat with boring management skills but got in the race too late and otherwise would have easily become President. America is about marketing and marketing are what professional politicians and jokers like Trump do instead of actual governance.
Biden is a bumbling joke of a candidate. Trump speaks competently compared to Biden. Yesterday Biden said he would get rid of the capital gains tax when he meant he would raise it.
Klobuchar is another bumbling buffoon. Watch her Telemundo interview…it is painful.
Mish this is getting ridiculous. You’re are now quoting Nate Silver. Please. Bernie will dominate tomorrow. There is absolutely no enthusiasm for Biden. Give it a rest.
If you think president Twitter is bad, imagine President Totter. Joe needs a slow motion teleprompter, and his mouth has become a gaffe gun…on fully automatic.
How is it handled, constitutionally, if the whole country votes, None of the Above?
All the while, prez Trump egging them on to choose Bernie, who he is ready for. But he doesn’t mind old Joe, his lose tongue getting the better of him. Either way, these three senior citizens will have to survive till the election day. Corona virus likes the old and stupid for lunch.
I guess Bernie offering VP to Warren to get her out before Tuesday is a no-go? The animosity between Bernie and Warren supporters is amusing. I couldn’t tell the difference between their positions if you paid me.
None of them have meaningfully different “positions.”
Instead, the differences are in style of delivery. Warren is too shrill for Bernie’s crowd, while he is too self important and confident-in-his-white-male-provilege for her’s.
It’s similar to why Trumpies can insist Trump exists in some sort of opposition to “The Swamp,” despite his administration being noting more than a group of slightly different Goldmanites than Obama’s was:
His style of delivery is different. He uses words, and engages in superficial behaviors, that most other politicians would be avoid. So he appears to be in opposition to something. Never mind that something being no more than the superficial mannerisms of the rest of the political class.
America has been on a constant road towards an increasingly progressive, totalitarian, financialized, hence failed, state for over a century now. Virtually noone even close the halls of power, is in opposition to that, as that is what all their unearned privileges stem from. Ergo, that is the direction they will continue to push America in, until the inevitably unsustainability of such societies are themselves blown apart. Sure, The Taliban, or some such, will eventually kick them out of here too, as they just did Afghanistan. But a band of bent over, flat footed Trumplings feeling smug by cheering on Dear Leader’s teen tantrums against some mythical “those guys”, sure ain’t no Taliban.
Until then, silly rituals like “elections”, “protests”, “lawsuits”, staged “impeachments” and the rest of the made-for-tabloid duncery, will remain no more consequential, than whether our Dear Leader du jour chooses to dress up as a punk or a preppy.
“Her youth counteracts Biden’s age.”
Amazing how someone about to turn 60 is considered youthful in comparison to a presidential candidate.
I Japanese companies, at least some, the “kids” are the 60 somethings….
Democrat Admits Your Vote Does Not Count: https://youtu.be/CdTan1hYPQU
The democrats have the least democratic primary for all of the whining about the electoral college – they could change their primary quickly if they wanted too. First of all, Biden is way up in the popular vote, but is losing in delegates. Second of all, superdelegates are just absurd – especially as the democrats rail against elites having so much privilege. Third of all, in 2008 Florida and Michigan (at the time the 4th and 8th most populated states) bumped their primary up a little early and the DNC responded by making both states worth zero delegates.
I think we’ll be in a much better position to make pronostications tomorrow.
Biden is very unlikely to beat Trump even if the stock market crashes and we go into a depression.
wow
I think the setup is so bad that anyone, even Sanders might bet Trump
Sanders would have a much better chance than Biden.
Nonsense. A borderline communist has no chance of being elected in the US. Didn’t happen in the UK a few months ago and won’t happen here.
The US has been ruled by borderline communists since Roosevelt. Exactly who of them, rather academic.
“A borderline communist has no chance of being elected in the US.”
Sanders’ (irrelevent) economic proposals are not much different from that of other Dems.
Voters don’t care that much about economic policy which has to pass both houses of Congress, anyway.
However, I didn’t say that Sanders could beat Trump. I said he has a far better chance than Biden.