Tulsi Gabbard won't accept PAC/Lobbyist money anymore, joining No-Pac Caucus

[Mr. Morden]

Putin and Assad will just run proxy campaigns for her.

ISIS will run a proxy campaign for her opponents.

I've never gotten why her Syria trip is trashed as a bad move.

If ISIS (or any other rebels) win, she can play Obama vs. Iraq while pointing at the resulting disaster AND paint herself as a realist on foreign policy.

If Assad wins she can say convincingly that he was better than the people he was fighting, play the realist and "I was right" cards. (Extra points here if disgruntled Islamic radicals pull off a major terror attack on the West/US in the meantime.)

If it's still going on, she can point out that she would have ended the conflict long ago if she were in charge.

Among anyone at all likely to vote for her, there is no downside.

Maybe people trash her because visiting a dictator who bombs his own people, regardless of what you think of the other factions in the civil war, is a morally bankrupt thing to do.

I actually don't have a problem with her meeting with Assad.  My problem is more with her being flown there by a shady group that took her to meet with people only in Assad-controlled territory, then her coming back and repeating Assad talking points, as if she's oblivious to the fact that she might have gotten a skewed perspective from the people she met with.  It's like she doesn't understand that in Assad-controlled territory, she would only be allowed to talk to people who spout pro-Assad propaganda.  E.g.:

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/in-the-news/op-ed-us-must-stop-helping-terrorists-fighting-syria-s-government

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[Confused Democrat]

This forum has the biggest hate boner for Gabbard on the entire internet. I've given up trying to reason with them.

LOL, I don't "hate" her. You see, unlike all the #twiggered #writeinBernie types that put Trump in the White House, I will vote for Tulsi enthusiastically if she's the Democratic nominee, because I'm not a privileged selfish prick.

I just find it hilarious that the same people who thought Hillary was too conservative have latched onto some random Blue Dog just because she has a couple of random progressive positions and endorsed Bernie after it was too late for him to possibly win the nomination. Hell, in this very thread, Shady specifically said that he doesn't care about websites that average all of a politician's political positions into a rating system, he just rates politicians on a couple of cherry-picked issues.

Seriously.

If you want to support Gabbard, then fine have at it. But the support she is getting from "serious" Berniecrats just exposes that this whole movement is personality driven and not policy driven.

These people are full of **** and shouldn't be taking seriously.

This Progressive Punch thing is confusing me.

How exactly was Tulsi's score calculated? It literally has her marked as N/A for every category and sub category.

http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.htm?member=412480

[Mr. Morden]

Has Gabbard done anything to even show interest?

Well, she did an event in Iowa back in 2015:

https://www.facebook.com/events/795882000509435/



Aside from that, I was initially thinking that events like the “People’s Summit” could be read as a kind of Left-wing counterprogramming to the more establishmentarian CAP Ideas Conference, and so Gabbard’s attendance at such things (she would be the only sitting member of Congress besides Sanders to speak there) could be read as a sign of national ambition, just like we read candidates’ attendance at CPAC or the CAP event as a sign of presidential ambition.  However, now she’s not listed on the event’s website, so I’m not sure if she’s even going.  (Though she did attend last year.)

Aside from that, it’s really a question of whether Gabbard is influenced by the draft efforts.  Sure, Gabbard is “just a backbencher in the House of Representatives.”  But how many such backbenchers have an active group of cultists on Facebook trying to draft them into a presidential campaign?  Does that have any impact on Gabbard’s thinking?  I don’t know.

[Mr. Morden]

I just find it hilarious that the same people who thought Hillary was too conservative have latched onto some random Blue Dog just because she has a couple of random progressive positions and endorsed Bernie after it was too late for him to possibly win the nomination.

I don’t know that I’d call them “random” progressive positions.  I think it’s more complicated than that.

Separate from where you land on the left-right spectrum there’s the question of how establishmentarian you are.  I think Averroes commented recently about how one of the biggest determinants of whether a voter went with Clinton or Sanders in last year’s primary is to what extent they view the Democratic Party as having been a force for good, as opposed to being a fatally compromised institution that enables reactionary policies.

For better or worse, there are certain issue positions that at least a certain set of activists read as a proxy for establishing anti-establishment bona fides.  And opposition to the mainstream foreign policy consensus in the US is one of them.  Because of issues like that, Gabbard would fit in at the “People’s Summit” in a way that many members of Congress whose voting records put them to her left would not.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This forum has the biggest hate boner for Gabbard on the entire internet. I've given up trying to reason with them.

LOL, I don't "hate" her. You see, unlike all the #twiggered #writeinBernie types that put Trump in the White House, I will vote for Tulsi enthusiastically if she's the Democratic nominee, because I'm not a privileged selfish prick.

I just find it hilarious that the same people who thought Hillary was too conservative have latched onto some random Blue Dog just because she has a couple of random progressive positions and endorsed Bernie after it was too late for him to possibly win the nomination. Hell, in this very thread, Shady specifically said that he doesn't care about websites that average all of a politician's political positions into a rating system, he just rates politicians on a couple of cherry-picked issues.

Seriously.

If you want to support Gabbard, then fine have at it. But the support she is getting from "serious" Berniecrats just exposes that this whole movement is personality driven and not policy driven.

These people are full of **** and shouldn't be taking seriously.

This Progressive Punch thing is confusing me.

How exactly was Tulsi's score calculated? It literally has her marked as N/A for every category and sub category.

http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.htm?member=412480

http://www.progressivepunch.org/scores.htm?house=house

[Beet]

The reaction to this on reddit is ecstatic. After Gabbard becomes the nominee in 2020, I expect apologies from everyone who doubted my prediction abilities during the 2010s decade.

[Technocracy Timmy]

The reaction to this on reddit is ecstatic. After Gabbard becomes the nominee in 2020, I expect apologies from everyone who doubted my prediction abilities during the 2010s decade.

She'd be 39 at inauguration.

America isn't ready for a millennial President.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The reaction to this on reddit is ecstatic. After Gabbard becomes the nominee in 2020, I expect apologies from everyone who doubted my prediction abilities during the 2010s decade.

How many delegates does Reddit have?

[Mr. Morden]

The reaction to this on reddit is ecstatic. After Gabbard becomes the nominee in 2020, I expect apologies from everyone who doubted my prediction abilities during the 2010s decade.

Beet, just what probability would you currently give to Gabbard being the 2020 Dem. nominee?  As I recall, you gave Palin an 80% chance for the 2012 GOP nomination, and I'm curious as to where Gabbard rates on that scale.

For my part, I'd say that the field is wide open enough that I'm not sure if I'd give any one person more than a ~20% chance.

[Confused Democrat]

This forum has the biggest hate boner for Gabbard on the entire internet. I've given up trying to reason with them.

LOL, I don't "hate" her. You see, unlike all the #twiggered #writeinBernie types that put Trump in the White House, I will vote for Tulsi enthusiastically if she's the Democratic nominee, because I'm not a privileged selfish prick.

I just find it hilarious that the same people who thought Hillary was too conservative have latched onto some random Blue Dog just because she has a couple of random progressive positions and endorsed Bernie after it was too late for him to possibly win the nomination. Hell, in this very thread, Shady specifically said that he doesn't care about websites that average all of a politician's political positions into a rating system, he just rates politicians on a couple of cherry-picked issues.

Seriously.

If you want to support Gabbard, then fine have at it. But the support she is getting from "serious" Berniecrats just exposes that this whole movement is personality driven and not policy driven.

These people are full of **** and shouldn't be taking seriously.

This Progressive Punch thing is confusing me.

How exactly was Tulsi's score calculated? It literally has her marked as N/A for every category and sub category.

http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.htm?member=412480

http://www.progressivepunch.org/scores.htm?house=house

That doesn't answer my question. Those numbers seem arbitrary to me. Where does it list her votes? All I see is N/A for every category.

[Beet]

The reaction to this on reddit is ecstatic. After Gabbard becomes the nominee in 2020, I expect apologies from everyone who doubted my prediction abilities during the 2010s decade.

Beet, just what probability would you currently give to Gabbard being the 2020 Dem. nominee?  As I recall, you gave Palin an 80% chance for the 2012 GOP nomination, and I'm curious as to where Gabbard rates on that scale.

For my part, I'd say that the field is wide open enough that I'm not sure if I'd give any one person more than a ~20% chance.

55%

Tbf Palin didn't even run, if she ran I think she would have been a big hit. I suppose if Gabbard doesn't run that's one thing, but Gabbard is not as idiotic as Palin was, and she is taken several steps to show her ambition. Palin was never competent to be on the national stage to begin with and was plucked into the VP nomineeship by -- from her viewpoint -- luck. Whereas Gabbard is a self-made politician.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

The reaction to this on reddit is ecstatic. After Gabbard becomes the nominee in 2020, I expect apologies from everyone who doubted my prediction abilities during the 2010s decade.

2016 nominee bernie sanders and 2008/12 nominee ron paul would beg to differ

[Maxwell]

The reaction to this on reddit is ecstatic. After Gabbard becomes the nominee in 2020, I expect apologies from everyone who doubted my prediction abilities during the 2010s decade.

2016 nominee bernie sanders and 2008/12 nominee ron paul would beg to differ

President Donald Trump?

[Confused Democrat]

Anyone want to get back to me on my Progressive Punch question?

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

The reaction to this on reddit is ecstatic. After Gabbard becomes the nominee in 2020, I expect apologies from everyone who doubted my prediction abilities during the 2010s decade.

2016 nominee bernie sanders and 2008/12 nominee ron paul would beg to differ

President Donald Trump?

i'd've included him too, but then THE_SAINT250 would get confused again

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Anyone want to get back to me on my Progressive Punch question?

Its doing that for every member so they must have some technical issues now.

[SWE]

The reaction to this on reddit is ecstatic. After Gabbard becomes the nominee in 2020, I expect apologies from everyone who doubted my prediction abilities during the 2010s decade.

2016 nominee bernie sanders and 2008/12 nominee ron paul would beg to differ

Also the fact that we're not all dead from ebola

[Confused Democrat]

Anyone want to get back to me on my Progressive Punch question?

Its doing that for every member so they must have some technical issues now.

No it isn't. It's been like that for months. Here's a couple that I've randomly clicked on:

http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.htm?member=412257
http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.htm?member=412193
http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.htm?member=400230