Ralph Northam 2020?

[Pyro]

I like Ralph Northam - he has a storied past of being a very genuine and honorable person - but I feel like, in terms of political goals, I would like a more left-wing Democratic nominee.

Do you ever take into account electability? Like ever? Some radical left-wing nut job won’t win the GE for you.

Turns out most polls, elections, ballot measures show left wing candidates are actually in some way centrists as they have the support of 50-60% of the voters on most issues.

So-called radical centrist candidates who are economically right wing are pretty unelectable, as has been proven in most polls. Tom Perriello was out-performing Northam in every damn poll. And anyways a DSA member branded as a communist in Lee Carter, who looks like a litte boy, went ahead & beat the GOP Whip.

Besides the swings in Montana & Kansas have been massive & far greater than any so-called centrist candidate provided. And how can you call someone a nutjob who asks for Universal Healthcare which every developed country has. Not supporting it, rather, makes someone an extremist nutjob.

Larry Krasner in the Philly DA race, Seema Singh Perez in Knoxville, Mik Pappas in Pittsburgh, and as you mentioned Lee Carter in VA, indicates a trend.

[MAINEiac4434]

No. He didn't run a great campaign.

[LeRaposa]

I think he'd be a terrific nominee. I can't understand these people who say he's boring or has no charisma. Personally I find him to have a folksy charm. He's a proven vote getter. He's authentic. He's the real deal. No thanks to T-Mac but yes to Northam.

[Kingpoleon]

No way. His victory was guaranteed in NJ after the Dem primary, yet he badly underpreformed - he was supposed to get over 60% of the vote.

He worked at Goldman Sachs before, which disqualifies him utterly.

You’re confusing him with Phil Murphy.

[Shadows]

I like Ralph Northam - he has a storied past of being a very genuine and honorable person - but I feel like, in terms of political goals, I would like a more left-wing Democratic nominee.

Do you ever take into account electability? Like ever? Some radical left-wing nut job won’t win the GE for you.

Turns out most polls, elections, ballot measures show left wing candidates are actually in some way centrists as they have the support of 50-60% of the voters on most issues.

So-called radical centrist candidates who are economically right wing are pretty unelectable, as has been proven in most polls. Tom Perriello was out-performing Northam in every damn poll. And anyways a DSA member branded as a communist in Lee Carter, who looks like a litte boy, went ahead & beat the GOP Whip.

Besides the swings in Montana & Kansas have been massive & far greater than any so-called centrist candidate provided. And how can you call someone a nutjob who asks for Universal Healthcare which every developed country has. Not supporting it, rather, makes someone an extremist nutjob.

Larry Krasner in the Philly DA race, Seema Singh Perez in Knoxville, Mik Pappas in Pittsburgh, and as you mentioned Lee Carter in VA, indicates a trend.

Speaking about Lee Carter -

How a Socialist Beat One of Virginia’s Most Powerful Republicans


Democrat Lee Carter, a red-haired, 30-year-old Marine veteran from Manassas, won a remarkable nine-point victory to oust Delegate Jackson Miller, a deep-pocketed Republican incumbent who serves as House Majority Whip. Carter ran openly as a socialist and he won with almost no institutional support from the state Democratic Party. The Richmond Times reported last month that party leaders “abandoned” Carter after he declined to report campaign metrics like the number of doors he’d knocked and the amount of money he’d raised. Carter told Wilson he “ceased reporting to the House caucus after multiple information security lapses in which confidential information that we reported to the House caucus was leaked outside of the party infrastructure.” But he also said the party leaders “wanted a bit more editorial control over my messaging than I was comfortable with.” Wilson wrote that “Democratic Party leaders were not eager to discuss Carter, preferring to promote other candidates.” In fact, Wilson called Carter “the kind of rogue candidate that gives an apparatus like the Democratic Party of Virginia a fit.”

Carter said he’s “always been a bit to the left of where the Democratic Party was, and a little dissatisfied with what they were doing on a large scale, and never knew why. It wasn’t until Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign that I put two and two together. I looked up to guys like FDR and Democrats of that era who were really rooted in working class politics. They had these mass movements of union workers who stood up and said ‘we’re not going to be mistreated by corporate interests anymore,’ and they were able to achieve 50 year of stability and prosperity for this country. I always wondered why Democrats couldn’t act like that again.”

Miller, the Republican candidate, naturally didn’t see Carter’s socialism as part of a proud American tradition. After largely ignoring him for most of the campaign, he sent out mailers comparing Carter to Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. But Carter told me his own campaigning focused on the issues, including single-payer health care and getting money out of politics, which resonated with voters. At the same time, Carter was happy to talk about socialism when asked. “If you’re to the left of Barry Goldwater, Republicans are going to call you a socialist anyway, so you may as well just own the label,” he said. He and his team were confident they could win based on a simple numbers game. They knew Miller had never received more than 9,500 votes in the district, and they believed they’d found enough voters to exceed that. As it turned out, Miller won 9,510 votes on Tuesday, but Carter won 11,360. Plenty of the credit for this race belongs to a cadre of idealistic young people, since much of the ground organizing came from local members of the Democratic Socialists of America. The group’s D.C. chapter endorsed Carter, and one of the chapter’s leaders, 22-year-old American University graduate Jacquelyn Smith, managed his campaign.

https://newrepublic.com/article/145727/socialist-beat-one-virginias-powerful-republicans

[Lord Admirale]

I like Ralph Northam - he has a storied past of being a very genuine and honorable person - but I feel like, in terms of political goals, I would like a more left-wing Democratic nominee.

Do you ever take into account electability? Like ever? Some radical left-wing nut job won’t win the GE for you.

Turns out most polls, elections, ballot measures show left wing candidates are actually in some way centrists as they have the support of 50-60% of the voters on most issues.

So-called radical centrist candidates who are economically right wing are pretty unelectable, as has been proven in most polls. Tom Perriello was out-performing Northam in every damn poll. And anyways a DSA member branded as a communist in Lee Carter, who looks like a litte boy, went ahead & beat the GOP Whip.

Besides the swings in Montana & Kansas have been massive & far greater than any so-called centrist candidate provided. And how can you call someone a nutjob who asks for Universal Healthcare which every developed country has. Not supporting it, rather, makes someone an extremist nutjob.

Larry Krasner in the Philly DA race, Seema Singh Perez in Knoxville, Mik Pappas in Pittsburgh, and as you mentioned Lee Carter in VA, indicates a trend.

Speaking about Lee Carter -

How a Socialist Beat One of Virginia’s Most Powerful Republicans


Democrat Lee Carter, a red-haired, 30-year-old Marine veteran from Manassas, won a remarkable nine-point victory to oust Delegate Jackson Miller, a deep-pocketed Republican incumbent who serves as House Majority Whip. Carter ran openly as a socialist and he won with almost no institutional support from the state Democratic Party. The Richmond Times reported last month that party leaders “abandoned” Carter after he declined to report campaign metrics like the number of doors he’d knocked and the amount of money he’d raised. Carter told Wilson he “ceased reporting to the House caucus after multiple information security lapses in which confidential information that we reported to the House caucus was leaked outside of the party infrastructure.” But he also said the party leaders “wanted a bit more editorial control over my messaging than I was comfortable with.” Wilson wrote that “Democratic Party leaders were not eager to discuss Carter, preferring to promote other candidates.” In fact, Wilson called Carter “the kind of rogue candidate that gives an apparatus like the Democratic Party of Virginia a fit.”

Carter said he’s “always been a bit to the left of where the Democratic Party was, and a little dissatisfied with what they were doing on a large scale, and never knew why. It wasn’t until Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign that I put two and two together. I looked up to guys like FDR and Democrats of that era who were really rooted in working class politics. They had these mass movements of union workers who stood up and said ‘we’re not going to be mistreated by corporate interests anymore,’ and they were able to achieve 50 year of stability and prosperity for this country. I always wondered why Democrats couldn’t act like that again.”

Miller, the Republican candidate, naturally didn’t see Carter’s socialism as part of a proud American tradition. After largely ignoring him for most of the campaign, he sent out mailers comparing Carter to Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. But Carter told me his own campaigning focused on the issues, including single-payer health care and getting money out of politics, which resonated with voters. At the same time, Carter was happy to talk about socialism when asked. “If you’re to the left of Barry Goldwater, Republicans are going to call you a socialist anyway, so you may as well just own the label,” he said. He and his team were confident they could win based on a simple numbers game. They knew Miller had never received more than 9,500 votes in the district, and they believed they’d found enough voters to exceed that. As it turned out, Miller won 9,510 votes on Tuesday, but Carter won 11,360. Plenty of the credit for this race belongs to a cadre of idealistic young people, since much of the ground organizing came from local members of the Democratic Socialists of America. The group’s D.C. chapter endorsed Carter, and one of the chapter’s leaders, 22-year-old American University graduate Jacquelyn Smith, managed his campaign.

https://newrepublic.com/article/145727/socialist-beat-one-virginias-powerful-republicans

Off-topic post, idiot.

[Dr. MB]

He could be VP material. But I don't think he could win a primary.

[MAINEiac4434]

He could be VP material. But I don't think he could win a primary.

He'd be a decent foil to someone like Warren.

[Sirius_]

Like I said for Phil Murphy, it's too early for him and he seemingly has no interest.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Northam must have run a better campaign than I've given him credit for.  He may be as much of a VP candidate as, say, Bob McDonnell was in 2012 in the eyes of Mitt Romney.  McDonnell COULD have been picked; I suppose that Romney, when vetting candidates, found trouble ahead with McDonnell (as he did with Christie). 

I can see Northam as a possible VP pick IF he's not a failed Presidential candidate.  I don't think Northam is crazy enough to run.

[RINO Tom]

I think Northam knows, based on the campaign he seemed to have run, that he was a good fit as a Virginia Democrat in 2017 ... I think he'd also know that he's not exactly a good fit for the Democratic primaries in 2020, but I could be wrong.

[gerritcole]

I like Ralph Northam - he has a storied past of being a very genuine and honorable person - but I feel like, in terms of political goals, I would like a more left-wing Democratic nominee.

Do you ever take into account electability? Like ever? Some radical left-wing nut job won’t win the GE for you.

Please. It was not a left-winger who lost to Trump.

No radical left winger has ever won an office of importance... Are you old enough to vote?

[Kingpoleon]

I like Ralph Northam - he has a storied past of being a very genuine and honorable person - but I feel like, in terms of political goals, I would like a more left-wing Democratic nominee.

Do you ever take into account electability? Like ever? Some radical left-wing nut job won’t win the GE for you.

Please. It was not a left-winger who lost to Trump.

No radical left winger has ever won an office of importance... Are you old enough to vote?

Henry Wallace?

[Dr. MB]

I like Ralph Northam - he has a storied past of being a very genuine and honorable person - but I feel like, in terms of political goals, I would like a more left-wing Democratic nominee.

Do you ever take into account electability? Like ever? Some radical left-wing nut job won’t win the GE for you.

Please. It was not a left-winger who lost to Trump.

No radical left winger has ever won an office of importance... Are you old enough to vote?

Henry Wallace?

And depending on definition of "office of importance" also could be included are Senators Huey Long, George McGovern, and Bernie Sanders.

[Kingpoleon]

I like Ralph Northam - he has a storied past of being a very genuine and honorable person - but I feel like, in terms of political goals, I would like a more left-wing Democratic nominee.

Do you ever take into account electability? Like ever? Some radical left-wing nut job won’t win the GE for you.

Please. It was not a left-winger who lost to Trump.

No radical left winger has ever won an office of importance... Are you old enough to vote?

Henry Wallace?

And depending on definition of "office of importance" also could be included are Senators Huey Long, George McGovern, and Bernie Sanders.

Burton Wheeler, Wayne Morse, and (to a lesser extent) Vito Marcantonio, Daniel Hoan, Emil Seidel, Victor Berger, Gayle McLaughlin, Jasper McLevy, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Larry Krasner, Thomas Van Lead, Frank Zeidler, Meyer London...

[Arbitrage1980]

Tonight proved that Bernie bros have it wrong, and that the center-left is where the majority of the country is at.

It’s been crystal clear given Northam’s win over Periello and landslide over Gillespie that moderate Third Wayism wins out over far left Bernie-ism.

Berniecrats have NOTHING to show for themselves but moral victories. You can’t live off daddy’s credit card forever little kids.

LOL whatever the corporatist Clintonian shills need to tell themselves in order to sleep at night. Northam should have won this race by at least double digits with Trump in the White House, but he failed to do even that much! Perriello was obviously the best choice but the Virginia Democratic establishment rigged it against him.

If anything, Democratic Socialist Lee Carter's win over GOP Del. Jackson Miller in Manassas shows that Berniecrats are right on the direction the Democratic Party needs to head in.

Out of the 15 VA House of Delegates seats that the Democrats won (4 are still under recount where Republicans are barely leading), only 1 was a district that Trump won.

Northam's 9 point win is the biggest Democratic victory in the VA governors race since 1985. He did so by crushing Gillespie with suburban college whites. Gillespie actually outperformed prior Republicans with minorities, getting around 12% of the black vote and 32% of the latino vote.

Virginia is blue, but it's not California/Washington/Massachusetts blue. It is moderate-center left, not some crazy socialist state.

[Deblano]

He's not very charismatic or polished at debates.

I'd say no.

[Mister Mets]

It's conceivable. He governs a swing state in a major media market, and will have a greater opportunity for policy accomplishments because of Democratic gains in the state legislature.

[Pennsylvania Deplorable]

Even if he did run, I'm not sure that a bland white male moderate would be able to energize enough of the democrat base to win the primaries. He also wouldn't have even completed one term and might not have many accomplishments to run on. He certainly did well against Gillespie, but Gillespie's campaign was a disaster. He was the ultimate party establishment insider trying to pose as an ultra-conservative man of the people. Whether you say his campaign was Trump style or Cruz style or whatever, it was a terrible fit for Gillespie. All Northam had to do was not make mistakes. Perhaps being able to do that makes him better than Trump and Clinton were. I wouldn't call him a favorite though.

[bagelman]

No one who openly describes himself as a fiscal conservative has any place in a Dem presidential primary.

[Chief Justice Keef]

Good enough for Virginia, too boring and uninteresting of a candidate for the national stage.

[Skill and Chance]

Uh, Northam could certainly win the Democratic primaries. Not sure how well he would fare in the general, I think it would be a Tossup like with any other nominee. Northam would probably be more likely to win AZ and FL than WI and PA, not that it really matters.

I think they should steer clear of nominating someone from VA after VA behaved so differently than the rest of the country last time.  The one scenario where I think Northam would be an asset to the Dem ticket would be as the VP nominee to a Bernie-like firebrand populist, to reassure the suburbs that things won't get too crazy.

[Thunderbird is the word]

lol, thought for a sec this said "Ralph Nader 2020"