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The 2nd Democratic National Primary Debate

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So you think everything the president does is on full display? You think what happened will make no effect on diplomatic efforts? Intelligence gathering methods/techniques? Secret operations?
For that matter, whether we try to outlaw encryption like the Brits are doing and speed up our transition into a "democratic" police state?
 

Konka

Banned
For that matter, whether we try to outlaw encryption like the Brits are doing and speed up our transition into a "democratic" police state?

Yeah. It's laughable to think that if it doesn't lead us to a ground invasion of Syria it's really having no impact on what the next president will need to deal with. It comes back to this all or nothing attitude that is so visible by people, often on the internet. An understanding of the world devoid of nuance.
 
Yeah, the reaction from the staffers is completely bizarre.

To be fair, Bernie does little if any debate prep. If you have to go up against Hillary Clinton on foreign policy, you want a bit more time to brush up. Her command of the facts when it comes to really obscure foreign policy issues is impressive. Her off the cuff answers to a question about Laos was freaking awesome.
 
According to the staffer, representatives for the two other candidates, Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, chimed in to say, “We completely agree with CBS.” The staffer said Longabaugh was “hot” and had his voice “raised.” The staffer said Longabaugh described the changes as “not right” and noted that CBS originally offered the candidates an opening that was more “open-ended,” where they “could talk about the basis for our campaign.”

“He got very hot, and there was, like, a five- or seven-minute back-and-forth, and he just wouldn’t let it go,” the staffer said, adding, “The CBS guy got annoyed enough to the point where he said, ‘Look, you know, what you’re saying makes no sense. There was a terrorist attack in Paris, and of course we have to change the way the debate is structured, and we’re not, you know, making this a foreign policy debate.”

Despite the objections from the Sanders campaign, the rival staffer said the debate will move forward with the emphasis on the attacks.

Sanders aide pushes back against CBS
 

Hazmat

Member
Actuarial table for an 82 year old woman over the next 8+1 years (ignores that she's wealthier than average, and thus healthier, but I figure that washes out from past health problems):

Chance she'll die in the Obama presidency: ~6%
Chance she'll die by the end of the next president's first term: ~31%
Chance she'll die by the end of the next president's second term: ~57%
Edit: adjusted figures to fix a math error

The odds are better than chance that she will die and her replacement will be appointed by the end of the next presidency.

Other justices of interest:
Scalia: Obama 6% / Next Term 30% / End of Second Term 56%
Kennedy: Obama 6% / Next Term 30% / End of Second Term 56%
Breyer: Obama 5% / Next Term 25% / End of Second Term 48%

Let's instead do joint survival:
Odds that all four justices will survive the end of Obama's term: 78%
Odds that all four justices will survive the end of the next president's first term: 25%
Odds that all four justices will survive the end of the next president's second term: 4%

Thank you for doing significantly more research than I could do on a day off. Part of me wishes Ginsburg would retire soon to not take the risk, but that doesn't seem likely.
 

Arkeband

Banned
Yeah, the reaction from the staffers is completely bizarre.

I can understand it being a minor annoyance if CBS is going to spend a half hour (with commercial breaks) on something the candidates wouldn't have been studying and practicing for, but there is always the expectation in debates to veer toward current events. For example, bringing up FanDuels and DraftKings fixed gambling/online betting and Republicans playing dumb (or being dumb) and pretending they were asking who's on their fantasy football team.

That article sounds like it's been spiced up to create controversy.
 

samn

Member
I'm not proscribing a particular response, it's not clear to me what that response would be, but the input into my foreign policy clearly changed.

Even if our knowledge on their capability has changed, IMO the safety of the public has changed very little. The threat to any individual's family or friends being directly affected remains absolutely minuscule, and I don't think the threat has increased enough to support any substantial change in policy.

Anyway I accept the argument that people want to see how the candidates would handle a crisis. Maybe I'm just pessimistic about what people are hoping they will say.
 

kingkitty

Member
Thank you for doing significantly more research than I could do on a day off. Part of me wishes Ginsburg would retire soon to not take the risk, but that doesn't seem likely.

yeah it's too late at this point now. She should've done it before the midterm.
 

East Lake

Member
So you think everything the president does is on full display? You think what happened will make no effect on diplomatic efforts? Intelligence gathering methods/techniques? Secret operations?
I'm sure getting into the weeds of that will change the debate enormously.
 

watershed

Banned
I just hope Hillary and O'Malley don't feel the need to be war hawks and start trying to outdo the republicans. Obama is already bombing ISIS to hell and back.
 
Eh. While I do get the concern over her age. It seems kind of improper to tell someone who still has incredibly astute mental faculties and is perfectly able to do her job to retire because you think she might die.
 

Konka

Banned
I'm sure getting into the weeds of that will change the debate enormously.

What was said.

The attacks yesterday ultimately make little difference to the importance of foreign policy over the course of the next president's term.

That's what I responded to. I never made an argument either way in regards to the material of the debate.
 

kingkitty

Member
looking forward to see Bernie bring up Hillary's damn emails.

it's a known fact that Democrats overwhelmingly think this is a legitimate and important issue. this will certainly not backfire.
 

ItIsOkBro

Member
How you respond to a current event with little to no time to prepare is a better metric for presidency than any planned debate can provide.
 
Go home Bernie, you're drunk.

His campaign is just so freaking bad at this, it's not even funny. They're all over the place with their response/non response. If he wants to actually be viable he has GOT to get control of these people. They make too many unforced errors. If they legitimately thought that Paris wouldn't come up, then Devine and his ilk are even dumber than I thought they were.
 

RELIGHT

Banned
Nope, not sarcasm.

The attacks yesterday ultimately make little difference to the importance of foreign policy over the course of the next president's term. And if the candidates have any sense at all then this event should make little difference to their foreign policy. A debate should focus on every issue that a president will experience over their 4 years, not just what happens to be in the news that month.

I strongly would like to disagree with you. But based on the direction of the media, social and mainstream, it hasn't had the impact you'd think.
 

Slime

Banned
I remember how the 2008 campaign went abruptly from broad, transformational change and huge contrasts in social and foreign policy, to 100% about the economy. That was never one of Obama's strongest points and all the pundits said his relative inexperience would hurt him, but he stepped up to the plate and took the lead while McCain fumbled and looked like a desperate idiot.

If Sanders is pushing back and throwing a fit over an abrupt change in debate plans because a terror attack shifted the conversation, he has no business running for president. This is the type of embarrassing shit you'd expect from the Republican candidates.

I like the guy and what he stands for, but come on. If this isn't all him, then at the very least he needs to fire his ridiculous aides.
 
I remember how the 2008 campaign went abruptly from broad, transformational change and huge contrasts in social and foreign policy, to 100% about the economy. That was never one of Obama's strongest points and all the pundits said his relative inexperience would hurt him, but he stepped up to the plate and took the lead while McCain fumbled and looked like a desperate idiot.

If Sanders is pushing back and throwing a fit over an abrupt change in debate plans because a terror attack shifted the conversation, he has no business running for president. This is the type of embarrassing shit you'd expect from the Republican candidates.

I like the guy and what he stands for, but come on. If this isn't all him, then at the very least he needs to fire his ridiculous aides.

oh lol so now a staffer = Bernie himself?

I understand the staffer frustration, though. How can you make Clinton look uncapable about foreign policy without getting into BENGHAZI, BENGHAZI, BENGHAZI territory?.

It feels like such a set up. Of course it isnt, but I understand why the frustation is there. Bernie really has it all to be a treat to Clinton but his staffers, himself and lucky circumstances have made it impossible as of now.
 
Iowa Poll from a few weeks ago

Here's why stuff like this is bad for Sander's campaign. In Iowa, Hillary has a 55 point lead over who can best handle foreign policy. If you're running an insurgent campaign, and you want to take away supporters, you cannot let your campaign be surrounded by stuff like that.
 

phanphare

Banned
oh lol so now a staffer = Bernie himself?

his staff represents his campaign though. it's a bad look for Bernie himself even if it is just a staff member. it's something he needs to address because this isn't the first time he's looked bad because of his staff.
 
oh lol so now a staffer = Bernie himself?

I understand the staffer frustration, though. How can you make Clinton look uncapable about foreign policy without getting into BENGHAZI, BENGHAZI, BENGHAZI territory?.

Yes. His staff is Bernie Sanders. That's what being an executive is. His campaign is his name. If someone from his campaign does or say something stupid, it ends up back to him. The buck stops here and all that jazz.
 

Slime

Banned
oh lol so now a staffer = Bernie himself?

When you're running a campaign, you need to maintain that discipline. It's expected that your aides speak for you. You usually only see aides go off like this in disastrous campaigns like McCain/Palin's.

It's kind of unprecedented for a reasonable guy like Bernie to have such an undisciplined campaign.
 

Cerium

Member
Can anyone say tone deaf?
Bernie Sanders’ campaign said Saturday it was more interested in preserving its full 90 seconds of opening remarks during the second Democratic debate than devoting more time to discussing the terrorist attacks that killed at least 120 people in Paris on Friday.

In a conference call with all three campaigns, debate host CBS suggested changing the format of the forum to create more time for a foreign-policy discussion. But Sanders' team forcefully opposed any changes.

“We had agreed on opening and closing statements, the timing of those," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said about the debate format that was settled before the attacks on Friday. "Others attempted to change those. We pushed back on those and ended up prevailing. We're very happy about that.”

When asked for more details, he smiled: "Let's just say we won."

When a reporter suggested to Weaver that the changes seemed appropriate in light of the biggest terrorist attack in over a decade, he said: "Of which we have a minute and a half to speak to that. I don't even know what the argument is about."

Weaver argued it was important to keep the 90 seconds allotted to an opening statement, instead of cutting it down to 30 seconds, because Sanders still needs to introduce himself to the country. “A large number [of Americans] have never seen Bernie Sanders speak before, or hear his message,” he explained.
There's no time to discuss terrorism, apparently, because Bernie needs to introduce himself to the country.
 
When you're running a campaign, you need to maintain that discipline. It's expected that your aides speak for you. You usually only see aides go off like this in disastrous campaigns like McCain/Palin's.

It's kind of unprecedented for a reasonable guy like Bernie to have such an undisciplined campaign.

I would call them undisciplined. More like amateur-ish. I doubt Bernie himself believed he would reach the levels it has. Everyone miscalculated how hungry Dems were for an option besides Hillary (an error of historical proportions by Warren, if you ask me). They seem unable to run the campaign as a serious, country-wide effort. Ugh, I hate them.
 

andymcc

Banned
if you look at that pic the right way it looks like a mutant baby Hitler
lSzJ0gl.jpg
 

kirblar

Member
That's definitely not some random rogue aide.

I can understand why Bernie and his campaign might be frustrated about this behind the scenes, but why the fuck would you talk to the press about it?
Because the initial blow up in the meeting with CBS has been reported and they can't evade it.
 
oh lol so now a staffer = Bernie himself?

I understand the staffer frustration, though. How can you make Clinton look uncapable about foreign policy without getting into BENGHAZI, BENGHAZI, BENGHAZI territory?.

It feels like such a set up. Of course it isnt, but I understand why the frustation is there. Bernie really has it all to be a treat to Clinton but his staffers, himself and lucky circumstances have made it impossible as of now.

I would call them undisciplined. More like amateur-ish. I doubt Bernie himself believed he would reach the levels it has. Everyone miscalculated how hungry Dems were for an option besides Hillary (an error of historical proportions by Warren, if you ask me). They seem unable to run the campaign as a serious, country-wide effort. Ugh, I hate them.

Tad Devine is running Bernie's campaign. He's been in national Democratic politics since the 1980s. He worked on Carter's re-election campaign. He worked on Dukakis', Kerrey's, Gore's and Kerry's. Dude's not an amateur, he's just really, really bad at it.
 

CDX

Member
According to the staffer, representatives for the two other candidates, Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, chimed in to say, “We completely agree with CBS.” The staffer said Longabaugh was “hot” and had his voice “raised.” The staffer said Longabaugh described the changes as “not right” and noted that CBS originally offered the candidates an opening that was more “open-ended,” where they “could talk about the basis for our campaign.”

“He got very hot, and there was, like, a five- or seven-minute back-and-forth, and he just wouldn’t let it go,” the staffer said, adding, “The CBS guy got annoyed enough to the point where he said, ‘Look, you know, what you’re saying makes no sense. There was a terrorist attack in Paris, and of course we have to change the way the debate is structured, and we’re not, you know, making this a foreign policy debate.”

Despite the objections from the Sanders campaign, the rival staffer said the debate will move forward with the emphasis on the attacks.

Sanders aide pushes back against CBS

Can anyone say tone deaf?

Bernie Sanders’ campaign said Saturday it was more interested in preserving its full 90 seconds of opening remarks during the second Democratic debate than devoting more time to discussing the terrorist attacks that killed at least 120 people in Paris on Friday.

In a conference call with all three campaigns, debate host CBS suggested changing the format of the forum to create more time for a foreign-policy discussion. But Sanders' team forcefully opposed any changes.

“We had agreed on opening and closing statements, the timing of those," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said about the debate format that was settled before the attacks on Friday. "Others attempted to change those. We pushed back on those and ended up prevailing. We're very happy about that.”

When asked for more details, he smiled: "Let's just say we won."

When a reporter suggested to Weaver that the changes seemed appropriate in light of the biggest terrorist attack in over a decade, he said: "Of which we have a minute and a half to speak to that. I don't even know what the argument is about."

Weaver argued it was important to keep the 90 seconds allotted to an opening statement, instead of cutting it down to 30 seconds, because Sanders still needs to introduce himself to the country. “A large number [of Americans] have never seen Bernie Sanders speak before, or hear his message,” he explained.

There's no time to discuss terrorism, apparently, because Bernie needs to introduce himself to the country.



Bernie, your staff is doing you no favors.
 
There's no time to discuss terrorism, apparently, because Bernie needs to introduce himself to the country.
He does though, so I can at least understand their side of the argument. He's a superstar on the internet, but that TV audience is a different matter. And that doesn't mean that there's no time for terrorism discussion. Hell, the important issues of our time should have more than 90 seconds allotted to them, otherwise we get mostly empty rhetoric and theater.

And with that in mind I'm starting to think that it would be a good idea for future debates to open up with each candidate given 3 to 5 minutes to say whatever they want, to cleanse their system of the shit they'd interject into any of the opening questions anyway, regardless of topic. Then, once they've got their big talking points and introductions out of the way then maybe moderators would have more success with keeping the candidates on point for more specific questions.
 
Ughh Bernie's camp should've just had him prepare for the last minute obvious change in topics and questions about current events. Dodging an issue is Mitt Romney level stuff, and I don't want Bern and Mitt to be associated with one another.

I'm sure Bernie is still somewhat prepped because you can't ignore a large topic like this. I'm sure Hillary was doing some last minute prep as well.
 
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