Here's some polling, just among the 18-29 set, on a variety of issues. The youngsters did turn out in 2018, they may be the story of 2020.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ds/4228474002/
so speaking of the younger voters (and I'm trying to not get into a policy discussion here, but...):
Biden just announced that he's against the legalization of pot because he sees it as a gateway drug. IMO, he could do few things which would convince young voters even more that he's a fogey in his nineties rather than a guy in his seventies.
At the very least I think his advisors should have counseled him to avoid that take on the issue...it doesn't need to be a major campaign issue, but most of Joe's opponents seem to be going with the national flow that legalization is expanding, and the sky is not falling. Just strikes me as a very odd pronouncement for a guy who wants and needs to appeal to younger voters more...
(different states doing different things on the issue right now seems like a reasonable status quo)...
What is that national polling on the issue? It could be that he is taking a position different than many of his Democratic competitors in order to appeal to the middle, if that position is the majority one.
Or, it could be that he actually believes it to be true. Not that politicians are guided by such things of course . . . .
Could well be, OPK, I don't know the numbers; I just find it to be very counterproductive if he is trying to woo younger voters.
I suspect Joe's view is more popular in deep red states, so maybe that's the strategy...still seems like an unforced error to me. Will only add to the perception he's a geezer.
IA - 78% want more medical pot. Legalization is tied at 48-48.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...al/2908557002/
NH: Support for recreational legislation is bipartisan: 61 percent of Democrats, 56 percent of Independents and 49 percent of Republicans support it.
https://www.pressherald.com/2018/02/...na-poll-finds/
SC: 72% support medical marijuanna (84% among Democrats). The difference is that only 23% favor legalization for recreational use.
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/...223819090.html
Could it be that Biden is not focusing any longer on IA and NH and is instead focusing on winning more conservative red states? That doesn't seem like a great choice because the Democratic primary has a formula that gives more delegates to states based on the last three Presidential elections, favoring states with higher % of Democratic votes.
^ that's the only "logic" I can think of, and it has, as you say, a lot of holes in it. Better to have said nothing.
Yup, big time. Gallup did a national poll on marijuana just a few weeks ago and the numbers show that Biden is strikingly out of touch with the vast majority of Americans, especially Americans under 50 (who generally are not Biden supporters).
And to say he is out of step with the rest of the Democratic party on this issue would be an understatement. If this statement gets much attention, it could be a real killer for Biden.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
I think when people talk about fiscal conservatism, they mean reasonable discipline with regard to both spending levels and budgetary deficits. And that certainly doesn't describe the Trump Administration to date. Though I'm not sure that description fits anyone these days, at least at the Federal level.
Exactly, the U.S.A. had a $984 billion deficit in 2019 and it will be substantially more than $1 trillion in 2020. Even adjusting for inflation, the U.S.A. has never experienced those levels of deficits during an economic expansion and no major war. And, this is occurring with historically low interest rates (debt payments).
IMO, Obama was more fiscally conservative than Trump. Obama had the very substantial costs to resolve The Great Recession. Trump was dealt a relatively easy hand.
on the pot demographics: pretty amazing that Boomers, ages 55-73 are pro pot by a wide 61-38 margin, yet Traditionalists, age 74+, are anti pot by a 56-40 margin...huge swing.
But anyone in college when the Boomers were understands understands what was going on...quite a demarcation.
Pretty cool tool on the Wash Post website where you can see how you agree or disagree with the Democratic candidates on several key issues where there are disagreements within the party. If you are not at least somewhat liberal, then you likely won't see any choice you agree with on several of the questions but this is designed to help folks pick the Democratic candidate who most aligns with their views.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...grees-with-me/
Here are how my answers matched up with the Democratic contenders:
Yang and I agree on 8 of the 10 questions
Buttigieg, Harris, Biden, Booker, Klobuchar 6
Warren 4
Sanders 3
-Jason "I recognize that this is not expressly about the horse race and it reveals some individual partisan lean, but it is not argumentative and is an interesting exercise" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Two polls -- one from April, one from September -- show that the main issues on Dem primary voters are defeating Trump; healthcare; and the economy.
https://morningconsult.com/wp-conten...ce-4.23.19.pdf
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...talking-about/
As long as Joe is strong in those three areas, I doubt his views on pot will move the needle much.
I think those top three issues, coincidentally, are why Warren has hit a ceiling (for now) and Mayor Pete has moved up. Especially healthcare and the broad opposition to eliminating choice in Warren's M4A plan, which Pete hammered last debate and which (IMO) ignited his rise. Same was true for Klobuchar although she has not sparked the electorate's joy as much I guess.
I was surprised at how many "None of the 10 Democrats in the November debate agree with you" I received or that only one or two candidates agreed with me on.
Biden 6
Yang 5
Klobuchar 4
Buttigieg. Gabbard 3
Booker 2
Harris, Sanders, Steyer 1
Warren 0
In particular the surprising issues to me were:
* how few are committed to reducing the debt/deficit
* how many want to add justices to the supreme court
* how many want to eliminate the electoral college
edited to add: OPK - We are twins!