The Sweet Sixteen: Who Should Drop Out of the Democratic Primary?
Today, Rep. Eric Swalwell became the second candidate (behind Richard Ojeda) to drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination. To Swalwell's credit, his decision was very levelheaded. "After the first Democratic presidential debate, our polling and fundraising numbers weren't what we hoped for, and I no longer see a path forward to the nomination." Instead, Swalwell will focus on getting reelected to his seat representing California's 15th District in the U.S. Congress.
Now that Swalwell has exited the race, my hope is that some of the other candidates running will see the light and drop out as well. With 23 candidates running for the Democratic nomination, the field is too crowded. With that said, here are 16 candidates who I think should drop out:
1.) Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO). Sen. Bennet is unknown to most people. When he talks, he sounds kind of like when Cameron Frye from Ferris Bueller's Day Off is on the phone, imitating Sloane's father so that she can get out of school. He does not offer anything new.
2.) Vice President Joe Biden. Vice President Biden polls mostly in first place and has been doing well fundraising, but choosing him to be the nominee would send America the wrong message. That message says "hey, we hear that you want fundamental change in your standard of living, but we're offering you someone who will not give you that. So vote for him!" Regardless of whether someone voted for Trump because they're a sexist who hated Hillary Clinton, or because they're racist, or because they haven't seen any increase in their wages, at the end of the day, the uniting theme behind all of these Trump voters, for better or for worse, is that they wanted change and they still do. Nominating Biden, who told wealthy Wall Street donors that "No one's living standard would change. Nothing would fundamentally change," simply says to Americans of all backgrounds that things will carry on as they did before Trump. America deserves better than that.
3.) Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT). Gov. Bullock was elected and reelected the Democratic Governor of the red state of Montana. He is pretty popular and knows how to win an election as a Democrat in a generally Republican state. With that said, he is wasting time losing out on joining the debate stage to Marianne Williamson. He should instead use that skill to unseat Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT). We need every Senate seat we can take in 2020 so that we can stop Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from carrying out his obstructionist policies and take back the Senate.
4.) Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NY). Mayor de Blasio is not well liked in the city he runs. If he can't have some popularity in New York City, a strong bastion of liberalism in our country, how does he expect to win the rest of the country? He doesn't offer anything new. After all, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris to a lesser extent all have the same leftist, if not more leftist positions that he does. Mayor de Blasio should focus on taking care of his city.
5.) Rep. John Delaney (D-MD). Rep. Delaney sounds like a Republican and looks like my high school chemistry teacher (who was a staunch Republican). He does not belong in this race and I question whether he even belongs in the party. He sounds too moderate and boring, not only offering the same old tired business friendly policies, but refusing to attempt to solve the big issues our country faces (climate change, student loan debt, health care, stagnant wages, etc.) with anything other than good old fashion tax breaks and less regulation. He needs to go home.
6.) Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI). Okay, this one is personal for me. I've interviewed Rep. Gabbard. She has represented my home district (Hawaii's 2nd District) in Congress for almost ten years now. I generally like her. With that said, as a Representative, she no longer impresses me. Her foreign policy is apologetic of people like Indian Prime Minister and Hindu Nationalist Narendra Modi and Trump's former right hand man Steve Bannon. And lets not forget the fact that she was very homophobic at the beginning of her political career. Rep. Gabbard signs onto big idea bills like reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act, but what has she done specifically for my home district? My home district suffers from a lack of jobs that pay a living wage. We have subpar infrastructure and not enough resources for our schools. Instead of grabbing attention for herself, she needs to focus on making my home district a better place to live so that people will stop fleeing to the mainland for better economic opportunity.
7.) Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). I know the knives are out for Sen. Gillibrand after she lead the effort to get Frmr. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) to resign after numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. But that's not why I think she should drop out. She doesn't offer anything different from what many of the other candidates are offering. She's not unique or special in her own way. She should continue representing the good people of New York in the Senate.
8.) Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK). Frmr. Sen. Gravel, who last represented the great state of Alaska in 1980, launched a longshot campaign not necessarily to win, but to get on the debate stage so that he could promote his anti-war platform. I think that message is sorely needed in the Democratic Party, but while I appreciate his effort, Sen. Gravel has not gotten anywhere. He should go home.
9.) Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO). Just like Steve Bullock, Frmr. Gov. Hickenlooper, a very popular governor of Colorado, a purple state speedily turning blue, should stay home and run for Senate. He has a strong record as Mayor of Denver and Governor of Colorado. As a so-called "pragmatic-progressive," he could have bipartisan appeal in his state. Also, the Republican Senator facing reelection this year, Cory Gardner, is not the most popular politician in his state. Like I said, we need to take as many Senate seats as we can to stop Mitch McConnell and take back the Senate.
10.) Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA). Though the Governor of Washington seeks to be "the Climate Candidate" or whatever, most of the other Democratic candidates hold the same positions as he does. So like many others, he does not offer anything new. He should stay in Washington where he could run for a third-term as Governor and probably win reelection.
11.) Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL). Nobody knows who he is and besides, we already have a Mayor that many people love.
12.) Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA). Harvard educated. A solider. Speaks about the forgotten people of America. If only he were gay, then he could just change his name to Pete Buttigieg. Jokes aside, he's got nothing new to offer and no one knows who he is.
13.) Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX). Other than being eye-candy, O'Rourke doesn't offer anything new to the table. He sounded like such a poser when he attempted to speak Spanish during the first debate (throwback to Cory Booker's glaring side-eye). Also, he should try and run for Senate again, although this time against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a race which would be much harder than running against Sen. Ted Cruz, but still worth trying. For the third time, we need as many Senate seats as possible to defeat Mitch McConnell and take back the Senate!
14.) Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH). While I agree with his message that the Democrats should not forget those who live between the coasts, Rep. Ryan is a nobody that offers nothing new to the table. Tulsi Gabbard (who also needs to drop out), rightfully made him look like an idiot during the first debate. Lastly, how tacky and pathetic do you have to be to pick Old Town Road by Lil' Nas as your campaign song? What a suck up.
15.) Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA). Goddamn it Joe, did no one tell you that Joe Biden was officially the last candidate to announce his run?!?! That was it. Period. Full Stop. You filed your campaign papers on June 22nd! Go home!
16.) Marianne Williamson. While Ms. Williamson would probably be fun to get wine drunk with while talking about healing crystals; Girlfriend, you need to go home.
While I'm glad to see some major diversity in policy ideas and background, the current number of candidates is exhausting. These 16 need to follow Rep. Eric Swalwell's lead and get out now before they make a fool of themselves. Some of them could be politically useful elsewhere to our country (I cannot emphasize how badly we need to take back the Senate). Others, eh, not so much, but perhaps they can change things in our country through other means outside of politics. Marianne Williamson has love after all.
On a more serious note, we all have a stake in our country's fate, so I hope everyone of you will vote and vote wisely.
Now that Swalwell has exited the race, my hope is that some of the other candidates running will see the light and drop out as well. With 23 candidates running for the Democratic nomination, the field is too crowded. With that said, here are 16 candidates who I think should drop out:
1.) Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO). Sen. Bennet is unknown to most people. When he talks, he sounds kind of like when Cameron Frye from Ferris Bueller's Day Off is on the phone, imitating Sloane's father so that she can get out of school. He does not offer anything new.
2.) Vice President Joe Biden. Vice President Biden polls mostly in first place and has been doing well fundraising, but choosing him to be the nominee would send America the wrong message. That message says "hey, we hear that you want fundamental change in your standard of living, but we're offering you someone who will not give you that. So vote for him!" Regardless of whether someone voted for Trump because they're a sexist who hated Hillary Clinton, or because they're racist, or because they haven't seen any increase in their wages, at the end of the day, the uniting theme behind all of these Trump voters, for better or for worse, is that they wanted change and they still do. Nominating Biden, who told wealthy Wall Street donors that "No one's living standard would change. Nothing would fundamentally change," simply says to Americans of all backgrounds that things will carry on as they did before Trump. America deserves better than that.
3.) Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT). Gov. Bullock was elected and reelected the Democratic Governor of the red state of Montana. He is pretty popular and knows how to win an election as a Democrat in a generally Republican state. With that said, he is wasting time losing out on joining the debate stage to Marianne Williamson. He should instead use that skill to unseat Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT). We need every Senate seat we can take in 2020 so that we can stop Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from carrying out his obstructionist policies and take back the Senate.
4.) Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NY). Mayor de Blasio is not well liked in the city he runs. If he can't have some popularity in New York City, a strong bastion of liberalism in our country, how does he expect to win the rest of the country? He doesn't offer anything new. After all, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris to a lesser extent all have the same leftist, if not more leftist positions that he does. Mayor de Blasio should focus on taking care of his city.
5.) Rep. John Delaney (D-MD). Rep. Delaney sounds like a Republican and looks like my high school chemistry teacher (who was a staunch Republican). He does not belong in this race and I question whether he even belongs in the party. He sounds too moderate and boring, not only offering the same old tired business friendly policies, but refusing to attempt to solve the big issues our country faces (climate change, student loan debt, health care, stagnant wages, etc.) with anything other than good old fashion tax breaks and less regulation. He needs to go home.
6.) Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI). Okay, this one is personal for me. I've interviewed Rep. Gabbard. She has represented my home district (Hawaii's 2nd District) in Congress for almost ten years now. I generally like her. With that said, as a Representative, she no longer impresses me. Her foreign policy is apologetic of people like Indian Prime Minister and Hindu Nationalist Narendra Modi and Trump's former right hand man Steve Bannon. And lets not forget the fact that she was very homophobic at the beginning of her political career. Rep. Gabbard signs onto big idea bills like reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act, but what has she done specifically for my home district? My home district suffers from a lack of jobs that pay a living wage. We have subpar infrastructure and not enough resources for our schools. Instead of grabbing attention for herself, she needs to focus on making my home district a better place to live so that people will stop fleeing to the mainland for better economic opportunity.
7.) Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). I know the knives are out for Sen. Gillibrand after she lead the effort to get Frmr. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) to resign after numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. But that's not why I think she should drop out. She doesn't offer anything different from what many of the other candidates are offering. She's not unique or special in her own way. She should continue representing the good people of New York in the Senate.
8.) Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK). Frmr. Sen. Gravel, who last represented the great state of Alaska in 1980, launched a longshot campaign not necessarily to win, but to get on the debate stage so that he could promote his anti-war platform. I think that message is sorely needed in the Democratic Party, but while I appreciate his effort, Sen. Gravel has not gotten anywhere. He should go home.
9.) Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO). Just like Steve Bullock, Frmr. Gov. Hickenlooper, a very popular governor of Colorado, a purple state speedily turning blue, should stay home and run for Senate. He has a strong record as Mayor of Denver and Governor of Colorado. As a so-called "pragmatic-progressive," he could have bipartisan appeal in his state. Also, the Republican Senator facing reelection this year, Cory Gardner, is not the most popular politician in his state. Like I said, we need to take as many Senate seats as we can to stop Mitch McConnell and take back the Senate.
10.) Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA). Though the Governor of Washington seeks to be "the Climate Candidate" or whatever, most of the other Democratic candidates hold the same positions as he does. So like many others, he does not offer anything new. He should stay in Washington where he could run for a third-term as Governor and probably win reelection.
11.) Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL). Nobody knows who he is and besides, we already have a Mayor that many people love.
12.) Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA). Harvard educated. A solider. Speaks about the forgotten people of America. If only he were gay, then he could just change his name to Pete Buttigieg. Jokes aside, he's got nothing new to offer and no one knows who he is.
13.) Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX). Other than being eye-candy, O'Rourke doesn't offer anything new to the table. He sounded like such a poser when he attempted to speak Spanish during the first debate (throwback to Cory Booker's glaring side-eye). Also, he should try and run for Senate again, although this time against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a race which would be much harder than running against Sen. Ted Cruz, but still worth trying. For the third time, we need as many Senate seats as possible to defeat Mitch McConnell and take back the Senate!
14.) Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH). While I agree with his message that the Democrats should not forget those who live between the coasts, Rep. Ryan is a nobody that offers nothing new to the table. Tulsi Gabbard (who also needs to drop out), rightfully made him look like an idiot during the first debate. Lastly, how tacky and pathetic do you have to be to pick Old Town Road by Lil' Nas as your campaign song? What a suck up.
15.) Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA). Goddamn it Joe, did no one tell you that Joe Biden was officially the last candidate to announce his run?!?! That was it. Period. Full Stop. You filed your campaign papers on June 22nd! Go home!
16.) Marianne Williamson. While Ms. Williamson would probably be fun to get wine drunk with while talking about healing crystals; Girlfriend, you need to go home.
While I'm glad to see some major diversity in policy ideas and background, the current number of candidates is exhausting. These 16 need to follow Rep. Eric Swalwell's lead and get out now before they make a fool of themselves. Some of them could be politically useful elsewhere to our country (I cannot emphasize how badly we need to take back the Senate). Others, eh, not so much, but perhaps they can change things in our country through other means outside of politics. Marianne Williamson has love after all.
On a more serious note, we all have a stake in our country's fate, so I hope everyone of you will vote and vote wisely.
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