I traditionally have a thread heading to the election, here we go.

Get out the popcorn for this one.

Quote

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to formally announce next week he is running for president in 2024, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

The governor's official entry into the Republican primary field will put him head-to-head with former President Donald Trump, the party's current frontrunner for the nomination. Trump has already spent months treating DeSantis as his primary campaign rival, thrashing him with torrents of criticism over his gubernatorial record, his political skills and his personality.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/18/desantis-plans-to-officially-announce-presidential-run-next-week.html

subee said:

 Hurd says in the ad, "The soul of our country is under attack," and goes on to identify threats to Americans — illegal immigration, fentanyl, "out of control" immigration, crime and homelessness. "

Well, I think a LOT of Democrats would agree that these are areas of concern but what have the Republicans done to address any of them..or even offered up any ideas?  I wish the Democrats could come up with a dark horse candidate.

In my area, all those things have definitely gotten worse as Democrats have gained more power.  

subee said:

 Hurd says in the ad, "The soul of our country is under attack," and goes on to identify threats to Americans — illegal immigration, fentanyl, "out of control" immigration, crime and homelessness. "

Well, I think a LOT of Democrats would agree that these are areas of concern but what have the Republicans done to address any of them..or even offered up any ideas?  I wish the Democrats could come up with a dark horse candidate.

No chance of Democrats intentionally splitting the vote when authoritarians are running against them.  

Do you know the difference between  populism and a fascism? Populists respect election results. 

toomuchbaloney said:

No chance of Democrats intentionally splitting the vote when authoritarians are running against them.  

Do you know the difference between  populism and a fascism? Populists respect election results. 

What?  Only 1 Democrat can run for president.

subee said:

What?  Only 1 Democrat can run for president.

That's not what I said, but no Democrat will engage in a bitter primary when the stakes are so high for the outcome of the election itself.  

Beerman said:

In my area, all those things have definitely gotten worse as Democrats have gained more power.  

Have those things gotten better since the GOP gained the majority in the House and Supreme Court, and the ability to filibuster Senate votes? What party is blocking military promotions? 

nursej22 said:

Have those things gotten better since the GOP gained the majority in the House and Supreme Court, and the ability to filibuster Senate votes? What party is blocking military promotions? 

I was speaking of the local govt.

toomuchbaloney said:

That's not what I said, but no Democrat will engage in a bitter primary when the stakes are so high for the outcome of the election itself.  

And no one has been successful at it since 1844 (Polk):)  Perhaps we should have started cultivating the next candidate in 2020 if Biden would have been willing to not run again and support the next nominee.  I guess desperate times with so many close races is affecting. our ability to cultivate new talent.  I can only rely on more Republicans to desert the clown college.

subee said:

And no one has been successful at it since 1844 (Polk):)  Perhaps we should have started cultivating the next candidate in 2020 if Biden would have been willing to not run again and support the next nominee.  I guess desperate times with so many close races is affecting. our ability to cultivate new talent.  I can only rely on more Republicans to desert the clown college.

I think they are cultivating new leaders.  The House minority leader, Jeffries, is an example IMV, so are Katherine Clark and Aguilar. They are serious people trying to do serious work. 

Biden has had a successful term (by many measures) to date.  These are tumultuous and dangerous times. Biden is old but he's not impulsive and he seems to have calm and well informed counsel. We'll be okay. 

toomuchbaloney said:

I think they are cultivating new leaders.  The House minority leader, Jeffries, is an example IMV, so are Katherine Clark and Aguilar. They are serious people trying to do serious work. 

Biden has had a successful term (by many measures) to date.  These are tumultuous and dangerous times. Biden is old but he's not impulsive and he seems to have calm and well informed counsel. We'll be okay. 

Not to mention a ton of relevant experience. No substitute for that.

Beerman said:

I was speaking of the local govt.

Do you mean "Dem run cities" as Fox News headlines always use when talking about crime?  Because I don't think those cities have flipped recently to make the statement it's worse as Democrats have gained power since they've always been in charge of the larger crime-ridden cities.  

As far as local governments go, I remember republicans won a record number of races in local and state races during the Obama years.  It was quite a beating for Democrats nationally.   There wasn't such a wave in 2022 but I don't think there was a whole lot of flipping either.

Florida has Dem run cities but is a republican run state and last year the state DOH stated "The State of Florida has seen an exponential increase in overdoses associated with fentanyl. ".   But overall crime rate is down but that could be covid effect so we'll see what the future brings.  

I don't think it's all cut and dry that one party is responsible for crime.

Quote

But there's a problem with DeSantis's attacks on Democrats' policies on crime: It's not clear that crime is lower in Florida than in some of the cities he has criticized. In some Florida cities, the data shows murder rates are significantly higher than in blue cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. Experts say there's also no evidence to support that some of DeSantis's signature public safety policies, including doubling down on cash bail, are effective in reducing crime, and other DeSantis crime policies involve considerable trade-offs and uncertainties.

https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/4/10/23673240/desantis-crime-florida-guns-shootings-police-2024

I won't go into illegal immigration and your statement because I don't think local governments have much control over that unless you're talking about Dem run cities being sanctuary cities.  But again, I don't think these cities flipped governments lately.

toomuchbaloney said:

That's not what I said, but no Democrat will engage in a bitter primary when the stakes are so high for the outcome of the election itself.  

I agree.  Democrats, for better or worse, want to stay united and that means Biden.  If Biden retired, he would be under pressure to groom and endorse his VP as his successor and she's even more unpopular than him.  People would have to go up against her and it probably would be a bitter primary.  

Tweety said:

Do you mean "Dem run cities" as Fox News headlines always use when talking about crime?  Because I don't think those cities have flipped recently to make the statement it's worse as Democrats have gained power since they've always been in charge of the larger crime-ridden cities.  

As far as local governments go, I remember republicans won a record number of races in local and state races during the Obama years.  It was quite a beating for Democrats nationally.   There wasn't such a wave in 2022 but I don't think there was a whole lot of flipping either.

Florida has Dem run cities but is a republican run state and last year the state DOH stated "The State of Florida has seen an exponential increase in overdoses associated with fentanyl. ".   But overall crime rate is down but that could be covid effect so we'll see what the future brings.  

I don't think it's all cut and dry that one party is responsible for crime.

https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/4/10/23673240/desantis-crime-florida-guns-shootings-police-2024

I won't go into illegal immigration and your statement because I don't think local governments have much control over that unless you're talking about Dem run cities being sanctuary cities.  But again, I don't think these cities flipped governments lately.

I was speaking more about my area, which has gone from a more moderate/independent vibe to more progressive.   And, with it crime and homelessness has gotten worse, rapidly.   We have homeless encampments that we never had, one of the nation's highest rate of car thefts, etc.

Other places I've frequented in my life I've seen get worse.  LA and San Francisco, for example.  I hear what you're saying about areas like those that haven't flipped.  But, while maybe they haven't flipped, those being elected have gotten more progressive. San Francisco's elected DA a few years ago comes to mind, who announced he wasn't going to prosecute certain crimes.

All that being said, there are a lot of variables.  So, I acknowledge it may be not so cut and dry that you can simply blame or give credit to one party.

I think I've mentioned your area before.  Tampa/St Pete is clean, homelessness and crime seems to be under control, easy to get around, good economy.  It's pretty much a Dem run area, and a favorite place of mine.