Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumJAY INSLEE Just Wants To Save The World From Climate Change
Jay Inslee Just Wants to Save the World From Climate Change. Kudos to Jay Inslee for trying to save America and human society. Ryan Cooper, Common Dreams, Aug. 2, 2019.
The second Democratic debate Wednesday evening was a bit of a boring mess. The first 45 minutes on health care were muddled and confusing, and a great deal of time was taken up with attempts by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) to land blows on former Vice President Joe Biden by attacking his past, each of which mostly failed in large part because both have troubled histories of their own.
But one candidate stood out, not for his performance as much as his reason for being on stage: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who is quite literally trying to save the world. He didn't have the wittiest put-downs or the most practiced talking points, but he is laser-focused on climate change, far and away the most important problem facing the United States. He almost certainly will not win but he is doing his utmost to put climate policy on the national agenda, and putting in the work to develop a very strong plan the next president can take up.
Inslee didn't get a whole lot of speaking time, as he barely has any support and the moderators devoted little time to climate change in any case. It was also difficult to have any sort of substantive discussion with the 2-minute time limit for questions and 30 seconds for responses. Candidates could barely squeak out a couple paragraphs before the moderators started interrupting them not ideal for discussing complicated policy.
Incidentally, this is a good reason for the Democratic Party to take the debates away from for-profit media companies. They can set them up themselves and broadcast on PBS or C-SPAN and ideally have at least a few debates wholly given over to one or two topics, so the candidates can really dig in. At the very least, it's senseless for the party to subject its candidates to CNN's right-leaning moderators who keep trying to bait them into saying they will destroy the economy with tax hikes.
At any rate, Inslee did use most of his time to hammer on the "climate crisis," as he put it in his opening statement. He noted correctly that it affects literally everything: "Climate change is not a singular issue, it is all the issues that we Democrats care about. It is health. It is national security. It is our economy," he said...More, read the full article..
More, https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/01/jay-inslee-just-wants-save-world-climate-change
- Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington used most of his time to focus on the climate crisis.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
MFM008
(19,818 posts)Hes my choice until he drops out. This issue needs to be front and center.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,136 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Sienna86
(2,149 posts)Seriously.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
appalachiablue
(41,168 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Evergreen Emerald
(13,069 posts)He is Presidential material.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
appalachiablue
(41,168 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
BannonsLiver
(16,434 posts)Mine is a 21st century version of Jethro Bodean from the Beverly Hillibillies.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
The Blue Flower
(5,444 posts)Not only is he right about climate change, he's skilled at governance and has pushed through a progressive agenda that benefits all the people of Washington. The country definitely needs him at its helm.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
KT2000
(20,586 posts)and he has a history for doing the right thing. The only one mentioned by media though is his vote against Iraq war. He knew it was false and said so. He wasn't afraid.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Garrett78
(10,721 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
oasis
(49,398 posts)Big difference.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Garrett78
(10,721 posts)...any Dem will choose those serious about addressing climate change.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
oasis
(49,398 posts)people on the team.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Karadeniz
(22,559 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
appalachiablue
(41,168 posts)And does he really want this, badly I mean? Lots of issues..
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Garrett78
(10,721 posts)There can be surprise surges, but it's generally pretty easy to tell which candidates aren't going to gain traction. For instance, right after Klobuchar announced, I said that I don't expect her to gain traction. Right or wrong, charisma is hugely important. And charisma boosts press coverage, which boosts name recognition, which is king during the winnowing phase. Biden and Sanders entered with crazy high name recognition in a nation full of incredibly ignorant people. Warren is also well-known from the nonsense with Trump and her DNA. The others who are polling relatively well are highly charismatic.
Also, being perceived as a single-issue candidate is not helpful. It's not like anyone thinks other Dems will ignore climate change.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
appalachiablue
(41,168 posts)concerned with charisma over intellect, efficiency and public service record--all critical.
I was just thinking of the great candidates we lost, and how much better this country and the world would be if they had prevailed-- Gore, Dean, Kerry, Clinton. Tremendous losses.
With matters so serious now, possibly 4 more years of this, imminent climate change, foreign tension and more we must select a very sharp and skilled executive with strong presidential creds, no joke.
At this stage I see some combination of Inslee, Warren, Biden, Harris and Booker.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Garrett78
(10,721 posts)That's just the reality. Name recognition and charisma (with the latter resulting in an increase in the former) will determine who makes it through the winnowing phase. And then shit's gonna get real.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Beringia
(4,316 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
oasis
(49,398 posts)to be heightened.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Persondem
(1,936 posts)He noted correctly that it affects literally everything: "Climate change is not a singular issue, it is all the issues that we Democrats care about. It is health. It is national security. It is our economy," he said...More, read the full article.. "
Green jobs. Concern for health. National security. Economic affects. All of these issues are already being influenced by climate change.
Inslee gets that.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
BlueWI
(1,736 posts)His accomplishments are underappreciated. Our loss.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
NNadir
(33,538 posts)The latter is important if you have cancer, as our planet does. All the people who want to cure cancer and most reasonable people want to address climate change, but wanting to do something is a far cry from actually doing it.
Telling people what they want to hear doesn't cut it, and frankly, the stuff Inslee talks about won't cut it either.
There's wishful thinking and then there's science:
Evaluation of a proposal for reliable low-cost grid power with 100% wind, water, and solar (PNAS June 27, 2017 114 (26) 6722-6727.) The authors of this paper (there are a lot of them, from major institutions) were sued for publishing it, although the asshole filing the suit ultimately dropped it.
I have heard, so as to believe it, that agreeing with this scientific paper written by authors who are very much involved with issues in climate constitutes "a right wing talking point."
Of course, regrettably, this is not the first time that this lifelong Democrat has heard that sort of thing, but the fact is that some things will work, and some won't.
I'm not quite convinced that the popular approach to eliminating fossil fuels is connected with reality, and I haven't heard anything out of Inslee that suggests he is thinking beyond Washington's environmentally questionable dams, avian ecosystem grinding devices, and toxic metals coated on glass.
This hasn't work; it isn't working and it won't work. The mass requirements make it unsustainable in any case.
While I personally believe that climate change is the most critical issue before humanity, I am supporting the Democrat who has a deep, strong, and most importantly, flexible mind in my opinion.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden