Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumWhat Chicago's mayoral election reveals about the 2020 presidential race - Steve Chapman
On Tuesday, Chicagoans did something that no one imagined a year ago, voting by a mammoth margin to entrust the mayors office to an uncharismatic gay black woman who has never held elective office. Lori Lightfoot was the most surprising election winner since well, since Donald Trump. Chicago is not a cross section of America, but developments and tendencies seen in Americas third-largest city often reflect the general pattern of the nations political evolution. And those on display Tuesday yielded some clues about how the 2020 presidential election may go.
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For a candidate, assembling a majority is not the first priority; building a small base of supporters can be enough, at least in early contests. Lightfoot, todays landslide winner, got just 17.5 percent in the first round, and that was enough to put her in first place. Toni Preckwinkle made the runoff with only 16 percent. The candidates who didnt survive captured 2 out of every 3 votes.
We already knew about this phenomenon from the last presidential election. No one gave Trump a chance of winning early on. But he won the New Hampshire primary with 35 percent of the vote, and he was able to win several more primaries with far less than a majority. One key to his success was a surfeit of rivals who managed only to kill each other off until he had a commanding lead. In the mayoral race, we found that being well-known at the start is not an indispensable attribute. A long and crowded campaign gives obscure candidates a chance to gain attention. Lightfoots victory should be taken as encouraging by such Democratic presidential contenders as Pete Buttigieg, Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper and even Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang.
What is plain from this election is something that was also apparent in 2016: Voters dont place immense importance on experience in elective office, of which Lightfoot has none. Neither did J.B. Pritzker before he was elected governor of Illinois, and neither did his predecessor, Bruce Rauner. Nor, of course, did Trump. These examples are not hopeful indicators for Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar or Cory Booker.
The publics attitude stems from the performance of elected officials and government institutions over the past two decades. Nationally, those include the 9/11 attacks, the Iraq War, the financial crisis of 2008, the Great Recession and the slow recovery that followed. In Chicago, they include the sharp increase in murders in 2016, the 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by a Chicago cop and the ensuing cover-up, chronic corruption, the crushing public pension debt and repeated tax increases.
More..
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chapman/ct-perspec-chapman-chicago-mayor-lightfoot-president-2020-story.html
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Response to question everything (Original post)
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monmouth4
(9,708 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Response to monmouth4 (Reply #2)
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monmouth4
(9,708 posts)enormous. We need young and energetic for that undertaking.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Response to monmouth4 (Reply #4)
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frazzled
(18,402 posts)At least among those who voted, which wasnt many. I believe the turnout was a measly 33%. Meaning most people didnt care, or didnt care who won. Or have washed their hands of politics altogether.
The aldermanic races in the same election also revealed a preference for outsiders.
I think Lori will be fine, though I admit to having supporting Toni, for her experience and decades of progressive actions. It does remain to be seen what will happen to the city with a novice mayor and considerably more novices in the City Council. I think the revelation that there were some corrupt politicians led to the thinking that all were corrupt. I know thats not true of my alderman (who ran unopposed). But that was the perception.
I do believe this will be the driving impetus nationally in 2020. Whether thats a good thing or not I leave open to speculation.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden