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Punching Bag Predictions on the Democratic Primary

Punching Bag Predictions on the Democratic Primary

The Hill yesterday made some predictions on how the Democratic Primary candidates would fare in the elections.  In my opinion, they are myopic, biased and mostly plain wrong.  We at the Punching Bag Post think we can do better, based on the psychology of the media and our vast (ahem…) experience in this realm.
So hold onto your britches!

Kamala Harris.  At the moment probably the strongest candidate based on media coverage and will surge out of the gate (the “gate” still being some months into the future, I think). As a Californian, she will probably carry her state, as a minority woman she has ammunition against many of the other candidates (and don’t think that won’t be a factor!). If she avoids talking about raising taxes, she has a shot.

Joe Biden.  Not a chance in hell for a very simple reason. He is not the most popular candidate right now even though his name recognition is through the roof. He has nowhere to go but down, and will do that precipitously as others gain traction.  That is just the way the world works. Plus he has a seriously long history of gaffes and goofs, he will be easily destroyed.  There are good reasons why he never pulled more than a percent or two in previous presidential primaries.

Bernie Sanders. Bernie’s name recognition could not be higher, and he still has a YUGE following from 2016. He may further gain some sympathy votes.  However, ultimate his constituency is limited. A professed socialist cannot win even the Democrat primaries (yet).

However, Bernie’s presence will have a marked effect. He will force the whole field of candidates to the left and make it very difficult for any middle of the road candidate to reach the very noisy radicals on the left (which may be his secret goal anyway…).  These are some serious handcuffs!  It can certainly be said that, but for Bernie, Hillary would have had a much better chance to beat Trump.

Beto O’Rourke.  Beto is certainly charismatic and has some handsomeness going his way. Only one problem: HE LOST! Winners find a way to win and Beto did not win his last election. Yet he believes he can win a much larger, much, more difficult contest.  Watch for his campaign to lose momentum and crumble, he is toast.

Elizabeth Warren.  Warren has been tickling the media with her possible bid for the Presidency for quite a while. But right now she is in the Jeb Bush position, a front runner that everyone has been expecting and for whom everyone has a response. The Pocahontas label will follow her and her offputting, erudite manner will come to a head as she faces more charismatic opponents. Plus she is not nearly as smart as she thinks she is, and when it comes to a debate against Klobuchar and Harris she will get hammered.  Stick a fork in her, she’s done.

Cory Booker.  The Hill has this partly right, Booker is a lightweight. He will try to position himself as the new Obama, but as much as I hated Obama, this guy is not qualified to carry Obama’s piss bucket (sorry, I’m re-reading Shogun right now…).  His ego will keep his campaign going until his money runs out (which will not be considerable) but he has too much stupidity in his history to make a serious run. He will peter out mid- or early primary.

Amy Klobuchar.  Amy is a monster. She is a hardass, slave driving campaigner and she expects a lot from her people. She is also a winner who has gotten a lot of legislation passed, and whose ego and ambition appear to be channeled and focused on the next level.  Her only disadvantages vice Kamala is she won’t be able to carry as big a state.  If she gets funding, she has a shot at the big prize.

Sherrod Brown.  Who????   Unless he spends a boatload on name recognition, and finds some kind of meme (or everyone else self destructs, which could happen…), he is a two percenter. My guess? He is a two percenter.

Kirsten Gillibrand.  She has some name recognition, but I haven’t seen any fire behind her name. She doesn’t even have the benefit of a strange name, like “Sherrod.”   Won’t get out of the gate.

Michael Bloomberg.  The is where The Hill went most wrong. You can NEVER count someone who has $50 Billion out of a campaign.  He can afford the best slogan writers Madison Avenue and as former Mayor of New York, he knows exactly who they are. And he can afford to hire world class campaign runners in every state.  He can afford armies of investigators to dig up dirt on his opponents and he most certainly will.  This is enough to make most people forget that they will never be able to buy a soda more than 8 ounces again!

If he decides to run it will be a spectacle to behold, and he could easily be the frontrunner to win. And if he loses after a tough primary, he will have destroyed the winner for the general election.  On the other hand, he could just dip his toe in the water, like Trump did in 2012 and then drop out.

Howard Schultz.  The billionaire CEO of Starbucks was not included in The Hill‘s list, a major oversight on their part. Schultz made recent news and garnered huge name recognition when he said he might run as an independent. This, even though he has been a stolid Democrat for most of his life. He has said that he does not think he could win the Democratic Primary in this atmosphere of radical left-ness. But he has also said that he will not be a spoiler, either.

If Schultz does indeed join the fray, he would be formidable. He is a clean cut common sense guy who is associated with a brand that every liberal loves. And he has a bank account!  He perhaps does not have the clout of Bloomberg, but then again he doesn’t have Bloomberg’s baggage of being a complete asshole either. He may have made a mistake in declaring he might make a third party stand and taking sharp rebukes from Party hacks, but it propelled his name into the limelight.

As we mentioned before, the Bernie factor means that Schultz will have a tough time reaching the far left. This will be a disadvantage against Kamala and Amy, but if the mainstream party gets tired of the B.S. and vitriol, Schulz could find himself on top.

My Predictions?  One of these will be the Democratic candidate for President:  Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bloomberg or Howard Schulz.

 

 

 

 

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11 Comments

  1. bill mcdonald

    Karmala is going to have a tougher time carrying Cali with her ardent hardline criminal prosecutions of her past.

  2. John

    Smokin’ Kamala simply threw her chance away with her recent rants about , “Weed.” Two thing that will haunt her are her selling herself for political gain and her admission that she smoked pot, though she knew it was illegal. Then she went on to proclaim that. “Weed,” gives, “Joy,” and we need a lot of joy. Sorry Kamala, weed skews ones mind away from reality to stupidity, and WE DO NOT NEED MORE STUPID! We already have that with the America hating muslims now in the house and AOC, who has proven her lack of conscious thought from New York. So in my humble way of thinking, there are still enough Americans who care about our country and Constitution to say, “Bye Bye Kamala.”

  3. Alexandra Mark

    In my humble opinion, the Democrats mentioned are not running for anything but sacrificial lamb. Nobody but nobody can beat Donald Trump, so this is not going to be a serious race but something of a media farce. America is not going to turn left no matter how many free things are offered, In fact after more than 70 years running this country into the ground, the Leftist academic swamp as well needs to be drained of some brainless creatures spawned by the Russian Revolution and through the years slowly infiltrated our educational system and literally destroyed it. I think a lot more people than noted are tired of politicians who talk, talk, talk, promise the sun and the moon and the stars – and end up with CRONEYCARE. We get the shaft.

  4. Michael

    I appreciate your article. It is very good news for “us” but your spelling makes it lose credibility. YUGE IS SPELLED HUGE…….YOU MUST CORRECT THIS. You have many grammatical errors but this one is major. PLEASE change this immediately because people will not take this article seriously with things like this.

    • Joe Gilbertson

      Thank you for your kind message. We will take your suggestion under advisement.

  5. James Green

    Michael, I believe that misspelling was done intentionally, then again maybe not.

  6. Martin Korab

    The American people are not stupid and the American voter has seen enough of the Democratic Communist Party to realize that Americans must never elect another Democratic Communist to the presidency ever again. Eight years of Commie Obama almost cost the American people their beautiful America and it’s freedoms. We will never let that happen again. Remember this,” a vote for a Democrat is a vote for Communism,” it’s just as simple as that. President Trump really loves the USA. He has kept his campaign promises and is always looking to make life better for all Americans regardless of their political parties. President Trump is God’s Gift to America, he has brought America back from the brink of destruction to a country that is the envy of the world. How can you not vote for a man that has the country’s best future for all, in his heart. Sincerely, Martin Korab

    • Nancy

      I agree, and the more the Dems try to frantically create a scandal to oust President Trump from his rightfully elected office, the more they are assuring a landslide for our President in 2020. Keep it up, it is already predicted President Trump will win by a landslide.
      That being said, when IS PRESIDENT TRUMP GOING TO RELEASE THE CLASSIFIED INFORMATION? Does anyone have any thoughts about this. I have heard him say many times that he has information that literally proves treason against America. What is he waiting for? In a phone interview with Sean Hannity, he said he wanted to declassify the information, but his advisors told him that would be a big mistake at the time he was going to share, with America, just how corrupt the Deep State is. His advisors told him that Dems would say it was “Obstruction of justice!” He said he will declassify the information soon. I have to wonder what he is waiting for, is he waiting for 2020, releasing it a month or so before the election? These traitors need to be arrested, sitting in Gitmo, and waiting for military tribunals. Then they need to be executed for treasonous acts against this country. WHEN are they finally going to be held accountable? I believe we are all growing very weary of seeing the Deep State along with the Marxist News overlooking the most heinous acts by their politicians against this country, all the while, keeping this ridiculous collusion story going, even after 2 years and no evidence. Also, most of us know it was Killary who created the dossier to frame Trump. I am sick of this evil still alive and well, and still doing everything possible to boot the best leader this country has had since Reagan.

      • Nancy

        I should have said “When is President Trump going to declassify the information he has and release it to all Americans to read and see who was involved in this despicable scam to try and outs a sitting president. This was a coup, and everyone involved committed treason against the American people.

  7. Dennis Rollinson

    Well said Martin , I must say he is indeed a President ” WHO LOVES HIS COUNTRY ” .

  8. marlene

    The picture of the Gang of Eight looks more like a Most Wanted poster.