Which candidate is the scrappiest, toughest, put the screws to 'em, kinda politician?

[Honeycombe8]

I'm wondering if a particularly tough, scrappy President might be needed in dealing with the Republican Senate, since they've gone so far out of the light. If so, which candidate does that describe?

Which candidate is the toughest...gets on the phone to get votes for bills in Congress, and won't stop until s/he gets those votes. Not easily talked out of something, or into something.

The scrappiest...if you wanna fight, you've got one. (won't back down)

Puts the screws to 'em....if you won't vote for the Democratic Party health care bill that has been carefully crafted, or the new tax cut bill, or the budget that restores funding to Meals on Wheels....s/he won't forget. And by the way, I said I'd consider your sister for that ambassadorship, but now.....

People skills. Honey does catch flies, when the time is right.

I have a couple in mind that MIGHT be that way. Or could be, if s/he chose to be. But I'm not sure. They all seem so....nice. Smart, good at communicating, good plans for issues. Dealing with McConnell will be a trip, though. Extreme confidence and toughness may be required.

[elleng]

1. Had thought of that,

and now that there's a ton of fuel with the Report (and Mueller's availability,) I'm wondering again. NEW thinking, not just to WIN, but to take it to them in the Senate. Gotta know the Senate rules.

[Demovictory9]

2. Avenitti

... was a few months ago. too bad he turned out to be a crook

[cwydro]

3. Lol.

I still remember his fan club here.

[not_the_one]

20. alas, I am so ashamed.

Seriously.

[Honeycombe8]

4. Yeah...wow. I don't recall another career on the path upward...

that took so fast and so hard a nose dive. Because he's corrupt and greedy.

[Wounded Bear]

9. He was always a sleazeball...

[delisen]

5. One who is not running. n/t

Last edited Fri Apr 19, 2019, 12:52 PM - Edit history (1)

[Generic Brad]

6. I suspect Eric Swalwell is

I also think Corey Booker and Elizabeth Warren have it in them too.

We have so many great candidates and I will be happy with any of them.

[Honeycombe8]

7. I hadn't thought of him. And how happy would you be....

when McConnell pulls a trick and won't confirm the new Supreme Court nominee, until a Republican is President, and our President doesn't do anything about that, or worse...doesn't know what to do. Or McConnell won't bring a Democratic bill to vote in the House...a bill that is for a key White House agenda item, and the President says, "Oh, no. Well, that's the rules of the Senate. Oh, well. Tomorrow's another day." Or actually believes McConnell's case AGAINST the bill.

[quickesst]

8. I have to admit....

... I have a strong desire to see Eric Swalwell take on drump in a debate. I think he would cut him to ribbons.

[Honeycombe8]

11. Have you seen Swalwell debate before?

Debate skills are different from talking on tv. I've seen Swalwell on tv and liked him, but I have no clue how he'd be in a debate.

I can't wait until the debates start. The first one is in June, I think. The debates usually show which ones can hold their own and command the stage, and reveal the ones who are weak. It's not always the ones you'd think. It will be so interesting.

[quickesst]

15. I have not seen him in a debate....

.....but based upon the interviews I have seen including several on Faux News which he has always handled with clarity, intelligence, and a razor sharp sense of humor, it is hard for me to imagine him not being able to easily handle the likes of DT.

[Honeycombe8]

16. Good to know. I'll be watching.

He sure looks a lot better than Trump. Not a bad face to see on tv for four years, not to mention a good voice.

[DFW]

10. Just a hunch, but I suspect Amy Klobuchar fits the bill.

Though she would not be my first choice, I think she most fits what you are looking for. My preference would be Howard Dean, but he is no longer interested.

[Honeycombe8]

13. I don't know her personality that well...

but every time I've heard her speak, I've liked her a lot...her manner of speaking, her positions. I wish she were higher in the polls. I think she would be Presidential material under different circumstances, but I don't see her rising to the top of the field. She hasn't caught on.

But I continue to watch her. Good to know she's tough.

[DFW]

19. I have only talked to her once

Back then a presidential run was nowhere on her radar, as Obama was the focus of everyone’s attention. She is very personable but is known for not tolerating incompetence. Also, she is not known for aggressively pursuing prosecution of accused people where the evidence was unconvincing, as opposed to another former prosecutor currently running. Liars would not have an easy time with her, and were it not for my desperate concern for halting climate change, she would be far more interesting to me as an eventual candidate. But as far as the issue that you put in your OP goes, I think she is the one you’re looking for.

[Honeycombe8]

21. Good to know. Maybe she'd end up being V.P. with tough tasks delegated to her, ....

as the "pit bull with lipstick," as Palin liked to say. Not that there's any comparison of Palin with any woman with half a brain.

[DFW]

22. That's a tough one to call

A really effective VP is one with foreign policy chops that can do a credible stand-in for a president who can't always get away from DC (Gore and Biden were outstanding in this regard, Pence thinks Saskatchewan is a former Soviet Republic in Central Asia). I am not familiar with Klobuchar's foreign policy knowledge/experience.

[Baltimike]

12. by the metric you described...Biden. nt

[Honeycombe8]

14. He was one of the ones I thought might fit the bill.

OTOH, he's pretty nice and gentlemanly. But he's been around a long time and would know how to twist a vote out of someone, and smile and joke while doing it. He wouldn't be like an anvil.

Still, I'm not sure. I need to investigate his past further, to see about his toughness in sticking to positions and getting his way.

He's the most experienced at how Washington works, though, hands down. He would definitely know how to deal with McConnell.

I thought Elizabeth Warren might be another one who would be scrappy. I don't like her as a viable candidate, so hadn't thought about her much. But she popped into my mind, when I thought of tough and scrappy and not easily influenced (although she can be influenced....she was late to sign on to the Franken ouster, very late, but she did go along to get along, in the end). But she's so serious and determined and seems to know no fear, that she popped into my head as having that kind of fighter personality.

[anarch]

17. sometimes I'm tempted to think we should just say "fuck it" and embrace the wrestling shit

you know, just nominate someone based on their ability to stand on a stage with dipshit and talk trash in the same WWE kind of style that seems to appeal best to the rubes of the world. And/or have an intimidating, even menacing physical presence to the extent that the orange one would be actually viscerally frightened to have to confront this person.

Even better if they could also articulate the Democratic platform in a way that would get across to more plain-spoken folks. I mean, what the hell happened to unions? (wait I know the fuckin answer to that one, nevermind) How is the actual party of the working class seen by so many of the working class as being elitist, coastal, out of touch with ordinary working folks, etc.?

Meh I don't know, I'll vote for whoever the party nominates, obviously. In my opinion the office of president should be seen more as a spokesperson role, with far less power to modify legislation that's been duly passed by Congress than the situation we have now. I would like a functional government, not a fucking clown show.

But yes I agree in general that whoever we choose should be someone who does not back down from a fight, and who can articulate the righteous anger that I think a whole lot of us share at this point.

[Honeycombe8]

18. Well, I wasn't speaking about anger. More like force of personality, toughness.

Not the "go along to get along" type. But not anger. Just a force of personality to be reckoned with.

The type of person who holds a position that the Republicans know that he can't be talked out of, at least not without giving him something else really good.

The type of person who knows the political ins and outs of Washington...knows how to work things to get certain results, if possible.

I think Biden and maybe Warren may be two who are like that, but I'm not sure.

As for the working class and unions, you are RIGHT. What the hell happened to our push and support of unions? The loss of unions has had a lot to do with the working and middle class losing so much in recent years. In some cases, that's more the function of GOVERNORS, not Washington.

I don't like the idea of giveaways to the working class (Harris), because that just exacerbates the perception that people with less money are lazy deadbeats, and that's why they don't have much. But the system is rigged against them, and there are things that Washington can do to fix that.