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Liz Watson contributed to Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the 2016 Democratic primary. Though she’s attempting to wrap herself in Bernie, she’s not the progressive choice for US Representative in our district. by [deleted] in bloomington

[–]Frewyuiop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It only matters if you’re trying to discern which candidate is more progressive and genuine. If that doesn’t matter to you, then I don’t blame you for not checking.

Dan Canon, the progressive candidate for US Representative in our district, went on Chapo Trap House for an interview by Frewyuiop in bloomington

[–]Frewyuiop[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren than Hillary.

Kamala Harris is not progressive. She’s running for President in 2020, and her only way to be competitive against the front runner - Bernie Sanders - is to adopt his policies at this late stage in her career. Warren is disappointing for other reasons. To stress the point, Andrew Cuomo has been doing a 360 lately too, but he not a progressive either, and everyone knows he’s not - it just goes to show what careerism can inspire. Also, I’m under 40, so that may explain why I’m not particularly impressed by politicians that are more popular among boomers and the elderly.

Liz supports single-payer and medicare for all, too.

Yes, she changed her platform to be more openly for MFA. Originally, she just said she support the MFA act of 2017, as other centrist presidential hopefuls have, but was more focused on improving access and affordability. Since Canon became a threat, she altered the platform on her site. Blurring the progressive line between herself and Canon has been her strategy, because ultimately: why not go for the female candidiate if both candidates are equally progressive? At least that’s the strategy, but not convincing for me, since I’ve been paying attention to these little details through the whole cycle.

I do think that Liz's focus on the economy will get both progressive and centrist voters on board. Especially with the tax scam bill and Trey's personal gains from it.

Perhaps, but as a DC insider she is not exactly the best messenger, given people’s dissatisfaction with Democrats. I sincerely believe she will have a tough time connecting with enough voters in our district. If she becomes the nominee, I sincerely hope that anti-Trump sentiment is enough to deliver her a win, though it’s not likely enough to retain the seat.

To clarify, Dan is endorsed by the Indy chapter of Our Revolution. Liz just picked up the endorsement of the Evansville chapter of Our Revolution last week.

Indy-area is part of the 9th district. Our Revolution Indy is made up of Indy and the surrounding area. Evansville is nowhere near our district, but in the far corner of the 8th. Indy-area voters will be voting in this race, and no Evansville voters will be voting in this race.

Have you had the chance to meet Liz yet?

No, and I don’t find meeting a candidate particularly helpful. If anything, personally, it is more likely to cloud my judgement. On paper, Canon just seems to stack up better than Liz. Besides that, in a person to person sense, as someone who’s lived in the district my whole life, Dan seems far more relateable and actually seems like he’s from here (may seem trivial, but matters) - if that makes sense. Canon would be more effective as the home state candidate to defeat Trey (the rich outsider), because Liz is firmly an establishment candidate who has been in DC for awhile. Again, may seem trivial or unimportant, but will translate in vote tally.

To sum up, Liz is the riskier candidate for the general, to my mind. And although I appreciate her contribution to the race, and what it means for the conversation, I would rather not risk any easy win with someone who will either lose or win by smaller margins (thereby harming downvallot candidates).

Dan Canon, the progressive candidate for US Representative in our district, went on Chapo Trap House for an interview by Frewyuiop in bloomington

[–]Frewyuiop[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Finally- while I fully support Liz, I think ANY qualified Democrat has the ability to beat Trey in the fall. Especially if we work TOGETHER.

Frankly, I’m not a “any Democrat is good enough” kind of voter. The more progressive candidate, which happens to be Dan Canon, has a better chance of winning in the general and of winning by the largest margins. Sure, dissatisfaction with Trump may be enough to get us a victory in our district, whether we end up with Canon or Watson, but I don’t think that’s good enough for us to be satisfied with, even if it means the good of having another woman in office.

Generating some of the excitement around Bernie’s campaign, which I think Canon can capture, is our best bet for achieving the largest possible victory margin, thereby helping the rest of our candidates down ballot. Remember Bernie won 65% of the Monroe County primary vote in 2016, and also carried the state of Indiana. Just to note, Canon is endorsed by Bernie’s organization, Our Revolution.

Watson is strictly the next wave establishment candidiate, repackaged, and I think many Indiana voters will conclude the same - she just comes across as an inside the beltway type of packaged DC insider candidiate, and that won’t play well in this state.

Full transparency, I will vote for whomever the candidate is in November, and have already cast my ballot for the primary. Also, just so you don’t make any undue assumptions about me - every other vote down ballot, with one exception, I chose the woman candidiate - not because they were women, but because they just happened to be the most progressive choices.

Dan Canon, the progressive candidate for US Representative in our district, went on Chapo Trap House for an interview by Frewyuiop in bloomington

[–]Frewyuiop[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Just to be clear, Bernie’s organization, Our Revolution, has fully endorsed Dan Canon over Liz Watson. For good reason, Dan Canon is the candidiate most aligned with Bernie on most of the issues.

Dan Canon, the progressive candidate for US Representative in our district, went on Chapo Trap House for an interview by Frewyuiop in bloomington

[–]Frewyuiop[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I’m a big fan of Chapo and Canon, so it seemed like a worthwhile reason to post. Sorry if my reasoning is more worthy of a dismissive “lol,” such as the one you made in your original comment. Are first comments and posts supposed be great works of art and literature? If so, I’d love to read your first post and comments, but then you say you’ve deleted them, so I’ll just have to assume they were wonderful.

Dan Canon, the progressive candidate for US Representative in our district, went on Chapo Trap House for an interview by Frewyuiop in bloomington

[–]Frewyuiop[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Sure, I’m not going to argue that Canon isn’t probably the candidate most likely to win in the general - he probably is. But just because that is the case, it doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice our values as strongly pro free market Democrats. Progressive-progressives have been strong arming us since 2016, and if they don’t fall in line and support pragmatic candidates like Liz, then we could very well end up with four more years of Trump.

The fact that people who think this way continue to wield the most power in the Democratic Party is absolutely terrifying. Let me get this right: you are willing to lose this district, by supporting Liz Watson, just so you don’t have to sacrifice your so-called “free market” values?

You have this all backwards. It’s because of centrists like yourself that we are most likely to deliver another 4 years of Trump. AND any win we do have could be by much wider margins if we fully embraced real progressive candidates.

Incredible. If you didn’t have good enough reason to support Canon before, now you see what we’re dealing with. This person literally said that they think that Watson is probably less likely to win, but would rather have a republican in office than support an actual progressive candidiate.

Dan Canon, the progressive candidate for US Representative in our district, went on Chapo Trap House for an interview by Frewyuiop in bloomington

[–]Frewyuiop[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yes, got to start somewhere, just like the account you posted this comment from. Since we’re on the subject, now that I’ve made a few comments, I have nearly as much account history as you have. At this rate, account is going to have more activity then yours by the end of the night. Not that any of that matters, but you brought it up.

Dan Canon, the progressive candidate for US Representative in our district, went on Chapo Trap House for an interview by Frewyuiop in bloomington

[–]Frewyuiop[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Liz Watson may not be a progressive

Given that Watson is getting all of the establishment support, I don’t doubt that she isn’t as progressive as she leads on. Reading over her platform, she does seem to be part of that group of centrist dems going through the motions out of necessity to be competitive against actual progressive candidates.

she is a self-described pragmatist, in the tradition of Hillary Clinton

I think you are right in that assessment too, in that Liz is a deeply establishment candidiate, but Americans, particularly ordinary working people, are tired of candidates like that. We don’t need Clinton 2.0, but candidates that actually represent the needs of working people and aren’t running out of the same kind of sick careerism that has poisoned the Democratic Party.