Discussion: Beto O'Rourke Raises $9.4M In First 18 Days As Presidential Candidate

I see, and it’s older data, from the last Census, but the number you cited:

appears to be not for households but for individuals (according to the article you reference).

A clearer view of the Census Bureau’s estimates over time (2000-2011):

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I’ve heard that’s a good way to do it.

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Let me be clear - I don’t know why Obama tried consensus building his first term despite promises of GOP to make him one term POTUS, bad faith, etc.

I think a lot has to do that he is a consensus builder (which Beto seems to be as well). As the peacemaker in my family I understand that.

The adage that when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail applies - some problems aren’t solvable by consensus.

As someone who really got into 7 Habits years ago it took me a long time to realize Mr Covey hadn’t addressed how to apply them to dealing with Republicans since his work assumes everyone’s dealing in good faith.

While I think Obama will go down in history as our greatest modern president I also think historians will be debating why he tried consensus for so long when it was clear that it wasn’t possible.

Cc @rucleare @kyra27

This is going to be an interesting primary season because it looks like just about all of the Democratic candidates have raised some decent money.Nearly all of them are going to stay in the race at least through the first primaries.

Unlike the 2016 Republican field nearly all of the Democratic hopefuls are folks with ideas. I wonder if Sanders, Biden and Warren can keep up with the new kids on the block, but we will see.

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I continue to think the alleged yearning for consensus is greatly exaggerated. Small example: Is it or is it not the case that the PPACA was signed in March of 2010, about 14 months after Obama was inaugurated, with 220-215 in the House and 60-39 in the Senate? Zero Republican votes. Is this Obambi seeking consensus like a naif, or is it the fascist Obama jamming the ACA down the throats of people who didn’t want it? I think neither characterization is true, but the reality is closer to the latter. A month after the vote, Scott Brown came in, and it would have failed, so it was literally passed with the bare minimum. Every president without exception makes mistakes of judgment. But this vain seeking after consensus, I continue to simply not see it, beyond how anyone would wish to make the best, most widely beneficial choice. And I don’t accept it just because people say it. People including very bright people often simply assume stuff they hear around is true. And whoops, sometimes it isn’t.

Warren.

Dear heart, lying really doesn’t make your case. I suggest you grow the fuck up and stop before you completely destroy what tiny reputation you have left here.

Yes. My understanding ACA was designed to pull in R votes, that if we knew (which we obviously didn’t) that no R wouldn’t vote for it we’d have gone a different route.

I’m not sure why you’re upset by this - I actually think in general consensus is better than command driven and I’m a fan of PBO. I just think like the rest of us he’s human and stumbled in some regards.

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There is a reason for that. A smarter individual would have figured out that reason by now. An even smarter individual would have gotten in touch with reality.

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I’m not upset. I just don’t see any evidence that this bit of conventional wisdom is true, I think in fact it’s an absurd thing to think on the one hand and be aware of BHO’s keenness of observation and depth of insight on the other, and I’m just not buying it. You seem reachable but if you’re persuaded otherwise and have no serious doubts that’s fine, you know?

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Yes she did. And I was fucking furious at her, absolutely livid. In real time. Right here on TPM in extensive reader blogs (a deeply unprofitable experiment Josh did with Kos-style user generated comment. But the difference is that in the end, much later than she should have, but in the end, she sucked it up and gave whole-hearted, ungrudging, complete support to Obama. She gave her best speech of the campaign, possibly of her career, directed to her disappointed supporters. She joyfully moved to have the roll stopped and the vote made unanimous.

And she did not pick delegates with the specific intent of having them make a big, discordant asshole ruckus. She made damn sure they were well-behaved. She did not give a grudging, half-assed speech. She did not have even her most assholey key supporters going off on third party sabotage missions.

And Senator Sanders gave a full-throated endorsement at the convention and campaigned for her across the country before the general. She wrote him a note thanking him for it.

In regard to Sander’s sore loser delegates, do you remember the PUMAs in 2008? (People United Means Action or Party Unity My Ass)

I remember them. You might want to refresh your memory of how the PUMAs behaved before, during, and after the 2008 convention.

This stuff always happens at the end of hard-fought primary campaigns. I don’t blame the candidates for the actions of their supporters unless they encourage it. And neither Sanders nor Clinton did that.

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I don’t think we were listening to the same speech. Because I heard “meh, she’s better than Trump” and I saw him just sitting and smirking whenever the delegates Weaver selected specifically because they were determined to raise a ruckus raised their nihilistic little ruckus, passing by multiple opportunities to tell them act like fucking adults.

Also, Hillary’s campaign manager did not make PUMA’s delegates. They were all throwing their idiot tantrum outside. Because Hillary’s campaign manager did not systematically set out to select Bern it Down delegates to be, what’s the word I’m looking for here? Ah. Ridiculous, in the convention.

He behaved a lot more like Joe Lieberman during the recount and Chris Christie at the 2012 RNC than Hillary in 2008.

And dude, I’m here to tell you that in all honesty, I was waiting, hoping and expecting him to change my mind about him the way Hillary did in 2008. And what I got instead was the exact kind of bare minimum of what’s expected, like someone attending a family reunion or a wedding with relatives they hate, that we could not afford in a year when we were trying to pull off the incredibly difficult task of winning a third term.

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:punch:

I usually want to hurl “conventional wisdom” with great force (most recent example “exoneration” FFS) but this was one where my impressions matched the CW.

But it doesn’t mean our impressions are mutually exclusive.

I saw a couple of articles early on that he didn’t have a lot of face time with Congress and I can’t remember if someone mentioned it or if I projected it but that he’s an introvert like I am. So I may have also projected consensus building onto that.

Which in general I think the left prefers and the right prefers “command and control” leadership e.g. the right loved them their Dubya because he shot first and asked questions later while it appalled us.

We’re good. :sunglasses:

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