Tonight is the Iowa caucus and there usually considered only three tickets out of the contest for candidates vying for the Democratic nomination and there are 4 front-runners who have reasonable expectations of winning tonight.
Biden:
I’m not enthusiastic about Biden for two principal reasons. As a verbal gaff machine I think pitting him against the verbal bully Trump is a poor match=up from a Democratic perspective. And secondly but still quite important his belief that the GOP will return to some state similar to it condition before Trump seized control is, in my opinion, a fantasy. Trump is the GOP and his followers are driving the party that’s a reality we have to confront head on.
Sanders:
I am also not enthusiastic about Sanders. Again there are two overriding concerns. I do feel that a Sanders presidency will be very much a re-run of the Carter administration. What many people do not recall from that presidency is that Carter fought with his own party and without party support h was crippled long before international crises made things much worse. Additionally Sanders is too much of a revolutionary and will amplify negative partisanship that lowers his chances for a victory. Remember that Trump can lose the popular vote by as much as 6 points and still win the election.
Buttigieg:
For too inexperienced for my tastes. Too enamored with ‘heartland’ ideology and suffers from a lesser degree to the same rosy view of the GOP. The Republicans are fighting a procedural war not one of ideas and they are not ever going to give ground to a Democratic administration.
By process of elimination that leaves just one leading candidate, Warren.
Warren:
I like her. I think we do need big structural changes but not a revolution. I do think the principal issues challenging our government isn’t really policy but corruption and she’s focused on that. Some dislike her because she used to be a Republican but that’s a factor in her favor not against her in my book. Biden can’t admit that his support of Gulf War II was a disastrous error and Sanders still will not disavow his pussy-footing with murderous regimes. Being able to look at evidence and course correct is vital to good judgment; Warren has shown she can do that.