DNC vs Sanders. Is the DNC right to block Sander's access to DNC voter data?

I think a very small percentage of the voters will ever see any media coverage on Rubio's money problems.

Perhaps. Clinton certainly is one.

It won't. It was brought up by Charlie Christ in the FL Senate race and, obviously, it didn't have legs.

Yes (re Rubio)

As regards your other post, no. I don't consider that the behavior of any of the other GOP candidates would match a description of sociopath. Nor any of the last election's roster from the GOP other than Gingrich. Those two individuals are unique. But it's not an argument I'll entertain with you.

Well that's big of you considering that my response to your comment about Cruz was "Perhaps." I suppose though since I didn't respond "I agree," you could take it as seeking an argument.

Sorry. My post was insufficiently clear. The "no" was as regards clinton (though by way of definition and comparison of the two). Politico has a piece up now on Cruz written by an evangelical which speaks to some portion of my opinion on the man. Here's the link if you care to look http://politi.co/1J8sGRc

Well, not unexpectedly, we disagree about Clinton. To me she is a text book case of a sociopath.

She lies through her teeth without a shred of shame. She feathers her nest through influence peddling while bemoaning lobbyists and the like.

On and on and on...

I guess we'll see. I am betting in a presidential election year with Clinton on the side of doing the exploiting, it will have more traction than it did in the senate election which hardly no one pays too much attention to. It shows him to be a shady character and it puts him at a disadvantage when he is trying to show Clinton in that light. Furthermore, if he had done things like that, chances are, there is more to be found and Clinton will find it.

We do disagree. But I'm pleased to be in touch with you again.

The right wing base is well-primed to hate Hillary and their media entities are the means by which this was and is achieved. That's just a feature of the modern scene. In the run-up to 2008, I initially supported her mainly because I thought that her experience with this dynamic in US political culture would serve her well while I wasn't at all sure Obama comprehended the full force of this (and as it turned out, he didn't and had to change course when he figured it out).

Re Cruz, I find it helpful to contrast his tenure in the Senate with Hillary or Al Franken. The latter two, when they arrived there, pretty much fell out of public attention and news coverage because they got down to the work they'd been elected to do. Cruz played a different game entirely and it had little, if anything at all, to do with public service. His game was to use the position to build a reputation (of a very particular sort) that he hoped would serve ends that look entirely self-centered.

You say this like it is a bad thing. But isn't this a requirement of being a president? Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton, Obama... they have all lied and manipulated to get things done without a shred of shame.

We have had one honest person in the White House president in my lifetime. He only had one term, and went on to an impressive life as a voice for peace and health and is still building houses for poor people in his 90s. Clearly he was the best human being to ever be president. I don't think anyone considers him a very good president.

With all due respect, I think you underestimate Obama then and now but he is not running again and it really matters not. As for Hillary and any of the conservatives and the so called conservative media and its effect on the presidential elections, Obama won twice. I think Hillary will do just fine against any of them.

I'm pretty sure I do. I actually have a great deal of respect for the fellow and have defended him to lefties many more times than I could count. But he did err in his optimism regarding working cooperatively with modern Republicans in both houses (a phenomenon which mainly has modern rightwing media as source) and that is something he himself has admitted.

Trump, the "me" guy will not win. Hillary (with all her problems) is a shoe in.

Agreed

It is a bad thing. Whether it is required of a president is another question.

I don't know if Carter was the only "honest" president in recent years because I don't know how anyone can determine how honest he was and I think Bush the Elder was as decent a man as Carter.

Do you recall, very early on in his presidency, he said, publicly to Americans, "Don't trust Rush Limbaugh to tell you the truth" (paraphrased, but that's the content).

He knew the creature was there. But he carried with him an assumption that rational thought and rational arguments would convince others, turn them. Yet, tribal allegiance seems to trump it all. Or at least, now and again it does.

Frankly, I love the guy. The smile on his face when he's picking up children - and the smile on their face - that's not photo-op deceit, that's empathy, humanity. calm. And there's much else.

Your preaching to the choir, I agreed. I didn't understand your point the first time. What I don't agree with is the point the right wing establishment (For lack of a better word that I think of)will have such a sever effect on Hillary she will loose the general election. Only a certain segment of society buys into that, admittedly it is a large section, but so is the liberal or progressive base when it comes to presidential elections. For some reason, we sit out the mid term elections, shame on us.

I was merely clarifying my own notions re Obama.

As to Hillary and the conservative base (and those who push them to extremity), if Sanders were the nominee, they'd quickly ramp up a set of reasons why he is even worse than Hillary. That's just the way of it now. But Hillary is a better target simply because of the long-standing RW attacks on her character.

But I agree with you in your contention that a Hillary nomination won't lead to some inevitable and predictable Dem loss. For the last year plus, the more thoughtful and honest conservative political writers have voiced their concerns that she would be the formidable challenge for them.

A primer for NGOVAN and its partisan ties to the DNC/Hillary campaign.

http://datadrivenviewpoints.com/2015/12/22/bernie-dnc-and-hillary-connections-to-big-data/