Summary: Let’s look at the cosplay festival that is Campaign 2020, as the candidates pretend to be what they are not. Their voting records tell the true tale to those that listen.
Dazzled by our glorious revolutionary future.
The presidential election of 2020 is a costume drama, with the candidates all wearing masks. Trump pretends to be a populist, behind which is the standard GOP team (who have run their standard policies: tax cuts for the rich, deregulation of corporations, waving anti-trust to build cartels, crushing unions, etc.).
The Democratic Party’s candidates play more elaborate cosplay games. Sanders runs as everybody’s grandfather. Warren runs as Professor Fixit, with a plan for every problem. Biden and Amy Klobuchar pretend to be moderates. The key to understanding what comes after one of them wins is knowing the political views of their staffs. That is important, so we cannot be told. I will bet they are mostly hardcore social justice warriors, with dreams of remaking American society in ways unmentionable on the campaign trail.
The exception is Mayor Pete Buttigieg, running as a blank slate on which people project their dreams. This might become the preferred way for our elites to fool us in elections.
Journalists and political experts describe the Democrat’s presidential candidates as “progressive” or “left” and moderates. Even the Editors of the WaPo say that is false:
“It has become an unchecked assumption about the Democratic presidential race: The candidates are fighting an ideological war between ‘left’ and ‘center.’ This narrative is false …Yes, some candidates in the race are to the left of others. …
“Their proposals would cost more and would require more regulation than other candidates’ plans. Mr. Sanders’s program, which includes the Medicare-for-all plan that Ms. Warren has endorsed, would cost some $60 trillion to $90 trillion over 10 years, an astonishing number that would imply doubling the size of the federal government. …But the fact that Mr. Sanders’s and Ms. Warren’s positioning puts them decidedly to the left of others in the race does not make their competitors ‘centrist.’ All, in fact, have put forward ambitious, progressive platforms for reducing inequality and promoting access to health and education. …
“In fact, every major Democratic candidate is running on an agenda to the left of Mr. Obama’s.”
But we need not rely on the WaPo’s editors. Both Left and Right have groups that track voting records of officials. They are all Left.
ProPublica.
Their website compares the voting record of Senators in the 115th Congress (2017 – 2018).
- Sanders vs. Klobuchar: agree on 77% of votes.
- Sanders vs. Warren: agree 93%.
- Klobuchar vs. Warren: agree 80%.
- See the voting records of Sanders, Klobuchar, and Warren.
Americans for Democratic Action.
See their Legislative Voting record reports for 2017 and 2018. The average score for Democratic Senators was 89% in both 2017 and 2018. See their database for more information. This is the only moderate rating I have found for Biden.
- Sanders: 95% in 2017 and 100% in 2018, designated an “ADA Hero” in 2018.
- Klobuchar: 100% in 2017 and 95% in 2018, designated an “ADA Hero” in 2017.
- Warren: 100% in 2017 and 100% in 2018, designated an “ADA Hero” in 2018.
- Biden: 75% in 2007 and 80% in 2008. Average for Democrats was 87% in 2007 and 90% in 2008.
Progressive Punch.
From their website. See their lifetime ratings.
- Sanders: 97, #8 in the Senate.
- Klobuchar: 90, #29 in the Senate.
- Warren: 98, #2 in the Senate.
American Conservative Union.
From their database.
- Sanders: 0% in 2017 and 9% in 2018, lifetime rating of 7%.
- Klobuchar: 0% in 2017 and 5% in 2018, lifetime rating of 5%.
- Warren: 0% in 2017 and 9% in 2018, lifetime rating of 4%.
- Biden: 0% in 2007 and 0% in 2008.
National Taxpayers Union.
- Sanders: 8% (“F”) in 2017 and 31% (“D”) in 2018 – details.
- Klobuchar: 1% (“F”) in 2017 and 16% (“F”) in 2018 – details.
- Warren: 5% (“F”) in 2017 and 31% (“D”) in 2018 – details.
- Biden: 4% (“F”) in 2007 and 2% (“D”) in 2008 – details.
These ratings are consistent over their careers.
Club for Growth.
From their database.
- Sanders: 4% in 2017 and 26% in 2018, lifetime rating of 9%.
- Klobuchar: 0% in 2017 and 5% in 2018, lifetime rating of 5%.
- Warren: 4% in 2017 and 19% in 2018, lifetime rating of 12%.
- Biden: 0% in 2007 and 0% in 2008, lifetime rating of 0%.
Govtrack.
From their website. Looking at “ideology scores” for the 115th Congress (2017 – 2018). Loved by the NYT and San Francisco Chronicle.
- Sanders: 0.01 rating, second-most Left in the Senate.
- Klobuchar: 0.32 rating, 33rd most Left in the Senate.
- Warren: 0.15 rating, 13th most Left in the Senate.
Rely on the NY Times to lie the boldest
He’s not kidding.
The Left is desperate to hide its plans. My favorite is Paul Krugman – brilliant economist, political hack – who comes out with “Bernie Sanders Isn’t a Socialist, but he plays one on TV. That’s a problem.” Krugman believes Sanders would make a good president, but that Sanders is so stupid that he falsely calls himself a “socialist.”
This is not difficult to disprove. Sanders has run for office under many banners, including the socialist Liberty Union and Vermont Progressive Parties. He described himself as a socialist when Mayor of Burlington (1981-1989). And he does so today (e.g., here, here).
If elected, he says that one of his first acts will be a government takeover of health care sector – a big first bite taking 18% of the US economy. He also plans a massive expansion of the government’s share in the electricity generation industry (5% of GDP). Plus a massive expansion of government spending on top of all that.