I see I haven’t updated my ranking since the end of last year.  Other politics have been more pressing I guess.  But the deadline for January donations is approaching and the Iowa Caucus is coming up.  Plus, I feel like I have some things to say about the state of the horserace.  Better here than arguing with someone on Facebook.

  1. Elizabeth Warren – Staying steady.  No change here.  We’ll see if her organization in Iowa can surprise and get her a top two finish there.  It seems the recent Bernie surge has come at her expense.  Guess there really is a progressive lane.  I had heard theories that Warren was fighting with Pete for college educated white voters, but the fall recently seems to correspond exactly to Bernie’s gain.  Between Warren and Sanders, Warren is the much better choice.
  2. Amy Klobuchar – Staying steady.  Now word of an alliance with Biden.  I’m still hoping for a woman at the top of the ticket and I don’t see Biden as Klobuchar’s VP.
  3. Joe Biden – up two spots.  In the race between two septuagenarian white guys, Biden is a better choice than Sanders (seeing a theme here?).  He needs a woman and someone young on the ticket.  Klobuchar is fine, but how about Kamala or Stacey Abrams?
  4. Pete Buttigieg – down 1 spot.  After he spent his time at the top of the Iowa polling, Pete has come down to earth.  If he doesn’t win Iowa, does he have a chance?  I wonder why he’s not trying to get into the alliance with the other moderates?
  5. Andrew Yang – up one spot.  He’s back on the debate stage for New Hampshire. I like what he adds to the discussion.  A great addition to a Warren administration.  What about an alliance with Elizabeth, Andrew?
  6. Michael Bloomberg – up two spots.  I saw some I Like Mike buttons at a Democratic event tonight.  He’s got some following here in Tennessee.  It’s his Super Tuesday strategy in action.  He came to a Democratic get together in Knoxville when he was in town to open his office.  I think there’s a chance he gets some delegates out of Tennessee.
  7. Tom Steyer – up 3 spots.  He’s now the climate change guy, which isn’t a bad thing to be.  How about an alliance with Elizabeth, Tom?
  8. Michelle Obama.  Just because.
  9. Stacey Abrams.  Because she’s a great option for VP.
  10. Bernie Sanders –  down three spots.  Yeah, I put him last for a reason.  I’m a little disgruntled with the Sanders supporters on Twitter and FB.  They’ve gone hard after Warren.  And I wonder how many of the negative things I’m seeing are bots or other disinformative types.  But his supporters give me pause.  There’s a reason Trump goes after everyone but Bernie.  Trump wants to run against Bernie.  Rs will call Ds socialists. It’s what they do.  But it’ll stick with Bernie.  He might still beat Trump because he does have a hard core, dedicated base of support.  The problem is also that his base views the Democratic Party the same way Republicans do. Until a different system comes along (ranked choice?), it’s a binary option.  Bernie is trying to be a third option in Democratic Party clothing.  I’m afraid we’re damned either way it plays out.  Bernie is leading and is going to get delegates.  If he doesn’t get the nomination, no amount of logic or reason will convince his supporters that he wasn’t cheated by the Democratic establishment somehow.  Or he gets the nomination and we have to fight an election with his baggage.  But a President Sanders is better than a President Trump.  So, I’ll vote blue, no matter who.

Now, on to my political donations this month.  Earlier in the month, I made another $500 donation to my campaign.  You can read about my financial disclosure here.

I’m also going to spread my donations out.  $5 each to Elizabeth Warren (of course), the Knox County Democratic Party, and my fellow candidates going for the WIN on the Knox County Commission – Courtney Durrett (District 2) and Kimberly Peterson (District 5).