Debate Suggestions
The following suggestions have been submitted by Tulsi supporters:
1. Appeal to people's hearts, not their heads
If you were to ask every Tulsi supporter what it is that sets Tulsi apart from the other candidates, nearly all of them would say that it is her position against regime change wars. However, I believe that there is a higher, greater issue. That issue is honor, integrity and dedication to seeking out and speaking the truth.
I believe that it is a fundamental mistake to attempt to win a debate by discussing policy. That tends to put people to sleep. Deep down inside their hearts, no one really cares about your experience or your policies. The best way to "win" a debate is to appeal to the selfish needs of the people, and what the American people need right now more than anything else is honesty, truth and integrity to counteract the results of the Trump administration. If the people who watch the debate come away with the feeling that they can trust you, then you will have "won" the debate. You have to explain to them over and over again why they can trust you.
James Roguski
310-619-3055
James.Roguski@gmail.com
If you were to ask every Tulsi supporter what it is that sets Tulsi apart from the other candidates, nearly all of them would say that it is her position against regime change wars. However, I believe that there is a higher, greater issue. That issue is honor, integrity and dedication to seeking out and speaking the truth.
I believe that it is a fundamental mistake to attempt to win a debate by discussing policy. That tends to put people to sleep. Deep down inside their hearts, no one really cares about your experience or your policies. The best way to "win" a debate is to appeal to the selfish needs of the people, and what the American people need right now more than anything else is honesty, truth and integrity to counteract the results of the Trump administration. If the people who watch the debate come away with the feeling that they can trust you, then you will have "won" the debate. You have to explain to them over and over again why they can trust you.
James Roguski
310-619-3055
James.Roguski@gmail.com
3. Military Carbon Footprint
https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2019/Pentagon%20Fuel%20Use%2C%20Climate%20Change%20and%20the%20Costs%20of%20War%20Final.pdf
If reducing the US carbon footprint is our greatest national emergency, how would you reduce the fossil fuel usage of the US Military, whose carbon footprint is as big as the Netherlands?
Tulsi has already staked out the moral high ground by calling for huge reductions in the US Military regime change wars. But the Military issue also exposes both Warren and Sanders greatest competitive weakness: The effect of the Pentagon on Climate Change.
If Climate change is our greatest emergency national priority, then we simply cannot be running so many gas, diesel, and other fossil fuel military machines. It takes a lot of fuel to run destroyer, or forty frigates. It takes a lot of fuel to run a tank battalion. Do we even have public estimates for how much fuel it takes to run a strategic bomber wing, or a fighter squadron?
Tulsi is the ONLY candidate who would cut the carbon footprint in such a dramatic manner as to actually make a difference. This exposes Warren's greatest weakness : her support of the American Military Machine. And her number one debate venerability is the (truly pathetic) “greening of the military”. You can’t run a thousand tanks and fighters and bombers and naval vessels on solar power or wind power. A 3 or 5 percent reduction in base fuel consumption is not even going to make a dent in the overall carbon footprint of the Military. Its almost a joke to suggest it, without addressing a huge and drastic reduction in the overall Military Machine.
The single most dramatic reduction USA can make (as the worlds largest polluter) is to simply cut Military expenditures by more than half (way more than half, would be best). Put essential strategic assets in mothballs status, and green as much as you can. You want to beat Warren and Sanders in the debates? Ask them to commit to cutting Pentagon fuel consumption by half.
Robert Eaton
eroberto108@gmail.com
641-209-8888
Fairfield Iowa
https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2019/Pentagon%20Fuel%20Use%2C%20Climate%20Change%20and%20the%20Costs%20of%20War%20Final.pdf
If reducing the US carbon footprint is our greatest national emergency, how would you reduce the fossil fuel usage of the US Military, whose carbon footprint is as big as the Netherlands?
Tulsi has already staked out the moral high ground by calling for huge reductions in the US Military regime change wars. But the Military issue also exposes both Warren and Sanders greatest competitive weakness: The effect of the Pentagon on Climate Change.
If Climate change is our greatest emergency national priority, then we simply cannot be running so many gas, diesel, and other fossil fuel military machines. It takes a lot of fuel to run destroyer, or forty frigates. It takes a lot of fuel to run a tank battalion. Do we even have public estimates for how much fuel it takes to run a strategic bomber wing, or a fighter squadron?
Tulsi is the ONLY candidate who would cut the carbon footprint in such a dramatic manner as to actually make a difference. This exposes Warren's greatest weakness : her support of the American Military Machine. And her number one debate venerability is the (truly pathetic) “greening of the military”. You can’t run a thousand tanks and fighters and bombers and naval vessels on solar power or wind power. A 3 or 5 percent reduction in base fuel consumption is not even going to make a dent in the overall carbon footprint of the Military. Its almost a joke to suggest it, without addressing a huge and drastic reduction in the overall Military Machine.
The single most dramatic reduction USA can make (as the worlds largest polluter) is to simply cut Military expenditures by more than half (way more than half, would be best). Put essential strategic assets in mothballs status, and green as much as you can. You want to beat Warren and Sanders in the debates? Ask them to commit to cutting Pentagon fuel consumption by half.
Robert Eaton
eroberto108@gmail.com
641-209-8888
Fairfield Iowa
3.
Tulsi needs to put serious work into her website, the most recent one of which, dismayingly, has no Issues section AT ALL. That's simply political malfeasance. That needs to change, now.
Tulsi needs an integrated message. She needs to tie a non-interventionist foreign policy to a more expansive definition of human rights, using a broad vision of public policy to support those rights: universal health care, a living wage, increased taxes on the rich, reinstating Glass-Steagle, free public college, signing the Paris Accords and rejoining the family of nations in combating climate change while pushing a Green New Deal. My concern is that she'll remain mushy on policy, particularly domestic policy, instead of bringing the same sense of conviction to it that she has on foreign policy.
Tulsi also needs to get specific on foreign policy. She has been relying far too heavily on the rhetoric of ending "regime change wars." That's great. Now we know. But she needs to give people more definition--she needs to assert peace with Iran is cerrtainly possible and that she'll reinstate the JCPOA, the Iran treaty. She needs to assert that she'll end the sanctions that are killing tens of thousands of Venezuelans. And she'll need to tie this up in the form of a global plan so that she's not just offering up sentence and policy fragments from the debate stage.
Tulsi's also going to have to get a lot tougher--she's going to have to assert that Trump is looking for war with Venezuela because he wants to take their oil. She can quote him directly. She's going to have to make noise---a lot of noise. She's going to have to make it clear that she's willing to fight her party, too, and that Democrats have been far too quiet in the matter of Trump's wars.
BLAIR M Schirmer1
Tulsi needs to put serious work into her website, the most recent one of which, dismayingly, has no Issues section AT ALL. That's simply political malfeasance. That needs to change, now.
Tulsi needs an integrated message. She needs to tie a non-interventionist foreign policy to a more expansive definition of human rights, using a broad vision of public policy to support those rights: universal health care, a living wage, increased taxes on the rich, reinstating Glass-Steagle, free public college, signing the Paris Accords and rejoining the family of nations in combating climate change while pushing a Green New Deal. My concern is that she'll remain mushy on policy, particularly domestic policy, instead of bringing the same sense of conviction to it that she has on foreign policy.
Tulsi also needs to get specific on foreign policy. She has been relying far too heavily on the rhetoric of ending "regime change wars." That's great. Now we know. But she needs to give people more definition--she needs to assert peace with Iran is cerrtainly possible and that she'll reinstate the JCPOA, the Iran treaty. She needs to assert that she'll end the sanctions that are killing tens of thousands of Venezuelans. And she'll need to tie this up in the form of a global plan so that she's not just offering up sentence and policy fragments from the debate stage.
Tulsi's also going to have to get a lot tougher--she's going to have to assert that Trump is looking for war with Venezuela because he wants to take their oil. She can quote him directly. She's going to have to make noise---a lot of noise. She's going to have to make it clear that she's willing to fight her party, too, and that Democrats have been far too quiet in the matter of Trump's wars.
BLAIR M Schirmer1
4.
Be to sure have a Letters To The Editor (LTE) strategy to execute immediately after the debates. Letters to the editor will help Tulsi amplify her message, particularly the words spoken in the debate.
Please see: http://www.PresidentTulsiGabbard.org/LTE
FROM:
Galen Swain (Golden Sun)
mojavewormsauce@gmail.com
408-772-3209
@MojaveWormSauce
Be to sure have a Letters To The Editor (LTE) strategy to execute immediately after the debates. Letters to the editor will help Tulsi amplify her message, particularly the words spoken in the debate.
Please see: http://www.PresidentTulsiGabbard.org/LTE
FROM:
Galen Swain (Golden Sun)
mojavewormsauce@gmail.com
408-772-3209
@MojaveWormSauce
5.
Tie war more specifically to climate crisis. Fossil fuel used, poisoning of Earth & water, air, population displacement, death and destruction of animal populations.
Also support Inslee’s idea of Climate Crisis debate/discussion.
Mention ideas other candidates have that Tulsi thinks are valuable, and mention the names of thise candidates or leaders of Grass Roots Movements.
Remember, too, that Mike Gravel was/is, although bumped out of debates, on a very similar page to Tulsi.
Alice Hamers
joplin129@gmail.com
Tie war more specifically to climate crisis. Fossil fuel used, poisoning of Earth & water, air, population displacement, death and destruction of animal populations.
Also support Inslee’s idea of Climate Crisis debate/discussion.
Mention ideas other candidates have that Tulsi thinks are valuable, and mention the names of thise candidates or leaders of Grass Roots Movements.
Remember, too, that Mike Gravel was/is, although bumped out of debates, on a very similar page to Tulsi.
Alice Hamers
joplin129@gmail.com
6.
I am a published historian, so I would love to help inform policy from an historical point of view. I have attached an article that I have written about Venezuela and how the US had opposed an European invasion of Venezuela. I argue that Tulsi's position against interventionist wars is both both steeped in U.S. diplomatic history and is an advancement of it.
Also, in my book, I have a chapter on US rearmament for World War II. I highlight how expanding FDR expanded munitions led to an erosion of gains by labor under the New Deal. This is an example of the pernicious nature of the military-industrial complex. I can write a page or so of bullet points.
What do you think?
All the best,
-Ken Brown
thekenbrown@yahoo.com
I am a published historian, so I would love to help inform policy from an historical point of view. I have attached an article that I have written about Venezuela and how the US had opposed an European invasion of Venezuela. I argue that Tulsi's position against interventionist wars is both both steeped in U.S. diplomatic history and is an advancement of it.
Also, in my book, I have a chapter on US rearmament for World War II. I highlight how expanding FDR expanded munitions led to an erosion of gains by labor under the New Deal. This is an example of the pernicious nature of the military-industrial complex. I can write a page or so of bullet points.
What do you think?
All the best,
-Ken Brown
thekenbrown@yahoo.com
| venezuela_and_blockades_and_the__non-interventionist_tradition___1_.pdf |
7.
Regarding Medicare For All: Tulsi should say something like—First of all I’d like to make it extremely clear that I fully support Medicare for All, which would cover all of your essential health care, including preventative care.
However, most other countries with single payer health care have a secondary insurance market. This would be completely optional and could cover nonessential services. For example, in Australia all your basic health care needs are covered by single payer, but there are insurance companies that offer secondary insurance to cover things like private hospital rooms and elective procedures. These companies also provide insurance coverage for non-citizens living in the country who are not covered by the government (this would be very important in the US).
Maybe insurance companies could also consider covering alternative treatments or experimental procedures not covered by Medicare? Under Medicare for All, the insurance companies would need to evolve and grow in order to survive, so what they decide to cover is up to them. But again this would be a completely optional thing as all of your basic needs, doctor checkups, surgeries, etc would be covered by Medicare for All. You wouldn’t need anything else to have good healthcare.
Tulsi has been asked the question above in the past and fumbled on the answer when they asked her about private insurance. She needs to study what other countries do and give clear examples, like above as the kind of things secondary insurance might cover. I haven’t heard any other candidates give a satisfactory, well-thought out answer on this either so Tulsi can stand out from the pack by showing she’s done her research. Additionally she needs to satisfy fears of those who believe private insurance needs to be banned in order for M4A to work (a lot of Bernie people don’t understand) and make it clear that the secondary insurance would be for optional, nonessential services.
Regarding Medicare For All: Tulsi should say something like—First of all I’d like to make it extremely clear that I fully support Medicare for All, which would cover all of your essential health care, including preventative care.
However, most other countries with single payer health care have a secondary insurance market. This would be completely optional and could cover nonessential services. For example, in Australia all your basic health care needs are covered by single payer, but there are insurance companies that offer secondary insurance to cover things like private hospital rooms and elective procedures. These companies also provide insurance coverage for non-citizens living in the country who are not covered by the government (this would be very important in the US).
Maybe insurance companies could also consider covering alternative treatments or experimental procedures not covered by Medicare? Under Medicare for All, the insurance companies would need to evolve and grow in order to survive, so what they decide to cover is up to them. But again this would be a completely optional thing as all of your basic needs, doctor checkups, surgeries, etc would be covered by Medicare for All. You wouldn’t need anything else to have good healthcare.
Tulsi has been asked the question above in the past and fumbled on the answer when they asked her about private insurance. She needs to study what other countries do and give clear examples, like above as the kind of things secondary insurance might cover. I haven’t heard any other candidates give a satisfactory, well-thought out answer on this either so Tulsi can stand out from the pack by showing she’s done her research. Additionally she needs to satisfy fears of those who believe private insurance needs to be banned in order for M4A to work (a lot of Bernie people don’t understand) and make it clear that the secondary insurance would be for optional, nonessential services.
8.
I love Tulsi, but I think she needs to be a little more animated. She comes across perhaps a little too measured. Her pattern of speech is a little too slow for most Americans. Maybe it's an island thing. She needs some AOC or coffee. While I'm not supporting Bernie for a number of reasons, when he talks you feel his passion and energy. Where's the energy? I also think she needs to be more detailed in her answers. Sometimes I think she speaks about issues too broadly and I find myself tuning out.
I love Tulsi, but I think she needs to be a little more animated. She comes across perhaps a little too measured. Her pattern of speech is a little too slow for most Americans. Maybe it's an island thing. She needs some AOC or coffee. While I'm not supporting Bernie for a number of reasons, when he talks you feel his passion and energy. Where's the energy? I also think she needs to be more detailed in her answers. Sometimes I think she speaks about issues too broadly and I find myself tuning out.
9.
Reparations
I believe we oww Black Americans reparations, just like we owe Native Americans and the interned Japanese Americans. Our history of abusive conduct toward non-Europeans is crimminal and it disgraces the lofty language of our Bill of Rights and our Constitution. Lofty statements cannot carry weight if we do not put real action into upholding them.
Vitriolic racism is at the heart of our abuse of non-Europeans. We must irradicate it by every means possible.
Reparations
I believe we oww Black Americans reparations, just like we owe Native Americans and the interned Japanese Americans. Our history of abusive conduct toward non-Europeans is crimminal and it disgraces the lofty language of our Bill of Rights and our Constitution. Lofty statements cannot carry weight if we do not put real action into upholding them.
Vitriolic racism is at the heart of our abuse of non-Europeans. We must irradicate it by every means possible.
10.
Points on the Subject of Race That Tulsi Needs to Nail:
It’s ok to be white, or black, or latino, or whatever you are. And it’s ok to be proud of your heritage no matter your race, as long as you are not violating or harming others based on their race. With that being said, it’s time we address what we’ve done to Black People in this country, as a government. While there have been many civilian perpetrators over the years, leadership starts at the top and the US Government must hold itself accountable for the government sanctioned violence, rape, murder, enslavement, deprivation, smothering, torture, attempted genocide, humiliation, exploitation, and terror against Black Americans for Generations and centuries. It’s time to stop denying Black American’s their right to heritage and with that, their right to justice and reparative policy! Just as Holocaust victims, 9/11 victim families, Japanese internment survivors, and etc have all received. Jim Crow was still in effect post-Holocaust for those who say “let it go”. We need to stop the hypocrisy, address what needs to be done, lend our ears and provide the solutions being demanded!
www.ados101.com for reference.
Tulsi needs to be able to present her advocacy for the rights of Black People and her knowledge on the nuanced subject of race! She will need to be able to show her support and present her case and solutions for the overall diaspora of Black People and other ethnic groups in America. Yet at the same time Tulsi must avoid LUMPING “minorities” together. She will need to speak of Latino, Indigenous, Somoan, Black, people as individual groups with their own unique issues...not just as “people of color” or “minority” or “black and brown” issues. We’re all different. When debating reparations for American Slavery, Tulsi will need to address Black American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS), as a specific heritage and lineage of people, within the African Diaspora, deserving of unique justice. When talking about reparations specifically for Black Americans, always refer to ADOS, don’t lump in Native Americans and their own unique case. Avoid the phrases “People of color”, “Black and Brown”, “Black and Latino”, “distressed communities”. Be sure to mention the case for reparations as a case for not just slavery, but also Jim Crow, redlining, Black codes, lynchings, segregation, mass incarceration, Iran contra, and etc much of which occurred after the Holocaust. Further, the ADOS case for reparations and movement are data driven and contemporary compared to organizations such as NCOBRA, which is essentially neoliberal. Avoid putting NCOBRA at the forefront of this issue. Give credit to ADOS and our grassroots organizing.
Thanks Tulsi, Good Luck!
Andre “Dre” Flowers
302-602-9305
dreflow@udel.edu
bangsee@gmail.com
Points on the Subject of Race That Tulsi Needs to Nail:
It’s ok to be white, or black, or latino, or whatever you are. And it’s ok to be proud of your heritage no matter your race, as long as you are not violating or harming others based on their race. With that being said, it’s time we address what we’ve done to Black People in this country, as a government. While there have been many civilian perpetrators over the years, leadership starts at the top and the US Government must hold itself accountable for the government sanctioned violence, rape, murder, enslavement, deprivation, smothering, torture, attempted genocide, humiliation, exploitation, and terror against Black Americans for Generations and centuries. It’s time to stop denying Black American’s their right to heritage and with that, their right to justice and reparative policy! Just as Holocaust victims, 9/11 victim families, Japanese internment survivors, and etc have all received. Jim Crow was still in effect post-Holocaust for those who say “let it go”. We need to stop the hypocrisy, address what needs to be done, lend our ears and provide the solutions being demanded!
www.ados101.com for reference.
Tulsi needs to be able to present her advocacy for the rights of Black People and her knowledge on the nuanced subject of race! She will need to be able to show her support and present her case and solutions for the overall diaspora of Black People and other ethnic groups in America. Yet at the same time Tulsi must avoid LUMPING “minorities” together. She will need to speak of Latino, Indigenous, Somoan, Black, people as individual groups with their own unique issues...not just as “people of color” or “minority” or “black and brown” issues. We’re all different. When debating reparations for American Slavery, Tulsi will need to address Black American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS), as a specific heritage and lineage of people, within the African Diaspora, deserving of unique justice. When talking about reparations specifically for Black Americans, always refer to ADOS, don’t lump in Native Americans and their own unique case. Avoid the phrases “People of color”, “Black and Brown”, “Black and Latino”, “distressed communities”. Be sure to mention the case for reparations as a case for not just slavery, but also Jim Crow, redlining, Black codes, lynchings, segregation, mass incarceration, Iran contra, and etc much of which occurred after the Holocaust. Further, the ADOS case for reparations and movement are data driven and contemporary compared to organizations such as NCOBRA, which is essentially neoliberal. Avoid putting NCOBRA at the forefront of this issue. Give credit to ADOS and our grassroots organizing.
Thanks Tulsi, Good Luck!
Andre “Dre” Flowers
302-602-9305
dreflow@udel.edu
bangsee@gmail.com
11.
Please do not go further in calling Assad "a brutal dictator who gassed his own people." That disallows you to separate from Bernie and Elizabeth and others who continue to demonize Assad and Putin.
You are one of the most articulate politicians I've ever been aware of. But in NY sit down gathering we heard you more than ever resort to "I mean" and "you know." I think you must have been very tired o under the weather then. Strive to avoid. Thank you for making this great campaign. Get plenty of sleep to stay well.
Phil Baldwin
707-671-5735
Please do not go further in calling Assad "a brutal dictator who gassed his own people." That disallows you to separate from Bernie and Elizabeth and others who continue to demonize Assad and Putin.
You are one of the most articulate politicians I've ever been aware of. But in NY sit down gathering we heard you more than ever resort to "I mean" and "you know." I think you must have been very tired o under the weather then. Strive to avoid. Thank you for making this great campaign. Get plenty of sleep to stay well.
Phil Baldwin
707-671-5735
12.
What is your plan for the economy? We do not need a private company controlling the economy. Glass Steagal must be reinstated. Create a National bank and use credit to build the infrastructure. Also to help other nations we should create a international investment bank and use credit yo build infrastructure of other nations. We need a new Bretton Woods agreement between the four major nations U.S.A., India, China, and Russia
What is your plan for the economy? We do not need a private company controlling the economy. Glass Steagal must be reinstated. Create a National bank and use credit to build the infrastructure. Also to help other nations we should create a international investment bank and use credit yo build infrastructure of other nations. We need a new Bretton Woods agreement between the four major nations U.S.A., India, China, and Russia
13.
If she spends too much time on regime change wars, the audience may not get to hear her plans for the domestic issues. The primary voters need to hear that and why she is best suited to defeat Trump.
If she spends too much time on regime change wars, the audience may not get to hear her plans for the domestic issues. The primary voters need to hear that and why she is best suited to defeat Trump.
The primary voters need to hear that and why she is best suited to defeat Trump.
The audience is the Democratic primary voters - so a relentless attack on the Democratic party or even saying that both parties are responsible for current mess may not yield the desired results in terms of winning delegates and the primary.
First ***Answer The Question*** and then go into the logic behind your answer. If it is other way round, the moderator will cut her off and the audience will not hear her answer. The opponents and the MSM will then spin it into a narrative that she avoided answering the question.
If Tulsi spends too much time on regime change wars, the audience may not get to hear her plans for the domestic issues. Tulsi may start describing her stance on domestic issues and how are plan of stopping regime change wars will pay for them, answering Rep criticism "How will you pay for them?"
Dhruba Sen
The audience is the Democratic primary voters - so a relentless attack on the Democratic party or even saying that both parties are responsible for current mess may not yield the desired results in terms of winning delegates and the primary.
First ***Answer The Question*** and then go into the logic behind your answer. If it is other way round, the moderator will cut her off and the audience will not hear her answer. The opponents and the MSM will then spin it into a narrative that she avoided answering the question.
If Tulsi spends too much time on regime change wars, the audience may not get to hear her plans for the domestic issues. Tulsi may start describing her stance on domestic issues and how are plan of stopping regime change wars will pay for them, answering Rep criticism "How will you pay for them?"
Dhruba Sen
14.
Tulsi knows the cost of war unlike the others who have never served in in the armed forces. She's felt the pain of death and destruction. Push this point as long as it takes.
Tulsi has supported Medicare for All, Prison Reform, drug legalization, etc before it was popular. Most politicians just hitched onto it when it became popular. Remind them that.
Tulsi knows the cost of war unlike the others who have never served in in the armed forces. She's felt the pain of death and destruction. Push this point as long as it takes.
Tulsi has supported Medicare for All, Prison Reform, drug legalization, etc before it was popular. Most politicians just hitched onto it when it became popular. Remind them that.