theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
Begging the question.
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Biden for President?
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Begging the question.
thaiboxerken
Penultimate Amazing
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Actually, it's stating a fact.
Segnosaur
Penultimate Amazing
You mean the "Democratic elites" that Sanders and his minions regularly complained about?
Not exactly a great start if he's trying to win their support...
You DO realize that those "moderate cons" are more likely to be receptive to a moderate like Biden than a far left populist like Sanders.
If Biden wins the nomination, moderate conservatives may look at Biden, and think "I'm not completely happy with his policies but he doesn't worry me. I think I'll vote for him". If Sanders wins the nomination, they are more likely to think "Why would we want to replace one radical populist with another radical populist, except one with policies we REALLY don't like".
Not everyone thinks the "status quo" needs to be ended. Altered, definitely. But not torn down.
3point14
Pi
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Segnosaur
Penultimate Amazing
Biden is very old, and if he wins in 2020, he will be well into his 80s by the time his re-election comes along.
I think his age invites that sort of "what if" speculation.
Duckworth served three terms in the House before she was elected to the Senate. Dealing with local issues in a small-state legislature is hardly the same as dealing with national and international issues in Washington. Duckworth was also an Illinois government official before running for Congress. And she has a unique perspective both as an ex-Army officer and a handicapped combat veteran.
On the other hand, she was born in Thailand to a U.S. Army officer and his Thai wife. That might raise again the "natural born" Constitutional issue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Duckworth
Half-serious about Michelle. It's pretty clear that she was a full partner in her husband's administration, like Bill and Hillary Clinton, even if she didn't have a title. She is widely considered one of the most respected women in the U.S.
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Stacyhs
Penultimate Amazing
I don't think there's much doubt that Biden will be a one term president. It's the "will be resigning with a year left in order to provide a leg up for the VP," part that I take exception to. That kind of rumor doesn't need to be spread.
Segnosaur
Penultimate Amazing
Actually I am unaware of any Biden supporters HERE who say they wouldn't vote for Sanders over Trump if it came to that choice.
But if there were, the reason why they wouldn't receive as much scorn is logic and the political spectrum.
Trump and the republicans are on the political right, Sanders is on the far left, Biden is center left. If a Biden supporter had to pick an alternative, there is no reason they would have to pick the Far-left candidate, since selecting either alternative involves choosing policies you might not like (especially if both alternatives are equidistant on the political spectrum.)
On the other hand, a Sanders supporter who is forced to chose between Biden and Trump has a choice... pick someone CLOSER to Sander's ideology (i.e. Biden) or further (Trump). One of them is clearly closer to Sanders in the ideological spectrum.
So any Sanders supporter who decides not to support Biden can only be doing so out of petty or dumb reasons (like a foolish notion that "Biden is "just like" a republican, or that we must burn everything to the ground because Sanders didn't win.
Stacyhs
Penultimate Amazing
I'd have no problem with Duckworth at all. I've never really heard much from her but Abrams has impressed me with her intelligence.
I wouldn't compare Michelle to Hillary as far as what they did as First Ladies. Michelle's initiatives were nice, but hardly ground breaking and pretty much had bi-partisan approval as they were very uncontroversial. On the other hand HRC was appointed the head the Task Force on National Health Care and appeared before several Congressional committees and was instrumental in the passage of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage for 8 million children.
The only big advantages MO would have is that she's extremely popular (except with the Trump base) and many would feel we'd get a 'twofer" with her because of her husband.
And that ended catastrophically, actually setting back efforts to expand health coverage.That's not a bullet point on her resume.
The bill was co-sponsored by Democratic and Republican leaders. She has exaggerated her role.
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It's been demonstrated numerous times on this forum that European countries are among the most homogeneous countries on the planet. The small populations of racial minorities they do have do not hold any political influence compared to those of the US. The democratic primaries showed how racial minorities assert themselves politically in the US and how they change the political landscape (much to the chagrin of our white userbase....hmm...). In contrast, European democracy is still mostly a "whites only" game.
Unfortunately I’ve met more than one of these type of Sanders supporters.
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Belz...
Fiend God
Whatever you dream.
thaiboxerken
Penultimate Amazing
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Anything to justify white supremacist views...
Delvo
Дэлво Δε&#
Ya gotta love watching the very same people who once claimed Biden was the most electable now flounder around for somebody to blame for his shortage electability... it's just too bad they didn't have this epiphany soon enough for it to do the country some good.
theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
Maybe before you summarily dismiss them all with ridicule, consider this: There could very well be a gap between "more electable than the alternative" and "electable enough to guarantee election".
I think from the very beginning, a lot people have had sincere doubts about how electable Biden actually is. And think from the very beginning, a lot of those same people saw Bernie as even less electable, and that Biden was at least marginally the better risk.
And I think it's entirely reasonable to worry that Biden has an electability problem, even if you're convinced that it's much less of an electability problem than Bernie.
It seems pretty clear to me that if the game plan is electability, Biden is a better play than Bernie, even if it's still a hail mary. I note that while you ridicule concerns about Biden's electability, you don't seem to have a convincing argument that Sanders would be more electable. I doubt there is such an argument.
Like I said to Suburban Turkey earlier, when he speculated about whether Sanders's strategy to attract Democratic voters in the general election would have worked:
So I think you are wrong to ridicule and dismiss people who think Biden is more electable, but still worry that he might not be electable enough.
Though I will admit that electability strikes me as a very weird game plan. Like those Escher drawings of people looking up at each other on a staircase. People are electing Biden in the primaries because they think he's the most electable, and then he looks more electable so people keep electing him. Round it goes, but sooner or later the wheel is going to come off.
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Trebuchet
Penultimate Amazing
I completely get the speculation that Biden might retire after one term. But the idea that he'll turn governing over to his Veep is ridiculous. He's been aiming for the Presidency for decades.
It was a shame his son died, he could have beaten Trump in 2016.
It was a shame his son died, he could have beaten Trump in 2016.
Are you aware of any Sanders supporters HERE who say they wouldn't vote for Biden over Trump?
Belz...
Fiend God
Here? That is not what you're seeing.
I mean, yeah, but I don't think that is the main reason that it is a shame that his son died at such a young age.
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