Joe Biden, Senator from Citibank (oops, DELAWARE), to Run for President

I know almost nothing about him aside from the fact that he was VP. Why is he so awful?

love g***neb stumping for joementum 08 in this thread

does that costume have a Bank of America mannequin fellating Joe?

― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, September 30, 2008 5:03 PM (

Biden voted for the Iraq war, authored litigation that made bankruptcy more punitive to debtors and beneficial for lenders (who as the senator from delaware are his primary backers), was pro mass incarceration in the 90s, was against busing in the 70s.

Basically if there was a choice between doing the right thing and being a status quo bootlicker, Joe picked being a bootlicker.

Ah, I see. Thanks!

and that's hardly comprehensive

also: hair plugs

also inappropriate touching at least, v possibly worse skeletons lurking nearby

basically he is the exact opposite direction the party is moving in

tbf biden would probably be better than james buchanan, thus far the only president born in pennsylvania

“Sloppy Joe” would have been a better nickname

about the strongest defense that can be mustered for biden, via TPM, is that he's old and most politicians fucked up left and right. but the conclusion is still negative: "It was a different time. But now we’re in this time."

On numerous fronts there are things about Biden, knocks against him that aren’t entirely fair or are things which are properly seen in the context of their times. But they are still things. Biden’s home state of Delaware is the home state of Big Credit Card. He was always close to that industry. He was a big promoter of the 2005-06 era bankruptcy bill. He carries this into an era in which Democratic politics are steeped in the politics of financialization, debt and inequality. It may not be an albatross. But it’s a decent sized bird.

He was also a big promoter of the Clinton crime bill. A lot of the activism against this bill I think takes it greatly out of context. The bill was coming just after the peak of the late 20th century crime wave which totally transformed American politics. Though we know now it had just crested, this was not at all clear at the time. Quite the contrary.

It was also to a great degree meant to counter throw-away-the-key crime politics being pushed by the GOP. If you were alive at the time you’ll remember that much of the 1994 campaign was run on the basis of GOP ads targeting programs like midnight basketball as risible liberal feel-goodism. Even a majority of the Congressional Black Caucus voted for it. It wasn’t responsible for most mass incarceration which was and is happening at the state level and it wasn’t all focused on incarceration. Far from it. Yet for all that, we’re living in an era when mass incarceration and police misconduct against minority communities and more are at the center of the political discussion and rightly so. You can say it was 25 years ago. But it as at best a complicated history to carry into a campaign in 2020. It was a different time. But that makes it complicated to run with a candidate from that different time.

And did I mention the Anita Hill hearings? The logistics of managing that dreadly hearing were a bit more complicated than it looks in retrospect but … well, that happened too.

Then there’s #MeToo. I’m a 50 year old man and my life experiences are not those that have the best insight into the storm around Biden. My general take is that he’s this glad handing, hugging kind of guy. I don’t think these incidents are sexual per se. I don’t think they’re harassment. You can see a lot of this in how he interacts with men. But whatever should have been the etiquette of physical contact and friendly intimacies thirty years ago, this isn’t how we do it today. You can say that he’s a guy in his late 70s who was just acculturated in a different way. But he’s running for President in 2020 today. Again, a lot of explaining, a lot of weight to carry into a campaign in 2020.

The joke about hugs at that union event a few weeks ago is another case in point in my mind. Many interpreted that as a not terribly subtle signaling, telling an older and generally male crowd, ‘Hey, you know you how it is. You know what I’m dealing with here …”

I don’t think it was contrived like that at all. I think it was purely off-the-cuff and straight up. Just his way of having some fun at his own expense with a moment of humor. But when I watched it in real time I was brought back to watching that press conference where Hillary Clinton explained, by implication and elliptically, that after determining which emails were personal and which work-related, she had the former emails destroyed. I remember watching that moment, closing my eyes and thinking, “Is this really where we’re going here? Really? Because I saw this movie when it was in the theaters the first time.”

Then there’s busing. Apparently Biden’s very early politics in the early 1970s was anti-busing. This was a very different time. There was lots of opposition to busing. That’s one reason it didn’t last very long. It wasn’t all racist. This is one of the problems with running for President in an era of boisterous and aggressive movements of social change when you’ve been in politics for literally 50 years. It was a different time. But now we’re in this time.

As you can see in each of these cases I find it a bit nettlesome and grating re-litigating these various episodes from years or even decades in the past. I’m not here to defend Biden. It’s not my job and I don’t think he needs defending. These are things that happened and all need to be seen as part of the eras in question. They are what you make of them. Context and completeness are important. But this is all really the point. Who wants to relitigate the last 50 years of the history of the Democratic party while you’re trying to run a campaign to oust the worst President in American history?

i should have just linked: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-perfect-candidate-whos-totally-ill-suited-to-the-times

and not saying i agree with that take, fwiw. but it probably resonates with a lot of older people who were also on the wrong side of history from 1970-present

Warren changed her politics, and her explanation is good enough. Yes I prefer consistency in an ideal world, but people change and it can be authentic

Biden has literally nothing, theres not even a pretence. How is he supposed to navigate a 2019/2020 primary when his only skill is being able to stand next to Obama

I'm more forgiving about the crime bill, i.e. It Was a Different Time, because I can remember little resistance, even from the black community.

That's all I'll concede.

Young Joe:

https://books.google.com/books?id=7FQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA47&dq=joe+biden&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiK4KTD9evhAhVRRqwKHWbjBu8Q6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=joe%20biden&f=false

"My philosophy of government is to narrow responsibility so I know whom to crucify."

Alexandra Petri reminds us: You have to think about electability.

Let me begin by stating that I, personally, have no problems with any of the candidates. I am excited by all of them. So excited. Super excited and not even a tiny bit uncomfortable. Gosh, I would vote for these candidates as many times as I saw “Get Out,” as well as once for every mug or tote bag I own that says “The Future is Female” or “Love is Love” on it. (Imagine a lot of mugs and tote bags.) Were only that legal!

But you have to think about electability.

...

Look at the candidate and ask yourself this question. (You, of course, will vote for them, and so will I!) But would an average voter, whom I am picturing in suspenders, maybe, with a hat that makes a statement with which you and I might not wholeheartedly agree, and maybe even a T-shirt that says “FBI: Female Body Inspector” on it — is this average voter going to vote for them?

He might be economically anxious, this voter, if you know what I mean. Let’s just say that if this were a movie, Sam Rockwell would play him.

...

I am very excited about all the candidates. I am not talking about me! I just want you to think about the democratically engaged monstrous cretin given to making sexist remarks in business settings who has spilled some red sauce on his shirtfront and is not wiping it, this troll, this baby, this jerk of whom I completely disapprove, whose hateful ideas chip away at my spirit a little more each day I contemplate them!

We should let him decide who the nominee is, that is all I am saying.

Tbf Bernie also voted for that crime bill and is on the record saying he doesn’t regret it.

We have all voted for the Crime Bill in our hearts

poll

https://i.redd.it/zvxxkac94fu21.jpg

my favorite joe is the one that stands near obama and makes the funny jokes and obama's like "joe..."

*Obama grabs elbow*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JubjVCwr_PU

just fyi

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/25/andrew-cuomo-plans-to-open-formidable-fundraising-network-to-joe-biden.html

Joe Biden is planning to roll out his campaign at an event filled with GOP donors and corporate lobbyists. https://t.co/7cKYcbfbpy

— The Intercept (@theintercept) April 25, 2019

how fast could i get banned from this website if i endorsed joe biden? i think it might be a good self-care move for me.

put forth a consistent, good-faith argument for handsy joe and I'm sure you'll see, bud

FP'd for your health, salud

the guy who eulogized Strom Thurmond is here to talk to us about countering right-wing extremists. very cool!!

thinkpiece about how Biden is Andrew Ridgeley to Obama's George Michael and this presidential campaign is his Son Of Albert

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/Andrew_Ridgeley_Son_of_Albert_album_art.JPG

prob just vote for someone else and focus energy on being positive about their characteristics idk anything else seems unconstructive and possibly contributory to toxic american political discourse idk

These ppl agree with you

“I’ve definitely had clients ask, where is Biden?” said Kim Monk, the managing director at Capital Alpha, which advises Wall Street investors from Washington, DC. “He’s basically an establishment candidate and would be much more in tune to building on what’s there as opposed to coming in and destroying what’s there and starting over.”

One analyst told investors amid a mild market freakout over single-payer the other day, as Axios reported: “How could the news get better? Biden wins the Democratic nomination without changing his current view against single payer.”

Industry lobbyists aren’t certain Biden will win. One Democratic health care lobbyist grimly predicted to me Sanders would take the Democratic nomination. A trade association leader brought up Biden’s two previous failed presidential bids. But they finally have a candidate in their corner with the profile to battle Sanders and single-payer.

https://www.vox.com/2019/4/26/18515699/joe-biden-2020-presidential-campaign-medicare-for-all

One Democratic health care lobbyist grimly predicted to me Sanders would take the Democratic nomination.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLYU7HUCQAE5k8t.jpg

NY mag headline:

Biden Boasts Strong Support From Unions, Union Busters

Biden doing break after break on The View The Political View rn, an extended performance piece of Just Not Getting It

In his first sit-down interview of his presidential campaign, Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Friday repeatedly declined to directly apologize to Anita Hill for his handling of the 1991 Clarence Thomas hearings, instead delivering a broad statement of remorse for how she was treated during the combative questioning she faced from an all-male Senate committee that he led.

Appearing on ABC’s “The View,” which is heavily watched by women, Mr. Biden was asked by one of its hosts, Joy Behar, about his reluctance in recent months to offer a straightforward apology to Ms. Hill for his own judgment and leadership during the hearings. Ms. Behar suggested that Mr. Biden should say, “I’m sorry for the way I treated you, not for the way you were treated.”

“I’m sorry for the way she got treated,” Mr. Biden responded. “If you go back to what I said, and didn’t say, I don’t think I treated her badly.”

“Since I had publicly apologized for the way she was treated,” Mr. Biden said, “I didn’t want to, quote, invade her space,” by calling her privately.

still making dumb jokes to signal to non #metoo voters that he actually doesn't give a shit

go back to your different time, joe

https://www.theonion.com/tag/joseph-biden

lol at Dokken History month

a comment on LGM:

This is the reading that I have of one aspect of Biden's popularity. There were many times in the 2016 election that I thought that HRC was in many ways the perfect opponent for Trump to run against -- on so many levels, he could target her in ways that she couldn't respond effectively to. The most awful of these, naturally, was the way that she couldn't call him out for his loathsome behaviour towards women, because she's married to Bill Clinton. Anything she said there would have been greeted with howls of "Oh No she DIDN'T!" from the imbeciles who write for the public. This ate away at the heart of her campaign, which should have been a celebration of women and their increasing power in American politics.

I guarantee you Trump wants to run against a woman again, someone who he can tease and bully. I guarantee you that a lot of people understand that, maybe not intellectually, but emotionally; a lot of the trauma of the 2016 election isn't from Trump's victory, but from the slow-motion wave of bullshit that we could see engulfing Clinton, and understanding why she couldn't fight back against it. It is just a plain fucking fact (I think) that the psycho-sexual hangups of Americans give a man more space to return fire.

Now, I don't know how to deal with that; I don't consider it an argument for choosing Biden. But I do consider it an argument for laying off his voters.

There is a lot of truth to that

I don’t think employers should lay off their workers just because they support biden though. Too far

Also this:

a) There are a lot of Dem voters who are Democrats because they're good people, not because they have an ideology that brings them to the left beyond that. They believe in fairness and good government and that racism and sexism and discrimination of all types is wrong. But they also aren't really interested in socialism, think that a lot of our societal problems could be fixed if you just had people working in good faith to come up with some decent regulations or programs to "help people out". Those folks are all going to gravitate towards a Biden candidacy.

b) There are a lot of Dem voters who just want sanity to reign again. Things were more sane under Obama, Biden is a direct link to Obama, let's get Biden into office and we'll have sanity again. It's cargo-cult voting in many cases - they don't think about the wider implications of their vote, they just know last time they voted in a particular way that worked and they want to replicate that feeling.

c) There are a lot of Dem voters who have decided post 2016 that the country isn't ready for anything other than an old white guy yet. Obama moved the ball down the field but then we got Trump so it's time to fall back and elect an old white guy to office so we can regroup. Sanders is too far left for those types of voters, but Biden is kind of perfect. If they think that the problem is that voters in midwestern states are spooked by too much progressivism, then Biden should be able to calm them down because he's not very progressive. A perfect fit!

(My irritation with these groups feels like it should have a name. IMO the first two groups don't think deeply enough about politics, and the last group thinks too deeply and thinks their feelings and intuition about the process are actual facts rather than feelings and intuition.)

These comments don't represent my own views; however, last night at my watering hole I got into an argument with a truculent gay Jewban who has no patience for "fucking social justice warriors" and was relieved that "Joe" had entered the race. His best friend, who flirted with me and got my FB name as a consolation, stopped me from wringing the dude's neck, especially after I said, "If you direct your energy toward reforming your boring attitudes instead of complaining about millennials we'd get somewhere."

why were you hanging out with Bret Easton Ellis?

Whats LGM?

I think we should lay off the voters for all of the candidates!

I still think Bidens 'popularity' is residual and overstated, and nowhere near equipped to survive the primaries. Biden can only win with media/establishment support and it doesn't seem like he's their choice

Sanders isn't Bidens problem, Kamala, Pete, Beto and the rest are

He’s popular because people want Obama back and an end to the nationalist trauma. Answer b in alfred’s quoted thing

Lawyers, Guns & Money -- Scott Lemieux's blog.

no one is casting votes for like eight months. there's plenty of time to go over everyone with extreme prejudice. THEN we can worry about the voters.

NY mag headline:

Biden Boasts Strong Support From Unions, Union Busters

lollll this is so perfect