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

to Nov

Seems weird how thirsty some Democrats seem to be for the VP spot. I don't recall Tim Kaine or Joe Biden lobbying for months for the job.

― Greta Van Show Feets BB (milo z), Thursday, May 21, 2020 1:07 PM (twenty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

That's because they probably did it in private. Someone pointed out that Stacey Abrams has to do it in public because she doesn't have the same connections that a sitting member of Congress does. I don't really buy that since she's clearly a rising star in the party, but I also don't have an issue with a public campaign if it forces Biden to not simply stick with his instincts.

(Part of the reason I say that confidently is that the key to turning Texas purple is Latino engagement and turnout... and Joe Biden's sucking eggs, relatively speaking, with Latino voters.)

― Greta Van Show Feets BB (milo z), Thursday, May 21, 2020 12:11 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

You're right that it's not going to happen if voters aren't mobilized to turn out. Too bad that's something you can't possibly do anything about.

Someone needs to mobilize Milo!

Joe Biden’s problems with Latino voters extends beyond ‘gotta turn em out.’ He doesn’t appear to appeal to Latino voters particularly well (see also: the primaries) and he also doesn’t seem all that interested in doing so (per the Politico piece that quoted Hillary’s Latino outreach guy).

if ilx fails to mobilise milo then trump's victory is our fault imo

Texas’s problems also extend well beyond outreach - as shown in 2018 you can mobilize the fuck out of urban voters but the hinterlands and rich suburbs are as entrenched in their reactionary Republican milieu as anywhere in the country.

Also tbc he said "socialists would be better off if Marx had never been born" which was some real nonsense

― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, May 21, 2020 8:55 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

the two major projects that came out of marxism - marxism-leninism and social democracy have both been, to be extremely charitable, failures.

Also, a ton of voting locations have been shut down to help slow the shift in voting patterns.

xp

also I tried to make this point in the primary threads about Bernie's failures with black voters rendering him clearly unfit for the nomination etc. etc. etc. - Latino voters will outnumber black voters in 2020 and they're not as strongly Democratic, there's way more room to move the vote share there (and unlike black voters, Latino voters are willing to vote Republican). Biden striking out with young voters and Latino voters is what makes me give Trump a stronger shot at winning than a lot of the polls you people post are giving him right now. Those two demographics aren't enough to win you a primary but they may well be enough to lose you a general.

someone please jump in here and inform me of the top 15 reasons joe biden is indistinguishable from a republican

as of a few weeks ago, was still talking about picking a Republican as running mate

He said a woman would be his VP, he never said a Democratic woman. Carly Fiorentino COME ON DOWN

sorry that’s 2.

Too bad that's something you can't possibly do anything about.

The onus is on the party establishment to nominate and promote a qualified candidate that inspires and encourages voter turnout in the general election, and on that nominee and their campaign to convince voters they are worthy of being elected. Also, Latin Americans nationwide have no problems mobilizing in droves to vote for candidates that actually support their interests. If there is concern over their enthusiasm and potential turnout in November for the Democratic nominee that is again, an indictment on the nominee themselves and the campaign behind them.

the two major projects that came out of marxism - marxism-leninism and social democracy have both been, to be extremely charitable, failures.

what are the major political projects that emerged out of the late 19th/early 20th century that turned out to be successes?

neo-liberalism.

to be real blunt, if I was in a swing state I might vote for Joe Biden as a lesser evil but it would be a cold day in hell before I worked for his campaign or mobilized voters for someone I strongly suspect of being a rapist - and, uh, it seems pretty obvious that no one here defending Biden is going to put in 12 second of work for him either.

My point about Texas is that all of us have some agency in this. Texas, Arizona, and Georgia are all moving into purple territory, we can help make it happen sooner than later. Or we can cynically downplay the possibility, thus making it much harder.

I'm not cynically downplaying anything. I have heard Purple Texas Is Coming by entire adult life by people who really want it to be true, people whose entire lives depend on it becoming true - and it's just not really happening any time soon.

If you think Texas is in play, get to phone banking. I don't think it is, I don't think it will be for several elections to come and I think that has absolutely nil with progressives and leftists not being on the team strongly enough.

You may be right that it's still out of reach, but that's no reason to give up on it.

if bernie sanders were the nominee right now, do you think texas would be in play?

No.

I think Arizona might have flipped for Bernie though.

ok. well not that it matters much, but the status of texas as "in play" or not probably doesn't really make a difference in this argument about biden, then.

I didn’t bring up Texas, but Biden’s performance with Latino voters matters nationwide.

for whatever they're worth, current polls show Texas to be in play: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/texas/

I'm sorry I brought it up, but Milo's willingness to sit out the election because he lives in a red state, as though he can't do anything to help change that fact, just really irks me.

I can’t actually do anything to change that. Like my recycling isn’t going to solve climate change.

People with power and money can do something to change that, and a popular groundswell of support for a candidate or ideology could do that - but they punted on the latter.

News: Sen. @amyklobuchar has officially been asked by @JoeBiden to undergo vetting to be considered for his VP, sources tell @CBSNews.

— Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) May 21, 2020

this would be utterly insane, how does this help them at all

Like my recycling isn’t going to solve climate change.

so why care about any state or national political issue?

i think we may have solved our problem folks. there is actually no reason to be here

if your efforts don't make a difference when you're down, then they don't make a difference when you're up either

Yes, but not because my personal consumption choice has any actual impact on the world.

Which is a good analogy for voting for Biden. If you it makes you feel better to vote for creepy Joe, go for it, but don’t lecture someone for not doing so as if they’re responsible for him losing and as if there are no good reasons for someone to not vote for him.

this would be utterly insane, how does this help them at all

yess you love to see it

Nothing against Amy Klobuchar personally, but that strikes me as Tim Kaine all over again: I'm going to win, just pick someone who's not going to alienate anyone, no sudden movements.

i suspect the thinking is that the need to secure upper Midwest EVs is greater than the need to win great margins in New England, or to not lose the south as badly

one of more than a dozen candidates, reportedly.

(Warren offers no net gain regionally speaking, because Cambridge, MA is not in danger of turning red. ditto Harris because California will be blue in any case. Nominating Abrams will not turn Georgia blue. But Biden urgently needs Minnewisconchigan, and Klob may help there. I would rather the calculus be focused on something other than regional checkbooks but it is so totally not up to me.)

Biden urgently needs Minnewisconchigan, and Klob may help there

I need to see numbers on this. Is she actually popular? I know political journalists like her, but do actual human beings from her state/region?

Minn has a Dem gov who would pick Klobbo's replacement, MA has a Republican gov

Tammy Baldwin would help a lot more, not sure if she's willing

idk I think Senate calculus has to factor in somehow, and that's why I like Abrams. Dems can't afford to give up a single seat.

yeah picking Warren might not have brought the heat that would outweigh losing her seat to a republican. But gaaaaah this ticket is just the Fucking Pits. good luck, dorks.

xps Klobuchar was re-elected with over 60% of the vote in 2018, and seems to draw support across party lines.

Not a fan, at all (MN voter), but I expect that drives some of the starry eyes for her from pundits (and VP vetters).

honestly didn’t know they could manage less inspiring than Clinton/ Kaine but I’ll be damned if they didn’t reach for the brass ring here

I think Harris or Warren would have advantages that far outweigh the chance that Klobuchar might have some electoral influence. (Don't know Abrams that well.) If you could guarantee Minnesota and Wisconsin, sure. But outside an obvious case like LBJ in 1960, has a VP pick since then helped carry a crucial state?

But the senate problem is a good point.

Guys, it's not a done deal yet. Lots of VP candidates undergo vetting.

Someone leaked this scuttlebutt to keep ILX in a tizzy imo

we don't need help w that