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

Meaningless to the outcome of the election.

Veep choice usually doesn't help, but it can hurt.

Alfred, Darin, PBKR, and President Keyes are all simultaneously correct: the VP choice is unlikely to decisively change the electoral calculus (unless it's a choice that loses key votes - it's unlikely to gain many).

At the same time, being the backup for the Oldest! President! Ever! is clearly the fastest path to the US having a woman as president.

Veep choice usually doesn't help, but it can hurt.

― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes),

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/PlaintiveBowedAegeancat-small.gif

To assert that Joe Biden has brains enough to leak should he step on a rake is the height of arrogance.

Rebecca Traister captures the frustrating gendered dynamics in the media's coverage of the veepstakes: https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/how-did-biden-pick-his-vice-president.html

I was happily in general agreement with all her points until she wrote:

Biden may have intended this to be about an imagined expansion of possibility for women but wound up creating a pre-narrowed field, from which he, the benevolent corrector of representational deficiency (who had just aggressively run against six women), would eventually pluck some lucky contestant.

Wtf? Does she not think the third woman veep nominee in US electoral history represents an expansion over merely two? Does she think any of those six women she cites did not run aggressively against one another?

Does she really think a presidential candidate ought not be the one who picks their running mate? Should that candidate be expected to choose from a list that had not been narrowed in any way beforehand?

This is just rhetorical nonsense that's supposed to harness pre-existing feelings of grievance, rather than identify ay actual grievances.

"My sources told me that the Biden campaign, yielding to serious pressure from progressive groups, asked Summers to take himself out of contention for a job in the administration. Summers made it sound like a purely voluntary decision." https://t.co/PmuPhzvHV4

— David Dayen (@ddayen) August 7, 2020

I once got in a testy back and forth with Summers about defense spending. Guy is a total douchebag.

(test - keep getting poxy fuled)

Monday: Biden tweets to advertise $30 T-shirts with a printout of a tweet that an entire team of PR professionals wrote for him, saying that you won't need to worry about his tweets when he's president.

https://i.imgur.com/FCbgSiF.jpg

(https://store.joebiden.com/dont-worry-about-my-tweets-black-t-shirt)

Thursday: Joe Biden is allowed to speak in his own words in front of a camera for a few minutes. Soon, a team of PR professionals are writing a series of tweets explaining that you should pay attention to his tweets, not to his actual thoughts or statements.

https://i.imgur.com/EMllqGr.jpg

not sure what the point of dunking him is now tbh

You should be prepared for four years of dunking on, objecting to and protesting him.

So we don't let down our guard and allow ourselves to be beguiled into thinking Biden is the eighth wonder of the world, as portrayed by those deceitful PR wizards?

xp I can accept that, but at least let's get him elected first, please

So we don't let down our guard and allow ourselves to be beguiled into thinking Biden is the eighth wonder of the world,

Pretty much exactly, yes.

not sure what the point of dunking him is now tbh

What would be the point of not dunking on being appalled at his extreme incompetence, the incredible condescension of his handlers, and the counter-productive approach of the Democratic Party powerbrokers thoughout the primaries?

Donald Trump also sucks, of course, but these threads seem to think it reflects badly on Trump's voters when they pretend that he doesn't. Nothing is gained by taking their approach.

Nothing is gained by taking the approach that anyone on ILE thinks Biden is even a good candidate, so take that.

don't see "extreme incompetence" and condescension

Nothing is gained by taking the approach that anyone on ILE thinks Biden is even a good candidate, so take that.

Not naming names but lol

The shift from grudging lesser evil to the “actually, he’s good” unmasking has been pretty obvious.

whatever

don't see .... condescension

.@JoeBiden popped into @djdnice Instagram party tonight to show a little love. The party is now over 100k strong 💪🏾🙌🏾 Congrats D! pic.twitter.com/PnIszQPrOV

— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) March 22, 2020

i have here in my hand a list of 205 ilxors who are card-carrying members of the "actually, biden is good" party

XP that's too meta for me

trust me, sic knows from condescension

The shift from grudging lesser evil to the “actually, he’s good” unmasking has been pretty obvious.

(I don't think this is happening btw, just ppl reallocating their emotional resources and toggling "resignation" on the candidate switch, since caring can't change anything.)

((This ^ is also the result the powerbrokers wanted, but there are still other races and downballot candidates to care about.))

sictopher nolan taking us deeper into the parentheticals

how dare u

anyway, the intel says Chinese interference will be on Biden's behalf, so good luck, China bots

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/07/us-intel-russia-trying-to-hurt-biden-but-china-iran-dont-want-trump.html

Twitter's Bryan Lee would presumably have withheld support from FDR

Joe Biden can ride a bike while wearing a mask. Trump needs help from a General to walk down a ramp.

pic.twitter.com/fz3Oh5kjg8

— Bryan Lee (@FamousBL3) August 8, 2020

FDR needed no one to wheel his chair, thank you

Morbs is right, Trump is really the activist for disabled rights that that community needs right now.

Joe Bikin'

akm, sit 'n spin

don't see "extreme incompetence"

From the full piece, what did you make of his responses about whether the pandemic has exposed any limits in the American healthcare system (no it hasn't), or if restoring the Voting Rights Act with the filibuster in place will be a problem (no bcz once they're not afraid of mean tweets from their pals, Republicans in the senate will vote their conscience and pass President Biden legislation without a supermajority, he's worked with the senate before and got a lot done), or how the destruction of the postal service is just a trifle (because... his GOTV promotions team hope they'll be able to raise enough money to pre-pay for postage on the ballots????!), or white supremacists (they can be convinced, except if left alone they'll get worse, except the ones murdering people in Charlottesville and the like are the Klan so regular workaday white supremacists aren't the -- look, jack, have you had your cocaine test yet)?

https://youtu.be/iCpyx2T-lDA

(I'll allow that most politicians might not have better answers - even if they'd be better at faking it - so maybe "profound" rather than "extreme." {but anyone running for office SHOULD have better answers!} homeboy has absolutely no grasp on how 2020 differs from 1989 or 2008 or 2019 though: he thinks there's a status quo where everything is okay for nearly everybody, and that this will snap into place the second he receives votes in November.)

Anyone who likes Biden and thinks he is good is delusional.

Progressive groups are quietly preparing to make a big push on judicial nominations under a Biden presidency. Watching McConnell/Trump sweep the courts has jolted them to act.

“A big lesson is making sure judges are a priority on day one." https://t.co/I2F0tCupX8 w/ @aterkel

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) August 10, 2020

Let's hope those quiet preparations are competent and thorough, including laying some groundwork in the Senate, especially in the Judiciary Committee, and most especially with Senator Feinstein being the ranking Democrat on that Committee, who'd be the Chair if the Senate flips.

Progressive Groups

Rush, Yes, and ELP have some opinions about originalism and judicial restraint

Be Unhappy With What You Have To Be Unhappy With

The Circuit Appeals Court of the Crimson King

In the Wake of JoeBiden

Lizard

In the Wake of JoeBiden

A+

🎵 Last night I dreamt of Joe Biden
Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song
Old man with eyes like a phantom
It all seems like yesterday, not far away

Obama, the island breeze
They ruled together, wild and free
D.C. is where he longs to be
The Cis-Het White Geezer
And when the hard rock played
The drones would fly so high
Rip through the clouds and strike nearby
Your Centrist Lullaby 🎵

kudos

tell me, who's that Biden?
Joe the Legislator

^Excellent!

Anyone who likes Biden and thinks he is good is delusional.

― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Sunday, August 9, 2020 6:38 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

What does it mean to "like" him and think he is "good"? I find plenty to criticize about Biden's track record and worry that some of his views, and his overall approach to politics, remains stuck in the past. He also seems like a decent guy who is willing to work hard to improve people's lives. He's not who I would have chosen to lead the Democratic Party into the future, though he may well be a useful instrument at this moment.

So, I like him *with reservations* and think he is good *to an extent*. And I hope that those of us on his left continue to push him to change for the better instead of just writing him off as Bad.

Morbs is right, Trump is really the activist for disabled rights that that community needs right now.

― akm, Saturday, August 8, 2020 2:55 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

since he only processes things based on how it affects him, i'd bet he's on the record bitching about accessibility laws and being a fucking asshole about how much money he had to spend on ramps and accessible doors to all his gaudy shitshacks