Joe Biden 2020 campaign megathread v3 (pg 45 - mass-dropout aftermath)

[Progressive Pessimist]

Biden’s winning the nomination. I had a come to Jesus moment when Harris dropped out.

Warren, Sanders, and Pete are not penetrating his wall in the South.

At least it will just be one term.

Followed by President Haley Ted Nugent or President DeSantis James Woods.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Biden is turning out to be Hilary II, with Ukraine and Benghazi redux, losing a 300 EC landslide to Trump and tied in WI and Bernie sneaking up on them both

Your comments are so strange and logically flawed

That's his MO. It's better to just laugh at his posts and not try to think about them or respond to them.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1205273650565386246

I just hope that whatever "groove" he has now persists throughout the general election, should he be nominated.

The Joe Biden of 2012, or even 2016, wouldn't have me as concerned as current Joe Biden has me.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Say what you want about his policies, but the Biden campaign has hired some damn good people for these ads.

He has made some good ads. And maybe he does have some decent organization and staff. It's what I'm hoping for if he gets nominated.

His staff really needs to keep him on a teleprompter during public events and get as many surrogates (the Obamas especially) out there campaigning for and with him as much as possible in the right states at both the presidential and down-ballot levels.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Say what you want about his policies, but the Biden campaign has hired some damn good people for these ads.

He has made some good ads. And maybe he does have some decent organization and staff. It's what I'm hoping for if he gets nominated.

His staff really needs to keep him on a teleprompter during public events and get as many surrogates (the Obamas especially) out there campaigning for and with him as much as possible in the right states at both the presidential and down-ballot levels.

This is an abnormally optimistic post for a pessimist. 

Biden’s “decent” organization has had implored him to use a teleprompter since his campaign kicked off in May, and he’s repeatedly made gaffes or gone off script. 

Is it optimistic? I'm acknowledging that if left to his own devices Biden could doom himself in a general election campaign.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Deeply moving clip. Really.

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1206378407866454016

Biden needs to keep this up. Adding more humanity and sympathy to his campaign is a great way for him to contrast himself with Trump whose campaign will almost certainly be all about himself when it isn't about the concepts and people he hates.

 Biden also really ought to include his own experiences with health care, like what dealing with Beau and his death at the hands of cancer was like.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Deeply moving clip. Really.

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1206378407866454016

Biden needs to keep this up. Adding more humanity and sympathy to his campaign is a great way for him to contrast himself with Trump whose campaign will almost certainly be all about himself when it isn't about the concepts and people he hates.

 Biden also really ought to include his own experiences with health care, like what dealing with Beau and his death at the hands of cancer was like.

This is gonna sound really weird, but Biden is the only candidate I can see improving his favorables in a general. I just think he has more potential to win back reluctant Democrats and hold those outside of the party who like him than someone like Bernie or Buttigieg.

That would be nice, but I can't be quite so hopeful about that because there is no doubt that Trump and the GOP are going to go scorched-earth with another character assassination campaign.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Deeply moving clip. Really.

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1206378407866454016

Biden needs to keep this up. Adding more humanity and sympathy to his campaign is a great way for him to contrast himself with Trump whose campaign will almost certainly be all about himself when it isn't about the concepts and people he hates.

 Biden also really ought to include his own experiences with health care, like what dealing with Beau and his death at the hands of cancer was like.

This is gonna sound really weird, but Biden is the only candidate I can see improving his favorables in a general. I just think he has more potential to win back reluctant Democrats and hold those outside of the party who like him than someone like Bernie or Buttigieg.

That would be nice, but I can't be quite so hopeful about that because there is no doubt that Trump and the GOP are going to go scorched-earth with another character assassination campaign.

Fair point, of course. The question for me is "Is Ukraine the next email server for Dems", and I am tempted to say no considering even if you think Biden has done everything accused of, that still does not exonerate Trump's role in the scandal.

I worry that it could be, but Biden seems more impervious to criticism than Clinton was. he shares many of the same faults, yet isn't receiving nearly equivalent skepticism over them. The Republicans also didn't spend two entire decades making him the object of their hatred like they did with Clinton. So he might have that going for him.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Deeply moving clip. Really.

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1206378407866454016

Biden needs to keep this up. Adding more humanity and sympathy to his campaign is a great way for him to contrast himself with Trump whose campaign will almost certainly be all about himself when it isn't about the concepts and people he hates.

 Biden also really ought to include his own experiences with health care, like what dealing with Beau and his death at the hands of cancer was like.

This is gonna sound really weird, but Biden is the only candidate I can see improving his favorables in a general. I just think he has more potential to win back reluctant Democrats and hold those outside of the party who like him than someone like Bernie or Buttigieg.

That would be nice, but I can't be quite so hopeful about that because there is no doubt that Trump and the GOP are going to go scorched-earth with another character assassination campaign.

Fair point, of course. The question for me is "Is Ukraine the next email server for Dems", and I am tempted to say no considering even if you think Biden has done everything accused of, that still does not exonerate Trump's role in the scandal.

I worry that it could be, but Biden seems more impervious to criticism than Clinton was. he shares many of the same faults, yet isn't receiving nearly equivalent skepticism over them. The Republicans also didn't spend two entire decades making him the object of their hatred like they did with Clinton. So he might have that going for him.

(Also, if we are gonna be real, the dude has a dick). That and also the fact (and this is why him being so old is not as concerning to me) that he gives off a loving grandpa vibe, and not someone who people feel as comfortable attacking as a "shrill woman" like Hillary.

This is definitely the elephant in the room. If Biden gets nominated and wins the general election against Trump, I have no doubt that this, no matter how subtextual in peoples' minds it is, will be a contributing factor to his victory.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The God Emperor is tweeting nonsense on Mike Bloomberg and that he (Trump) saved pre-existing conditions; Joe Biden has a response:

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1216788361198866434

If Biden wins the nomination and campaigns as aggressively as his account tweets, it will do a lot to curb some of my apprehensions about him.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Biden attacks video game designers, implies video games "teach you how to kill people":

In an interview with the New York Times, the presidential hopeful called game developers he met with during his time at the White House “creeps,” “righteous,” and “arrogant,” referring to his personal experiences with high-ranking executives in Silicon Valley.

“And you may recall, the criticism I got for meeting with the leaders in Silicon Valley, when I was trying to work out an agreement dealing with them protecting intellectual property for artists in the United States of America,” said Biden. “And at one point, one of the little creeps sitting around that table, who was a multi- — close to a billionaire — who told me he was an artist because he was able to come up with games to teach you how to kill people, you know the ——”

“Like video games,” offers the New York Times interviewer. Biden has previously called for certain legal restrictions to be imposed on violent games, suggesting in 2013 that there is no legal objective to imposing a tax on violent media. He has also stated that while no definitive proof exists linking violent games and media with acts of real violence, the public shouldn’t be afraid of “facts” which may come from research on the matter.

Is Biden really the type of person to be calling other people creeps?

This worries me a bit. Being anti-violent video games and connecting it with shootings probably will lose more votes than it will gain. It isn't the ‘90s/early 2000s anymore after all.

I agree. This is such a stupid thing to say! It reinforces the notion of many Biden critics that he is not the right leader for the contemporary Democratic Party. He really seems to be ignoring how important younger voters are going to be in the general election, even if he doesn't need to win them for the primary. But even then, being so unashamedly out-of-touch isn't necessary to keep older voters in line. I'm sure this will be forgotten about soon enough anyway though.

Granted, it doesn't sound like he wants to regulate video games and at least wants to address gun violence still. That's in contrast to Trump who pins the blame of gun violence on video games and ignores the gun aspect of it. So as much as this statement from Biden really bothers me, for it to make anyone want to vote for Trump over Biden makes that hypothetical person in question completely mashugana.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The real story is Hunter Biden and how much damage he has caused Biden. Hunter Biden has been accused of back child support payments. Biden was always looked up to by most Dems, but the problem is his son

Who f***ing cares about his son? Other than Republicans.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I think everybody is underestimating the power of being an old white man. And that goes for Sanders too. Biden has had numerous incidents like this one in the past year and none of them have had any staying power. It might be why many in the Democratic primary continue to see him as the most electable.

[Progressive Pessimist]

One group of people that are probably really angry now are all the candidates that got no traction because Biden was there, people like Cory Booker, its kind of funny how Biden arguably blocked stronger candidates from gaining any ground only to basically collapse at the end himself.

Honestly, Democratic primary voters only have themselves to blame for being so taken for so long by name recognition above almost everything else.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/NBCNewsPR/status/1228818198386106380

This is the strategy?  Performative outrage at Sanders supporters?

The moderate Dems do not have the fortitude to win this one.  Not even close.  It's about god damned time the professionally offended take a back seat.  We'll be knocking on doors and getting in the face of the MAGA crowd.  You'll be home having panic attacks about the latest Tweet from a Sanders supporter that hurt your feelings.  And we'll continue to put up W's.  You'll continue to curl into a ball and pray that these listless "attacks" will work.  Have fun.

Lol settle down Spartacus. No one is buying the tough guy act. It’s not about “crying” about his supporters. It’s about the constant hatred and vitriol that a significant portion of his hardcore supporters constantly sling at anyone who doesn’t agree with them. People are sick of it. They attack fellow liberals more than Trump

We're not liberals, guy.

My reference to "fellow liberals" was just referring to people who fall on the left or "liberal" end of the political spectrum, as opposed to the right or "conservative" end. It's not that deep....

You have to be careful when you use that term now, it's somehow become pejorative on the left too.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Damning article on Biden today in Slate. I can't disagree with their analysis though. The establishment hitched its cart to the wrong horse this time around.

This is what pisses me off about him. He kept a lot of good people from surging or running altogether and now he’s not even going to close the deal. It’s infuriating.

I still blame Democratic Primary voters more. Their prioritization of familiarity and name recognition over anything else compelled Biden to run when he polled at the top of preliminary polls. I can't blame him or Sanders for running if they see results like that.

Otherwise I agree with you though, I was always dreading a Biden versus Sanders primary. We had some new, fresh-faced talent running this time that never really got a fair chance.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Damning article on Biden today in Slate. I can't disagree with their analysis though. The establishment hitched its cart to the wrong horse this time around.

This is what pisses me off about him. He kept a lot of good people from surging or running altogether and now he’s not even going to close the deal. It’s infuriating.

I still blame Democratic Primary voters more. Their prioritization of familiarity and name recognition over anything else compelled Biden to run when he polled at the top of preliminary polls. I can't blame him or Sanders for running if they see results like that.

Otherwise I agree with you though, I was always dreading a Biden versus Sanders primary. We had some new, fresh-faced talent running this time that never really got a fair chance.

The establishment should take some blame at the very least. Sure, the party seemed "leader-less" at one point in time but there were many other options the Democrats could've pushed to run. Instead, they insisted Biden would be the best choice. There were plenty of good reasons to skip over Biden. They were probably focusing too much on the general election while thinking Biden had this primary in the bag (I mean Biden certainly seemed to think so).

Now, Biden is fighting for his life to get a [decent] win in South Carolina, a state that was far more favorable to him than now, while having yet to drop a single ad for Super Tuesday after two horrible performances in IA and NH (he was polling well in both of those states, but he still uses demographics as an excuse) and a distant 2nd place in NV, a state he was widely expected win at one point. Even a win in SC still might not help him much for ST.

The expectations for Biden were probably higher than they should have been, I don't think anyone expected his communication skills to degrade how they did in his post-Vice Presidency years. Many probably thought that they were going to get 2012/2016 "Malarkey!" Biden. Those years in between sure took their toll.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Did Joe Biden just say at the CNN Town Hall he wants to do away the 2nd Amendment or come close to it?

That means he would abolish the 2nd Amendment so that no one would have the right to wear fireweapons? If that's the case, it's an extreme position.

Ownership of firearms would still be legal without the Second Amendment, just as regulation of firearms is technically legal with it. That's how it works in other countries and their gun culture isn't constrained by a reverence for a muddled, unclear Amendment in their Constitution. It's interpretation has changed many times in our history.

[Progressive Pessimist]

With Buttigieg now out, 538 believes there is about a 2 in 3 chance of a contested convention.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primary-forecast/

F*** me!

I'm still undecided for this primary but I will definitely identify as vehemently anti-contested convention. We might as well not even bother challenging Trump if there is one.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/jeneps/status/1234274589544415232?s=20

Please endorse, Obama. Please.

Don't get your hopes up. While I expect that Obama might be rooting for Biden, quietly behind the scenes, an endorsement before all states have voted would probably backfire more on him and the cause a rift in the party itself. He would be seen as "putting his thumb on the scale."

[Progressive Pessimist]

So hopefully he can go back in the lead in Texas and keep California closer than current polls show it may end up. Would actually be great to see some endorsements rolling in. If Kamala endorses him ahead of California, it would be a big deal.

Bernie is gonns win Cali by 50 points. Harris isnt gonna endorse Biden. The only reason why Biden beat Bernie in SC was because, Booker thought Biden was inevitable and he wasnt and he dropped out and he thought impeachment hearing was gonna be a long trial

Are you high?

Nope. He's just Olawakandi.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Biden is not well mentally. It would be a disaster to run him as the nominee.

He will surround himself with competent people.

Can he get a stunt double to debate Trump?

Probably not, but I'm not worried about the debate.  Two mentally not there people debating each other?  It will be a wash.

Not when the two of them aren't held to the same standard.

Yep. Trump can afford to lose all three debates, like last time, but the Democrat can't.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Biden is not well mentally. It would be a disaster to run him as the nominee.

He will surround himself with competent people.

Can he get a stunt double to debate Trump?

Probably not, but I'm not worried about the debate.  Two mentally not there people debating each other?  It will be a wash.

Not when the two of them aren't held to the same standard.

The debates don't even matter.  Everyone pretty much agreed that Trump bombed in the debates.  They were a disaster for him.  How much did that help Hillary?

But if Trump is somehow seen as the winner of the debates there is no way that it won't hurt the Democrat in turn.

[Progressive Pessimist]

And yet what you're saying contradicts evidence.

You sound like a broken record on this, so I'm curious, what actual evidence is there outside of a few posts on this forum and elsewhere? And question two is what does "caring about anyone to their left" actually mean?

[Progressive Pessimist]

I just point to Biden's record.

And it means that not one Biden supporter cares one jot for progressives. You all are saying i'm an idiot for believing this, but not actually proving me wrong.

I personally am not saying you're an idiot. I just don't know what I can prove wrong because you haven't been very specific about why you are so upset.

You mentioned Biden's record, and I agree that there are problems with it. It's partly why I never really supported him, but I do believe that the Democratic Party has shifted to the left and Biden, as with most "moderate" candidates have noticed that. The average Democrat is probably to Obama's left now, and even if it isn't to the point you might find ideal, as long as the Democratic electorate keeps holding elected officials' feet to the fire, they will comply as best as they can to pursue more progressive policies. How left a potential Biden Presidency will be is going to have a lot to do with the makeup of Congress though.