Joe Biden 2020 campaign megathread

[Bidenworth2020]

Guess it’s Jill Stein 2020 for me!

I mean, you already support Gabbard, so you might as well vote for another Russia shill in the GE.

Please don’t ever quote me again. I don’t care about your opinions in the slightest, and this is why I have you on ignore.

Well now I’m just confused   Don’t worry though, I’d be happy to help you sift through all this cognitive dissonance, but first we have to identify the central issue.  Is the problem that you can’t stop responding to my posts despite claiming to have me on ignore because you lack the self-discipline to simply resist the urge to click “show?”  If this is the case and you simply cannot bare the thought of being deprived of my cutting wit and piercing insights into the human condition, might I suggest simply reading my posts?  Then again, you could always just stop posting on Atlas entirely.  That way I can’t quote your posts anymore

On the other hand, if the issue is that my posts keep triggering you despite your insistence that you don’t care what I think, I can always recommend this incredible procedure called “keeping things in perspective.”  Here’s how it works: you remember that this forum has racists, rape-apologists, anti-Semites, misogynists, homophobes, anti-Mormon and anti-evangelical bigots, amoral hacks, and people who make fun of other posters for being on the Autistic spectrum running around...then you ask yourself why my posts - out of everything on Atlas - were the thing that triggers you.  Of course, if you’d prefer a cruder and less reflective approach (and some certainly do), I could always just write a prescription for “get a thicker skin.”  That’s not how I like to approach these things, but to each their own.

Facetiousness aside, it’s all the same to me.  I don’t have you on ignore because that’s for posters who genuinely bother me and as such, it’s valuable real estate.  All due respect, but I don’t give you nearly enough thought to find you annoying (writing this post is certainly the most time I’ve spent on the subject).  If anything, I actually find your posts mildly amusing at times.

I am sorry, but there is nothing amusing about someone throwing their vote away and giving Republicans the SC for a generation.

[Bidenworth2020]

I have an idea! Joe Biden should run in the republican primary where he belongs. I'm done with New Dem ultra-centrism. In fact I would consider voting Green if he wins the primary.

Utter stupidity like this is why dems lose.

[Bidenworth2020]

Lmao, yall cant take the fact that uncle joey is winning.

[Bidenworth2020]

As a Bernie supporter let me be the first to say this: Anyone who votes third party or doesn’t vote no matter who the Democratic nominee is deserves to be mocked, ridiculed and treated like a Trump supporter.

[Bidenworth2020]

You guys trying to MeToo good old uncle joey unfairly, sad!

[Bidenworth2020]

Indeed, and there are Trump supporters out there I know personally who are deliberately inflaming that factionalism in order to help Trump win in 2020.

Can you blame them? Democrats would do the same in their shoes.
The point is though, the Democratic Party is in trouble, at least for the short term. They have no real unity except that they are united against Trump. But each faction hates the other almost as much as they hate Trump (see, to this day, the way Clinton Democrats still hate and abhor Sanders and his supporters and vice versa, or the way the "Young Turks" Left has jumped at Beto and every candidate even slightly to the right of them). They are eating each other. The divide in the Democratic Party I would argue is worse than the 2016 GOP divide.

The Democrats also seem to forget that Baby Boomers are still very much alive, point one. Secondly, that not all young whites are going to agree with ideas like "white male culture" should be abolished, as Biden put it, or for reparations for slavery as Harris put it. They are pandering to the female and minority vote - which will serve them well in time - but it is, for this cycle, harming them and pushing away their current base.

I think there's a lot more unity in the party than you're acknowledging.  The real world is not like the internet.  Almost all of the real candidates are popular with Democratic voters, or are at least seen as acceptable.  If the candidates themselves start viciously attacking one another, I'll change my tune, but Twitter trolls and flamewars are not lived reality for most people.

Even then, I feel like 2016 is still in the back of a lot of progressives heads and they would suck it up this time.

[Bidenworth2020]

Shameful for nyt to be writing this pieces on day of launch

https://mobile.twitter.com/scottbix/status/1121536427844616193

[Bidenworth2020]

I can promise one thing regarding Biden's campaign: he'll never become President, even if he manages to win the nomination. Progressives will be far less willing to hold their nose and vote for Biden than they did for Clinton - and the fear of Trump won't be as powerful this time around. Turnout will be depressed and he'll bleed support to third parties. Combine that with the inevitable floor of Trump's support and his right-wing propaganda machine, and the result will be a Trump victory and presidency through January 2025.

And, yes, I'll absolutely be one of those voters who sit out the election or votes third party - and would encourage everyone I know to do the same.

Then you are quite clearly not a progressive. You would be a Trp supporter in that case, and deserve to be treated as such.

[Bidenworth2020]

I can promise one thing regarding Biden's campaign: he'll never become President, even if he manages to win the nomination. Progressives will be far less willing to hold their nose and vote for Biden than they did for Clinton - and the fear of Trump won't be as powerful this time around. Turnout will be depressed and he'll bleed support to third parties. Combine that with the inevitable floor of Trump's support and his right-wing propaganda machine, and the result will be a Trump victory and presidency through January 2025.

And, yes, I'll absolutely be one of those voters who sit out the election or votes third party - and would encourage everyone I know to do the same.

Hillary had one factor, I think an underrated factor, going for her that Biden would never have: She was married to Bill. Nostalgia for the 1990s and for Bill Clinton. I know I voted for her in part because I figured I was getting a two for one deal, essentially a third Clinton term. Biden really doesn't have that going for him. Obama was loved but Biden wasn't literally married to Obama and didn't have the same sort of quasi co-presidency deal that the Clintons had going.

I definitely think it is similar, though.

[Bidenworth2020]

Has anyone noticed him slurring his words a bit in the speech yesterday and on The View? Seems like something to watch for, it could matter in the debates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AH4feMIi8k&feature=youtu.be

Only Biden. Only Biden gets these kinds of comments.

I like Biden, but that is semi-concerning. ALso, just waiting for the Trump tweet lol.

[Bidenworth2020]

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1125754912632000512

I wonder how these voters will respond when Biden loses to Trump... No wait, I already know the answer. They'll say that Biden was too far to the left, and Democrats need a legit Centrist™ to win an election, and pretend that they already know who the most electable candidate is long before an election (hint: it's the Democrat who's the most "moderate.")

When Trump wins?

[Bidenworth2020]

Ginsberg has been dead for at least 6 months. What's to stop the media and the deep state from lying? If Trump points it out they will just gaslight him and call him a "conspiracy theorist".

This is a joke, right?

[Bidenworth2020]

Ginsberg has been dead for at least 6 months. What's to stop the media and the deep state from lying? If Trump points it out they will just gaslight him and call him a "conspiracy theorist".

This is a joke, right?

I imagine you're wearing a monocle and it popped out when you wrote this.

Wait for a second, are you for real?  I am seriously concerned for our country if one party is espousing sh**t like that.

Ad no, I am not going to attempt to debunk this conspiracy because it would be a waste of time.

[Bidenworth2020]

Once again, going with the public option should be worked towards, but if the media and GOP hear that, that won't be the result.

Obamacare aimed for less than that already, and the end result inevitably didn't have that public option in the end, because Lieberman and Snowe weren't Johnson'd into it. Nor could they since the resolve wasn't truly there.

Going all in at least moves the window that way to allow that backdoor to be put in.

When has that ever happen in politics?

All that would happen is that Manchin and Sinema, along with other Senate Dems kill it and you end up with nothing. It is a complete waste of time.

A public option polls well and it would pass a Democratic control congress with ease.

Medicare-for-America is the way to go.

[Bidenworth2020]

Once again, going with the public option should be worked towards, but if the media and GOP hear that, that won't be the result.

Obamacare aimed for less than that already, and the end result inevitably didn't have that public option in the end, because Lieberman and Snowe weren't Johnson'd into it. Nor could they since the resolve wasn't truly there.

Going all in at least moves the window that way to allow that backdoor to be put in.

When has that ever happen in politics?

All that would happen is that Manchin and Sinema, along with other Senate Dems kill it and you end up with nothing. It is a complete waste of time.

A public option polls well and it would pass a Democratic control congress with ease.

Medicare-for-America is the way to go.

God, I love these incrementalists. They're the same sort of people who would've argued that Lincoln was trying to move too fast in freeing slaves, or that Johnson was moving too fast with civil rights.

From what I have read, Medicare for America is similar to single except it is tailored to the intricacies of the american system

[Bidenworth2020]

This is the midset that has to be defeated in order for anyone else to beat Biden.

https://twitter.com/jerweber/status/1129048505455140865

The argument isn't that beating Trump isn't a priority, it's that we need a more detailed vision for the future than simply Trump not being president.

I, and many others, understand your position.
Don't get me wrong, there are some progressive (very liberal) positions and ideas that I support. But, this time around (2020) we (our entire nation) have a massive problem that is a priority .... defeating trump.
Think about it like this .... trump is cancer and is killing us. We need to act now to remove that cancer (we can not wait until 2024). All indications point to Biden as the best surgeon to restore our health, SO WE CAN ALL LIVE.

PS: Probably any other Rep president would not "be cancer," but just (at most be) a cold or a strong flu. What we have right now, is serious and deadly.

The bolded part is what I have to question. What evidence, exactly? Early polls? We can’t put too much stock in them. Other than polls, the only “evidence” I’ve seen is basically gut feelings or some conventional wisdom about more moderate and experienced candidates being more electable. Recent elections really don’t back that up, and I would argue that any Democratic candidate will hurt their electoral chances if they don’t run on a positive vision for the future, and simply run an anti-Trump campaign.

Two points-- first of all, I think we can put a lot more stock in the Biden-Trump polling matchups than you would think, simply because they both have universal name recognition. Secondly, I think democrats think Dems need to do everything perfect in terms of campaign message and such in order to beat him, when that simply is not the case. Running an anti Trump campaign could work, as could an issues-based campaign. I think all we really need is a decently favorable person Dems can get behind, and for better or for worse, that is Biden.

[Bidenworth2020]

Honestly, this is far from the worst I have seen. He can probably get away with slurring a word occasionally.

[Bidenworth2020]

This has to be the worst campaign for a "frontrunner" I have ever seen.

No quotations. He objectively is the frontrunner.

[Bidenworth2020]

This has to be the worst campaign for a "frontrunner" I have ever seen.

No quotations. He objectively is the frontrunner.

And that status is starting to decline the more he, uh, "campaigns" and people see what a useless moderate hero he is.

That is yet to be seen. The decline was far more likely a reversion back to the mean after his announcement. Just look at how similar the polls from December of last year are to today.

[Bidenworth2020]

This has to be the worst campaign for a "frontrunner" I have ever seen.

No quotations. He objectively is the frontrunner.

And that status is starting to decline the more he, uh, "campaigns" and people see what a useless moderate hero he is.

That is yet to be seen. The decline was far more likely a reversion back to the mean after his announcement. Just look at how similar the polls from December of last year are to today.

When the debates actually start and half of Biden's base succumbs to Alzheimer's by next year, we'll see how confident you are.

Don't you support Bernie Sanders? Biden has shown to be of equal ability, and I see no reason why he would do particularly bad in the debates (the 2012 VP debate was a highlight for me, personally).

[Bidenworth2020]

This has to be the worst campaign for a "frontrunner" I have ever seen.

No quotations. He objectively is the frontrunner.

And that status is starting to decline the more he, uh, "campaigns" and people see what a useless moderate hero he is.

That is yet to be seen. The decline was far more likely a reversion back to the mean after his announcement. Just look at how similar the polls from December of last year are to today.

When the debates actually start and half of Biden's base succumbs to Alzheimer's by next year, we'll see how confident you are.

Don't you support Bernie Sanders? Biden has shown to be of equal ability, and I see no reason why he would do particularly bad in the debates (the 2012 VP debate was a highlight for me, personally).

2012 was seven years ago, friend.  And I have not committed to a candidate yet.  Does it matter?  All I have decided is that I won't be voting for Joe Biden in either the primary or the general election.

I grant to you that he will win the primary if his godawful center-right, pro-neocon voting record doesn't become the focus of his opposition.  The plagiarism and physical harassment of women are great bonuses, though.

I just thought it was odd that you would be supportive of Bernie while criticizing Biden for being old, essentially (I am specifically referring to your Alzheimer's comment). I have not committed to anyone either (though I lean towards Warren), so I know what you mean. Fair enough on the debate thing, but you still have not given evidence that he will do bad.

[Bidenworth2020]

This has to be the worst campaign for a "frontrunner" I have ever seen.

No quotations. He objectively is the frontrunner.

And that status is starting to decline the more he, uh, "campaigns" and people see what a useless moderate hero he is.

That is yet to be seen. The decline was far more likely a reversion back to the mean after his announcement. Just look at how similar the polls from December of last year are to today.

When the debates actually start and half of Biden's base succumbs to Alzheimer's by next year, we'll see how confident you are.

Don't you support Bernie Sanders? Biden has shown to be of equal ability, and I see no reason why he would do particularly bad in the debates (the 2012 VP debate was a highlight for me, personally).

2012 was seven years ago, friend.  And I have not committed to a candidate yet.  Does it matter?  All I have decided is that I won't be voting for Joe Biden in either the primary or the general election.

I grant to you that he will win the primary if his godawful center-right, pro-neocon voting record doesn't become the focus of his opposition.  The plagiarism and physical harassment of women are great bonuses, though.

I just thought it was odd that you would be supportive of Bernie while criticizing Biden for being old, essentially (I am specifically referring to your Alzheimer's comment). I have not committed to anyone either (though I lean towards Warren), so I know what you mean. Fair enough on the debate thing, but you still have not given evidence that he will do bad.

I wasn't making fun of Biden for being old, I was making fun of his near-braindead supporters in their retirement homes.  You won't see many of those folks at the caucuses.  I will gladly support Bernie or Warren or, f#ck, even Harris if it comes down to it.  But I already held my nose and voted for one pro-Iraq War, Patriot Act-supporting establishment candidate and I don't intend to do so again.  Democrats don't need to have this albatross around their neck for eight years when the substance of Biden's policies is so out of step with the people who keep voting Democrats into office.

I do not know how he is going to do at the debates after seven years, but the circular firing squad will be on him and his record and I think that at least one candidate will get it right and hopefully bring him down.

I disagree with your viewpoint on voting, but I absolutely see your perspective. While I consider Trump to be a monumentally grave threat to our democracy and as such will do close to anything to remove him from office (this goes for 90% of republican politicians, ftr), Democrats are just frustrating sometimes.

[Bidenworth2020]

I will say that while Democrats are not unified, we at least recognize our divides and issues now. That could go a long way in both selecting the right candidate and beating Trump in 2020.

[Bidenworth2020]

Biden gambles on high-risk primary strategy

From his schedule, his messaging, to policy positions, the former vice president is carving a divergent path through the primaries based on a theory that few of his rivals appear to believe — that the Democratic base isn’t nearly as liberal or youthful as everyone thinks.

[...]

Biden’s team points to recent polls, showing that a majority of the Democratic primary electorate identify as moderate or conservative, 56 percent is over 50 and nearly 60 percent are not college educated. And they point to the results of the 2018 midterm elections that they say saw moderate Democrats win their congressional and state primaries.

“There’s a big disconnect between the media narrative and what the primary electorate looks like and thinks, versus the media narrative and the Twitter narrative,” said one Biden adviser who declined to speak on the record. “The Democratic primary universe is far less liberal. It’s older than you think it is.”

[...]

That might explain the former vice president’s digital advertising buys since entering the race. Since his launch, Biden’s campaign has disproportionately focused on targeting Facebook ads to voters 45 years and older.

They make up an estimated 62 percent of likely Democratic primary voters, according to Bully Pulpit Interactive, a top Democratic digital firm. Biden has spent 83 percent of his total $1.2 million Facebook ad money on targeting them, according to data compiled by Bully Pulpit from April 20 until May 25.

Biden's strategy is, essentially, to disregard the more caucus-going end of the Democratic Party voters in favor of its, arguably, more significantly numbered moderate and older voters. He's deliberately orienting his campaign towards overwhelmingly dominating among older, more conservative primary voters while leaving all the others to fight over the younger, more liberal wing of the party.

Like Republicans, Biden is disregarding the Millennial voters, essentially, in favor of relying on a shrinking demographic of older voters. I can only imagine how such a strategy will translate into his general election campaign, which would likely cause significant numbers of Democratic voters to feel alienated and sit out the election or vote third party.

Nah. We all know Trump is the bigger evil, aside from some people who are too loyal to their favorite candidate to vote to save our country.

[Bidenworth2020]

aww looks like someone is feeling threatened lol