How would you describe Joe Biden's ideology?

[RINO Tom]

Biden has no ideology beyond really, really wanting to be president.

Yeah, hence why he ran in such open primaries as 2016, 2004, 2000, 1992, 1984, & 1976... oh wait.

I mean, running that many times at all for SURE boosts his assertion, haha.

[brucejoel99]

Biden has no ideology beyond really, really wanting to be president.

Yeah, hence why he ran in such open primaries as 2016, 2004, 2000, 1992, 1984, & 1976... oh wait.

I mean, running that many times at all for SURE boosts his assertion, haha.

I don't think you get it. The point is that he didn't run during any of those open primaries. Before this year, he only ran in '88 & '08. In contrast, if he truly "ha[d] no ideology beyond really, really wanting to be president," then he surely would've ran in some (if not all) of those open primaries in which he didn't stand.

[Del Tachi]

Biden has no ideology beyond really, really wanting to be president.

Yeah, hence why he ran in such open primaries as 2016, 2004, 2000, 1992, 1984, & 1976... oh wait.

I mean, running that many times at all for SURE boosts his assertion, haha.

I don't think you get it. The point is that he didn't run during any of those open primaries. Before this year, he only ran in '88 & '08. In contrast, if he truly "ha[d] no ideology beyond really, really wanting to be president," then he surely would've ran in some (if not all) of those open primaries in which he didn't stand.

It is important to note that Republican incumbents were generally considered big odds-on favorites in 1992 and 2004, and its a stretch to call 2000 and 2016 "open" primaries on the Democratic side.  1988 and 2008 were really the only open primaries where it was initially expected that Democrats would win the GE.   

[RINO Tom]

Biden has no ideology beyond really, really wanting to be president.

Yeah, hence why he ran in such open primaries as 2016, 2004, 2000, 1992, 1984, & 1976... oh wait.

I mean, running that many times at all for SURE boosts his assertion, haha.

I don't think you get it. The point is that he didn't run during any of those open primaries. Before this year, he only ran in '88 & '08. In contrast, if he truly "ha[d] no ideology beyond really, really wanting to be president," then he surely would've ran in some (if not all) of those open primaries in which he didn't stand.

Ah, my bad.

[Grassroots]

Social Liberal

[Republican_Carpetbagger]

Joe Biden wouldn’t be able to describe his own ideology himself at this point.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I think his current platform, especially on social issues, is far more to the left than he is comfortable with, but it was his political calculation to win the Democratic Primary.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Touchy feely.

Just jokes. I think he is angling for a tried and tested continuation of the Obama administration.

It's the Democrats best chance.

[cris01us]

It would depend on if you are defining his ideology in today's terms or if we can go back 20 or even 30 years ago?  By the current standards of Liberal and Leftist, as well as in relation to this years field of candidates, it is understandable to see Joe Biden cast as a Democratic-moderate.  But if we were to take his current policy stances and go back just 20 years ago, we would find him on the more extreme wing of the Democratic Party.  Quite simply, the measuring stick has moved. It is a matter of if you remained fixed to the old measuring stick or if you are using the new one, as to how you see him.

[John Dule]

Like all centrist politicians, he's a proud follower of "Whatever-Roughly-51%-of-the-Country-Believes-ism."

[Mike Thick]

He's a Trotsky-Bidenist.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

With a few exceptions (infrastructure investment, a relatively weak executive, median voter theory), Biden probably believes more in a direction than a set of policy goals, with the direction being mildly to the right of wherever he believes the median Democratic voter is. Maybe the real progress was the friends we made along the way.

[Wazza [INACTIVE]]

Joe Biden is and was a progressive liberal. Terms like “moderate”, “centrist”, “neoliberal” and whatnot are ideologically meaningless or misnomers respectively.

[Kyng]

Generic D.

Not a progressive, but not a centrist either. Just a standard liberal.

[The Simpsons Cinematic Universe]

I don't think ideology is a good framework though which to understand politicians like Joe Biden. At heart, he is someone who believes in the status quo and in politics centered around managing the status quo. I guess that would make him a "conservative" by some definition, but certainly not by the modern American definition.

Yes, more or less this.

Centrist politicians like Joe Biden are defined less by ideology than by the lack of ideology. This isn't to say they don't have "issues" they feel strongly about, but there is no cohesive framework through which they view things. There are some centrists who are genuinely neoliberal ideologues, but in politics I don't think you'd find too many - mainly people willing to go along with whatever the status quo is, whether for lack of vision or simply because it makes them good money to go along with it.

[dead0man]

He is Obama, but more.

Wants to double the size of ACA. cite
Wants to spend $1.7T on climate cite
Wants to spend $750B on education cite
Wants to ban assault weapons cite
Wants to raise taxes by $3.4T cite
Wants a $15 min wage cite

He's the most progressive major party candidate in history, even if he doesn't buy into most of the things he is selling.

[Velasco]

Deng Xiaoping once said:

 "It doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice"

Biden is not my candidate and I don't really care about his actual ideology. He's just the cat (sorry, the man) available at this moment and I want him to catch the mouse. If he can, I'll become a fervent Bidenista for a while and my heart will be filled with immense gratitude. Otherwise...

[Person Man]

Generic D

[S019]

Third Way Left, which isn't a bad thing, no matter what some people will make you believe. He's pragmatic and moderate and I do think he'll get things done.

[MarkD]

I am probably the only one here who finds it fascinating to look at the ideological scores from the two groups -- Americans for Democratic Action and American Conservative Union.