I agree with the pundit on CNN (or was it MSNBC) yesterday that said Biden is at his highest national approval rating right now before he enters the race and the next year will only lower people's estimation of him by the day. Sad but true. I think he will regret getting in much as someone like Jeb(!) did after his disastrous 2016 run.
I'm confident at least one or two of the other 16 Democratic candidates with their hats already in the ring will catch major fire with the country between now and the primaries, and Ole Uncle Joe can head off in to the sunset with his dignity intact.
I doubt he enters the race now which is a shame since he could have beat trump. But with the infighting and lies that Bernie’s cult is already out there doing, I am pretty much 100% sure that trump will win again. And Bernie wouldn’t have it any other way.
I might be naive, but I don't think 2020 will be Bernie's year either (thank God). I can't believe enough folks in the Democratic party really want to nominate another wacky grandfather figure to go against the ultimate insane grandfather. I think a smart generation x-er will lead us back to the White House like in 2008.
I’m not saying it’ll be Bernie’s year but his cult is making sure that whether he wins the nomination or not, they won’t support or vote for anyone other than him.
The interesting thing about the Cult of Bernie this time around and when you are against Bernie you aren't for Hilary.
They are having real problems with combating the fact we have a large field of candidates.
The problem with both Biden and Bernie is that they will both almost be 80 by the time they are sworn in, and if they were re- elected, they would be almost 90!
Bernie Sanders and all of his fanatical supporters should take a hike. They're going to hand over the 2020 election to the moron-in-chief, just like they helped do in 2016. At one time, I was a Bernie Sanders supporter - I voted for him in the primaries - but when he was no longer an option, I, of course, supported and voted for Hillary. But now, there are plenty of other candidates who support most of Sanders' views and policies, and, frankly, like Joe Biden, he's just too old. Sorry. If that makes me an ageist, then I guess that's what I am. But I'm also a realist, and I want whoever I vote for for president to be fully and competently able to serve and hold the office for 8 years. Once you hit 80, every year can make a big difference health-wise, both physically and mentally - it's just a fact - and I believe the job itself is just too demanding for someone to begin at the age of 80.
I don't think Uncle Joe should run now after the video from his home in which he basically apologized for being himself and expounded on changes in social norms, personal space, blah, blah, blah. Put another way, Trump's one redeeming quality is that he NEVER apologizes for who he is which allows him to operate from a position of strength. Perhaps it was the poor quality of the video or seasonal allergies, but the video did Biden no favors. He looked rather feeble which will be used against him by Trump all day long.
You have the former Vice President and the runner up from the last cycle mustering (at most!) an average of 25% a piece in both national and early state polling. Granted, it's 10 months before a single vote is cast, but that's incredibly indicative of an engaged base of voters who want someone else.
That's where Kamala and Buttigieg and Beto come in. All with less than 60% name recognition/favorable/unfavorable. The more trips to Iowa, NH, SC, and Nevada they make, the more they hone a message, the more name recognition they receive, and their individual debate performances will all add up to the numbers starting to break in someone's favor.
I expect by September/October, we'll see the numbers (nationally) for Biden and Sanders either remain the same or fall slightly as some of the other candidates are launched into the first tier.
I think that many of the Democratic newcomers have a lot to offer but I feel Trump will mow them down pretty easily, A huge per cent of the voting block is 55 and above. Younger people tend not to vote as much and many feel politics in general is corrupt. I think that Biden with a good VP choice will stand the best chance of winning given the demographics of voting in general..
Turns out this poll was taken just after Barr's whitewashing summary came out. Let's run the numbers again, shall we, once the actual Mueller report gets out to the world.
Also, won't the Wall Street beneficiaries of Trump's largess always be rooting for their golden goose to stay in office? Try running a poll of the ones getting cut out of the tax breaks and health care protections. I'd guess the results would be just the opposite.
He's too damn old. So are bunch of the other Democrats running. If a candidate will be older than, say, 65 on inauguration day, then they ought to drop out. Call me ageist, I don't care. The US has had lousy luck with the latest Seniors in the White House like Reagan and Trump. The Presidency is a full-time exhausting job and we need somebody who will be awake.
They also can take the younger ones with limited experience (Beto, Mayor Pete, the Rep from Hawaii).with them. They are all lovely people with good ideas, but they do not know how to deal with the likes of that mean-spirited McConnell. Watch for some of them to ably fill cabinet and senior staff positions.
There are enough good candidates running without the distraction ones. I am a political pragmatist. I want to win.
As for 70% of Wall Street, remember they live in a protective bubble like many of us.They probably haven't seen the inside of a grocery store in decades. Who do you think spends all that money on Fresh Direct?
He's too damn old. So are bunch of the other Democrats running. If a candidate will be older than, say, 65 on inauguration day, then they ought to drop out. Call me ageist, I don't care. The US has had lousy luck with the latest Seniors in the White House like Reagan and Trump. The Presidency is a full-time exhausting job and we need somebody who will be awake.
They also can take the younger ones with limited experience (Beto, Mayor Pete, the Rep from Hawaii).with them. They are all lovely people with good ideas, but they do not know how to deal with the likes of that mean-spirited McConnell. Watch for some of them to ably fill cabinet and senior staff positions.
There are enough good candidates running without the distraction ones. I am a political pragmatist. I want to win.
As for 70% 1of Wall Street, remember they live in a protective bubble like many of us.They probably haven't seen the inside of a grocery store in decades. Who do you think spends all that money on Fresh Direct?"
^ I don't disagree with your assessment of the oldest folks throwing their hats in the ring. But if you eliminate them AND you eliminate the freshman class (Beto, Pete, etc.), then you're left with a middle-of-the-pack choice between Kamala, Corey, Amy, Kirsten, Julian and Elizabeth (plus a handful of others with even less chance of breaking through). Much as I admire 2 or 3 folks on that list, not one of them has yet shown the charismatic fire to ignite the voters to mount a real campaign to defeat He Who Shall Not Be Named.
If a man of integrity like Buttegieg can rise to the top of the pack (and I expect he will), I have zero doubt that he'll have the fortitude to combat McConnell et al when the time comes.
A month ago I thought Biden was our best hope. What a difference a few weeks makes. I think the damage is already done with allegations of his violations of women’s personal boundaries. (I’ll save my very conflicted feelings about that for another day). Liberals will likely never vote en masse for a candidate with such accusations circling around him.
I do think that history tells us that incumbents usually win their second terms. Liberals and the Democratic Party need to be on our A-game. It’s too early for me to tell if we are. Some of the candidates I had enthusiasm for early on have already started to lose me the more they speak while others may be rising in my estimation. I don’t think age should be disqualifying on either side of the equation. My mom is 82 and has dementia while Betty White is going strong at 97. As far as credentials, I admit I’d prefer someone with more than less experience, but any of these candidates would be leagues better than who currently holds the office. One of my initial hesitancies about Obama was his relative lack of experience, but once he was our nominee, I was all in. It marked the first time I made a donation to a political campaign. My HHR had so many Obama stickers and magnets (before and after his win) that I named it the Obama-mobile. He was simply the finest (note: not perfect) president I’ll likely ever experience in my lifetime.
I refuse to be overly publicly critical of any of the Democratic candidates right now. I don’t want to contribute to that Bernie or Bust fever that helped usher Trump into the White House. I’m truly scared. But be clear: Whoever the eventual Democratic nominee is will be the one who gets my vote. I just hope we don’t eff it up.
We'll see if Biden has the ruthlessness it will take to outwit the GOP machine.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
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I absolutely love Joe Biden. He was my first choice in 2008 when he was the ONLY Democrat running with an exit plan for Iraq. I was hoping he'd step up in 2016, but he chose family over power. I appreciate his pragmatism (which is why the far left hates him). He understands fighting for incremental progress is how anything gets done and sometimes you have to swallow taking one step back to achieve two steps forward later on.
I'm worried he missed his window, but, right now, I'm very excited to vote for him. Though, if it looks like he has a safe margin of committed delegates by the time my state gets around to voting, I might throw my vote to Mayor Pete.
During my many years of voting, I have generally known from the beginning days of an election process which candidate(s) I would support. Although I very much admire all the announced Democratic 2020 Presidential candidates, my heart and mind have always been with Joe Biden. After watching his announcement video this morning, I made a contribution to his Presidential Campaign. Good Luck, Joe!