Why Democrats think Biden’s problem is Biden
Democrats keep doing surprisingly well in special elections. The party’s most vulnerable Senate incumbents are running ahead of their rivals in key battleground states. One of Democrats’ signature issues — reproductive rights — has repeatedly proved a winning message.
And yet Joe Biden is struggling to pull even with Donald Trump.
It’s another ominous sign for the president: Even as other Democrats are running strong, the party’s down-ballot successes aren’t translating into momentum at the top of the ticket. Biden trails Trump in many of the states he needs to win to keep the White House. His job approval is underwater. And the coalition of voters that ushered him into office four years ago is fraying.
“Democrats are enthusiastic about trying to win the Senate and trying to win the House,” said Neil Oxman, a Pennsylvania-based Democratic strategist.
And they’re “not enthusiastic about Biden’s reelection,” Oxman said. “Period.”
Who were they supposed to force to run, and how were they supposed to do that? Biden initially talked about being a single term president. Only running again if necessary. The only Democrat that really chose to try to primary was Dean Phillips. Who recently begged a state governor to pardon trump. Biden already appeases fascists too much. With Phillips begging a state Governor to Pardon their leaders crimes. I can see why Biden would run again.
I actually have some hope that there will be some decent Democratic candidates in 2028 if we can get there and still be holding elections.
It should have been Bernie Sanders. Hillary lost to Trump in every poll, simulation, test, mock up, etc. Bernie Didn't.
Yeah, but did you consider that, in Hillary's words, "No one [i.e. the big club of lobbyists and consultants that fucked up the country in the first place and also lost her the election] wants to work with him"?
It really was the strategy that will pay off for generations to come. Fascists by is simply temporarily acting friendly to Sanders managed to drive a wedge between Democrats and the left. That even the candidate himself doesn't feel exists because of his continued association with the party. All these people will make sure that the Democrats and by extension the candidate they supported won't have their support or power to do the things their candidate wanted to do. Talk about self-destructing.
As an anarchist Lefty type I have no love for status quo or establishments democrats. But I have to still pragmatically acknowledge that the only way to fix or improve things is through them. Or at least by replacing them from the inside out.
Oh I’m not saying any of this from any standpoint other than, Biden did some impressive things with a shit hand, and the idea of not voting this year as a way to somehow spur forward progress towards the leftist goals that refusing to vote for him is supposed to provide, is absolutely laughable propaganda, and the actual impact will potentially be the opposite of that, times 10 or 20 or 50.
Just saying that also, Bernie got fucked and it’s a big shame and fuck Hillary for taking part in it and then expecting people to be excited to vote for her.
I generally agree with you on everything but the getting fucked part. That implies that Sanders was unaware or unprepared for what happened. If there were those of us outside politics who could see and understood what was going to happen. Which there were a lot of us. I don't think Sanders is that young naive or inexperienced. If anything I have a feeling it went better than he expected it would.
The man went up against the core of party leadership and the candidate they desired. And while he didn't win outright. He came out more powerful than he went in. If success is getting fucked Perhaps we should all get fucked.
I voted for Sanders in the last two primaries. But the fact remains he lost both primaries ultimately. He did well. And it's possible he might have drawn in enough people who wouldn't have voted otherwise. But there's no guarantee of that. It's all just baseless speculation.
And let's be honest it's entirely possible he would have had more trouble than Biden or Clinton in the general. The fascists acted friendly to him in the primaries specifically because of how it divided Democrats and the left. In the general they would have turned on him with the fierceness equal to Clinton or biden. And I think we have to acknowledge that was a brilliant strategy. Now 8 plus years on it's still paying heavy dividends for them. As you've shown.
Even as the Democratic party acknowledged his voice and gave him positions of leadership. And Sanders himself stayed part of the democratic party. For some reason failing to be as offended as other people were being offended for him. Instead those people choosing to abandon the Democratic Party and take power from them. Ultimately taking power from and abandoning Sanders in the process. An odd thing to do for people who claim to like Bernie Sanders.
I remember, and maybe I misunderstood, when he was up against Biden last time and the biggest issue he had was that Elizabeth Warren’s similar message split votes. She was clearly losing but for some reason stayed in and siphoned votes away from him just long enough for him to back out.
More people wanted either Sanders or Warren than wanted Biden but ya’ll ended up with Biden. We have the same problem here in Canada where more vastly more people hate the Conservatives than support them and yet that party always ends up dangerously close to gaining power.
They're definitely was a lot of overlap on interests. But that doesn't automatically equate to siphoned off votes. There were a not insignificant number of people who were direct fans of things Warren has pushed for and accomplished. That would not automatically have translated over to sanders. We can speculate that a large number would. But as stated that would be speculation. We could speculate as to why Warren didn't drop out. But again that would be speculation. However I don't think that she had anything to gain or owed any allegiance to party leadership to just stay in as a spoiler. Far more likely it was just good old wishful thinking and hubris on her part. It could happen to any of us.
What exactly has Warren accomplished?
The first thing Just quickly off the top of my head Period the consumer Financial Protection Bureau was her baby.
The fact that Warren herself is a former republican. I disagree with her on a ton of shit. But I still have to respect her for some of the things she's done. I think she's wrong and misguided. But she definitely tries to do good/help in her eyes. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is absolutely a good thing.
Right! They’re forced to run! So fuck it vote for trump… you have no other options right?
In your own words… Who were they supposed to force?
It’s not like you have a choice, it’s not like this world lets you participate…. Keep whining…
No one is forced to run. That's the point. You can only vote for the choices you're given. Not the choices you're not. That's the point. If you want better options better choices. Force yourself to run. We always have choice, we always have agency. Even if you choose not to vote. It's generally the worst thing you can do. But it's still a choice. And if you don't believe me just listen to the band Rush.
Harris is standing right in front of you. Did you not see her?
First Harris didn't run, she didn't even try to run.
Second, Harris is 1/2 of Biden Harris. She's going to have a lot of the same baggage as Biden at this point.
Third Harris has a ton of her own unique baggage. She's not a significantly better candidate by any measure. And I'm not even referring to racists and misogynists. Which would happily add themselves on top of that baggage unfortunately.
Harris's main qualifications for the presidency is that she is currently vice president.
Harris would do far worse because nobody, not even her own staff, likes her.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/kamala-harris-office-dissent-497290