Biden (wrongly) claims that the campaign ignored the middle class

[LisaM]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-dems-ignored-middle-class-in-2016-campaign/ar-BBz7rGL?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=U453DHP


I'm sorry, I beg to differ with this. Did he really pay that little attention?

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/feed/middle-class-needs-raise-heres-how-hillary-clinton-plans-do-it/

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/feed/middle-class-needs-raise-heres-how-hillary-clinton-plans-do-it/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/13/hillary-clinton-2016-_n_7784722.html

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hillary+clinton+middle+class&view=detail&mid=C2A2147A1D8326ECF91FC2A2147A1D8326ECF91F&FORM=VIRE

[JHan]

1. this myth needs to die.

[LisaM]

2. Tell me about it.

"The middle class needs a raise!" was one of her catch phrases.

I suppose it would have caught on more if she'd slapped a tacky red baseball cap on her head.

[JHan]

7. actually..

michael moore said something to that effect.. Trump's appeal was his folksiness with the cap ( nevermind it was all phony, it resonated with many voters) Of course if Hillary did that, she'd still get shit thrown her way.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. He is "myth-taken"

BTW where is all of the concern about Hillary voters and our concerns and what is Trump and the GOP doing to pander to us given that Clinton won 3 million more votes than Trump?

[LisaM]

4. Thank you.

Apparently, we have no right to our grievances.

[MineralMan]

5. It's passing strange that a person who did not run is dissing

the nominee that did run. C'mon Joe...knock that shit off.

[LisaM]

6. Agreed, it's bothering me.

I like the guy, but he's always been a little loose lipped.

[frazzled]

8. And this is why he never should have run

He ran for president before, and he is, sadly, very gaffe prone. I say sadly because he has many other great qualities. He probably meant to say "white working-class individuals in rust belt states where manufacturing jobs have seen hits over the years." Even then he would have been somewhat wrong. Because Clinton did address those issues as well. Her problem was: she gave truthful answers rather than populist fake crap that would promise a resurgence of coal mining or steel. She had plans for the future, not the past.

[Barack_America]

9. "And down goes Biden!"

[JHan]

11. no one even approached this post with that tone, geez.

[delisen]

10. Biden's definition of the middle class is very narrow.

[LisaM]

13. It's an easy narrative.

Why Clinton's real solutions for the middle class were overlooked presents a very discouraging storyline about reality and perception. It bothers me greatly.

[StevieM]

12. There is not one truthful word to this claim. Biden has been hard on her since the election.

He also stated, when appearing on the View, that it was a badly-run campaign. He even volunteered her for agreement, saying something like "I am sure she would agree."

Of course, he was nowhere near as bad as Martin O'Malley, who went on Fox and said--twice--that our candidate had no credibility on economic issues.

[LisaM]

14. That's unfortunate.

I'd ask if the women on The View stood up for her, but I'm afraid I already know the answer to that.

[StevieM]

16. You do already know that answer.

And I am especially saddened by O'Malley. I liked him a lot.

[delisen]

36. O'Malley-just what are his credentials? His record in governing was not impressive.

I don't mean to pick on O'Malley-but what does he know about foreign affairs? How well did he run Baltimore and govern Maryland. How did he improve the daily lives of people. Why are these things not the central questions in American politics.

Too many ambitious male politicians run on their maleness-the supposedly authoritative male voice, their physique, their sport. They become involved in political posturing, and forget that it is about us, and our children, and, yes, the rest of the world--not about them.

I know what kind of country I want, and what kind of world, I think what I want is probably similar to what most people want-it is not fancy skyscrapers, or massive stone monuments honoring more male "leaders." We have enough of those.

Trump praised the modernity of Dubai-never talked about the slave labor that is building it or the oppressiveness of its society. He relates to concrete, not people.

Too many king and would-be kings are standing in the way of happiness, justice, scientific research, knowledge-building, and equality.

The recent fire I-85 fire in Atlanta that melted the overpass and is creating a traffic disaster, makes me realize how toxic our cities are how easily they can fall apart, and become unliveable.

An abandoned city would be a toxic wasteland and a dangerous place , not just an area that reverts to a natural environment. An abandoned nuclear power plant even more horrific.

[edhopper]

15. She won the election

and everyone but racist white assholes!

The election was stolen.

Enough with "she didn't do enough."

It's like a sports team that loses because the referees are biased.

[StevieM]

17. Agreed. This was James Comey's election, from start to finish. (eom)

[edhopper]

18. And we don't know the full extent

of voter suppression or Russian involvement

[LisaM]

21. Exactly.

Everything that could line up to cost her the election did. Everything. Even then, she still got 3,000,000 more votes.

This "kicking her when she's down" stuff really needs to stop.

[edhopper]

27. She lost electorially by less people

than would fill the average football stadium.

She showed herself to be his far superior in the debates.

Let's stop blaming her and start blaming the voters who caused this fiasco to happen.

[NurseJackie]

19. This is very disappointing. He's only tarnishing himself when he says things like this.

I'm wondering if the respect I've always given him is deserved.

[JHan]

34. I still respect Joe... a lot.. however..

I despise the double standards.

I've seen people talk about Joe running instead and it convinces many don't care about policy - if I were harsh I'd go after Joe on a bunch of issues that others ignore but immediately become concerned about if HRC is the subject of discussion. It's the same issue I have with people who were fine with voting for Obama, but suddenly had issues w.r.t Clinton.

either folks are ignorant of policy decisions, voting records and approach to government among our politicians or suffering a severe case of cognitive dissonance or their priorities are shallow.

[Gabi Hayes]

20. never forget: joe biden-equals-clarence thomas

never got the love for this guy

always struck me as the consummate phony

EDIT: wtf? it won't type in an equal sign.....

[LisaM]

22. I haven't forgotten that.

I'm sure he regrets it now, too, but those hearings are in my head like they happened yesterday. Brave Anita Hill standing up to all those people, when she didn't even ask to be there.

[lapucelle]

37. I wonder if the Clarence Thomas debacle

and his "yes" vote on the Iraq war would have mattered if Biden had run.

[killbotfactory]

23. Study: Hillary Clintons TV ads were almost entirely policy-free

Clinton’s team spent a whopping $1 billion on the election in all — about twice what Donald Trump’s campaign spent. Clinton spent $72 million on television ads in the final weeks alone.

But only 25 percent of advertising supporting her campaign went after Trump on policy grounds, the researchers found. By comparison, every other presidential candidate going back to at least 2000 devoted more than 40 percent of his or her advertising to policy-based attacks. None spent nearly as much time going after an opponent’s personality as Clinton’s ads did.

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/8/14848636/hillary-clinton-tv-ads

This pisses me off to no end.

[LisaM]

25. There is probably some truth to that, although I'd argue that going after Trump on his sexism

was issue-oriented. Unfortunately, even the Democratic party didn't seem to want to use the groundbreaking aspect of being a major party candidate who was a woman as an issue. That became "identity politics".

Be that as it may, I think her position on middle class issues was strong, and it was definitely out there for anyone who wanted to hear it. But she couldn't buy a break with the media.

[elleng]

26. Thanks

[DefenseLawyer]

24. Let it go. n/t

[ecstatic]

28. I'm glad he didn't run. He tends to be tone deaf

Not realizing how his comments come across, etc. The loss was not our fault. Hillary worked her ASS off. Prepared for EVERY fucking debate, won every fucking debate, had a beautiful convention....

Meanwhile, Trump was colluding with Russia and the GOP was systematically purging voter rolls, closing poll sites in minority areas, and eliminating early voting dates. If THOSE issues aren't addressed, and I mean NOW, the dems may never win another election.

[Me.]

29. DEar Joe...We Love You

But you're not going to be president so please stop talking and join your dear friend PBO on his vacation.

[LenaBaby61]

30. Just wondering if ...

The Vice-President's said anything about the HUGE elephant in the room: tRumputin and all of HIS growing russia-gate problems?

He's recently done a LOT of gabbing about all of the "alleged mistakes" he believes he saw with Hillary's 2016 GE campaign run.

[LisaM]

31. Interesting point.

It kind of deflects from that issue to talk about her campaign instead. I personally think that Obama was trying hard to come to keep politics out of the investigation, but I also think that approached backfired.

[mythology]

32. She at least didn't do enough on it to win.

Considering he can't say she shouldn't have had that stupid email server (yes even though others like Colin Powell did the same, she should have been smarter than that), then it's plausible that the next most important factor is economic anxiety. The slower a county's economic growth both from 2007 and going back to 2000, the more the vote there shifted to Trump. The more likely an area's jobs are vulnerable to automation or outsourcing, the more likely to vote for Trump.

Trump's support was strongest in those areas that have suffered the steepest decline in economic power. As a party we haven't done enough to help them and that includes the Obama administration. Granted Trump is going to do nothing actually useful for them, but he paid loud and easily digestible lip service to them. Telling a 45 year old to go back to school mid-career might be good advice. But nobody wants to hear it.

Clinton couldn't do anything to convince some voters whether due to the email server or being a woman or Trump's racist/bigoted calls, but there were factors in her control she could have changed on the campaign trail. And in spite of that she still won the popular vote and nearly won the Electoral college.

Trump is still going to be a racist bigot in 2020 and so some voters will be out of reach. But with a shift in approach we can win back some of those voters who are losing economic stability. Because we are going to face a lot more automation in the future and need to prepare for what that means politically.

[LisaM]

33. She also couldn't get coverage for all the nonstop campaigning she did do.

I was looking over some pictures of her campaign stops today. There she was, at barber shops, schools, diners, markets, yes, at union halls, at churches. She looked engaged and completely at ease everywhere. But starting in November of 2015, the media treated us to an endless, endless spectacle of Trump's events, including that bizarre night when he was surrounded by all of his products. What was up with that?

The media was simply too lazy to cover her type of events. No, she's not good at huge rallies. She has to raise her voice to be heard (as most women do) and that was brutal on her. But she probably ultimately engaged with more voters, going out there day after day after day to every little nook and cranny where she could actually meet and talk to voters. I never heard one of them interviewed afterwards about how she'd spoken or reached out to them.

Media was very complicit in this. It's easy to go set up at a large event and watch a candidate yelling at a crowd. It's not so easy to go to the little venues, the stores and churches and other little places she went.

[Starry Messenger]

35. I thought he was working on cancer and sexual harassment?

I wish he'd stay in his lane. I'm pretty frosted by his remarks.