The Hill: Why Biden Shouldn’t Run, and Won’t

[ericson00]

http://itk.thehill.com/opinion/brent-budowsky/251897-budowsky-why-biden-shouldnt-run-and-wont

s there a groundswell of grassroots support for Biden announcing his candidacy? No. There is no grassroots movement of any size, scope or magnitude that yearns for him to run, volunteers to work for him, or makes large numbers of small donations to draft him...

Has Biden articulated a clear and powerful vision that offers a rationale for running that distinguishes him from President Obama, Clinton or Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)? No. This is not Biden’s fault. As a sitting vice president, he has severe limitations about what he can say that diverges from the president he serves. This limitation would not go away if he were to run — it would be magnified.

Does Biden have strong institutional political support from major party players such as governors, mayors, state party chairmen or members of Congress who believe in his potential candidacy so deeply that they are willing to publicly state today that they would endorse him if he runs? No.

[Motown_Johnny]

1. My Tin Foil Hat Theory.

I admit up front that this is all conjecture. Not a scrap of evidence to support any of it.

But....


Assume the VP asks for and gets a briefing about those 300+ emails. He then finds out something about them, or the server, or whatever that nobody outside the investigation knows. This information makes him think Hillary is in real trouble.

He then sees a path to the nomination and decides to get serious about exploring his options. The one person who might be able to step in and collect a lot of the support for a woman candidate, plus a lot of the support for an economic populist is Sen. Warren. He meets with her to assure himself that she is not running no matter what. (The idea that he was exploring a VP pick this far out seems even more unlikely than my "creative speculation&quot

He then has lunch with Pres. Obama and brings him up to speed. Then the White House Press Secretary states that picking Joe Biden was the best political decision Pres. Obama ever made. Anyone who remembers the pressure for him to pick Hillary should consider this may be a way for Pres. Obama to distance himself from Hillary Clinton.

What we end up with is Joe Biden running because he sees Hillary Clinton as being vulnerable (at the very least) and Bernie Sanders as an "also ran" who is just drawing big crowds early in the process (I don't agree with this assessment but I can see why an establishment candidate might form that opinion).


Yes, creative speculation at best. Hair brained lunacy at worst. Even so, for me it does all seem to fit.


Go ahead, talk me down. It sounds like I need it.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. LOL

This is somewhere between creative speculation and hair brained lunacy.

It's not totally out of the question that this is the way it's going down.

I gotta give you credit, it is an interesting possibility.

[ericson00]

3. sounds like a Fox News piece

oh yea, how bout Tom Vilsack huh?

[Motown_Johnny]

10. Sorry but you have lost all credibility with me.

Last edited Wed Aug 26, 2015, 11:50 AM - Edit history (1)

You do know that we can see how people voted on polls, right?

That one for Bernie supporters where you voted that you hated Hillary made me lose all respect for you.

Disinformation is what Fox News does, and it looks like what you do too.




Edit to add: Undoing that vote is just more disinformation. We both know you did it and so does everyone else who bothers to check the votes in those types of polls. I'm not the only one.

[bobbobbins01]

5. I'm with you on most of it, but the Warren part doesn't make sense

Meeting her just for a reassurance wouldn't be necessary, as she's stated so many times that she isn't running, and most of her supporters(and a lot of donations) have already shifted to Sanders. Only someone who is totally politically inept would wait until after her support base has given up to decide to run.

So I think Biden must have had other motives. My guess is he wanted to see if he could convince her to give him an endorsement during the primaries(which is probably the only way he could pull enough voters away from both Hillary and Bernie to win) in exchange for either the VP position or a cabinet spot.

[Motown_Johnny]

13. Agreed.

The meeting must have been about more than that, but her running must have been part of the discussion.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Anyone thinking there's no connection btw the email thing & Biden exploring a run, is in denial IMHO

But you dont have to look very far to see some REAL deep denial.

[msongs]

4. doh! the reason he has none of those things is because he has not announced a run lol nt

[pa28]

6. He's so pleased with the term "vulture candidate" he used it three times.

Vulture! Candidate!

Dialing up the hyperbole another notch he says Biden would be declaring war on millions of women by running. Okaaayyyy.

Budowski might want to think about taking up a nice relaxing hobby before he strains something. Like kayaking or maybe bird watching.

[ericson00]

8. because that's what Biden would be because Hillary would be

"so damaged." Tho I think the Ashley Madison smear on his son shows that he's not gonna be spared, tho I think since everyone is so used to him being seen as squeaky clean, people would actually be more shocked. Notice how Hillary is still racking up leads and endorsements just as the Biden dither continues?

[Gothmog]

9. I doubt that Biden will run

It will take a large number of events to come together to make this run viable

[Cosmocat]

11. I just dont think his heart is in it

I think his EGO wants it, but I dont see near the balls out motivation to campaign like his life depends on it like hill and bernie ...

[Sunlei]

12. VP Biden was 'ready to be President' from the first time he & Obama ran.