My thoughts: A Biden-Warren ticket...and Bernie Sanders role...

[CTyankee]

If Biden decides he must run and Warren agrees to be his running mate, I think Bernie will become a major factor helping their campaign. I think he would see the wisdom of having a much loved Democratic candidate who has so many Americans' hearts at this time running with a woman who encapulates everything Bernie wishes to see happen in this country.

Because I don't think Bernie is on an ego trip, I think he'll see being part of a powerful team and a strong ally that can win and win decisively over a Trump run.

No one can know what is in Biden's heart right now except him and his family, of course. So this is just a musing of my own, mixing hope with sympathy but also with hope for a breakthrough to bringing about the change we have longed for in the progressive wing of our party.

I can also see Warren being a strong support for him and his family emotionally during the campaign. And Bernie could be out there speaking truth to power in his typical, stirring fashion.

Or this may just be the musing of an older woman who has a lifelong progressive dream and wants to see it come to pass...

[Skwmom]

1. As Biden says - he's no populist (a populist is for the common man).

Is an establishment Democrat above floating a false Warren as VP idea to dilute the supporter for Bernie - No.

That would be using Bernie to present a false facade for the Democratic Party.

[bigdarryl]

2. If Warren won't comment to running as the President why on earth would she

Agree to a Vice Presidential slot that means nothing

[morningfog]

4. Those are very different roles.

She may not want to be president, but want to be in the WH.

[CTyankee]

9. She would see it as a valuable contribution to advancing the progressive movment

in this country. Perhaps she has a more creative, expansive view of the a vice presidency than we are thinking about now. And she DID meet with Biden...

And, of course, being the first woman vice president of the United States! Plus the fact that her state, MA, is very liberal and progressive and won't be backing away from the same ideals that made her their Senator. I'll bet there are plenty of good, progressive candidates to take her place...

[cascadiance]

76. I think she would hurt herself more and the country more than she would help Democrats...

I don't think Biden is a "bad" person, but I do think he's made a lot of mistakes such as pushing the bankruptcy bill, which Warren is on record being in strong opposition to, and indicates to me that he's not independent enough of 1%er dark money than the country needs. She would be better off staying in the Senate and having more of a direct voice working for us all there than working through a president like Biden who arguably hasn't done a lot to fight the corporate take over of our government and can be said to have facilitated it in many cases. Arguably his bankruptcy bill stances, etc. are what kept him from being a larger voice in past nomination races.

Bernie wouldn't help himself much supporting Biden either, and might be viewed as a sellout doing so. I don't see either Biden or Warren being a VP to Biden. Now Warren a VP for Bernie would be a different thing. They would be on the same page for much of the issues that would come to Bernie for signatures, and someone like Warren would be a good insurance policy to prevent a political assassination by entities looking to take down a more populist voice in the White House, as they would just risk a lot to keep the same kind of voice in power that would manifest itself with Warren in charge then.

There are crazies on both sides of the aisle, and I might also argue that Biden putting Warren in as his VP might jeopardize his safety too, as someone might look to off him to get her put in charge too. As a strong Warren and Bernie supporter, that is the LAST way I would want to see either of them have presidential power in this country, but for many who are desperate out there, it wouldn't surprise me if someone might want that route to happen.

[CTyankee]

81. My whole argument would depend on Biden taking on Bernie's and Elizabeth's message

but I see our point. We are in such a state of flux now...it seems like anything can happen...

[cascadiance]

82. Obama's nebulous message on free trade agreements in 2008 campaign was to "renegotiate them"...

... but said nothing about how hard he would push for a NAFTA on steroids with TPA/TPP and other related trade deals that is the most he's worked to get something passed than on just about any other legislation going through congress.

Can you see why a lot of Americans want to look at and judge candidate's actual history on issues such as these rather than just what they say in the campaign and who they try to "align" themselves with to try and brush over that history?

Americans have seen what has happened with things like TPA/TPP and the complete LACK of accountability to prosecute Wall Street criminals by this administration as a reason to make sure that there's actions to back up the words of those who they want to vote for to lead us.

This is what Hillary has to overcome. I know we are talking about Biden in this thread, but he faces similar challenges that I'm criticizing Hillary for here. I think if she had done the following things, she'd have gone a lot further to earn our trust:

1) Speak strongly for where she stood on the TPA when the vote was being taken and argue the case publicly to encourage congress to vote for the way she feels to them to help her govern as a future presidency that will be governed on how a congress works with her on trade deals in 2016 and beyond. Now, she might have come out for it, and lost a lot of our votes too, but at least in that case, she could make the case that she was a person of her word, and not allow Bernie to hold that aspect against her in this case. By being nebulous, she not only has many people thinking, given on hers and her husband's past actions that she supports this deal secretly, which they don't like, but also that she can't be trusted to be honest with us and gives us TWO reasons instead of one to not support her. If she were come out against the TPP/TPA and explain how that fits with hers and her husband's past positions and actions on free trade, and she doesn't equivocate later at all, then she would have me a lot more feeling she's being straight with us by taking those risks and coming out for what the people want, and not just what corporate money is paying for. The time to have done this would have been the time she announced her candidacy and about the time TPA was being heavily debated and voted on. It's a bit late to do that now.

2) On the private mail server issue, she could have earlier come out and say definitively that she had the security of her email a top priority of hers as a high ranking cabinet official, and that she moved mail to a server for reasons that perhaps she had to justify this that our government run servers weren't adequately protected the way they should. If she had done this at the time she moved her servers, then it would have been looked at more as a temporary measure that she used to protect the security needed for her office, and not something that was trying to hide the content of her emails, that the right is exploiting her secrecy on this to explain this as being and trying to use a witch hunt to try and tie it to their Bengazi fantasies. Now the longer she doesn't explain fully her reasoning for moving to private email servers, the more the right can claim more legitimacy that something wrong was being done with this email that is being covered up. She could still perhaps do this now, though it would be less effective this much later, and explain that her concerns for the nature of the problems that she was faced with made it so that they couldn't be made public, and provide some documented events and decision trails that showed how she acted on those concerns and did those actions she did. And if she followed up with a challenge to fix our government infrastructure so that it could meet the needs she had, and likely many other politicians have in their work as well, I think then her actions for what she did with private email servers might be respected by rational people as opposed to being a big liability in their minds of just being one more thing that she doesn't want to be straight with us on that along with item 1 here show a pattern of hers for not talking about issues if she can help it. Much like she doesn't criticize the DNC for having more debates, which would give her more of a chance to be vocal on her stances on issues, instead of continuing the pattern of hiding her views/stances publicly that she's shown here, and perhaps someone that is viewed as her agent in DWS of the DNC is doing for her benefit.

Biden would face the same challenges that many of us feel that Hillary has failed with, and would have to do a complete and honest dump of why he pushed the bankruptcy bill in to law. Something that could help us understand the pressures he was dealing with as a human being, and perhaps could help us understand what he did and why he did it then, and why he wouldn't let that happen in the future. Otherwise, people like many of us Bernie supporters will write him off like we've been not supporting Hillary.

We've waited way too long for a leader who is a straight shooter, and we feel that Bernie can be that person we've waited a long time for, and he needs to be president and not VP. Warren could have also been that person as president, but not as a VP. Neither of them can be a great straight shooter honest VP if their president isn't also on board with doing that as well and wants them to behave the way he/she does.

[dmosh42]

3. I always saw Biden as a 'free pass' for big business, like HRC, and Warren couldn't exists with that

[peacebird]

5. Yup

[book_worm]

6. Biden would need a younger running mate

Just as Bernie & Hillary would. Sorry to say that and I'm sure I'll be accused of ageism, but we need to be building up some younger leaders in the party. I think Warren would be most helpful to a Biden presidency (or even a Hillary or Bernie presidency) in the Senate.

[restorefreedom]

7. agree that warren and sanders will be forces to contend with

no matter what happens.

but i think we need warren in the senate. she is a strong voice there.

as for biden, only he knows if he will run. i do wish he would decide, becsuse pollsters keep playing games.

based on the colbert interview, it is hard to imagine he is ready for this...he all but said he is not up for it.

[CTyankee]

12. The thing is, of all states, MA is more than likely to have a wealth of good, progressive

dems who could do what she is doing in the Senate. I wouldn't view that as a loss.

[restorefreedom]

13. ma would have a good talent pool for sure

i would like to see more of them out there if this veep thing becomes more likely.

[CTyankee]

15. It would be different of course if she were in a swing state but MA is reliablly blue...

[restorefreedom]

17. but other than that meeting

is there any info out there to suggest she wants veep?

some people do. but some prefer to stay in the senate.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

20. No, it doesn't, and no, they couldn't.

Warren isn't the power to be reckoned with that she is simply because she's a 'good, progressive Dem'. It's because of her special knowledge of finance tied to the 'good progressive Dem' part. That's a combination that's damn rare. Most of the people who understand finance and economics as well as she does are already corrupted into the system, and playing to maintain it. Even the ones on the 'Dem' side of the aisle.

[MADem]

53. MA also produced Shitt Romney, Scott Brown, and Charlie Baker.

It ain't as easy as some think to get a Dem elected.

The electorate is split three ways, pretty much, between Dems, GOP and those pesky independents who are sometimes a) racist and b) sexist.

You'd think "liberal" Massachusetts would have had a female Senator before Warren, but NO--she's the first. You'd think "liberal" Massachusetts would have had an elected female governor, but NO--we've only had one who 'fleeted up' when the Republican left to be an ambassador. And she routinely had her ass handed to her, for things she deserved, and things she did not deserve.

MA is not an "easy" liberal outpost. It's ... complicated.

[LWolf]

8. I have zero interest in Biden,

and I don't think Warren would run with him. I don't think Bernie is going to say, "Oh, hi, Joe. You running? I'll just drop out." I don't think Biden brings anything to the table that HRC doesn't except for perhaps more emotional draw. He doesn't bring the issues that are driving Sanders supporters. I don't think Biden will win the nomination. He's welcome to jump in and divide HRC's support, though.

If Warren decides to run on a ticket as VP, I think it will be a Sanders/Warren ticket, and THAT is a ticket that would sweep the nation.

[CTyankee]

16. Perhaps so. I just don't think we should ignore the groundswell of sympathy and respect

for Biden that has come to pass. Some things that happen cause transformation in how people think and what direction we should take...

[demwing]

62. I don't want a tepid win

I want Bernie's revolution

[CTyankee]

67. It's what I want. I want him to continue barnstorming this country and getting huge

crowds of energetic supporters. And I want Warren to run as his VP. It would be fulfillment of my dream.

[LWolf]

84. I'm not ignoring it.

Let me clarify: I have zero interest in Biden as a candidate or POTUS.

I DO have sympathy and respect for him. I don't think that we should choose a POTUS based on that, though.

[CTyankee]

86. I agree. As I have said repeatedly, I was first and foremost a huge Warren supporter.

I was terribly disappointed when she said she wasn't running. Now I am supporting Bernie with all my heart. I trust he will be guided by the same wisdom he has shown us all the last few months (and before!).

[appalachiablue]

22. +1. A Sanders-Warren ticket would be invincible. What a great movement that would create!

[CTyankee]

24. I'm a Sanders supporter but he doesn't carry the populist message to as many

people as Warren would.

Look, what I am suggesting is not any kind of pact with the Devil. I just think Joe has a great deal of respect and affection among voters. They know him.

[appalachiablue]

26. No pact with the Devil at all. For Biden I have much respect but I don't see him as

the forceful leader needed to advance real changes we must begin now to address the many urgent challenges in the US and world.
A brilliant and dynamic force I would love to see Warren run but she's made it clear that's not her intention unfortunately.

How this unfolds will be very important that's for sure. It's a crucial time in our history with so much at stake.

[CTyankee]

29. I guess that was why I was looking for an "energy field" that would excite the progressive

base and be better known to voters who know Biden but don't know Bernie as well. I think if Joe is open to their ideas and wants to update his own, it might be a way to actually make that change. And I think if Bernie believed in Biden's "conversion" he would see the wisdom of joining forces.

Don't get me wrong: my heart and soul is with Bernie but he isn't as well known as he deserves to be. However, I do see glimmerings out there that give me hope...

[cascadiance]

78. You want to get a new generation of millennials on board to support someone like Biden?

Won't happen! Not a winning ticket with this generation as they learn more of the truths that will come out in the campaign.

Read more here:

http://www.ibtimes.com/joe-biden-backed-bills-make-it-harder-americans-reduce-their-student-debt-2094664

Joe Biden Backed Bills To Make It Harder For Americans To Reduce Their Student Debt
By David Sirota

Jennifer Ryan did not love the idea of taking on debt, but she figured she was investing in her future. Eager to further her teaching career, she took out loans to gain certification and later pursued an advanced degree. But her studies came at a massive cost, leaving her confronting $192,000 in student loan debt.

“It’s overwhelming,” Ryan told International Business Times of her debts. “I can’t pay it back on the schedule the lenders have demanded."

In the past, debtors in her position could have used bankruptcy court to shield them from some of their creditors. But a provision slipped into federal law in 2005 effectively bars most Americans from accessing bankruptcy protections for their private student loans.

In recent months, Democrats have touted legislation to roll back that law, as Americans now face more than $1.2 trillion in total outstanding debt from their government and private student loans. The bill is a crucial component of the party’s pro-middle-class economic message heading into 2016. Yet one of the lawmakers most responsible for limiting the legal options of Ryan and students like her is the man who some Democrats hope will be their party's standard-bearer in 2016: Vice President Joe Biden.

...

Biden is a recipe for many of them staying home instead of coming out to vote like they would for Sanders who wants to help alleviate student debt very vocally in many ways.

[djean111]

10. That would be the most cynical ploy I have ever seen.

Going for the sympathy card, wasting Warren as a VP to a bankster buddy. There is nothing Bernie could say that would get me on board.
looks like the DNC is flailing around, trying to keep a corporate candidate as the nominee.

Or this may just be the musing of an older woman who has a lifelong progressive dream and wants to see it come to pass...

I am an older woman with a lifelong progressive dream, and Biden is not it, and Warren as VP just gets her lovely and inconvenient-to-the-banks self out of congress. Nope. not buying that, sorry.

[CTyankee]

14. I think people can change and great sorrow in ones life can be life changing...

It can happen.

I am not cynical at all. I'm trying to see some possibilities here for change.

[djean111]

18. I am not going to count on the Biden who just now said "I am not a populist" to change his

politics and close relationships with Wall Street and the banks. I will not. This is cold, hard money, power, and politics.

[CTyankee]

34. I heard that he said he wasn't a populist. I hadn't heard the second part about having

"close relationships with Wall STreet and the banks." Can you tell me where I can find that statement?

[djean111]

37. If you look at reply #9 in this thread there are links to some stuff about Biden.

he was responsible for a bankruptcy bill that heavily favored banks, and some other things that are as far from liberal as one can get. yes, he is very pleasant, i get that.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/128051991

[CTyankee]

38. yes, I know about the past. Please, I am quite aware of his past positions but my point

is that he is not on that side any more. I am Googling now to find ANY restatement of these past positions and what I am finding is the reverse. I think you'll find what I found...give it a shot...

[djean111]

41. I appreciate the effort you are making, but I support Bernie Sanders, and Biden himself has said

he is no Bernie Sanders. A man who found it in himself to treat Anita Hill the way he did is not a man I can support.
And I do not trust that Biden has changed at all, he said he was no populist, and you need to believe that he is not.
I trust what Warren said about Biden, and I will stick to that.

[CTyankee]

45. How long ago was the Anital Hill incident?

Warren's statement was made 13 years ago. I haven't heard her say it recently. And she met with him recently...

[djean111]

47. Are you actually thinking that there is something you can say that would make me support Biden

instead of Bernie? really? Bernie never would have done the things Biden has done in the first place.
Case really closed.

[CTyankee]

49. No. I do however wish you well. We are both good Democrats...

[olddots]

60. I remember reading Biden's eyss during the Anita Hill hearings

like it was yesterday .That video has probably been de-magged .

[CTyankee]

63. Yep. It was what it was...in 1991

hmm, 24 years ago...

you may be interested there is a movie called Confirmation that is coming out about that famous hearing. I wonder who will play Biden and if Biden will have a statement about it when it appears...

[appalachiablue]

23. +1. Same, waste of Warren to maintain a corporate candidate and end progressivism. No way!

[99Forever]

11. Bwahaha

Kewl story bro!

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

19. I think you should quit bogarting that joint.

Cause obviously that's some powerful stuff you're smoking.

Bernie's not on an ego trip, you got that part right. But Biden is pretty darn close to Hillary in politics, and Bernie wouldn't step aside for him, even if Warren was going to be VP. VP doesn't set the agenda, the President does. Bernie might step aside for a Warren Pres / Biden VP ticket, but certainly not the reverse. That's why Bernie waited to see if Warren was going to enter the race.

[CTyankee]

30. You don't know all that for certain, do you?

It would be quite a feat if you read the minds and hearts of all three of these people. I certainly cannot say with 100% certainty but I at least said I was speculating. Sure, I was thinking "outside the box."

I guess I'm not as sure of my considerations and thinking as everyone else thinks they are. I read the declarations made by mind readers (forget smoking something) in this forum on exactly everything that they "know" is true about every single Democrat.


Everybody here is some sort of Nostradamus...

[Attorney in Texas]

21. Warren said she isn't running; Biden and his family may not have the emotional strength to run

according to Biden's own assessment.

Leaving aside the fact that neither candidate in your hypothetical is running, Warren is not a fan of Biden:

“The group that will be most affected by the changes in the bankruptcy legislation Senator Biden so forcefully supports will be women, particularly women heads of household who are supporting children,” Warren wrote in the Harvard Women’s Law Journal.

“Not a single women’s group that has spoken publicly about the bankruptcy bill agrees with him, but his public position as a champion of women seems untarnished,” Warren added, according to the International Business Times.

...

Portraying Biden as a "zealous advocate on behalf of one of his biggest contributors," Warren in the 2002 article noted the connection between the credit card industry and Biden's home state of Delaware.

Responding to the renewed attention the article was receiving, a Biden aide told the IBT that “the vice president has been a champion for middle-class families and has fought against powerful interests.”... A year later, in 2003, Warren wrote in her book The Cement Life Raft that “[s]enators like Joe Biden should not be allowed to sell out women in the morning and be heralded as their friend in the evening.”

In 2005, Warren testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and faced down a contentious line of questioning by Biden, who portrayed Warren's portrayal of the bankruptcy legislation as "mildly demagogic."

I'm a huge Warren supporter, and she has far too much integrity to join a Biden campaign (which would crush the campaign of Sanders who is much ideologically closer to Warren and damage Clinton's campaign, who is also closer to Warren than Warren is to Biden). Biden has a great personal story and he has been a good and loyal VP, but he holds no appeal ideologically to the progressive wing of the party, and he is too late to the game to take the centrist/establishment support that Clinton has already locked up.

So, this is not going to happen.

Yet even if a Biden-Warren ticket did happen, it would fizzle.

In order to have any remote chance of capturing Sanders support, the ticket would have to be Warren-Biden, not Biden-Warren. Everyone likes Biden personally; it's his career-long centrist, pro-bankster, pro-predatory-credit-cartel, hawkish, pro-harsh-penalties-for-drug-possession policies that progressives do not like.

Either Biden would have to change from a caterpillar to butterfly overnight, or Warren would have to sell out. SPOILER ALERT: neither of those two things is going to happen.

If anyone thinks that Clinton is being harshly attacked for a lack of authenticity, these attacks would pale in comparison to the charges of flip-floppery and opportunism if either Biden or Warren betrayed their entire careers to sign onto the same platform because Biden has historically opposed the best of what Warren represents and Warren stands opposed to much of the career's work from the "Senator from MBNA."

I'm a fan of Biden as a person, but he's to the right of Clinton and Clinton is too much of a centrist for my taste.

If I were picking a candidate based on who would be best to grab a beer with, Biden would make the short list, but I pick candidates based on their ideology, past progressive goals attained, and platform, and Biden does not make the short list (or even the medium length list) by this criteria. I suspect that Warren feels the same way.

[CTyankee]

31. I wasn't a Biden fan back in the day either when he was doing what I didn't like.

Are you -- is ANYONE -- on this board 100% certain he feels the same way now as he did back in the early 2000s?

I'd really like to know because then I would ask you HOW you know...

[MuseRider]

55. No I certainly don't know how he actually feels now

and that is a good part of the point. I DO know where Bernie stands, has always stood. He stands for us, not the banks, the wealthy, the credit card companies and certainly not Wall Street.

Biden would come in for me at about the point Hillary does, not unless I have to.

Anita Hill was a long time ago but Clarence Thomas is still going strong.

Sorry, no interest. Seems like a fun and nice guy but no interest in continuing what is presently going on in Washington.

[CTyankee]

56. I will do what I can to have Bernie win our CT primary.

I am liking what he is doing all across the country. I was thrilled with his reception in the South. The man is lightening in a bottle...I hope his fame and popularity spreads like wildfire...

[MuseRider]

57. YAY!

I agree with you totally on this. I keep pinching myself. I am afraid to really believe but I do, I most certainly do believe in him but the American political system....that makes me very nervous.

[CTyankee]

58. yeah, I get nervous, too...I remember so well getting exciting about a progressive

candidate and then having the rug pulled out from under them (or worse, like Bobby Kennedy). Heh, my husband and I go back so far we still use the expression "clean for Gene," primarily for whether he is freshly shaved and doesn't have stubble...now that's OLD...

[MuseRider]

64. Oh yes!

I was not paying nearly enough attention but my first vote was 1972. I have a very poor record for electing Presidents.

[CTyankee]

70. It gets weird when you go back so far no one remembers what the hell you are talking about...

I feel like asking "Is everybody who remembered this dead?"

I don't like that feeling...

[MuseRider]

71. Ha Ha me too!

It is like those little boxes that you have to click to show what age group you are in. Now there is only one, sometimes two, but mostly only one above me. THAT has freaked me out a bit!

[CTyankee]

73. Yep. That's us...still mouldering away...

[MuseRider]

74. *sigh*

the only thing good about it is that we are doing it with the company of some very cool, good people and our music will be GREAT in the old folks home I am looking forward to having the entertainment come in and play Rolling Stones on the piano for us. We can tap the wood blocks to Sympathy For The Devil.

[CTyankee]

40. Warren wrote that over 10 years ago...

It is now 2015, not 2002...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

25. Nope. Take the Biden part out.

[tishaLA]

27. the other day, I was reminded of Biden's support for

Legislationt hat makes it virtually impossible to eliminate student loan debti n bankruptcy. And I rememberedh ow disgusted I was when that law passed. That, in addition to his Iraq war vote, his behavior during the Thomas confirmation hearings, etc...

Just no.

[CTyankee]

32. How long ago was that? And what has changed?

If you say "nothing" I would say your are wrong. For starters, even Republicans now disavow the invasion of Iraq. And Biden is part of an administration trying to get tuition free education at public colleges/universities. And Thomas is a laughing stock and a disgrace.

I don't know why you want to go all the way back to that history since Biden has been part of what Obama has done to redirect the course of that whole history. It's as if there was a time warp on Biden here in some people's minds. And I can't quite figure it out.

People move on. Let's face it...

[tishaLA]

36. the bankruptcy bill was in 2005, I think

and, while it's true that "people move on," Biden, in the sway of the banks, doesn't allow other people to move on when he supports and promotes laws that make the discharge of student loan debt nearly impossible.

I understand that people respect Biden and think he's a good guy; I have no doubt that, on a personal level, he is a good guy. But, while he talks like a regular person, I will not ignore his history of supporting (and writing) legislation that harms regular people.

[magical thyme]

28. Biden authored the Patriot Act, the Bankruptcy act and 3-Strikes; he helped draft the police asset

seizure and police militarization laws, as well as twice increasing the penalties for the drug laws (including mj). And he gave us Clarence Thomas on the supreme court while sabotaging Anita Hill's case by not letting witnesses testify.

I don't know what's in Bernie's heart, but I find it hard to believe that he would endorse somebody who is on the opposite side of his college plans, his de-militirize the police plans, etc.

[CTyankee]

33. Then why is he part of a team with Obama to right those wrongs?

What makes you think he hasn't moved forward when much of the rest of the country has done so?

What you have cited I am well aware of. However, it's past history. IMO, it's time for an update in what some people KNOW is in Biden's belief system today. If he came out and re-iterated his support for ALL of those past positions, I would say you are right. But he hasn't. So until he does or further clarifies, we don't know.

[djean111]

39. So - when does Biden come out and say he is going to right those wrongs?

I am not going to support any politician in the hope that he has changed. That, IMO, would be foolish. You don't support a politician because you think and hope he has changed, you look at their record.
The whole idea of a Biden/Warren ticket is foolish, I think, and it is not a winner.

[CTyankee]

42. He already has on most of them. I just did a Google search and found some recent articles

where he has clearly changed his mind. It's easy enough to do. plenty of entries to choose from...

[djean111]

44. In the nicest possible way, I am trying to tell you that i cannot conceive of supporting Biden

for president. I support Bernie Sanders. And I don't care who Biden would pick as a possible VP, because the VP position is pretty much like Queen Elizabeth. And to take Warren out of the senate would suit wall Street just fine, but not those who need her there, fighting for us.

[CTyankee]

48. I am voting for Bernie in our CT Primary. So I am right there with you on my support for him and

his policy positions.

And I will also work as a volunteer on his campaign. I will door knock in my neighborhood and phone bank to Dems on primary voting day.

[djean111]

50. That is fantastic! This is what we need to concentrate on, not other candidates. n/t

[CTyankee]

51. I have done same in just about every campaign in the last several years...

We have an extremely active, progressive Democratic Party here in CT. My ward is one of New Haven's BEST wards for Dems. I love doing political work and getting out and working for someone I believe in...

[reformist2]

35. So is this the official unveiling of establishment's post-Hillary Plan B???

To tell people that Biden is the "reasonable" choice for Bernie fanatics?

[CTyankee]

43. I"m one of those Bernie supporters! And I supported him on day one. I have followed

him for some time and when he announced I have been closely following. I will vote for Bernie Sanders in our CT primary.

[Warren DeMontague]

46. Why, specifically, would Sanders - or Warren- want to support an enthusastic drug warrior

And backer of the 2005 bankruptcy bill?

No thanks. Last thing we need, in 2016, is an unrepetant drug war promoter in the white house.

Even Hillary Clinton- to her credit, mind you- has started giving clear and cogent answers on the question of leaving states alone on the issue of legal marijuana. Liz Warren has gone even further in sounding rational on the issue.

Biden has my deepest sypathy for his personal loss, but in terms of supporting him in the primaries he would need to make it extremely clear that he's done a 180 on a big chunk of his history as a legislator.

[MADem]

52. Mr. MNBA-Credit Card and the Anti-Wall Street/Anti-Bankster champion?

Why not a Whitey Bulger-Ghost of J. Edgar Hoover ticket, for all the sense that makes?

They have NOTHING IN COMMON politically.

[CTyankee]

61. so why did Elizabeth Warren give him the time of day back when she met with him and

was so gracious about their conversation? Given their former adversarial relationship, that seems...um...different...

[MADem]

66. Do you think Liz Warren is some kind of rude animal?

Were you a fly on the wall at their "gracious" conversation?

She could have been giving him post VP employment or investment advice, for all you know. I've seen no video of the meeting, nor a transcript.

She's from the opposite end of the party as he is.

The man is the Vice President of the United States. He is a good guy, even though the two of them differ MIGHTILY on a number of issues.

The office deserves respect, no matter what a person thinks of the individual holding it. I think if Vice President CHENEY had asked to meet her while he was VP, she would have gone to see him as well--it's a protocol thing in all cases, not necessarily an "On The Same Page" thing.

[CTyankee]

68. what a question to ask, MAdem? I'm a bit stunned...

As for fly on a wall, of course not! SHE is the one who revealed it. Yes, for all I know it was giving him some advice but IIRC she said they had a good conversation on the direction of the party (I'll have to look up the direct quote from her). I guess that's what the leaders of a political party do. But she announced it...it wasn't "leaked." I assume that has some significance, but neither I, nor you, know what it is. Hence my speculation which is non-judgmental and hardly merits some of the stuff being flung at me.

Oh well...this is GDP after all...shudda known better...things get hot here and I get it...

[MADem]

83. I just don't think any of us know what that was all about, so it's

pointless to speculate. It could have been about legislation, it could have been about her 'peer role' in the Senate (Biden IS the President of the Senate, after all), it could have been about a number of things related to DNC business; and Biden could have been carrying water for Obama on a separate issue entirely.

Warren didn't offer up a whisper of a hint on the topic, and neither did Biden, yet the """media""" ran with a couple of no-story stories (as though Warren put on her track shoes and ran through the streets to the Observatory, and Biden rode on the roof of an Acela from Delaware with all deliberate speed) with a lot of hot breath and .... nuthin'.

If there was any 'there' there, surely someone would have said SOMETHING....but there's nothing. Nada. Zip.

It just seemed like media shitstirring to me--it's all they ever seem to do. They take a comment and blow it all out of proportion, and it ends up being wrong, or false, or fake, or just not how it is portrayed.

[CTyankee]

85. It's ok, MAdem. I don't take any of this personally...as I said I was speculating and

without more, it is just playing out a scenario in my head.

I, too, think it is too early to do much more. I am interesting in what has happened to Joe Biden and his own political journey. And a lot has happened to the guy.

All I know is I am not exactly who I was 10 years ago. Some beliefs are rock hard and are part of who I am. Some attitudes have changed. Just like everyone else. I am trying to have more of a sense of humor about myself actually...

[MADem]

87. I think Joe Biden has had a long career; he's been wonderful in many respects and he's also done

some really, REALLY stupid (Anita Hill) stuff. He's also unlikely to convince anyone that he's renounced his credit card roots...and that's where any potential pairing just doesn't work. Also, she looks easily fifteen years younger than her stated age--20 in pictures. But she's pushing 70. There would need to be some youth on the ticket.

He is a devout Roman Catholic (and those views are rock hard) and they could become problematic, too. He has flipped flopped on choice in the past. And all that other stuff--the Neil Kinnock, the health issues, the intemperate remarks--the media would amplify it to the point of absurdity. They aren't fair, and we shouldn't expect them to be. If we expect the worst we will not be disappointed.

If he is thinking about a ticket with Betsy Warren, that's just ... inauthentic. They simply don't 'go' together. It looks fake, forced, and pander-iffic. In order for the ticket to work, she would have to subjugate herself to his views, or they'd have to play some bullshit "agree to disagree" game and the press would tear them up.

Remember when pro-choice GHW Bush had to kiss the Reagan boot and "renounce" his beliefs? His wife Barbara threw some "suggestion" in an interview that they didn't really mean it, and the press made some hay for awhile. Well, that pairing would be like that, but on steroids.

If this was even about running, it was probably about funding and endorsements as opposed to a pairing--but who knows, anymore?

All of the "rules" have gone out the window, logic no longer prevails.

[Dems to Win]

54. If the Establishment must draft a new candidate, I suggest Al Franken

Al did NOT vote for the Iraq War, as Biden did (Franken was not yet in the Senate).

Franken has some celebrity star power, so he would perhaps be the best to go up against Trump.

Bernie won't be stepping aside for any establishment politician, and I'm with Bernie.

[CTyankee]

59. I'm with Bernie, too, as I have stated. But it's like preaching to the choir here...

we don't call it "the people's republic of New Haven" for nothing...

[CTyankee]

69. I can hear it now "Al is a comedian." Ugh.

I adored Al Franken's show back in the day. He used to have these silly little intro songs for his guests...one of them was "Carry on Joe Conason..." I remember he came on the radio right after Stephanie Miller in those dark day after Kerry lost the election...

I was in shock for a week...

[Todays_Illusion]

65. The MSM is only pushing Joe because he is an easier target than Bernie. No go for nice guy Joe.

I think a Joe Biden candidacy would be a waste as for Elizabeth, I think she is a secret pet of the lefty libertarians. Beware they are the ones using that old xenophobic isolationist and racist term "Populist."

Populists are NOT liberal and are NOT Democratic or democratic.

Our language is being abused to misinform and manipulate us.

[tammywammy]

72. If you like Warren, why would you want to neuter her ability for effective change

By making her a VP? I agree with Ben Franklin that the officeholder would be better called "Your Superfluous Excellency". That's especially true if you tie Warren to someone the complete opposite of her - Biden.

[fadedrose]

75. From one really old woman to an older woman

I hope it comes true.

But include in your dreams an important position for Bernie. I couldn't bear it to see him go back to the Senate without any friends there..

Bernie is such an amazing and honest man, not on an ego trip, as you said, and is tired of the country being run by crooks and greedy CEO's.

[CTyankee]

79. Let's hold the good thought!

[tularetom]

77. Warren is a treasure and too valuable to waste in the VP spot

Now a Warren-Biden ticket would be something I could get behind.

[Zorra]

80. Elizabeth Warren will never accept being Biden's VP.

I don't understand why or how anyone even believes that this is even a remote possibility.

They are apples and oranges. They are on two different planets, ideologically speaking.