The "Evolution" of Joe Biden..

[Peacetrain]

Joe Biden is the man who has walked a thousand miles in the shoes of others... He is not new to this political scene, and has had his world views challenged and met the challenge.. He is able to hear others and take steps to change his course..

He has lived an amazing life of service and pain... In his first term as a new Senator, a truck hit the car his wife, baby daughter and two sons were in... His wife and daughter died.. and he cared for his seriously injured sons.. while trying to carry out his duties as a new elected senator.. I do not know how he did it... how he did not stop and refuse to go another step.. yell at a universe so unfair.. but like so many who have gone before him in loss... he pulled himself together.. and kept moving forward..

I think this is the best man to move us forward post Trump.. he understands one foot in front of another ... and you keep slogging on..

Yes Joe Biden has evolved.. and grown..into that man we love and shows us all.. that we do not have to be prisoners to our circumstances.. it is not easy..but it is necessary..

Hopefully we all evolve.. we all learn.. we are not born to this life knowing every right thing to say, every right move to make..but if we listen to others .. open ourselves up to others .. we can become better people

[zipplewrath]

1. On some things

On others he has not.
Depending upon which one a voter finds important, may have a lot to do with whether they support him.

[olegramps]

8. Being the legislature for that long has its drawbacks.

Bills are often loaded down with amendments designed to force the opposition into voting against them. For example McCain was compelled to vote against a number veterans bills because of this and drew criticism for it. The same applies to virtually every member of congress, Democrat or Republican and Independent. It a nasty place at best. Your best friends can be supports today and piling on the wagon of hate the next. The most important job of nearly every member is getting reelected. The hell with what is right. They people could justify pushing their grandmother in wheelchair onto the freeway.

[Peacetrain]

10. Yep... and that is true

[zipplewrath]

11. Yup

But when you SPONSOR bills, ya really don't have that excuse doncha know.

[karynnj]

12. You do if you can argue that the good outweighted the bad AND the bad was needed to get the votes

The problem is when a reasonable look at a bill shows that the bad will outweigh the good. In Biden's case, an example of this is the various bankruptcy bills.

[olegramps]

14. Unfortunately, that is not how the opposition will present it to their followers.

The polarization has just about left out any chance that opposition will believe one word of truth. It is all hate politics at the present time with Trump stroking the fires every day. His presidency is having a detrimental effect on the very welling being of the nation and could compromise its future. He has absolutely no regard for the need of the president to rise above petty differences to unite the people as one. The Republicans have been increasingly taking this tactic since the election Nixon and his Southern Strategy campaign. Their attacks on Kerry were down right evil and their constituency increasingly lost sight of any concept of unity of the nation. It has degenerated to the stage that perhaps it will not be able to recover. It is like a cancer that is eating away any hope of unity of purpose. Democracies are fragile beings at best that are based on the common good. The situation is degenerating into one that is increasingly making any reconciliation and hope of cooperation hopeless. There is one important, if not the most important key to problem. It is the ownership of over one thousand radio station and nearly 40 Tv stations by Clear Channel that as spewing a message of hatred 24//7. They are not engaged in free speech, but outright demagoguery. I would urge those who a future for the nation to urge their representatives to make this a priority.

[karynnj]

15. I agree, but was speaking of how old "bad votes" must be addressed in the primary

The problem is that while there is value to experience, anyone with a long record - especially as a legislator - will likely have some votes that will look far worse now than they did years ago. In 2008, I had early on decided I was absolutely against Edwards and Clinton in the primary, but was concerned that Obama, though extremely impressive, might be too much a rookie. I rejected the solid liberal Dodd (Countrywide mortgage), Richardson (NM voter corruption in 2004 and other reasons). That left Biden. In 2008, his record on women (Anita Hill) and the bankruptcy bill added to various times I was unimpressed watching the Senate from 2005 on, led me to fall back and support Obama. Then, I did not buy the idea that those times were different as others, like John Kerry, who was my choice until he gave a speech saying he would not run, had been consistently good on women's and other civil rights, the environment, and economic inequity.

Now, one thing I can say in Biden's favor is that he consistently - on many issues - evolved - continually in what I (and I assume most of DU) agree with. Those shifts were not recent - nor has he wiggled back and forth - as if following the wind. This time, I am still undecided. There is some real attraction in the thought that Biden, with all his connections, could immediately help us regain our place in the world. However, I am reminded that in 2008, our reputation changed almost instantly when Obama was elected -- and where GWB had major problems, they were nothing compared to the stark break in foreign policy that happened under Trump. I think ANY Democratic President 46 would be a return to normal foreign policy -- and they will have a DEEP bench from which to name a Secretary of State and - like Obama - they can name many people as special envoys.

I totally agree with you on what ANY candidate will face when running against the Republicans. I think what they did to Kerry shows that we need new strategies to immediately counter lies. This is especially hard as they are progressively microtargeting their attacks to people who might be vulnerable to believing them -- while people like most of us never see them. (In 2004, they did this with micro targeted direct mail flyers and some primitive social media. By 2016, it was like there were two realities.)

Kerry's case is informative because the biggest charges against him were absolutely false. His values and positions were unusually consistent over a long public life. While the media spoke of the Kerry version and the SBVT version of his service, the truth was it was the official NAVY record of his service vs the SBVT. Kerry had a reputation as being a clean politician. He was prepared to defend his 1971 protests, including with the movie Going Up River. Instead, the main attacks were on his strengths.

[olegramps]

16. All of what you say is true.

Isn't the basic problem that far too many people have succumbed to blaming scape goats for their situation? Rather than acknowledging the fact the world economies are rapidly changing as technology and global trading have become a powerful factor in creating a situation that is beyond their control. The demand is for leadership. Trump is perhaps their worse enemy, because he creates false hopes that are in realty are nothing more than demagoguery that is allowing him to take advantage of the situation. It is an old story dating from ancient times.

Any hope that the Republican Party will provide any thing more than hatred and division is an exercise in delusion. The ship of reason has long ago sailed when it comes to the Republican Party. They have throw in the lot with the most divisive factions of our society. They have willingly chosen to embrace the most bizarre nonsense ever uttered to secure their support. There is one and only one hope for the future.

The ballot box.

It totally eclipses the tangled and protracted legalism that so many amuse themselves as being paramount factors. Their eloquence in which they take with such personal importance are silenced with the simple casting of a vote. Trump and his retinue of bootlicking opportunists can be magically vanquished in the matter of day. This is what Trump most fears. He is desperate and realizes that for whom the bell tolls, tolls for him. Yes, the tide is changing and it is going to sweep the sands clean like a magic slate. I believe that the quest for justice still burns eternal in the soul of the nation. This board is the living proof.

[bigtree]

2. Biden approached most things with passion and conviction

...that's going to make backtracking almost impossible.

If he reverses on an issue it'll likely be a epiphany, more than an evolution.

But, let's look at his appeal as Pres. Obama's VP.

Joe was chosen on the Obama ticket to appease the wwc vote (males). What would it represent to have him at the top of the ticket? Would he need to have an Obama-like running mate to succeed?

[Peacetrain]

4. That is a good question... who would he pick?

Because who ever he picks will most likely be running for President in 2024.. we are talking the realities of age here.. and VP Biden deserves to have some retirement time with his family... its a heck of a lot to ask of him and all the older pols to run, but their experience will be so needed, when Trump finally finishes trashing our government.. they (the right wing) always said they wanted to drown it in a bathtub.. the government .. He has to pick someone who can work with him, the way he and President Obama worked together..and that is sometimes pushing (which Pence is unable to do with Trump) against them..... as a woman, we are way past the time that a woman should have been on the ticket or headed the ticket.. so I would love to see a woman, or POC on the ticket.. but that is a call each person who takes up the mantle has to make.. I do not think he should announce it prematurely to run as a pair.. I read that somewhere and it does not seem like such a good idea for me..

[Cha]

6. Wow.. I never thought of Biden

as an "appeasement" choice of President Obama.

I thought he chose him for his experience and qualifications.

[Socal31]

7. VP is about Electoral College.

And I see nothing wrong with playing the game as it is.

[Mr Tibbs]

3. My core beliefs have never evolved

My core beliefs will never evolve

[Cha]

5. Mahalo, Peacetrain.

[Peacetrain]

9. Hi Cha!!!

[Cha]

13. Hoa Aloha, Peacetrain!