Joe Biden's 'West Wing' fantasy

[brooklynite]

CNN

Former Vice President and current Democratic front-runner Joe Biden is a good guy. In fact, that's his primary argument for why he deserves the presidency: He's America's Uncle, a literal regular Joe who wants to bring respectability back to the Oval Office, uniting the warring houses of red and blue in the common goal of mopping up the toxic sewage pouring out of President Donald Trump's White House.

It's a heartwarming aspiration, on the face of it. But Biden's statement Monday that he'd be open to choosing a Republican running mate -- as offhand or pandering as it may have been -- underscores just how much of his appeal is rooted in made-for-TV fantasy like "The West Wing," rather than modern political reality.

In an Exeter, New Hampshire, town hall, Biden told the crowd he's willing to keep the option open, even if he couldn't name a worthy cross-the-aisle veep candidate offhand. "There are some really decent Republicans that are out there still!" he said. "But here's the problem right now: They've got to step up."

Here's the real problem: "Decent" Republicans have had countless opportunities to "step up," beginning long before Donald Trump was elected. But those who stepped up to criticize him have fallen in line, rendering their criticism hollow. They could have condemned the racist "birther" slurs Trump used to slander his predecessor, Barack Obama. They could have rejected his public history of gross misogyny and alleged sexual misconduct. Their leadership could've called out the lies and xenophobia embedded in his campaign rhetoric, and that still define many of his policies as president today. Rare exceptions aside, the mainstream GOP has remained aligned in its support of Trump.

Editor's Note: Jeff Yang is a frequent contributor to CNN Opinion, a featured writer for Quartz and other publications, and the co-host of the podcast "They Call Us Bruce." He co-wrote Jackie Chan's best-selling autobiography, "I Am Jackie Chan" and is the editor of three graphic novels: "Secret Identities," "Shattered" and the forthcoming "New Frontiers." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. Read more opinion on CNN.

[DownriverDem]

1. So what?

Biden can win enough states to beat trump. That is all that matters. That is what folks need to look at.

[LeftTurn3623]

12. thats all you look for?

Sorry I look for more than a guy who might win. I sure as hell do not want a guy who is that old with a Republican VP. Nobody knows what can happen with any ones health and Biden is moving pretty damn slow. Last thing I need is to elect a Democratic candidate then something happens and a Republican becomes President. Or just think what will happen if Biden even serves out his 8 years. You would have a VP Republican running for President who would be hard to beat.

Sorry I lost so much respect for Biden after that statement and I hope it comes up in the next debate.


I want someone who will win and put forth a hard left leaning agenda.

[Demsrule86]

17. I hope it comes up also..the field is too crowded. Another attack on

Biden should help the winnowing process.

[BannonsLiver]

18. Oh god the horror of winning and ejecting Dump from the WH

It sounds wonderful....but it’s just not enough.



And for good measure:

[Demsrule86]

19. Beating WARMONGERING Trump is all that matters. But Biden will be a great president...

ready on day one.

[Happy Hoosier]

24. I like Pete, but....

The NUMBER ONE priority is a candidate who can win. All else is secondary.

Also, don't mistake electoral strategy for naivete. Biden knows what he is up against.

[samnsara]

30. if we DONT win we get NOTHING!

..hell i knew a 45 yr old healthy man who dropped dead of a heart attack....and those floating blood clots can get anyone at anytime.


I will vote for the Dem nom..will you?

[samnsara]

31. ummmmmmmmmmm........

[boomer_wv]

2. Why....

Should I take the guy who wrote Jakie Chans biography opinion of Joe Biden more seriously than anyone elses?

[Act_of_Reparation]

5. Because that person is a published biographer...

...while not everyone else knows how many periods go into an ellipsis or how to make nouns possessive?

[boomer_wv]

11. And that

Has what to do with anything?

I think you should try to be more condescending with your next answer though. Really challenge yourself.

[Act_of_Reparation]

33. If A then B.

Having trouble following your own train of thought, or is this normal for you?

[Happy Hoosier]

25. C'mon.... an ad hominem?

[Act_of_Reparation]

32. Not even remotely.

The poster responded by questioning the qualifications of the subject because they wrote a book on what we are to believe is a stupid topic, heavily implying that their opinion was just as good. They thereby made their own qualifications germane to the conversation and I responded in kind.

[boomer_wv]

38. Actually....

It's the kind of attack that someone who has nothing else takes.

You've still not explained why Jackie Chans biographer has any more authority on this subject than anyone else.

[beastie boy]

3. Appears to me that Mr. Yang is arguing against himself.

If his opinion is that there are no decent Republicans around, logic dictates that Biden will never choose a Republican to be his running mate. How this escaped Mr. Yang's train of thought is beyond me.

[PatSeg]

7. Yes

And I would think that was pretty much what Biden was implying. He also could have been talking to the many disillusioned republican voters who feel they've been abandoned by their party and have no where to turn.

We're in the season where journalists and pundits will take one or two phrases, usually out of context, and spin it into an entire news cycle. Meanwhile, the nightmare in the White House could be starting World War III.

[progressoid]

34. Unfortunately Joe Biden thinks there ARE decent Republicans around.

Joe Biden says there are an 'awful lot of really good Republicans out there'

Yang's opinion and Biden's are two different things.

How this escaped your train of thought is beyond me.

[beastie boy]

37. You should make an effort and get to know a Republican or two. You may be shocked to find out Biden

is right.

But, your snark notwithstanding, that was not the point. My point was that Yang's argument, regardless of what you or Biden think about Republicans, is self defeating on its face.

Without deflecting to Biden, can you see it now?

[progressoid]

39. I know too many republicans to count, thank you very much.

It's not deflecting to Biden when he is the subject of the piece. There is rarely bi-partisanship or unity.

legislative compromise comes from genial backslaps and warm hugs less often than a campaigning candidate would like to admit; more often it has emerged from one dominant party slamming through its preferred agenda, and the other grinding it into a more acceptable shape...

...But on "The West Wing," bipartisanship works because its left and right politicians are true believers who strategically want what's best for the nation, even if they "differ in tactics." Disagreements invariably end in begrudging compromise, or with one party -- whichever one is in the wrong -- shamed or exhausted into submission by a rousing monologue. There is no self-dealing or double-dealing; no collusion, no obstruction.

That's not our world. We exist in a timeline where "The West Wing" has been preempted by "The Celebrity Apprentice," and bipartisanship is both a myth and a trap. Joe Biden may actually believe he's a Bartlet pair, all the way down to the initials; or he may be cynically seeking to fly "West Wing" nostalgia all the way to the White House. In either case, for a 77-year-old Democratic frontrunner for president to blithely suggest that he might put a Republican a heartbeat away from the Oval Office is disheartening at best -- and disqualifying at worst.

[beastie boy]

40. But Biden is not the subject of my post. It's me Yang.

His argument is flawed, plain and simple. Stop deflecting.

[progressoid]

41. for a Dem frontrunner to blithely suggest that he might put a Repub a heartbeat from the Oval Office

...for a 77-year-old Democratic frontrunner for president to blithely suggest that he might put a Republican a heartbeat away from the Oval Office is disheartening at best -- and disqualifying at worst...

Seems pretty plain and simple to me. YMMV

[brutus smith]

4. Spot on. I've been saying this for weeks.

Joe might have been a good candidate in the '80's, not now.

[rzemanfl]

6. Et tu? Gotta wash socks, BBL. n/t

[Demsrule86]

16. Well, judging from his lead, many don't agree with you...get used to two words...

`President Biden`.

[BannonsLiver]

20. You'll probably be saying it for weeks to come as well as he racks up wins

Course, repeating something over and over again doesn’t make it true.

[progressoid]

35. Actually, not so much in the 80's.

I think his run only lasted three and a half months.

[Hortensis]

8. Hit piece. No one "deserves" the presidency because

they're nice guys or a particular color or gender.

America is dangerously divided, though, and we must elect a widely trusted and trustworthy leader who can restore stability and hope. In that respect, strongly principled, bighearted VP Biden, liked and respected across our very diverse, bipartisan electorate, is by far the most qualified candidate for the job. No one else comes close.

It would be accurate to say nice Americans deserve a genuinely good person as president.

[Thekaspervote]

21. Agree!!

[Skya Rhen]

28. I agree - and Joe is irrefutably the nicest candidate running. Good people tend to like good

people. This is why he will win.

[Sloumeau]

9. What nonsense. Biden was just being polite.

Few people in America have spent more time wrangling with, fighting with, and dealing with Republicans than Joe Biden. He knows what they are like, and there is no way he would have a Republican as VP. He was merely trying to be polite to a nice lady that asked a question by acting like he would consider a Republican. Reality Check: Joe Biden would never choose a Republican to be VP.

Joe Biden is too polite and too good of a politician to ever admit what he thinks of Republicans. However, after dealing with them in six Senate campaigns and two Presidential campaigns before this Presidential campaign, he knows all of the dirty, low-down tricks that they pull both on the campaign trail and in Congress. Joe Biden is just too experienced at politics not to realize what scumbags Republicans are. He just knows things will be easier in the long run if he never actually verbalizes what he actually believes about Republicans. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, JFK, Truman, and FDR were the same way. I suspect LBJ verbalized what he thought about Republicans, but only behind closed doors, and only to other Democrats. LBJ had a hard time not verbalizing what he really thought.

[BlueTsunami2018]

10. Well, I'll never get those two minutes back.

What a waste of time. This guy has taken a throwaway line and a scenario that will never happen and turned it into something that could actually be considered. It’s garbage.

[Demsrule86]

14. No. And I don't care about this...those who do are not Biden supporters but in most cases

Biden haters...

[Demsrule86]

15. Oh and yeah, I trust Biden who is a straight shooter.

[beastie boy]

22. What exactly do you find wrong with the above quote?

"There are some really decent Republicans that are out there still! But here's the problem right now: They've got to step up."

Do you, like Mr. Yang, know more about the Republicans Biden is referring to than Biden does? Or do you disagree that they have to step up to maintain their reputations?

[Thekaspervote]

23. Is this all ya got?? Really...it's been posted at least 10 times and it isn't denting Biden's

Character or his lead!!!

[GemDigger]

27. Or his DU contributions.

They tell a lot.

[Gothmog]

26. Joe Biden is the only candidate with any foreign policy experience

Link to tweet

[progressoid]

36. And that matters to voters?

[samnsara]

29. and......?