My last primary post: I remain skeptical of Biden because I think a lot of his support...

[redgreenandblue]

...comes from a place of fear. If there is a single underlying theme of his candidacy, to me it is "risk aversion". And from my limited experience, I feel like this doesn't bode well.

We had John Kerry, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton run as "safe" choices for their party, and none of them won. People were saying Obama won't win because he is black, but he did. It was taken for granted that Trump would lose in a landslide because he's nuts, and that didn't happen. The risk aversion seems to be driven mainly by the Boomer generation. I'm a millennial. I simply cannot relate to it.

The first openly gay candidate. The first woman of color. The first openly socialist candidate. Literally any of these would have been bold in some way. Instead, we are about to chose the candidate who is "electable" because he is the oldest and whitest and most non-divisive of the lot. Moreover, we are about to chose a candidate who has a track record of not doing well in public appearances.

I don't have confidence that Biden will pull it off in November. I don't think "getting rid of Trump" will be a sufficiently strong motivator for the electorate. I remain undecided because I'll simply vote for whoever is the nominee, and wish to leave it at that. But I feel like, if we nominate Biden, we will end up having chosen the worst possible option, except for perhaps Bloomberg.

On edit: It is time for Bloomberg and Warren to drop out right about now. They can't win at this point, and the only possible effect they can have is to turn the convention into a shitshow.

[rzemanfl]

1. Expect to be held to your promise.

If "getting rid of Trump" is not a sufficient motivator, this country is fucked.

[Eyeball_Kid]

36. As a political body, Biden's surge brought a sigh of relief.

AS A BODY, the Democratic Party, as a whole, knew of the trap that was, and still is, being set by Trump and Putin (or, Putin and Trump). They have been planning on unleashing the dogs of hell on Sanders by flooding the media with Sanders/Socialism themes to scare the bejesus (without rational justification) out of 70-80% of American voters. Trump WANTS to run against Sanders because he knows that he can effectively marshal all of his domestic and foreign resources against him. He knows that he can get a good portion of the US to listen to and believe his lies about Sanders. The test marketing has long been done on Sanders.

The Sanders ideologues have this one wrong. They won't be able to survive the billions of dollars that will be unleashed against Sanders, who has consistently failed to gain the bonafides that a huge portion of the Democratic Party have offered: official membership in the Democratic Party. This is how the political game is played.

Democrats as a whole have always held back on Sanders because Sanders has always held back on the Democratic Party. Yes, elements of this argument are patently silly. But there's an emotional language that's being spoken, even in silence. And that language tells us that Democrats want a Democrat to represent them. Sanders COULD have joined the party months, years, or decades ago. He consistently refused. He's always wanted it both ways, but his uncompromising stance regarding membership of the Party has its down-side. And now it's being exposed again as Biden runs the table on Super-Tuesday.

Disclaimer: I am not a Biden supporter. I prefer the POLICIES proposed by Sanders. But I know that Sanders likely can't deliver in the general (because of his "branding" problem), and I don't want a "maybe" in the election. I want a certainty. We can't afford a risky choice. The closer approximation of a "certainty" is to present a unified Democratic Party to the ballot sheets, viscerally opposed to Dictator Donnie. So let Biden give all of it some thought before he incorporates Sanders' proposals into his overall platform-- which he MUST do.

[rzemanfl]

40. Not sure you didn't mean to reply to the OP. Mostly excellent post though.

Not sure about "MUST do."

[Walleye]

2. I think Biden's support is more about love than fear

[42bambi]

9. Yes, I too believe voters were voting with the two-factors of emotion, we already know, by

and large, what Biden's political stance is on most issues. Love not hate, hope not fear ... at this time in our lives we do need a healer. Go Joe Go!

[Happy Hoosier]

3. Well Biden wasn't my first choice....

But I think he beats the heck out of Bernie Sanders. That's what matter right now. Biden needs to make a VEEP pick that makes his ticket transformative.

[Locrian]

4. 100% agree

Pretty down right now - I think that the belief (he can win) may be true in the *primary* but not the general election.

I don't think he's "prepared" for the GOP attacks; not only that there will *be* attacks but that he has the capacity to respond.
As well as the lack of any articulation of improving anything (aside from not having trump) - I just don't think it's enough.

I actually *like* Joe - but only Bernie and Liz showed how they would deal with trump in the way they went after Bloomberg. Joe cant do that.

[emmaverybo]

22. Actually, it is Biden who brought up his most oppressive, cruel, and unconstitutional act--stop

and frisk. And it was Biden attacking Trump right out of the gate to the extent that he was accused of trying to make the primary into the GE. It was Biden who defined the 2020 election as a battle for the soul of the nation and made the most profound attack on Trump when he portrayed him as morally unfit to lead America in a speech after El Paso.

Still Biden who presents such a stark contrast with Trump in perception of character.

[brush]

34. Are you serious? Socialist attacks against Sanders would be so much worse....

Joe will handle it, and Bloomberg just threw his support and money behind him.

[Locrian]

45. it's still an alpha male contest

And joe is not up to it - its JOE that is the problem not the platform or ideas

[brush]

50. That's your opinion. Tell us how much alpha male Sanders has...

Last edited Wed Mar 4, 2020, 09:18 PM - Edit history (2)

accomplished in his long career in Congress.

[rzemanfl]

42. That seems to be a common theme today amongst Bernie supporters.

Not that there is anything inherently wrong with a common theme. It depends on where it comes from.

[Orrex]

5. The Left has no mechanisms in place to combat the Rightwing hate machine. None.

So an openly gay candidate, a woman of color, or an openly socialist candidate would be attacked in ways that the existing structure has no way to answer. This is a long-term failing of the Democrats and an unfortunate truth about the Left in general.

If anyone disputes this, I invite them to name a Left-leaning platform with the reach or power of FoKKKs News, or a Left-leaning icon with the impact of Rush "can't die soon enough" Limbaugh.

The mainstream media by and large won't challenge prevailing Republican sentiments, beyond both-siding any issue they deign even to discuss at all, so the homophobic, misogynist, racist, and just plain ignorant attacks by the Right will air uncontested and with little or no substantive rebuttal, and they will be repeated in the public consciousness until they become de facto truth.

Biden was not my first choice. Hell, he's still not my first choice, but Sanders the divider, Sanders the self-declared foe of Democrats and Republicans, Sanders the secretive, is a terrible candidate, no matter how great some of his ideas might be.

[Demsrule86]

26. This is a really great post...we need to develop a plan to defend our own...

[DanTex]

6. I agree completely. "Safe" choices have not worked out well in the recent past.

But hopefully that changes this year.

[Demsrule86]

11. Dan, Sanders has not expanded his base...how bad would it be for us November with him as the nominee

Sanders has less support than last time...look at the turnout in Texas yesterday...Sanders was ahead by 50,000 votes when the same day started coming in. I believe Biden will be the nominee...and win the presidency. Join us.

[PatSeg]

15. I agree

From what I've seen, a lot of voters who supported Sanders in 2016 switched to different candidates this time. His base has not expanded, it has shrunk, except perhaps for some new first-time voters.

[Demsrule86]

24. And the young voters just didn't turn out...it takes time for the young to start voting...maturity.

[k2qb3]

30. I don't think that's it.

It's the same mistake mainline churches were making for decades, thinking the young people will come back when they get old and they'd still have old people.

Turns out it wasn't age, it was when they were born.

X turnout has been stable for 30 years, millennial turnout seems pretty stable too.

I don't think American politics resonates very well with people born after '64, and they're going to remain cynical until something dramatic changes. The old socialist just wasn't the right hook.

[Demsrule86]

46. That is a very good point...my kids vote but then we are very political and have worked

in the party and elections for years.

[PatSeg]

43. That is true

When I was young I had a lot of opinions, but rarely made it to the polls. Also, it might be a good thing that some inexperienced and uninformed voters don't vote. I cringe sometimes when they interview ordinary people on TV about politics. The ignorance is often stunning.

[Backseat Driver]

56. Boomer's saw that confidence in a President/candidate die before their eyes in 1963.

Abraham, Martin, and John - Then America collectively picked up that particular family's social failures and those visions and confidence decided to go with the "safe" political approach - we've been stuck with the GOP-way or the highway since. What Dreams May Come, huh?

&list=PL8F462B79EB88BC6B&index=2&t=0s

[DanTex]

16. The centrists consolidated, the progressives didn't, and young voters didn't turn out.

All that is true. It doesn't change the fact that Biden is not a particularly strong candidate, he seems pretty much like Hillary 2.0, stronger in some ways, weaker in others. "Safe" candidates have lost every presidential election since 2000. Not just on the Dem side. Gore and Kerry were "safe," Bush was a dim-witted man-child. McCain and Romney were "safe", Obama was the young risky inspiring candidate who the establishment said couldn't win (go back and look at what the same people said about Obama in '08). And Hillary was the "safe" choice while Trump is Trump.

I would like nothing more than to be totally wrong and have Biden trounce Trump. That is my dream. I will be dancing in the streets. Literally. I live in NYC, I will walk over to Trump Tower and join the thousands of other people who will be celebrating right in front of it.

But that doesn't change that I don't think Biden is the strongest candidate we could have nominated.

[Demsrule86]

23. He is not 'safe'.Hillary wasn't either she was talented and smart.She was stabbed in the back and of

course we had Comey and the Russians. I think you will be wrong and Biden trounces Trump. I don't see Sanders as a strong candidate myself. But it is hard for me to judge as you know, I dislike Sanders and have not gotten over the 2016 General. But I would have voted for him in the General.

[DanTex]

27. Of course he's "safe". Talented, and smart, and "safe", just like HRC.

Biden is going to be smeared by the GOP the same way Hillary was. Any candidate would be. Yeah, without Russia and Comey, she would have won. But there will be Russia again, and there will be a new "Comey", you can count on that. We need to be able to overcome that.

I hope you're right that Biden will trounce Trump. I think Warren would probably have been the best bet, Sanders second. But that doesn't really matter much anymore, now that Biden has pretty much locked it up.

Yay, we're on the same team now!

[PatSeg]

44. "We're on the same team now!"

What a difference that will make. We really need to come together with a common purpose. This primary has been exhausting.

[Demsrule86]

47. As you know Dan, I enjoy your posts...even when I disagree. Give yourself some time...the primary

isn't over just yet...much as I wish it were. And we were always on the same team...the f'ing destroy Trump team!

[LaurenOlimina]

51. I fear you are right.

[Celerity]

21. +100

I like this post, factual and inclusive, not flat out confrontational. I need to adopt more of this posture myself. It is just very hard to decompress after the viscous attacks on Pete, Biden, Warren that come from most one side of the party.

The other sides surely have or had their fair share of trolls (many still on Twitter, etc, which is a fucking sewer) but nothing like the raw hate spewing from certain environs.

As a young queer woman, the viscious, virulent homophobia (from the hard left!) directed at Pete month after month made my soul hurt. I am still angry. Very angry. I am still waiting for a comprehensive and authentic condemnation of all that from Sanders himself, not some toss-off line at the end of a presser. I fear I shall be waiting the rest of my life.

He needs to take at least partial ownership of his attack legions, legions encouraged by some of his very campaign staff, and also the surrounding ecosphere of organised support and intellectual underpinnings.

[LanternWaste]

53. Again, 'It does not follow..."

Seriously Dan... I honestly think this may help:

'An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments' by Ali Almossawi
(it's simply an antidote to fuzzy thinking, with pictures of furry animals!)

[Ohiogal]

7. I disagree

I think getting rid of Trump is a HUGE motivator.

[PubliusEnigma]

8. His support comes from a place of Solidarity. Join in the fun!

[brooklynite]

10. If you feel that we need an "inspiring" candidate...

...why have those candidates not inspired people to vote for them?

[Demsrule86]

13. Brooklynite...you always hit the nail on the head...

[PatSeg]

17. Bingo!!!

Thanks for stating the obvious.

[Happyhippychick]

14. Except that primary voting has skyrocketed, doubled in VA alone

People are motivated to get rid of trump

[Tarheel_Dem]

18. Agree to disagree. n/t

[PatSeg]

19. I've supported Joe since he first entered the race

I did not vote for him because I am "risk averse", I voted for him, because he is the most qualified candidate. The next president will have a lot of fences to mend worldwide and trash to haul out domestically. Joe will pack his administration with the smartest, most qualified people and maybe we will start to look like America again.

[dansolo]

20. Bernie's platform is all about fear

Bernie's promises free healthcare and a college education, no strings attached. How is that not utilizing fear, aka economic anxiety, to promote his campaign?

[we can do it]

25. And BS's doesn't?

Liz and Mike can stay as long as they like.

[mercuryblues]

37. Bloomberg just dropped out

and is throwing his support behind Biden. Warren is evaluating her campaign and looking at the path forward.

[we can do it]

38. True but still it's their decision not ours.

[Turbineguy]

28. Maybe after the chaos of trump

we just want some stability. A chance to heal. A few policies pushing things in the right direction. Some respect from the rest of the world. That sort of thing.

[HarlanPepper]

29. Ok

[JustAnotherGen]

31. I'm going against my Party in Hunterdon County NJ

Warren won our party line in February at our County Convention - and as a member of the Committee - I'm not supposed to select until our Primary in June.

I can't do it.

I LOVE the Motivational Biden. Love the guy.

Does the fact that I've received death threats based on my race through the mail slot of my front door change that? Nope.

But if Trump wins - I'm fucking dead.


It helps if we can beat the sonofabitch with someone I love.

[chia]

33. I voted for Biden, in part because I expect the members of the cabinet and admin he will choose

to be of the highest quality. Because I expect to see some of the very good candidates who have dropped out to be part of his ticket and his administration. Because he will bring order to chaos, some return to the rule of law although I suspect parts of the rule of law, the norms, the traditions are smashed forever, to the exultation of trumpist iconoclasts who saw wholesale destruction as some kind of great accomplishment.

Millennials, with their sometimes deserved and sometimes not disdain for the older members of their party, will understand someday that they can't do it all by themselves any more than we can. We have to work together, to be unified across all demographics, including age.

[thesquanderer]

35. True, people call Sanders a McGovern, but one could call Biden a Kerry/Gore/Clinton, too.

There are different ways to lose. Though at least Kerry, Gore, and Clinton came awfully close. OTOH, we haven't tried a "McGovern type" in almost 50 years. The Republicans moved from Goldwater to Reagan much more quickly than that.

In the end, whichever way you look at it, history gives no guarantee for what will happen.

[democrattotheend]

48. That is my concern as well

Van Jones made that point on MSNBC last night. He said we have to worry about "the curse of John Kerry" as much as the "curse of McGovern." Yes, Kerry won a lot more states than McGovern, but he still lost. And like Biden, he emerged as the concensus candidate in what a lot of people thought was a weak field in 2004.

I wouldn't put Hillary in the same category, though, because I think nominating a woman for the first time ever was bold in and of itself.

[Happy Hoosier]

39. I'm just sayin'...

If Sanders, et al, cannot convince a majority of Democrats that they are The One, how are they gonna convince skeptical independents?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

41. Yeah, it's not like we were ever bold enough to nominate the first ever female candida--

Err, um. Never mind.

Apparently she was "safe."

[treestar]

49. It is wrong to "fear" a Dump 2nd term?

[LovingA2andMI]

52. Okay x 2

[Poeraria]

54. Rep. Shirley Chisholm was the first woman of color to run for President.

Boomers know things.

Biden is the overwhelming choice of Democrats who have voted in the process by more than 900,000 votes. Not because he's old and white, but because we have seen him operate and we feel he, of all of our candidates, will do the best job as president.

[MH1]

55. Re: your last line. WARREN is not the one who will turn convention into a "shitshow".

Therefore SHE is not the one who should be dropping out.

We've seen this movie before, and know how it ends.

[CrispyQ]

57. I worry that the GOP controlled senate will schedule hearings into Hunter Biden

and call Joe as a witness during key campaign times. The media will tack Biden's name to the investigation 24x7, and at the same time cover the Con's every rally.

[Laelth]

58. I hear you, but your pleas are too late. We are all Biden supporters now.

For better or for worse.

Go JOE!



-Laelth