Biden: "Imagine if Obama had been assassinated"

[left-of-center2012]

Former Vice President Biden raised eyebrows Friday when he asked attendees at a town hall in New Hampshire to imagine if former President Barack Obama had been assassinated.

The remark at the event, which was billed as focused on health care, came while Biden was talking about his political heroes, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., according to NBC News’s Mike Memoli, who was in attendance.

"My senior semester, they were both shot and killed," Biden said. "Imagine what would have happened if, God forbid, if Barack Obama had been assassinated after becoming the de facto nominee. What would've happened in America?"

Biden has been under increased scrutiny from the press in recent weeks amid a series of gaffes, including misstating the decade in which King and Kennedy were killed and saying that poor kids” are “just as talented as white kids,” before correcting himself and saying “wealthy kids.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/458639-biden-asks-voters-to-imagine-if-obama-had-been-assassinated

[dem4decades]

1. Oh for Christ's sake Joe. Why go there?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. Seriously!! WTF?!?!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[brush]

265. My thought exactly. It's not a gaffe but it shouldn't have been uttered. Just as with the...

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2019, 11:55 AM - Edit history (1)

segregationist story. Most people are able to edit their thoughts before speaking them so as not to offend, I don't know what's up with Biden though.

[bluewater]

2. wtf? Does Biden have no internal filter?

Former Vice President Joe Biden posed a stark hypothetical to voters in New Hampshire Friday as he discussed today's volatile political climate: What if Barack Obama had been assassinated?

The comment came toward the end of a town hall meeting on the campus of Dartmouth College ostensibly about healthcare issues. It was not part of Biden's standard stump speech and was rarely, if ever, heard before.

Biden, as part of a meandering discussion that included mental health issues and school shootings, talked about formative moments in his college years: the assassinations of his "political heroes," Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
"My senior semester, they were both shot and killed," he recalled. "Imagine what would have happened if, God forbid, if Barack Obama had been assassinated after becoming the de facto nominee. What would've happened in America?"

It was a jarring point to raise on a day the Biden campaign had sought to capitalize on Biden's partnership with the former president, on the 11th anniversary of Obama announcing Biden as his choice to serve as vice president.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-imagine-what-would-have-happened-if-obama-were-assassinated/ar-AAGeOQS

Does Biden have no internal filter? He just blurts this type of thing out?

Doesn't he even stop to think that in light of the increase in hate crimes and mass shooting, talking about President Obama being assassinated isn't a smart move?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

43. Where are Joe's handlers?! They need to put a stop to this awkward ad libbing!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[MarcA]

123. What was the point he was trying to make? n/t

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

217. Not sure, but no worse than Hillary's similar comment about Obama.

But, definitely a bad subject to be bringing up.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[mahina]

184. Joe. You don't have to SAY everything you THINK

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2019, 01:27 AM - Edit history (1)

If you can call that was thinking

[Ace Rothstein]

3. I honestly don't understand how Biden is our front runner.

[Scurrilous]

7. More people support him than any other candidate. n/t

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

45. Not here they don't... and the downward trend is evident.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Princetonian]

196. No, Joe gained a percentage point in the past few days while Harris lost one.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

210. Oh okay... hadn't noticed, but, you're right. Maybe Joe will get his lead back...

but, Elizabeth is lookin awfully strong. Wish him the best of luck.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Princetonian]

228. I doubt it but no worries.

Best of luck to Bernie too.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

285. Thanks!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Chemisse]

227. DU is not typical of Dem voters though.

I have to remind myself of that occasionally to keep perspective, since this is my only outlet for political discussion.

[True Dough]

54. For how much longer?

[BannonsLiver]

101. That could also be a metaphor for Mayor Pete's campaign

[True Dough]

124. Even if he's not the nominee

He's put himself on the map at age 37. He'll be a big part of the future of this party, no doubt about it.

[BannonsLiver]

130. Not if he doesn't get to a higher office.

Governor, senator, Congress etc. mayor ain’t gonna do it.

[True Dough]

141. He will be coveted by the next administration

There are numerous roles he could fill as secretary, ambassador, envoy, etc.

[Princetonian]

178. Not if Pete keeps up the ageist language that underpins his rationale of why he should be POTUS.

There are many who are far more qualified than a mayor of a small Midwestern city for those positions.

[secondwind]

173. I agree. Mayor Pete has a very bright future in

the Democrat Party.

[Solomon]

203. It's democratic party

Not democrat party.

[cwydro]

205. "Democrat" party?

Huh?

[MrsCoffee]

240. No such thing as the Democrat Party.

[mtnsnake]

242. Don't worry about the responses you got because of your minor mistake in semantics

Some people around here just love to nitpick over something like that.

[zackymilly]

296. Nitpick? nt

[Chemisse]

229. I think he is a future star of the Party.

I find him amazing and refreshing. I just think he needs a few more years of experience, which I hope a Dem president will offer him.

[Autumn]

244. It's early yet. Pete can recover.

[Thekaspervote]

114. Oh... there goes Bernie... now I see

[Princetonian]

176. Is that your imagery for Pete's relationship with the AA voters?

I think a shipwreck would be better.

[Cha]

206. Wow.. you sure have a lot of

insulting graphics don't you, true dough?

[Ace Rothstein]

129. You don't say?

My point is that I don't understand why people support him.

[mobeau69]

263. I think the poster know that! The question is why.

[Voltaire2]

267. Not Biden is about 2x Biden.

[Autumn]

19. I don't get it either. Watching the video was almost surreal. Seems to be a small venue,

no reaction from the crowd, even when he paused. He talked about Kent State and said over 40 kids were shot at Kent State on a beautiful lawn. I cringed on the beautiful lawn part. Then I remembered that 4 were killed, and nine other kids were injured.

https://www.nbcnews.com/video/biden-asks-what-would-have-happened-if-obama-had-been-assassinated-67305029578

[pangaia]

34. I have no favorite in this primary...

I see positives and negatives in the candidates I have looked at.

This video is....yes.. surreal is a good word...

Having watched that video I feel... Did that just really occur? or.. was it my imagination....?

[Autumn]

38. No. It really occurred. I don't even know what to say about it. The whole video was

[lunasun]

133. A whole generation energized through political assassinations + trigger happy suppression of rights

Huh?? I would like to see more of the speech because it’s cut but although I really don’t know where the speech could go from there , I know this country does not need any more gun nut prompts right now WTH

[questionseverything]

36. its everyday now

how are the party leaders just gonna keep pretending this isn't happening?

I had been hoping for a warren/biden ticket because biden would bring some votes from men that were scared of a woman pres but gosh is he that stable?

[Autumn]

44. Did you watch the video? Is anyone on his team paying attention?

[questionseverything]

48. i can't get the video to play , i had read about it earlier on my news feed

those 4 dead students at kent state silenced us forever

if it was just tripping ovr words once in a while it would be one thing but this is huge factual differences

he definitely needs some young blood influencing his campaign

[Celerity]

62. 'he definitely needs some young blood influencing his campaign'

Younger blood cannot get upon stage and give his stump speeches for him.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

121. It's gone beyond that now.

[Princetonian]

188. No, it's the same shit, different day.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251879

[questionseverything]

213. if i liked his policies better i would care less about the gaffes

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

47. I think the party leaders know what's what... why we need Bernie or Elizabeth!!

Or, better yet, both!!


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Princetonian]

187. Daily Joe bashing OP is cherrypicked clickbait not reality-based.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251879

[Princetonian]

246. Thanks to daily OPs always featuring media whores' cherrypicked clickbait aimed at Joe.

Tweets from people who were there & replies to today's "sleazy headline":
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287251924

Thanks to the OP, we got the "sleezy headline" right here.

[Autumn]

252. I usually just read the news article and quotes and not watch his speeches. Watching this was

uncomfortable.

[tblue37]

29. Name recognition at this early stage. (Remember "Joementum"!) nt

[BeyondGeography]

32. Reflected glory

[Garrett78]

53. Name recognition mainly.

I said months ago that people will be reminded why Biden crashed and burned in his previous attempts to get the nomination. Until he became VP for the most popular president in modern times, hardly anyone considered Biden to be presidential material. Obama didn't want Biden to run and embarrass himself, but Biden has long wanted to be president.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

162. I understand Obama's feelings about Joe, but he's earned his shot as a loyal VP...

Democrats will decide who will best represent them in putting out the tRumpster fire.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[mtnsnake]

55. I don't either. I guess it's partly because of the media pining for a geriatric showdown

between Biden and Trump with the hopes that Trump will easily beat Biden. Trump has been phenomenal for their ratings. That and their ridiculous polls starting two years ago which did everything possible to make voters think Biden was the solution. We all know how the useless polls in 2016 turned out.

[dflprincess]

112. It's still early

a lot of it is name recognition. Most people don't pay as much attention as we do. Joe is familiar and safe to them.

[Chemisse]

233. 'Familiar and safe.' You nailed it.

Trump is terrifying and Biden is comforting in comparison. None of the other candidates give that warm, fuzzy feeling like Joe Biden does, like coming in out of a blizzard to sit by a fireplace.

If another candidate can also make voters feel safe, such as Warren or Harris, she can beat him.

[progressoid]

117. Two words...

Barack Obama.

[JI7]

168. he was Obama's VP and Obama is popular among Democrats

[Devil Child]

4. On this one I'll kindly and respectfully say "no thank you."

Not something I ever want to imagine Joe.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. Oh boy...

[dalton99a]

6. Surely you can't be serious, Joe

[pangaia]

8. Uh,...all I have to go on is... that link.......

SO again... uh...

Or maybe better is

HUH?

[left-of-center2012]

11. here

At New Hampshire town hall, Biden asks: What would have happened if Obama had been assassinated?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-new-hampshire-town-hall-biden-asks-what-would-have-happened-if-obama-had-been-assassinated/2019/08/23/41500820-c5fe-11e9-b5e4-54aa56d5b7ce_story.html

Joe Biden, Recalling ’68, Asks Audience to Imagine Obama’s Assassination

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/us/politics/joe-biden-obama.html

[pangaia]

30. Thanks,.. He wanted to be a senator by the age of 30. He just made it...... :))

[enough]

9. Why do this? NT

[lordsummerisle]

10. Maybe the most tone-deaf remark so far this campaign season? n/t

[bluewater]

13. And it's dangerous

with all the alt-right hate crimes and mass shootings.

What's the point of saying "Imagine if President Obama was assassinated"?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

214. I'm sure Joe meant well... but I hear ya!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

211. Not a good look, that's for sure... no idea what he was thinkin.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[left-of-center2012]

12. more ...

At New Hampshire town hall, Biden asks: What would have happened if Obama had been assassinated?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-new-hampshire-town-hall-biden-asks-what-would-have-happened-if-obama-had-been-assassinated/2019/08/23/41500820-c5fe-11e9-b5e4-54aa56d5b7ce_story.html

Joe Biden, Recalling ’68, Asks Audience to Imagine Obama’s Assassination

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/us/politics/joe-biden-obama.html

[JoeOtterbein]

15. Jeeze Joe!

After speaking about the health care plan he introduced last month and taking a few questions, Mr. Biden grew most animated as he recalled the fraught political era of 1968, when he was a college senior, and two of his political heroes, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, were assassinated within weeks of each other.

“My senior semester they were both shot and killed,” Mr. Biden said. “Imagine what would have happened if, God forbid, Barack Obama had been assassinated after becoming the de facto nominee. What would have happened in America?”

[melman]

22. Also this

At the event on Friday, Mr. Biden also recalled his early support for women’s rights, including the Equal Rights Amendment, and how he was he was sneered at for being on the edge of social change. He said critics had said, “Well, you know why Biden is for the E.R.A., he’s probably gay.”

"But here’s the deal. An entire generation was energized. We finally finished the Voting Rights Act. We finally got the Civil Rights Act back on the road. We finally were in a position where we started to begin the women’s movement, and began to treat women — I remember because I was such a big supporter of the E.R.A in 1972, quote — to show you how things have changed, thank God — “Well, you know why Biden is for the E.R.A., he’s probably gay.” Not a joke."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/us/politics/joe-biden-obama.html

wtf?

[pangaia]

57. "We finally were in a position where we started to begin the women's movement."

With all due respect Mr V. P., I know what you mean but you did not by any stretch of the imagination 'start to begin the women's movement." Carried it on, perhaps, yer. But start it. No.

One can, just for starters, bring up Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton...

[melman]

14. Holy fuck

That is not good. That is not good at all.

[Autumn]

25. Over 40 kids were not shot at Kent State on a beautiful lawn. 4 were killed 9 were injured at

Kent State

https://www.nbcnews.com/video/biden-asks-what-would-have-happened-if-obama-had-been-assassinated-67305029578

[melman]

85. That video is pretty unsettling

Seriously. I don't know how anyone can watch that and insist everything is OK.

[Autumn]

91. The man looked and sounded exhausted. This is not okay.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

218. Yeah, maybe Joe should rest up before hitting the campaign trail again... no shame in that.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Princetonian]

238. LOL You always say this. Joe looked serious and somber as befitting the tragic context.

[Autumn]

239. With all due respect that not true. I don't always say that. I have since I watched this video .nt

[Princetonian]

256. You're saying my eyes are lying? I look forward to your next iteration.

[Autumn]

261. If you think that I think you're lying who am I to disagree with you? You are the one saying that

Not me, I don't call people liars. Saying he's tired once is not always. Until this episode, the only time I commented on him being tired was the 15 of this month when he took a weeks vacation. I notice you haven't provided a link to my always saying that?

[Princetonian]

262. Uh huh.

[Autumn]

269. I see you can't discuss this so looks like this back and forth is over.

Maybe next month?

[highplainsdem]

16. I heard a longer clip of the speech. He was contrasting the "drop out" attitude of 1967

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_of_Love

with how political 1968 was:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/timeline-seismic-180967503/

I graduated from high school and started college that year, and I remember how much the assassinations impacted everyone, especially young people.

It did feel -- as that Smithsonian article's headline says -- as if America had been shattered.

I WAS thrown by Biden's reference to that being his senior year, but it WAS his last year of law school.

As far as his mentioning what would have happened if President Obama had been assassinated... There were a LOT of death threats against President Obama:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_threats_against_Barack_Obama

And I would not be at all surprised if there have been death threats against Joe Biden from Trump supporters.

I wish he wouldn't bring the subject up, though, considering how crazy some Trump supporters are.

[bluewater]

18. IT'S DANGEROUS. Making excuses is simply wrong.

No one, especially a Democrat, should be saying "Imagine if President Obama had been assassinated" with all the alt-right gun nuts running around in the midst of all the hate crime inspired mass shootings.

There is simply NO POINT in talking about President Obama being assassinated. NONE.

There is NO POINT in giving some alt-right lunatic ideas about assassinating President Obama.

[highplainsdem]

26. I said I wish he hadn't brought it up.

[Corgigal]

97. Thank you.

Taboo. Never spoken verbally, ever. We worried , and still do for years.

[pangaia]

40. I was of the perfect coming of age age in 1968.. born in 1943, so you can imagine...

I was not a hippie or active protester....although I had longish hair and a beard..

I was in Memphis when Dr King was killed.
I had played a jazz gig downtown the night before....
I am white and was dating a black woman at the time,not the usual thing in Memphis then. She was on the gig with me. I was the drummer. She was the singer......... for whatever that may add to my experience.

I cannot believe he said that, about President Obama !!

[BannonsLiver]

105. The knee jerk and high hopes by some desperate, deeply frustrated folks in the thread is amusing.

All of whom are the usual suspects.

[Cha]

198. ".. High hopes.. " is right.. I always read a BannonsLiver

reply, for some righteous commentary, in these knee jerk threads.

[sharedvalues]

179. THE HILL TROLLS DEMOCRATS

How many times do we need to be fooled by a headline at the Hill designed to damage Democrats via distortions?

[emmaverybo]

17. It would have been catastrophic. Many of us constantly pondered the possibility. Hilary alluded

to it when she said she didn’t want to concede too early, while in reality winning against Obama seemed hopeless, because you never know what will happen. Look at the summer of 1968. I am paraphrasing. People were appalled.

Obama in popularity and impact is right up there with King and Kennedy.

Yeah. Imagine.

Hilary was not calling for Obama’s assassination. Neither is Biden.

PS He almost instantly corrected himself on the decades slip of the tongue, which was not nearly as serious as the tv pundit who, while bashing Biden for gaffes, looked forward to the primaries to be held in August 2015.

In that case, he did not correct himself because he had no idea he had time-traveled.

[RhodeIslandOne]

20. Jesus. H. Christ.

It's moments like this that really, really scare me about Joe.

[Baclava]

24. OMG! Biden apologists gonna need to "swallow a little bit" more, lol

How embarrassing

[Ponietz]

28. Joe reminisces some more about the 70's

Premature for those apologists to be taking victory laps, too.

[Princetonian]

183. Did Warren ever say who she voted for President in the 70's?

Someone should ask her in Iowa.

Talk about apologists...

[Ponietz]

236. 100% confidence she won't get the decade wrong if asked

[Princetonian]

241. If she did and corrected herself immediately afterwards, it's fine. Do you know who she voted for?

Twice?

Hint: Warren voted for the man who coined the term "welfare queen" -- ushering in a golden age of Republican demonization of the poor and neediest among us.

Kinda ironic, isn't it?

[Ponietz]

249. Your guy was way out of line with his comment

But if he’s nominated I’ll wear the “I’ll vote for Joe” T-shirt.

[Princetonian]

254. Tweets from people who were there disagree with you...

Tweets from people who were there & replies to "sleazy headline":
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287251924

Thanks to the OP, we got the "sleezy headline" right here.

[Ponietz]

264. All those are from paid Biden staffers, right?

Your guy has many speaking engagements in the next 6 months.
Time will tell.

[Princetonian]

268. Ask them. One man was an attendee and called out Cilizza as a lying media whore. Ask him.

My guy will win the nomination and the daily Joe bashing OP will cease along with the language of ageist bigotry disguised as "concern" and the attendant sniggering asides.

[Ponietz]

270. Their Twitter feeds indicate they work for Biden

GIFs are kool, and all, but no substitute for substance. I don’t care how old he is, only whether he can keep his foot out of his mouth.

[Princetonian]

271. This is the first tweet about what Joe said written by an attendee. He slams "false controversies".

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2019, 12:34 PM - Edit history (3)

This is the first tweet about what Joe said written by an attendee. He slams "false controversies" by the media. People who push false controversies should be *slammed as well, don't you think, hmm?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251879

* slammed in the connotative/figurative sense for those with delicate sensibilities who think I am being literal. See #2 here: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/slam

[Ponietz]

272. Where do you get that this guy, with 19 followers, was an attendee?

For all I know it’s a bot.

Your use of “...slammed as well, don’t you think, hmm?’’, in this context connotes violence and, I presume, is obliquely referring to me. This is unappreciated.

It is not a false controversy to question whether your guy can keep his foot out of his mouth.

Noted: your apparent inclination to aggressively harangue anyone on this board who does not agree with you.

As I said, time will tell, but crowing about “electability” and taking victory laps, now, seems entirely premature.

[Princetonian]

182. Well, at least Joe never voted for Reagan. Twice. That's embarrassing.

Talk about apologists.

[Bradshaw3]

273. False

Warren didn't vote for Reagan once or twice. The only repub she voted for from the 70s to becoming a Democrat was Ford.

So your post is embarrasing. Hopefully you'll apologize and corerct it.

[Princetonian]

274. I was talking about Joe but now that you mention Warren's voting history, I checked and found...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5248278

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5251933

https://www.discussionist.com/?com=view_post&forum=1015&pid=502228

There's also a tweet that I can PM you.

[Bradshaw3]

281. Here you go

With props to Celerity:

only Rethug POTUS

she voted for was Ford.

1972 McGovern (she hated Nixon)
1976 Ford
1980 Carter (she did not like Reagan)
1984 Mondale
1988 Dukakis
1992 Bill Clinton
1996 (the last year she was a registered Republican, she switched before the 1996 general election) Bill Clinton
2000 Gore
2004 Kerry
2008 Obama
2012 Obama
2016 Hillary Clinton

Also:
"She registered Repub in PA in 1991 because she like Arlen Specter (ironic as he too changed to Democratic)

Do you also have issues with former Republicans Howard Dean, Leon Panetta, Chris Coons (has Biden's old seat in the Senate), Carolyn McCarthy, Harley Rouda, Gabby Giffords, James Webb, Wendy Davis, Gil Cisneros, Jim Jeffords, Patrick Murphy, and Specter himself, etc.etc etc.? Some of them even ran (oh the HORROR!) for President."

[TwilightZone]

278. She's been asked about it. She declined to answer.

There's no proof that she voted for him and no proof that she did not. Considering that she declined to answer the question and has noted that she started voting for Democrats in 1995, one can reasonably conclude that she probably voted for him one or both times.

However, since she's declined to confirm one way or another, neither the claim that she voted for him nor your assertion that she did not is provably accurate.

[Bradshaw3]

280. Here's her voting record

With thanks to Celerity:

only Rethug POTUS

she voted for was Ford.

1972 McGovern (she hated Nixon)
1976 Ford
1980 Carter (she did not like Reagan)
1984 Mondale
1988 Dukakis
1992 Bill Clinton
1996 (the last year she was a registered Republican, she switched before the 1996 general election) Bill Clinton
2000 Gore
2004 Kerry
2008 Obama
2012 Obama
2016 Hillary Clinton

She registered Repub in PA in 1991 because she like Arlen Specter (ironic as he too changed to Democratic)

[Bradshaw3]

282. And you provide no proof of you rclaim

That she "started voting for Democrats" in 1995. How ironic.

[Celerity]

293. here is your proof, please stop pushing debunked misinformation on Warren

I am not a Warren supporter atm, but I am tired of seeing the same claptrap spread about her for months. Especially the 'she declined to answer' meme that is from a 7 or 8 year old article, and has been used over and over by multiple accounts with the same modus operandi, and is used to cast doubt and uncertainty about her.

Below are much more current ones, including an April 2019 article where she specifically says she did not vote for Reagan or any other Rethug for POTUS, except for Ford in 1976.

here is a snip from that (the full excerpt is further down):

According to Warren, in the six presidential elections she voted in before 1996, she cast her ballot for just one GOP nominee, Gerald Ford in 1976.

Warren was only a registered Repug for around 5 years (1991-96) and the only Rethug POTUS

she voted for was Ford.

1972 McGovern (she hated Nixon)
1976 Ford
1980 Carter (she did not like Reagan)
1984 Mondale
1988 Dukakis
1992 Bill Clinton
1996 (the last year she was a registered Republican, she switched before the 1996 general election) Bill Clinton
2000 Gore
2004 Kerry
2008 Obama
2012 Obama
2016 Hillary Clinton

She registered Repub in PA in 1991 because she like Arlen Specter (ironic as he too changed to Democratic)

Other Repub to Democratic Party switchers include:

Former Republicans Howard Dean, Leon Panetta, Chris Coons (has Biden's old seat in the Senate), Carolyn McCarthy, Harley Rouda, Gabby Giffords, James Webb, Wendy Davis, Gil Cisneros, Jim Jeffords, Patrick Murphy, and Specter himself, etc.etc etc.

Some of them even ran (oh the HORROR!) for President.









More on Warren:


https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/12/elizabeth-warren-profile-young-republican-2020-president-226613

Warren has acknowledged her Republican past before, but she does not often discuss it, or else downplays it. In a recent interview over tea at her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she said she assumes the first time she registered as a Democrat was 1996, but added, “I’m not even 100 percent sure what I was registered as.” According to Warren, in the six presidential elections she voted in before 1996, she cast her ballot for just one GOP nominee, Gerald Ford in 1976. She does not talk about her Republican past in either of her books or as part of the biography she recounts in her stump speech; the information often comes as a surprise even to Beltway politicos and longtime Warren allies.

https://thinkprogress.org/why-elizabeth-warren-left-the-gop-e78680711424/

Warren has quickly become a populist hero to liberals. Stephanopoulos, host of ABC’s The Week, noted something in her background that “might surprise” her supporters: the fact that she has voted Republican in the past, and was a registered Republican in Pennsylvania from 1991 to 1996. Warren said she left the party after that because she felt it was siding more and more with Wall Street:

I was an independent. I was with the GOP for a while because I really thought that it was a party that was principled in its conservative approach to economics and to markets. And I feel like the GOP party just left that. They moved to a party that said, “No, it’s not about a level playing field. It’s now about a field that’s gotten tilted.” And they really stood up for the big financial institutions when the big financial institutions are just hammering middle class American families. I just feel like that’s a party that moved way, way away.

Warren’s instincts on the GOP’s sympathy for the big financial institutions proved prescient. Former Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) spent the 1990s spearheading legislation that made the 2008 financial crisis possible: the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which broke down the firewall between commercial banks and the far riskier investment banks, as well as the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which deregulated the over-the-counter derivatives that played a key role in the 2008 financial collapse. Both bills passed with majority Republican support, though they were also supported by a good deal of Democrats and the Clinton White House.

snip

She grew up in an FDR Democratic household.

Her first vote the POTUS was AGAINST Nixon in 1972. She did vote for Ford, but liked Carter. She voted Carter in 1980 and Mondale in 1984. In 1988 she voted for Dukakis, and in 1992, Clinton. Obviously voted for Clinton again in 1996 and every other Democrat since then. She registered as a Republican because she had moved to PA and liked Arlen Specter, who also switched to our Party from Republican.

Her first presidential vote, in 1972, had been cast against a man she said she disliked passionately, Richard Nixon. But reflecting on how little she had paid attention to day-to-day politics at the time, she couldn’t immediately recall who had been running against him. When told it was Democrat George McGovern, she said, Yes, she would have voted for him but didn’t have any specific memory of having done so. (She was living in New Jersey at the time.)

Going to the polls, she said, was nothing new for her. Warren’s mother had been a poll worker and brought her young daughter to the polls each Election Day.

Nixon was re-elected that year, of course, but resigned and was replaced by Gerald Ford. Warren said she had voted for him in 1976, believing that “Ford was a decent man.”

But she was happy with Jimmy Carter, who beat him. “I thought he [also] was a decent man,” she said, transferring her then-standard for what she wanted in a politician from Ford to Carter. “He was a really good man.”

As the ’80s wore on and her research on bankruptcy progressed, Warren started waking up politically. At the time, though, the two parties had yet to separate entirely along ideological lines, as some deeply conservative and racist Democrats still held office, as did some genuinely liberal Republicans.

In 1988, Warren voted for Michael Dukakis but, in 1992, split her ticket, voting for Republican Arlen Specter for Senate and Democrat Bill Clinton for president. Specter is a good example of the one-time flexibility of the party system and the politicians within it: He began and ended his career as a Democrat, but was a Republican for much of the middle of it.

By the fall of 1987, she had moved to Pennsylvania and registered there as a Republican. Warren said she couldn’t quite remember why she did it but that she was a fan of Specter. “Again, I thought he was a decent man,” she said. She couldn’t recall whom he ran against. (His Democratic opponent was Lynn Yeakel.)

That GOP registration, though, has set off speculation over the years that one of the Senate’s most progressive champions may have at one time been a Ronald Reagan backer.

So we asked her: Is it true? Is it possible the champion of the regulatory cops on Wall Street voted for the man who made deregulation a hallmark of his presidency?

No.

In 1980, she said, she was a registered independent living in Missouri City, Texas, and cast her vote to re-elect Carter.

When Reagan won, she wasn’t happy but not crushed the way she was on election night in 2016. “I was disappointed and didn’t like him, but I wasn’t deeply worried for the country, not anything like when Trump was elected,” she explained. If she could go back in time, she said, she would tell herself “this was a far more pivotal historical moment than you understand.”

snip


Warren also has the lowest Trump Score in the entire Senate


https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/



compare that to the highest Democrats

[Cha]

192. OMG!! We got the Context!!!

Shocking I know

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

215. It's bad, def, but not a game changer either... pretty much par for the course.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Baclava]

221. Another day another mob of gulping Biden apologists come running to swallow as one, lol

U notice the first thing they do is try to deflect on anyone else but their candidate for saying the things he does.

[Princetonian]

224. Trying to smear an empathetic teaching moment? Content matters. Intent matters.

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2019, 09:50 AM - Edit history (2)

For example, what was Warren thinking when she voted for Ronald "Welfare Queen" Reagan not once but twice?



This is why an attendee went on Twitter and said they understood the point Joe was making: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251825

[Baclava]

294. Teaching moment? Telling those poor kids 40 people were shot at Kent State?

They don't look very enthused either

[Princetonian]

297. Thanks, the photo is great. The kids look just right, considering the topic: focused and serious.

I suspect you have zero experience with teaching school age children.

Good luck to Warren to Iowa. I would not be surprised when she wins (given the state is a perfect demographic group fit) and how incredibly long she has camped there relative to Joe and Bernie.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

284. I do notice that... fair point!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[enough]

27. We do not need another old man dealing with his

personal psyche at the helm of our nation.

I’m saying this at the age of 75. Joe Biden has been through a lot of time, a lot of history, and a lot of trauma and grief. He, like anyone who has experienced so much, deserves compassion and respect. But it does not suit him for for such an awesome responsibility as the Presidency of the United States.

One of the worst things Trump has done is to make us think that anyone could do the job and anyone would be better than him. But it also shows us that we need someone better than a placeholder.

[mtnsnake]

231. Well said, enough.

[Celerity]

31. SMDH, really SMDH

I so SO hope we have a plan B that does not entail a far left candidate at the top of the ticket.This is not going well at all.

[OKNancy]

35. The crowd didn't react because they understood what he meant

He was talking about the stressful times back then. I just read on Twitter someone who was there who was commenting on this story and they said everyone knew what his point was.

[highplainsdem]

49. Agree. There was no sign from the video that anyone there was shocked or offended. I do still

wish he hadn't brought up assassinations, though.

We've seen so many crazy RWers arrested lately. At least some if not all are Trump supporters. And we've had lots of death threats against Democrats.

And now -- with Biden almost always, and some of our other candidates frequently or occasionally, doing better than Trump in early polls -- I hope our candidates and prominent Democratic lawmakers all have great security..

Anyway, I hope Biden will stop mentioning these subjects. Even though I know what he meant.

[True Dough]

60. Yeah, just look at the response among DUers

No shock or offense at all! Not in the least!

[highplainsdem]

73. I see quite a few perennial Biden critics expressing outrage once again.

[True Dough]

76. The number of Biden critics will continue to grow

as Biden continues to misspeak. He's eroding confidence in his ability to communicate clearly and raising concern about his cognitive function. You can deny, deny, deny, but the murmurs are already transforming into an open debate over Biden's faculties.

[highplainsdem]

83. We'll see. But since I don't consider any of the other current candidates even half as qualified

to lead the country as Joe Biden is -- and since the polls so far show they aren't as electable -- I don't like seeing the front-runner attacked here.

[Thekaspervote]

98. Indeed

It’s always the same people over and over picking out what they see as unacceptable then putting it under the microscope. Then blaring it on their megaphone as to why THEY are right. It wears thin

If the audience didn’t seem to find it distasteful, why do you?

Every candidate has their faults, some I feel much more egregious.

You know we’re begining to turn a deaf ear to your overblown complaints

[Cha]

208. More Insults and Wishful Thinking.. your

personal attacks at Joe Biden are saying more about you than anything about VP Biden.

[still_one]

87. I wonder how many outraged by thiss were bowing before will Pitt when he called President Obama a "P

used car salesman"

Most people know the point he was making, though he should not have used that example to try to relate what motivating forces move people to action

[treestar]

248. There are a few who have completely lost credibility

that they find the latest a shocking gaffe carries no water at all. You have to dig further.

[BannonsLiver]

109. I see a lot of people hoping this is the one that finally does him in.

I see a lot of vapors and faintin couches.

[BannonsLiver]

132. Awww

There there.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

128. Uh huh.

[cwydro]

207. And his point was?

[Princetonian]

37. Where's the video? Were the attendees as outraged as DUers?

I want to know everything Joe said in context not just a cherrypicked segment designed to be outrage clickbait.

[OKNancy]

41. No. He is getting the Hillary treatment

From the likes of Cilizza and others in the media. Then it is overblown and chewed on only to prove the current read on the candidate.

It's the narrative that has been set for Biden.

FWIW - He was trying to get younger people to understand what it felt like for his generation when MLK and RFK were assassinated. Here goes the media again cooking up false controversies against a front runner.

[emmaverybo]

52. Every day is character assassination day for Biden. Sickening. NT

[highplainsdem]

70. Cillizza's getting slammed on Twitter for taking the remark out of context.

[Cha]

92. Like this?..

Link to tweet

[emmaverybo]

172. Thanks, Cha. Cillizza for sleezy.

Fix the damage, Joe (busterbrown)
The world needs you!

[treestar]

251. Hi Cha!

This is equivalent to the busing/segregationist thing. Evading Biden's point to exaggerate something into a shocker! We can leave anti-intellectualism to the right-wingers. Though we see people trying to create it among us.

[Cha]

288. Yeah, they're so transparent.. Good

thing it's another fail.

treestar!

[still_one]

94. That is the whole point

I recall the adoration by some when Hillary and President Obama were called every awful name in the book, and the recs those threads got

[MustLoveBeagles]

42. This

[Celerity]

50. here, and the in-person crowd's reaction is unimportant overall, as millions are seeing or

will see this. This continuous string of mistakes, unclarity, and questionable utterances (which have been on display since he first launched his campaign) is starting to collectively add up. It is becoming very problematic, and as I stated previously in this thread, I so hope we have a plan B that does not entail a far left candidate at the top of the ticket. We simply cannot fuck this election up.

Biden: Imagine what would have happened if Obama were assassinated (video)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/biden-poses-hypothetical-assassination-obama-n1046006

[Princetonian]

61. Thanks, Celerity. After watching the video, I thought Joe made a thoughtful point about...

... how the shocking assasinations of his political heros MLK and Bobby Kennedy: "an entire generation was energized" to get involved as he did despite being from a family with no political connections.

Joe being Joe. His heart is there as he talks in a choked up tone.

Millions might see it but media will have to show the clip. Regular folks who eatch the video will see what he is saying.

[Celerity]

72. beyond the 'what if' question on Obama being assassinated, Biden said over 40 kids were shot

at Kent State. Nine were.




Biden is and has been making repeated factual errors and making incoherent statements far too often, such as the deaths of MLK and Robert Kennedy happening in the late 1970's (which has not just a slip of the tongue as he related it to his school attendance). He is showing repeated signs of non clarity and non lucidity of thought/speech. Clarity and lucid thought are a must for the role of POTUS, the most powerful position in the world, as well as an utter meat grinder of a job.

Look at this video, from earlier in his campaign. It isn't just his unclear speech either. He made awkward personal space-invading moves on the hosts as well.

[Princetonian]

78. He misremembered. Like many, I have no idea how many died.Barack once said he visited all 57 states.

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2019, 12:07 AM - Edit history (1)

There was derision in certain quarters but Obama shrugged it off.

Media whores are enjoying outrage clickbait and a chance to tsk over Joe again. All is right within the Beltway.

[Celerity]

88. Obama's '57 states' was a simple misspeaking. He is/was a brilliant constitutional law scholar.

Ask yourself this. If an very fair, decent, humane Obama was tasked with destroying (for whatever reason) the 2019 version of Biden via debates, speeches, and multimedia campaigns, what do you think would be the outcome? Joe on floor in the 2nd or 3rd round max.

Now, replace Obama with a demonic, deranged, uber-cunning, amoral, desperate, cornered beast of a man (Rump) with ZERO prohibition against doing ANYTHING (and having a billion dollar propaganda machine backing him up, PLUS the bully pulpit and an entranced press (entranced with the shitshow yes, but entranced just the same) amplifying him for FREE to crush Biden. Crush him in person (via debates), in speeches and in a far more invasive hyper-sophisticated multimedia WAR than what was going on in 2008/12. Are you willing to bet the future of our nation (as that is literally at stake, zero hyperbole there) that the outcome just might be the same? Every single systemic weakness (especially his mental acuity) of Biden will be turned upon him in a pincer-like coordinated movement to paint him as utterly not up to the task at a basic cognitive/linguistic level. That is my ever-growing fear atm.

[True Dough]

135. Well stated!

And that Obama "57 states" mistake gets trotted out over and over again among the Biden supporters. Meanwhile Bidens miscues keep piling up and these threads (and others' doubts) are growing.

[Princetonian]

190. Meanwhile, Pete will always be at zero percent with AA voters.

[Princetonian]

140. Are you serious? Trump is the poster boy for crazy stupid insane.

This ageist language has got to go, Celerity. It's a type of bigotry.

[Celerity]

148. What is ageist? I used no reference to age. I am strictly speaking

to performance and ability based off what I see and hear with my own eyes and ears.

[Princetonian]

157. Here...

"Every single systemic weakness (especially his mental acuity) of Biden will be turned upon him in a pincer-like coordinated movement to paint him as utterly not up to the task at a basic cognitive/linguistic level."

[Celerity]

175. Again, not ageist. I am speaking to ability. nt

[Princetonian]

180. Ageist bigotry is not cool. Neither are euphemisms for it.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251879

[Celerity]

185. Good thing I am not doing then.

Your projections will not work on me.

Cheers

[Princetonian]

194. You clearly do not understand the term "projections".

And you do it all the time. Ageist language underpins Pete's whole rationale for why voters should vote for him. Not working here, not working anywhere.

[Celerity]

201. This all has zero to do with Pete. You are taking far too a tribalistic

viewpoint. I do not engage in debate and critique to partake in some perceived zero sum game, nor to somehow score points to redeem for pins to put on my Buttigieg beret (I do not have a Pete hat btw, lol). I simply posit commentary that I see as relevant to our Democratic primaries as a whole, and thus the General.

If Biden dropped out tomorrow that barely would move the gauge on the distance between Buttigieg and the top two left. Biden's supporters would be dispersed across a plethora of candidates. I am sure whatever percentage Buttigieg gained would be more than matched by others.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

220. When you put it like that... it does make one have to think twice.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[cwydro]

237. There was even a song about it.

Lyrics including “Four Dead in Ohio.”

I don’t know anyone who was alive then who doesn’t know how many died.

[loyalsister]

84. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young made sure we remembered

it was 4 dead in Ohio
This is rote memory stuff.

[Celerity]

96. I'm 23 years old, raised in London since a toddler, yet I know that song to the point it's the main

thing I relate to when I hear Kent State.

[Thekaspervote]

99. You are entitled to your opinion

[Celerity]

111. I appreciate that, thank you Thekaspervote

[True Dough]

136. You know you're making headway

when a Biden supporter grants you entitlement to your opinion! Congrats!

[Thekaspervote]

144. Rude

[Princetonian]

146. Hey, Thekaspervote! You know some are secretly envious of your candidate's popularity when...

... they are rude.

[Thekaspervote]

158. I just let it bounce off my wing... no damage

[True Dough]

150. It's my opinion

I'm entitled to it, remember?

[Thekaspervote]

155. Yes you are!

[Princetonian]

156. How's Pete going to do in SC? Joe will easily make 15% with the backing of Obama Mamas like me.

[thesquanderer]

67. Here's the video link

https://www.nbcnews.com/video/biden-asks-what-would-have-happened-if-obama-had-been-assassinated-67305029578

I know he didn't mean it badly. I think he was trying to get people too young to remember MLK/RFK to consider how the nation would have been shattered if something like that had happened to Obama. But it was still totally unnecessary. And just provokes shivers in today's climate of crazies. It is unsettling.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

39. Can't wait to canvas for this guy.

JFC.

[mtnsnake]

46. What a rotten thing to say about Obama who is soley responsible for Biden being the front runner

to begin with.

Not only rotten but dangerous and inconsiderate. Thank goodness he won't be the front runner for much longer once the voters start waking up to the other candidates, most of whom would handle a general election much better than the walking gaffe machine would. What Biden said is way worse than a gaffe.

[Princetonian]

51. Stop already with the outrage. None of the attendees were upset. They understood Joe's point.

[ChubbyStar]

56. You call them all?

[mtnsnake]

58. You're complaining about outrage? If Bernie Sanders said it this place would erupt for weeks

over it.

[Princetonian]

64. I never join in the daily Bernie bashing OPs.

I am intelligent enough to want to see what really happened. If attendees were outraged, okay. If media whores are rubbing their hands in glee over clickbait, f*ck them.

[ChubbyStar]

69. There was a video

People saw what happened. Making disparaging comments about other people's intelligence is a tad rude.

[Princetonian]

71. Nonsense. Don't create strawman arguments to make trouble.

[ChubbyStar]

75. Thanks Mom!

[True Dough]

63. I'm sure they were courteously silent

while they were wondering if they really heard what they thought they just heard.

[Princetonian]

68. Watch the video. Joe was making a pretty poignant point about how tragedy spurred his political...

... interest in the civil rights movement despite coming from a working class family with no political connections. His voice is low and he gets choked up. He was trying to get the younger people in the audience to relate to the horror he felt at 18 when his political heroes MLK and Bobby Kennedy were both assassinated in the same year.

Media whores know good cherrypicked clickbait when they write it.

[True Dough]

74. Biden keeps feeding the "media whores" all kinds of fodder

It's making more and more Dems take a step back and wonder if Joe is really equal to the task. You hardcore Biden supporters will be the last ones to abandon ship.

No worries. We'll have the life rafts and flotation devices ready for you.

[Princetonian]

79. I could care less. Joe is being Joe. If you want to score points, BFD.

[True Dough]

81. Like I said

we'll be there when you finally make the SOS call.

[crazytown]

90. SOS call to Berlin

[Princetonian]

100. How much support does Pete have among AA voters again? How'd that townhall go?

[True Dough]

122. When it's recognized by enough Dems that Joe is not a viable candidate

then all that support has to go somewhere. I'm not guaranteeing it will go to Pete. Perhaps a portion will. But we do have several quality candidates, thankfully.

[Princetonian]

134. Actually, Harris' troubling history as DA and AG make her an unviable candidate not Joe.

None of the candidates can carry forward The Obama Legacy except Joe so forget about AA voters migrating to anyone else. And no Democrat can win a GE without PoC.

[True Dough]

137. Carrying forward the "Obama legacy" isn't the only option

It could very well be time to stake out new ground.

One thing is increasingly clear, Father Time is taking Uncle Joe farther and farther away from us.

[Princetonian]

145. Using the language of ageist bigotry will not help Pete's cause.

I get it. It's all Pete has to make the case for his presidency.

[True Dough]

154. That's a weak defense

of Joe's umpteenth gaffe.

[Princetonian]

159. What's your defense for Pete's many mistakes as mayor in dealing with the AA community?

Which make him unviable as a candidate?

[True Dough]

166. Pete has taken ownership of shortcomings

It led to the formation of the Douglass Plan, which would do more for the AA community than most, if not all, other candidates have put forward.

https://peteforamerica.com/douglass-plan

[Princetonian]

171. "Shortcomings"? The AA community of South Bend would laugh at that. Too little too late for them.

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2019, 05:50 AM - Edit history (1)

[Celerity]

209. What does Indianapolis have to do with Buttigieg? nt

[cwydro]

243. Why do you continue to bash other candidates?

Why not just speak up for yours and leave the others alone?

[Princetonian]

259. Irony is dead.

[cwydro]

260. Figured you wouldn't answer.

[Thekaspervote]

169. Your comment is so ageist. I will take his kind of experience to fix what's wrong anyday

And, according to the polls more voting Americans feel the same than with any other candidate

[Cha]

292. Oh true dough.. your personally insulting Joe Biden is

is getting tiresome.

[Thekaspervote]

161. Here's what the polls say about "where all that support will go."

candidates dropping out or fading, simply because he does better or almost as well as any other candidate when voters are asked who their second choice would be.

https://morningconsult.com/2020-democratic-primary/


Sanders supporters, when asked for their 2nd choice:
Biden 30%, Warren 27%, Harris 7%

Warren supporters, when asked for their 2nd choice:
Sanders 23%, Harris 20%, Biden 19%

Harris supporters, asked for their 2nd choice:
Warren 28%, Biden 23%, Sanders 12%

Buttigieg supporters, asked for their 2nd choice:
Warren 22%, Biden 20%, Harris 17%


So, if any of these candidates dropped out or drastically lost support, apparently Biden would pick up approximately as many of their supporters as his nearest rivals would.

[questionseverything]

291. why would sanders supporters second choice be biden?

is it just because they are both men because their policies are the furthest apart aren't they?

looking at that list makes me think only the warren supporters actually understand the policies their candidates are supporting

[Thekaspervote]

107. Per usual, more demise of mr Biden's campaign

We’re the ones with the life rafts and floatation devices, we’ll throw them your way from the side of our ocean going vessel

[Princetonian]

149. You didn't tell me how much AA voters support Pete. Got any numbers?

[Princetonian]

164. Joe was letting kids relate to the horror he felt when MLK and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated.

You never bothered to watch the video, did you?

Here's someone who did. See what he has to say to a clockbait media whore: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251879

Learn.

[Thekaspervote]

165. Ostriches are some of the smartest and strongest birds on the planet. This bird knows exactly

What he’s doing.

So thx, I’ll take it

[Thekaspervote]

283. Oh too too funny, my comment here was to a picture a commenter put up of an ostrich with her

Head stuck in the sand turning her eggs. The old ....I have my head stuck in the sand being a biden supporter.

So, the post and picture was self deleted leaving everyone to wonder about my comment. I guess the humor was lost. Except for me which....I’m still smiling

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

286. hahaha!! You sure there will be enough to go around?!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[emmaverybo]

103. It is very hard to get young people engaged in a collective psychological experience from our

history without using a contemporary example. Teachers often take college students on this kind of
a journey. If they are being ghoulish, trying to frighten, speaking in an alarming or sinister tone or being over-nonchalant, that’s one thing.

I understand what Biden was doing.

It seems his audience did too.

[emmaverybo]

174. I love the fact that Joe can get real. He can bring our history alive. He can talk the real talk and

isn’t afraid to share emotion, to evoke it in others.

He painted a vivid picture of the horrors of Trump’s America when he launched his campaign with his depiction of the Charlottesville marchers, the torches, the bulging veins reminiscent of the Klan and Nazi Germany.

Fix the damage, Joe (busterbrown)
The world needs you.

[melman]

77. What do you expect them to do?

Start screaming?

[Princetonian]

82. Yes. In this day of entrenched social media, we'd have heard something by now.

Someone on this thread read an account by an attendee on Twitter where the person said they understood Joe's point.

[ChubbyStar]

93. Shit, really an attendee posted something on Twitter

But people a bit upset over this comment here on DU where you post your opinion don't count? Got it! Nice edit on your previous post, so kind of you to change your harsh words, thanks.

[Princetonian]

108. That's about right. Attendees don't have an agenda.

[ChubbyStar]

113. Everyone has an agenda

Everyone.

[dem4decades]

59. At this point i'm all about an Obama/ Biden ticket. Michelle and Jill.

[SergeStorms]

65. Joe would be better served...

not reminiscing from here on out. If you're trying to make a point, refer to something contemporary, so everyone can understand the point you're trying to make. The 60s were a decade of extreme feelings on both sides of the political spectrum. Trying to relate those feelings to someone who wasn't there to feel them is fruitless.

[Celerity]

80. he is trying to target the 55 plus crowd, as that (plus 40yo + A-A's) are his main base of support

He is simply not capable of re-inventing himself at this advanced point in his life. Also, as much as some will choose to ignore it, his performance in terms of Biden the live speaker is simply replicating his previous 2 failed POTUS campaigns in terms of the types of self-inflicted unforced errors.

[Princetonian]

89. Joe is second only to Bernie in the 30-44 age group. How did you like his two terms as VP?

I am not old enough to recall his two previous runs but I do remember Joe's two terms as VP as exemplary. President Obama called him "the best Vice President in American history" and his "first and best decision" so forgive me if I think your characterization is baloney.

Using this cherrypicked story to shade Joe and bring up truly arcane aspects of political history to subtly malign him with ageist language framing is disappointing to see. Pete is doing that as a campaign tactic and it is not working very well, is it?

By the way, Joe is third in the Under 30 age group under Sanders and Warren but above Pete according to The Economist poll summary which is constantly updated.

[Celerity]

106. I am not cherry-picking anything, I am applying discernment as I personally see fit to do

as I am a fully autonomous human, born and raised to fully actualise my innate critical thinking skills, not to follow a set of pre-cooked narratives. If the situation changes, then I will adjust my thoughts and actions accordingly.

I am well aware that this is probably not Pete's year, but I will more than likely vote for him in the California Primary as a matter of personal conviction (as I am a queer person) AND I truly think he brings the best skillet and abilities to the table out of all our candidates, then, after that, will pivot and 100% fully support, campaign for, and vote for our Democratic nominee.

[Princetonian]

115. Misunderstanding here. The media whores are cherrypicking not you, Celerity.

It is a measure of how amazing this year has been that we have candidates that reflect who we are.

[Celerity]

119. +1

[Princetonian]

120. Peace.

[Thekaspervote]

110. You are entitled to your opinion

[aikoaiko]

66. Hillary Clinton says, "WTF, Joe. I would have been 44"

[4139]

95. Yep!

[OhZone]

102. I'm getting tired of people taking things out of context -

and trying to turn everything into something it's not.

Would you like him to just put duct tape over this mouth and sit in the corner.

I was scared about Obama getting assassinated too.

I think with our history of assassinations and attempted assassinations, it's something many many people worry about and some even hope for, depending on the person and person in power.

This is the kind of thing that just makes me more on Joe's side.

ooOoooooo! He said something! Yeah, no. This is just BS.

Oh well

[ChubbyStar]

116. Oh well is right

Good to see you back posting again!

[pnwmom]

104. Give me a break, Joe. n/t

[Cha]

191. Give yourself some context.

[pnwmom]

193. It's another gaffe. The context still makes it an unfortunate thing to say. n/t

[Cha]

199. Nope.. that's your opinion.. and you always

are looking to say "gaffe". So no I'm not taking it seriously.

[underthematrix]

118. I find this interesting because during the 2008 primary season, HRC

also made a referenced to the RFK assassination and candidate Obama as her reason for not getting out of the primary in June. African Americans were outraged just as people are outraged now.

No I'm not outraged. I'm in critical thinking mode. I have a theory about why this may have happened with VP Biden but I'm not going to post it here.

I'll say what I said here a month ago. I don't believe any of the current crop of candidates will be our eventual DEM nominee for president.

[betsuni]

138. She did not reference Obama. A reporter did.

Talking about calls for her to leave the race: "'Historically, that makes no sense, so I find it a bit of a mystery.' 'You don't buy the party unity argument?' she was asked. 'I don't because, again, I've been around long enough. You know my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.'"

The New York Post reported "'She is still in the presidential race, she said today, because historically it makes no sense to quit, and added that Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June, making an odd comparison between the dead candidate and Barack Obama.' Clinton, of course, had made no such comparison, but the horse had left he barn."

From "Game Change"

[underthematrix]

142. You're right. However, let's be logical about this. They (MSM) were trying to push her out of the

race which would leave candidate Obama. The implication was she was talking about Obama, her strongest rival.

BTW, I voted for HRC in 2016 because she was the best candidate.

[betsuni]

160. Yes. It must have been irresistible to the reporter. What a scoop!

What Hillary reportedly said when she heard about it: "'Unfuckingbeleivable!' .... How could they think that about me? .... I've been living with threats for fifteen years. I've had threats on my daughter's life. I've had guns and knives confiscated from my campaign event this year.'"

She spent years at First Lady in Arkansas and Washington getting death threats, of course her comment wasn't some diabolical plan to suggest Obama might be assassinated!

[emmaverybo]

147. She did not have to. I heard her and it was obvious, but never mind. I mean come on. But she

was not willing Obama to be assassinated, simply saying S-happens, you never know, and not being conscious of the fact that people would be shocked.

And with Obama at that time, there was a real possibility. He can’t be an assassinated President now or a running for presidency assassination. So far, no historical precedent for a past president to be assassinated.

[betsuni]

163. She spent years as First Lady in Arkansas and Washington getting death threats.

"I've been living with threats for fifteen years. I've had threats on my daughter's life. I've had guns and knives confiscated from my campaign events this year."

She was not "conscious of the fact that people would be shocked." This was a conversation with a reporter, not a speech.

[emmaverybo]

177. Fine. Whatever. I never said she was willing Obama's assassination. The reporter did not secretly

tape her. People saw the conversation as insensitive on her part. I am sure as VP Biden got death threats. As a fighter against apartheid, taking on Ronald Reagan, and a civil rights supporter for decades, he got death threats.

My point is that people often deconstruct a speaker’s message without regard to tone, intent, situation, or context. And they may disregard intent because they want to.

[treestar]

255. I got her point there too

It was just showing that it was not too late to be campaigning. People would have a reference for that in the fact that RFK was campaigning in June. There is this pretended inability to get the point and use the reference to prove the horrible character of the person who used it. Joe is in trouble with this just like he was for using old-time segregationists to make a point. How is Joe supposed to know what intellectual comparisons people can handle? It is all a mental exercise in how can we affect being offended?

Meanwhile no talk of policies, etc. No telling us why other candidates would beat Dotard.

[Vegas Roller]

125. It was a HYPOTHETICAL statement

No need for the detractors to jump with joy and spin it.

It will have no effect.

[progressoid]

131. And what the hell does this mean? "None of you women would know this, a couple of men may remember"

[pnwmom]

195. I wondered about that, too. n/t

[mtnsnake]

277. According to Huffpost it was an attempt at a "stale compliment" to the women in the room

"He also attempted a stale compliment to the women in the room, suggesting they wouldn’t want to admit their age by recalling events from the late ’60s."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-obama-assassinated-comment_n_5d607748e4b0b59d2574a604

[melman]

279. That's exactly what it was

It's one of his stock lines.

[progressoid]

298. Jesus.

[Hoyt]

139. Doubt it's as bad as portrayed. It referred to before election. But, still, why even say it?

[Princetonian]

153. Video makes it clear upthread.

Media whore Cilizza getting slammed for cherrypicking clickbait: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251879

[emmaverybo]

189. Well look at the context. I taught college Hoyt. I brought it home to them with contemporary

examples, sad, tough, and no stinting on dark or painful history either. Any good teacher can help
students make connections, empathize with experiences they have not lived through engaging them where they do live.

Joe was appropriately low keyed, serious, emotionally sober and trying to make our collective history, its wound, alive for people who did not live through it, but did have a president of their party who was for them an extraordinary man and a beacon for equality, like Kennedy and King.

[Thekaspervote]

212. Thx for your experienced voice. History is brutal but has a great deal to teach us.

Those that look away will never learn

[questionseverything]

219. and that he doesnt know 4 were killed at kent state

to me that is bigger

[vsrazdem]

143. What the hell. That was just plain stupid.

[Princetonian]

151. Watch the video upthread. Here's a tweet slamming clickbait media whore Chris Cilizza...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251879

[vsrazdem]

202. I don't need to watch the video. There is no scenario where the words Obama and assassination

should ever be spoken.

[Princetonian]

223. It was a empathetic teaching moment. Context matters. So does intent.

[tirebiter]

167. Shows me his durability

And the lack thereof by people saying that stating truth is a gaffe.

[Thekaspervote]

170. Indeed!

[pnwmom]

197. It was the opposite of a truth. Biden asked the audience to "imagine" the assassination

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2019, 02:36 AM - Edit history (1)

of Obama. That makes it a fantasy.

This was a gaffe --- especially because Obama is still a high-risk target of crazies, and no one should be encouraged to imagine the affects of his assassination.

[Cha]

200. Oh yes.. the usual suspects are out

in force with their "gaffes".. like that's some kind of magic word that's going to make Joe Biden go away.

Some have been trying for so long and so hard.. even before he officially announced. It's way past ridiculous. And, it didn't have to be anything real.. there was that time he supposedly crossed a picket line.. Horrors! When It wasn't even a damn picket line. It was a protest by BS supporters at a fundraiser for Biden.

[myohmy2]

181. Joe...

" "Imagine what would have happened if, God forbid, if Barack Obama had been assassinated after becoming the de facto nominee. What would've happened in America?" "

...can't you make the point without me imagining Barack Obama being assassinated?

...okay, if you think this helps you get nomination and White House...

...

[CentralMass]

186. That's not good.

[Princetonian]

225. Watch the video.

This is why an attendee went on Twitter and said they understood the point Joe was making: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251825

[cwydro]

204. Yikes.

No need to go there.

At all.

[Princetonian]

226. Joe was creating an empathetic teaching moment for the teenagers and younger crowd there.

This is why an attendee went on Twitter and said they understood the point Joe was making: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251825

[applegrove]

216. Biden was traumatized as all democrats were by the assasinations.

Assasination is with him. He himself was protected by SS. He's just being real. Obama was protected extra early in the nomination race the threats were so out of the norm if i recall exactly.

[melman]

222. So, one of the explanations I've seen is he was "trying to get a younger audience to understand"

Why? Unless the 'younger audience' is made up of toddlers I think they can grasp the magnitude. They don't need it to be explained.

[Princetonian]

230. Joe was trying to relate the pain & horror he felt at 18 when his political heroes were assassinated

You can see teenagers in the audience. What Joe said hit them in the gut.

This is why an attendee went on Twitter and said they understood the point Joe was making: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=251825

[betsuni]

232. Yes, they need it to be explained.

[treestar]

257. So you quit deliberately misinterpreting the point.

Very good. Yeah, but . . . no one in that crowd is young enough to understand more from that explanation.

[melman]

275. "deliberately misinterpreting the point"

Show me where I did that.

[Mike Nelson]

234. I don't support Biden saying that, but...

... it was something i talked about with a close friend... we did think about it when Obama first began doing well... we did think there was a higher danger of assassination if he became President. luckily, we got through that... assassination attempts have not been successful, lately... i think there were many serious attempts with Presidents from JFK to Reagan... almost every President was a target. anyway, Biden will do more talking, like this... people will either live with it or not.

[treestar]

258. The SS has gotten so sophisticated

that it does seem a lot less of a worry than in the 60s. Or the 70s, as Biden would have it.

[Princetonian]

235. Tweets from people who were there & replies to "sleazy headline"

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2019, 09:52 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287251924

Thanks to the OP, we got the "sleezy headline" right here.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

276. I know one person's reaction.

[demmiblue]

287. Obama and Biden have a special friendship.

But we all know that Obama is cringing inside at these comments.

[Princetonian]

290. Anyone as intelligent as President Obama knows how dumb it is to fall for cherrypicked click bait.

[MoonRiver]

289. What a strange statement!

[zackymilly]

295. Then Joe would have been President. I wonder if Joe ever dreamed of being President when he was VP?