Washington Post-Opinion: Democrats want to beat Trump. Biden wants to be the one to do it.

[Gothmog]

Link to tweet

“As president,” asked a young boy in gray jeans and matching T-shirt, “how will you fix the damage Donald Trump has caused?” The gym exploded, as if the Clinton College Golden Bears basketball team had scored a buzzer beater in a championship game. And Biden relished the moment to remind the gathered, “It’s time we lift our heads up and remember who we are. … I refuse to postpone the opportunity” to change the direction of the country.

As a raft of polls have shown, Biden is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president. Still, I couldn’t shake the impression that the passion on that basketball court was more about defeating Trump than supporting anyone specifically. When I sat down with Biden for an interview on my Cape Up podcast last week, I asked him whether my impression was right; that what Democrats want most is to send Trump packing. They don’t care who it is as long as they are convinced that “who” will succeed.

“There is a real passion for getting rid of Donald Trump,” Biden told me. “But I think there is a lot of passion for electing somebody who they think can, in fact, repair the damage that Trump has done, and to actually bring the country back together and unite the country on the basic fundamental things that make America America.” Sure, Biden thinks he is that person, and that’s why he’s leading the crowded Democratic field. “That’s why I think you see the response to the soul-of-America argument I’m making,” he continued, “because they know how deeply I feel it.”....

Eugene Robinson got it right. “Voters are making up their own minds about what’s important in Biden’s performance and what’s not,” Robinson wrote in his Monday column. “I think they’re looking for ‘electability,’ whatever that means; they’re looking for a fighter who won’t back down; and they’re looking for leadership.

[Thekaspervote]

1. Thx for posting.. I really like Eugene Robinson..such a savvy writer

[LanternWaste]

2. I like Biden speaking to a passion for not merely removing Idiot trump,

but in repairing the Idiot's scorched-earth diplomatic policies as well.

A friend half-jokingly mentioned that whoever replaces the Idiot will spend the first two years of their administration apologizing to almost every ally Washington has (or more accurately, has left).

[Gothmog]

3. There is a ton of trump damage that will have to be repaired

We will have to reestablished America's place in the world and rebuild relations with our allies

[Kahuna7]

6. Yes. A Democratic president will be able to get along with the world...But..

they will never again trust us because we let trump in to inflict the damage in the first place.

[Gothmog]

9. trump has caused a great deal of damage to our government

[Gothmog]

11. We all have a responsibility to stand up and speak out when we see abuse of power

Link to tweet

[Otto Lidenbrock]

4. Headline is a bit weird

Every candidate wants to be the one to do it. Who runs not wanting to be the winner?

[Gothmog]

8. That is the headline from the Washington Post

[Cha]

5. KR!

[Tarheel_Dem]

7. K&R

[Gothmog]

10. Here is why I like Joe

Link to tweet

[Hekate]

14. When I saw his #1 campaign video I absolutely knew he was right to run...

Win, lose, or draw, I'm glad he's in this race. Charlottesville was obscene, and someone has to say it. Charlottesville is a signifier for all we are in peril of losing, and Joe is the one who is saying it.

[BlueMississippi]

12. Only Biden can do it nt

[Gothmog]

13. Biden was at his most focused when he was fighting against the ravages of Trump.

Link to tweet

[Scurrilous]

15. K&R

[Gothmog]

16. Joe Biden's appeal actually isn't a mystery

Link to tweet

Biden shows reverence for the most popular Democrat around, former president Barack Obama; others find fault in everything from the Affordable Care Act to immigration policy. Biden does not bombard voters with a torrent of multi-part plans; he gives them a few basic positions and defends them. Biden does not campaign from the neck up; he campaigns with his heart on his sleeve. Biden is deeply optimistic; his opponents think Americans are the problem, not Trump. (I don’t suggest that his opponents are wrong, merely that their stance apparently isn’t as popular as they thought.) Biden wants normalcy plus reform; his opponents want a peaceful revolution. Biden knows people want to be heard and seen; his opponents (with the exception of Sen. Kamala D. Harris) don’t fully grasp this. They want to “help," to pepper people with ideas and a to-do list, while Biden takes the time to listen to them. (Think of the well-meaning friend who has a thousand suggestions when you are grieving and you’d rather they just shut up and commiserate.)

This is the grouchy-white-guy-in-the-diner problem all over again. Reporters are blinded by their own age, background, education and geography. Instead of going to West Virginia diners to find the Trump voter, reporters should go talk to the residents of The Villages in Florida, the African American churchgoing ladies and the buttoned-down professionals in the affluent suburbs (the Romney-Clinton voters). These people have endured a noisy, offensive and intrusive presence in the White House. They don’t necessarily want a different noisy, intrusive presence — even one they agree with on substance.

Part of the “mystery” of Biden’s appeal would be solved if the moderators flipped their questions, as one smart Democrat not in the Biden camp put it. Instead of asking Biden or another moderate, “Why aren’t you going with the big, bold idea of Medicare-for-all?,” the moderators might consider asking Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) or Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), “Why blow up Obamacare, and why don’t you trust people to choose Medicare if given the option?” Instead of assuming that extreme proposals are the standard, requiring the moderates to explain why they are such wet blankets, the moderators should press the super-progressives on questions such as: What makes you think that voters want to go through another health-care makeover? Why should poorer people pay for richer people’s health care or subsidize their college debt?

Better yet, ask the candidates to relate the personal story from a voter who moved them the most, or the last voter whose phone number they took so that the candidate could call later, or the most insightful thing they have heard from a voter. It might reveal who is talking at voters and who is listening to them.