Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumI'm beginning to think that Biden could be the best choice right now.
I don't expect the next president will have much time available to implement new ideas and systems.
Yes there are many problems in that need fixing but none will be as important as restoring a functioning government so that those problems can be addressed in the future.
The next president will probably spend their whole first term simply rebuilding the government and repairing all the horrendous damage that Trump has done to our country. This will not be a small job.
Biden was vice president for 8 years and has seen up close much of what the president's job entails. He would probably know more about what will be needed to rebuild the government than any of the other candidates.
I like many of the proposals that other candidates have presented but without a solid government behind them they won't be effective so I'm tending towards Biden for this particular presidency.
His ideas aren't as innovative or focussed as some of the others but he could well be the best at rebuilding a broken government that is necessary if we are ever to implement the new ideas.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Ron Green
(9,821 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
emmaverybo
(8,144 posts)climate catastrophe. Then there is NK, Iran, Russia. Experts tell us we are closer to a first nuclear
war than ever before in our history.
Big, bold domestic policy ideas wont help. Only one candidate has significant foreign policy knowledge and experienceJoe Biden.
He is the candidate for this very moment we are in.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
olegramps
(8,200 posts)I tend to believe that it would be a replay of Obama' presidency. It will require that the actions of forceful president, such as those taken by the likes of T. Roosevelt, to make strong appeals to the public to actually achieve what is desperately required. The situation will not be corrected until the Republican Party reformed or destroyed. Unfortunately there is fertile ground for the recruitment for their propaganda. There is an increasing cadre of millions of non-informed and ill-informed voters seething with hatred because of their own inabilities to prepare for jobs consisting of more intellect than assembly line manufacturing. As automation and AI progress the situation will only intensify. The situation calls for dramatic changes such as presented by the Industrial Revolution where the nation when from an agricultural base to an industrial complex. Massive educational programs are the key to which societies will thrive and prosper. At the present I don't see the necessary action being taken.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
emmaverybo
(8,144 posts)presents, not domestic politics and policies. Your post is non-responsive to my point about the need for a president with foreign policy and relations experience, and I would add, world-stage stature.
We must bring Iran back to the table. We must rebuild our alliances. We must lead in the
attempt to broker peace in the Middle East and between India and Pakistan, and deal with our enemies, not coddle them.
We must acknowledge the dangerous rise of fascism in Europe, Russias ambitions, and send a coherent policy message to NK. No other candidate is poised to lead a super power among super power as we navigate perilous waters.
Snip-
World leaders tell Biden: We need you
The former vice president would bring deep relationships and heavyweight credentials to a 2020 Democratic field lacking in national security experience.
By DANIEL LIPPMAN 03/20/2019 05:04 AM EDT
While Biden was already likely to enter the race even without the encouragement of foreign leaders, one Democratic Party official close to Bidens circle said that their support had fueled his appetite to run. He is now widely viewed as likely to announce a 2020 bid in the coming weeks.
These nudges from abroad are a reminder of the heavyweight foreign policy credentials Biden would bring to a Democratic field in which they are currently in short supply. None of Bidens prospective rivals have the global experience or relationships with foreign leaders that Biden enjoys. But neither do they carry the baggage that comes with decades of involvement in controversial U.S. foreign policy decisions.
A former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Biden has specialized in foreign policy for decades a key reason why Barack Obama, who had modest credentials of his own in that realm as a freshman senator, tapped Biden to be his 2008 running mate. As vice president, Biden was Obamas ever-present adviser on world affairs and played a leading role in their adminstration's Iraq and Ukraine policies.
Even some prominent conservatives concede that Biden would bring to the campaign a formidable depth of knowledge of global events, especially compared to his would-be Democratic rivals.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/20/biden-2020-foreign-policy-national-security-1228345https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/20/biden-2020-foreign-policy-national-security-1228345
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
TheRealNorth
(9,435 posts)Our President will have to go in front of the cameras and be able to kick Moscow Mitch up and down Pennsylvania Avenue on a regular basis. Or else there won't be any new legislation and it will be like Obama's last 6 years.
I am not convinced at this point Biden can do that. (I am also not yet convinced Warren or Sanders can do that in a way that will appeal to moderates).
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
olegramps
(8,200 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Kahuna7
(2,531 posts)Most voters want trump gone. Period. They don't want to go from one extreme like trump to another UNKNOWN extreme with all the countless new proposed plans.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
elleng
(130,156 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
bmbmd
(3,088 posts)is "Who should be his VP?"
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Arkansas Granny
(31,484 posts)at this point. Right now I think Biden has the best chance of beating Trump and that is my main concern. That being said, any of the Dem candidates will be a better President than the current White House occupant.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
NNadir
(33,368 posts)...should allow us to declare a winner, as we have entered an age of extreme assertive arrogance.
Why have primaries?
Why have anything representing input from the people?
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)should Joe Biden capture the nomination, it will be Stacy Abrams. The two of them met earlier this year, and after that, she did not throw her hat in the ring. That's all I needed to figure out what was going to happen.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
question everything
(47,271 posts)Moving from chaos to major changes in many programs. Or moving from chaos to... normal.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Thekaspervote
(32,606 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Kahuna7
(2,531 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BlueMississippi
(776 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(42,673 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
redstateblues
(10,565 posts)The confiscation thing has really given the Republicans ammunition. Lets face it there will be no confiscation, maybe a buy back but the image of federal agents going door to door confiscating guns is something from which Democrats need to distance themselves. It was an unforced error and might even taint his whole career. Words have meaning.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
spooky3
(34,303 posts)alternatives, is not likely to inspire as much enthusiasm as others. 2018 was instructive.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BlueMississippi
(776 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
spooky3
(34,303 posts)45 male and 44 white Presidents, and all of the racism and sexism and other -isms we have all witnessed in RECENT years, that race, gender or other characteristics of candidates will not be considered by voters.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BlueMississippi
(776 posts)what will a majority of voters prefer in order to vote for the ticket? And I mean a majority -- not just a wishful dream.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Boy, its too bad that we don't have any qualified women candidates, hmmmm.
I'd love Biden/Warren. If Biden doesn't get the nomination, then Warren is my 2nd choice. An all white male ticket isn't terribly inspiring.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
emmaverybo
(8,144 posts)others in the field. I do agree that he should strive for a ticket representing Americas diversity.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
WheelWalker
(8,943 posts)still loyal to cupcake. Love ya.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
PatSeg
(46,804 posts)Warren would undoubtedly be my first choice. I waver a bit now and then, but I still feel he would be our best choice this time. I could change my mind down the road, we still have a long way to go.
Love ya too!
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)you mean 2016?
If so, I agree, Tim Kaine was the most boring pick Hillary could have made.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Response to spooky3 (Reply #9)
LongtimeAZDem This message was self-deleted by its author.
Kahuna7
(2,531 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BlueMississippi
(776 posts)and they would vote in droves.
Biden-Beto will not be so alarming to them.
This is a strictly political calculation and not an opinion about the competency and/or qualifications of our excellent female candidates as well as several like Stacey Abrams who are not running.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Kahuna7
(2,531 posts)albeit light on experience.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Skya Rhen
(2,701 posts)is about even with Kamala in that area...
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Kahuna7
(2,531 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Skya Rhen
(2,701 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Kahuna7
(2,531 posts)he'll be pressured to name a WOC, she would be the best choice and help us to carry Georgia. Abrams didn't support him. Even though he had believed Harris to be a friend, she damaged herself playing the race card.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Skya Rhen
(2,701 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
JI7
(89,182 posts)not at the top of the ticket so it would still balance out.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
bootcamp
(16 posts)...with Beto gun confiscation proposal. Regardless, the airwaves would be swamped with horrible negative commercial against any Democrats who gets the nomination.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
jmowreader
(50,453 posts)The fucking NRA is using Beto's "hell yeah, we're going to take your AR-15" in fundraising materials. We put Beto on the ticket and they're going to have one of their favorite Scary Men to run against - the "liberal gun grabber."
I like a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket. I can trust that ticket to run the country well and to throw the entire Trump Administration in prison where it belongs.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
world wide wally
(21,719 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
comradebillyboy
(10,119 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Freddie
(9,232 posts)Amy would be my first choice if I thought she could win the nomination. Shed be an excellent running mate with either Biden or Warren. But I fear the countrys not ready for that one, although 2 men on the ticket hasnt been an issue. Funny that.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
comradebillyboy
(10,119 posts)I'd be happy with her as VP. I'd also be happy with Harris. If Warren wins I'm not sure who would be the best VP fit.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Lucid Dreamer
(584 posts)Save her for AG.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
maddiemom
(5,106 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
ancianita
(35,816 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Vdizzle
(382 posts)Having Biden at the top of the ticket will help streamline repair. He knows how the the govt works. He knows people. He can get shit done. But I would like to see an up and comer as VP. Mayor Pete? Warren? I dunno.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Vdizzle
(382 posts)I would like to see Biden as a one term candidate. He comes in, fixes the govt with his know how, and doesnt run for a 2nd term. In the meantime, Id like to see Mayor Pete or Elizabeth Warren brought up as VP and groomed to run and then really get shit done.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Tarheel_Dem
(31,211 posts)to worry that his appointees will be hollowing out, demolishing, or corrupting the agencies they're supposed to be leading. Our traditional allies will once again respect us, and our adversaries will again recognize that NO means NO.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)on conversations I heard last night. Beto is persona non gratis here now after brave gun talk. "I don't care if it's only AKs you don't take any gun, ever"
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
CCExile
(456 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
aeromanKC
(3,307 posts)But so many others. For example Biden/Abrams, Biden/Klochabar. And even Biden/Warren has been becoming more interesting recently. (even though I really believe VP should be a WOC if Biden is on the top of the ticket)
But also like possibility of a Warren/Pete with Biden as SOS ticket. That still gives us Biden's experience and clout to rebuild our International relationships.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
NoMoreRepugs
(9,260 posts)The contrast between all our candidates and tRumpy are almost beyond comprehension. WTF is wrong with all the Deplorables???
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)...his stance on weed.
I'd like to see Bernie ask these questions of him in a debate.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
KPN
(15,587 posts)If you are talking about civil servants, government employees, I disagree. Federal employees are true professionals. They understand the role and hierarchy of the executive branch and work within it. Every administration requires they adjust to administration goals and agenda. Ive seen more leaking, resistance, and internal challenge to the hierarchy under tRump than ever before. Dont underestimate the federal workforce. They will respond effectively to any strong leader in restoring not only normalcy but execution of sound and prudent policy.
I dont believe Biden is the only candidate who can provide the kind of strong leadership needed for the administrators, the federal professionals, to restore normalcy or fix those things that have been broken by this reckless administration.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
flying_wahini
(6,529 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
bootcamp
(16 posts)...but I am sure many would rather not discuss that. but strange you guys keep discussing Biden age when the most dedicated voters has always been seniors.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Cha
(295,929 posts)polling well with Seniors.. Black and White
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
LongtimeAZDem
(4,494 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Cha
(295,929 posts)helping your candidate.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
HeartlandProgressive
(294 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Response to Kablooie (Original post)
Post removed
Keystone52405
(2 posts)Before anything bold can be accomplished we must get money out of our politics. Biden is a product of money in politics, I dont trust he will work to eliminate it, therefore all our problems remain. We must do four things after we secure the elections. Win the presidency, win the senate, remove big money donors from our political system and remove the fillabuster. I dont trust Biden on #3 or #4. We really have only one shot remaining and we have to be bold.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
The Mouth
(3,123 posts)He's arguably the most corporate Democrat in generations. Look at the 2005 Bankruptcy bill, for example. Of course look at the economics of Delaware, not surprising.
https://www.salon.com/2015/10/21/joe_bidens_greatest_betrayal_the_one_senate_vote_that_makes_it_hard_to_support_a_biden_run/
He's better than Trump, and arguably the most electable, but he's going to govern well to the right of Presidents Obama or Clinton.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
treestar
(82,383 posts)I think he knows how to identify his constituents. Delaware is very pro-corporate.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
The Mouth
(3,123 posts)But as much as I like Joe, I think he needs to address this more directly.
I'm not anti-corporation. I am anti corporate influence in politics when it becomes egregious, and I think the 2005 bill was an example of this.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)It's THEIR job, after all. Biden literally could not get rid of money in politics because, one, he wouldn't legislate. The president implements the legislation congress passes. And second, constitutional amendment is required and not happening soon.
But you have reason to trust our senate and house Democrats. Both money in politics and extreme economic inequality inimical to democracy are threatening to destroy our nation, and with it the Democratic Party.
Both of our caucuses already have corruption reform bills ready to start the reconciliation process after the opening of the 117th congress on January 20, 2021. HR-1, the big reform package, was the first bill the new house majority passed after the November midterms. Election funding is only one of the dangers to our democracy that it addresses. It's called The For The People Act.
Elizabeth Warren and other senators have similar reform bills in the senate.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
NNadir
(33,368 posts)...President was Abraham Lincoln.
Like Trump, Buchanan blundered into tearing the country apart in order to produce a reactionary America trying to sustain a way of life and privilege that could not be sustained and was not ethical to sustain.
Lincoln had no executive experience.
It is generally agreed by most commentators that he saved his country.
We need a candidate who thinks clearly and has high enough intelligence to recognize that the world has changed as has America's place in it, largely because we have shown that Americans can elect a weak minded corrupt slob to run our country.
You cannot unbreak an egg, and we cannot unbreak our country by resurrecting representatives of a destroyed order.
The country is badly injured. We need new, not old thinking.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Mr.Bill
(24,104 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
NNadir
(33,368 posts)...who came to office with no real executive experience, and thus is very familiar with executive machinery. Obama involved him.
It's not like Biden is a neophyte.
It is interesting to note however, that the President who was generally considered the worst President in history until Trump came along had extensive experience. James Buchanan had been a member of the House of Representatives, Minister to Russia, Secretary of State, and a Senator.
It's interesting that the second worst President until Trump came along, was a distant relative of another terrible and destructive President George W. Bush, Franklin Pierce. (Bush's mother's maiden name was Pierce.)
Trump is probably worse than Buchanan, because although Buchanan's policies lead to a great Civil War in which hundreds of thousands of Americans died, he at least inherited a severely divided country, whereas Trump inherited a fairly unified country and turned it into a racist divided nightmare.
Pierce was merely incompetent.
If we had gone from Bush to Trump, I don't think the country would have survived, but we had the magnificent Barack in between.
Biden cannot however run solely on Barack's coattails.
Look, I like him. He's a fine man, clearly a very decent man, but I'm not sure that he's the best choice for addressing this terrible disaster, this cancer on America, a stupid, deliberately ignorant narcissist psychopath in the White House.
It may take more than he has to fix this, because he's not Obama, but rather Obama's student, maybe an A student, but a student all the same.
We need a teacher, not a student.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
treestar
(82,383 posts)8 years as VP and he worked closely with President Obama. A long term Senator is experienced enough with the executive to be able to transfer skills.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Mr.Bill
(24,104 posts)My point was you don't need executive experience to be ready to be president. Nor does executive experience automatically qualify you to be president. Remember when the republicans were bragging about Sarah Palin's executive experience? What a joke that was.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
extvbroadcaster
(343 posts)I just don't think Biden is the person we need. He still thinks he can work with the GOP like the old days. Wrong. Biden would be a better "elder statesman" -
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Gothmog
(144,005 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Gothmog
(144,005 posts)Link to tweet
The most obvious is Bidens consistent strength in head-to-head polls against Trump. You can remind people all day long that these are unreliable indicators of how a general-election campaign will actually play out, but they wont be able to ignore them. And Bidens advantage here is significant. There is not a single poll in the RealClearPolitics database of 2020 trial heats between Biden and Trump in which Biden does not lead. His current lead in RCPs polling averages is an enormous 11.5 percent (Sanderss is 7.0 percent, and Warrens is 5.2 percent, but both have trailed Trump in some surveys).
A second factor making Biden Mr. Electable is the widespread belief among pundits and voters alike that, all things being equal, proximity to the political center is a general-election asset. The more we approach a three-candidate nominating contest in which Bidens only real challenge comes from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the more Bidens relative moderation will become evident. That may hurt him with some primary voters, but it could at the same time enhance his perceived electability.
A third factor some analysts focus on is the practical ability to win voters the party lost in 2016 either to Trump or to third parties or to the living-room couch. Theres at best limited evidence that Biden is more popular than other Democrats in the much-chewed-over white working-class demographic (especially Obama-Trump voters). But he certainly talks about his focus on these voters a lot, which enhances the perception they are his people. And he certainly has conspicuous strength among African-American voters, whose fall-off in turnout was a big problem for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Biden does not look like a good bet to energize younger voters, but Trump might well do that for him...
Risk-averse is probably the most important term to remember in assessing Democratic voters heading toward 2020. They still dont entirely understand how Hillary Clinton managed to lose to Donald Trump in 2016, but they arent inclined to take anything for granted this time around. And that will make it difficult for candidates other than Biden to convince Democrats their other qualities are worth taking a bit of a risk on. Sure, Biden could in theory blow himself up with some high-profile gaffe that undermines the very premise of his candidacy. But thats not within anyone elses control.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Frankly, because problems have grown so disastrous over the past 30 years of Republican dominance, we have no choice but to address them and in the process use them as catalysts and opportunities for important advances. Runaway change always means old is inadequate and often obsolete, just restoring won't do. Competent people served lemons always make lemon pie with them. Especially competent people figure out how to generate power for cities with them, and I expect to see that under any Democratic president.
And polls are showing that much of the electorate is aware of that. This will be a wonderful opportunity to advance if we can continue to build belief in the need to turn to Democrats to once again be the fixers.
I believe Biden could serve much of the calming, stabilizing role of FDR in this process. FDR reassured America that we could and would fix the dreadful, frightening mess we were in in the 1930s through good change. Then he put together a dynamic team authorized to work with congress to use the demand created by great need to create big, permanent solutions and advances, and they made the revolution-within-the-system New Deal happen.
Most of the New Deal ideas weren't FDR's initially -- he brought together people who thought that way. Social Security and unemployment insurance, among other things for instance, were Frances Perkins' ideas, whom he had made our first-ever woman labor secretary. She sold her ideas to him and was also in charge of implementing many of the new programs developed by the New Dealers in both the WH and congress.
Elizabeth Warren has always reminded me of Frances Perkins, also Hillary Clinton in a different style -- both especially dynamic policy wonks who never saw a problem they didn't want to create a solution for.
In reading and listening in other places than here and MSNBC, btw, I worry that we may be underestimating future resistance to Elizabeth Warren and what she offers to the nation. I'm definitely waiting to see if the national excitement over her broadens substantially, or if the greater growth is in hardening of resistance.
Even if she were elected, and I hope that is very possible, voters have a way of "balancing" governments. It's horribly possible that the very election of an especially iconoclastic Democratic president could result in the election of a corrupt Republican congress to keep her and us in check. At very least, it might well kill any chance we had of getting a majority in the senate. And no one should forget that most of our majority in the house was created by very, very narrow votes.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
PhoenixDem
(581 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
DrFunkenstein
(8,745 posts)-Vice President John Nance Garner
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,280 posts)As FDR's VP, and like his predecessors, he didn't have much to do, and he had little influence on FDR's policies. That was probably a good thing, since he was much more conservative than FDR and didn't agree with him on much of anything. He tried (very unsuccessfully) to run against FDR in 1940, and was replaced by Henry Wallace. It wasn't until after WWII that the vice presidency became an important position.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
DrFunkenstein
(8,745 posts)It really was only with Gore and Cheney that it became an meaningful position.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Indykatie
(3,691 posts)The next Dem president will need to salvage the relationships with our allies. Trump seemingly has gone out of his way to destroy our standing on the international stage with every country but Russia and Saudia Arabia. Biden is also best situated in my opinion to build a talented high quality administration. I would expect to see more than a few former Obama administration staff returning to government.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden