July 22, 2019

"Poll: Americans Not Sold On Trump -- Or Democrats"

This poll has some very revealing findings. It's well worth it so consider it's key takeaways. We need to stop assuming that a Dem...any Dem is a shoo-in. Of course, I never assume that to begin with.

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/22/743516166/npr-newshour-marist-poll-americans-not-sold-on-trump-or-democrats?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwAR0D0iMhOfc6uGL-ZDlCJrvebL0Zn98z6g6HdlRWupPa7UIRwV8wcI5ldGQ&fbclid=IwAR3bCChbKI-SdUugJRNzTog7rOwXKUSJ2wnYM4pYBQkRzyv5MJ4xtiSulU0

Democratic presidential candidates are proposing lots of progressive policies in this election. And while those policies may resonate with the party base, some of those ideas are not popular with a general election electorate, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

And overall, independent voters said they were not impressed with the direction either President Trump or Democrats want to take the country at this point ahead of the 2020 election, the findings show.

"Independents are on the fence overall," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College, which conducted the poll. "They're not willing to grant President Trump reelection, and yet they're not persuaded by Democrats at this point."

July 8, 2019

Eleanor Clift: SUICIDE - Embracing Medicare for All Will Put the Democratic Party on Life Support

https://www.thedailybeast.com/embracing-medicare-for-all-will-put-the-democratic-party-on-life-support?source=twitter&via=desktop

Medicare for All is a nice catchphrase, but for a party seeking to unseat President Trump, it is a poison pill that the Democratic candidates should not swallow whole.

The popularizer of the idea, Bernie Sanders, conceded under questioning on the debate stage that the middle class would pay more in taxes, but said that any tax rises would be offset by savings on insurance premiums and deductibles.


Asked for a show of hands which Democrats support Medicare for All, Elizabeth Warren led the charge to declare, “I’m with Bernie.” New York Mayor Bill De Blasio joined her. On the second night, Kamala Harris raised her hand to back Sanders, then following the debate thought better of it, saying she misunderstood the question.

It was the second time Harris walked back her support, even though she is one of four senators running for president who have signed on to Sanders’ Medicare for All legislation. The others are Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and of course Warren, who leaned into the issue more than she has in the past, perhaps hoping to poach some of Sanders’ support.

July 5, 2019

Joe Biden Says He Won't Use Dem Opponents' Past Against Them:

‘Should Be Debating What We Do From Here'

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/joe-biden-says-he-wont-use-dem-opponents-past-against-them-should-be-deb

Former vice president-turned-2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Thursday that he won’t use the political histories of his Democratic rivals against them.

As Biden faced questions about Senator Kamala Harris digging into his record at last month’s primary debate, CNN’s Chris Cuomo asked him if he was expecting questions about his past positions to be as strong and relevant as they seem.

“I don’t think they’re relevant,” Biden answered, “because they were taken out of context.

“It’s easy to go back 30, 40, 50 years, and take a context completely out of context,” Biden said. “I get all this information about other people’s past and what they’ve done and not done and I’m not going to go there. If we keep doing that — we should be debating what we do from here.”

June 19, 2019

Black lawmakers get Biden's back amid 'segregationist' uproar

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/19/joe-biden-segregationist-comments-1370844


Senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus leaped to former Vice President Joe Biden’s defense Wednesday after he touted his bipartisan work with known segregationists as a time of “civility.”

Progressives pounced on the remarks, and two other White House hopefuls criticized the 76-year-old Democratic presidential poll leader over his comments at a fundraiser Tuesday night. But more than a half-dozen CBC members argued that Biden’s remarks were taken out of context and that the former senator’s call for decency is needed now more than ever.


“I worked with Strom Thurmond all my life,” House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the highest-ranking African American in Congress, said of the infamous segregationist senator. “You don’t have to agree with people to work with them.”

Clyburn is preparing to host his annual fish fry event in South Carolina this weekend, a must-stop on the Democratic presidential circuit. Nearly all of the two-dozen Democratic hopefuls, including Biden, are set to attend.

At the fundraiser in New York, Biden pushed back at liberal critics who say he’s out of touch for thinking he can work with Republicans after the hyper-partisanship of Donald Trump's presidency. Biden recalled his days in the Senate working to find consensus with hard-line segregationists like James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia.

“At least there was some civility,” Biden said of that era. “We got things done. We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done.”

June 19, 2019

New Monmouth University Poll, Warren now tops Sanders

https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_061919/

June 18, 2019

Latest Morning Consult Poll for 6/17, Smokin' Joe 38% (+1%)

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June 7, 2019

How Joe Biden Could Win the Democratic Nomination With the New Hampshire Primary

https://observer.com/2019/06/joe-biden-democratic-nomination-new-hampshire-primary/?fbclid=IwAR0yC5xZp8mafpeFEMsjcAmDq7xeSZu3MEcxAeCM9MkbLRFsh7t-fzro_wE

Former Vice President Joe Biden could wrap up the nomination as early as February 11, 2020. That’s the day of the New Hampshire Primary. And unless his opponents catch fire with the public in the Granite State, Biden is looking at a huge win against two main opponents—in their own New England backyard.

TelOpinion Research has released a poll track from late May 2019, showing how Democratic Primary voters feel about their candidates. And the results show that Biden is much loved by New Hampshire voters. If the election was held today, he’d win in a cakewalk.

How Biden Is Blowing Out His Opponents Big Time in New Hampshire
The former Delaware Senator had the support of 33 percent of the voters in the survey, well ahead of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Other candidates, like Pete Buttigieg of Indiana, Kamala Harris of California and Beto O’Rourke of Texas, were in single digits in New Hampshire.

June 6, 2019

Guess who else voted against federal funding for abortions?

THE THING ABOUT THE HYDE AMENDMENT … Over the last day, there’s been a pile-on on JOE BIDEN -- Beto O’Rourke, Elizabeth Warren and others have ganged up against the former VP over his support of the Hyde Amendment, language that prohibits most federal funding for abortion.

BUT … If you are or have been a member of Congress -- 15 people in this field -- and you’ve voted for big spending packages, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve also voted for the amendment. OF COURSE, Biden is actively supporting it, and that’s a bit unique. But this language has been a part of a lot of funding bills and gotten plenty of votes from Democrats over the years.

AN EXAMPLE: ELIZABETH WARREN SAYS SHE DOESN’T LIKE THE HYDE AMENDMENT … Warren told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Wednesday night that “we do not pass laws that take away the freedom from the women who are most vulnerable.” Her team tweeted: “I will not support any effort to take rights away from women who are the most vulnerable. It’s time for Hyde to go. #WarrenTownHall”

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2019/06/06/guess-who-else-voted-against-federal-funding-for-abortion-443667

June 1, 2019

Where's Joe on 6/1/2019? Addressing the Human Rights Campaign Event

in Columbus, OH

https://www.hrc.org/blog/vice-president-joe-biden-will-be-guest-speaker-at-the-2019-columbus-dinner


Today, HRC announced Vice President Joe Biden will be the guest speaker at the organization’s 2019 Columbus Dinner. The 2019 HRC Columbus Dinner will take place on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at the Ohio Union at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Actor Jake Choi of the upcoming film “The Sun is Also a Star” and the TV series “Single Parents” will be receiving the Visibility Award.

“Vice President Joe Biden is a strong and visible ally to the LGBTQ community in our fight for full federal equality,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “His bold declaration supporting marriage equality helped change hearts and minds throughout America, and his work during the past two years as a leader of the Biden Foundation to advance LGBTQ rights at home and abroad is critical — particularly at a moment when the equality and dignity of this community are under attack across the globe. The Human Rights Campaign is honored to welcome Vice President Joe Biden to our Columbus Gala.”

Vice President Joe Biden was the first sitting Vice President of the United States to express his personal support for marriage equality and helped lead the most pro-LGBTQ administration in our nation’s history. After leaving office, Vice President Biden has continued to champion the rights of LGBTQ people in the United States and globally through the Biden Foundation, which built on the Bidens’ lifelong commitment to advancing equality, including fighting for equal treatment, inclusion, acceptance, dignity, and justice for LGBTQ people. Biden has spoken out time and again on the atrocities faced by gay and bisexual people in Chechnya, even the as the Administration and others have failed to address this dangerous situation.