, 04.25.2019 07:12 AM

Go, Joe, go!

So, I’m going to be volunteering for the Democrats again this Summer.  And this is the candidate I’m going to be supporting, too.

Why Joe Biden?

I’m aware of his shortcomings.  Every candidate has ’em.  He’s one of the oldest presidential candidates in history.  He makes gaffes.  He’s been a bit too mano-a-mano in the past.  He’s run twice before, and lost.

But here are the five reasons why he’s still my guy.

  1. This is all about who can beat Trump.  He can.  Joe is tough, he’s experienced, and – as his campaign announcement video this morning makes plain – he is getting into this race for the best reason of all: to beat that sonofabitch who cheated his way into the White House.  And successive polls have shown that Americans know who Joe is, they like who he is, and they like him way more than Trump.
  2. Joe Biden has what it takes to win.  He never forgot his Scanton, Pa. roots, and he has the working class support to show for it.  He is loved by African-Americans for his unflagging support for Barack Obama.  He has stayed in the political centre, where most of the votes are.  Independents like him the best. He knows how to get things done in Washington, because he has experience – and he knows how to work with Republicans, too.  He’s the guy who can bring together the winning coalition.
  3. The United States is still the United States. If 2016 showed those of us who worked for Hillary Clinton anything, it’s this:  the United States of America is still a pretty racist and sexist place.  In 2016, I was so proud to work for an amazing, progressive, capable woman – but America (including American women) rejected her, in large part, because she was female.  To beat Trump in 2020, we need to campaign in the United States that exists, not the United States that doesn’t.
  4. Traditional assumptions about politics are gone.  If 2016 taught me anything else, it’s also this: everything is different, now.  Hillary had the best-organized, best-funded, best-staffed, best-led campaign I have ever been part of.  But it still didn’t matter: we still lost.  Politics has been upended, everywhere.  So, traditional assumptions about campaigns – whether Joe is too old, too politically-incorrect, too centrist – are kind of irrelevant, now.  Trump showed that.  Running the 2016 campaign again will get us the 2016 result.
  5. Again, with feeling: it’s all about beating Trump.  I don’t give a good goddamn if Joe Biden comes from Mars and eats green cheese on prime time TV: he is the only candidate who can beat that bastard.  The only one.  And, with a running mate like Harris or O’Rourke, he addresses any of his perceived weaknesses, and then some.

Joe Biden for the win.  Because we have to win.

54 Comments

  1. Hugh says:

    I wish you all the best with this effort, as I think that Biden is the right person for the job.

  2. Fred says:

    Looks like Biden and Trudeau will together be fighting the good fight against white supremacists. Nice.

  3. Jack B says:

    OMG Warren, just when I thought you were sounding like a reasonable person, you go ahead and do this.

    Your read of American politics is way way off. Too long to explain it here.

    Anyway, trump is a lock for 2020 and that’s the way it should be. Only guy who will reset this stupid globalist destruction.

    • The Doctor says:

      Yes, he’s done such an awesome job resetting this stupid globalist destruction so far, hasn’t he? Especially appointing all of those billionaires to his cabinet.

    • Steve T says:

      Please explain “globalist destruction”, and how it has been a net negative for the world.

      Going back to the days of punitive tariffs and protectionism is better, you think? We can insulate ourselves from all those pesky competitive forces, foreign buyers of our products, and innovation. Those things are a pox on humanity!

      Or is this like the “100-mile-diet” proponents’ myopia? They want to support local businesses, but also somehow miss the point that if everyone did this around the world, Canada’s export markets would dry up and we’d have lots of unemployed people.

  4. Fred says:

    Looks like Biden and Trudeau will be together be fighting the good fight against white supremacists. Nice.

  5. Joseph Taylor says:

    I just don’t see how electing a 79 year old to one of the most demanding and intense jobs in the world is a particularly good idea. There has got to be someone else in a country of 320 million who can beat Trump. If there isn’t that says something pretty scary about America.

  6. Paige Smyth says:

    It is as unseemly for a Canadian to participate is the US election process as it is for US political and environmental groups to try to influence canadian electors. You are certainly not alone, but SHAME on you. In case you forgot, we have an upcoming election in this country which should provide you with the opportunity to flex your political muscle.

  7. How about:

    3.[…] in the United States that exists, not the United States that should exist.

    4. […] best-led campaign […]
    Seriously, Robby???

  8. Trump has tremendous tap-in abilities and a keen natural instinct for getting to people where they live, gut-wise. That’s primarily why it has to be Joe. He has the same abilities and can theoretically beat Trump at his own game. IMHO, none of the other actual or potential candidates can.

    My worry is that in 2020 that Trump will manage to outdo Trump. In other words, that he will have sufficiently honed his skills to be even more effective on the campaign trail and ultimately at the ballot box. That’s what would keep me up at night, if my pet name was Biden Campaign Manager.

    • The Doctor says:

      Trump will be the same repetitive broken record on the campaign trail that we’ve been seeing since 2016. Yes he’ll say outrageous shit from time to time. But that’s no longer a surprise to anyone who’s been watching and sentient. I don’t think Trump has any surprise tricks up his sleeve. He’s transparently a personality disordered narcissist, and in that sense his behaviour is utterly predictable.

  9. Mike Adamson says:

    Respectfully, Joe Biden’s history of presidential runs is pretty underwhelming. While I endorse that defeating Trump is job #1, I see a number of candidates who recognize that times have indeed changed and are prepared to make the kind of changes that opinion polling suggests are wanted by the American public. The past almost 40 years have not been kind to the majority of society and I don’t see trying more of the same as the route to success, be that economic, social or political success.

  10. Don Johnson says:

    Well, Warren, I’ve met Joe Biden when he was a Senator. He took my wife and I and our kids into the Senate gallery and spent about a half hour with us. He seemed a very gracious and charming man. I like him as a man a lot. I don’t like his politics, I prefer conservative solutions to our problems. I think Joe is capable, but I think like all Dems he will pander to the most repressive side of the left regardless of his personal left-centrism.

    I do think he probably has the best chance of any to beat Trump, but I doubt he will succeed. I wish there was a better candidate on the side I support, but it appears we are stuck with what we’ve got. In any case, it will be an interesting campaign.

  11. Democrats need GOTV numbers that surpass those of Trump. Period. Can anyone but Biden pull that off? I don’t see it but am open to being convinced. (My second choice for nominee is Harris. She literally glows with warmth on that stage.)

  12. Gord says:

    I wish you luck, and I hope Biden wins, but I’m pessimistic. Remember this is the Democratic Party that thought it was a good idea to nominate George McGovern against Richard Nixon. The hard lefties and woke progressives that make up a sizeable chunk of the Democratic electorate aren’t going to vote for a centrist old white guy. They’re going to nominate someone like Harris or Warren, who will go down to spectacular defeat blaming the white working class (and whites, and men in general) for all that ails America.

  13. Kyle says:

    Warren, how do you square your support for Biden with the accusations made against him by women? I know the 2020 election is about beating Trump, but I am genuinely wondering how a long time women’s rights/feminist supporter such as yourself makes those ends meet.

  14. Gord Tulk says:

    Hillary lost because she and her cabal ran the worst campaign in the history of presidential politics. Trump was an easy beat – Hillary May have been the only candidate who could have lost to him.

    In a post #me-too world Biden is in big trouble with the dem base (for the record I don’t think the handsiness and hair sniffing is sexual – I think it is a form dominance that Biden exhibits elsewhere in his notoriously long uninterrupted of the cuff comments in committee meetings)

    He lucked-out winning his senate seat at age 30 – 46 years ago and has played second-fiddle in every endeavour since.

    His “moderate” politics is anathema to the activist base and they won’t let Bernie or some other lefty be denied this time round as they see Obama’s tenure as being timid and feckless and that that is the reason why Trump and the GOP down the ticket won.

    The Dems are doomed regardless in 2020 because of their now established position on unlimited access to late term abortions, the Green Plan, and open borders (which I now see thomas Friedman (of all people) who after seeing the border crisis in person, wants a real wall built along the border).

    Thus Regardless of who the Dems nominate they will lose at a McGovern scale in modern terms.

    • The Doctor says:

      That’s an interesting prediction, Gord, given that Trump is at a net minus 12 approval rating. Which is terrible, given that the economy is not in the shitter.

      I have no idea what’s going to happen, but your sunny optimism about Trump’s chances for a crushing victory seems a bit excessive, given his massive negative ratings (remember Hillary’s strong negatives?).

      • Gord Tulk says:

        Several points on that:

        The RCP approval avg is -8.8%. And that is within the MOE of Obama at the same point in his first term.

        Ohio and Florida are now pretty solid red – especially due to the policy issues I noted above. So the battleground moves to other states like MI PA WI and VA. These are all states that have seen dramatic economic recoveries under trump/GOP.

        The wildcard as it always is is the economy and consumer confidence. It looked a bit shaky just 3-4 months ago but it definitely seems now that the US is experiencing real, inflation-free productivity growth at rates not seen post 9/11.

        Also where trump is hated he is hated even more – and those coastal states skew the favourable ratings when you try to apply them to the electoral college.

        I do think at this point in time Biden is the most ejectable dem in the race. But I don’t think he can win the primaries.

        PS – I think it a certainty that Harris is on the ticket regardless of who wins the POTUS nom. (I find her very repellent but that surprises no one)

        • The Doctor says:

          The Project 538 all poll average has Trump at a net negative 11.8 this morning.

          I agree with you that polls only tell you so much, and that Trump definitely benefits from being popular in rural fly-over country and unpopular in urban areas, given the way the electoral process works.

          I also agree with you that when the Democratic Party is badly split, that has often screwed them in elections they could otherwise win. 1968 and 1972 (the latter being mentioned by you) are examples.

          That said, barring a complete bed shit by the Democrats, I don’t see a McGovern-style blowout. I could see Trump winning, but not in a rout.

          A third-party candidacy could also really mess things up, and could benefit Trump, though that seems less likely today.

          All that said, Team Trump had a massive gift in Hillary Clinton in 2016. Many casual observers of that election were not aware of her massive negative numbers in polls, and how for a lot of Americans who voted Trump, it was a vote against Hillary. That’s not going to be a factor this time out, and there’s evidence that Trump eagerly wants to fight 2016 all over again rather than the battle that’s in front of him. Thus his continued obsession with Hillary on Twitter and in his speeches. If Trump continues on like that, I think he’s in trouble. Hillary is not going to be on the ballot in 2020, either literally or figuratively, however much Trump and certain alt-right goobers would like her to be.

    • Fred from BC says:

      “Hillary lost because she and her cabal ran the worst campaign in the history of presidential politics. ”

      Yes, and also because of her history: Benghazi, Uranium One, The Clinton Foundation, Jamaica, and her enabling and support for a sexual predator…never mind the Fusion GPS, illegal mail server, deleting emails and hijacking the DNC nomination from the rightful candidate stuff that came to light during the campaign itself.

      But Joe Biden isn’t off to a great start, either. I see he is repeating the BLATANT LIE that Donald Trump said “some (Nazis) are nice people”. He did not. Not even close…and this was made clear right at the time of the initial press conference, and clarified twice more later, yet the left *still* repeats it!

      Unbelievable. The campaign ads just write themselves, don’t they? “Joe Biden and the Democrats think you ‘deplorables’ are all stupid, here’s what really happened:

      ( show news clips of the actual press conferences where reporters ask Trump to clarify his statement and he does exactly that. THREE TIMES.)

      They just never learn. Donald Trump will win again, and they will have no one to blame but themselves…:(

      • The Doctor says:

        Ok so that’s you and Gord on the record as predicting a Trump win.

        • 416Firearmsowner says:

          Add me to that one.

          Trump is still getting tens of thousands of people out to those rallies. He is, above everything else that his supporters and detractors attribute to him, a giant middle finger to a sector of American society that is openly contemptuous of a “yuge” swath of the country. And this is why he will win by an even greater margin in 2020.

          The Democrats have nobody capable of beating him. Wait until the “Creepy Uncle Joe” tweets start

        • Fred from BC says:

          “Ok so that’s you and Gord on the record as predicting a Trump win.”

          Yes, if the Democrats keep doing the all same stupid shit they did last time. Absolutely.

          But hey, let’s see how *your* last prediction fared:

          ————————

          I’m going with Pollyvote, because I find them to be non-partisan and professional. Their methodology and track record are both solid.

          Clinton – 323

          Trump – 215

          And btw, to those of you who are putting any credence in those IBD polls — FFS, the IBD is a crackpot, alt-right rag, populated by the likes of Ben Stein. Get real.

          ——————

          (IBD being one of only two pollsters who actually got it right)

        • The Doctor says:

          But but Hillary

  15. Miles Lunn says:

    I have mixed feelings here. I agree his blue collar roots are important and that can help win back the Rust belt states they lost to Trump. Also the fact he is more centrist is important too as like it or not, people like Bernie Sanders, AOC (she isn’t running but some are taking her ideas), and Elizabeth Warren are too left wing for the US. Democrats will win big in the liberal coastal cities, but they need to win elsewhere to win the White House.

    My concern with Biden is his age and not to sound ageist but I think they need someone from the next generation. One that is interesting is Amy Klobuchar as she is both moderate and from the Midwest (which is key to winning the White House).

  16. whyshouldIsellyourwheat says:

    Isn’t Joe just a stalking horse for Michele? To deadlock or stalemate the convention so Michele can be nominated from the floor (without the necessity of campaigning in the primaries)?

    The Democratic Primaries are going to be a “red wedding”, at the end of which Ms. Obama enters stage left.

  17. Fred from BC says:

    If America is so sexist, why are so many women elected to public office? If it is so racist, how did Barack Obama get elected twice?

  18. Justme says:

    Just like the federal Liberals are not what they were and until they return to their best representation as during the Chretien-Martin years, neither are the Democrats. And unlike the Democrats, Liberals were never the racist party, but like the Dems now with their identity politics, now they are.

    Republicans are the party of the Constitution and prosperity, and equal opportunity for all to do well. But Democrats, and Liberals, are the parties of identity politics and open borders. Also, what party voted to continue slavery and against Black equal rights? Wasn’t the GOP that’s for sure.

    Go Trump!
    (Trump is a buffoon but what you see is what you get at least, and no one can deny what he’s accomplished. And you’re kidding yourself that he won’t win, now that the Mueller report, and Dems, are being shown for what they really are. Wait until the truth about the spying of the 44 admin comes out. Barr isn’t an idiot and wouldn’t have used that carefully chosen word if it wasn’t true. 45 being bugged during his campaign? Not far fetched like most sheeple think!)

  19. Jack B says:

    Lets see, democrats floated open borders, unfettered illegal immigration, late term and after birth abortions and soul sucking socialism akin to Venezuela in the guise of an environmental deal. Plus they are going to keep going with the Mueller charade and try impeachment. Just the party I want to through my hat behind.

    Trump is 100% lock just based on the economy alone. All he has to do is bring up any of those issues and he destroys the candidate like nothing including Biden who is a serial metoo offender. Plus trump has almost $100m head start in fund raising.

    • Derek Pearce says:

      Trump is deeply unpopular with suburban soccer Moms across the entire US, and those soccer Moms generally lean in favour of having the right to choose what happens with their own bodies. It won’t take that much finessing to defeat him.

  20. Derek Pearce says:

    People seem to forget that Hillary won 3 million MORE VOTES in 2016 than Donnie did. And that is with a mass amount of complacency about voting– people assumed she’d win so didn’t bother to show up at the polls thinking that it wouldn’t make a difference. I think if Harris is the nominee and halfway savvier GOTV effort is made this time around then the Dems will be fine.

    • Gord Tulk says:

      Complacency ran both ways. Total vote numbers are completely irrelevant.

    • Fred from BC says:

      “People seem to forget that Hillary won 3 million MORE VOTES in 2016 than Donnie did.”

      The people who keep repeating this seem to forget that the popular vote is also NOT what determines the winner. Just like here in Canada, it is *where* those votes are won (or lost) that matters. The next Democratic candidate could also get 3 million more votes in California, and still lose to Trump if his vote is better distributed (as it was last time).

    • Justme says:

      1. Kamala Harris won’t be the nominee. She’s too far behind.
      2. Even if she was, Dems still won’t win. Beating the dead horse of “Russian collusion” which there was none and only “obstruction” was of injustice, late term murder (yes most sane human beings would call letting a baby die after being born by botched abortion “murder”, and if you don’t you’re sick – reasonable term abortion by second trimester, that’s been long since decided and shouldn’t be revisited), unchecked illegal immigration, just short of open borders (no borders =no country), “sanctuary cities” (what a joke when Trump says he’ll give them what they want by releasing en masse into these cities, what, they aren’t wanted? – hypocrites!), leaning far socialist, identity politics and separating people by skin colour/sex/orientation etc instead of recognizing all as equal, which is the real racism/sexism/ageism…

      You seem to miss that when Hilary got those votes, Dems were “centre left”. They are getting verrrrrry far left. The US is a republic, not a socialist country. Far left or far right is extremism and neither works. Trump is reasonably centre right in comparison, which is why he will win barring impeachment which isn’t going to happen, amongst his other accomplishments, buffoonish as he is.

      The exact same reason I was a lifelong Liberal until Turdeau. (Run up horrendous deficits in times of plenty unlike Martin who responsibly paid it down while keeping Canadians taken care of, throw our money at everyone but Canadians except to buy us at election time otherwise our vets, well, nothing for you!, SNC, plastic and fake and vacuous and empty – what a disgrace he is) I’m glad I didn’t vote for him, and never will vote Liberal again until they, like Dems, come back to the centre. Anything too far left or right destroys a country. The Dems, like Libs, are doing fabulous jobs themselves of making sure they are unelectable.

      • Gord Tulk says:

        Just a correction on Paul Martin.

        He balanced the budget primarily by illegally stealing 57 billion from EI (Supreme court voted 9-0 on that) and by cutting transfers to the provinces. So rather than do the difficult thing and cut federal spending he stole from others.

        So by your own metric you should not have voted for the LPC even then.

  21. BC Guy says:

    Biden will put his foot in the mouth so many times that will make your head spin. I am waiting for his responses on Russia interference that him and Obama did nothing about while they were in the White House. Hillary lost the election and now it’s all coming out about Russia, fake dossiers, FBI and DOJ corruption. I encourage everyone to read Rosenstein speech from last night.Obama administration criticized.

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      BC Guy,

      It’s not factual that Obama did nothing. Unlike Trump, Obama went toe-to-toe with Putin during their face time and warned Putin of serious consequences for further meddling in elections. Trouble is, Putin is scared of no one and simply continued Russian operations regardless.

      • BC Guy says:

        Do you have a link to that story?I don’t think Obama and by extension Biden, did much if anything, and thought Hilary was going to win so why bother?

  22. jen says:

    I wasn’t surprised that Trump won in 2016. Its not a statement of genius to claim that. It was easily observable to anyone who knows life on the ground in the non coastal states of the United States. The election was a turning point that will continue to reshape politics everywhere.
    A Joe Biden win in 2020? No way. His candidacy and the way he entered the campaign simply demonstrates that Democrats have learned nothing from their loss in 2016. Implying that America is in the grips of white supremacy will repel many constituencies that they need to win.
    2016 changed the electoral coalition for republicans, where they are now actively projecting an image of working class (whether real or not). The standard playbook democrats play, which began under Clinton, is to promote neo-liberal economic policies while pushing hot button social issues to deflect their activist base into thinking the party is not under corporate rule. This will not work today. To win Democrats will have to drop identity politics and focus entirely on an economic policy which would appeal to working class whites and blacks. Will this happen? No way. From what I can see, they will run the same campaign and redo all the same mistakes that caused Hillary to lose.

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      jen,

      Excellent analysis. Biden is already off to a rough start and can’t put Anita Hill behind him. And I’m for Biden!

      My advice is simple: ask Dr. Hill to appear with you on a Barbara Walters special and genuinely apologize — let her explain why your conduct was wrong and then take ownership, not for perceptions, not for how others behaved, not for how you ran hearings as chair, but for your own conduct — the mistakes you made personally.

      Otherwise, Biden gets to wear this and watch it wear down his candidacy. Democrats are not Republicans. With a field of 20, this is enough to alienate vast swaths of the party base and derail his candidacy. Fix it and do it now.

      • Ronald O'Dowd says:

        I apologize for using the phrasing “let her explain”. I realize now that term is sexist.

        I also want to remind people that both Carville and Kinsella think that the election will absolutely turn on the economy and I agree with them. Ironic that Trump also thinks that.

        • Fred from BC says:

          “I apologize for using the phrasing “let her explain”. I realize now that term is sexist. ”

          No, Ronald, there was nothing “sexist” about it. It was the perfect choice of words given the context of your statement (you could also have used ‘ask’ or ‘allow’), and I’m at a loss here to figure out why on earth you would think that.

          This is the huge problem with the social media in general and the Twitter Outrage Mob specifically: people are too afraid to make a good, valid point for fear that it will be misinterpreted (sometimes deliberately) and used to attack them. Real, productive dialogue becomes impossible, which is a ridiculous state of affairs…and the exact reason you’ll never see me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or any other social media platform. Too many trolls, no-lifes, PC drones and other assorted assholes out there just looking for the “Gotcha!” moment that will allow them to anonymously, fearlessly attack someone and make their own pathetic little lives seem much more important than they really are (however briefly).

  23. Tempewade says:

    Ahh Biden. Several years ago I read Bob Gates outstanding memoir, Duty, Memories of a Secretary at War. He spanned both Dubya’s and Obamas presidencies. I can’t find the passage right now but he recalls in a round table discussion in the White House Uncle Joe stated a position and everyone in the room dismissed it out of hand, because Joe was always wrong! After a while Gates realized that, wait a minute, he’s right on this one occasion. It was a memorable and very funny moment. Gates was a Republican but very evenhandedly worked for both White Houses, a very impressive and honourable guy. In any event, that’s the essence of Joe, almost invariably wrong.

  24. John Matheson says:

    American politics is a mental disease.

    • Gord Tulk says:

      American politics are of global consequence.

      Canadian politics are provincial, constipated, xenophobic and of little consequence beyond its borders.

      Speech is far freer in America than it is in Canada or anywhere else for that matter.

      So if it’s politics are a mental disease, what are Canada’s? And who cares?

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