...or are you just saying they should?

But Beto might be a nice counterpoint to that.

We have many of the younger generation enthused in voting (see AOC) so we can't just put up the same old guard nominees. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

1. That Biden's too old ... since he's got a young person in the wings
2. And that Beto's too young and experienced....because he has Biden to learn from.

Beto could totally energize Biden too.

Then Biden could drop out after one term and Beto could take the next two!

Term for us. Hope repukes don't leave economy in shambles. Oops too late.

Plus Biden/Beto just sounds good.

running for these offices, Democratic candidates looking just like those from the white man's party? We may be between periods when that's even really possible -- left the bad old days but not arrived at the "what about it?" days yet.

Warm-fuzzies Uncle Joe and young, tough Kamala Harris? Or Kamala plus Beto? Her tough gravitas and his kennedy-esque appeal should play off well together. Be a problem for JoeK3 also if he's thinking of running. Otoh, HE could be #2 to Sen. Harris. Btw, she's 5'2". Surprise, but it'll show on a debate stage.

(He represents a whole bunch of people considering running.) I do think Joe and Kamala would complement each other nicely on a stage.

Btw, we've still to elect our first female president, and should we really wait another possibly 18 years (!!!) for our next serious try? Two Democratic terms will most likely be followed by two of the main conservative party, whatever the GOP's called by then. I suppose our first woman president could be a Republican.

in a very blue district. Let's not pretend she did more than that. You do realize that Dems flipped red seats, like Lucy McBath in the GA-06, now that's impressive.

Dumping Dave Brat is one of my favorites!

There are some incoming freshmen that did not have the advantages that AOC had, yet they won.

...of the incoming class of Democratic Congresspersons, as well as the movements that are afoot, when selecting our next presidential nominee.

I like Joe Biden , but new younger candidates are needed now, not older ones who've been there for decades and have not protected us from this now.

Biden will be nearly 80, has a history of gaffes and other baggage. Candidate Joe has proven more than once to be different than the Uncle Joe some seem to only remember as Obama's pal. A ticket of 2 white guys and this silly notion of Biden handing off the presidency after 1 term are ideas that need to go by the wayside.

Instead, we should recognize the moment we're in (Me Too and Black Lives Matter), and recognize the significance of the diversity (and youthfulness) of our electorate as well as that of the incoming class of Democratic members of Congress.

No Biden. No Sanders, who has no chance anyway. It's time to move on.

HAD to go with diversity. I think, with all due respect for every single person who might want to run, that we must concentrate on who MUST be able to beat Dingbat1 and Dingbat2.

Btw,. Just read an opinion that Harris blew her chance at 2020 by acting way too prosecutorial during the Kavanaugh hearings. Not saying I agree just thought it was interesting. Theory being we need somebody likable.

As I wrote yesterday...There's this assumption that Biden would just sail through the process as lovable Uncle Joe. When, in fact, his history with the Thomas-Hill hearing would become a big issue in this Me Too era. His ties to the financial industry would become a big issue. His penchant for gaffes would become an issue. His previous failures (plural) to win the nomination would not go unnoticed. His age (he'll be the age Reagan was when Reagan *left* office) is also a factor.

There is this notion, though few Biden proponents would admit this, that our nominee must be a white male in order to win back MI, WI and PA. That we must appeal to Trump voters or so-called "independents" (even though studies show "independents" to be highly partisan - i.e., not independent - and unreliable voters).

Instead, we should recognize and appreciate the moment we're in (Me Too and Black Lives Matter), and recognize the significance of the diversity (and youthfulness) of our electorate as well as that of the incoming class of Democratic members of Congress.

another perspective is that it is a time to "right the ship". And may be a time to do exactly what you say is bad...only because we HAVE to stop this trump train of horrors. We don't have to give up our ideals, not one iota, to do that.

But time will tell...he may be headed for jail...and most all repukes are sticking with him so they will be soiled too.

Don't think your theory about finding and running a white male is valid for all of us. Hoping most of us think about the person first.

In fact, I think it would set a record.

Also that Uncle Joe's old and has baggage. The best thing I know about him, other than the warm fuzzies in an era that could use some, is that Obama thinks well of him and would have supported him for president. Presumably he's grown since the last time he ran and lost.

Although some old fashioned types resisting change may believe our candidate needs to be a white man to "win back" weak willies (and please them), that's hardly all that's behind the names of white men that keep popping up. Also, midterms data show a bunch of the white flighters have already come back.

Which brings us to the reality of plain old numbers. In this era, a majority of our best choices who have the experience and are otherwise viable are still white men. Of course their names are going to come up most.

Some other numbers are that 76% of Americans are white and in 2018 a very similar percentage of Democrats are white. Surprise to that last? Most studies are obscuring that number by putting the white Hispanic electorate in a separate category with nonwhite. Even though a lot of the media are pushing the picture of a Democratic Party that's now dominated by minorities, that's not the case. Our demographics roughly mirror the nation's.

So, it's not yet time for a minority-minority ticket. Is it time for a minority-white female ticket in either order? I doubt it given the intense hostility, including within our party, to our top female leaders, Clinton and Pelosi. A white male-minority male or female ticket...yes? Minority male-white male...yes?

Speaking of white male candidates, one of several is WA's governor Jay Inslee. I'm liking the very little I've read about him.

Good for all of us to be rational and scientific and analytical before we give our hearts to someone.

from workers at those companies -- will come back to haunt him.

In addition to his failure during the Anita Hill hearings and his overly friendly handsy-ness with women and girls.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/politics/banking-ties-could-hurt-joe-biden-in-race-with-populist-overtone.html

Not mentioned was Mr. Biden’s own history with the financial services industry, an economic power in his home state of Delaware, or the critics who saw him as too close to credit-card companies in more than three decades in the Senate.

But if Mr. Biden decides to run for the Democratic presidential nomination, his Senate reputation as a friend to financial institutions could be a significant obstacle, especially if he wants to make inroads with the party’s liberal base, which has become increasingly skeptical and often passionately hostile to anything connected to Wall Street.

Too prosecutorial? Who said that? Some republican who will never vote blue anyway? Harris showed guts in the Kavanaugh hearings and she put herself in the running. Whoever says the opposite is the same people who advised Bredesen that he could win by straddling the fence. Win with strength not conciliation. I like Harris.

But that's about the only requirement. BHO and HRC proved that nonwhite and female are no longer barriers to the nomination or a majority of votes in the general. Republican electoral fraud is a far bigger obstacle to the White House than the color or gender of our nominee. Amy Klobuchar, for example, is also a former prosecutor, and she's as likeable as you can get.

The last three Democratic presidents that actually took office after being elected (as opposed to Gore, Kerry and HRC, who were elected but prevented from serving) were noted for their likeability. Carter, Clinton and Obama are just naturally PEOPLE people. Did you ever see Reagan, either Bush, or Dan Quayle or Dick Cheney being cheered as they walked on the stage of any popular late night talk shows? Only Foxsuckers want to see them, and not because they are likeable, but because they aren't.

The physical demands of the presidency are difficult to measure, but they are substantial. A President who takes office can either shoulder the burden or take naps and delegate (Bush-Cheney, Trump-his whole evil corrupt cabinet and McConnell). It's nothing I'd want to do, and at 66, my job leaves me 5 hours of sleep a night if I'm lucky, and in a different country practically every day.

The emotional demands have to be off the charts as well. This was even the subject of a hilarious film some 50 years ago ("The President's Analyst"--do yourself the favor if you can find it). Obviously, there will be the exceptional individual who really can do the job at age 78, but we can't know that until after the first two years or so, and we put ourselves at considerable risk with such an experiment. Both Reagan and Trump have shown how BAD an aged president can be.

I treat diversity as an asset, not a requirement. I prefer to leave rigidity to the Republicans and just get the best we can come up with.

Both young and fresh with experienced knowledge. They are on the same page as far as ideas for leading our country. I would vote for a Biden/Beto ticket but prefer a Beto/Biden.

Wasn't liberal enough. I didn't catch who they said was saying this but it is absolutely crazy. I live in Texas, I heard him speak in conservative Waco. Then I heard him speak in liberal Austin. They were two different speeches. I was surprised, in Austin, he is extremely left wing. Which is 100% fine with me.

Any group that is saying Beto is not liberal enough. I know that Chris Matthews last night gave a pitch that Beto should run. So it must have been someone that called him or that he talked to today. You're right, fishy.

Tell me how "progressive" is she?

Link to tweet

I hadn't seen the Twitter response. Thanks!

I think we will get someone at least to the left of the last 2 Democratic Presidents - Harris and Warren would fit that. I just don't want to be choosy in my support. Look at the damage from just 2 years of The Con.

I think it would be Biden feeling him out for reasons of concern. Beto could be an impediment to Biden running. Or Biden might like him enough to give him early help and support.

Running because he knows he wouldn't be able to compete with a young whippersnapper. Or if he did compete with him he probably would have to call him out for not knowing enough which could drag us down ultimately.

It would be monumentally arrogant for anyone to be meeting with another potential candidate about being #2 on their ticket at this point. "Hey you know that president thing that everyone's getting excited about for you? Well why don't you forget that and hitch your wagon to Uncle Joe, young'n?" Don't think so... those discussions won't happen until at least a year from now when the chaff starts to sort itself out.

Biden has the name, experience, and popularity to beat President Trump, but cannot go more than one term.

But if the VP candidate is seen, from the start, as a successor, and is utilized as such for the initial term, then we get a candidate in 2024 that has already demonstrated the ability to do the job. Biden knows the score as VP, and could make that a reality.

It doubles your oppositions ammo. Takes away from the image of power necessary to show the people. It's a primary, not a general. Democrats really won't concern themselves with it. Beto wouldn't box himself in. It would be amazingly arrogant. The list goes on.

That said, I don't think Biden would make it to Super Tuesday. There will be qualified contenders who don't need to make the case for who will follow after their first term.

And I disagree about Biden's viability, but we'll have to see.

Biden/Beto


PERFECT

Let's not overthink this....If he decides to run he will be the overwhelming favorite, and I would expect a lot of the field to clear out.

I just hope he is taking every minute of this down time to read and learn as much as he can I think he would be a great president...but in all honesty I didn't see much intellectual growth through out his campaign. I do know he is extremely liberal which is great. And he is full of passion and goodness.

n/t

No thank you!

consider what they look like? Isn't that exactly what we believe in?

Last edited Thu Dec 6, 2018, 11:45 PM - Edit history (1)

they think the 1950s of false memory is going to magically appear and the rest of us are going to magically step into the movie picture frame . We will all be white and start singing Oklahoma! in unison.

It will be like this endless funeral service for a presidency that never was. America will be whole again and Elvis will descend from the sky and tell us how he saw the baby Jesus and a white light and heard a voice telling him it wasn't his time yet and he had to return.

No one while have to do anything to work to make elections fair and the only civic duty we will have to to go to rallies for president every four years and best of all our planet will heal itself.

Beto being VP candidate is more realistic than Presidential right now, IMO.

I''d vote for them.

I'd be very inspired to work for them. They are my top two.

I like Klobushar too as VP. But in a Biden administration either Klobushar or Harris could be AG.

..I still want a biden /harris ticket...

mountains of debt, even in bankruptcy. Biden, with his strong ties to the Delaware banking industry, was the key Democrat who fought to make student loan debt non-dischargeable.

He would be a terrible candidate in an election in which the vote of millennials will be critical.

But if he wins the primaries , which I don't believe he can, I'd vote for him .

Those states don't reflect our electorate but they hold a lot of influence.

Some traditions need to be abandoned. Caucuses are one. The primary schedule is another.

I've come to accept this shit.

So many seem to only remember Biden as the guy who pals around with Obama buying burgers and ice cream.

And this whole transitional president idea needs to die. We aren't talking about the Speaker or another member of Congress. We're talking about the presidency, where matters are very complicated.

Anyway, the age, the baggage, the gaffes...Biden as the nominee in the era in which we find ourselves is a lousy idea. Also, we should consider how devastating it could be (in a variety of ways) for the first woman president to be a Republican, such as Haley.