2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumwhy I do not want Joe to run
Disclaimer: I love Joe Biden. I think HE is the reason LGBT finally made gains. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have put Joe in the Oval Office back in 2008. I do nto say this because of the "experience" Hillary likes to crow about (yeah, like experience getting us to war with Libya and then making jokes about it), but precisely because only Joe is crazy enough to offend people, and an offensive government needs someone unpredictable.
That being said, him entering at this point will be a disaster. Allow me to list the reasons:
1) the "ready for Hillary" crowd. There are people who, simply put, feel they were slighted in 208 by not getting their candidate. Never mind that despite the fact that a "woman" president might not wind up improving the lot of women any better. Just as they are chewing up Bernie, they will chew through Biden and anyone else until they get Hillary and can say "now we have a woman president." Never mind that Hillary might wind up being much more of an Angela Merkel or Maggie Thatcher than a Dilma Rouseff.
2) Obama: Simply put, a Clinton vs. Biden ight will be over the Obama Legacy, and if Clinton cannot have the Obama legacy, she will TRASH it, ala her "hard choices" book, where she lambasted Obama for not doing that war with Syria and Iran. Hillary trashing the Obama Legacy will weaken the democrats as a whole, especially as she has toadies like Debbie Wasserman Schultz that will gladly pour gasoline on the progressives versus 3rd way war.
3)The Koches. Simply put, the Koches will try to pollute the waters.
donco
(1,548 posts)who ever the Democratic Candidate is.The reason for my support for Bernie is, I,m kinda tired of looking at legacy candidates.
Don't get me wrong,I'll support whichever candidate that gets the Democratic nomination nod. But Hillary would be number three on my druther list.
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)Hillary and her crowd will shit all over our party if she doesn't win?
I think that is a pretty good reason to not have her as our nominee.
monmouth4
(9,710 posts)DemocratSinceBirth
(99,714 posts)eom
Juicy_Bellows
(2,427 posts)They would shit all over him (read chew through Biden) if he chose to run but they have agreed that he will not.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,714 posts)I would point out that if his favorables are high it's because he's largely out of the political fray. After all Hillary had favorables in the high 60s when she was SOS. The most popular politicians are those that are dead or aren't running for anything.
MBplayer
(73 posts)I was worried about the "ready for Hillary" crowd for awhile, too. But look at these:
Is your opinion of Hillary Clinton/Joe Biden favorable, unfavorable or haven't heard enough?
HC:Women: 47% fav, 43% unfav
Biden: Women: 54% fav, 32% unfav
Would you say that - Hillary Clinton is honest and trustworthy or not? Women: 43% yes 51% no
Would you say that - Joe Biden is honest and trustworthy or not? Women: 59% yes, 32% no
HC: Would you say that - Hillary Clinton cares about the needs and problems of people like you or not? Women:50% yes, 46% no
JB:Would you say that - Joe Biden cares about the needs and problems of people like you or not? Women: 58% yes, 31% no
Say Biden is the nominee...yes, the diehards will be upset at first, just like 2008. But put him next to DR. Jill Biden, and a female VP candidate (I am falling in love with Tammy Baldwin, first openly gay elected US senator). They will forget about HRC in like, 5 minutes. We capitalize on Joe's connection with working class voters and Obama's 3rd term, WHILE maintaining and perhaps increasing the female vote.
Juicy_Bellows
(2,427 posts)philosslayer
(3,076 posts)Joe's entry into the race will just muddy the waters, and force Secretary Clinton to divert energies that are better spent going after Republicans. It will be an unnecessary distraction. So no, its not necessary and shouldn't happen.
Buns_of_Fire
(17,197 posts)Last edited Sat Aug 1, 2015, 07:50 PM - Edit history (1)
I know he's got a certain percent already, but to be competitive at all, he'd wind up siphoning support from SOMEONE. The Hillary and Bernie sides seem to be pretty entrenched, O'Malley and Chafee don't have enough yet to be a factor, and Vermin Supreme's 27 votes won't help him much.
I wonder who he'd hurt more by declaring. I also wonder who he'd HELP more by announcing that he's definitely NOT running. There are lots of twists and turns left before the first primary.