home

Bernie Sanders Drops Out

Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the Democratic race for President.

That leaves Joe Biden. I don't believe Joe Biden will beat Donald Trump for one reason:

"I was inspired by Joe Biden" said no one ever.

At 77+, Biden should be writing his memoirs, not looking for a "personal best" and running for President. I change the channel when he comes on, just like I do with Trump.

Biden's pick for VP could make a positive difference or sink him. After all, there's a pretty good chance given Biden's age that the VP will end up being President. [More...]

Democrats have a really bad habit of shooting themselves in the foot. 2016 was a disaster they weren't prepared for. This year, they let a bunch of millenials scare them to death by the use of two words: "democratic socialists". Prior to their group coming along, Bernie Sanders had identified himself correctly as a "social democrat" rather than a "Democratic Socialist." This year, he wanted "in" with the "in crowd" and began describing himself as a Democratic Socialist. Two different things, and his choosing to go with the "in crowd" of freshmen congresswomen who he believed would bring out the vote for him was a big mistake. It left him open to the Fear card, and moderate and right of center Dems had a field day with it.

That's too bad, because I agree with Bernie on most issues and think he'd end a lot of the arbitrary and discriminatory policies of our government, both in the criminal justice system and the education system. On the other hand, I also think he's too old to run for President.

Policy change in America moves at snail speed. I began writing TalkLeft in 2002 -- 18 years ago, urging changes every day in our criminal justice system and advocating for candidates I thought were most likely to be receptive to those changes. Not surprisingly, almost every one of the laws I opposed on TalkLeft was written or driven to passage by Joe Biden.

There were no reforms under Bush, and a small number by Obama (reducing the crack powder disparity from 100:1 to 18:1 is his biggest change, but really, it should be 1:1 and all mandatory minimum sentences should have been repealed).

In my opinion, this year brought the most uninspiring group of Democratic contenders in recent memory. Not a single one had the charisma needed to win a presidential election. There wasn't one I could get excited about (except maybe Julian Castro).

I put the Democrats' failure this year to nominate a unifying, inspiring, charismatic, non-geriatric candidate that Americans of all age groups can relate to squarely on the Democrats.

I don't believe Biden will bring out the numbers of voters needed to beat Donald Trump. If this country ends up with another four years of Donald Trump, Americans should hang their head in shame. Trump never have been granted a desk in the oval office. He's done nothing to earn it, he's not competent and he doesn't tell the truth. He's always been the carnival barker. In 2016, all he had to do to win was yell "Hillary's e-mail". In 2020, he'll be doing more of the same kind of tactics. He's already started, with approval from his party.

The Democrats had three years to prepare for this moment by figuring out how to effectively counter the reality TV show Trump runs from the White House. They had three years to craft an appeal to his underinformed, margainalized angry rural base. They had three years to convince America's uber-rich industry leaders that Trump was not reliable enough to pin their economic futures on him.

Unfortunately, Dems failed. We get the government we elect, and with an uninspiring, way-past retirement age crime warrior on the one hand and the carnival barker on the other, there's only the Dems to blame if the carnival barker prevails.

I'm not going to continue to vilify Joe Biden now that he has seems to have the nomination in hand. I want Trump to be gone just like everyone else. Once he actually is the nominee, I plan to only write about the consequences of re-electing Trump and the need for a Democrat-led Senate and House. But if you ask me if I will vote for Biden, the answer is a resolute "no." I will vote down-ticket only. I won't suggest anyone else follow my lead. I won't continue to make the case against Biden. But for me, voting for Biden after writing so many posts over the years about the awful crime bills he introduced or co-sponsopred and pushed through the Senate would make me a hypocrite. I don't feel the need to vote for the lesser of two bad choices when I oppose both candidates so intensely.If Biden doesn't topple Trump, I will feel sorry for America, but again, it's the Dems who will own the failure.

< Tuesday Open Thread: Where Does the Time Go? | Cook County Jail is Now Largest Source of Coronavirus >
  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


  • Display: Sort:
    I think he will (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Apr 08, 2020 at 02:00:15 PM EST
    Beat Trump.

    Only because of the vast array of outside influences.  In a normal year, I agree.  He would lose to Trump.

    I don't think so.  

    People have shown over and over they are willing to crawl over broken glass to vote against Trump.  

    He is going to lose.  Bernie, Elizabeth whoever.  He will lose

    The problem is he is already laying the ground work to challenge the legitimacy of the election.  By by discussing how inherently corrupt vote by mail is.

    Our problem is not beating Trump.  IMO.

     Me or my Golden could do that.  Our problem is making him leave.

    After he loses

    Biden won fair (5.00 / 6) (#3)
    by KeysDan on Wed Apr 08, 2020 at 03:50:45 PM EST
    and square by attracting more primary voters. I did not order my priorities with him on top, but he became the overwhelming preference of Democratic primary voters. He is perceived as safe and normal in the Trump environment of impeachment, corruption,incompetence and the march to fascism.

    Biden withstood the campaigns of many very capable, younger and more vibrant candidates. But, unlike these other candidates, Biden has the support of a critical part of the Democratic Party--the AA community, many older and somewhat conservative voters. Biden, for all his warts, is a known quantity, Obama's vice president, and,many  people just like him. Steady and sane beats dynamic and vibrant this go around.

    Biden, I believe, will defeat Trump. He may not have the stamina of a 21-year old, but, after all, he is running against Trump, a tired and unhinged basket case. And, Biden did very well in the one-on-one debate with Bernie.

    His pledge to select a woman as his running mate was an astute one. Biden, as president, will surround himself with very good staff and make good Cabinet appointments. Once again, the first years of a Biden Administration will be to literally and figuratively mop up the mess created by the Republicans and get the country back on a democratic track. Biden is a good fit for that aspect of the task and, hopefully, with a Democratic senate can progress beyond that.

    The primary is, essentially, over. Continued opposition to Biden or I will stay at home is a vote for Trump.  

     

    Sensible, to-the-point comment, KeysDan (none / 0) (#27)
    by christinep on Tue Apr 14, 2020 at 02:58:33 PM EST
    Thank you, KeysDan, for the logical & positive comment.  Having just watched the full endorsement by former President Obama, my enthusiasm for our presumptive candidate, Joe Biden, is growing more real.  Please consider listening to that full endorsement ... an excellent statement of the strength of Biden's character & connection with many Americans, and now our path to the WH together.

    Was it Benjamin Franklin who said "We must all hang together, or surely we will hang separately." I truly believe that we must all vote for the Democratic nominee in 2020 or risk the consequences of an almost unimaginably destructive second term in the hands of a demagogic Trump.  In more ways than one, this is not a time for individual luxuries because the essence of our government may really be on the line in the voting booth.

    Parent

    While I completely agree with your (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by Chuck0 on Thu Apr 09, 2020 at 12:02:07 PM EST
    assessment of the Democratic Party, I will be voting for Joe Biden in November. In PA, not voting is a vote for the orange clown.


    I also will be voting for Biden... (5.00 / 2) (#5)
    by desertswine on Thu Apr 09, 2020 at 02:11:41 PM EST
    not because he's so wonderful, but because of Capt Howdy's cat food theory.  And I'm hungry.

    Parent
    I also will think of children in cages (5.00 / 4) (#7)
    by Towanda on Thu Apr 09, 2020 at 02:56:46 PM EST
    and their deported parents and people dying of coronavirus owing to lack of trsts and other steps that ought to have been taken by a real president.

    And, after vowing that I never would do so, I will vote for Biden.

    That, Jeralyn, will at least cancel your de facto vote for Trump.

    Parent

    And, think of (5.00 / 4) (#8)
    by KeysDan on Thu Apr 09, 2020 at 04:15:19 PM EST
    federal judges and Supreme Court justices who are decent, are without a regressive worldview, and whose judicial decision-making is geared to more than advancing the extremes of conservatism and erasing lines between Church and State.

      Welcome, too, would be the absence of the handing down from the bench rulings that have the effect of reckless endangerment of citizens.

    Parent

    Latest Polls (none / 0) (#2)
    by RickyJim on Wed Apr 08, 2020 at 03:06:51 PM EST
    All show Biden beating Trump.

    March 26 - Michigan - MRG - 44/41
    March 28 - General - Fox News - 49/40
    March 29 - General - ABC/WaPo - 49/47
    March 30 - New York - Siena - 58/33
             - General - Harvard/Harris - 55/45
    April 1 - General - Grinnell/Selzer - 47/43
            - General - Economist/YouGov - 46/42
            - Wisconsin - Marquette - 48/45
    April 6 - Florida - UNF - 46/40
    April 7 - General - IBD/TIPP - 47/41
    April 8 - General - Quinnipiac - 49/41  

    For those of us (none / 0) (#6)
    by coast on Thu Apr 09, 2020 at 02:31:38 PM EST
    who are republicans and voted for HC last time around, it will come down to his VP selection.

    You speak for all of them? (none / 0) (#9)
    by Yman on Thu Apr 09, 2020 at 09:24:10 PM EST
    Good to know.

    Which VPs are acceptable to you and which aren't?

    Parent

    Great question. (none / 0) (#10)
    by coast on Fri Apr 10, 2020 at 10:43:19 AM EST
    Honestly I don't know at this point and need to look at the pool that is being considered.

    I can say right off that bat though that a Biden/Warren ticket would be difficult to vote for.

    Parent

    More so than Trump/Anyone? (5.00 / 4) (#12)
    by Yman on Fri Apr 10, 2020 at 02:01:34 PM EST
    Personally, I'd vote for anyone - hell, any inanimate object - before voting for Trump/Anyone.

    But that's probably just a basic level of sanity talking ...

    Parent

    What About Biden-Klobuchar? (none / 0) (#11)
    by RickyJim on Fri Apr 10, 2020 at 10:49:09 AM EST
    I liked her in the debates. (none / 0) (#13)
    by coast on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 09:28:06 AM EST
    But honestly I would still need to do more research.

    At the end of the day, there many Republicans like myself, who would like to do anything other than vote for Trump.  Unfortunately, rather than let Trump sink himself, he has only been constantly attacked.  Due to this, the Democratic party, in my eyes, has done the impossible and made Trump to be a somewhat sympathetic figure.  In addition, the Democratic party has moved, again in my opinion, further left.  That doesn't help pull those of us in the middle over to vote Democrat.


    Parent

    LOL! &#128514;&#128514;&#128514; (5.00 / 5) (#15)
    by Yman on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 10:32:55 AM EST
    Anyone who's still trying to blame Democrats for "attacking" Trump and thinks that he's a "somewhat sympathetic figure" - especially after four years of his blatant corruption, pathological lying, constant demeaning of the office, etc., etc., etc. - is not remotely "in the middle".  They're simply a Republican looking to avoid responsibility for their vote.

    Parent
    Methinks a concern troll (5.00 / 3) (#25)
    by MKS on Sun Apr 12, 2020 at 10:11:21 AM EST
    I voted for HC so I'm not avoiding anything. (none / 0) (#17)
    by coast on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 10:59:41 AM EST
    If you voted for HC ... (5.00 / 4) (#18)
    by Yman on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 02:56:23 PM EST
    ... in 2016 before knowing what a Trump presidency would look like and now even considering voting for Trump after 4 years of actually witnessing his constant demeaning, corruption, lying, bullying, incompetence, etc., that's precisely what you're doing.  In 2016, people could make an argument that they didn't know what he would do and that perhaps he would grow in to the office.  That excuse is now a joke.

    Parent
    Undecided, 2020. (5.00 / 3) (#19)
    by KeysDan on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 03:53:36 PM EST
    Mr. Undecided Voter boards an airplane and soon after reaching cruising altitude, the flight attendant comes down the aisle with the food cart, parks it next to Mr. UV's seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" the flight attendant asks, "Or would you prefer the platter of sh*t served over ground glass?"

    Mr. UV pauses for a moment, "may I inquire how the chicken is prepared?"  (...adapted from a New Yorker article.)

    Parent

    Is the sh*t fresh? (5.00 / 2) (#20)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 05:46:53 PM EST
    SITE VIOLATOR (none / 0) (#16)
    by Yman on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 10:33:39 AM EST


    not good news for Biden (none / 0) (#21)
    by ragebot on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 06:48:59 PM EST
    As Jeralyn points out in her thread starter Biden is more of a anybody but Trump candidate, not someone who inspires voters to get out and vote.

    Interesting poll reported in the NY Post that backs her up.  56% of dems want Cuomo rather than Biden.  Not sure how that could happen but not much of a question that dems feel like they got stuck with Biden and would rather have someone else running against Trump.

    Can anyone here honestly say Biden was their first choice?

    That's not even close (5.00 / 3) (#22)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 06:56:54 PM EST
    To any relevant point.

    Parent
    Put another way (none / 0) (#23)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 07:03:30 PM EST
    It's not about Biden.  Never has been.  It's about Trump.  I believe not understanding that requires either denial or deep authentic concern trolling

    Either way, doesn't matter.  Equally irrelevant and misguided.

    You might as well call him "the Nominee".  

    Parent

    That "poll" is hilarious (5.00 / 2) (#24)
    by Yman on Sat Apr 11, 2020 at 09:33:59 PM EST
    An online "poll" from Republican pollsters being pushed in a transparent attempt to attack Biden.

    Is that really the best you guys can do?

    BTW - Biden was the plurality choice of Democrats in a crowded field.  Cuomo is no doubt having a moment of popularity, given he's been in the spotlight as a voice of reason for the pandemic response in contrast to the orange buffoon.  I actually like Cuomo.  But a month ago he was despised by many progressives as an mainstream, establishment moderate Democrat.

    Parent

    Bernie endorsed (none / 0) (#26)
    by KeysDan on Mon Apr 13, 2020 at 02:13:20 PM EST
    Biden today.  Good timing, it turns out.  Gets two days of media coverage (campaign suspension) and now the endorsement and call for his supporters to back Biden.  Hard to get media coverage in the midst of a pandemic.