A new Monmouth poll released yesterday finds that Joe Biden still leads a large Democratic pack, with 28% of the people polled preferring Biden. However, the real story in the poll is the huge gains made by Elizabeth Warren, who at 19% is now within single digit percentages of Vice President Biden. Kamela Harris pulls up at 3rd with 11% and beloved Bernie falls to 9%, his lowest rating this year.
The rest of the candidates, even Mayor Pete, did not garner sufficient percentages to warrant mention in this article. But they have time, still.
It is near a rite of entry for people populating progressive websites to sneer at anyone who offers full-throated support of Biden. I find that both rude and arrogant. Joe Biden has dedicated 40 years of his life to this nation, through periods in which citizens demanded different policy than those at the forefront today. Anyone with any familiarity with the news over those forty years also knows that he is also universally seen as an extremely nice and caring man. He would make a fine president.
I just believe Elizabeth Warren would make an even better president and candidate. It has nothing to do with the fact that Elizabeth Warren is a woman. I would vote for a white man who imbued his campaign with the ideas and charm that Warren possesses. I also live with two women, my wife and young daughter. I have no need to add a third as a significant part of my life.
I do, however, need a president who can lead, lead with her heart and her head. I also need a candidate who can stand up to Trump and intimidate him, as she surely can as a former Harvard law professor not afraid of a fight. I strongly believe that Warren has demonstrated those qualities – to this point, it is early and things can change – demonstrated it more than any of the other 83 candidates for the Democratic nomination.
It does not hurt that Warren seems to have a plan for near everything, which would be a refreshing change from a man who cannot seem to form a plan after the fact.
Apparently, it is not just me who feels this way, and I suspect this growth is but a seed. The trajectory of her candidacy is that of someone that can wholly unify the party, and I am not positive that can be said of any other candidate, at least not to that extent.
True, Trump and the Right-Wing will call her a socialist. I am at a loss as to explain why that matters one bit. Do you harbor any doubt that Trump and his Trumpers will call any Democratic candidate a socialist? Of course not. So, in my mind, we may as well vote for a woman whose plans most promote social justice, a term I believe she would wear with pride.
I am still wide open to changing my mind, and look forward to hearing others’ ideas in the comments. The expanding comments section makes this work infinitely more enjoyable. Often, the real analysis begins after the sign off.
Still
****
Peace, y’all, and good job, Liz.
Jason
My novels are found here, and reviews are always welcome. I can also be reached for comment at [email protected], but becoming a patron is the best way to support the us here. We have some tricks up our sleeve coming soon, and you’ll want to be “in” on the ground floor.
Joe Biden has already promised the wealthy that nothing will change. He believes Trump is an aberration not the logical conclusion of Republicanism as it’s been practiced since Nixon.
Joe Biden is willfully blind to the problems of this country. It’s not denigrating him to point out his own words. Get over the fact that’s not the best candidate and only leads because of his time as Obama’s VP. It’s all halo effect.
He’ll be merely an okay President. And leave us in 2024 where we were in 2016.
I am already well over that he’s not the best candidate. (if that was directed at me, not sure). I am merely defending him against those who do nothing but denigrate him. I think he deserves better, even if he would be close to my 8th choice. His own words will be enough to ensure he doesn’t win.
I also agree it is name recognition that carries him right now.
You think so, Corey? And where do you think we will be with a Trump second term? That frightens me FAR more than your scenario. And we will not be exactly where we were in 2024 in your scenario. For one thing, a lot more Boomers will be dead.
You always say the smartest shit. Send out word to friends, family, so they can read your stuff every day. I know I do.
Not speaking for Corey, but I think you’re misunderstanding the “2024” point. The way that *I* read it was that even IF Biden should get the nomination and win, there’s just NO WAY he’s going to be a two-term president; he’ll be 78 come Inauguration Day 2021 (his birthday is Nov 20 and on 11/20/20, he turns 78) which is older than Ronald Reagan was at the END of his second term (hell, if–shudder–Trump takes the oath in Jan of 2021, he’ll only be 74). Now, Biden might be in good enough physical shape to make it through one term without any problems but I can’t really see anyone in the Democratic Party or any Democratic voters who would feel confident with the prospect of RE-electing a man who’d be 82 when that second term begins. Warren, if she should be the nominee and win the Presidency, would be 71 on Inauguration Day 2021 (and would only be 75 in 2025 at the start of a second term).
Biden’s BEST option as the 2020 Dem nominee would be to name a relatively younger VP–maybe not the best in terms of getting out the “youth vote,” but someone who’s in the 45-60 year age range who could “grow” as a prospective “heir” and be ready to run for President on his/her own (with Biden’s full support and backing, of course).
It’s that plus Biden will be a centrist (read center-right) President who doesn’t make the changes we need as a country. He thinks it’s 1992 not 2019.
I think a second Trump term is much more likely with Biden because he far more easily messaged against given his record and his gaffe-prone nature. All the stupid, DLC, corporatist stuff he has said with be trotted out and messaged too in an attempt to depress Dem turnout and it will probably turnoff leaners.
Any other time, I might agree with you, Corey. This is not any other time. I fully expect Trump to be the eventual nominee’s case for the latter now that the former is no longer an unknown quantity. Speaking of 1992, that’s how we voted out our last one-term president…Old Man Bush was deemed too inadequate for the office once he had a record to run on.
Not trying to be rude, but that’s the sort of comment that the far left pitches far too often. “If president, so and so will just sit around and blah blah blah…”
If president, it’s not Joe Biden’s job to fix everything or make every decision. If we want to push a progressive agenda, then let’s push it. He’ll sign anything that gets to his desk…so would Clinton have, and so would most any Democrat.
Like Bernie says, to get this big stuff done we need a movement. Progressives mostly only focus on who should lead that movement…they opine and complain, and then when an election is over they…well…opine and complain some more. It’s going to take work…hard, annoying, door-to-door activism. Phone banking. Envelope-stuffing. Chicken tossing. Okay…maybe not chicken tossing…I have no idea what that is.
Right now, only 13% of the electorate thinks we should have a healthcare system that eliminates private insurance. So no, Biden isn’t going to spend time pushing for that, and he’s right not to – in a democracy, we should consider the will of the people. If that’s the right solution, we need to win hearts and minds on the issue. No president can do that alone.
So let’s drop the cynicism. The mantra of the progressives should not be “No, he won’t.” It should be the one that has a proven record of success – “Yes we can.”
I’d update that successful slogan to “Yes, we have to.”
Anyone ever consider the possibility that Biden knows the great majority of people in this country still buy into the “Why can’t they just get along and come together and solve problems” riff? And that he’s playing to that? You think he doesn’t know who Republicans are? Come on.
I’m not psychic so I can only go by what he says. He talks about Trump as an aberration and how he’ll get Republicans to work with him. Unless he means Joe Manchin, he’s out to lunch on who Republicans are.
So, in other words, just like Obama.
“Democrats” like Biden and Obama don’t make any progress at all.
Two steps back, then stand in place until the GOP gets back in power and two more steps back. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I had a bit of a falling out recently with a fellow prog of the Boomer age bracket. She got downright hysterical about Joe Biden getting the nomination, saying how it would be the worst thing ever (she favors Bernie, BTW, which makes me wonder if that had something to do with her rant). I told her then what I believe still: Joe is not my first choice but I want to win more than I want to be pure. Because losing this time will have catastrophic consequences.
And yeah, my money’s on Warren pulling it out.
I don’t know who I’ll vote for, but I’m not shy about saying that I will factor in a candidate being a woman as a specific reason I’d lean stronger towards her.
That notion is often pooh-poohed. It’s perfectly acceptable for the media and pundits and anyone on the internet to say ‘we better choose a man because a woman would have a hard time being elected,” but suggesting that we show preference to a woman will invite endless criticism. But here’s my reasoning.
We should select a nominee and president who will make the nation better. Sometimes they accomplish this through their actions. With a tragedy, they can accomplish this through words, the way President Obama did after Sandy Hook. But often, they can accomplish this through their very identity.
Electing a woman at this point in our history would be a powerful symbol of progress and advancement. It would slap Trumpism in the face. It would be a definitive moment that would serve to inspire and motivate women (and men) for generations to come. Somewhere out there, there may be a little girl with the potential to find a cure for Alzheimers or M.S., who would see Warren or Harris sitting in the Oval and work harder because of the inspiration that symbol provides her. A woman as president would serve as a moment in our history that we could point to, and say that while it took us centuries to get to a place where we practiced the equality we ascribe to, we got there. Electing a woman would be a massive win for progressivism.
All of those things add up to tremendous benefits for the nation. And I do take them into consideration when deciding my vote.
(But I totally agree with you…there is no reason to sneer at our candidate, especially Biden. I don’t even sneer at Delaney, and I feel I should get a lot of credit for that considering his choice of ties in the debates…which would be by all account very sneer-worthy.)
Warren is a certain loser in the general. I’m baffled as to why people think her ‘plans’ are gonna make an electoral difference … just baffled. Prez elections are about who people ‘like’ in sufficient numbers, and that’s Biden. Could be Beto, but noooo … he’s a ‘white guy’ and we can’t have that!
And let’s not forget: this wildly messed-up country sandbagged Hillary Clinton in favor of the POS currently befouling the White House. This country will not elect a woman president for many more years … the “yes to a woman but just not THAT woman” covers ALL women, or are we still laboring under the delusion that we liberal folk are like, you know, America?
And another thing! (Ranting now!) Stop with the “She’ll kill him the debates!” The debates?!? NO ONE cares about the debates! HRC crushed that goober last time! Who noticed?
Yeah I’m cranky today; comes with being 67 I guess!
One of the reasons that I currently (always open to other arguments) favor Warren is that I believe she has proven the toughest in standing up to Trump, and that is a significant concern. I want someone who can look him in the eye and call bullshit on him and then be smart enough to explain exactly why he’s not trustworthy and trying to fool them. I do not think her plans are going to make an electoral difference in the general election, it is merely a factor that I find persuasive in the primary. Thanks for reading. Peace.
Fair enough!
I’m with you on this. As much as I respect Warren, I can see her being a target for tRump. He’s already made her a laughing stock in some quarters by his derision of her ‘heritage’. He will build on that ridicule and she would be easy pickin’s for him. Look how awful he was onstage with Hillary, insulting, stalking her. Ugh! I don’t think any other woman will be treated any better, at least not in this time or place. I think if Biden were to pick a young up and comer for VP (including a woman or POC), then retire at the end of four years, just maybe we could go back to something like normal elections (after fixing our electoral systems and hardening our security) and we could seriously look at electing a woman or POC for prez. I suspect we will have tRump spawn to contend with for some years, but none of them have the ‘charisma’ of the sperm donor. Our next prez has a lot of work ahead of them to rebuild all that’s been undermined and destroyed. We’ll need someone who can attract the talent we need, and bring back some of our long-time public servants who voluntarily (or not) left this maladministration. We’ve got a lot of fixin’ to do.
Polls currently have her beating Trump too.
Not by nearly the same margins and not all polls. Early of course but I just can’t see it. Wish it was different.
Hillary came with three decades of baggage that was exploited to the hilt. Warren will lack that and have a better likeability factor to boot. Trump has no charm offensive in him…just offense. It’s why the polling shows just about EVERY major nominee beating him. I’ll back Joe if he gets it but there are solid reasons why all his previous attempts at the presidency never got there. I expect his constant gaffes alone (see his “poor kids” being as good as “white kids” remark today) will do him in.
His twisted tongue today will move not a single vote. I have to laugh at such a notion. Joe Biden is no more racist than a Barack Obama. If he was, I’m thinking his strong black support wouldn’t exist after 40 years on the scene.
I’ll also add on Warren: One person’s ‘likable’ is another’s annoyingly over-earnest tweedy prof touting the values of spinach over ice cream if we know what’s good for us!
Trump already did the crap and blue skies campaign. Ergo, I’m pretty sure, with as many problems as we are up against now, no one is going to object to spinach over ice cream that Warren is telling us about. Do not mock a professor who got her Senate seat by underestimated by the people who insulted her.
Fact is Joe just doesn’t have it in my view. It’s not just one gaffe, after all. In fact, he makes those as often as GM used to make cars. Like it or not, clear communication is a critical factor in a political campaign. And Warren has an edge over Joe in that department. Indeed, without the Obama connection, he’d be going nowhere with any of this.
I submit that you’re allowed to be cranky in this day and age.
But one question, if Beto is a ‘white guy’, how is Biden not?
Biden gets plenty of rips just for being white and old. Beto only for being white. It’s silly. We need to win and this being Amurrica 2020, each would have a way better shot than Wsrten or Harris. Even the self-righteous lemon-sucker Sanders would.
You know, Nick, that sounds remarkably like the stuff they said about Obama in 2008. I didn’t believe it then, I don’t believe it now. Frankly, Trump has been a walking advertisement on why old white guys should NEVER occupy the WH for at a generation.
Warren is far, far from an Obama level political talent. I just think too many folks have a massive blond spot for this country’s ability to elect a woman of any stripe, and as I said: she can be extremely annoying in certain ways and not just to me. Let’s be honest too: Obama in 2008 was on the ballot 7 weeks after the GOP crashed the world economy. We have no such advantage this time at 4 percent UE … and no I don’t buy ‘yeah but the economy still sucks’ riff. It always does in many segments.
Blind not blond! Geez…
WAS going to correct you on the “blond spot” bit ;).
As to the rest, I wonder if you’ve been hearing the news lately. At the rate he’s going, what with tariff BS, Chinese retaliation and Trump’s continuing myopia on how to deal with such, the latter may well crash that world economy you’re talking about just in time for Election Day 2020. Think the American people are more prepared to deal with a bit of annoyance over a world class wrecking ball like that.
It would be nice to have someone smart instead of someone stupid as president.