On the plus side: Biden is a good man, a compassionate man, and an authentic man. He would be a competent, caring, effective president. He speaks from his heart and, yes, that sometimes means gaffes.
On the down side: Biden is a career politician who made his way in an earlier, bygone era. He learned to play by the old rules, played well, played successfully, but in an age of hi-tech communications and instant fact-checking, and being able to see where the money is coming from, that old playbook no longer works.
Those like Bernie Sanders and (my favorite) Elizabeth Warren play by the new rules. They do not accept money from lobbyists, corporate PACs or special interests, have consistent messages that have no wavered even in the years they were not popular, and their loyalty is to real people, not the special interests they refuse to take money from.
We get it that it is great that Joe Biden can work across the aisle with people including even those he disagrees with. Again, it was a different era. In the “take-no-prisoners” uncompromising rigidity of a Mitch McConnell, that doesn’t work anymore, as Obama painfully learned.
And in any case, Biden could have gotten the same point across without using the example of segregationist James Eastland calling him “son” instead of “boy” as an example of “civility.” NO! It was an example of RACISM. The reason Biden got called “son” instead of “boy” was because he was WHITE. Barack Obama or Cory Booker would NOT have gotten called “son.”
That, on the heels of flip-flopping on the Hyde Amendment and his history with women (Anita Hill, being “touchy-feely)” and his history of harsh “get tough” crime legislation, mark him as a candidate of the past, not the future.
Sure, if he gets the nomination, he would be a competent, decent president, but he is not the best option for the 2020 Democratic primaries.
On the plus side: Biden is a good man, a compassionate man, and an authentic man. He would be a competent, caring, effective president. He speaks from his heart and, yes, that sometimes means gaffes.
On the down side: Biden is a career politician who made his way in an earlier, bygone era. He learned to play by the old rules, played well, played successfully, but in an age of hi-tech communications and instant fact-checking, and being able to see where the money is coming from, that old playbook no longer works.
Those like Bernie Sanders and (my favorite) Elizabeth Warren play by the new rules. They do not accept money from lobbyists, corporate PACs or special interests, have consistent messages that have no wavered even in the years they were not popular, and their loyalty is to real people, not the special interests they refuse to take money from.
We get it that it is great that Joe Biden can work across the aisle with people including even those he disagrees with. Again, it was a different era. In the “take-no-prisoners” uncompromising rigidity of a Mitch McConnell, that doesn’t work anymore, as Obama painfully learned.
And in any case, Biden could have gotten the same point across without using the example of segregationist James Eastland calling him “son” instead of “boy” as an example of “civility.” NO! It was an example of RACISM. The reason Biden got called “son” instead of “boy” was because he was WHITE. Barack Obama or Cory Booker would NOT have gotten called “son.”
That, on the heels of flip-flopping on the Hyde Amendment and his history with women (Anita Hill, being “touchy-feely)” and his history of harsh “get tough” crime legislation, mark him as a candidate of the past, not the future.
Sure, if he gets the nomination, he would be a competent, decent president, but he is not the best option for the 2020 Democratic primaries.