Four Tricky Issues for the Biden-Harris Ticket

[elleng]

The campaign has learned it’s not always easy appealing to progressives in the party and moderates in the broader electorate.

((I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.

Will Rogers))

'During the vice-presidential debate last week, several issues came up, including the Supreme Court, climate change and taxes, that underscored the tightrope Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Kamala Harris are trying to walk as they seek to balance appeals to progressives and moderates alike.

President Trump and Republicans have used these issues, in particular, in their attempt to paint Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris as prisoners of the party’s left wing, even as Mr. Biden, who has a substantial lead in the polls, has run as an unapologetic centrist.

Still, some of the issues are among those Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris themselves disagreed on during the Democratic primary race, presenting a particularly thorny challenge for Ms. Harris as she tried to defend Mr. Biden on the debate stage against Republican attacks.

Complicating matters for Mr. Biden is the pressure he continues to face from the left, which views him as an imperfect steward for the party. In fact, Mr. Biden has been reluctant to support transformative policies favored by the left, like expanding the size of the Supreme Court or supporting the Green New Deal. . .

Still, here’s how the Democratic ticket has tried to thread the needle on — or simply ignore — four key policy issues.

Expanding the size of the Supreme Court . . .

The Green New Deal . . .

Fracking . . .

Taxes'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/11/us/politics/biden-harris-on-the-issues.html?

[beachbumbob]

1. Only issue going forward is Covid response, nothing else matters

[SheltieLover]

3. That's what I tell rednecks: tRump has killed 200k Americans, Biden hasn't

Want more of the same, or a competent leader? Shuts them up every time.

[MFM008]

4. exactly

[lapfog_1]

2. hmmmm... let's see

we can choose to do nothing and let a idiot fascist dictator run the US

OR

we can vote for a mildly progressive ticket that might not hit every button, but with someone that believes in science and is a very empathetic, decent person

Oh nooos... whatever shall we do?



What an idiotic column

[kurtcagle]

5. Put out the fires, while keeping an eye on the rebuilding

It's GOP Standard Operating Procedure to leave the Democrats with disasters to clean up, which they inevitably then use as excuses for why the Democrats don't accomplish anything useful. Biden understands, more than almost anyone, that the first trick is to get elected, then to get to work.

My expectation is that the Biden transition team will end up looking a lot like the campaign team - lean, tightly coordinated, with multiple actions taking place simultaneously by different groups. Some of those groups will be remediation oriented - fixing the unholy mess that he's been left. Some of those will be agenda oriented - laying the groundwork for changes. He will have two years to make significant changes, because he saw what happened to Obama in 2010 (and Trump in 2018). This means not only will he have to be smart about his priorities, but he needs to also defang the GOP vipers who will go into overdrive on November 8 to try to bring the administration down in 2022.

I suspect that this requirement will be lost on many even in the Democratic party who tend to focus on their specific agenda items. They may have to take a back seat for a bit, simply because there is only so much that someone even as talented as Joe Biden can do, and it's likely that he will upset some in the party because of it. Patience will likely be the key take away for many in the party, that and the understanding that if we don't all work together, we'll see another Trump in the not too distant future.

[elleng]

6. Thanks.

'They may have to take a back seat for a bit.'

[LakeArenal]

7. I see no tricky there.

Majority wants raised taxes. Majority don’t want Repugs running health care. Majority want to counter any action Repugs take now re: SC.

You express just the reason I wanted no primary candidate as President. However, that is who we have so we have to count on Joe to straighten it out.

Who cares what the cult thinks about Joe’s allegiance to all factions of the party? Puppet is just deflection of Putin’s puppet.

Why do you say only the “progressives” want to expand the court? It will be an equal and opposite reaction to Barrett being appointed now.



being appointed now.

[elleng]

8. I didn't write it,

it's from NYT, by Sydney Ember, Thomas Kaplan and Katie Glueck.

[LakeArenal]

9. Sorry meant the general you. Not you personally.

[elleng]

10. Gotcha

[heckles65]

11. The right wingers on my discussion boards

play this game, "I'm not voting for Biden because of the Green New Deal. Have you seen what's in it?" That of course puts you on the defensive, because it's more a statement of principles instead of detailed legislation. But they've concluded GreenNewDeal will have some government bureaucrat coming up your driveway to take away your SUV.