Did Biden just realize he has competition in the 2020 Democratic primary?

[bluewater]

Clinching the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination might be harder than former Vice President Joe Biden thought. His first debate performance was lackluster, and recent polls show his Democratic rivals are closing in on his lead. So, he's adjusting his strategies.

Bloomberg reports that "after spending the first two months of his campaign focused on attacking President Donald Trump, the former vice president turned his attention to rivals in his own party."

Biden likely wants to highlight his own moderate positions in contrast to a field of far-left candidates, and he's starting with a hot-button issue: health care. In campaign events in Iowa this week, he defended ObamaCare and said "we can't start over" with a whole new health-care system, like Medicare-for-all, which many of his closest rivals favor.

Biden hasn't outlined his full plan yet, but "he would favor a hybrid public-private system that could help the uninsured get coverage," Bloomberg reports. On Thursday, Biden elaborated slightly:

A Morning Consult/Politico survey this week found that 55 percent of all voters support a Medicare-for-all system that reduces the role of private insurers — so long as they get to keep their preferred providers. Among Democrats, the approval was at 78 percent.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/851212/did-joe-biden-just-realize-competition-2020-democratic-primary-

[pwb]

1. No, he knew.

.

[UniteFightBack]

2. He'd be a fool to think he's going to just glide in. Look at 2016 for instance. Biden today said

he wants to fully reinstate ACA and build on it. He also said he will not attack the other candidates. I think more focus needs to be put on rump. On what HE is doing and what we can do about it as well as other future plans.

He is doing enough ill to talk about a new topic every 12hrs! Educate America.

[shanny]

5. Public-private hybrids are so....90s

We are past that now.

[customerserviceguy]

3. I don't know what his debate history was

for keeping the US Senate seat in Delaware, he might have only faced token opposition in his own party, and I don't remember him debating in the 1988 or 2008 primary challenges. Certainly, in the latter two, he was a severe underdog, and the upper tiers of Democratic candidates wouldn't have bothered attacking him. Of course, the most famous debates he's had were against Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan, and being as they're right-wing hacks, of course he could handle them easily.

If I'm not mistaken, last week was his first serious debate against viable Democratic candidates, and that might have affected his feeling about preparation for the debates. I'm sure he's gotten the message now.

[bluewater]

4. Biden has an excellent debate record

Base on his past performances, people were expecting a lot from him in the first debate.

[customerserviceguy]

6. Are you speaking

of his history debating other Democratic candidates, who might have come at him from the left, or just his debates with GOP'ers, who would come at him from the right?

I cannot recall any debate he's had with members of his own party. And I know he dropped out of the 1988 and 2008 races pretty quickly.

[bluewater]

7. excellent point

I was thinking of his record against the GOP.

But still, Biden has shown great debating skills in the past, that's a big reason why people were so surprised by his, frankly, poor performance in the first debate.

If he can't do substantially better than that in future debates, his campaign is in big trouble.

[customerserviceguy]

8. Yes

when he's had to deal with right-wing nut jobs, he's been a champion for our side. I'm sure he was not expecting to be compared to a racist this last time around, he'll be better prepared next time, I'm fairly certain.

Sen. Harris was even accused before the debate of being "too cautious", and after the debate, she's retreated into acting like she didn't do anything, "it just had to be discussed." Reminds me of Steve Urkel and his, "Did I do that?"

[marylandblue]

10. Biden's debate skills are overrated.

His reputation is based on facing Palin and Ryan, the equivalent of beating up a 5-year old and a 10-year old.

[customerserviceguy]

14. It showed last time, surely

He won't repeat his mistakes. If he does, then he's probably going to continue a downward spiral, but I don't expect that to happen.

[Kind of Blue]

11. Exactly.

[gtar100]

9. "Moderate" sounds so much more reasonable than "far left"...

This is just an attempt at manipulation. Once you see this sort of thing, it becomes easier to spot. But there are some clever writers out there who want us to think about something in a particular way without actually saying it. This article being a good example. Oh, we Dems are so crazy having a "field of far-left candidates". And Medicare for all... just wishful thinking...it would be like starting all over with a "whole new health care system"...words like this make me wonder exactly what is the author implying? Fear of change, fear of loss, chaos in transition. Sowing the seeds of doubt. As if the label "moderate" is what normal people are, akin to "common sense". Except that it's not. Here's another perspective of "moderate" politics: overly cautious, timid, compromised by the right, not willing to change, clinging to the status quo, not progressing fast enough to avoid catastrophic failure.

[Kind of Blue]

13. Yes, Newspeak.

[marylandblue]

12. Yes, he just realized it. His supporters have been whispering in his ear since 2016.

First they wanted him to save the Democratic Party from Hillary. Now he came in to save the party from Trump. He just realized that his real job is to save the moderate wing of the party from the progressive wing.