Does Joe have his mojo back?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20 votes, 2 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	0 (0%)
	No
	8 (40%)
	He never lost it
	12 (60%)
	2 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[SouthernProgressive]

1. We are going to have to catch him or rip him to pieces.

He is a very good man and it's going to be hard. The problem with ripping him to pieces is that if it's done by another candidate I predict that candidates demise as well. Could be good for someone like Warren who keeps promoting herself.

I think Biden would have saved himself a lot of headaches if he would have said in April that he was running but he wouldn't officially announce until September. He has the name recognition and people like him. He doesn't have to buy that. With a Sept announcement he would use every dollar raised to GOTV. It would have also allowed him to collect money to maintain a staff and get the best people possible. He would then have gotten in the race in Sept with a field polling very tightly. He would have been seen as the standard.

I'm such a big fan of Biden. I hope he continues doing well. It's hurting the rest of the field that there are so many candidates. It seems to be hard for any one person to break away from the pack, except Biden. I really want to see it come down to Biden and Warren sooner than later. They cover the full spectrum of the party.

[Perseus]

5. I hope the Democratic candidates understand that republicans already have all they need

to go against Biden and will not make the mistake to go after him.

I don't think Biden is the right candidate this time around, and we should all ask the question why do republicans want him to win the nomination? I believe we don't need an answer to that, the question itself is the answer.

[SouthernProgressive]

6. I don't think your question exists in reality.

I haven't seen it.

[Perseus]

11. Then you haven't been watching

Biden is all republicans talk about, they refer to him as he is the nominee, why do you think? They are throwing the bait, and so far we are biting it.

[redstateblues]

30. That's just not true. The Republicans talk about Warren, Bernie, Kamala

And any of the the candidates they consider hard left.

[Celerity]

13. we should all ask the question why do republicans want him to win the nomination

Bernie by 1000 miles.

Trump would win in a rout.

Best case scenario for Bernie



worst (or near worst)

[Turin_C3PO]

15. I think Bernie would win New Mexico, no matter what.

We’re not voting for Trump, I don’t think. Otherwise I agree with those maps.

On edit: Is it really possible to lose states like Connecticut and New York?

[Celerity]

18. Is it really possible to lose states like Connecticut and New York?

Their FIRE (Financial, Insurance, Real Estate) industries would spend a billion plus to crush him, Bloomberg and Schultz will probably both run as well.


It will be non-stop red-baiting and red scare mongering (and Bernie brought 90% of it on himself by falsely-self labelling as a dem soc)

[Turin_C3PO]

19. Yeah, the red baiting would be at an all time high.

It is beyond STUPID to label himself a socialist. Thankfully, he has almost no path to the nomination, I don’t think. His support has a ceiling.

[Perseus]

22. His error was to say that if his ideas would label him as a socialist, then he was one.

He should have instead continue talking about the fact that Scandinavian countries, which are not socialist but Social-Democracies, had the same public services as the ones he was proposing, that those countries had healthy capitalism, but instead he put his foot in his mouth and gave the repubs the argument they needed to take the air out of his campaign, and because the majority of people do not have any idea what socialism is and think it is the destruction of the country, then that is all they need to hear.

[Turin_C3PO]

24. Agreed.

I think Elizabeth Warren is a better messenger for the types of ideas that Bernie has.

[redstateblues]

32. This was all litigated last time Bernie ran.

The tag “socialism” is toxic in the US General

[Celerity]

25. As long as he has no truly major gaffes (far beyond the seg dust-up) and does well in the next

3 or 4 debates, it is Biden's to lose.

I have serious issues with him, BUT, if

Pete has no traction, no path, and

Bullock doesn't explode out of nowhere (unlikely he does, but he is a similar to Joe top of the ticket (minus one huge thing, no Obama tie, but also younger and less baggage if Biden falters), and

IF Harris doesn't 100% pull back to a public option only stance, as M4A is electoral suicide if it outlaws private insurance

I'm probably going to vote for Biden, as we simply MUST get Trump out.

I am so not into purity tests, those are a luxury we cannot afford, and the country's electoral superstructure is so artificially skewed to the right that even centrist to centre left moderate reforms and ideas are going to be so hard to get rammed through, even if we have control of POTUS, the Senate, and the House.

As for VP, Biden will hopefully pick Abrams as she puts more states into play than Harris. Bullock would be great too, but I do not see another white male ending up as Biden's running mate. He might go with Klobuchar for a Midwest double down. Some here are pushing Susan Rice (as she is refusing to run versus Susan Collins for ME Senate). Big downside to her is the Libya and Syrian messes, which she was a big part of.

[Turin_C3PO]

26. Yes, I agree that Biden

will likely be our pathway to the presidency. If Elizabeth Warren catches fire AND she starts trouncing Trump in opinion polls, my support will move to her, because I think she can sell her message across the Midwest. But, for now, I’m Biden all the way.

[Celerity]

27. Warren will drag in Schultz (for sure) and probably Bloomberg as well

I love her ideas and positions, but I am so cynical on what can happen if we go too far to the left and get painted as radicals. If Rump wins (obviously at that point we would have no chance of regaining the Senate barring truly bizarre skewage at the state levels) and we also lose the House, we are fucked. The SCOTUS will probably end up 7-2 or even 8-1 (if Sotomayor's diabetes does her in) hard RW, plus a Rump win means we would probably fail at state assemblies level, thus giving the Rethugs big gains and abilities to further gerrymander and vote suppress.

If all that happened, we can start to kiss good-bye to many, if not most, of the civil rights won post Brown v Board (and B v B itself would come under attack).

A full decade more of sprinting to the far right, if left unchecked for the most part, lays the groundwork for the union itself breaking up by 2040, as there is no way California and other big Blue states will submit to a RW theocracy at foundational levels.

My most fervent hope is that no one ever looks back at these words 10, 13, 15 years from now and says 'Damn, she was fairly spot on in her future-forward prognostications.'

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

28. You could be right... gotta give credit to Joe for fighting back against Kamala's debate tactics.

Whoever gets the nomination, he or she sure as hell better be a fighter who can rip tRumpty Dumbty's white supremacy agenda apart on the campaign trail.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Celerity]

31. In a one on one debate (you obviously can see my overall assessment of his chances)

Bernie would light into Rump. I just think Rump would fall back to his incredibly unsophisticated (and dishonest) but brutally effective in reactionary America 'look at the crazy old commie' bullshit.

Harris, IF she gets squared on her healthcare shite, could be ruthless with Rump. Warren and Rump might explode if he had the jacobs to call her Pocahontas in the debate (he is crazy enough to do that). Biden, if he has bad (I mean BAD) debates with Rump, well, it then is 'hit the panic button' time.

[emmaverybo]

33. False premise to the question. Republicans don't.

[Celerity]

34. I was saying if they could have any (realistic, so no Gravel, Messam, etc) opponent

the Rethugs would pick Bernie to run against. WE would get crushed.

They do not want Biden atm at all.

[emmaverybo]

35. Oh. Sorry. Misunderstood. Yeah. Agree.

[cwydro]

16. Good post.

Very true.

[House of Roberts]

2. Only when he's in the Trans Am.

The rest of the time, not so much

[qazplm135]

3. Again, we've had one debate

there's plenty of time for this to go in any of three directions based on relative future debate performances, gaffes by any of the leading candidates, or other controversy by any of the leading candidates...

1. Biden could maintain a small 5-15 pt lead throughout gaining just enough delegates to win. He could do this by having no major gaffes or bad showings but not necessarily winning over additional converts either.

2. Biden could have several more poor debate showings or gaffes which reduce his lead or even evaporate it.

3. Biden could steady himself and turn in stronger debate performances and re-expand his lead.

I have no idea which path happens. But the reality is, Biden, not one of the other candidates will ultimately be responsible for his own fate/path.

If he's smart, he'll adjust course. If not, then he will remain in a fragile state. Time will tell.

[Perseus]

7. "If he's smart"...He is smart, he just doesn't use his brain all the time when he talks

His worst enemy is when he opens his mouth. He wants to be liked so much by everyone, including the republicans, that he tends to say things he feels will bring people to him not realizing he is offending other people, like his praise for the two segregationist republicans, once again opening his mouth without thinking, wanting to be liked. I mean, what can you say nice about republicans that will not offend someone else?

That incident with the segregationist is a perfect example of Biden trying to be liked by all, including republicans. To me, that is naive, as his claim that he can work with republicans, I have to assume he says that because he thinks "even republicans like him so much".

"He wants to be liked so much by everyone" That is his achilles heel. How many times have we heard him call the turtle "Mitch"? I am not sure if he thinks that endears him to "Mitch" and other republicans.

I hope we pick someone who can battle the creature and the corruption well, that person has to be a leader all around, he/she must be liked by the majority, republicans who are discontent with the creature must feel they can trust that person enough to vote for him/her.

[qazplm135]

9. part of being smart

is adjusting and effective communication.

Whomever figures that out best, is likely to become the nominee whether that is Biden or someone else.

[Perseus]

12. Part of being smart is thinking before you act, thinking before you speak

And Biden fails on that. His campaign has not been around for a long time, and he has already put his foot in his mouth a few times, he even had to apologize for it.

If he didn't have that urge to be liked maybe he could cut, almost completely, on the gaffes he makes. No other candidate has made as many as he has in such a short time.

I don't dislike Biden, he was a very good VP, a man with class, integrity, but I just don't think he is the right candidate for 2020, we have more progressive people running, younger people who do not have so much baggage, who are not looking to be liked by republicans, and will fight them appropriately.

[qazplm135]

17. I'm not in favor of Biden but that's a bit much

of course he thinks before he speaks.

But, he also has a somewhat dated way of thinking about things which, not surprisingly, sometimes negatively affects the way he speaks (and acts) in the current era.

So I don't think it involves him not thinking before he speaks, I think it involves him thinking in a way that, sometimes, doesn't translate well to modern/younger ears.

[Perseus]

20. So you think he gave some thought when he spoke so well about the two segregationists?

So Biden knew he was going to offend people like Kamala Harris, Booker, etc?

And when he told the kids to look out for their little sister (13 years old) to protect her from the other guys...

Here is a sample from TIME, they have a list of Biden's gaffes, and lets not forget that since his campaign started he has already made a few of which one he had to apologize:

It's not even surprising anymore when the Vice President says something impolitic, is it? A week ago, during a White House St. Patrick's Day celebration, he briefly mourned the death of the Irish Prime Minister's mother, even though she was very much alive. And on Tuesday, immediately following his introduction of President Obama during the health care bill's signing ceremony, he turned to the Commander in Chief and uttered the following barely-off microphone comment: "This is a big f______ deal." With his use of the F word, Biden offered the ultimate blue-collar acknowledgment of a job well done. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs quickly came to the Vice President's defense with a simple note on his official Twitter feed: "And yes, Mr. Vice President, you're right..."

Also, lets talk about the great deal he made with "Mitch" which Banner pointed out was disastrous for the country, but good for republicans.

[qazplm135]

21. Sure I do

We know from reporting that his advisors tried to talk him out of using those two as an example, and he refused to do so.

That tells me he thought about it, talked it over with his advisors, and proceeded ahead.

So it wasn't a case of talking before he spoke, it was a case of not necessarily recognizing that at least some subset of primary voters would find that problematic.

Has he made actual gaffes? Sure. I'm not sure the big fucking deal comment counts as one. I don't think the one with Mitch was a gaffe in the sense of speaking without thinking, but he thought it was a great deal, and again, elements of the primary disagreed.

[Perseus]

23. Sorry but, what you explain about him "proceeded ahead" tells me he didn't think about it

Now that he understands that he offended a ton of people he is apologizing. In my book and in his case where everything you say goes through heavy analysis, I make those calculations before I say it, if there is a possibility I will offend someone then, in his case, I don't say it.

The fact that he talked to his advisors makes the argument worst, didn't they think about it either?

I agree with you that the "F..ing" thing is nothing, but the one about the woman who was alive is. Go to TIME website and see the list, my concern is that he commits so many gaffes he is just opening door after door for attacks from repubs. They will take the smallest thing he says, and he says too many, and will multiply it by 1,000.

Anyway, I don't think he is the right candidate at this time.

[qazplm135]

29. Huh?

Pretty much by definition when you discuss something with advisers, get their advice, and then proceed, you've"thought about it."

Not understanding does not equal not thinking about.

[stonecutter357]

4. let's go Joe !

[oasis]

8. Through the roof mojo......and climbing!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. The beauty of not having a favorite candidate is I cab pump all of them.

[oasis]

14. Your musical bonuses provide a beauty we can all enjoy.

Btw, Excellent polling updates.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

36. Thank you for the kind words.

I intend to enjoy this primary season.