WaPo: Biden bumbles while Sanders and Warren score in CNN's climate town hall

[DrFunkenstein]

The former vice president repeatedly rambled and stumbled through his answers, at one point cutting himself off with “Anyway, I’m taking too long. Sorry.” He criticized the Green New Deal because it “doesn’t have a lot of specifics” just days after he said “details are irrelevant in terms of decision-making.” And he tried to brag about his climate plan receiving a “B-plus or beyond” from climate groups, leaving out that those groups gave higher ratings to plans from other candidates including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

But his worst moment came when a student asked him about a fundraiser Biden is scheduled to attend Thursday, one that is co-hosted by Andrew Goldman, a co-founder of natural gas company Western LNG. Wasn’t this a violation of Biden’s promise not to take money from the fossil fuel industry? “Well, I didn’t realize he does that,” replied Biden — hardly an acceptable standard. Biden’s team would later double-down by arguing that Goldman is no longer involved in the company’s day-to-day operations, a denial that’s hard to take seriously when Goldman is still listed second on Western LNG’s leadership page, ahead of two senior vice presidents.

....

All in all, it was another tough night for Biden. By contrast, the two most progressive candidates in the race, Sanders and fellow Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have to be pleased with Wednesday evening. For Sanders, the town hall was a vindication that his $16 trillion climate plan is the benchmark for ambitious responses to climate change: Several other candidates, including Warren, were asked to compare their plan to his.

...

Like Sanders, Warren was crisp, clear and, unsurprisingly, full of detail. She had the best response of any candidate to the CNN hosts’ consistent questions about regulations on plastic straws, eating meat and, in Warren’s case, lightbulbs: “Oh, come on, give me a break. … This is exactly what the fossil fuel industry hopes we’re all talking about. … They want to be able to stir up a lot of controversy around your lightbulbs, around your straws and around your cheeseburgers, when 70 percent of the pollution, of the carbon that we’re throwing into the air, comes from three industries” — referring to oil, building and electric power, according to the New York Times.

https://beta.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/05/biden-bumbles-while-sanders-warren-score-cnns-climate-town-hall/

[still_one]

1. It is an opinion piece

[elleng]

2. Yes,

by James Downie
Opinions editor

[Demsrule86]

17. Op ed by a media person who wants EW or KH ...that is what I figured.

[Bettie]

19. But, of course an opinion piece

by someone who supports Biden would be gospel truth, in every way, heralded as one more anointing the chosen one?

People post opinion pieces all the time. Right here.

[Demsrule86]

29. Opinion is opinion...so no. But passing off opinion as fact is just plain wrong...the media has

been awful this year. This is an article with no substance... not even facts to back up the opinion.

[George II]

3. .

[Progressive2020]

4. Joe Biden

I like Joe, but one gets the feeling that he is a man out of his time. I think that he should have run for the Presidency in 2016. I think that he maybe missed his window.

[5starlib]

6. I think Warren should've run in 2016 too

She missed her shot.

[blm]

11. So you wanted Warren in 2016?

I’d never have guessed.

[Demsrule86]

16. Apparently, more think he should be president as he leads in every poll.

[Polly Hennessey]

5. Keep trying 'till you wear yourself out.

[DrFunkenstein]

7. That Strategy Doesn't Seem To Be A Working For Biden

He is lucky that he didn't go right after Warren. The differences in energy levels would have been much more pronounced.

[Demsrule86]

15. Time will tell.

[Eliot Rosewater]

20. ,,

[Demsrule86]

28. I am with you! We going to wipe the floor with the orange loser...

Hey, this has nothing to do with this really...just a favorite of mine... not well know. This is a song by Gregory Isakov- Time will Tell

[Thekaspervote]

8. And they will.. never looking to see what's behind the curtain

[Joe941]

9. Ouch. That's gotta hurt a bit.

[bootcamp]

10. bashing Biden again.

First timer here. After watching most of the town-hall discussions I felt like some of the questions were deliberate framed to embarrassed only Biden. But then what else there is to be expected from CNN.

[Thekaspervote]

13. Welcome to DU! Agree completely with your post

[fleabiscuit]

22. There is a chief executive that would agree with your assessment of CNN. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

23. I tend to agree with you. I turned off CNN ages ago when they switched from coverage of John Kerry

Speaking live before the Senate - to taped footage of some RWer, "for balance," they said. There are exceptions, like Don Lemon, but I generally get my news from MSNBC these days. And welcome to DU.

[RandiFan1290]

24. It's called vetting

[DrFunkenstein]

25. Something That Biden Needs to Work On For His Fundraising

If you are going to break from the other candidates and say that it's ok to frack, you might not want to schedule a fundraiser with the co-founder of a natural gas company in the immediate aftermath of a townhall on the environment.

At least, not if you are running for the Democratic Party. For the GOP, it's "drill, baby, drill," but for Democrats not so much.

[True Blue American]

26. Welcome to the board!

I watched joe on my DVR and it is a lie that he rambled and so on.

Joe gave explicit answers to everything and it was clear he knew the facts.

[gopiscrap]

30. welcome to DU

[Green Line]

12. The more they bash

The better he does, carry on

[Demsrule86]

14. Haha...I saw the debate...Biden was great...media attacks again...who cares.

[mcar]

18. What a ridiculous hit piece

First, slamming Biden. Second, not even mentioning the other participants.

Really bad.

[True Blue American]

27. Good point there

That the writer only went after Biden! Good catch!

[OKNancy]

21. Just read the author's twitter feed

He's a Warren/Sanders fan. Tweets negatively about Biden.

[osmium]

31. I don't believe anything non-climate scientists say about climate...

...and nothing non-engineers say about solutions to the climate change near crisis. Actually, I am skeptical of those groups, too, but they should have relevant expertise. As an engineer with a touch of insomnia, I'll issue my thoughts.

There was a clear winner simply because she ticked the most boxes and told a coherent story with systems and synthesis thinking.

I'm order to get sweeping changes made to nearly every system the West depends on for making junk, moving it, and controlling building internal climates while moving to a carbon-free emission future, grand ideas and shifting people's notions of where we must go need to be made digestible.

That run-on sentence could well lead to a book- length treatment, but I'll be brief.

In any other political environment I couldn't see it happening. However, given the nearly 40 years we have had knowing there were going to need to great changes in the ways we do most everything, one can't say that we didn't know.

Without getting into some technical jargon that will serve no purpose, cars may have to go away to be replaced by smart public transport, production of goods including food need to move away from carbon-intensive processes, and homes need either hyper-local energy generation or on-site production of same.

Personally, I have a really small C footprint, but it's the shared carbon emssions of fire, police and rescue services/departments - to speak nothing of the DoD, that keep my emissions levels above 0 given solar panels with battery back-up and bio-carbon(0 year, so no net addition) heating leave me with a huge C footprint compared to someone in rural Africa. I also have 2.5ac with 1200 trees and it's still not nearly enough. Oh, and I don't own a personal vehicle save for a bicycle.

My lifestyle doesn't seem extreme at all. It just requires telecommuting, planning grocery shopping VERY carefully, and time. It took me a decade to get here.

I expect no one to have to live such an austere life, but the status quo won't do.

The successful candidate will assist people in their personal transitions to more sustainable living.

Elizabeth Warren gets the whole systems approach to what is truly going to be much like the change that Industrial Revolution brought, but in a fraction of the time.

Her synthesis of psychology, justice, desire to use all technologies (because that is what's required) was refreshingly candid..Her plans need lots of work, but at least she gets it.

If you hated that, and I can see how you might, you're really going to loathe a possible way to get to a future for financial systems.

https://theconversation.com/amp/a-globalised-solar-powered-future-is-wholly-unrealistic-and-our-economy-is-the-reason-why-118927?__twitter_impression=true

The article is terrific. It's not very long for it's data density. It's sort of the non-eco-anarchist view to how to.move politics/economics/expectations along to.where the needs to be today to really move forward.

[Tipperary]

32. K and r.