WaPo: Scrutiny over Trump's Ukraine scandal may hurt Biden's campaign

[DrFunkenstein]

When Biden first entered the presidential race, it triggered a burst of attention on Hunter Biden’s foreign business ties and made-for-tabloid lifestyle.

The Biden campaign had hoped it had dispatched with some of those questions.

That won’t be so easy if House Democrats move toward impeachment proceedings. While the hearings would focus on Trump’s behavior, House Republicans would also amplify questions over Biden’s actions while he was in office.

Several Democratic presidential candidates on Friday condemned Trump without mentioning Biden. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) renewed calls for his impeachment and said “by failing to act, Congress is complicit in Trump’s latest attempt to solicit foreign interference to aid him in US elections.” Gov. Steve Bullock (Mont.) called it “behavior you’d expect from an incompetent mobster.”

....

“We’re out there every day criticizing Trump and saying it’s the most corrupt administration in the history of America,” said Grant Woodard, an attorney and longtime Iowa Democratic consultant unaligned with a candidate. “It’s going to be problematic for Biden to have to answer those questions about himself.”

“Whether it’s true or not, the fact that you have to deal with it is problematic. It’s a distraction they don’t want,” he added. “They want to create the narrative, ‘I can win, I can take on Trump, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good in terms of ideological fights.’ This is the stuff they don’t want to be talking about.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-ukraine-scandal-may-also-hurt-bidens-campaign/2019/09/20/772aaba0-dbe6-11e9-ac63-3016711543fe_story.html

In March 2016, Biden traveled to Ukraine and threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees unless the prosecutor investigating his son's business, Rosemont Seneca, was removed. While Hunter's dealings in the Ukraine and China do look unseemly, particularly given his access to the White House (his partner was also the son of the Secretary of State), all accounts of the prosecutor in question say he was quite corrupt and needed to go.

The question, for me, is whether or not Biden should have recused himself rather than personally negotiating to remove any perception of conflict of interest. In the age of Trump, this may seem paltry, but that's setting the bar so low it is underground. Whether Americans in general care remains to be seen.

Corruption may well become the central theme of the election. Biden may be helped by this story, but there's also a very real danger that he is dragged through the mud by Trump World by the time the general election rolls around.

[NNadir]

1. But...but...but...but...her emails. The media is pure pot calling the kettle black.

The corruption of the Trump administration is the worst in history. The media wants to talk about Joe Biden's son? In the age of Ivanka and her robber baron corrupt husband? Eric? Don Jr?

I love Joe Biden. He's not my candidate, but he is as fine a human being as there is. This is pure Das Sturmer stuff.

[DrFunkenstein]

2. Trump's Favorite Argument: "Everybody Does It"

Classic muddying of the water.

The question is whether or not we move forward by the standards of the Trump era or all the rest of American history from its inception to the Obama era.

[NNadir]

3. The question is about the elevation of lies. The scar on American History left by the Trump...

...people will never heal, but if I were Joe Biden, I would respond to these lies simply by saying..."but, but, but her emails."

[Hoyt]

4. From what I have read, VP Biden didn't do anything wrong. But, I think it's going to be an issue

that takes a lot of explaining.

I was not aware of it before yesterday, and appreciate DUers pointing to the nuance in the $1 B loan threat was that we -- including Obama -- and other countries had been calling for the removal of the Ukrainian prosecutor for some time. So, Biden was merely advancing our policies and it didn't have anything to do with his son.

While I'm satisfied, Biden will still likely get dragged through the mud, as article says. Of course, if it isn't that, GOPers will find something else.

None of that excuses trump's action, and I hope this brings him down. Just think we need to go after trump for actions, or inactions, that don't have these kind of tentacles.

[UncleNoel]

5. I bet it will help Biden

It is about the third cycle of this narrative. It has been amply debunked and a new wave of debunking might put it to rest. I think Biden is handling it well and it is Biden vs. Trump as it will be in the GE.

[George II]

6. Analysts on CNN and MSNBC are saying the opposite.

[UncleNoel]

7. David Axerod will have none of this Biden damage trope

Politico, of course, also tries to spread the Biden damage trope.

Why Trump’s Ukraine scandal could backfire on Biden

Why Trump’s Ukraine scandal could backfire on Biden

But David Axerod will have none of it, as the article concludes.

Trump’s focus on Biden could actually be beneficial, said David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s longtime strategist.

“I think, at least in the short run, it’s more likely to identify Biden as the candidate Trump fears and, perhaps, even benefit him among Democrats,” Axelrod told POLITICO.

I bet Biden will get a bit of a bump in the polls from this, especially when we see headlines with Biden showing outrage....

[Bayard]

8. THANK you!

I'm glad someone finally said what they are claiming about Biden himself, because I didn't recall any kind of scandal.

Still chewing on this one.....

[OKNancy]

9. Who is the author of this opinion

I don't have a subscription. I'm curious.

[blue neen]

10. Matt Viser. Typical article for him.

Everything he writes is critical of Biden.

[OKNancy]

11. thanks

[Demsrule86]

12. More wishful thinking but I find it disgusting that any Democrat would join with Trump

in an attempt to bring Biden down.

[DrFunkenstein]

14. It Was a Mistake Not to Recuse Himself, But It Looks Like He Did Nothing Wrong Personally

It was disgusting that Hunter was taking $50,000 a month as part of the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company, despite lacking any meaningful experience working in Ukraine or the energy sector.

Obviously, his only qualification was access to the White House via his father. That's the sort of corruption and influence peddling that makes people want to ignore politics altogether.

As for Biden himself, he was following White House objectives in personally negotiating it. The perception of a conflict of interest was quite clear, though, and he absolutely should have recused himself.

Is that a deal breaker? For me, it's not. It's unseemly and gives Trump a pass to say "Yes, but he does it, too." But it's not a deal breaker, least of all should he manage to win the nomination - comparing Biden and Trump is like comparing apples to hand grenades.

[Demsrule86]

13. I would add that most think the opposite than the Biden hater who penned the

article you provided.

[DrFunkenstein]

15. Politico: Why Trump's Ukraine scandal could backfire on Biden

By MARC CAPUTO, NATASHA KORECKI and BEN SCHRECKINGER

Joe Biden had a chance to excoriate Donald Trump on Friday after a blockbuster report detailed how the president pushed Ukrainian investigators to investigate Biden’s son.

Instead, Biden was circumspect and measured in a comment to reporters.

Only hours later, after Biden and his advisors weighed more facts and after Democrats renewed calls for impeaching Trump, did the former vice president’s campaign issue a broader and stronger statement.

...

“This puts him on the ropes over having to talk about this,” said Patrick Murray, a pollster with Monmouth University. “He certainly doesn’t want to talk about this, his family.”

Murray suggested the ethical dimensions of the controversy — and the implications of Trump’s actions for impeachment, which Biden at present does not support — made any extended discussion of the story potentially perilous for Biden.

“At the primary level, I don’t think Democrats would believe these charges [concerning Biden] because of how polarized the debate is right now, but then they could start worrying that this could hurt him if he is the nominee,” Murray said. “It’s ‘can Biden fight back? Will this hurt his ability to take Trump on fully?’ And will it undermine that electability argument that he’s been making?”

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/21/trump-ukraine-biden-1507051

[Demsrule86]

16. It is politico...I can match you one for one...but who cares...just like all the crap posted...it

won't matter. You candidate has no path without AA voters...and she won't win them IMHO. But keep digging. All you do is help Trump by using right wing smears against any candidate.

[DrFunkenstein]

17. Two Recent Polls Showed a New 5% Jump in AA Support For Warren

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) appears to be growing her share of support from black voters, who have been slow to warm to her campaign.

A new poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found Warren in second place among black voters with 13 percent support, her best showing in any poll to date. That’s up from 8 percent in the previous survey from July, although the 5-point swing is within the poll’s margin of error.

An Economist–YouGov survey released Wednesday found Warren’s support among black voters at 11 percent, up from 5 percent in July. And the latest Politico–Morning Consult survey found Warren gaining 5 points among black voters.

Former Vice President Joe Biden still dominates the field with black voters, and he’ll be the favorite to win the nomination unless that changes. Biden pulled 49 percent support from black voters in the NBC-Journal poll, a 36-point lead over Warren.

But Warren is showing signs of life here after public opinion surveys from earlier in the cycle showed her languishing in the single digits among black voters, raising criticism from some quarters that her appeal was limited to wealthy white liberals on the coasts.

Democratic strategists say Warren’s gains are enough to indicate that black voters are at least open to considering her candidacy, leaving her in prime position to capitalize down the road if she can maintain her upward trajectory in the race.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/462072-warren-shows-signs-of-broadening-her-base

[BlueWI]

18. The more Warren keeps raising her profile

through clear communication, honesty, and string policy, the more her standing with black voters will strengthen.

And this cohort of voters were central to Biden's initial advantage. The margin is thinning.