I am sticking with Joe Biden because he can recognize when he messed up...

[Peacetrain]

As a woman, the whole Anita Hill hearing was a mess.. I watched every second of it, I felt it to my core.. at least VP Biden understood the whole thing was messed up... and that is a mile a head of so many politicians who cannot take a second look at anything they did and admit if they made a mistake... That is all sides.. Democrats, Republicans, Greens etc etc...

So I am hoping that the former VP, will decide to run.. I think he is going to.. and I am standing with him.. he can acknowledge (and he has before this) his mistakes.. its always 20/20 in the rear view mirror..and everyone is going to be held accountable for their mistakes, missteps etc.. (except for Trump of course)

[Gothmog]

1. I believe that Joe Biden is the most electable candidate that we have in the field

[Peacetrain]

2. I think he is too!

[Gothmog]

75. Biden is at the top or near the top of my list of candidates

[onit2day]

72. Biden will lose us the election based on what was tried with Clinton

You would think we would have learned the lesson of running a status quo moderate with years of baggage just because he's likable. We need a real progressive change candidate with plans for bold action because we are losing our planet as well as our Democratic institutions. We need a New deal FDR, a Green new deal FDR with bold leadership not a let's not rock the boat moderate. Unless we get rid of the Electoral College, Biden is one of the few candidates that prove a lack of direction for the Dem party. I keep reading about Biden but not one thing he has done or stands for...just how much he's changed now as is no longer 'that' guy. Baggage check please.

[Gothmog]

74. trump wants to run against a weak candidate like sanders

trump is worried about three possible Democratic nominees https://politicalwire.com/2019/03/24/the-democrats-trump-fears-most/

“President Trump has publicly boasted that he could beat any of his 2020 Democratic challengers. But privately, several members of the Trump campaign see a few who could pose a threat to his re-election, and are in the early stages of building out their strategy for attack,” Axios reports.

“The three candidates that seem to concern the Trump campaign most are Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Beto O’Rourke. That’s in no particular order, and you’ll get a different answer depending on who you talk to.”

[redstateblues]

81. Biden will beat Trump. Bernie would not

[Laura PourMeADrink]

91. Can you please itemize the "years of baggage" by what

You think is the worst? I understand what you are saying...but I have thought about it a lot. To me, any weaknesses are mitigated by the mere fact he his the antithesis of trump.

I don't really understand the comparison between Hillary and Joe either...can you elaborate? You are implying that her not winning (she did win) had to do with her moderate views? To me, her "baggage" came from the constant efforts to portray her as guilty of something (she wasn't) which left lingering doubt that was constantly reinforced and bolstered with inane "lock her up" chants. None of this applies to Joe.

[shanny]

3. imo Biden is the past

and the past was not great.

[Peacetrain]

5. Well the present is no walk in the park.. with the current resident of the white house

literally tearing our government apart..did you hear, that Betsy DeVos and Trump are going to stop funding the Special Olympics.. so he can have more money for his precious wall of pay for the give away tax cut to the uber wealthy..

[shanny]

9. Of course it isn't.

But I'm not talking about him, I'm talking about the conditions that allowed him (as Mayor Pete says) "within stealing distance" of the WH. We need to address those preconditions.

And unfortunately Joe Biden had a big hand in several prominent ones: Anita Hill, as you said; the crime bill, which was his baby and which destroyed generations of poor and minority Americans; the bankruptcy bill which was his also, and was a handout to the banks / credit card companies.

Where is the passion for change coming from, within our party? Women, minorities, younger generations...none of these groups have benefited from those bills. Actually, which Americans in general have benefited?

I say again: Joe Biden is the past and we have moved on.

[Tarheel_Dem]

44. Polling suggests we haven't "moved on". Joe Biden is very popular, and with the right running mate

I believe he'd be unstoppable.

[shanny]

46. we'll see, won't we?

I think he and his nascent campaign are well aware that there are "issues" that could tank that campaign, and that is why they are hanging back. The Anita Hill fiasco is only one; the Clinton-era crime bill and the bankruptcy bill of 2005 are two others that are land mines, imo, given that the energy in our party is coming from women, minorities, and younger generations struggling to pay off debts and build a future for themselves.

Nostalgia for the Obama years is not enough. We have deeper issues that need to be addressed, the ones that--in Mayor Pete's words--allowed rump "within cheating distance" of the WH. And I think that will become evident once Joe actually gets in the race. Right now he can bask in the elder statesman/good old days (i.e. pre-tRump) glow, but that won't last once he declares.

Personally, I like him. I think he did a good job as veep. I think he would be an excellent surrogate/happy warrior and maybe even SecState in the next admin. I don't think he should run himself: it will only diminish him and slow down much needed change. my two cents

[maddiemom]

70. Or he WAS.

The Democratic "circular firing squad" forms again.

[djg21]

21. I think he wins if he runs.

This is the most meaningful criteria for me.

[Cha]

23. BS is the past.. and that was Not great.

[still_one]

62. You mean like appointing three high level people to his campaign who voted for Jill Stein and encour

others to do llikewise up until the day before the general election

That sure soounds like someone who wants to drudge up the past, and rub salt in the wound of Hillary supporters

Not a unifier, and seems to want to intentionally cause division

[Cha]

65. Yeah, Not a uniter..

More divisive actions coming from him.

Joe Biden is more of an Inclusive leader.. that's what we need. Those candidates who don't make it their mission to divide us.

Link to tweet

[still_one]

66. Wow, looks like Krugman is seeing right through BS

[Cha]

67. Oh yeah..

Link to tweet

[still_one]

54. Would Bernie be included in that assessment also?

[shanny]

63. Lol

Very provocative.

I'll treat it as a serious question. On the whole I would say no, since Bernie's social democrat policies (whatever he is dumb enough to call himself) have not been a big part of our past. And therefore not a part of the problem.

[demmiblue]

4. His recent comments about Anita Hill were weak sauce.

If you're going to do it, do it right.

And, yes, I do like Joe Biden.

[Peacetrain]

6. He needs to call Anita Hill, if he has not already..

There was an article in Time ( I think) a couple of years ago, where he talked about how he needed to apologize to Anita Hill.. I can still see her sitting there in front of that panel of men... the epitome of grace.. when I wanted to rage.. and then Clarence Thomas declaring it a virtual hanging or something to that effect.. it was bloody awful..

[demmiblue]

7. That apology is loooong past its due date.

It is meaningless now, I'm sure.

..
...
..
..
..
..

[DURHAM D]

11. Anita is on record that the statue of limitations has run out. nt

[BannonsLiver]

12. I'm not sure what that would accomplish

You can see by the response to your comment the people who hate the guy will still hate the guy, they’ll just move the goal posts a little more.

The truth of the matter is despite the repeated attempts to try and make this stick more relevant issues like healthcare always seem to trump it in the eyes of voters. I’d leave it alone.

[BlueWI]

43. Preferences on candidates vary.

It's not hate to disagree about which person is suited to be the nominee.

Doing a questionable job of managing Supreme Court hearings on a justice to succeed Thurgood Marshall is not a trivial matter at all. Similarly, the hearings he chaired in the weeks before the Iraq War were also perfunctory, with disastrous results.

IMO, both situations demonstrate a political temperament that hesitated to do the difficult work at critical moments. Does his role in the Obama administration neutralize all that? Some say yes, some say no. Then, imagine a scenario where Biden stood up against sexual harassment and Clarence Thomas was never confirmed, or where Biden asked the hard questions in the run up to the Iraq War and more Democrats found their spine and voted against that predictably bloody and multi-trillion dollar fiasco.

Moving to the present, I would like to hear more about a legislative agenda that a President Biden would favor. What do others admire about his past accomplishments that would be amplified if he were president? I don't think that electability based on snapshots of polling is enough, especially since there are several qualified candidates who have significant executive and congressional experience, like Inslee. Let Biden pit together a forward- looking agenda for governance once he declares, and perhaps the conversation changes.

[wryter2000]

56. Worse, Thomas called it a lynching n/t

n/t

[still_one]

60. Sure, but it won't matter at this stage. Even if he did and Anita Hill accepted it, like the Hillar

haters, the Biden haters will not be satisfied. Pardon me if I remain skeptical, but when someone states in one breath how they "really like Joe", on the one hand, and with the other how he shouldn't run, i realize what i believe their true feelings are. They don't want him running because they realize he has the best chance to win the nomination, and the GE. That may change but it is where it stands now.

Ironically, some in that subset have no problem with Bernie, in spite of his appontments of three people to high positions in his campaign who not only voted for Jill Stein, but encouraged others to do likewise up to the day before the GE

Maybe i am wrong, but I think it is not a coicidence

[shanny]

68. Lol

Do nuance much?

[still_one]

69. We will see what happens my friend. Still a long way to go

[shanny]

71. we will. May the best Democrat win.

[still_one]

73. Agreed

[DURHAM D]

10. It was more than weak sauce...

He said he should have given Anita a "better hearing". Anita didn't have a hearing. She was just a witness.

Biden was in complete control of a hearing for Clarence Thomas. However, Biden set it up as a contest between Anita and Clarence. He and the media framed it as if they were both applying for the same job and they had to fight it out like show dogs.

So, even yesterday Biden was still pretending it was a contest between two applicants.

Unbelievable.

[Demsrule86]

16. He did not vote for Thomas and it was what 30 Years ago.

[DURHAM D]

22. So what.

He was using the hearing to self-promote. He was basking in the attention and thought it would get him into the White House and he did not care who he destroyed on his way.

[Demsrule86]

24. Exactly so what..don't give two damns

I want to beat Trump.

[DURHAM D]

37. Says a lot about you that you don't care

that Biden brought so much hell down on Anita Hill. I am guessing you don't really know much about her life either before or after her testimony.

Are you extremely shy?

Did a U.S. Senator talk you into testifying before a national audience about an extremely hot issue by assuring you that others would testify on the same issue and to support your testimony?

Did that same Senator than take the side of the person you were asked to testify about?

Do you live alone in a small town where everyone knows your address thus you have to move in with others for protection?

Have you received a lot of death threats?

Have you experienced such pervasive hate in you community that you can't go out to dinner or to the grocery store by yourself?

Did anyone ever label you with something like "a little bit nutty, a little bit slutty" and the press and a political party had a field day with it?

Did your state legislature repeatedly pass resolutions demanding that you be fired from your faculty position?

Did you have to quit a job you loved and move way away from your family to a big city to hide among the masses?

Do you still get phone calls from a crazy person who hates you because of what you said about their spouse more than 25 years ago?

I could go on and on but you already said you don't give a damn.

[chimpymustgo]

28. It was a character revealing moment for Joe Biden.

And it was ugly. I hope to NEVER HAVE to vote for him.

[DURHAM D]

38. Have you seen this -

https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-dont-buy-joe-bidens-apology-about-anita-hill-20190327-kjltlg3rgfdtjamv5covkrfesq-story.html

Don't care for the source but it is the story that never gets told about the Senator providing loving care for Thomas while going after Anita.

[Demsrule86]

93. Exactly 'so what' and the rest is opinion.

[Honeycombe8]

47. I agree. People trying to see past events in today's light is wrong.

His vote is what matters most.

I saw the hearing and wasn't shocked by his behavior. There was an attitude then that doesn't exist now. Just like the attitude toward gay marriage was very different then.

I remember that he was very kind to Hill, but condescending, patronizing. But he did try to use her testimony to block Thomas being confirmed. He gave her a lot of time at the hearing, giving her time to present all her statements, the full story. Some would not have done that.

[Demsrule86]

17. I don't give a damn. We need to beat Trump

[Dennis Donovan]

8. The US is going to need someone with experience to put things back together again

...Joe is the only Executive Branch vet in the field, so he's got my vote should he get the nom (plus I'm related by marriage to him ).

[WheelWalker]

13. Right on.

[bahrbearian]

14. IWR , AUMF, ...

[Demsrule86]

15. Me too. It was a long time ago ....different world.

[robbedvoter]

20. I wonder where Clarence Thomas is now....

🙄

[Demsrule86]

25. Cute...but Biden didn't vote for him. Although I wouldn't care...long ago.

[Baclava]

18. I heard he was 95% sure he was running...has he decided? n/t

[robbedvoter]

19. Can he tho? He never apologized to Anita!

Link to tweet

[chimpymustgo]

30. Thanks for posting that. Hill appears to be a lovely woman.

She's gone on with her life. I wish Biden would go away.

[Mme. Defarge]

26. Even with his "foot in mouth" reputation

I am confident that he can prevail over a Trump Campaign “scorched earth” offensive against the Democratic nominee. No other candidate comes close to being as well-vetted and experienced as Joe.

[Stuart G]

27. Good Point...cause the sH** they are going to throw at him will be incredible.

...From their side, it will be one of the dirtiest campaigns ever.

[Mme. Defarge]

29. "Dirty" won't cover it.

We will need new vocabulary.

[Stuart G]

32. Yes, you are correct. But if it is Joe, we will win. He has seen much worse.

That is his strongest point. He has seen a whole lot of ugly, beyond ugly life experiences. Imagine the hate that he had to take being Obama's VP. And more. He has seen it all.

[still_one]

53. Ironically i am not sure the republicans will be worse than those who are part of our circular

firing squad

That being said Biden can deal with it

[Honeycombe8]

48. You make a good point. Joe has certainly seen it all. No trick would catch him by surprise. nt

[Honeycombe8]

49. Kamala is apologizing, too. People are wanting "pure as snow" candidates.

If you're not pure, you must apologize for it.

[bigtree]

85. link?

[Honeycombe8]

86. You'll have to look it up. I think it was on The View w/Stacey Abrams...

when they were discussing all the Democrats walking down the apology tour aisle. Something about Kamala's prosecutorial history. There are complaints in DU and articles criticizing her prosecutorial decisions.

[bigtree]

87. she never 'apologized' for anything in this campaign.

...so post it, or it's just something you said without anything to back it up.

[ucrdem]

88. She's taken responsibility for actions she regrets

as a prosecutor:

"The bottom line is the buck stops with me and I take full responsibility for what my office did,” she said. “There are cases ... where there were folks that made a decision in my office and they had not consulted me and I wish they had.”

https://www.vox.com/2019/1/21/18191864/kamala-harris-2020-criminal-justice

We can argue about the semantics but that's an indirect apology.

[bigtree]

89. she's answering for an action which she was not personally involved in

Last edited Fri Mar 29, 2019, 09:47 AM - Edit history (1)

...it's not any where near analogous to what Biden is copping to here, or Beto apologizing. Theirs are for policy or professional conduct and acts which they now regret in the face of prevailing political winds in this campaign.

Link to tweet

Sen. Harris isn't apologizing in the examples in that article, she's defending her conduct. For instance:

“There are cases ... where there were folks that made a decision in my office and they had not consulted me and I wish they had.”

I don't think she needs to apologize for the way she followed the law as a prosecutor or the state's attorney general. I don't think she does either.

[aikoaiko]

33. And when he apologizes, it does feel real.

I'll give him that.

[Stuart G]

34. It is real. A President who has seen the horror in life is an advantage.

Just now I switched to Joe. He has seen it all.- death, victory, winning and losing, mistakes, great accomplishments, failures. I need someone who has seen it all, and been through a whole lot. That is what Presidents of the United States do. Further, Joe has the experience of working with an outstanding leader who was President of the United States. He has seen much from the inside.

[pnwmom]

42. Not to me. He said he was sorry he couldn't find a way to do the hearing differently.

But the solution would have been easy: to NOT call the witnesses who speculated that she had "erotomania" and TO CALL her corroborating witnesses.

[robbedvoter]

59. "couldn't find a way" - he sold out to the Bushes! he gave them everything they asked

including allowing Thomas to speak AFTER Hill. He was an active part of the kabuki. The other way to do it was to simply do his job. He had one job! Oh, and the reason I know that he would do the same given the chance, is his nostalgia for bipartisanship. The good ol' days of 9.11, when we all loved each other! Doesn't sound like someone who learned a thing.

[secondwind]

35. Biden should have done more.

He has never apologized to Anita Hill.

[Honeycombe8]

50. Democrats need to stop apologizing. Things were what they were.

You either want him as a candidate or you don't. An apology won't matter.

I'm not even sure why he's supposed to apologize.

No candidate is pure. No candidate is an angel. We have a lot of serious issues going on. I want the candidates to talk about that.

[ucrdem]

80. He didn't do anything wrong. He treated Hill kindly, aired her concerns before the world,

and took hits galore from both sides. But it wasn't a trial, he wasn't her lawyer, and he doesn't need to apologize. But he will anyway cause he's Joe.

[ucrdem]

79. LOL he ran those hearings for over a month and has apologized to Hill repeatedly.

Now ya know!

[randr]

36. I try to imagine the world as it would be

without Justice Thomas.

[Perseus]

39. "so many politicians who cannot take a second look..."

"That is all sides.. Democrats, Republicans, Greens etc etc... "

Not true.

I have seen a ton of Democrats admit when they were wrong, even apologize when they were not wrong, which drives me nuts, but republicans always blame someone else, or go into the artificial defense "my words were taken out of context" when it is impossible to take their words out of context.

This "they are all the same" is completely false.

Biden? Now he is apologizing for the mess that he contributed to during the Anita Hill hearing. What does Anita Hill say about Biden's performance during those hearings?

I don't dislike Biden, but we cannot change history.

[link:https://splinternews.com/actually-there-are-quite-a-few-things-joe-biden-could-1833594040|

There are plenty of good candidates from the Democratic party today, and many of those will admit at wrong doing when they do, and if they have. It is not true that both parties are the same, that politicians on both parties act the same, they don't, they are miles apart. Republicans are lemmings and corrupt, I don't think the same happens with democratic politicians.

[pnwmom]

40. The problem is that while he recognized it was messed up, he hasn't taken responsibility

for the fact that HE was the one who messed it up. He says he wishes there was a way he could have done it differently. But of course there was a way. He allowed the testimony of John Doggett on Anita having "erotomania" and he did not allow Anita's corroborating witnesses to testify.

That's on him, not on some messed up circumstances outside of his control.

[Honeycombe8]

51. Who cares. It was almost 30 years ago. She was given a LOT of time at the hearing.

She was allowed to fully express everything she wanted to say. The other members were allowed to question her, and Thomas was allowed to respond.

I'm not sure what Biden is supposed to apologize for.

I saw the entire hearing. I noticed that he was very kind and respectful to Anita Hill, if a bit condescending. That was common back then in Congress.

If everyone judges things that happened decades ago in today's light, they'll be sorely disappointed at the way things were. But that's the way things were, all right. Even a lot of women would believe claims by other women that they'd be abused or harassed or raped.

I think all the Dems should stop walking around apologizing for not being pure.

[pnwmom]

52. It was almost 30 years ago and in all that time he has STILL failed to acknowledge

his responsibility for what he allowed to happen through his failure of leadership.

He should apologize for allowing Clarence Thomas to give his enraged rebuttal before letting Anita speak her truth.

He should apologize for not allowing expert witnesses on sexual harassment to testify; and instead allowing John Doggett to testify, speculating that she had erotomania.

He should apologize for not allowing Anita's corroborating witnesses to publicly testify, even though they were sitting in a hotel room, expecting to be called.

We had a majority of Democrats on the Committee. If we'd had a better Chair, we might not have failed Anita and the whole country by putting Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/joe-bidens-treatment-of-anita-hill-poses-new-problems-as-he-ponders-a-presidential-campaign/2019/03/28/fee01532-509d-11e9-88a1-ed346f0ec94f_story.html?utm_term=.32e1df4b924b

But few are satisfied with his remarks about Hill at an event in New York Tuesday night, at which he said he still regretted he “couldn’t come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved.”

“He hasn’t accepted the ownership of the fact that he was the most powerful person in the role and in the room at that time,” said Toni Van Pelt, president of the National Organization for Women. “I think that he has a hard time because he doesn’t really completely understand yet. He is still protecting his gender.”

SNIP

Beyond the questioning, critics of Biden have cited his refusal as chairman to allow testimony from sexual harassment experts and additional witnesses who could have supported Hill’s account.

SNIP

“Saying ‘I wish I could have done something’ just doesn’t seem to fit with the history and the facts and what happened,” Christina Reynolds, a spokeswoman for EMILY’S List, said of Biden. “It implies that he couldn’t have done anything else, and it implies that the only thing wrong was she faced a bunch of white men asking inappropriate questions — and that wasn’t the only problem with that hearing.”

[Honeycombe8]

64. He has nothing to apologize for. Don't support him, which you clearly don't want to.

I haven't decided. But I don't judge 30 year old non-criminal or non-shocking behavior by today's standards. You feel free to go ahead with your judging, though.

[Politicub]

41. I think that's good, too

I was a teenager when the Anita Hill hearings were happening, and I knew she was being raked over the coals. I was disappointed to learn about Biden's role. But, people can evolve significantly over 30 years.

It's an admirable trait to apologize for past behavior and act meaningfully to demonstrate you have evolved.

[Honeycombe8]

45. I watched the entire hearing, too.

How I did that while working, I don't remember. Was it on C-SPAN, and I was on vacation? Or did they rerun it at night? I don't remember.

I remember how a lot of people in the public were attacking her. The same things we hear now. Some people and questions at the hearing were hostile. Clarence Thomas' attitude about women complaining of harassment wasn't how men could do such things, but why on earth would they publicize those things? (Latoya Jackson had just written a book revealing she had been abused by their father. Thomas and I think it was Orrin Hatch? who commiserated why anyone would say those things in a book. Not how horrible it was that her father abused her. I was horrified by that interaction such that I still remember that part of the hearing.)

Anyway, Biden behaved much better toward Anita Hill than the others. And he didn't vote for Thomas to be confirmed.

It was a long time ago. It was uncommon for women to identify harassers in the work place. The attitude at that time was different from now. Attitudes by politicians, employers, men, and even women. It's unfair to judge that hearing in a 2019 light.

I have no doubt that Biden has progressed in this area, like many people in the country have. And just as attitudes about gay marriage have evolved. I also have no doubt that many Republicans have NOT progressed, judging from the Kavanaugh hearing.

We've seen and heard from Biden a lot over the decades. He's a family man with a professional wife, lots of women in his family. He respects women, both personally and professionally. He's a decent guy. I have a couple of issues with him, but this isn't one of them.

I haven't decided who to support. It may be Biden, but it could be one of the others. It's too soon. If I don't support Biden, it won't be for this.

[wryter2000]

55. Um, they were Clarence Thomas hearings

Part of them were about the fact that he subjected women who worked for him to sexual harassment. Let's not make it sound as if the hearings were to get at something wrong she'd done.

BTW, I listened to the hearings. Biden didn't attack her, but he allowed other men on the committee to attack her. He also didn't let other women testify. It was not his best hour, but we have to remember people (especially men) didn't understand the issue the way they do now.

While we're talking about SCOTUS confirmation hearings, let's remember Biden also presided over the hearings that kept Robert Bork off the Court. I'm forever grateful to him for that.

[Peacetrain]

57. I know that... but Anita Hill was treated like a criminal..

And I completely forgot about the Bork hearings.. thanks!!

[BlueJac]

58. Old school, sorry!

[still_one]

61. As long as Sanders is running, i want Biden in the race, sorry

[redstateblues]

82. My sentiment exactly

[democratisphere]

76. Joe is ready to go!

Let's do it in 2020!

[jberryhill]

77. ...and frequently needs to

[fleabiscuit]

84. Well played sir, well played.

[ucrdem]

78. IMHO the chances are very good that Biden will be our candidate.

And then the odds will be about even that he'll take the grand prize. I think his teflon will hold up through both campaigns -- in comparison to Trump's daily tsunami of whack what's a gaffe or two? -- and that the M4A partisans will find some other target to vent their spleens on. In the end it will come down to cheating and dirty tricks and whether or not Team T succeeds in stealing another election from under our noses. In a fair fight Joe would take it in a cakewalk.

[fleabiscuit]

83. Biden has way too much extra baggage to win the nomination. nt

[disndat]

90. People should know

the reason Joe Biden had to back down on the Anita Hill hearing was a huge outcry by angry black men over Anita Hills
attacks on Clarence Thomas.

[bigtree]

92. lawd!

...

"Black men are misogynists who actually wanted a conservative toady filling Thurgood Marshall's seat on the SC."