Reeling Biden campaign scrambles to soothe nervous supporters

[brooklynite]

Politico

Shellshocked by two big losses, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign tried to reassure donors, surrogates and the press about his path forward Wednesday while counterattacking nearly every one of his rivals.

“Elected officials across the country understand there will be down-ballot carnage to the Democratic Party if we elect the wrong person,” Rep. Cedric Richmond, the campaign’s co-chair, warned. “If Bernie Sanders were atop of the ticket, we would be in jeopardy of losing the House, we would not win the Senate back.”

Richmond, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, also took aim at Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar for their anemic support among African Americans and criticized billionaire Michael Bloomberg for having been a Republican.

The attack-everyone strategy is a marked shift for a once high-flying Biden, who has tumbled from frontrunner to being in danger of becoming an also-ran.

In separate calls arranged with donors, reporters and surrogates, his campaign leadership emphasized Biden’s support among African American and Latino voters and cast his losses in New Hampshire on Tuesday and in Iowa Feb. 3 as less-than-lethal because of their predominantly white electorates. They also laid out plans to put Biden on television to elevate his national visibility.

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

1. We can use "shell shocked" if

He loses Nevada and South Carolina.

[Scurrilous]

2. 'Reeling.' 'Blood in the Water.'

Who is writing these? Peter Benchley?

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Or Mr. Benchley.

[Scurrilous]

6. LOL

Even better.

[Tipperary]

4. What a shame.

Desperation does not look good on him.

[LanternWaste]

11. No desperation... except from the empty allegations of such.

And empty allegations look good on no one... despite how comfortable people proudly wear them.

[democratisphere]

5. Beware of the attempt by the MSM to destroy Joe Biden so that

the drumpf crime establishment can live on. Crime news and headlines sells lots of books and newspapers while TV news viewership has never been more intense. American Democracy is expendable as long as the wealthiest are make tons of money. Progressive Socialism will insure drumpf et al gets at least another 4 more years.

[LaMouffette]

7. "The rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated . . ." --Mark Twain

Last edited Thu Feb 13, 2020, 01:31 PM - Edit history (1)

I am still supporting Joe Biden as the candidate with the best chance of beating Trump, and I feel so frustrated and angry at all the TV pundits that are already proclaiming that his campaign is dead in the water. And it's not just Faux News, but also the whole crew on Morning Joe, my beloved Rachel Maddow, and, well, just about everyone I've heard who has weighed in on Biden's campaign. Every one of them is apparently trying to scoop the other pundits by being the first one to predict that Biden would not be the nominee.

Do they not know the incredible power they have to influence their viewers' perception of candidates? Faux News knows this, of course, but what about the Democratic-leaning pundits. Do they not realize that if Biden's campaign has an early stumble that what they say has the power to push him headlong down a flight of stairs à la the young priest in The Exorcist? Their negative doomsday commentary can make Biden supporters in states with later primaries think, "Hmm . . . ! I was going to support Joe, but if other people aren't supporting him, maybe I should rethink this . . ."

I am doing my best not to absorb this Biden bashing by reminding myself that he is the one with the most experience, the best relationships with foreign leaders, and the one, I believe, who has the most broad appeal for independent voters, black and hispanic voters, and Obama voters who voted for Trump. Biden is a good guy. His humanity and humility just shine through and are such a stark contrast to the cruel, vindictive, racist, amoral, misogynistic, bullying, lawless nature of the bloated monster currently defiling the White House and lining his Depends with the Constitution.

By the way, I highly recommend Biden's book Promise Me, Dad about what he and his family experienced and how they coped after his son Beau was diagnosed with brain cancer. Not only does the book showcase Biden's humanity, but it also reveals his high level of competence and devotion to public service because of how he was there for Beau as much as he possibly could be, but at the same time he also carried out the crucially vital foreign affairs missions assigned to him by President Obama. Biden is amazing and a tireless workhorse.

And just think if it were a Joe Biden / Stacey Abrams ticket! Too cool!

Of course, if Biden is not the nominee, I will absolutely vote Blue, no matter who. I would love to see Trump beat by Bernie or Mayor Pete, or Papa Smurf, for that matter!

[emulatorloo]

8. Sounds like POLITICO pulled out the thesaurus today.

[Joinfortmill]

9. Biden has Sully Sullenberger

https://time.com/5768087/sully-defends-biden-stutter-op-ed/

And one journalist is reporting Sully will join Biden in Nevada.

[Happy Hoosier]

10. Biden has not done well on the trail, IMO.

I dunno.... he just doesn't seem to have his heart really in it. Maybe he's not up to it? I dunno.

[Garrett78]

12. This is by far the best he's ever done in seeking the nomination.

Not until Obama strategically chose Biden as a running mate did many people think Biden would be a good presidential candidate. He's gaffe-prone and carries some pretty awful baggage (Anita Hill, bankruptcy law, etc.). On a debate stage without a script, he looks lost much of the time.