2020 Democratic presidential primary thread, pt 3: life is very long

right but he didn't actually *do* anything to antagonize them, other than not being a "rank and file" Democrat. (of course, he generally voted with them and helped plenty of Dem progressives get elected, but who's keeping score) xp

Sanders is not going to go properly negative on Biden ever. the irony of his toxic "not a Democrat" brand is that he's a very good soldier at the end of the day

It's clear he means "don't antagonize the voters whom you'll need to woo."

i did see antagonization of actual voters on the campaign trail, but it wasn't from Bernie.

if you mean don't antagonize the media or party leaders, then yeah, that's actually a fair point. a sad point, but fair.

I don’t hold it against Biden or Obama or any politician for not supporting same sex marriage before we caught up. My father died in 2012 and I remember watching Biden on the tv in his hospital room advocating for gay marriage. I was in an emotional state anyway but I thought it was really moving

also, not "clear"

I don’t hold it against Biden or Obama or any politician for not supporting same sex marriage before we caught up.

What about Biden supporting the Hyde Amendment until like 12 minutes ago?

When do the "times were different" excuses stop?

Obama obv more egregious than Joe there, for him it was clearly a political calculation and nothing more.

The endless handwringing over Sanders campaign from this ever shifting bingo board of nebulous fallacies is tiring and laughably condescending considering the fact that Joe Biden didn't even campaign in like 90% of the states he won. It's disingenuous, to say the very least, to brazenly claim that Bernie would've won if he had shamelessly pandered to black SC voters a bit more vs. the guy being endorsed by Clyburn and under the table by Obama (people who parrot this trash doin a great job of denigrating and minimizing Latino Americans like they aren't a minority population in this country btw!). Or if he'd run more attack ads vs. Biden... as you're simultaneously handwringing over him being some adversarial "Factional" candidate like the democratic party is some autocratic hivemind entity with no variance in opinion or belief like fictional sci fi robots.

Biden ran an absolutely terrible campaign that had absolutely terrible messaging, terrible fundraising, terrible polling, and terrible results for the first three primaries. Then he got his former president pal to convince his insipid, shameless milquetoast ideologues competing against him in the race to drop out and immediately endorse him in the span of about 12 hours. Then he won one state and was immediately crowned the presumptive nominee by every major news outlet that had already been devoting 90% of their previous primary coverage to nothing but having lowlife pundits like Carville lambast Bernie's success as the impending end of Western civilization at every possible opportunity... and that was effectively it. Didn't need any kind of presence to beat rival candidates like Warren in their own home states. And it isn't "denying agency to voters" or whatever other disingenuous nonsense being regurgitated to acknowledge that. The only "lesson" to be derived in losing the way Bernie has this primary (2016 isn't the same story at all for those crying "rigged" back then) is that this country's election cycle, like 99% of it's political, corporate, and bureaucratic machinery, is stupid, broken fucking nonsense (never the more evidenced in unprecedented times like this...) and that anyone making an honest effort at changing such things faces an insurmountably hopeless battle to do so.

What about Biden supporting the Hyde Amendment until like 12 minutes ago?

― Greta Van Show Feets BB (milo z), Tuesday, April 7, 2020 12:56 AM (eight minutes ago)

biden had a bad position on something, he came under intense pressure from the democratic base, so he...changed his position? i don't like biden any more than anyone else here does, but he's clearly a political weathervane, not an ideologue.

Or perhaps pouring huge amounts of money and effort into Iowa and New Hampshire isn't really a winning strategy, and what we consider a good campaign is quickly becoming outdated.

xp

biden has not run a "good campaign" by any perceptible metric. there are so many other factors that matter more, it turns out.

trevor otm, lock thread, the only lesson is that nice guys finish last

people who parrot this trash doin a great job of denigrating and minimizing Latino Americans like they aren't a minority population in this country btw!

I'll helpfully explain this to Alfred

But that's the point, maybe having a recognizable name, keeping a low profile, and keeping spending down, is what a good campaign looks like now. I'm not saying it's a way for good candidates to win, but it definitely seems to be a way for Joe Biden to win.

xxp

At least not campaigning keeps grifters off the payroll

people who parrot this trash doin a great job of denigrating and minimizing Latino Americans like they aren't a minority population in this country btw!

I'll helpfully explain this to Alfred

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, April 6, 2020 9:24 PM

explain what

was a joke

I know! I was too

don’t think trevor phillips is on the mark

lol ok I'm dumber than usual today

well, you don't write two paragraphs of white lib posturing

🤐

biden had a bad position on something, he came under intense pressure from the democratic base, so he...changed his position? i don't like biden any more than anyone else here does, but he's clearly a political weathervane, not an ideologue.

As an excuse for shitty beliefs and politics, this is particularly weak - Biden was never a backbencher going with the flow, he was a prominent and powerful Senator (and VP) for decades and took the lead on his shitty positions. He's an ideologue as much as anyone in the party, it's just that his ideology is garbage.

He supported the Hyde Amendment for 43 years. This wasn't a "oops, I didn't read the bill and understand the consequences" situation, his beliefs are shit.

I just don’t think any of that matters now

He doesnt have beliefs

biden has not run a "good campaign" by any perceptible metric

Apart from getting votes

I just don’t think any of that matters now

so uh what does matter?

Beating Trump I guess lol

What Trump executive orders and policies would Biden actually reverse, has he said

Which cabinet members will he hold over

it feels like we’re in a completely different world all of a sudden, not sure what matters

Probably Elaine Chao and whatever dingdong is secdef 9 months from now. (I had to look it up: Currently it’s a guy named Mark!)

None of this will matter if Joe dies of the vid, that’s true

it feels like we’re in a completely different world all of a sudden, not sure what matters

I mean... maybe in an economic and social meltdown having good ideas and beliefs matters more?

Do you think targeted tax breaks are the solution to the economic crisis? Do you think the current healthcare system is up to the challenge of a pandemic?

Political nihilism seems like a bad call in the current moment.

Which cabinet members will he hold over

There's still a chance at VP Romney

VP Nikki Haley

No better way to make the WaPo cum so hard its calves cramp.

WaPo editorial page, damn it

xxxp no!

Fred Hiatt and Colbert King, both still unaccountably not retired

Presumably it’d be way too obvious for Bezos to fire them and replace them with one of the clones budding off of his back

Worst backne ever

This thread is some of the grossest most nihilistic fanfic ever

I don’t see a downside in being nihilistic, we all know I’ll whine for six more months and then most likely fill in the bubble for Handsy Joe out of terror, which as we all know is the best way to rule.

Anyway when he loses I’ll have the consolation of being right

I thought Clinton would win and I can’t go through that again!

Better Things Aren’t Possible is a good slogan actually

my greatest political hope for America at this point is that I'm shot in a pogrom instead of starving to death

how's that for fanfic, fucko