Joe Biden, Senator from Citibank (oops, DELAWARE), to Run for President

But yeah Brad otm. It’s just the inconsistency in how the Democrats ate treating this is dizzying.

Nothing to do with Biden.

My memory of what happened after the Access Hollywood tape is a little cloudy in terms of Republican reaction. I remember Jason Chaffetz bailing, and how he decided later everything was okay. Anyway, here's a roundup.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/headline-republicans-react-trump-comments-objectifying-women

Republicans obviously weren't worried about sexual assault out of personal objection but because they feared it would damage his chances in the election - they stopped caring the minute that there was no fallout from the public.

Democrats are hoping the same holds true here because a significant portion also don't think that sexual assault by their colleague/friend/etc. is disqualifying in and of itself, but they're once again betting on rules and standards being applied equally - which they never are. A credible sexual assault allegation hurts Biden far worse than an outright conviction would hurt Trump.

I just skimmed but "an alarmed Republican establishment scrambled to force Donald Trump out of the race" seems more or less accurate, and then the majority of them managed to unscramble themselves by the time of the election.

At that time they thought he had single digit odds of winning. They wanted to cut their losses. It wasn’t principled at all—I don’t think the social media intern at Jacobin was implying it was.

A little magician named Comey also swung decideds decidedly in Trump's direction too.

Ok whoa. Hold it.

Comey isn’t little. He is like 6’8”.

I apologize.

2'4" of that is a forehead cyst

Biden to donors on a virtual fundraiser yesterday: he'd consider picking a Republican to serve in his cabinet "if they're the best-qualified person" & might announce cabinet picks when he reveals his VP pick later this summer.

Biden on a virtual fundraiser co-hosted by Buttigieg tonight:
“I view myself as a transition candidate… My job is… to bring the Mayor Petes of the world into this administration."

the difference that gets smaller every year

He'll be on Morning Joe at 7:30 to answer questions specifically about the allegations.

https://medium.com/@JoeBiden/statement-by-vice-president-joe-biden-7a9593bd3012

live now

a) why the hell is this on Medium

b) I, me, me, I, I, I, me, I, I, me, I, me, me, I, me, we should listen to women.

Headed back to bed...Personally, I didn't find Biden that convincing this morning. A lot of "to the best of my knowledge"-type phrasing. He also had this habit of stopping on a dime after a few words and waiting for the questioner to come back. That may be a discipline thing because of his habit of rambling, but it could also be a desire to address it in as few words as possible and move on to something else. I always think in these situations--and this goes way way back to the early '90s, when there were a couple of years of constant scandals involving high-profile people--that the most obvious reaction if someone blindsides you with a false accusation is visible anger. This may be completely unfair, and I know it's all speculation, but I didn't see any anger this morning.

He repeated "It never happened. Period" like a mantra. He's really fucked if there are more, ah, developments.

He also had this habit of stopping on a dime after a few words and waiting for the questioner to come back. That may be a discipline thing because of his habit of rambling, but it could also be a desire to address it in as few words as possible and move on to something else.

It could also be an attempt to keep his stuttering under control. Stress and tension exacerbate speech impediments.

In the primary debates, too, he often stopped himself short and said "My time is up."

Did he pronounce the hashtag

"President Putin has an alluring combination of strength with gentleness. His sensuous image projects his love for life, the embodiment of grace while facing adversity... President Putin's obvious reverence for women, children and animals, and his ability with sports is intoxicating to American women."

https://web.archive.org/web/20190404043945/https:/medium.com/@shewrites94/why-a-liberal-democrat-supports-vladimir-putin-f54ca2a3a405

Well, I had planned to spend a good chunk of time reading Tara's old tweets to find ones that seemed to be written in a Russian accent.

I only made it 2 weeks back before I ran out of space for more examples.

These are the red flags I found JUST from the last 2 weeks. pic.twitter.com/75reNT709P

— 🥈🄻🄸🅉🄱🅄🅁🄶🄷🥈 (@lizburgh) April 29, 2020

Oh for fucks sake

interesting choice of words

if you have a "point" to make, why not just make it? I doubt you're going to get fewer FPs for posting someone else's insinuations

I really hope you’re posting that “tweets written in a Russian accent” thing as an example of the deranged lengths people are willing to go to in order to defend this asshole.

oh cool she tweets like an older person who didn't grow up using twitter and skips articles to save characters, thank you so much "propaganda detector"

I had seen that post on Twitter and was considering posting it yesterday and thought “why subject people to this shit, it just made me feel worse, it’s not even worth mocking.”

i don't have a point, joestork. i didn't know much about her besides that she'd worked for biden. that putin essay is interesting

oh boy

https://i.imgur.com/MoxobEd.png

the national conversation continues

Tara Reade tells us that at the time, in 1993, she complained to the Senate personnel office that Biden had "made her feel uncomfortable," but she says she did not mention an assault and she has no record of the complaint. Biden calling for any records to be released.

— Mary Bruce (@marykbruce) May 1, 2020

written in a Russian accent

I won't believe this until I see her tweeting "Kill moose and squirrel."

apparantly Tara Reade wrote that *checks Twitter* that in old country, television watch you

if Biden did pick Romney as his running mate it might actually push him to the left!

I’m introducing #PatriotPay because our essential workers—those putting themselves in greater risk on the frontlines of #COVID19—deserve our unwavering support. For more information on my plan to help ensure essential workers receive greater compensation→ https://t.co/NCznX3VgVc

— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) May 1, 2020

good ol' Liquid Swords is going to DEMOLISH Trump on the videoconference debate screen

https://twitter.com/robdelaney/status/1256229626369753089

(hold up, just seeing if this one embeds)

Biden gives you so many moments where you’re like... What does that sentence mean? Did he answer the question? pic.twitter.com/JiDUlxQSve

— Simon Narode (@SimonNarode) May 1, 2020

Not answering the question is practiced by 99.44% of politicians, just as asking softball, pointless, leading, or loaded questions is practiced by 99.44% of television journalists.

Old privileged dude solidarity:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/01/trump-tells-biden-to-fight-tara-reade-sexual-assault-allegation.html

and that makes me love em all a bunch xp

most of them are better at not answering the question that Biden is right now. Biden was better at it by miles 8 years ago.

.@pareene is absolutely right: there is nothing forcing the Democratic Party or its supporters to nominate Biden. They have an easy way out. If they don’t take it, draw your own conclusions. https://t.co/JyTUE8SFfx

— Marshall Market Forces Steinbaum 🔥🍉 (@Econ_Marshall) May 1, 2020

"easy"

not the Pelosi definition, which is nothing

I wish these allegations had blown up before the nominee was de facto decided instead of after. This blows.

Then again, we kind of went through this recently.

I mean given the plethora of Handsy Joe stories that have been out there for years, it's not hard to believe that some thirsty operative was going to spring this on us.

I'm also waiting to find out who put Reade up to this, just to complete the predictable narrative

"There's nothing forcing the Democratic Party" except the requirement to follow its own rules regarding the distribution of delegates and the obligations placed on delegates voting on the first or subsequent ballots at the convention. Biden doesn't have the required number of delegates for a first ballot win yet, but if voters continue to vote for him in future primaries, then the Democratic party convention should and will nominate him. That part of the process is above board and consists of following the expressed will of millions of voters.

I don't see how it is "easy" to stop that, if Biden chooses to stay in and enough voters believe he is either innocent or that his guilt is not sufficient cause to change their votes.

As for Biden staying in, this is a man who has run for president over and over again, despite every evidence that voters had no desire to make him president. Now, after decades of being barely an also-ran, he is very close to wrapping up the nomination that he has been so desperate to attain. Close enough to breathe in the aroma of its hair, so to speak. It would take massive pressure from leadership to persuade him to let go at this point. Easy way out? Not seeing it.