Joe Biden poised to hijack newscycle at time when Mueller report should be focus. https://t.co/UCgICqHzcD
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 19, 2019
Per the Washington Post, Tuesday:
Former vice president Joe Biden is planning to enter the 2020 presidential race on Thursday, nearly finalizing the crowded field of Democrats with a candidacy that will test many of the questions coursing through the party.
Biden is expected to make the announcement in a video, according to a source close to him, which will be followed by a trip Monday to a union hall in Pittsburgh.
One of the first events for the campaign will be a high-dollar fundraiser Thursday night, sponsored by a group of supporters including Comcast senior executive vice president David L. Cohen. Biden over the next week or so is expected to travel to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Biden will enter the race in an unfamiliar position, generally at the top of polls nationally and in early states, following campaigns in 1988 and 2008 that ended in failure. His challenge this time will be to wrestle control of a party that has been energized by many demographics to which Biden does not belong — liberals, millennials, women and minorities.
But it is also a party that is consumed, above all else, with trying to defeat President Trump, and Biden is planning to make the case that he is best positioned to win back key blue-collar swing voters in states that Trump carried in 2016…… [I]n a field suffused with new faces and a broad spread of experience, he is either the elder statesman or the old-school politician past his prime. His references tend to skew older, with quotations from Adlai Stevenson and decades-old war stories about the Senate. The 76-year-old has been in elected office longer than some of his rivals have been alive…
Although Obama is not planning to make an endorsement, he has talked about trying to encourage the next generation of political leadership, one pointedly younger than his vice president…
To be honest, this is one of the major reasons I think Biden can’t win. Yes, President Obama has always been (perhaps too) scrupulously removed from intraparty partisanship, but his failure to show any enthusiasm for the man who was his Number Two for eight years is going to be used as an argument against Biden, regardless.
At this point, it’s probably too late to hope that Uncle Joe will finally catch a clue and announce he’s not running after all… but his nascent campaign is careening around to the point where normal Democratic voters are going to be unpleasantly reminded of having to persuade a beloved family member that they’re not really up to driving at night any more. Much less of driving in the political equivalent of the Indy 500!
A room of consultants trying to decide between the site of a murder and the place from Rocky like they're choosing between paint palettes at Home Depot https://t.co/hfX5KPGFTy
— Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) April 19, 2019
Biden and O’Rourke are very different candidates, but man the one-month O’Rourke media journey — from New Bobby Kennedy to Apologizing Guy Who Stands on Tables — should give the Bidenverse some shivers.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) April 23, 2019
That the most recent 2-term VP of the party couldn’t prevent nearly every other major figure in it from running is quite a commentary on how the party views Biden differently from how it viewed Clinton.
— David Darmofal (@david_darmofal) April 22, 2019
Wow this 30 yr old clip of Biden saying nice things about Barr (that Glenn Greenwald pulled out to whatabout his own support for Barr's actions in the present moment) proves…..something. https://t.co/zKTWHGKnXE
— Centrism Fan Acct ?? (@Wilson__Valdez) April 22, 2019
Mary G
Joe’s got a lot of record and it won’t all look good. Obama is a classy guy, so I guess he won’t endorse anyone until the voters have spoken.
columbusqueen
No, Joe, just no, from a Dem who’s always loved you. Time to park your old white male ass on a bench & let us ladies do our thing.
Amir Khalid
@Mary G:
I’m waiting to see whom Bruce Springsteen endorses.
mrmoshpotato
@Amir Khalid: I’m detecting some snark there.
Amir Khalid
@mrmoshpotato:
Not really. ETA: Well, not entirely snarking.
sukabi
He should do his launch at Arlington Cemetary…and lay a wreath for his legacy while he’s at it.
Patricia Kayden
Why would Biden’s announcement take people’s focus off the Mueller report? Are we that dumb? Let the best man or woman win and beat Trump.
Amir Khalid
@Patricia Kayden:
Biden coming into the race would make him the shiny new object of the moment, which the media will feel compelled to focus all their attention on. It’s not you being that dumb, it’s them.
Patricia Kayden
Wow. The defiance is real.
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1120730328266620928
Arrogance.
cokane
@Patricia Kayden: yep. dont trust people who talk about “the news cycle”
Keith P.
@Patricia Kayden: And since when does the media keep its attention on something for over a week? It’s just a bunch of hand-wringing because Joe Biden for President isn’t the demographic fantasy some people want 2020 to be.
Jay
“And yet, The Tyee — for a second time — has run an experiment and proven such sniper-targeting is possible on Facebook.
Provided with evidence of this by The Tyee, Facebook did not confirm the “bug” still exists but said it is looking into it.
An open secret for five years
Since at least 2014, people on the web have posted instructions, easily Googled, explaining how to exploit Facebook’s advertising platform in order to sniper-target individuals. One such guide has been viewed over a million times. The method revealed can be used in various ways to violate privacy and wield disinformation.”
https://thetyee.ca/News/2019/04/23/Facebook-Sneaky-Sniper-Targeting/
?BillinGlendaleCA
It sounds like we’re going to have to have that talk with Uncle Joe and take the keys for the Trans Am.
OzarkHillbilly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: At some point you have to let them go and they have to face the cold realities of life all on their own.
Zinsky
I think Joe Biden is a truly nice guy but the Democratic Party needs some new blood, new energy and fresh ideas going into the mid 21st Century. Not a geriatric but nice old, white man.
Shalimar
It would be nice if Biden used his spotlight to talk about how impeachment is so imperative.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
I’m not supporting Uncle Joe but I think there’s a disconnect.
I heard this type of argument 4 years ago, that a party moving left won’t nominate someone who voted for the war, had ties to capitalism, and wasn’t a natural campaigner.
Yet Clinton won the nomination in a cake walk, even with the media attacking her every day.
I’m not saying Biden will win, rather the argument that he can’t win is misplaced.
debbie
I’d like to know who convinced him to do this. This move stinks of ulterior motives.
Another Scott
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Of course, if he gets more votes than any of the others in the primary, he’ll win. We saw that happen with Donnie.
I’ve gradually learned over the years that I don’t have great insight when it comes to reading the thoughts of my fellow voters. What seems obvious to me often doesn’t register with them. And too often I jump on a hot-take when it’s almost never prudent to do so – we have to let the future arrive.
But we can wrestle together over ideas and spend time and money on those that we think will do the better job and help create the future that we want to see.
Eye on the prize…
Cheers,
Scott.
Citizen_X
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Except that they’ve campaigned for the nomination before, and Clinton had proved herself competitive, whereas Biden has always flamed out quickly.
Starfish
@Another Scott: NPR had all these people concerned with electability yesterday. They had ALL these women who were not going to vote for a woman because a woman would not win over the men, and I was so annoyed.
StringOnAStick
@Starfish: @Starfish: Monday NPR was interviewing Midwestern farmers about the president and the collapse in soybean sales. Of course every one they talked to was over 68, white, and “willing to take some pain until the tariffs work” plus “Trumps done more than any other President” . All interviews were with classic FOX demographics, spouting FOX talking points. Oooh, big surprises there NPR, what cutting edge reporting!
Blue Galangal
@Keith P.:
THIS. Thank you. If the Mueller report falls off the news cycle, it’s because the media choose to let it do so. How many times did the NYT print front page stories about HRC’s emails? Hmm?
Wayne Marks
If Biden wants to run, he should run. He’s got years of experience. He’s affable. He won’t beat up on other Democrats, he’ll lump up the Trump. He won’t win, but he’ll be a good attack dog against the hairpiece and maybe teach the eventual nominee how to take on the abomination in the White House. The Democratic party believes in Democracy – even for old people. If he wants to contribute, with all his experience, why not? Jump in lifeguard Joe – the water’s warm.