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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI'm Changing My Mind About Joe Biden.
I am beginning to understand that the need for transformation in this country and indeed the world is so great that to expect a 46th President to accomplish this is unreasonable.
Ive been lukewarm at best about Biden, and dismissive most of the time. Hes uninspiring and has significant negatives, and doesnt seem open to sweeping efforts around the climate, health care, demilitarization and other issues. But hes a mensch, and smart and well-connected enough to put the best people in place to start to repair the damage of Donald Trump.
Remember when the incoming 38th President said, Im a Ford, not a Lincoln.? We all somehow knew he was a one-term guy, a placeholder whod be turned out for something completely different. And Jimmy Carter was it, the best man ever to occupy the office, and ahead of his time in some important ways.
Likewise, Joe Biden has indicated that he seeks one term, leaving political room for the era-defining presidency that must follow. Truths that must be told, not only about race and equality, but about economic growth and consumerism, the bloated and evil U.S. military, the false myths we still support about America - this 47th President will have the job of delivering the messages and actions that will truly raise the curtain on the 21st Century.
And Joe Biden is not that President. But he surely is the one to bring enough healing to a nation that must be prepared to once again lead the world - not by military might, or even by economic hegemony - but by truth and human kindness.
Pantagruel
(2,580 posts)JB has it covered. But so did Gore and HRC and a moronic electorate rejected them. And IF he wins, JB will be handed a mess of historic proportions.
Doodley
(9,091 posts)diane in sf
(3,913 posts)And they did enough dirty tricks to cause suspicion.
tinrobot
(10,900 posts)He also has loads of compassion, and I think that will go a long way towards healing. People generally like him and he'll be a popular president. That alone will be a breath of fresh air.
That popularity combined with his years in Washington could easily make the first two years really impactful. We won't solve everything, but we'll start moving quickly in the right direction.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)unlike Trump who uses that phrase as a mobster would.
BannonsLiver
(16,387 posts)jayfish
(10,039 posts)Ron Green
(9,822 posts)goodness and political acumen.
ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)Some people are insisting on slavish devotion. I'll take every vote i can get for whatever reason. We are teetering on the edge of losing everything.
struggle4progress
(118,285 posts)Ron Green
(9,822 posts)when I was knocking on 6,000 doors in my State Legislative district, explaining to DEMOCRATS that my ballot-mate Barack Obama was indeed born in the United States.
You?
struggle4progress
(118,285 posts)needs to occur at the grassroots level between elections. Otherwise, we all just sit back comfortably and feel self-righteous disappointment that whoever got elected isn't effective
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)its about working to make the political economy more significant in the lives of people than the media-driven political entertainment.
BComplex
(8,051 posts)He needs someone who is ready to take office immediately, and she is the most qualified woman in America to do that, next to Michelle Obama (who says she's not interested in being VP).
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)and was then challenged from the left by Ted Kennedy because Carter was too conservative on healthcare and other issues. He was a very good person, but he was one term for a reason
He had huge majorities in the House & Senate (61-38 in the Senate the first two years, and 59-40 the last two; 292-143 in the House for the first 2 years, 277-158 the second 2 years) - but didn't get a lot done domestically because of infighting within his own party. He did have some excellent foreign policy achievements, but they were overshadowed by the hostage crisis.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)the environment, but America was nowhere near ready for that, and his state executive experience just didnt work with the Congress.
The American people never want bad news, and theyre gonna have to hear a bunch of it if were to have a 21st Century.
sop
(10,185 posts)Unfortunately, my state's two rightwing senators and governor (Rubio, Scott and DeSantis) will not be on the ballot this year. For those who can vote to flip the Senate, GOTV.
Walleye
(31,024 posts)redstateblues
(10,565 posts)2024 is eons away. Best to pay attention to 2020. You make it sound like it's a done deal. We all thought that in 2016.
PatSeg
(47,449 posts)I think the poster underestimates Joe Biden. I don't believe he'll be a healing placeholder. He is far more progressive and open minded than a lot of people realize and he'll bring the "best people" with him - for real, not like Trump's best people. It could be that Joe is the right person for this time in history, kind of the anti-Trump.
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)I got to the part where Joe Biden indicated one term.
Link please. Because that is bullshit.
We who have supported Joe from day one, not soft support like you, real support will not stand for Joe to indicate one term.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)said people in his campaign had indicated this, but then of course there were denials. More obfuscation, which is one of the first things that ought to be cleared away from politics - but fat chance of that, eh?
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)Deal with it.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)for a sustainable, or even survivable, future?
What is it? What are some of its elements?
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)Obviously as someone who has seen Joe speak, shook hands with him, looked him in the eye, yes I do think he has everything we need to make a transformative gov.
As a matter of fact I think the same about some of the other candidates as well.
But the actual truth is a hamburger would transform this govt after trump. Its not a very high bar.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)Thats exactly how I felt when contemplated Joe Biden as the candidate, but now Ive come to the understanding that what seemed to be his bland example of the status quo is something I can support as a steppingstone to the unimaginable change we as humans must effect. Theres no way Joe is going to say the truths that must be told, but maybe he can make us ready for the one who will.
JI7
(89,249 posts)ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)You'd be wise to as well.
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)Bullshit again.
Joe is serving full two terms. If you think someone will primary him you are full of it.
What i will take is people who may not have wanted him coming around to him in their own way. You can drive people away by insisting on slavish allegiance if you choose.
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)I could care less about whether I am slavish or not.
And the Bait Goes On.
JI7
(89,249 posts)inn fact they are part of the problem.
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)KBlagburn
(567 posts)that he will be a one term president. Leading the way for a younger, more dynamic vice president to step in. Which is why he is vetting the best of the best women and women of color the country has to offer for the VP slot. He truly believes he can usher in a new era for this country with a great possibility of a woman president at the helm.
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)His base rejected that months ago.
This is so lame. I support Biden but is so been done. Go have lunch.
My socks need washing.
lame54
(35,290 posts)Ron Green
(9,822 posts)Its more like a journey, in which I consider my own understanding and care for my country to be more important than partisan allegiance.
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)is partisan allegiance?
Thats pathetic. Whoever you once supported now has partisan allegiance? Who exactly was your choice?
People are really baiting folks into argument.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)to do so again. I thought Pete Buttigieg was going to break out, and I sent him a couple of nice checks. As a mayor, he could get his head around community wealth building, which is a term you rarely hear from D.C.
Partisan allegiance is indeed a way to get people elected and a way to get things done, but ranked up against the reform of the political economy its not as important.
JI7
(89,249 posts)offices to show for it. he isn't getting any transformational change.
ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)But the president we need.
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)Speaking for myself
Joe Biden the president I want and need.
Who is going to crush trump and then serve a full two terms.
No president runs to be a lame duck from day one. None of them.
JI7
(89,249 posts)when it comes to their record.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)LAS14
(13,783 posts).... that he is old enough to reasonably limit himself to one term.
RelativelyJones
(898 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Whatever works.
But given Carter's failed presidency, I have to answer the comparison I don't see at all.
For others who don't know that era, first, Carter never intended to be a one-term president. Cater was a small-government conservative who managed to get elected by running a populist fake-reform candidacy as an end run around a party who knew he would be a disaster. He had to run on small contributions above all because knowledgeable people wouldn't donate.
I'm afraid my husband and I were among them. No internet in those days. But it turned into a bitter lesson in the critical importance of finding the hell out just WHO candidates really are and what they really intend to do before voting for them. Not after.
Carter's personality lead him to believe he was, and is, far more right about everything than others. It allowed him to speak with tremendous, deceptive assurance but didn't allow him to understand his limitations or to be able to value and accept information and advice from others. Certainly not liberal, progressive Democrats. As one colleague described him, he was the kind who would have to burn his own thumb before deciding fire was hot.
So, in spite of having the DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENCY, DEMOCRATIC SENATE, AND DEMOCRATIC HOUSE that should have achieved great things, President Carter instead wasted most of his administration fighting a very frustrated congress and brought a pathetic, ignominious and premature end to the New Deal era.
So to me, comparing Biden to Carter, and certainly there are big differences in ideology, personality and competence that mean I never would, is not just inaccurate but insulting. To Biden, of course, though I'm pretty sure Carter would see it that way also. Biden and Obama are both the kind Carter has always needed to summon patience to talk down to courteously, especially since they typically declined to take his advice.
Btw, I will vote for Biden expecting him to serve two full terms. Only if his health were to take a permanently bad turn, and people should not count on that, would that happen. And I expect great things from a competent head of a very competent, focused team. IF we give them the Democratic-controlled congress Carter had.
https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/
ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)Thank you. Some people still don't seem to get that.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)Im comparing the event of Fords term to the possibility that Joe Biden can reestablish a sane and functional administration. Jimmy Carter could have been a transformative President, but as you and others have pointed out he was unprepared to deal with Congress (even Democrats), and other world events conspired against him as well. I still maintain he was the best human being to serve, as evinced by his whole life. Additionally he understood, as the engineer he was, the perils of fossil fuels and global warming.
Some posting on this thread are not happy with limited support for Joe, or the idea that he could be a one-term President. While Ive made my bones as a Democrat, Im not in lock step with the DNC or even the Party itself when it comes to rearranging the political economy, which in my view must be done - and pretty soon.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)for retired presidents, which we should all be grateful to him for. Though of course all must live up to it according to their own character and beliefs. So far only Democratic presidents have followed his lead. Same for our model for working VPs, which also began under Carter with Mondale.
Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)Carter is a good man but was not a great president. I can do without `12 years of Republicans. And I don't call that sane. I would prefer he finds his inner Roosevelt which I believe may happen.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)He ran on fairly boilerplate need for and promises of change in the midst of conservative-created disaster, but nothing like what his administration ultimately achieved.
But, after all, the electorate gave Democrats control of the presidency and both houses of congress (for the next 12 years!), and with that power -- and with the great people who answered the call of their government to serve, what's attributed to FDR happened. Most of the big opposition came through the courts; there was no McConnell, so to speak, keeping his knee on the neck of congress.
I believe if we have the same power for 8 years we will achieve great things and for much the same big reasons: as then, the nation NEEDS it desperately now and is calling for it -- both necessary advances to catch up with and anticipate needs and the opportunity to use the requirement to fix what's broken to rebuild even better. And because we have the same kind of people to do it now as we had then.
Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)Sometimes a person rises to the occasion. I believe Biden can do this.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)I'm with you. President Biden will be heading a great team he's extremely well suited to putting together, and if we give them a Democratic legislative branch to partner with, they all will do it.
Mr.Bill
(24,292 posts)never taken with Trump in it.
ismnotwasm
(41,983 posts)Experienced, savvy, Knows how to work with other world leaders.
Transformational change went out the window when the nation failed to elect Hillary Clinton.
JI7
(89,249 posts)Ron Green
(9,822 posts)And I suggest that the transformative politics we need will stop white people from supporting Republicans, at least the kind of Republicans we have now.
JI7
(89,249 posts)for shit republicans ?
well, they did get change with trump i guess. they enjoy and cheer on his bigoted policies.
peggysue2
(10,828 posts)We know he's empathetic and a decent human being. He's also a man with scads of experience and relationships forged over many years both in-country and abroad. He knows what leadership requires and where the levers of power are.
Biden is a Democrat's Democrat, a life-long member of the Democratic Party and a sound liberal. From all accounts I've read, he knows this moment screams restoration and repair but deep reform as well. He will clean the stable and employ the best minds and political practitioners in the business because he listens to allies and critics alike. We give Biden the House and Senate, I believe he'll rise to the occasion, clean the slate of all things Trump and Trumpism and get on with the work the country desperately needs in employment, social justice, climate change, gun control etc., not to mention restore our western alliances. It will be a huge task, something he and his VP will likely share along with his cabinet.
Joe Biden has tagged himself as a transitional president, a man who can provide stability while mentoring and grooming the next generation of Democratic leadership. But in the end, we may think of Joe Biden as an unlikely hero, a man who could have retired peacefully, comfortably after many years of public service but instead stood up, stepped forward to save the country in its moment of greatest peril.
I wouldn't count out great things coming from a Biden Administration. The commitment, dedication and heart are in place. As voters we all have a choice: A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for the future of America based on common decency, fairness and how we ultimately define ourselves--as a bunch of thugs and grifters, a nascent mafia state. Or as a civilized society striving to be better despite the many stumbles.
We can do this, rise to this particular moment in time. And IMHO, so can Joe Biden.
Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)compliments at best. And I would think that any Democrat after seeing the fucking mess we are in because of Trump would have been a bit more enthusiastic.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)to talk about. I will note that, despite Trumps destruction, the mess were in has not only been a long time coming but consistently lied about as well.
And my enthusiasm is something I dont create thoughtlessly. Im an old man and Ive seen a lot, and I care very much about these things.
JI7
(89,249 posts)posts.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)🙂
Brainfodder
(6,423 posts)Ron Green
(9,822 posts)Looking for a 3rd party, a Democratic coup, some miracle. The key word here is WAS. As my post indicates, I now support Joe Biden. The purity test administered in this thread is disappointing, in that DU is not the forum for tough and probing discussion that it was when I joined 16 years ago.
Brainfodder
(6,423 posts)You've gotta be some special level of stupid, bought, and/or brainwashed to be with Death Count Donnie now.
Ron Green
(9,822 posts)bumper stickers I see every day. Itll be interesting, after the past few days events, to see if these diminish.
cp
(6,628 posts)Most everyone I know feels like this. Appreciate your post (and the heat you're taking). We will all do our utmost to make Joe Biden our 46th president, and keep doing the work to get better leadership, from local to national.
FakeNoose
(32,639 posts)We want all the voters - every single one - who doesn't "love" Chump. And believe me there are a lot of them out there. Not just the people who are registered Democrats - yes of course we need them. But we need the fence-sitters, the never-minders, the undecideds, the maybe-maybe-nots, ALL OF THEM. Also we want the Republicans who have finally figured out that Chump is the worst president ever in the the history of our country.
Joe is the guy these people can get behind. That's what we need right now.
Music Man
(1,184 posts)But he is experienced, calm, and compassionate. That is what we need right now.
It can be surprising, though, who winds up being a transformative figure. LBJ was an older, rough-around-the-edges guy, who passed the Great Society, civil rights legislation, thumped Goldwater, etc.
Pope Francis took over the Papacy in his mid-70s or so, and has (to varying degrees) been a reformer of sorts and changed the rhetoric and perception of the Catholic Church.
There are others, as well. Folks who inadvertently changed the course of history. We shall see
Dem4Life1102
(3,974 posts)They want someone who will be reassuring. That candidate is Joe Biden.
WinstonSmith4740
(3,056 posts)I know a lot of Bernie's supporters (I'm assuming?), along with the folks that supported another candidate in one of the strongest Democratic fields I've seen in a LONG time, were very disappointed when their person didn't get the nod. And no, we won't see the sweeping changes that are needed, but the changes will come. I read somewhere years ago that it takes politicians around 50 years to catch up with the population's thinking. Look at the marijuana issue...NORML was founded in 1970. Do the math. Now governors are tripping over themselves to get hold of that tax money. BUT, I do think most of the people in this country who honestly thought "Let's give it a shot" have been horrified at what happened with Trump, and know he has to go. But because of the problems he causes, this will not be the time for "on the job" training.
Nobody's perfect, and neither is Biden. But personally, I think if we expect Republicans to put "country over party", there's an awful lot of people on our side of the aisle that need to learn that lesson, too. Although with them, it's less country over party as it is "country over my personal feelings".
And I share your belief that Biden will call it at one term. I'm sure he'll make a good VP pick, but I am keeping my fingers crossed for a "next generation" choice. Mentor that person for 4 years, give them more than the normal vice-presidential duties of attending state funerals, and get them ready to hit the ground running in 2024. I'd love to see Kamala on the ticket, and he's pretty locked in on having a woman there, but we have such an embarrassment of wealth in that field, he could throw darts at a board and come up with someone who's already more qualified than Trump.
yortsed snacilbuper
(7,939 posts)Anybody still lukewarm needs to watch this 2016 speech, Joe is going to be a great President.
Vice President Joe Biden delivered remarks at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
link to speech
https://www.c-span.org/video/?417445-1/vice-president-biden-campaigns-hillary-clinton-pittsburgh