I now think Biden was our best candidate.

[thesquanderer]

Last edited Thu Nov 5, 2020, 10:23 AM - Edit history (1)

Biden was not my first choice. But I look at how close this race has been, and how hard it was for Biden even in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania (the low hanging fruit that was right up Joe's working class alley), and I think it probably would have been even harder for anyone else. While I still think other candidates like Warren or Buttigieg could have had stronger debates, in the end, I think they may well have had an even tougher time winning these states or the presidency. However this race turns out, I think we really did give it our best shot with Biden.

[WheelWalker]

1. I couldn't agree with you more, comrade.

[exboyfil]

2. That was the case all along

We needed a Biden about 10-15 years younger to be the perfect candidate. I think now the candidate had to be a man and white. I supported Klobuchar since the day after the 2016 election, but I am a realist and think she wouldn't have been able to win the general election.

Given the amount of time in public service that Biden has had, it is truly remarkable how decent and clean his record is. He was a loyal and supportive Vice President, and decided to not split the vote in the 2016 primary election and allow a candidate who would have gotten destroyed in the general election to be nominated.

[PatSeg]

30. Good point

about Biden's "decent and clean record" in spite of the many years in office. This was made apparent when Trump had to make stuff up when he tried to attack him, and due to Biden's long record, most of the attacks just didn't stick.

I agree that a younger Biden might have been the perfect candidate, but then again, age has given us a softer, quieter Joe, which comes across as mature, comforting leadership. Sometimes, I miss the more animated Joe Biden, but this version is more calming and presidential.

[thesquanderer]

35. Yes, they really tried to pin "corruption" on him, and couldn't find a way to back it up. n/t

[PatSeg]

36. Yeah

If you're going to go after your opponent, it is best to come up with something that is possibly believable, even if it isn't true. "Corruption" was probably the worst possible choice, but being Trump IS corrupt, he assumes everyone else is as well.

[kenziemom06]

3. Completely agree

I worked on my local Election Board on Election Day in Delaware County, PA. We had about half of our voters come in person on Tuesday, mostly registered Republicans. Every other race, the R candidate won by 20 - 30 votes. Biden won by 5 (of the in-person, way more mail-ins to be counted) -- meaning Republicans in my corner of the county broke for Biden. Because they've known him since the Amtrak days, and genuinely like him.

[Claustrum]

4. I have an opposite view to you, even down to the first choice.

I thought Biden was the best comparison to Trump since 2016. I thought the country would want normalcy, experience, and compassion. Sadly, the result told us we are deeply divided. While there is more of us that wants what Biden is offering, there is clearly another half that doesn't. Don't get me wrong here that I think Biden is going to win and he has done the work he needed to do.

A part of me now wonders if Bernie's populism would have fared better against Trump, mainly cutting into his base. Reducing his numbers might have bought us more states. We will never know though so it will forever be a guess. I personally disagree with Bernie but the results and read on the nation leads me to rethink that.

I remember one of MSNBC's interview with Cuban Americans in FL. One guy who is supporting Trump said Biden and Harris are leading into socialism. But somehow, when the host asked him if there is any democrats that could make him switch his vote, he said Bernie. Of course we need to be skeptical to his answer as he might never consider a democrat ever. I just found this exchange very curious.

[still_one]

6. Most of what happened in 2016 can be directly laid at the feet of Comey's interference 11 days

before the election, and the media pushing the LIE that the email investigation had been reopened, and parading every right wing pundits across your television screens propagating that lie

[Claustrum]

11. I wasn't referring to 2016 for Hillary. I was referring to after Trump is office.

From that point on, I thought Biden was the best choice. I wasn't talking how or why Trump got into office.

[still_one]

27. You mentioned 2016, and also brought in Bernie, and it was unclear to me if the

context was 2016 or 2020, that is why I brought it up, but
you have just clarified it for me

Thanks

[a kennedy]

21. And I will NEVER forget or forgive Comey's actions.

[Claustrum]

25. I agree...... I still squarely think Comey was the main reason Hillary lost.

And she definitely shouldn't have.

[thesquanderer]

12. I saw that in 2016. I knew Republicans who said they would have voted for Sanders,

or at least considered him. They didn't feel good about Trump, but they hated Hillary.

Still, if they didn't go for Biden this time, I suspect that, when push came to shove, they wouldn't have gone for Sanders, either.

I get that Sanders does have some of the same appeal Trump has... coming off as authentic and as non-establishment. And I do think he would have had done better than Hillary in 2016. But I don't think he would have done better than Joe in 2020.

[Claustrum]

14. You are right. I think Bernie would have a higher chance in 2016 when those populism type

were considering both sides. In 2020, they were already in Trump camp and it would harder to convince them to switch side. It's just a strange and curious observation I noticed.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. With all respect to Senator Sanders himself...

...had he been the nominee the message the Trump campaign sold on a small group of Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade that helped them tip the balance in Florida would have been played out nationwide, and there would be enough gullible undecided suckers to buy it.

Biden was the right choice.

[Claustrum]

20. That's why I talked about the Cuban American interview MSNBC did.

He was complaining about how Biden and Harris will lead to socialism. And then, the host asked which democrats could he vote for, he said Bernie. I was shocked and that exchange stuck in my mind. How in the world would they think Biden/Harris is closer to socialism than Bernie is beyond me. Your argument that Bernie would be destroyed by socialism was exactly what I thought since 2016. But that exchanged left some doubt in my mind.

But anyways, Biden did his job. I am happy as long as he wins. My observation/opinions come from the result and how much stronger Trump's numbers are. It has nothing to do with Biden, at least for me.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

26. Anecdotal evidence though.

That’s an interesting take from one Cuban American but I hardly doubt the group as a whole would have embraced Sanders.

And there would be enough of a sell to people beyond that group that they would have been scared off from voting for him.

[Claustrum]

29. Right. I would like to see how the independent and crossover republican numbers first.

That's the main appeal of Biden for attracting independent and crossover. If the number is similar to Hillary, then I think my opinion might have more hold. If Biden gets those independent and crossover, our strategy clearly worked.

[Todd79]

31. Bernie is somewhat of an enigma still and would've been slaughtered

I like and respect Bernie, but no chance.

Anyone politically aware knows where Bernie stands. The fact is that Trump would’ve wiped the floor with him. Biden beat him by 40 points in Florida. In fact in 2 primaries, Bernie has never won a southern state- where the democrat vote has a much higher percentage of black voters compared to the rest of the country.

Bernie has never been put under the microscope the way a nominee has and 99% of them haven’t seen the clips of Bernie praising Castro, the Sandistas, and he has always had difficulty connecting with the majority black Americans because he has always lumped the struggles of African American with other large groups of minority voters.

As we’ve seen in Florida, minorities are not a monolithic “people of color.” Bernie is great about civil rights, but he has a horrible track record of lumping the struggle of black Americans, Cuban Americans, and all people of Latin descent, the LBGTQ community into one category.

In the real world, that’s just not feasible and rubs many of those people in the wrong way. Bernie is a supporter of BLM, but he doesn’t understand the fundamental differences of why people who support justice the protests for Black American deaths with some white lady doing yoga naked or why the coverage of a bunch of white teachers protecting black protesters is in some ways offensive. He doesn’t get that those things are a distraction from the reason people are protesting.

I think it was wrong, but there was some truth in the scene in Malcolm X when he responded to the white girl asking how she could help him with “nothing.” He was wrong in the fact that we can’t work together to help overcome the struggles, but he probably understood that she would become a sideshow that would detract from the message of black oppression.

Minorities deserve equal protection, but their suffering is will not be cured by a universal wave of the hand. Each minority requires different solutions to improve their life and view of America. You can’t solve the problems of poor white people, the gay community, and Black Americans universally. Each requires a different solution and Bernie has never understood that which is why he has never been likely to win unless the other candidates split the votes and he won with 35% of support.

[femmedem]

5. I agree.

He wasn't my first choice in terms of debate skills or policies I'd like to see enacted, but I did vote for him in the primary because I thought he had the best shot of winning those exact states while having a strong relationship with Black voters.

And I think that his policies are actually more progressive than I had given him credit for--but somehow, coming from him, those policies are less likely to alienate more conservative voters.

[Skraxx]

7. Yup, Everyone Else Would Have Lost, IMO

[still_one]

8. I agree, and always thought that

[Blasphemer]

9. Completely agree. nt

[SKKY]

10. Well, I was a Kamala fan from the beginning, and when she dropped that shifted...

...to Mayor Pete. But I tend to agree. Biden perhaps isn't the candidate I wanted, but certainly the one we needed. And given how the So. Florida Cuban vote shifted to Trump, it's probably a good thing it wasn't someone like Bernie or Warren who both have obvious socialist tendencies. That might have been a disaster.

[shrike3]

16. Yes. Socialism was on the minds of a LOT of people this time.

I saw it on my social media. The Trump campaign succeeded in painting Joe and Kamala as flaming socialists in the minds of many people this time.

[thesquanderer]

24. Yes.Republicans ALWAYS play the socialist card, but social media made it more effective this time nt

[Cosmocat]

13. He was about fourth on my personal list, but have thought similar all along

I always stuck up for him from the beginning because I felt he would have a LOT of appeal in this election.

[shrike3]

15. The fact that Trump got impeached over trying to knock him out of the running

should tell us something. They knew from the beginning they'd have a hard time beating him.

As much as I do like Bernie (I supported Elizabeth Warren in the primaries), I am very glad he was not our candidate. Many, many people were convinced by the Trump campaign that Joe is out to turn our country into a socialist hellhole. That's why Trump won so many new voters, I think. Imagine what would have happened had Bernie been the nominee.

[Sunsky]

18. I agree nt

[Boogiemack]

19. I never had a doubt. I trust Obama's judgement. HRC should have won also, she was the best

candidate at that time. I trust Obama's judgement and Clyburn's experience and wisdom.

[thesquanderer]

28. I think Obama would have equally supported whoever our nominee was.

His "judgment" to support Biden did not happen until after Biden had the nomination in the bag.

[scrabblequeen40]

22. +100. Joe is the leader the U.S. needs right now.

It's about timing. This time is Joe's time.

[anamnua]

23. Nobody else could have won. NT.

[Gothmog]

32. I was a day one contributor to Joe and got to meet him at some fundraisers

I love Joe and think that he was the best candidate. trump really wanted to run against sanders or Warren

[LeftInTX]

33. Been a Biden supporter since he got into the race

He was the only candidate I saw in person this cycle. I really wanted him to run in 2016.

(Except Julian Castro, but he's local, so it doesn't really count)

[Wanderlust988]

34. I don't think any other candidate could've withstood the Trump machine

If Biden wins, it'll be an amazing victory considering all the hell he had to go through with the disinformation out the online, etc.

Biden basically gave us our best shot at winning the rust belt. Joe related to the white working class in the midwest and it's paid off. I really don't see any other candidate getting to 270 easier than Joe will have done.