Joe Biden Launching Fundraising PAC Amid 2020 Speculation

[Stuart G]

Source: Talking Points Memo:

June 1, 2017 11:54 am

WASHINGTON (AP) Former Vice President Joe Biden is launching a political action committee amid speculation that he may run for president in 2020.

Biden plans to announce Thursday that hes forming the American Possibilities PAC. The committee will allow him to raise money for candidates and maintain relationships with longtime donors.

In an email to supporters and a Medium post, Biden plans to say that the negativity, the pettiness, the small-mindedness of our politics drives me crazy. Biden isnt mentioning President Donald Trump by name but says that kind of politics is not who we are.

The 74-year-old Biden has said he probably wont run for president in 2020 but hasnt totally ruled it out. He strongly considered running in 2016.


Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/joe-biden-fundraising-pac amid 2020 speculation

[Txbluedog]

1. Just what we need

I guess we don't have a candidate in their 90's available to run in 2020?

[Stuart G]

2. Perhaps Joe will use this a forum to attack Trump.

2020 is very far away...

[LanternWaste]

3. I used to pretend age alone limit's a person's ability to think critically as well...

I used to pretend age alone limit's a person's ability to function effectively and think critically as well... but soon after, I graduated middle school and re-evaluated that particular bias I'd been carrying around for no other reason than it sounded good on a bumper-sticker.

I'm quite certain though, that you yourself have valid, objective, non-arbitrary reasons supported by actual evidence to dismiss someone... even if it fits on a bumper-sticker with room to spare.

[Seedersandleechers]

5. Right on

[Stuart G]

6. Dismissing Biden is a mistake..for any reason..

His voice against Trump and his crowd could make a difference..the sooner the better.

[Txbluedog]

15. Yes age has something to do with it

Being POTUS is not an easy job----someone in their LATE seventies would find it almost impossible to do no matter how great their mental faculties were.

Also, a bigger problem with this is it prevents fresh faces from emerging. Our entire leadership is currently made up of people past retirement age. If people don't know how to step aside at a certain age, then in a few years we won't have any national candidates left

[angrychair]

16. I do

Past practice and history of successful presidents.

First let me clearly state that I like Joe a lot but he would better serve as the mentor, the guide and the recruiter.

Let's look at presidents in the last 60 or so years by age and success and approval when they left office.
Our two most successful presidents, regardless of Party, would arguably be Obama, who just finished two terms at 55 and Bill Clinton, also a two term president who has been out of office for 17 years and is just now turning 70.

Must unsuccessful? Reagan spent us into oblivion and had one of the most scandalous administrations in US history and was widely believed to have had onset of alzheimer's disease before he left office.

Bush Sr was 68 when he left office and was a less than successful president.

Trump, likely to go down as the most shameful era in US history is 70.

More broadly speaking:
All of the Founding Fathers who were presidents, all reasonable successful as presidents, were 65 or younger when they left office.

Franklin Roosevelt, a very successful president, served 12 years as president, was 63 when he left office.

Kennedy was 43 in his first term.

Lincoln was 56 two years into his second term.

Let me stress it is not age specifically

It has more to do with the fact that the younger you are the more open minded you are to new or alternative ideas. The more likely you are to manage the mental stress and physical drain of being president.
History doesn't lie: the younger the president, the more likely they are to be successful, regardless of the era.
Yes, there has been unsuccessful presidents on the younger end but the older they are when taking office, the less likely they are to be successful.

[phleshdef]

22. Joe seems to be a healthy guy. Definitely healthier than Trump.

If Trump survives one term, I'd LOVE to see Joe Biden as our candidate. Joe's personality and debate style against Donald Trump would be epic. Joe is everything Trump pretends to be to the people he has managed to con into buying into his so called "alpha male" horse shit.

[sandensea]

4. We had better keep an eye on Jeb. The Bush crime family hasn't given up on the White House ambitions

They waited eight years until 2016 to field low-energy Jeb because that's how long their handlers told them it would take voters to forget Dubya (wrong!).

We can't underestimate Jeb - or the millions of drug money that will pour in if he runs again. If they take back the White House, they'll do ANYTHING - including another 9/11 - to hold on to it.

Trump, by comparison, will look like FDR if that happens.

[rickford66]

7. I like Joe, but he should stay retired.

I believe when Obama picked him for VP, he said he wouldn't run for Pres after Obama's term/terms. The idea being he would be too old.

[Demit]

8. Yeah, b/c his first two runs for president went so well.

[No Vested Interest]

9. Joe Biden for Elder Statesman of the Democratic Party!

I love Joe Biden.
At the same time I also believe the Democratic Party needs a fresh young face (or many fresh young faces) to field against the Republicans in 2020.

Age is not the final determiner in running for public office, but in running for President television appeal is necessary to recruit a following that will include the much needed younger voters.

I am constantly in awe of the apparent energy of California's Governor Jerry Brown, who's - what?- 78. I should eat what Jerry eats.
Compared to our current POTUS, Jerry Brown is Mr. High Energy.

[MiddleClass]

10. 2020 election brought to you by AARP

That joke out of the way,

Biden O'Malley – – >wins the election, Bernie Sanders HHS Secretary,

I'm sorry but I love the Obama Biden presidency, and I think uncle Joe and Professor Obama did a great job, "a big f@cking deal" so to speak

[WheelWalker]

11. If Joe says he's in, I'm in with Joe. For the Restoration of American Values and Leadership.

[SpankMe]

12. I loves me some Joe. But,...

We need new blood to run for public office. This is one way (besides cheating and lying) that Republicans are holding so much power at this point and why they're likely to hold on to it for much longer: there are a lot of Repub youngsters out there who'll be in office for decades. This includes the Supreme court.

Joe is definitely smart enough and nice enough for the job. But, we really need a reset with a batch of early 40's folks - and younger - to get in there and have a couple of decades of flight time left to embed some sanity deep into the foundation of our country.

[More_Cowbell]

13. If Trump can run a campaign...

Then Biden can. I take him at his word that he probably won't run. I think he can do a lot of good energizing people for our long road to a comeback after Trump.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

14. In the absense of a better alternative...

I wish Biden had run in 2016, but I think he would have a tougher go of it without Obama's inertia behind him.

However my confidence in anyone better coming along by 2020 is approaching zero.

[nikibatts]

17. This should be mostly framed as PAC to help down-ticket Dems. Not much will flow for a Biden run.

[dalton99a]

19. Agreed.

[politicat]

18. Long national/federal careers kill presidential bids, unfortunately.

The longer someone has been in office, or working at the federal level, the easier it is for oppo to find tape of a foot in mouth moment, to spin a vote or bill that was once upon a time hard left progressive, but in hindsight is now either a matter of course or even regressive, or for something old to be blown into scandal.

The bigger issue is the Dems have a shallow bench, because as a group, we tend to go for healthier vices and lifestyles and we maintain seats a looooong time. Unlike the GoOP, we can be bad about promoting from within, pushing hard for upward and district challenges and encouraging good candidates to risk the ladder climb.

But it's worth looking at the Governors and Senators who have been elected in the last few cycles. I'm by no means Hickenlooper's biggest fan, but he's socially liberal enough that I won't feel we need to camp out on the lawn to maintain and reexpand reproductive and civil rights, and he's economically/energy conservative enough to appease all but the rabid 27%. Yeah, he's tight with oil and gas (being a geologist-turned beer maker) but he's also not stupid, has realized that renewables are really good for the state economy, and for the most part, he could run on Colorado's economic stability and growth even through the crash. Plus, he's being term-limited out, so we won't be losing anything by running him, and while I think there's a good chance he has his eyes on Cory the Grinning Jackass Gardner's Senate seat, Hick is a potential 2020 Pres or Veep. I don't keep a weather eye on most of the other western states' govs and senators, but I know there are more than a few.

[milestogo]

20. Too late.

[Cha]

21. Don't Joe. Just concentrate on helping Dems

win without your negativity input about Hillary.

Anyone who's running for Dem should think twice about alienating Hillary supporters.