If VP Joe Biden is giving anyone heartburn because he is ahead of their

[Peacetrain]

preferred candidate... The problem is not Joe Biden who has attacked no one.. and refuses to say anything against his opponents... The problem is that their preferred candidate has not made headway because?? (that is the question each candidate has to figure out.. how they are going to appeal to the voter) its as simple as that.. The person who connects the most with the voters will be the one who takes the golden ticket..

[ananda]

1. I like Biden fine. I also like Warren and Buttigeig who are surging.

Any of them will work for me!

[Peacetrain]

2. Me too!!

[safeinOhio]

17. Me also...

I like a couple better because of policies. But, I can't see much difference between his and Obama's.
I'd be happy with him as President over the Publican I will leave unnamed.

[Hortensis]

3. Yes to their struggles for sure. Coverage of Trump is

sucking a lot of oxygen during the primary season, far more than even the typical advantaged incumbent president would, and that that coverage is bad just focuses more attention that way.

Itm, while lack of competition on the right is forcing the media to mine the left for interest,...24 Democratic candidates?! Everyone knows the vast majority are no-goes, so why bother paying attention until they're gone? Huge problem for very impressive people who find themselves, perhaps for the first time in their lives, lost in a crowd. ( We don't count. Cable groupies are about as representative as Green Party "maybe I'll" voters.)

The other big reasons, of course, are that Biden is generally very well known and liked among Democrats both for himself and as a legacy of the tremendously missed President Obama. Head and shoulders in that respect. And that the Democratic electorate is overwhelmingly choosing for electability this time; right now he's seen as the one.

Frankly, I don't see any way they can compete directly at this time on either of those particular fronts, only join inimical RW forces in tearing him down to reduce both advantages, and that could have grave consequences. Those candidates who've badmouthed Biden so far have not benefited from it.

[The Mouth]

33. Trump 'gets' one thing

"There is no such thing as bad publicity"

It worked for him in 2016, brilliantly.

News organizations cover what is interesting. Trainwrecks are interesting. Smut and affairs are interesting.

'Sucking all the oxygen out of the room' says it perfectly.


Americans (and citizens of other countries) can be fascinated by shameless hucksters. If they assume that *all* politicians are dishonest thieves, out for themselves, then they will go for the most entertaining one. And one thing Trump can do in spades is entertain, just like everyone stops for a gory car wreck to rubberneck...

[marylandblue]

4. I'm fine with that, Biden has the name recognition to start.

The others all have their own strategies in place, that will either work or not.

Biden is a target because he is in the lead. Before Biden was in the race, Sanders was the target. When Buttigieg made a sudden surge, he became the target. Whoever is doing best will have to take hits.

I'd rather the hits come now to see how they respond, because it will be 10X worse in the general, and I don't someone there who can't handle it.

[Demsrule86]

6. No it won't Hillary never recovered and we lost the general. Let's not repeat history.

I will vote for no candidate who attacks other Democrats in this primary or any future primary...this election is too important.

[marylandblue]

10. We had few choices in 2016, and Hillary was dealing with 30 years of attacks,

and she was not prepared for the even bigger onslaught coming at her in the general. Now we have many choices and they are all forewarned that the primaries will be a free for all and the general will be brutal.

If they aren't able to successfully defend against all manner of attacks, whether fair or foul, then they have no business going up against Trump.

I don't care what the candidates do. A Democrat can do no wrong in my book. I only care about how they will deal with Trump. They can have a gunfight on Fifth Avenue and my only concern will be "who has the best aim?"

[Demsrule86]

43. Candidates that come out of divisive primaries with much demonization generally lose.

[Hortensis]

8. Hits can reveal fatal weaknesses and take out leaders

while there's still time to move a replacement up, painful but necessary. But as we saw through the 2015-16 primary season, a million hits during the primary season can seriously weaken strong support for an outstanding candidate. Especially when they come from all directions, as they will again.

Have to hope that more of those who can be fooled some of the time have moved on to the can't
be fooled all the time camp. The midterms showed that happening, but the GE is of course very different.

[marylandblue]

12. Most of the hits on Hillary in the 2016 campaign came from the media and sneak attacks.

Nothing you can do about that. The attacks from the candidates on each other seem very mild and are focused on policies and themes, as is a appropriate.

[Hortensis]

16. Hits from the other campaign were deadly and augmented

many times over by both our RW swiftboaters and Russia. And many who believed them bring an implacable distrust encouraged in them of the Democratic Party to this election.

But that aside, agree with you that normal hits from normal candidates on the podium one-on-one aren't that bad, though not always impersonal of course.

[BannonsLiver]

25. Trump is counting on it

The article in the NYT analyzing his polling data said that Donnie believes the far left will do so much damage to Biden by the end of the primary he will be unelectable.

The Hillaryizing of Biden is already underway. We see it here and on social media.

[Hortensis]

28. "The Hillaryizing of Biden is already underway."

Yes. Just look at this forum alone. At least we're talking about it. Virtually every screen in the nation is being bombarded, with lone targets receiving the messages at most of them.

Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, all hostile states that have learned that we can be taken down and are using the Republicans, and of course "those who can be fooled all the time," to do it.

[BannonsLiver]

31. This is our laziness and poor public education system coming home to roost

Hard to think of a more gullible, easy to mold populace than what we have in the United States. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel to Russia etc. Critical thinking skills are almost non existent. Unfortunately that dynamic isn’t limited to the right, either. Many are afflicted.

[Hortensis]

35. OUR laziness and disrespect for knowledge. I no longer

believe it's mostly our education systems, Bannons, or even much or at all education's fault in most of the nation. But for the rest agree entirely.

We're actually thinking mostly of those Lincoln described as the "some of the people" who can be fooled all the time. Turned out he wasn't speaking of people who were uneducated, intellectually disabled, or living beyond the reach of information as I once assumed. They are above all those who can be "fooled" because they insist on it. And of course the even larger numbers of us who can be fooled some of the time.

And now identifying, targeting, and "fooling" people for political purposes has become highly sophisticated. We didn't realize the internet would result in millions becoming progressively less knowledgeable rather than more.

So agree education's still key, but we need to rethink how to educate, and what to educate in terms of developing citizens, understanding the effects of personality and culture and that significant percentages will start purging or deliberately misinterpreting most information they don't want to believe once they leave school.

Big job undoing what the right's up to, but we know a lot now that we didn't even a couple generations ago and developing this grave problem is inevitably the first step to taking action.

[NYMinute]

5. One candidate has honed his skills

of attacking the Democratic front-runner with lies, smears and Russian help.

It's David Sirota at it again.

I haven't seen much in negative attacks by the "forever Democratic" camps.

[Funtatlaguy]

7. What stuns me is how many big names are struggling.

You look at Beto, Amy, Booker, Gillibrand, etc. that just can’t gain traction.
I didn’t think that a 24 name field would have winnowed to about 5-6 this early on.

[marylandblue]

13. It's not really winnowed yet. A lot of people are waiting for the debates.

Then comes Iowa. Losing candidates gain sudden momentum if they do better than expected in Iowa, while leaders falter if they do worse than expected.

[mopinko]

9. i love having joe as the tip of the spear.

he is out there showing people everything that is wrong w the gop.
his handling of that protester was pitch perfect.
he just has to stand out there and be a good guy, and twitler looks so bad next to him.

we have such a great battle of ideas going on, and i am excited about it. i think in the end, we will pick the person w the best plans, and the best plan of attack.

i dont think joe is gonna win it, but i will work my heart out for whoever our candidate is, and will have no trouble marching w joe.

he is doing what he thinks the country needs as much as what joe needs.
i think we are all frantic to get through this process, and take on the orange menace. in the meantime, joe is out there softening the asshole up for the general.

i, for one, am super grateful to have him in the race.

[mac56]

15. THIS

[MGKrebs]

21. I agree.

I would have thought the mood of Democrats would not skew towards an older white male at this time, but hey, whatever floats the boat, I'm in.

[emmaverybo]

37. The problem is in misreading not so much the mood of the Democrats, but the fact that they,

unlike their opponents, Republicans, vary politically from far left to left center to centrist to right center. This has not changed because the more progressive wing has grown in strength and numbers while becoming excellent activists for its positions.
Too, Latinos and Blacks lumped together as People of Color are not a political alliance and do not vote as a monolith. The majority of Black Americans are not progressive on LGBT rights, for instance, do not vote color first over individual merit, and do not sit in the progressive camp on this rather new, within presidential candidate history, demand for detailed policy plans as an entry fee to primaries. Their social leanings have been shown to be more right of the Black caucus in Washington.
Latinos are a split vote from liberal to very conservative. In fact, many do not want the label Latino or, of course, Hispanic, and would prefer to be identified as Americans with specific national and cultural identities, and as bi-lingual Spanish speaking communities.
As to Asian Americans, and the rich diversity of background in heritage, culture, identification of themselves, progressive lexicon or speak leaves them out.
Women Democrats, though more united than ever around abortion issues, wage gap, workplace equality, and participating in a visible and vocal campaign to hold powerful men who are sexual
abusers and rapists to account, still are not a voting bloc, and do not vote as a majority for gender over qualifications. And which women do we consider—
It’s a big Democratic tent out there, outside the small world of DU, Huffington Post, Raw Story, Politico. The “us” I see referred to on these boards only refers to DUers, in themselves political-spectrum diverse, but less so than Dem voters at large.
White male Biden cuts across many political constituencies in appeal. That’s the secret recipe. He might not hold up over the course—but his frontrunner status should tell Dems something about their voters’ wider range in political preference and the vast parts of this country
Dems occupy, where the conversation and how it is framed may not be about “our” issues or hold up to our understanding of how our own sisters and brothers tend to vote. They may not all be as obsessed as we are about color and gender, but want an electable and unifying candidate who can represent a number of intersecting issues, for instance reproductive rights and police abuse, the need for criminal justice reform, while addressing the broad and consequential concerns Dems of many demographics share, foreign policy, presidential abuse of power, climate change, gun control,
voter’s rights, education, the economy...

[peggysue2]

26. Exactly!

Whatever happens and whoever our nominee is, Joe Biden has and continues to soften the target, make Trump worry and rant. He's approaching this as a dedicated Democrat, calling out Trump, exposing him for what he is and always has been: unfit for office. Whatever anyone thinks of Biden, he is an experienced and dedicated politician. His strategy to take it directly to The Donald is unlike any of our other candidates. Whether it works or not for nomination purposes remains to be seen. However, he's obviously getting under Trump's skin and in his head.

And that's a good thing! For everyone.

[emmaverybo]

38. That is a good thing! Thanks for reminding us. The president is an existential threat, as Biden says

[hlthe2b]

11. I wish we had the luxury of being able to have such squabbles. Nothing is more important than

soundly defeating and removing Trump. I will get behind WHOEVER can do that. I sincerely hope that everyone can and WILL.

Nothing is clear until at least Super Tuesday, IMO. Polls "be" damned. Having a frontrunner, no matter WHO it is is a GOOD thing and probably even better that it is a very experienced one such as Biden who can absorb and more often rebound the incoming assaults. By doing so, Democratic policies, messages, and philosophies might have SOME chance of breaking through.

[CanonRay]

14. I like Joe, and if he wins it so be it.

I'll back him 100%. We just need the process to be clean this time around.

[Ferrets are Cool]

18. I politely disagree vehemently

He is ahead because of name recognition and because he is a white, straight male. Just my opinion, as is yours.

[Ligyron]

22. True.

Given a decent reason to do so, I can see more RW leaning Independents swinging over and voting for Joe than any other candidate on our side.

[patphil]

19. I'm good with Joe Biden, or just about any of the Democrats who have declared

Except de Blasio.
I live north and west of NYC, and can say that he is just not well liked, even in his home town.
I don't think he could carry New York State vs Trump.
I can't, for the life of me, figure out why he declared his candidacy.

Patrick Phillips

[left-of-center2012]

20. So far none of the mud thrown at Joe has stuck

“When you throw mud at someone else, you not only get your hands dirty, but you lose ground.”
- Ravi Zacharias

[defacto7]

23. From your own wording I detect just a hint of an attack.

Comfort zone voting isn't necessarily good either. It tends toward complacency. I'd rather see healthy criticism than shepherding, thinkers not sheep.

[BannonsLiver]

36. Healthy criticism in this countrywent our the window 40 years ago.

[Politicub]

24. Biden's lead if fine by me. He is already a known quantity nationally, and

that works strongly in his favor.

I think the more people who are exposed to candidate Biden as opposed to VP Biden, his numbers will increase. He has a way with getting people to think about the American dream.

[BigOleDummy]

27. I like Mr. Biden ...

and will most definitely support him if he wins the nomination … but to be entirely honest I am just tired to death of candidates who look like me. Yes, I'm an old white male and dammit its time we heard from another perspective imo.

[DrToast]

30. Last old white male to win the Democratic nomination was John Kerry.

That was over 15 years ago.

[BigOleDummy]

39. Sorta..

Being 60 years old is not extremely old anymore. I liked Mr. Kerry quite a bit (and still do tbh) and was appalled and outraged by that damn "swift-boat" garbage that he was saddled with. An early example of the outright lies and political dirty tricks the
GangOfPutins were perfecting.

[DrToast]

29. Not really. He's well ahead of my preferred candiate

But I'd be perfectly fine if he won.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

32. That Joe refuses to attack other Democrats because.....

He sees them as assets to the country and possibly an Administration should ne be the Nominee and win in 2020.

The field bring talents he would seek, like Kamala as his VP or Attorney General. Mayor Pete as Sec. Of Defense, Julian Castro as Sec. Of HHS, Elizabeth Warren as Treasury Sec. etc.

The Democrats have such a deep bench. I could see Eric Swawell as Solicitor General or White House Counsel.

[secondwind]

34. Anybody but Trump!!! GO DEMS!!!!!

[Scurrilous]

40. ...

[Cha]

41. I'm glad Biden is not attacking

anyone even when asked to respond to the other candidates "attacks".

Says he "understands".. and "See ya around..".

“Specifically responding to things that you’ve said, Bernie Sanders saying you can’t go back to the past, Elizabeth Warren saying…” Saenz continued.

“Who’s going back to the past?” Biden interrupted.

"Look, I understand. I don’t blame them,” Biden continued. “They’ve got to, you know, they’re good folks but, you know, as I said, see you around.”

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=139584

This attack seem to be the most disingenuous..

Link to tweet

“One of my competitors criticized me for not going to Iowa to talk for 5 minutes," he said. "My granddaughter was graduating. It was my daughter’s birthday. I would skip inauguration for that."

Link to tweet

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=147048

[Gothmog]

42. Joe Biden is the most electable candidate that the Democratic Party has available