Biden's campaign urged him not to mention Eastland

[BeyondGeography]

Biden faces backlash over comments about the ‘civility’ of his past work with racist senators

Joe Biden faced a growing backlash Wednesday from prominent Democrats — and a bit of second-guessing within his own campaign — over comments in which he proudly described his history of working hand-in-hand in the Senate with avowed racists.

...As seemingly random as it was for Biden to reference Sen. James O. Eastland, a long-ago deceased segregationist senator from his own party, some in Biden’s campaign had heard him discuss this relationship before — and warned him against mentioning it in public. Eastland, who represented Mississippi in the Senate from the early 1940s to 1978, often said that African Americans were “an inferior race.”

Aides said they had urged Biden to find a less toxic example.

“It might move him to pick a different senator,” said one adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “But he’s not someone you can go to and just say, ‘You’ve been doing this x number of years and you can’t do this anymore.’?”

Another adviser, expressing confidence that the fallout from Biden’s remarks could soon subside, nonetheless worried that Biden could inflame matters if he jokes about it the way he has sought to defuse other campaign controversies.

More at https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-faces-backlash-over-comments-about-the-civility-of-his-past-work-with-racist-senators/2019/06/19/c0375d2a-92a8-11e9-b58a-a6a9afaa0e3e_story.html?utm_term=.fc8ff272808a

[mopinko]

1. But he's not someone you can go to and just say,

‘You’ve been doing this x number of years and you can’t do this anymore.’?”

not a good trait in a president. this is the part where age is more than a number.
we dont need petrified thinking.

[BeyondGeography]

2. Left to his own devices, he has never been a disciplined candidate

This made me laugh:

Link to tweet

[mopinko]

3. bwahahahahaa

fer realz.

[shanny]

8. So true.

[rogue emissary]

12. K&R!

[DesertRat]

14. Definitely!

[ecstatic]

4. Joes is not going to change. Take it or leave it. He is who he is. nt

[murielm99]

5. Like Truman.

Give 'em hell, Harry. Give 'em hell, Joe.

That may not be a bad trait in a smart President. It would work for a smart President. (Not trump)

[NYC Democrat]

6. Yeah,, it's a thing with Joe, if your support him or you don't support him you gotta admit

The man has a chronic case of free wheeling to the point where he shoves his foot in his mouth way more than he should.

[Funtatlaguy]

7. Listening to staff and aides can be important.

Joe needs to realize that he hired them for their expertise in certain areas.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. My issue with Biden, summed up in one sentence.

“But he’s not someone you can go to and just say, ‘You’ve been doing this x number of years and you can’t do this anymore.’?”

[babylonsister]

10. I thought this was

just another typical gaffe by Joe until reading this article.

And this is not good: “But he’s not someone you can go to and just say, ‘You’ve been doing this x number of years and you can’t do this anymore.’?”

[BeyondGeography]

11. That's what Jennifer Rubin has just zeroed in on

In other words, these incidents suggest that Biden’s biggest problem is neither prejudice nor lack of discipline. Rather, Biden’s greatest liability might be his stubbornness — the sort of refusal to change late in life that comes after years of success doing it your way.

Apparently, Biden was told to stop invoking the names of dead segregationists. (“As seemingly random as it was for Biden to reference Sen. James O. Eastland, a long-ago deceased segregationist senator from his own party, some in Biden’s campaign had heard him discuss this relationship before — and warned him against mentioning it in public.”) He ignored entirely sound advice. And that’s a problem.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/20/this-is-bidens-real-problem/?utm_term=.f92531b6d6ed

[LuvNewcastle]

13. If he makes it to the general election, his comments won't matter that much

because Trump's statements are always far worse than anything Biden has ever said. Some of his gaffes might hurt him in the primaries, but I doubt they'll make much difference in the general.