Biden fundraiser ditches him and warns others may too

[bluewater]

By QUINT FORGEY 06/28/2019

A fundraiser for Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign said he is no longer supporting the former vice president's White House bid — and predicted that others may follow suit.

Tom McInerney, a San Francisco-based attorney who was a lead bundler for former President Barack Obama, told CNBC he informed Biden's team of his decision on June 20.

The news of his break comes one day after Biden delivered an uneven debate performance that provoked new doubts about his candidacy and turned a spotlight back on his controversial statements and past policy positions on civil rights and abortion.
“I had actually let the campaign know I’d pulled back my support of Biden for now,” McInerney told the cable network, adding, “I don’t think he did well last night."

And in a potentially troubling sign for Biden, McInerny predicted that others were likely souring on the Democratic front-runner. “I would imagine I’m not alone,” he said.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/28/joe-biden-fundraising-2020-1389857

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Cutting off one's nose to spite their face...

If this nonsense leads to Trump being re-elected, we know who to blame.

[thesquanderer]

4. Or it could be good, if it increases support for other potentially stronger candidates (nt)

[Demsrule86]

18. There are no stronger candidates ...who do we have except Biden who can win the rust belt states we

need? We will lose but of course the purity of candidates is so so much more important than winning ...

[thesquanderer]

25. I think we have stronger candidates.

As I posted at https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287154041#post42 after seeing the video of his appearance at the Poor People's Campaign Presidential Forum:

Forget the polls... I can't see this guy beating Trump. If Trump were on the same debate stage, I don't see that kind of performance persuading the persuadable in MI/WI/PA to abandon Trump, despite Biden's vaunted "working class appeal." Ten or twenty years ago maybe. But he's turning into a cranky, rambling, barely comprehensible doddering old man. I really worry that if he gets the nomination, we're sunk. I think all the polls showing him strongest against Trump are based on things like name recognition, his association with Obama, and memories of his more youthful self. When people see and hear this guy, I think a lot of that support will evaporate.

...and by "this guy" I meant the version of Biden who appeared on that stage.

His performance at the debate was better than that, but still not very good. And it's not just my opinion... Check the poll discussed at https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287176416 where, before the debates, 41.5% of a particular sample selected Biden as their favorite, and after the debates, that dropped to 31.5%... and that 10 point drop means that he lost the support of 25% of those who had favored him going in! Okay, that doesn't mean they all were disappointed in Biden, some could have liked his performance but simply liked someone else's better. But the point remains, the more people see of him, I think the less impressed they will be.

And we have numerous other candidates polling well against Trump.

I think Warren, Harris, Buttigieg, and even Sanders have the potential to be better against Trump than Biden would be. They're all beating Trump in polls in the battleground states of MI, WI, PA, and FL, some more than others. Yes, Biden beats Trump by more, but my fear is, the more people see of Biden, the less that will be the case.

[UniteFightBack]

28. +1000 nt

[marylandblue]

7. Whoever wins or loses, we will never know the reasons why.

What we do know is that if Biden defeats Trump, Biden supporters will say this "proves" Biden (or a moderate or...) is the only one who could beat Trump, even though no one else had the chance. And if Biden loses to Trump, then Biden supporters will say it is because because Democrats did not unite behind Biden, even if many of us helped him every we could.

[gldstwmn]

34. We will know why. A lot of time and money is spent analyzing the loss.

We will know exactly what caused us to lose.

[marylandblue]

37. Yeah, they do a lot of analysis and we still argue about it.

I've seen a dozen different reasons cited on DU, usually with no analysis but great authority. I see the same reasons being echoed as to who we should pick next time to prevent what happened last time.

I've also lots of analysis in the media and academic analysis that sometimes well supported and sometimes poorly supported conclusions.

But none of us are mind readers, so especially when it's a close election like this one, so how do we really know why certain voters acted as they did, or what would have happened if one factor was different. There is no way to know, but we act as if we do, because the not knowing is difficult to bear. It also makes it harder to say why my candidate is the best choice.

[gldstwmn]

39. The Mueller Report answers most of my pressing questions

about 2016. Lots of analysis and not enough authority IMO.

[marylandblue]

40. Doesn't answer mine. It wasn't even an election autopsy.

It was a counter-intelligence probe and it didn't even give the full story on that.

[Perseus]

10. I believe what happened is they realized Biden is not the ticket we need

He is a good man, but his time in politics should be over, is best option is to write his memoirs, travel the country promoting the book and spend more time with his family. As he said many years ago, it is time to pass the torch.

I believe a lot of people are realizing that, I also hope they start looking at Bill de Blasio more. I never considered Bill de Blasio until the debate, he showed he won't take any punches from anyone and if someone dares to throw a punch, he will stop it and punch back harder, and that is what we need. I like the fact that he is in New York, imagine all the dirt he has available about the buffoon?

Joe, we love you, but time to move on.

[Demsrule86]

20. Biden has plenty of fundraisers...you all will be so sad when the next polls come out and this

50 year old made up issue is showed to be a nothing burger.

[Hortensis]

26. This very early, aggressive stance seems suspicious.

It’s possible that he positioned himself to make this move. Again, it just seems too early for someone who supposedly supported Biden to take such an aggressively negative, attack stance.

I’m no paranoid, and I’m smelling something. This guy’s a player.

[gldstwmn]

36. Yes because we really just want Biden to lose

and aren't concerned with what is actually best for our country.

[gldstwmn]

35. +1000

[gldstwmn]

16. If Biden is the nominee we are facing an

Uphill battle.

[onetexan]

21. says a Kamala supporter

[gldstwmn]

32. I have watched eveyone here

hang on every little detail of Mueller/Russia. Last night I watched Biden stand on that stage and say the NRA is not so bad. I've heard next to nothing about him making that statement. It's outrageous. The Rust Belt isn't the only road to the White House. I would also like to point out that President Obama won those states. Harris, Warren, Buttigieg, DiBlasio, actually just about any of them can win those states. Part of our party really needs to let go of this whole can't win mindset. It's killing us. We didn't impeach because we couldn't "win." This notion of promoting the household name over better qualified candidates is both antiquated and ridiculous. Biden could have been the guy four years ago but he wasn't because he didn't run because he thought he couldn't win. You know who couldn't win the Rust Belt? Hillary Clinton. That's who.

[Demsrule86]

22. If Harris is the nominee she won't win the rust belt and we lose. We have no other path to beat

Trump.

[MontanaFarmer]

27. She won't lose the "rust belt."

She may lose Wisconsin. She'll win Pennsylvania and Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa are a coin flip, and she has an excellent chance to win both NC and AZ. Florida is very much within her reach also. Personally I'm happy with either, or Warren, but I think Harris has more of "it" than Joe Biden.

[UniteFightBack]

30. Let's first get her through the Iowa primary. nt

[MontanaFarmer]

31. Right.

I meant it to be a theoretical conversation, were she to be our nominee. Long way to go, and biden's still the favorite. FYI, I've donated to Harris, Biden, and Klobuchar thus far, so my allegiance will ultimately be to the nominee.

[gldstwmn]

33. Let's not forget that there's a very good chance for Texas to go blue.

[TwilightZone]

2. The Politico headline is misleading, but that's par for the course.

As the article notes, McInerney decided to no longer support Biden some time ago and notified his team more than a week ago, well before the debate.

[Demit]

8. McInerny withdrew support quietly, then after the debate decided to go public.

Which is very interesting, that he didn't keep his decision quiet. Some kind of message there?

[SouthernProgressive]

3. June 20th.

Really a poorly written article.

[cwydro]

29. No kidding.

Makes no sense.

[vsrazdem]

5. Prediction: Joe Biden will not be the nominee..

[cbelle1039]

6. Too bad for us.

[vsrazdem]

9. I feel Harris or Warren are a much better bet to take on Trump.

Biden couldn't even coherently take on Harris, so I don't see him taking on Trump.

[cannabis_flower]

11. Prediction: Neither will Bernie

I love Bernie but I like Elizabeth Warren more. It might not be any of these. But I'm putting my bets on Elizabeth or Kamala.

[vsrazdem]

17. I agree. I support Bernie, but he will not be the nominee. I would be

thrilled to see Warren, and although I worry about Harris and corporate money, she could certainly take on Trump and get things done.

[vsrazdem]

41. I agree. Like I said I support Bernie, but he will not be the nominee either, and Warren has many

policy proposals that I agree with. I am hoping it is Warren or Harris too.

[cwydro]

42. That one i'll bet on.

No way will Bernie be nominee.

[onetexan]

23. says a Bernie supporter

[Demsrule86]

24. Yes he will...and in my opinion if he is not Trump wins another four years.

[nsd]

12. June 20?

Come on, this is BS. Posting this the day after the debate makes it seem like this dude's decision was a consequence of the debate. BS.

[bluewater]

13. Op is from June 28th today

Seems the fund raiser told the Biden campaign on June 20th, but came out publicly today and commented on the debate specifically.

from the OP:

“I had actually let the campaign know I’d pulled back my support of Biden for now,” McInerney told the cable network, adding, “I don’t think he did well last night."

So, does it matter?

It was just a week ago that he pulled his support for whatever reason and today he felt strongly enough about the debate to comment directly on that too.

The issue Harris confronted Biden over in the debate has been brewing for at least a week.

[nsd]

14. My "BS" was more directed toward Politico.

They posted this story today for a reason.

[bluewater]

15. Thank you for your clarification

[Hassler]

19. If Harris is going to claim to be a progressive, she better

Understand other progressives--Sanders, Warren--might make an issue of her having an exec from the corrupt Wells Fargo do fundraising for her.

[Hekate]

38. Well that's crap