WaPo: Biden is not the obvious candidate

[crazytown]

Last edited Fri Apr 26, 2019, 10:57 PM - Edit history (1)

Washington Post; April 26, 2019
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-joe-biden-too-kind-to-be-president/2019/04/26/5158aea8-6856-11e9-82ba-fcfeff232e8f_story.html

Biden is empathetic and compassionate. But he’s not the obvious candidate

(snip) Unlike Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — 72 and 77, respectively — Biden isn’t a grumpy old man. He’s got a megawatt smile and doesn’t hide it behind a pout. He’s imperfect, yes. But his malaprops and his too-affectionate ways are endearing compared with the boasts and bloody bombast of The Current Occupant.

(snip) Come primary season, Biden may well be the only Democrat for whom Republicans could vote and, later, the only one who could graciously show Trump out. But all factors considered, he’s not otherwise the obvious candidate. That person is a male veteran, a former Navy intelligence officer, who studied at Harvard and at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Well-rounded, in other words. At 37, he’s very young, but he speaks engagingly in ways that wouldn’t strike fear in the elder heart.

Pete Buttigieg, who has served as mayor of South Bend, Ind., since 2012, is the Barack Obama of his generation — a composite of opposites generated by an anti-Trump algorithm — and today’s quintessential candidate. The country may not yet be ready for a gay man and his husband in the White House, but Buttigieg is, in my view, the most significant voice in the presidential race.

EDIT: the obvious candidate is the one who will make a rerun of Trumpism, or anything like it, virtually impossible. I don’t know who that candidate is but Joe Biden is the nostalgia candidate who has not shown an appetite so far for transformational change.

[stonecutter357]

1. Joe Biden 2020 !

[democratisphere]

31. Agreed!

[LongtimeAZDem]

2. I would say that the obvious candidate is the one that has been crushing all others in the polls

[Tiggeroshii]

3. The obvious candidate will be the one crushing in the polls after

The bulk of campaigning is finished. So far there has not been much of anything in the way of debates and coverage, and most people do not yet have a concrete idea of who they are voting for.

[crazytown]

5. The obvious candidate is not about a return to normalcy

the obvious candidate is the one who will make a rerun of Trumpism, or anything like it, impossible.

Whether that’s Pete, Warren or Bernie I don’t, but a nostalgia candidacy is not an answer IMHO.

[Tiggeroshii]

11. +1000000

[Cha]

13. "Bernie"? So now you think

BS is better than Joe Biden for our Democratic Candidate?

[crazytown]

15. I didn't say that did I?

IMO Bernie will never be the nominee, let alone president.

[Cha]

17. It was a question, crazytown..

I was asking what you meant by that.. I wasn't sure.

[crazytown]

22. I think Bernie would be a disaster.

He’s just about the only candidate who would ensure Trump was re-elected. I don’t ‘know’ that but I haven’t seen credible evidence to the contrary.

Yet electability is a will-o-the wisp, and those who chase it at the expense of their principles and beliefs lose everything.

[NYMinute]

9. Bernie has peaked already

His message is tired and heard by everyone but with not much traction except for devotees.

[Tiggeroshii]

12. His ideas are supported by 70% of the population.

And they still haven't been heard by everybody. That's what the next 9-12 months will show us.

[NYMinute]

14. lol

People have been hearing Bernie for 4 years now -- everyone has heard the tired speech.

[Tiggeroshii]

16. You mistake people who pay attention to politics and the news on a daily basis with "everybody."

Most people, in actuality, don't even know he is running.

[NYMinute]

20. Wishful thinking

The polls do not reflect that.

If that were the case, there would be a large % of "no answer" responses

[Tiggeroshii]

21. Actually they do

He is statistically tied with Biden in Iowa almost a year before the election. Contrast this with this time in 2015 when he was behind Hillary by 42 points. I would say he has made up substantial ground and kept it since then.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/ia/iowa_democratic_presidential_caucus-3195.html#polls

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/ia/iowa_democratic_presidential_caucus-6731.html

[NYMinute]

45. ...

[Doitnow]

42. His message is the same because the same problems

still exist. It's the same long list and they are not being addressed. People ought to be angry. And since there are so many, Bernie is called VERY far left. If there were only one or two that needed fixing, he'd sound as normal as any other candidate.

I had a 7th grade teacher who was furious when homework was neglected. She'd stand up in front of the class and say, "The world doesn't want excuses, it wants things done!" And she'd be wagging her finger at us, too.
She was in her 70s and her name was Nellie Downey.

I suppose this isn't relevant, but on second thought.....

[NYMinute]

44. Americans are not schoolchildren

and Bernie is not a teacher -- he is a politician who is in it for himself.

The finger wagging is condescending and disgusting.

Bernie's message is tired. Rejected by most Democrats. It is over for Bernie.

[democratisphere]

32. Crushing it.

Agreed!

[Demsrule86]

4. Mayor Pete is a mayor ...he is not qualified in my opinion.

[leftofcool]

8. Bue he already has millions in his back pocket that disagree with you

[Demsrule86]

26. Money doesn't make him qualified, I like Mayor Pete. He is smart and very

likeable but he lacks relevant experience. And I don't know if he could win a general.

[More_Cowbell]

41. After Trump, I'm not sure that "relevant experience" will ever count again

I think that the GOP has pushed partisan politics so far that even consensus building won't be a necessary skill for 8 years or so.

In my opinion, Democrats need to sweep in and burn the current GOP to the ground. What rises as a new conservative party will be anyone's guess.

[Demsrule86]

46. Winning counts. I simply do not think he can win a general.

[mobeau69]

10. Read The Constitution.

He's qualified. His military experience is also a plus.

[Demsrule86]

24. I know he is constitutionally qualified. But he lacks experience.

No mayor has ever been elected president...

[leftofcool]

25. There is always a first time

No body in their right mind ever thought a scumbag, mafia real estate investor would be elected either.

[Demsrule86]

27. And it is a disaster. You have to government as well. I wouldn't vote for him,

He should run for the house or senate...get some experience. Also, would he deliver Indiana? Biden can rebuild the blue wall I want to win.

[Demsrule86]

28. This is not the election for great risk. We have to win.

[mobeau69]

34. That's why I'm for the smart guy that is the best communicator of the bunch.

Joe's spending the first week of his campaign on an apology tour when he's not hanging with Comcast execs.

[Demsrule86]

35. I dont think he can win.

He is smart. Hope he runs for another office,

[leftofcool]

38. Me too

Those who say they won't vote for him if he is the nominee will be the same people who said it about Hillary

[mobeau69]

30. Joe does have hair plugs that are older than Pete Buttigieg but

I'm supporting the smart guy.

[Demsrule86]

37. Can he take the rustbelt?

[Celerity]

29. He is far more qualified than you assert

8 years as an executive overseeing a larger group of employees and staff and a larger budget than any Senator or Representative does. South Bend has a strong mayor system so the buck really did stop with him. He also had massive interfacing with the Federal and State governments as well, plus dealt with multivariate social, economic and public relations issues. Pete can scale it up just fine, and the POTUS also has a truly insane amount of support staff, so it is the big picture that matters, and he is aces in the big picture department. He is a veteran, a lucid, deep thinking polymath with an absolutely stellar educational background, and a clear vision of what he wants to do and how to get there.

He is ready to do this, absolutely up to the task. The right time, the right person, the right country.

[mobeau69]

33. +10k

I like Pete's military experience. That's important to me and a lot of voters.

[Demsrule86]

36. He is smart.

[leftofcool]

7. Yes, he is the best one of the bunch

[4now]

18. Washington Post actually pays people to write crap like this

Oh it is from a right wing stooge.
I get it now.....Fear.

[leftofcool]

23. I don't think it is crap that Mayor Pete has a chance

[Gothmog]

19. Washington Post-Opinion: How Biden can rattle Trump

We need to defeat trump.

Link to tweet

Voters who watch Biden’s announcement could picture Biden turning to Trump and scolding him that there aren’t “very fine people” on the neo-Nazi side or going after him for lying about a super-duper health-care plan and falsely promising that plants in Ohio wouldn’t close and that a trade war would be easy to win. The mix of disdain and disgust that Biden evidences when talking about Trump not only channels what Democratic voters are feeling but also serves as a coming-attractions reel for the general election.

One can imagine Biden needling Trump before the primaries even begin. “He complimented Kim Jong Un, and even reportedly told a U.S. envoy to agree to pay a $2 million bill from North Korea for “medical care” of American Otto Warmbier?! How weak, how pathetic is that?” or “Trump ripped little kids at the border from the arms of their mothers. How dare he!”

By putting Trump on defense, showing Democratic primary voters just how scrappy he is, using his foreign-policy credentials and displaying the empathy and decency that he is well-known for, Biden might provoke Trump and thereby make himself the de facto Democratic pugilist against Trump. If by some miracle Trump restrains himself, Biden will nevertheless show that he can land body blows and make it that much harder for Republicans to defend the president.

[Honeycombe8]

39. Mayor Pete is unique. Even amazing. Is the time right for him? Questions, questions. nt

[DoctorJoJo]

40. How Much Experience Did Barack Obama Have??

Pete picks a solid Veep and away we go!

[cstanleytech]

43. Each candidate has their potential negatives and positives.

With Buttigieg its his age as it could go either way really with the voters and with Biden its his potential appeal to Republican voters and if he has enough appeal to siphon enough away from Trump.