General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do y'all realize how much the Joe Biden "frontrunner" talk smacks of white male entitlement? [View all]Afromania
(2,768 posts)I'll preface this with the fact that I like Biden and would have no problem with him running. However, there are lots of folks that could potentially make for a great president, but they are not being cultivated in the public mind in the way Biden seems to be. I know he was VP and all but the part of the clarion call for pulling against Hillary was her age and her connection to the same ole, same ole ways of doing things in government. There are potential Democratic candidates who have experience but less wear and tear that should be looked at in the runup to the 2020 election.
Biden has been in Washington for a long time and it's not being used against him in the same way. Similarly, his experience is viewed in a completely different light; as a plus rather than some sort of conspiratorial minus. A goodish chunk of the electorate have decided that experience doesn't matter anyway. Let's run Oprah, or Zuckerberg(well, maybe not now) or whoever else from our side, and from them.... well you know what kind of bullshit they want to run.
Biden looks look like a good choice for most folks because we like him(he'd be a good Democratic president). But just as important the other side also likes him. Why does the other side like him? Is it because of his policies which fly in the face of of all the absolutely stupid shit the republican mindset deems worthy of doing or is it because they are willing to turn the keys over to a face that best represents their view of what a proper politician should be; namely male and white( and of the appropriate heritage).
Now, when folks from our side start talking about Joe running because he appeals to people from the right it's sort of like saying "hey, well there are all these other people that should run but we need to go for what is safe because we need to win". But matter of fact in this case "safe" and "default" has been white and male for pretty much the entire history of this country. I'm not calling anybody racist for thinking this way because it's been only relatively recently when that default has been challenged. Change is hard but the better part of the country is rising to the challenge. Our problem is the ones that don't want to change and are willing to cling to the default much to the detriment of the country. This way of doing things leads to the thinking that we have to run candidates that will win and that means a subconscious reversion to the default, hence Effie's white male privilege.
Just so you guys understand I'm not casting the charge of racism against anybody I'll add in this. I didn't think it was time for Obama to run in 07/08. I truly didn't think this country had it in them to elect a black man president at that moment. The shit was hitting the fan and we couldn't let the republicans do any more damage. That election had to be won and I thought both Hillary and Obama were iffy choices. At the time I said something along the lines of "just put up any sane white guy". The country knew who was at fault but I was sure they would go right ahead and vote the default and put McCain and an unqualified crazy white woman in office as vice president (ironically she was/is far more experienced than what's in there now).