Tag: joe biden

Seriously, what is Joe Biden waiting for?

You don’t have to be a Democrat to wonder about this: “[Joe] Biden placed a personal call to Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Firefighters, early Friday morning to discuss his potential candidacy and a strategy to win, Schaitberger said.” Look, it’s mid-October. There are a bunch of things that candidates to have to do in order to get into the various state primaries. Those primary deadlines are tick-tocking away. If Joe Biden doesn’t make up his mind, then his mind will be made up for him.

…At least, that’s the conventional reasoning. Basically, everyone is assuming that Joe Biden is ambivalent about running for President. But what if he’s just scared?

Continue reading Seriously, what is Joe Biden waiting for?

Hillary Clinton slaps Barack Obama in the face over TPP.

Now, I understand that people have different opinions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). That’s all right. But what’s very important right now is that people not project their own opinions on this news:

Just days after the U.S. and 11 nations released a monumental trade deal that still faces a fight in Congress, Hillary Clinton says she does not support the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Speaking with Judy Woodruff Wednesday, the Democratic presidential candidate said that as of today, given what she knows of the deal, it does not meet her bar for creating jobs, raising wages for Americans and advancing national security.

Continue reading Hillary Clinton slaps Barack Obama in the face over TPP.

CNN grimly holding a debate chair warm for Joe Biden.

Desperation makes for an awful cologne: “Vice President Biden could qualify to participate in the first Democratic debate even if he did not decide to enter the race until debate day, according to participation criteria released by  host organization CNN on Monday.” Jazz Shaw over at Hot Air concentrated on how this position is showing special consideration for Joe Biden, which it totally is. But putting aside the question of why Democratic primary candidates are being treated in a gentler fashion than Republican candidates were*… there’s a question here over just why CNN wants Joe Biden on that stage. Why CNN needs Joe Biden on that stage. Continue reading CNN grimly holding a debate chair warm for Joe Biden.

Tweet of the Day, Team Clinton Staffers Must Be Dreading Their Inboxes Right Now edition.

I’m only putting this poll up for malice-aforethought reasons.

https://twitter.com/AaronBlakeWP/status/646657444748394497

Because obviously any one poll is meaningless. But, hey: it’s almost October, and the Democratic party still hasn’t gotten its primary together, either. It’s remarkably failed to do so, in fact.  And even if I don’t take this poll all that seriously, you can bet that people are walking quietly and not causing any aggro over at Team Clinton HQ today…

I’ve tried, but I can’t make myself believe the Biden rumor.

Basically, the one where Obama told Biden that he’d support Joe’s running if Joe ran for only one term and had Deval Patrick as his running mate. It’s a great rumor – it’d start a three-way bloodbath in the Democratic party, for one thing – but I can’t buy it. The first part essentially screaming Hello, the Democratic party has lost all sense of higher purpose*; the second says Man, you’d think that the Democratic party would have more than two qualified black people to be Vice President. I’m just not feeling the oomph on this one, sorry.

Moe Lane

*Which is true, yet not something you’d think that they’d admit.

Quote of the Day, A Democratic Veep Has A BIG Problem edition.

And it’s spelled out here:

All of the Democratic Vice-Presidents that Biden grew up watching eventually became Democratic nominees for President: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Al Gore. If Biden decides to forego a run for the Oval Office, he will be the first Democratic Vice-President unable to secure his party’s nomination in sixty-three years. (In 1952, the seventy-four-year-old Alben Barkley, Harry Truman’s veep, was pushed out of contention by party leaders who considered him too old. Biden is seventy-two.)

Continue reading Quote of the Day, A Democratic Veep Has A BIG Problem edition.

White House kind of hints that Joe Biden is running for President.

Let us parse this.

“White House spokesman says Obama’s choice of Biden as VP indicates president’s view of Biden’s capability for presidency.” This, indeed, could be read as “The White House feels that Joe Biden would make a suitable President.” I will even concede that the White House probably would like people to read it as such. However, you could just as easily read it as “The White House admits that it picked Joe Biden for Veep as insurance against somebody shoving Barack Obama out into traffic.”

Seriously, you have to admit: it’s a valid parsing of the sentence. Albeit a highly obnoxious one.  Welcome to politics: here’s your accordion. Continue reading White House kind of hints that Joe Biden is running for President.

Quinnipiac: Joe Biden compares favorably to Hillary Clinton in swing states.

SOON.

Vice President Biden matches up as well or better than Hillary Clinton against top 2016 Republicans in three swing states, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Thursday morning that’s certain to fuel speculation of the former six-term senator entering the White House race.

Former Secretary of State Clinton is still the front-runner for Democratic primary voters in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and real estate mogul Donald Trump leads among the GOP, the survey says, but they have the worst favorability ratings and trustworthiness scores of the featured candidates.

Continue reading Quinnipiac: Joe Biden compares favorably to Hillary Clinton in swing states.

So. Who DOES get the African-American vote in the primaries this cycle?

I’m forced to ask a question in response to this thesis by Josh Kraushaar: “Hillary Clinton is a near-lock for the Democratic nomination for many reasons, but among the most significant is that her challengers have minimal appeal to the party’s base of African-American voters.” …All well and good; but what’s her appeal to those voters, exactly? I mean, don’t get me wrong: I understand that, lacking an obviously good choice, many voters default to the front-runner; but what’s going to get African-American voters off of their couches and into the voting booths to vote in the primary?

This is not a trivial question: while Josh does note at the end of the essay that “if [Hillary Clinton’s] winning non-white voters in the primary by default—running against old white men with limited ties to the rising Democratic electorate—she could face a rude awakening next November” it still doesn’t mean that Clinton’s going to get enthusiastic support in the primaries. In fact, it really is arguing that Hillary Clinton can expect not to get enthusiastic support. And probably not much turnout. Continue reading So. Who DOES get the African-American vote in the primaries this cycle?

Joe Biden reportedly mulling run.

(Via Drudge) Oh, wouldn’t THAT be something to see.

Mr. Biden, 72 years old, lost two previous bids for the White House, in 1988 and 2008, and he would enter the 2016 contest as a clear underdog. Yet as a sitting vice president with loyal supporters in states that hold early contests, he has the potential to scramble the Democratic field.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll earlier this month showed that Americans’ image of Mr. Biden is growing more positive. A total of 40% saw him in a favorable light, versus 31% who had a negative view of him. In November 2014, Mr. Biden’s favorability rating stood at 35%, compared with 38% who viewed him unfavorably.

Continue reading Joe Biden reportedly mulling run.