Had Biden run in 16, would he have won?

[demtenjeep]

I know he didn't because of his son


but if he had would he have won?

[LisaL]

1. No way to know for sure, but

I think he certainly could have won.

[tblue37]

2. No. I think Hillary would have gotten the nomination anyway.

[soothsayer]

3. Definitely

[Sneederbunk]

4. Yes. He did not have HRC's baggage.

[StevieM]

15. The "baggage" that destroyed HRC was new baggage, not longstanding problems.

She got swift boated. Biden would have been swift boated too, and it would have been more credible-sounding than any nonsense that William Barr tries to throw out this time.

He might have even been under FBI investigation. See my post on that below.

Hillary's biggest weakness is that she was so popular coming out of her time as Secretary of State. The media has written that out of the history books, but it is the truth. And that popularity made her the overwhelming favorite to be the Democratic nominee for a really long time. That meant that the GOP started swift boating her very early, and as a result, they were able to deliver a more convincing and damaging phony scandal.

[Upthevibe]

20. Sneederbunk....

Even though Hillary would probably have been the most qualified candidate ever to have run and held the office, her negatives very well may have been the highest (the baggage).

The truth is that ever since Bill took office in the early 90's, the right-wing including Rush was especially able to influence folks in rural areas who drove their cars/trucks for their jobs - salesmen, truck drivers, etc.. All those AM radio stations with Rush and Hannity spewing their hate and lies made her "the devil." They really did. The right "hated" her for "killing Vince Foster", for Ben Gazi (even though she was absolved of any wrong doing), pizza-gate, White-Water, and I could go on and on.

I believe she was ahead of her time. When you'd think that the country would've been excited that Bill considered her an equal and would have possibly been able to greatly increase his accomplishments, the white men and their wives were outraged that she didn't want to assume the role of "the little woman" in the White House. I don't know of ANY person that's been as demonized as Hillary Clinton. It's heartbreaking.....

[LizBeth]

5. HRC was the right choice. She was the choice. It is a travesty the she lost.

[tman]

7. I always thought yes.

[Hekate]

8. Fact: his son died. I watched the CNN bio the other week & one comment from a friend was...

...that in Joe’s grief, there was no “bottom,” no place to stand.

Also fact: Hillary effing won the election. It took cheating and sabotage on both a national and international scale to ensure that she did not enter the White House as POTUS.

[stillcool]

10. Yes she did.

[jorgevlorgan]

9. Yes

Unfortunately I am sure because the things that's tuck to Hillary had 100% to do with sexism

[Blue_true]

11. I am not sure.

Trump had the advantage then of having no record in government, and the news media refused to do investigative reporting on how much of a failure and scumbag he was. So the image that the Media allowed to form of Trump would have made it hard for Biden in 16.

Now Trump has a record in government and his scumbag history is being exposed, another woman has come out and said that he sexually assaulted her, and she has had people who she talked to immediately after the incident back her up (The Guardian independently questioned those people and what they said she told them at that time matches her recollections). Trump had an MO on sexual assaults, he used being stronger than the women to pin them against a wall, then he stuck his tongue in their mouths while groping them all over their body. After the assault, Trump pursued the newest accuser, even though she had a boyfriend who was a friend of Trump’s. Trump has bragged in the past about sleeping with the wives and girlfriends of business associates and friends.

[OAITW r.2.0]

12. I was proud of my vote. The best prepared person ever to be nominated. nt

[StevieM]

13. First of all, he would have gotten swift boated badly.

We don't know what the made up scandal would have been. But we do know there would have been one. He might very well have been under FBI investigation for some ridiculous reason. And people would have taken Comey's nonsense a lot more seriously than they do William Barr's antics.

Second, I doubt Trump would have been his opponent. I will always believe that Trump was nominated because of Benghazi. The GOP voters filled their hearts up with such hatred that they couldn't help but vote for him, the guy who was feeding their hatred the most. It wouldn't have been quite as severe under Biden. Not because it is really true that HRC has always been their mortal enemy--people forget that they cooled off regarding her for a few years. But because it would have been harder to swift boat Biden as much. That's partly due to their different circumstances, like who they could credibly go after with their lies about Benghazi, partly due to her gender, and partly due to the idea that as a former first lady--a Clinton who had previously been in power--she supposedly had all sorts of power to abuse.

So I think Biden, after being thoroughly swift boated, might have lost to Marco Rubio, or possibly even Ted Cruz, Scott Walker or Chris Christie. The key is James Comey. He was pretty easily manipulated by partisans at the FBI and intelligence community inspector general's offices. Could he have been persuaded that their was a perfectly legitimate reason why a presidential candidate had to be publicly investigated in the middle of an election? If he was, then once again there would have been a July press conference that involved statements that were deliberately worded to allow people to conclude that he had been given a free pass on wrongdoing, and Paul Ryan would have once again feigned sincerity as he passionately proclaimed "this defies explanation."

[jcgoldie]

14. He would not have won the nomination

.

[Drunken Irishman]

16. He would have won the general fairly comfortably...but he would never have won the nomination.

Not with HRC and Bernie in there. He had no natural support to play to except maybe black voters but I think he would have split that support with Hillary to be honest.

[Tribetime]

19. Exactly

[MatthewG.]

17. Interesting Question - I think so.

It’s an interesting question.

I’d say probably, yes ; the GOP spent years effectively destroying Hillary and Biden would not have had to deal witb that or the issue of sexism.

[JI7]

18. Yes, because Misogyny was what hurt Hillary the most

Even things like Comey and Russian attacks were more effective against her just becsuse of misogyny.

And the decades long attacks were about the same thing.

This is not an issue for Biden.

But she would have still won without Comey .

But Biden would NOT have beat Hillary in a Primary. So this would only have happened if she didn't run.

[W_HAMILTON]

21. No.

Because he wouldn't have beaten Hillary.

As good as Biden has been doing and as well liked as he is by a sizable portion of Americans of all stripes, Hillary was the better candidate.

In fact, for all the shit she had thrown her way, it's arguable that the only reason she lost to begin with is because people that would have otherwise supported her grew complacent because they figured there was no chance she would lose. As I've said before, you could literally have run the election over the next day and Hillary would have won.

[BlueStater]

22. I doubt he even would have won the nomination.

He’s not a great candidate and never has been. I’m simply being honest. If he wins the election, it will have far more to do with how god-fucking-awful Trump is than Biden’s own merits.

The only reason he won the nomination this time was because of the extraordinary times we’re living in at the moment. He picked the right time in history to run. I don’t think he could have won it in any other year.

[egduj]

23. Without a doubt.