Joe Biden is not Crazy Joe, he's Regular Joe, and that should be enough*

[DemocratSinceBirth]

...







*I am paraphrasing the dean of Nevada politics Jon Ralson. In handicapping the senate race between Jackie Rosen and Dean Heller he mused Rosen "is not Wackie Jackie, she's Regular Rosen, and that should be enough."

[Skya Rhen]

1. Joe's regular, authentic nature is what is so appealing. He exudes a level of much needed comfort...

[Blue Owl]

2. Amtrak Joe

This guy famously commutes by train and makes friends at every stop -- he's comfortable around anyone, just like Barack Obama was.

If Joe was good enough to be Barack's right hand man, he's good enough for me!!!

[DownriverDem]

7. Then

are you going to change who you are supporting?

[Blue Owl]

22. I still like Pete but if Joe's the nominee he's got my vote!

[MH1]

37. ..

[Freethinker65]

3. Cuppa Joe

[Scurrilous]

4. ...

[Indygram]

5. Policy specifics, please...

What is he going to do about protecting the planet for my kids and grandkids?
What is he going to do to protect my 9 year old grandson from being massacred in his school?
What is he going to do to ensure that my family and I have high quality medical care that we can afford while still allowing choice?
What is he going to do about women's rights and protections and body autonomy?
What is he going to do about immigration and those kidnapped children?
What is his position on prosecuting those who have behaved criminally in this administration to the fullest extent of the law?
What is his position of race relations?
What is he going to do about minimum wage?
What is he going to do about student debt?
What is he going to do about hate crimes?

We need to discuss his age and health. He is 76 years old. He will be 78 right after the 2020 election. The life expectancy for men in the US is 78-79 years old. I don't oppose older candidates but I want to feel confident that whoever is nominated is at low risk of passing away in office.

The primary is the time democrats hire the nominee to run for president. It's foolish to select someone based only on their resume' without conducting a full interview of all those applying for the job.

Just sayin'...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Geez

We need to discuss his age and health. He is 76 years old. He will be 78 right after the 2020 election. The life expectancy for men in the US is 78-79 years old

That's not how actuarial tables work.

Survival after the age of 80 in the United States, Sweden, France ...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7565998
by KG Manton - ‎1995 - ‎Cited by 342 - ‎Related articles
BACKGROUND: In many developed countries, life expectancy at birth is higher ... The average life expectancy in the United States is 9.1 years for 80-year-old white ...

It's not as if once you reach seventy nine or eighty you're going to die tomorrow. You're conflating life expectancy at birth with life expectancy once you reach a certain age.

[DownriverDem]

10. That's because

he/she is supporting someone else. Attacking Joe's age is not going to win over anyone.

[Indygram]

21. I suggest that you look at my prior posts about Biden

Prior to Beto entering Biden was my first choice. For a good time he was also my second choice. I have defended him repeatedly and only criticized him over the non-apology issue, which he eventually did better on and I recently defending him on a thread about Anita Hill within the last few days.

I do think that age is a valid issue that needs to be considered just like anything else and I don't think it's a good idea to jump on any bandwagon before fully understanding where that bandwagon is going.

I see plenty of comments about being too young or "inexperienced" which is often code for being too young. That is a valid discussion too.

Biden isn't the issue, really...it's more that a lot of discussion about whether or not he should be the nominee or any doubts about him being the nominee is really being stifled.

[Celerity]

32. +10000

[highplainsdem]

16. Thank you! People tend to misunderstand this so much.

[DownriverDem]

8. That's

what the debates are for. As for his age, how old are you? I judge folks for where they are, not some number. I would rethink your age attack. Just sayin'

[Indygram]

23. It's not an attack it is a valid topic

I'm no spring chicken and am not saying being young or old is better or worse or in any way disqualifying...only that it MUST be open to discussion because it is relevant just like health and policies are.

[Skya Rhen]

9. With all due respect, this is not a "hiring" scenario

One person usually does the hiring. In this election, there is a voting process with tens of millions of people voting for their choice. The candidate with the majority of those votes, then wins.

The majority of the electorate, based on all of the polls, appears to solidly support Joe. It’s ok that you have concerns but realize that you are in the minority...

[DownriverDem]

12. Thank you

Folks want normalcy. Biden represents normalcy. He has the experience in and out of the White House. Folks want a candidate that can beat trump. Biden can. Folks do not want to take a chance on newbies. We can't take that chance.

[LongtimeAZDem]

11. No, no, no. His numbers are great on image and recognition alone. Specifics, at this point,

can only hurt, because the electorate is fickle.

[DownriverDem]

13. Come on

Folks just want to beat trump. Biden stands for what the Democratic Platform states.

[LongtimeAZDem]

14. I agree completely. That's why he has absolutely no need for catchy proposals.

[TCJ70]

17. Are you actually advocating for avoiding specifics? WTF? n/t

[LongtimeAZDem]

19. Yes, because I understand presidential politics. Making specific policy statements is risky,

because it comes back to bite you if the mood of the public changes. When you're in the lead, the best strategy is to project strength and likability.

If you're behind, you have to try and stand out with something that will grab the media, such as Harris' "executive order AWB" or Warren talking about reparations. It can work, but it can also backfire badly; the public may shift moods, and Trump may find a way to exploit it.

A front-runner like Biden, who had broad-based appeal, can only hurt himself by getting bogged down in specifics this early, and he knows it.

This is not an ideological debate; this is a Presidential Election.

[TCJ70]

20. So you don't want to know who you're voting for...you just like Biden...

...for no specific policy reason in particular?

Also, this isn't a Presidential Election. It's a primary. When we're supposed to decide who is going to move their policy agenda forward while occupying the office of the president. How can you do that if you don't know the specifics of someone's policy agenda?

[LongtimeAZDem]

24. Oh, come off it; I know his voting record, his positions, his ideology, his religion, and

his temperament, and anyone who doesn't simply isn't paying attention.

At this point in the process, opponents are looking for "gotchas". He knows better; so do a lot of us.

[TCJ70]

26. All of those things can change over time (except for voting record)...

...where a person is now is what matters. For me I'm just looking to fill in the picture a bit more than "vote for me to win because".

[Celerity]

33. +10000

[Honeycombe8]

15. There is only one issue for 2020.

You know what it is.

All the candidates are Democrats and support the Democratic Party Platform in large part.

This election is far simpler than any other I've witnessed. I can't say that the nominee should be Biden or any of the others in particular. They also all answer the question about the one issue the same: Yes, I can. So it's just up to each of us to guess at which one will be able to oust Trump, hopefully by a large margin to outdo the Russian effect.

[emmaverybo]

18. The infamous 1994 crime bill should show you his position on guns, hate and civil rights crime,

and some aspects of his strong support for women. That bill had more than one part, some of them including very good ideas.
He recently stated he stands by its investment in crime prevention, for instance, and the establishment of drug courts for deterrence (evaluating prospects to attend treatment in community rather than serve the sentence given).

He has said he is for a 15 dollar min. wage.

These are great questions.
More will be revealed pre-debate as with Beto.
And the debates will definitely require specifics to help us compare and contrast while they will reveal flaws and omissions in thinking on policy.

Iirc Obama did not have fully developed policy on all these issues. Not all the specifics anyway.
We do have candidates who have given a wealth of policy specifics, but still not all to the same degree of specificity and not all in all areas.

[Indygram]

25. The point I'm trying to make is that perhaps it's too early for a coronation

And that instead of all this "Biden is inevitable!" and "Who is going to be Biden's running mate?" perhaps people should tone it down a bit and stop announcing a winner before the race has even started.

[MineralMan]

28. It's interesting that you use the word "coronation."

That was the pejorative expression some people used about Hillary Clinton in 2016. Perhaps you could come up with something more original?

[Demit]

31. Anointing. It's too early for an anointing.

[MineralMan]

34. Well, that has religious connotations.

Probably not the best choice, either.

[Demit]

38. Well, whether he's the best choice is certainly debatable.

But there are enough articles floating around about him being anointed to show it is in regular, secular, usage.

[Indygram]

39. It was the only word that came to mind that met the definition of what I was trying to say

And I was never a fan of Sanders and since the pickings were really slim I enthusiastically supported Hillary.

No need to entertain any hidden meaning.

[emmaverybo]

36. By "people" do you mean Biden enthusiasts on DU boards? You can't stop people at large who

get polled from registering their choice.
Asking Biden supporters to chill about these polls means you have to, for fairness, caution all supporters of all candidates to “to tone it down.”
I think Biden supporters at DU are in the minority.
Our posts should not overwhelm.
Hilary was prematurely crowned, but that was DNC’s doing.
We all well know anything can and does happen.

[highmindedhavi]

41. Thanks, great questions looking foward

[sandensea]

27. Killer Joe!

He's killing in the polls.

[Thekaspervote]

29. For those that don't know their history anything but uncle joe, which was Stalin's WWII name

[yaesu]

30. I don't think that crazy Joe crap will ever catch, tRump's weak attempts may inspire his mainstream

brain dead minions but crazy Don is the only nutjob in this race.

[Gothmog]

40. I like the way that Joe is running

Link to tweet