Kamala's attack on Biden was months in the making

[DonViejo]

She and her advisers assiduously plotted the attack — and how to capitalize on it afterward.

By CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO 06/28/2019 06:31 PM EDT

Kamala Harris’ campaign is spending the next three days trying to extend the best two hours of her political career.

Harris’ surprise cross-examination of frontrunner Joe Biden produced the third-biggest fundraising bonanza since her launch. The Democratic senator is working to capitalize ahead of a crucial second quarter fundraising deadline: She blanketed news shows with nearly a dozen TV appearances, and her digital team is pumping out clips and other reminders of her interrogating Biden, hoping that Democratic voters will envision her doing the same thing to Donald Trump.

“It’s a great springboard,” said Bakari Sellers, the former state lawmaker and top Harris surrogate in South Carolina, saying it would add rocket fuel to her end-of-quarter fundraising push. Sellers said he’s taken a just-you-wait approach with people who’ve questioned Harris’ stock. “Last night, everyone said ‘there it is right there.’ No one can describe what ‘it’ is. But now they know she has it.”

Inside Harris’ campaign, the first debate was viewed as the unofficial start of the contest, the first big opportunity when primary voters start paying attention to the presidential race. The debate coincided with a new level of comfort she’s described feeling in recent weeks with opening up about her upbringing and personal life, more than a half-dozen aides and allies told POLITICO, something they’ve been gently urging her to do as a way to forge a connection with many voters who don’t know her.

Harris was seen as having an enviable debate night draw because she avoided a confrontation with a surging Elizabeth Warren in exchange for being among all three of the other top-polling candidates. With Cory Booker appearing on the first night, Harris, whose father immigrated from Jamaica and late mother from India, was also the only black candidate in her Thursday grouping.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/28/kamala-harris-joe-biden-debate-1390383

[madaboutharry]

1. Why is it when a woman proves herself

to be an effective politician that is a bad thing?

[StarfishSaver]

3. And why when she politely and respectfully challenges his record, she's "attacking" him?

[Butterflylady]

60. Respectfully, wow!!!!!!!

That's not what I saw. I always thought that debates were where the candidates to show how qualified they were for the job. Guess I misunderstood what debates were to be. Well now I understand their for taking pot shots at the other candidates, especially when the candidate is polling at the top. As for the media, they always like when something like that happens because gotta keep it a horse race, no matter what happens cause it makes good ratings.

[mcar]

4. And what is wrong with preparation?

I was surprised at the attacks here yesterday that Harris's move was contrived.

Don't candidates actually prepare for debates? Did Castro plan his challenge of O'Rourke? And why hasn't that been criticized?

[UniteFightBack]

5. It's bad when you attack an opponents character which is what she did. Personal attacks will

cling to our nominee no matter who that is and we can't have that.

[shanny]

22. Did she not specifically say "I do not believe you are racist"?

In fact, it was the FIRST thing she said. It wasn't a "personal attack" and furthermore Biden himself tee'd it up with his stupid statements about his segregationist colleagues...which his staff warned him about beforehand.

[UniteFightBack]

23. Oh that's right that disclaimer was made...you're not a racist ...BUT....uh huh. Sorry but I want

all attacks focused on pukes..there is plenty there. I don't want anyone attacking Harris about some bullshit either, this is not just about Joe Biden.

[shanny]

58. Sorry but this is the primary

and everyone wants to win. Everyone wants to point out the differences--to the extent there are any--between themselves and others.

[UniteFightBack]

111. True this is a primary and I wish it was just a regular old primary but our fucking county is at

stake and we don't need to bloody up each others character before going into the general. No matter who the candidate is. I don't want ANY CANDIDATE's character assaulted because they are all good people period.

Of course my thoughts are a pipe dream because people are going to be people....and it's disgusting.

[StarfishSaver]

63. And had she not prefaced her comment that way, people would be saying "She called him a racist!"

Black people are used to having to preface any criticism of any white person's record on civil rights with such a disclaimer because some white people assume any criticism by a black person of any white person's civil rights record is an accusation of racism.

[andym]

28. An example of damning with faint praise

Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer;
Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,
Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.
— "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" by Alexander Pope (1688–1744)

[oasis]

65. Nailed it.

[UniteFightBack]

112. Thank you. +1000

[LakeArenal]

34. Lip service. Like saying I like you but...

Followed by a trump like statement of
I don’t think it but others say it, believe me.

[samnsara]

51. i agree it was a personal attack and diminished her in my eyes..

..but thats my opinion..

[Hoyt]

108. She didn't make a judgement of his character. She left it to us to decide.

I’m disappointed in what I’ve learned about Biden.

I was satisfied that Biden’s earlier comments about working with segregationists was an example of how that helps get things done. Made sense. Then, I learned from Booker and Harris that one of the things he worked with them on wasn’t innocuous.

Have more assessment to do.

[UniteFightBack]

110. Just one of many purity tests that candidates will fail I suspect. YAWN. I see folks have really

fell for this obvious political ploy. Suddenly it's now an 'issue'. She sure did try to ding his character with I know your not a racist BUT...BUT WHAT? Throwing chum in the water.

I'm gonna play this race card I got right here that I've had up my sleeve for the longest.

I would be taking the same position if any candidate does this to another candidate no matter who they are. This is not about Biden ....this is bigger than Biden.

[Hoyt]

114. Apparently, some folks are fine with his opposition to busing, and the deeper issue

of equal education for minorities. Again, there were alternatives to busing. Problem is, white controlled local governments were slow to implement them.

[UniteFightBack]

115. Do you hear yourself? Now accusing him of opposing equal education for minorities.

Pfffffffffffffffffffftttt

[Hoyt]

116. I'm saying he worked with segregationists to oppose busing and the deeper issue.

That's a disappointment to me.

[Voltaire2]

46. +1

[LongtimeAZDem]

78. I don't think saying "you hurt my feeings" (paraphrased) is politically effective.

[brush]

109. Right. And how did Harris and her staff know Biden was going to make the segregationist...

remark months ago when he just said it a couple of weeks ago?

[Freethinker65]

2. So are we to be satisfied that Biden did little preparation to combat such political attacks?

That seems more concerning to me than Harris planning ahead, regardless of the attack itself.

[Corgigal]

6. That's the thing.

Don't act like you're the pre-ordained nominee. Anything that breaks off a few voters will be tried. It's just how campaigns work. He's been in the business too long, not to understand that.

Might end up being a good thing for Biden in the end. It can only be used once, and now he has to get his answers down. His staff is right, he should have prepped, but Biden might have needed that knock. To believe it wouldn't have been tried is naive.

[LakeArenal]

35. When did one time Biden project ordainment?

Maybe we as supporters believe it, but don’t affix that to Joe himself.

[marylandblue]

50. Say it? No. "Project" it? That's a subjective assessment, but I think he does project it.

It's not something anyone can prove or disprove. But I would say lack of preparation is one way to project pre-ordainment.

[joshcryer]

97. Biden is doing the give no fucks approach Trump did.

People are not going to like calculating politicians. In fact the perception of Clinton as this calculating politician is one reason she lost so handedly.

[Freethinker65]

117. Clinton lost handedly? Because she was competent, qualified, and prepared??

Clinton won the popular vote. Clinton lost a handful of targeted counties causing her to lose the electoral college and the Presidency. There was also targeted voter disenfranchisement and foreign meddling on social media, etc. plus Clinton had been demonized by the GOP for decades.

If Biden wins the nomination, he could very well lose the Presidency if he does not prepare for what the opposition will throw at him. He also needs to plan how to confront Trump effectively.

[stopbush]

7. Headline: Kamala Harris is a politician who respects her opponents enough

to prepare for a debate.

I guess some would prefer her to not prepare and shoot from the hip like the Rapist in Chief.

[theaocp]

8. Well said.

I love to imagine her debating MF45. Delish.

[Goodheart]

9. Good point. Be prepared!

[customerserviceguy]

19. Wait until she goes after Sen. Warren

And she will. You might not like the low blows that will be struck.

[Merlot]

29. My guess is Warren won't make stupid remarks about segregationists

What Harris did was give her honest reaction to Bidens public statements about working with segregationists, that's not a personal attack.

Bidens comments were bad because he normalized segregationists. He deserved to be called out. He became defensive with the "I'm not a racists" statements, but no one called Biden a racist.

[customerserviceguy]

38. My prediction is

that Sen. Harris will go after Sen. Warren on the DNA/Native American thing. Clearly, Sen. Harris has no reservations about "punching up" to target anyone above her in the polls.

She clearly is ready to claw her way to the top, if that's what it takes.

[marylandblue]

52. Let her. My guess is that Warren is better prepared for this than she was before.

If she's not, then Harris is a better nominee.

[True Dough]

77. "no reservations"

Double-entendre intended?

[customerserviceguy]

99. I hadn't thought of it that way

I avoid using phrases like "he went off the reservation", because it implies that Native Americans belong in a specific place and not in the world at large. I guess it might have looked the way you saw it.

[True Dough]

100. I also avoid "going off the reservation" or variations

but I'm sometimes surprised to hear politicians, athletes/coaches still using that phrase. It's usually older men and, I'm guessing, right-leaning or far right.

[customerserviceguy]

101. It's just repeating trite phrases

that your grandparents used without examining their meaning, origin, or impact upon marginalized peoples.

[RHMerriman]

102. In the military, we called these people "blue falcons"...

In the military, we called these people "blue falcons"...

Do the enemy's work for them.

[LakeArenal]

36. And railroad anyone that gets in her way.

Truth not a factor.

[dawg day]

104. Good grief-- if Biden voters think THIS is bad and unfair--

Is he going to be ready to face Trump's vicious lies?
I give Mr. Biden the benefit here-- I don't believe he's all injured and damaged and whimpering in the corner because a competitor took it to him. He's tougher than that.

[LakeArenal]

105. It's not a mutually exclusive situation

Mischaracterization by our own is just as annoying as that by Repububs.

[floppyboo]

10. yup. He should be questioning his advisors

I've been wondering why he didn't prepare for this.
Not sure if it was just the MSM channels I was watching, but all the hype was about how Sanders was prepping to come after him. Maybe the Biden team was following this [inside or manufactured?] info? And he was taken off guard?

[LakeArenal]

37. I thought Joe's response was fine

As it was a mischaracterization and she knows it, Booker knows it, and we know it.

[Mme. Defarge]

54. I am mystified by the general perception

of Biden’s response to Harris’s dirty ploy. I thought he gave a very strong and cogent defense of his career-long record of defending civil rights. I also think that he stopped talking so abruptly because he was angered by the personal attack and mischaracterization of his work.

[floppyboo]

55. 'we know it' is not a very big group

Anyways, I suppose the gloves are off and Harris will have to answer for her record as prosecutor next. Talk about eating your own! I'm not keen on either of these candidates, not that my opinion counts, and the in fighting is only helping Warren and Sanders, which is fine for this progressive.

[Skya Rhen]

11. Ok - the majority of the comments are not going so well for Harris...

Below are a few that I copied and pasted from the Politico article referenced by OP:


Ya well I am a swing voter and the theatrical stunt she pulled really rubbed me the wrong way last night....I am voting for a centrist like Biden - if the Dems put someone in too left Ill be sitting out 2020

Biden didn't deserve the hit piece like that...I am sorry, but that stunt put a bad taste in my mouth about her....I respected her before that, but now not so much

You put her in the ring with Trump - its 4 more years of Prez Moron

***********************************************************************************


The calculated nature of her attack on Biden has made me pause. I want a smart but good person to replace the idiot-in-chief. Is she is “smart” but not “good”? Her Machiavellian move has lost my vote. Mayor Pete is looking better and better!!

***********************************************************************************

she is such a phony...this poor deprived woman is the daughter of a Stanford University professor and her mother is a breast cancer scientist...California is not Alabama....

***********************************************************************************

This is disappointing to read. Apparently there were even tshirts of her as "that" girl made before the debate. I still like her but this smacks of inauthenticity.

***********************************************************************************

Is this the real KHarris... so desperate to win that she would play the gender/race card. If that's all she has... she's no better than Trump.

[Fla Dem]

12. So what? She came to the game prepared. Haven't selected a candidate yet, but I want one

that has their sh&t together, is ready for battle and can execute. Why is this even an issue other than the fact Biden got taken down a peg?

[Merlot]

31. Why is it an issue, indeed.

Could be that she's a woman.

[katmondoo]

13. Why is it I feel she should not have used the busing to attack Biden

Why do I feel disappointed in her, everyone else seems to think she did a great thing. I am wrestling with this.

[Skya Rhen]

15. Your feelings are in line with the majority of Americans. There are 50 pundits and anchors

between MSNBC and CNN who are trying to set the narrative that they hope that the rest of the country will follow.

We are not buying it as we have our own minds...

[Mme. Defarge]

57. Thank you!

[crazytown]

18. The argument against using bussing it that it dredges ancient history.

Last edited Sat Jun 29, 2019, 11:26 AM - Edit history (1)

The argument for it is that Biden dredged it up himself, citing Eastland as example of an opponent (on most things) that he could work with in the Senate.

Biden courted Eastland's support for banning mandatory bussing. Bussing and Biden's anecdote about Eastland are inextricably linked. Eastland was a deep red racist - he opposed bussing, he opposed any integration. Biden opposed bussing for two reason - one - it was highly unpopular with his constituents , and two he genuinely believed it did more harm than good, stoking resentment and hatred, petty and otherwise,

What Kamala was saying is this is personal - I was bussed - while you were dealing in the Capitol, I and others were receiving better education.

Harris asked him to renounce. Biden declined, offering a local/States Rights justification which stretches all the way back to the Confederacy. On this point at least, Eastland would have approved. Wholeheartedly.

[Merlot]

32. Well said.

She asked him to renounce. Biden declined, offering a local/States Rights justification which stretches all the way back to the Confederacy. On this point at least, Eastland would have approved. Wholeheartedly.

[customerserviceguy]

20. When she goes

after Sen. Warren (probably for the DNA test/Native American thing), you won't be wrestling anymore.

Sen. Harris likes to grin and giggle like a schoolgirl when she's on Stephen Colbert's show (yeah, I saw the interview), but when she's grilling a witness on the stand, she's vicious in a semi-likable sort of way to her followers.

[Hoyt]

14. Biden opened himself up to this a week or so ago when he brought up working with Dixiecrats.

At the time, I posted here that Biden was just giving an example of how he worked with "the other side." Then, later -- thanks to Booker and Harris -- I found out what he worked with them on. Very disappointing.

Perhaps worse, thanks to Biden, the white wingers will keep reminding us that the Democratic Party was the Party of racism back then. While I've never considered Dixiecrats as today's Democrats, and they clearly were absorbed by the GOP, I'd prefer not to have to make that argument with white wingers. Biden made that difficult.

[Merlot]

33. I think Biden purposely choose that story. He's courting the southern vote.

[LakeArenal]

39. Seem reports today say it's working.

[Hoyt]

47. Don't doubt it. We do need to win -- but don't feel good about doing it like that.

Hopefully, his advisers won't be promoting him as a Robert Byrd style Democrat.

[Voltaire2]

48. Well first of all if you mean the racist white southern voter

then a) wtf? And b) they are never voting for a Democrat. And c) see a.

[BeyondGeography]

49. What southern vote?

Biden is famously undisciplined, which is another way of saying gaffe-prone. If he was courting anything it was political disaster, per his history.

[Demit]

56. Chicago Trib columnist Clarence Page had that thought too.

I read a piece of his last week speculating that Biden could've been sending a message to voters afraid the party has been taken over by Black Lives Matter and other far-left progressives.

[loyalsister]

61. Or an apology from Dems for stepping out of line

and violating the agreement to go just so far in challenging white male supremacy.

[4139]

16. Trump could and likely wood use it against Biden if he is the nominee

NPR: Biden Talks About A Constitutional Amendment To Ban Busing

"That would clearly do it," he said, adding, "I'm going to go at it through a constitutional amendment, if it can't be done through a piece of legislation."
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/28/736995314/listen-biden-supported-a-constitutional-amendment-to-end-mandated-busing-in-1975?fbclid=IwAR1g0Q1J3dLRBD4FdyuV9EXcSnr07WECSstyrlr0HVfxj2bHRPI_KNMDIaU

[Paladin]

17. The birtherism now being directed at Harris was DECADES in the making. (nt)

[Andy823]

21. This is plain bullshit

I don't know why this kind of shit gets posted here on DU, it only encourages more arguments and attacks. Politico is just trying to keep the fight going, as are other news sources.

[Skya Rhen]

25. It only encourages more arguments and attacks against whom?

[LakeArenal]

41. Good one!

[ehrnst]

44. By the same author...

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article76611647.html

[robbedvoter]

67. Thanks.

makes sense.

[ehrnst]

86. I generally do a quick check of an author's previous works....

Interesting what you find.

[Merlot]

24. Good. That means she makes strategic decisions.

If she gets the nomination, she will use the same process to take down trumpft. Anyone thinking they would beat trumpft by being more "likable" is seriously mistaken.

[Wounded Bear]

26. Perhaps Biden should have "planned" a response to an obvious potential attack...

[tulipsandroses]

30. Yup!!

Don't know why he wasn't more prepared.

[UniteFightBack]

27. And to all the people who say this has nothing to do with race and she is not attacking his

character than what the hell is this busing bullshit about then????

[ehrnst]

40. Another woman being dissed as "over prepared."

Her great performance has really threatened some people, perhaps even the author of this article, who support other candidates.

[democratisphere]

45. Most can see right through this kind of "preparedness".

[democratisphere]

42. Divider. Not a uniter. Not the kind of candidate that will accomplish the sole mission.

Defeating drumpf is the only thing that matters!

[no_hypocrisy]

43. And there's NOTHING WRONG with that!

I'm an attorney and I prepare and over-prepare before the hearing. I rehearse my choice of words. I prioritize my arguments. And usually weeks or months before the hearing. And when it comes out, it's effective and persuasive.

What KH did was perfectly acceptable and it's irrelevant whether it was spontaneous or prepared.

[treestar]

74. Acceptable for a trial but

how does that play out for winning the Presidency?

[True Dough]

81. The polls will give us an indication of that

I imagine it will split voters, just like it's proven divisive here on the DU. Some will applaud Harris for it, others will resent her for it.

[mcmxv1]

53. Biden openly voted in favor of George Bush's bankruptcy bill

Biden championed George Bush's bankruptcy bill. Its not a personal attack to bring this fact up again. Its a position he, himself, took, which he now has to own up to if he wants to achieve the presidency. Biden will have to convince me he really stands for Democratic party policies, including support for the poor and middle classes, as well as small businesses. I'm not convinced, and it didn't take Harris to remind me of his prior voting record. Instead, its something I've never forgotten and I don't think voters should let him off the hook for without some explanation of his position.

[Auggie]

64. I remember this -- it's a fact.

[sprinkleeninow]

88. That's correct.. What, was it in 2005? eom

[tishaLA]

96. And Sen Warren will take him to the woodshed over it

It will have different power dynamics than it did in 2005 when the Sen from Delaware sat there, condescending and self-satisfied

[dalton99a]

107. +1. This issue is of far more relevance to many Americans.

[Kaleva]

59. Wow! I'm impressed!

[Fiendish Thingy]

62. Don't care- if Joe can't take he should drop out nt

[treestar]

79. of course he can; that's not the point

I wonder if the others can take it - they haven't proven it yet.

[robbedvoter]

66. In other words, she was...over-prepared

Got it, Politico et al.

[Agschmid]

68. Also Biden stoked the flames himself prior to the debate.

[msongs]

69. the role of prosecutors is to get convictions. truth and justice are irrelevant inconveniences nt

[treestar]

73. Yes, she needs to get out of prosecutorial stance

The Presidency does not require that and in fact requires ability to get along and not just try to bring down other people.

[treestar]

70. It's not going to help her much

if at all. What a waste of time.

[ucrdem]

72. Seriously.

[emulatorloo]

75. I don't think so either. MSM is trying to make it a "thing" but I don't think this will get Harris

out of single digit polling land. People who lived thru the 70’s remember how controversial it was once it was implemented. Both liberals and AA community were troubled by some unintended consequences.

Has anyone asked Senator Harris if she plans to run on bringing back busing? I’d really like to hear her answer.

[ucrdem]

71. How is this different than plotting an attack on Al Franken?

There was no need to ambush a fellow Democrat and she played fast and loose with the truth. This isn't an episode of Law and Order and I don't see this as a selling point.

[True Dough]

82. Al Franken wasn't standing on a debate stage

I wish he was, actually. He'd do a whole lot better defending himself, I'm sure.

[ucrdem]

84. There is no defense against "your words were hurtful,"

"he made me uncomfortable," etc etc, whether the claims are true or not. Call it a cultural moment but at this point in time there's no way to respond to such charges other than to resign or resort to Trump antics. That's why I see this as unworthy of Harris and unworthy of the office she holds. And I voted for her.

[True Dough]

87. Do you believe her words were earnest

or entirely contrived? If it's the latter, then what would you suggest Harris do about it? Apologize? Withdraw from the race?

[ucrdem]

89. It doesn't take months to plot a truthful account.

Hope that helps!

[Celerity]

90. 'she played fast and loose with the truth'

The head fact checker at CNN, Daniel Dale's Twitter thread

here it is unwound

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1144461457624403974.html


Daniel Dale
@ddale8
7 hours ago, 6 tweets, 1 min read

Biden's claim tonight that he only opposed federally mandated busing and did not generally oppose "busing in America" was a flagrant misrepresentation of his position in the '70s and '80s. He'd made crystal clear he opposed busing as a concept, as a matter of principle.

Biden's remarks on busing in the 1970s were generally very unequivocal -- "I oppose busing. It's an asinine concept." "A bankrupt concept." "Busing does not work." He expressed pride for making anti-busing sentiment "respectable" among liberals.

As recently re-reported by WaPo, Biden said things like this about busing: “What it says is, ‘In order for your child with curly black hair, brown eyes, and dark skin to be able to learn anything, he needs to sit next to my blond-haired, blue-eyed son.’ That’s racist!"

It wasn't just words: working with avowed racists, Biden pushed legislation to make it difficult to run busing programs. There *was* a caveat: he said he would support busing in cases where it'd been proven that a community had been intentionally segregated. But otherwise no.

Biden's campaign says that his position on busing would not have stopped the particular local busing program that Kamala Harris was a part of, since it was voluntarily adopted by the local community. In general, though: she was not mischaracterizing his opposition to busing. Biden campaign’s argument is that him saying in the ‘70s that he opposed busing was understood then to mean he simply opposed federal-mandated busing, not all busing. Like when GOP said under Obama they oppose health reform, was obvious it meant Obamacare, not all health reform.

He played de jure (what the South had) vs. de facto (what the North had for the most part) semantic games (even tried it as a water-muddying explanation again in the debate 2 days ago!) as a way to ensure desegregation via the federal government was made much more difficult in the North (and thus Delaware, which mostly had de facto segregation).


Joe Biden called busing a ‘liberal train wreck.’ Now his stance on school integration is an issue.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/joe-biden-called-busing-a-liberal-train-wreck-now-his-stance-on-school-integration-is-an-issue/2019/06/28/557705dc-99b3-11e9-830a-21b9b36b64ad_story.html?utm_term=.7e64c79ab655

snip

During the debate, Biden charged that Harris was mischaracterizing his record. Yet Biden’s opposition to court-ordered busing is one of the most well-documented views of his career. In his 2007 autobiography, “Promises to Keep,” he called busing “a liberal train wreck.”

While Biden ran and won election as a liberal, Delaware voters at the time also elected anti-busing Republicans. Many white parents in the suburbs of Wilmington, the state’s largest city, were not willing to send their children into the city, where the schools were dominated by black students.

During the heat of the battle, in the mid-1970s, Biden called busing “an asinine concept, the utility of which has never been proven to me. I’ve gotten to the point where I think our only recourse to eliminate busing may be a constitutional amendment.”

snip

The following year, Biden told NPR that liberal Democrats for too long had kept quiet about the matter because it would put them in the company of Alabama Gov. George Wallace (D), a leading segregationist.

Speaking to a Delaware weekly called the People Paper, Biden put it starkly: “The new integration plans being offered are really just quota systems to assure a certain number of blacks, Chicanos, or whatever in each school. That, to me, is the most racist concept you can come up with. What it says is, ‘In order for your child with curly black hair, brown eyes, and dark skin to be able to learn anything, he needs to sit next to my blond-haired, blue-eyed son.’ That’s racist!”

Biden, meanwhile, led a faction of Democrats to sponsor legislation that would restrict the ability of federal courts to institute busing orders, according to a 1978 account in the Wilmington Evening Journal. During this period, he worked to sponsor anti-busing legislation with Southern senators with segregationist backgrounds.

That upset Democrats who supported busing, and some of them took Biden aside and asked how and when “the racists had gotten to me,” as Biden told it in his autobiography. An aide to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. told Biden he was being “duped.”

snip




Biden's track record on busing: In 1977, he called it a 'bankrupt policy'
(video)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/videos/what-joe-biden-said-about-school-busing-amendment-in-1977/vi-AADz8Hl


CNN Biden letters reveal he resisted this desegregation tactic

Senate Rejects Amendment to Restrict Judge's Authority on School Busing

(Biden was for it)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/08/24/senate-rejects-amendment-to-restrict-judges-authority-on-school-busing/6ba7d8ed-d746-46c5-8aa9-51e134ec89bc/?utm_term=.552468cca54f




here admits to making anti-bussing acceptable (if not respectable, then reasonable) for long-standing liberals to oppose bussing, even though at the time civil rights protections were under attack

https://books.google.se/books?id=ZFQE3bLDsS4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Between+North+and+South:+Delaware,+Desegregation,+and+the+Myth+of+American&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjI3vygyYzjAhXyxcQBHYohDEIQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=Between%20North%20and%20South%3A%20Delaware%2C%20Desegregation%2C%20and%20the%20Myth%20of%20American&f=false




He supported a wide-reaching Jesse Helms anti-integration (not just bussing) amendment



How a Young Joe Biden Turned Liberals Against Integration

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/joe-biden-integration-school-busing-120968?o=1

snip

Sen. Jesse Helms, a Republican from North Carolina, was the first to strike. On September 17, 1975, when a larger education bill came up for debate, Helms offered a crippling anti-integration amendment. It would prevent the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) from collecting any data about the race of students or teachers. In addition, HEW could not “require any school … to classify teachers or students by race.” Thus, HEW could not withhold funding from school districts that refused to integrate. “This is an antibusing amendment,” Helms explained. “This is an amendment to stop the current regiments of faceless, federal bureaucrats from destroying our schools.”

Biden rose to support Helms’s amendment. “I am sure it comes as a surprise to some of my colleagues … that a senator with a voting record such as mine stands up and supports [the Helms amendment].” Helms replied that he was happy to welcome Biden “to the ranks of the enlightened.” After the laughter died down, Biden launched an anti-busing screed. “I have become convinced that busing is a bankrupt concept.” The Senate should declare busing a failure, and focus instead on “whether or not we are really going to provide a better educational opportunity for blacks and minority groups in this country.” He praised Ed Brooke’s initiatives on housing, job opportunities and voting rights. In one breath, Biden seemed to reject busing in the North and the South, and claimed that he was committed to equal opportunity for African Americans.

A few other senators spoke briefly about the amendment, then Brooke sprung to action. The Helms amendment would eviscerate Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Brooke said, which enabled HEW to cut off funding to school districts that refused to integrate. Brooke asserted that the federal government should attempt other integration remedies before resorting to busing. “But if compliance with the law cannot be achieved without busing, then busing must be one of the available desegregation remedies.” Brooke introduced a motion to table Helms’s amendment. Brooke’s motion passed, 48-43. Biden wouldn’t budge, and voted with Jesse Helms and the anti-bussers.

Brooke had fought this fight before, but he would face a more formidable adversary in Joe Biden. When a southern conservative like Helms led the anti-busing forces, Ed Brooke could still rally his troops. But it would be tougher to combat the anti-busing faction when its messenger was a young liberal from a border state.

Immediately after the Helms amendment was tabled, Biden proposed his own amendment to the $36 billion education bill, stipulating that none of those federal funds could be used by school systems “to assign teachers or students to schools … for reasons of race.” His amendment would prevent “some faceless bureaucrat” from “deciding that any child, black or white, should fit in some predetermined ratio.” He explained, “All the amendment says is that some bureaucrat sitting down there in HEW cannot tell a school district whether it is properly segregated or desegregated, or whether it should or should not have funds.” Finally, Biden called busing “an asinine policy.”

Brooke pointed out that the amendment would do much more than Biden claimed. Like the Helms gambit, it would still gut Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. But this time, a number of liberal senators that had opposed Helms’s amendment now supported Biden: Warren Magnuson and Scoop Jackson of Washington, where Seattle faced impending integration orders; and Thomas Eagleton and Stuart Symington of Missouri, where Kansas City confronted a similar fate. Mike Mansfield, the majority leader from Montana, also jumped on board. Watching his liberal colleagues defect, Republican Jacob Javits of New York mused, “They’re scared to death on busing.” The Senate approved Biden’s amendment. Biden had managed to turn a 48-43 loss for the anti-busing forces into a 50-43 victory.

In a seminal moment, the Senate thus turned against desegregation. The Senate had supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1965 Voting Rights Act and 1968 Fair Housing Act. In the early 1970s, as President Richard Nixon and the House of Representatives encouraged the anti-busing movement, the Senate remained the last bastion for those who supported strong integration policies. Biden stormed that bastion, and it seemed to be falling. On September 23, another border-state Democrat moved against busing. Robert Byrd, the West Virginian who had since repudiated his Klan past, offered a perfecting amendment. It would prohibit busing beyond a student’s nearest school. It passed the Senate by a vote of 51-45.

snip

[ucrdem]

91. Wrong cut-n-paste. This conversation is about Harris, not Biden. nt

[Celerity]

92. as is mine

you said Harris played fast and loose with the truth

I offered a rebuttal

[Pisces]

76. So she was doing a good job and came prepared.

[33taw]

80. She prepared. Given the exchanges earlier in the month, he should have prepared better.

Last edited Sat Jun 29, 2019, 04:25 PM - Edit history (1)

Buttigieg clearly prepared a statement on the police challenges, Biden should have as well. I don’t think it will have a long term impact. Swalwell is not being criticized for attacking Buttigieg regarding the police issue. It is part of primary politics.

[AlexSFCA]

83. means she is strategic

it is MUCH better if it would have been otherwise - some spontaneous jab, spur of the moment. You need a surgeon to deconstruct DT, not a fisherman. Harris showed that she is dead serious in winning the nomination and it requires taking on front runners. BS and Warren next - watch out. I’m sure she planned all of it already and we love her for it. She is willing to fight the uncomfortable fight for the future of our country and the world. Please don’t kid yourself if you think politeness and playing it safe is gonna take down trump. Strength, ruthlessness and surgical cold hearted thinking will. She is also learning how the media works - perhaps the most important skill against DT. She just reenergized the race for all of us and everyone is paying attention now. This is good for everyone including Biden. He wants the nomination, show the world a fighter. Trust me, dt v. Harris show will be must see reality. Prosecuting trump on live tv will be priceless.

[wyldwolf]

85. there's another candidate in the race, who has been around for while, with a statement on busing

... the statement is quite easy to find and might cause all manner of "progressive" handwringing and spinning. Now, why would Kamala go after Biden and not this other person? Could it have something to do with who is currently leading the race and who isn't?

[Cha]

93. If Harris' attack was to get more POC Voters it doesn't

seem to be working so far.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Biden lands 2020 endorsement from Atlanta Mayor Bottoms

"The larger context was that you have to work across the aisle with people you don't like, people you don't agree with," Bottoms said. "I do it each and every day as mayor of Atlanta in a red state."

Bottoms added that Biden's work on civil rights issues and his progressive resume demonstrate his commitment and that the remarks were blown out of proportion.

"My position is, if his explanation was good enough for John Lewis, then it's good enough for me," Bottoms added, referring to the Georgia congressman and civil rights icon who was among Biden's defenders after the controversy.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/biden-nabs-2020-endorsement-atlanta-mayor-bottoms-64012750

We'll see how this pans out..

[ucrdem]

94. +1,000,000

Great news!

[Cha]

95. Yes it is, ucr!

Pretty amazing signs of Backfiring.. it could have absolutely went the other way.

Biden standing up to Chucktodd on Obama's Environmental Legacy..

Why VP Biden has my respect.. He never lets anyone disrespect Pres Obama

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287175530#top

Mahalo!

[IronLionZion]

98. I can support a candidate who plans things out and executes them perfectly

like a boss

It's among life's great ironies that I supported Biden for president back in 2008 and thought he was a fantastic choice for Obama's VP.

[Demsrule86]

103. I can't support a candidate who did what Harris did...played fast and loose with the truth and

smeared a good Democrat...I will vote for her in the general if she makes it that far which I doubt she will...but not in any primary.

[IluvPitties]

106. She is a tough cookie, which is good.

Joe has been in politics since the 1970s. He can handle it.

[Cha]

113. Oh yes.. Joe Biden has

weathered much more huge storms than this