Biden will almost certainly benefit from this impeachment

[MineralMan]

discussion. That's my take on it. I also think he's handling it very well, by going on the attack against Trump.

I expect to see his poll numbers rise a couple of points or more in the next weeks.

Note: For those who will be tempted to remind me that I said I'd not post in Democratic Primaries, I didn't say that. I said I'd be posting less here. The situation has changed, however, and I am likely to be posting more once again. I can change my mind at any time, since I'm not an elected official or anyone of any importance at all.

[samnsara]

1. im donating again for sure.

[MineralMan]

2. Yup. More face time for Biden on the TeeVee, too.

[Green Line]

7. I just donated again

[Iliyah]

3. Yes he will . . .

[ritapria]

4. I think you are right

[hlthe2b]

5. All I can say is Dems can support whomever they wish, but if I see any Dem candidate trying to

exploit this, instead, as Castro did yesterday, calling it out for the lies that it is and a blatant attempt to "Hillary" Biden I will do my damned best to defeat THEM in the primaries.

[MineralMan]

6. Most who would do such things are already defeating themselves, i think.

The primary field has narrowed significantly. May names can be considered to be fully out of the running at this point.

[PatSeg]

12. Castro has been a big disappointment

I've always like him, but this is exactly the kind of politics that I abhor. There is too much at stake, we can't condone such attacks on fellow Democrats. It doesn't hurt Biden, but it certainly stains the attacker.

[hlthe2b]

14. Castro was disappointing in that respect in the last debate, but his statements this week defending

Biden have been very much what I would hope to see from ALL candidates.

[PatSeg]

18. I'm glad to hear that

I think I may have misunderstood the comment about Castro. I believe he has a promising future in politics and undoubtedly learned from his mistakes after the last debate. Democratic voters just don't have the stomach for that kind of politics.

[emmaverybo]

35. Hope to see and still do not. Let's see some boldness, please. The big picture is that Trump abused

power, the public trust, public money. The big picture is Trump’s corruption, but in this specific instance, his motive is also important and should alarm all democrats, perhaps none so much as
other top-tier candidates who while willing to condemn Trump, have not given lip service even to
defend Biden by name.

Regardless that he is a competitor, he has also been, and not too long ago, MVP in the Obama administration, a loyal member of the party, known for his mentor ship and support for Dem candidates, now a man whose integrity Trump smears, whose candidacy he seeks to destroy.

Let’s get big and bold in defending Biden from attack. Then they can go back to biz as usual.

[highplainsdem]

17. +1,000,000

[Demsrule86]

20. Yeah...will not ever support Castro for anything in the future...of course if

he was the nominee, i would vote for him. However, he might as well not run again for president IMHO. He will go nowhere in a primary.

[onetexan]

8. no doubt Joe will benefit from this coverup. He is the victim, not the perpetrator.

[Demsrule86]

21. It also shows clearly that Trump fears Biden hence the attacks. Biden will take away the rust belt

states that Trump desperately needs.

[onetexan]

22. Bingo!! I'll also add that Joe's popularity in the Rust Belt is one of his greatest strengths.

We must win the Rust Belt states to win the election.

[Demsrule86]

29. It is our only path...now and in future elections...sure Texas might fall or Arizon and Georgia...

maybe North Carolina...or they might not for some time...we have to deal with our present circumstances.

[onetexan]

33. agree, Tx, NC, GA & AZare really iffy. I'd bet on winning the Rust Belt states to deliver the win.

[Demsrule86]

43. That is my bet...but I wouldn't be surprised if Texas or Georgia or Arizona went blue this year.

[IronLionZion]

9. Every DUer is "anyone of any importance"

[PatSeg]

10. I think you are right

Trying to find Biden guilty of corruption was a really bad move. He is a well known and much loved public figure and all of this will only make people more sympathetic toward him.

[LonePirate]

11. I disagree.

This mess seems like a scandal to the general public and the general public has little to no understanding of Joe Biden’s or Hunter Biden’s connections to it. They just know it is bad and therefore Biden is tainted by it. As such, Biden can best hope it is a push; but in all likelihood, Biden will take a hit from this. The right wing will use this to Hillary him.

[YOHABLO]

15. Oh yeah, FOX is already running with this. They will go to any means to keep it alive.

[BannonsLiver]

24. Who cares what Fox is doing.

[Demsrule86]

26. They have been running with this all along.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. Fox watchers aren't going to be voting for any Democrat

so who cares what they think?

[pnwpolicy]

16. This is my read as well

Voters don't like any association with corruption. We learned this when Clinton was unfairly maligned in 2016, but it was effective.

[BlueMississippi]

19. Clinton corruption memes came from the Democratic side. nt

[Demsrule86]

25. Because it was done by her own side as well...that is where the damage came...and Biden is well

known and liked better than Clinton was... unfair though that might be. Not only will I not support candidates who attack Biden using this...I have to tell you if I see many of their followers using it...I will not support their candidates in a primary either ...this one or the next one.

[Demsrule86]

23. I disagree...Trump is tainted by it...pure wishful thinking on your party...I say it again EW

will not win a general...she has advanced policies that will impede this...particularly MFA. I would of course support her as our nominee in a general.

Biden will be the nominee and the impeachment should put an end to Trump's nefarious plan as the truth comes out...any candidate will be attacked by the right wing...and I refuse to allow them to choose our candidates for us...Hillary was hurt by our own side...those who supposedly have our back.

[BannonsLiver]

27. Meh. The effect on Biden is still not clear at this point.

[get the red out]

31. This is my thinking too

People often don't spend enough time on politics and could end up thinking they have 2 crooks to choose from even though Biden is a set up. The right wing will have hard-core Trumpers thinking Trump didn't even make the phone call that the White House released the transcript of.

I have supported Warren for quite a while now, but always figured the nominee would be Biden and I would vote for him and donate to his campaign (which I still will if he is the nominee), but I predict we will see a bit of a mark on his "electability" caused by all this.

[RhodeIslandOne]

40. Most of America is watching The Masked Singer

Sadly.

[blue-wave]

13. Thanks for posting

MineralMan! Looking forward to many more. Go Joe Go!!

[saidsimplesimon]

30. Well said, see below

"I can change my mind at any time, since I'm not an elected official or anyone of any importance at all."

[beachbumbob]

32. I think Biden will not be impacted negativity by what trump/gop want to see happen. We all learned

our lessons with happened with Hillary. I am a little concern about the others running for nomination not standing tall with Joe and rallying around Joe and this obvious attempt at coming up with made up stuff to damage his chances

[pandr32]

34. I think so as well.

It may be that the others will be vying for the #2 slot and cabinet appointments now.

[Gothmog]

36. Desperate Donald Trump knows that Joe can beat him

Link to tweet

[Quixote1818]

37. For the casual observer who doesn't pay close attention, this will hurt him

They will just hear something bad about Biden and Ukraine and not know its false or what the context is.

[Act_of_Reparation]

38. Yeah, I don't get the math that shows Joe will benefit from this.

He almost certainly won't.

Before, no one knew anything about this. Now, everyone does. The right is going to run with it, and not everyone is bright or with it enough to realize the story is horseshit. Some people are going to believe it. Others are not going to know what to believe. This is not good, no matter how you slice it.

[Cha]

39. This should benefit Biden and hurt trump.. unlike

those who are asking if it's going to hurt Biden with all the reason who sound like they're trying to hurt Biden.

It's not working.

[gulliver]

41. Big time. Trump called the impeachment on himself in the stupidest possible way.

When Clinton was impeached he was up against priggish, prudish Ken Starr, and the "big crime" was at worst a non-perjurious lie about sex with a consenting adult. It's no wonder Clinton's popularity went up.

Contrast that with the table Trump has laid out for himself. He's going to try to take down Biden, and all it's going to do is make Biden look better and better in comparison to Trump.

[boomer_wv]

42. Logical.

I think this is probably right. With impeachment afoot, that news is going to suck all of the oxygen out of the room for other stories for a while. Elizabeth Warren, I think, will have a hard time claiming time on TV to talk about other things. Any of these candidates who go on TV are going to be asked lots of questions about the impeachment inquiry and, by extension, Joe Biden. They will all also be forced to defend Biden instead of attack him. They can't be seen as attacking Biden who is under attack from Trump. It also sets up Biden as the clear rival of Trump.

I don't think that Biden could have hoped for better luck than to be at the center of the scandal that brings on impeachment.

On the flip side, if Trump were to leave office because of this, that probably benefits everyone not named Biden.

Bidens best story would be for this to get really bad for Trump, the media and democrats to continue to defend him throughout, and for Trump to remain in office after being saved by Senate Republicans, despite a majority believing that he should be removed.

[NYMinute]

44. K&R nt

[cwydro]

45. Re your "note."

You don’t owe anyone any explanations here.

And your voice is appreciated, wherever you choose to post.

[NCLefty]

46. Absent something else coming out they can spin, it certainly helps him. People are talking about

him, almost as if he's already the nominee.

[Gothmog]

47. President Trump was extraordinarily preoccupied with Joe Biden

Link to tweet

At home and abroad, on Twitter, at campaign rallies, in interviews and even from the White House lawn, Trump spent an inordinate amount of time deriding Biden and insisting that the former vice president could not be ahead of him in polls — despite the fact that Biden has led the president in general election matchups in every major poll conducted in 2019.

“I think he’s got a pretty clear pattern, doesn’t he? He usually only spends his capital on those that he views as a threat, or a challenge,” said Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Firefighters, which did not endorse a candidate for president in 2016. “I think our union coming out strongly on behalf of Joe Biden, cut him short at best ... It got under his skin.”

Trump’s predawn online tirade was a precursor to a period in which Biden appeared to occupy a remarkable amount of his attention. At a May 20 rally in Pennsylvania — the state where the former vice president was born — the president laced into the candidate who was then the undisputed front-runner in the Democratic field....

“The one thing the president is well aware of is that in his base there are a lot of Obama voters,” the aide said, alluding to what he said was the president’s perception that Biden threatened his hold on those voters. “They’re union members, they’re rank and file. A lot of those times, if they were campaigning, Obama would send Biden out there.”