Those Concerned About Attacks on Biden: Listen Up!

[macwriter]

Every bomb Trump et al toss at Biden seems to make MSM and some Dems to clutch their pearls and run for cover. It's as if they believe that if Biden just goes away quietly, and we nominate someone else, all will calm down and be fine. Or if only Biden would get down in the mud and wrestle Trump, all will be well.

Here's the deal: Do you honestly think that another Dem candidate will be treated any better? Here's what they will say:

Warren? She's a liar because of her DNA dust up. She's not likable. Hillary 2.0. Also, she is a communist anti capitalist.

Bernie? He's at death's door and BTW a socialist/communist

Mayor Pete? Hide the kids, he's going to turn the country gay.

Beto? He's a flake and going to repeal the 2nd amendment.

And the beat goes on and on.

Face it. It's going to be ugly -- whichever candidate we choose. And we have to be prepared to crawl over broken glass to pull our candidate -- whoever it is -- over the finish line.

And for those who whine that they have to be excited to vote next year and will pout because our candidate is too progressive or not progressive enough or is a woman or isn't a woman or anything else they can come up with as an excuse not to be all in in 2020 -- GET OVER IT!!

Meanwhile, Kudos to Harris for coming to Biden's defense. Speedy recovery wishes to Bernie. Congrats to all our outstanding candidates for staying focused on an economic and national security message as Trump's daily circus threatens to suck the oxygen out of every news cycle. God bless Nancy for her strong leadership and direction.

Had to get that off my chest.

[Skya Rhen]

1. That man is an aggressive liar and he will go after the Dem nominee relentlessly. He has no shame.

[onetexan]

16. yep, he's blatantly using the DoJ as his personal political weapon. He & his enablers will

manufacture improprieties to investigate whomever the Dems nominee is. It's going to get much worse.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

27. The Traitor-in-Chief will be no match for Bernie.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[TruthAlwaysWins]

2. Hear! Hear!

Well stated, macwriter!

[saidsimplesimon]

3. I am not concerned, but thank you for those who may be.

Welcome

[Thekaspervote]

13. You should be, just now some idiot RWer is holding a press conf saying EW is having an affair

With a 24 yr old marine!!

An attack on one is an attack on all!!

[redstatebluegirl]

4. I remember a friend of mine from my advertising days showed me an anti Sanders ad

he had made to make his point that Sanders would be vilified by the Republicans. It almost wrote itself. You can write a negative ad or go after anyone. Please everyone remember, Trump supporters will never shift. We need to worry about the Democratic party, make sure we don't bloody our candidates so much they can't run against the Republicans in 2020. Even if Trump is impeached and they haul him away in a rubber truck, we still have to beat someone in 2020. It actually may be harder to beat someone other than 45.

[zeusdogmom]

5. You are correct, it is going to be SO ugly

I cringe to think about it. And even more, cringe with the pain it causes me that so many of the people near and dear to me will believe the truckloads of trash thrown at the Dem candidate. .....Although my RWNJ sister-in-law IS posting less stuff about Trump on Facebook these days. 😀

And the rest of your message - spot on.

[BlueMississippi]

6. I donated to Sen. Harris and Sen. Booker just for their defense of Biden. nt

[flibbitygiblets]

8. I must have missed their defense of him. Last I heard, not a peep.

Any links?

[BlueMississippi]

9. Please look around on this forum nt

[flibbitygiblets]

11. I did find one from Harris (link below). Would be nice for Warren to say something to support BIden

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287298441

[Celerity]

24. Warren took a backhanded slap at Biden

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/09/26/us/politics/ap-us-election-2020-biden.html

Democratic presidential candidates are united in condemning President Donald Trump for seeking a foreign country's help to trash a domestic political rival. But when it comes to defending the president's target, former Vice President Joe Biden, it's more complicated.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren suggested she'd consider barring her vice president's children from serving on the boards of foreign companies, the very kind of business arrangement Trump has used in unfounded attacks accusing Biden and his son Hunter of corruption.

When asked whether Trump's attacks reflect on Biden's "campaign or his character," California Sen. Kamala Harris said, "I'll leave that up to the pundits. I don't have a comment on that." And Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who in 2016 defended Hillary Clinton against attacks over her use of a private email server as secretary of state, sidestepped a question about whether the Biden controversy makes him a weaker candidate.

The reactions signal just how contentious the Democratic primary could become in the months ahead if it unfolds against the backdrop of impeachment proceedings in Congress. Even as Biden's leading competitors for the Democratic presidential nomination accuse Trump of abusing the power of his office, they have been willing to let Biden navigate the situation on his own.

snip

It fell to candidates largely outside the top tier to offer strong defenses of Biden.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, on CNN rejected questions about Biden, calling that "whataboutism" that allows Republicans to avoid scrutiny on "an extraordinary, perhaps unprecedented, breach of the oath of office by the American president."

When Trump tweeted this week that he expected "transparency" from the Bidens, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker answered him: "Well, we found one thing that's transparent: your deception. We're not going to let you do this again to another patriot."

Even former U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro, who memorably attacked Biden during a Sept. 12 debate by falsely accusing the 76-year-old of forgetting his own health care proposals, weighed in on Biden's behalf. "Donald Trump is trying to do to Joe Biden what he did to Hillary Clinton, to turn somebody who has given a lifetime of service and done it honorably into the victim of false accusations," Castro told reporters.


snip

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

28. I commend Elizabeth for what she said!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[peggysue2]

7. x1000!

Crawling over glass is exactly what we're looking at. And as Joe Biden said last night:

"I'm not going anywhere."

The GE will be brutal, ugly and messy. Joe Biden has already accumulated scar tissue from the primary. Listening to his fiery speech last night? He's ready to go, shield up, prepared for battle. Because he knows what's on the line.

And you're quite right. None of our candidates would be immune to the vicious attacks, the smears, the propaganda that will be thrown by the Trumpists. Anyone thinking that their candidate is above reproach, above the fray has not been paying attention. The Trumpists are locked and loaded.

But then, so is Joe, has been since Day 1.

The battle is approaching. We sure as hell better be ready.

[treestar]

10. Amen

FCOL, the Trump lying machine will have to be fought no matter who.

[Backseat Driver]

12. Thanks for pointing out the obvious ugliness we can expect -

I'm sure Joe is guilty of only one thing - being a concerned parent to his son. Hunter perhaps has had some unresolved adult-child issues to prove, but I'll not specify those here and who perhaps unwisely "acted (out)side the family goldfish bowl). That it is so easy to be a target when one plays with vast amounts of investment funds is perfectly understandable. The Ukrainians investigated and found no corruption; don't think the Chinese would either. Long-game globalist actors don't play on an agenda of unrest and war as it uses up and corrupts resources every person requires; short-term manipulators do that even when it's inefficient to divide and conquer. (Putin). Sort of this difference: candy's dandy versus liquor's quicker mentalities.

What I find disgusting is the undisciplined bullying mouth that convicts himself and his half-witted Adoration team's support trying to cover up that this "stable genius" has a myriad of issues that make him unfit to have even taken that oath of office. Every day it's some new tweeting wrinkle of projection and misdirection that underscores, obstructs, and denies those issues and damages America. ENOUGH!

Welcome to DU!

[loyalsister]

14. The arguments against the attacks are important

There was nothing substantial they could use against Obama. Although they tried the 2nd amendment thing to no avail.

Are they easy to make? As in, does it require research and analysis to dismantle the claims.
Are they based on or tied to anything real, related, or serious?

Worries about Bernie's health are difficult to argue against. It would be difficult to do away with an argument based on that because there are a lot of reasonable "what ifs" lurking in terms of age and health. One that nags at me is what if an incident like 9/11 or the Cuban missle crisis happened today and the president was hospitalized? Of course the VP would be there. Still, we put our trust in the president.
The same goes for Biden and to a lesser degree, Warren. The same argument applies to Trump.

Claims of pedophilia are foolish and the people who go along with it are likely to be those who fell for the birther claims. I don't think there are enough to outweigh Trump's liabilities.

I disagree with your disregard for enthusiasm. That is what drives the volunteers, the t-shirt advertisers, and the people who are willing to wait in line, in the rain to vote. They are essential and they did not volunteer or show up in 2016.

I was enthusiastic and confident about Obama the candidate. I also volunteered. I don't have the same confidence or enthusiasm for any of our candidates. I would be more enthusiastic about a younger Elizabeth Warren, and keep hoping one of the younger candidates will break out. I am skeptical of some of them and have yet to be convinced to override it. The DNA test was misguided and the claim of Native American heritage was foolish. I do think it's much less serious than arguments against our other leading candidates.

Our candidates have good qualities and I will vote for any of them as nominee ( though some reluctantly). I would much rather have a candidate who I embraced the way I did Obama. Thankfully, I am seeing a great deal of enthusiasm for other candidates and I think it's important.

[Jarqui]

15. They damaged Hillary with relentless attacks like this

They got a substantial portion of the public believing Obama was a Muslim born in Kenya.

We have to call them out. We have to get the media on them. etc.

We have to fight back better than we did before.

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Trump has given us volumes of material. So have the GOP. We need to kick their tin foil wrapped heads in with it.

[Cha]

17. Damn straight it can and will happen to

any candidate who is the front runner. It just happens to be Joe Biden right now.. who is the one who took the fight right to trump in his launch video.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

29. Not for much longer!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[emmaverybo]

31. He was the first one to do so and he has continued to. His Iowa speech framed the battle and he drew

a line from Charlottesville on through Trump’s presidency, getting to the heart of his unfitness to lead America. You bet Trump has it in for Biden.

[Demsrule86]

18. Great post...thanks for this K&R

[LiberalLovinLug]

19. You make a great case for Sanders, Warren.

That has been the argument from those supporters for a while now. When Biden supporters go off about how Sanders will be attacked, or Warren, or ANY candidate if they dare to be too "left" or progressive. But as you inferred, even Biden will be accused of being a dastardly evil Socialist.

So why not vote for a candidate that will bring real change? If it doesn't matter who is our candidate is in regards to being smeared?

[macwriter]

20. MAKING THE CASE, REGARDLESS

Good point, I agree with your argument. All I'm trying to say is that I will vote and work my butt off for my neighbor's dog, Samantha, if she is the nominee, knowing she'll be branded a "bitch" from day one. I'm in Biden's camp now, but I will bring my enthusiasm and drive to whoever we nominate. But we shouldn't kid ourselves that our candidate won't be relentlessly smeared, regardless of who he or she might be.
Thanks for the comment.

[LiberalLovinLug]

21. Thanks for the respectful response

I too will support any Democratic candidate. The very country is at stake.

My argument is against those that believe we have to pull back on more progressive policies, in order not to scare independents and shaky Rs. So what happens is we tend to lean towards the most status quo, established Democratic candidate, and are always perpetually afraid to push for any more substantial progressive policies, like universal single payer for example.

Meanwhile Republicans, as soon as they steal their way into power, immediately set about to enact extreme tax cuts to their wealthy donors and themselves. Or ban Muslims, or separate family migrants, allow industry into national parks, etc etc..

So over the course of say 20, 30 years, the country, on average, moves steadily to the right. When we are too scared to push for progressive changes, (by electing candidates that push for that), they meanwhile are eager to enact right wing changes whenever they can. Thus compounding any chance to get back to any kind of moderate policies.

Obama's success I think is an example of this wrong headedness. Now many progressives were somewhat disappointed in Obama's seemingly shift to the center/right once in power, dropping things like his oath to include a Public Option, and renewing the Bush Tax cuts. Not being tough enough on the Wall Street thieves, or the war criminals that preceded him. That's not to say he did not do a lot of great work in a lot of areas. (Which Trump is dismantling piece by piece.) But that said, ...Obama was the PERCEIVED more progressive/left candidate, whether he actually was or not. And he won over Hillary, who was a very popular person and candidate at the time. Not to mention the first time a woman ran for President. But he still won. Democratic voters really really want a leader that is not afraid to stand up to the RW media and not be intimidated by the GOP, NRA, or Putin.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

30. BINGO!!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[Gothmog]

39. Donald Trump has abused the foreign policy of the United States to extract personal, political favor

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

41. Opinion: Biden's words should be echoed by all debate participants

Link to tweet

Former vice president Joe Biden, speaking in New Hampshire on Wednesday, delivered a searing denunciation of President Trump. “The ballot box is sacred ground in America. That’s where we make our voices heard. That’s where we decide who leads us. … It’s not complicated. It’s called democracy. We believe Americans should decide American elections. Period,” he said. “But Donald Trump will do anything to get reelected, including violating the most basic forms of democracy. That’s stunning — and that’s dangerous — because it directly threatens our democracy.” He argued, “No president in American history has ever dared to engage in such unimaginable behavior. With his words and his actions, President Trump has indicted himself.”

As for the obstruction of Congress, expressed in an amateurish, angry letter from the White House counsel refusing to cooperate with congressional oversight and inquiry into impeachment, Biden said, “By obstructing justice and refusing to comply with the congressional inquiry, he’s already convicted himself. In full view of the world and the American people, Donald Trump has violated his oath of office, betrayed this nation and committed impeachable acts. To preserve our Constitution, our democracy and our basic integrity, he should be impeached.”

Biden made a key point, rebutting the nonsensical argument that we should just leave him in office for more than a year to commit more constitutional mayhem. “He believes the entire United States government can be corrupted into furthering his personal political needs,” Biden explained. “He is even willing to hold Congress and congressionally appropriated aid to a foreign nation hostage to his personal political demands. He believes if he does something, it’s legal.” Biden argued that Trump “believes there is nothing we can do about it. He believes he can and will get away with anything he does. We all laughed when he said he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and get away with it. It’s no joke. He is shooting holes in the Constitution. We cannot let him get away with it.”.....

Each and every candidate should refuse to entertain questions accusing Biden or his son of wrongdoing. The only acceptable answer is something along these lines: “The allegations are false and have been repeatedly debunked. Raising the issue gives into Trump’s false equivalence and abuse of objective reality.”

Asked if they would allow their own children to engage in business, they should direct the moderators and audience back to the regrettably underexamined corruption stemming from Trump’s daughter and son-in-law working in the White House while making millions. For that, the appropriate response is that “Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump should be subject to scrutiny for any violations of U.S. law, including the foreign bribery statutes, and held accountable to the full extent of the law.”

[yardwork]

22. You're absolutely correct. We fight this or we lose. Simple as that.

If the Democrats allow the Republicans to smear Biden like this, we will lose in 2020.

[SKKY]

23. I agree 110%. Time to put on our big boy pants and do work...

...Don The Con. Say it early, and say it often. With all due respect, "going high" didn't do much for us last time. American wants a fight. Lets give them one.

[Gothmog]

25. So far trump's attacks are not working

Link to tweet

[emmaverybo]

26. Great post.

[guillaumeb]

32. Welcome to DU, and well done.

Recommended.

[FloridaBlues]

33. Macwriter couldn't agree more

[UncleNoel]

35. Biden Supporters: Stand up for our Man

I am doubling my modest contributions this month. Gotta give him a boost in funds to match his popularity in the polls. It is true that the enthusiastic progressives are sucking up the donations, but the voters, who are not yet in the donation line, so it is u t us!!!

[Gothmog]

36. From Joe's Washington Post editorial

This is a good message and is sufficient for me

Link to tweet

Enough is enough. Every day — every few hours, seemingly — more evidence is uncovered revealing that President Trump is abusing the power of the presidency and is wholly unfit to be president. He is using the highest office in the land to advance his personal political interests instead of the national interest.

The president’s most recent violation of the rule of law — openly calling for China to interfere in our elections, as he stood on the South Lawn of the White House — is so outrageous, it’s clear he considers the presidency a free pass to do whatever he wants, with no accountability. ….

It is easy to be distracted by Trump’s daily outrages — to become obsessed with them or numb to them, or to normalize behavior that Americans would not have tolerated in any of the previous presidents in the nation’s history. Not me. While the House does its job on impeachment, I’m going to stay focused on what matters: remaking education so every child in the country is equipped to succeed in the 21st century; getting weapons of war off the streets and ending the epidemic of gun violence; building on Obamacare so that every American has access to quality, affordable health care; taking on the climate emergency imperiling the planet; and much more. I’m going to fight to ensure that the United States is once again the leader of the free world; a champion of democracy; and the bulwark of a stable, peaceful international order.

And to Trump and those who facilitate his abuses of power, and all the special interests funding his attacks against me: Please know that I’m not going anywhere. You won’t destroy me, and you won’t destroy my family. And come November 2020, I intend to beat you like a drum.

[Gothmog]

37. @realDonaldTrump 's attacks on Hunter Biden aren't hurting the Democratic frontrunner

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

38. @JoeBiden camp punches back to Trump tweets:

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

40. 'There's nothing discernible to show Biden's been punched in the nose'

Link to tweet

Joe Biden has been under sustained assault from President Trump for more than two weeks.

But there’s little evidence that Biden has been significantly bloodied, according to a raft of new polls.
Story Continued Below

In more than a dozen state and national Democratic primary polls since Trump launched his near-daily fusillade of attacks accusing Biden and his son, Hunter, of corrupt business dealings in Ukraine, Biden’s standing has remained largely static.

“There’s nothing discernable to show Biden’s been punched in the nose over Ukraine,” said Tim Malloy, pollster with Quinnipiac University, which released a survey Tuesday showing Biden has lost no support from Democratic voters since its last poll released Sept. 25.