The unsinkable Joe Biden? Many months and many gaffes later, Biden is still ahead

[Gothmog]

I love the fact that all of the attacks on Joe have failed

Link to tweet

Joe Biden is beginning 2020 the same way he began 2019: a front-runner in a presidential primary race in which many expected him to flame out early.

The former vice president has been attacked more by rivals and President Donald Trump than any other candidate in the race, and he’s arguably made more unforced errors than any other Democrat, but his position in the polls has not budged: He was averaging 29 percent in polls the day before he entered the race, and he's at 28 percent now.

"He's had the kitchen sink thrown at him," said former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who considered running for president himself but has instead helped fundraise for Biden. "Voters have seen all this information that's been thrown at him, and they've concluded that he is still the best person to beat Donald Trump."...

Biden was the main target in early debates, particularly when Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., attacked him on busing and race, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro seemed to question the former vice president's mental fitness.

Both Harris and Castro have since quit the race, and Biden has emerged from the most recent debates, particularly the December debate in Los Angeles, largely unscathed.

[Voltaire2]

1. Perhaps not the best quality in a candidate.

[LakeArenal]

3. Love when undecided pan a candidate.

Try supporting one not panning one.

[Beartracks]

6. Withstanding BS attacks is not a good quality?

[bearsfootball516]

9. Considering how many attacks Trump is going to throw at our candidiate

I would much rather prefer one whose polls numbers are rock steady over one whose continually dive.

[DownriverDem]

12. Focus

Biden can win enough states to beat trump. That's all that matters.

[BannonsLiver]

23. Resilience is a great quality in a candidate.

[flamingdem]

2. We're lucky we have him

Go Joe!

[LakeArenal]

4. I don't think he "gaffes" anymore than any other.

Just like Ford wasn’t as clumsy as purported. More legend than real.

[PatSeg]

7. You know

I've said that for a long time. Years ago the mainstream media put that tag on Joe and since then, whenever he makes a mistake or even when he doesn't make a mistake, lazy pundits tend to yell "Gaffe prone". All candidates make mistakes, but not all have that tag attached to them.

Then there is the fact that Joe doesn't stick to scripted political talking points. He is very human and talks like a real person. Mistakes can happen or truthful answers can be quoted out of context. People get tired of stiff, scripted politicians. They respond to authenticity and as such, they'll forgive imperfect remarks. It is the person, first and foremost that they will vote for.

I think Joe rises above the "legends".

[emmaverybo]

16. Yes. Some of the others have canned lectures or harangues they keep repeating, replete

with their own buzz phrases and words. But Biden “talks like a real person” and he also does a great job when reading a speech of making it sound heart-felt.

Biden’s communication abilities are much underestimated. Few speakers are able to make an emotional connection with audience across various formats. And what a relief it is not to see a bobbing head, flailing or pumping arm, a hyped up speaker whose amped vocals and busy gestures become exhausting. He’s a poised speaker without pretension.

[PatSeg]

18. That sums it up so well

When you genuinely connect with people, they are less inclined to notice any mistakes you might make. He communicates from the heart, as well as the mind. When you see Joe Biden meeting with a voter at campaign events, he looks at them like they are the only person in the room. Even in his own grief, he will reach out touch others who are hurting.

I've never seen a politician with so much heart. People trust him for a reason.

[emmaverybo]

21. In a nutshell, PatSeg YOU sum up how he really moves folks, the essence of his appeal.

[paleotn]

11. That's probably closer to the truth.

[Beartracks]

5. And aren't they only called gaffes when Biden does them?

=======

[PatSeg]

8. Ha, ha, good point!

I think the definition of "gaffe" in the dictionary says: "Verbal mistakes that Joe Biden makes".

[George II]

14. "I said black 50 times, there I said it 51 times..." - NOT a gaffe.

[crazytown]

10. "He's had the kitchen sink thrown at him"

Biden has not had the kitchen sink thrown at him. Booker picked up the Crime Bill, at one stage, but put it down again. Warren has passed up every opportunity to explain why his Bankruptcy Act was a disaster for the American people that helped throw millions out of their homes during the Great Recession.

But these sinks should be left in the kitchen, IMO. They are not major vulnerabilities in the GE. Bankruptcy in particular, is one issue the GOP will want to stay away from. Bernie's idea of votes for incarcerated death row/ capital crime felons is another matter. Like Willie Horton, it's been noticed by the GOP, and will be used to effect if trump needs it.

[George II]

13. "Timex, it takes a licking and keeps on ticking!"

[kurtcagle]

15. Quietly Impressed with Biden

I supported Harris when she first threw her hat in the ring, and I've long admired Elizabeth Warren. However, Biden has surprised me, and I find myself leaning more and more in his direction.

Biden brings several qualities with him as a candidate. The first and foremost is compassion. Everyone who has commented on Biden admits that he exudes a sense of honesty, calmness, and the willingness to listen to others. That's an important trait, especially in light of the ugliness of Trump and those he surrounds himself with. I think that is one of the reasons that he will likely do well in the Midwest and the Southeast. Obama had that, but, as much as I admired her competency, I think Hillary Clinton had trouble relating with people in the same way. Bill Clinton was oratorically skilled, but I always had a sense with him that he was a bit on the smarmy side, even before Lewinski. I suspect after the psychological horror that Trump has brought, Biden may very well be a balm to give people hope again.

Biden is also considerably smarter than he lets on, but like a lot of self-aware people, he knows that this can be offputting to those around him, so he tends to play up his goofy side. That self-effacement can sometimes work against being a politician, but Biden has literally had a very hands-on role both in turning around a potential economic collapse and dealing with a complex, ever-evolving foreign affairs environment ... and he did it all primarily in the background, out of the public eye.

People trust Biden. World leaders trust Biden, because he was often the point man who would interact with those same people (who were usually themselves in #2 or #3 positions in government at the time). They respect him, because they know that he keeps his word, even when its hard. This so completely contrasts with Trump that Biden makes Trump look like a criminal, without

I'm going to make a prediction here. This election is not going to be about policy. Hillary Clinton made that mistake, and it cost her. It's going to be more visceral, more about the values that we want in our leadership, about intangibles. I can trust that Biden is going to do the good thing, that he will find the people in his administration that have integrity and the desire to make a difference for the country, not just their own naked ambitions.

[emmaverybo]

17. Wow. Insightful and eloquent analysis. I am saving. Right now policy appeal is running neck

and neck (will be when Warren starts cli bing again) with the visceral appeal to basic values. I think your prediction interesting and it may hold.

[PatSeg]

19. That was beautifully said

and describes the way I see Joe Biden perfectly.

I've said frequently lately that though policy is important, people are looking at the person first and foremost. They are hungry for character, integrity, and decency. I have a feeling most foreign leaders will be very happy to see Joe Biden in the White House...............well, maybe not Putin!

[NYMinute]

20. The so called "gaffes" was a media and Sirota creation

This is not an issue election. This is a "defeat Trump" election and all the plans for this and plans for that and free this and free that is irrelevant and immaterial. Joe is the candidate and the only candidate who has support from sea to shining sea.

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. I was most disappointed in Harris because I had held out hope that she would be Joe's VP pick.

If he chooses her, I'll support his choice, but I don't think I'll ever feel the same toward her or Julian.

[TidalWave46]

24. Going after his character will get you a slap in the face.

And going after his political history takes more than a soundbite so more often than not they come off looking angry/unhinged and as if they are an attack on his character.

First up were those who attempted to bastardize the #metoo movement to bring Biden down. They got slapped quickly for their bullshit. They actually damaged the movement with their BS.

Get ready Biden. I don't think they learned a thing.

[Scurrilous]

25. K&R

[PubliusEnigma]

26. Joe's got it in the bag.

[Gothmog]

27. "He's had the kitchen sink thrown at him," said former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe

Link to tweet

[dware]

28. What's endearing of him to me

is his gaffes, it proves to me that he's just an ordinary guy who makes mistakes, just like the rest of us normal folks.

[Gothmog]

29. The media finally discovered Joe Biden

Link to tweet

The media’s breathless horse-race reporting missed what is evident in Biden’s steady polling numbers: The fashionable cloak of cynicism, the anger of social media and the progressive world’s obsession with ideological purity are largely absent from Biden’s supporters. Instead of fixating on all the reasons voters shouldn’t remain attached to Biden, reporters and pundits might have done better listening to his supporters. They might have grasped Biden supporters’ depth of affection and their fervent desire to stop the craziness.

Literally and figuratively, the media too often looked in the wrong direction at campaign events; rather than watch the candidate for the umpteenth time give his or her stump speech, reporters would do better to face the crowd and study voters’ reaction. After all, it is not what reporters think of a candidate’s performance that decides the race, but what ordinary voters do.

Whether it was missing the white resentment of President Trump’s rural, non-college educated base in 2016 or failing to comprehend the extent of women voters’ visceral reaction to Trump’s rhetoric and inhumane policies of Trump in 2018, a good deal of the media routinely misses the handwriting on the wall, or at least is late to decipher it.

Blind spots will not disappear so long as the campaign press corps remain homogeneous (largely white, college-educated, secularized and young) and so long as they spend far too much time on social media listening to each other rather than out talking to voters who do not share their life experience and perspectives.

None of this is to say that Biden is a shoo-in to win the nomination or that his voters cannot be wooed away by other candidates. However, we learn more about the shape of the race by listening to why people bind to a particular candidate and whether there are enough of such voters to deliver sufficient delegates than we do by listening to the media postulate as to why Biden couldn’t win. In other words, reporters should focus on voters and stay away from social media.

[Gothmog]

30. Joe Biden shows strength in Democratic race weeks from Iowa

Link to tweet

Less than four weeks from the Iowa caucuses, former Vice President Joe Biden in many ways appears to be in a stronger position now than he was when he entered the 2020 presidential race.

Biden has defied perceptions that he is a weak front-runner, retaining his strength with non-white voters and ranking consistently as the candidate likely voters believe has the best chance to defeat President Donald Trump. Predictions that his age, penchant for gaffes and lengthy record would be his undoing have not come true.

Now, a confluence of events in the lead-up to the first primary votes being cast are playing to Biden's strengths.
National headlines have been dominated by the turmoil in Iraq and Iran, amplifying Biden's core message that he has the most experience on the world stage to be president.

"There is a smart way to counter them, to counter Iran -- and a self-defeating way. Trump's approach in my view is demonstrably the latter," Biden said in a foreign policy speech Tuesday in New York.

And with electability remaining at the forefront of Democratic voters' minds, Biden is racking up endorsements, including several from swing-district congressional Democrats this week.

[Gothmog]

31. This Joe Biden ad really hits home

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

32. Joe Biden is the only candidate fit to contest Trump in what is now a foreign policy election

Link to tweet

Given that this election is likely to be dominated by foreign policy issues, the President that we need to succeed Trump is Joe Biden. The all other Democratic candidates have their virtues, but they are lacking foreign policy experience, expertise, and, most importantly, getting it right when it counts.

For Biden, foreign policy would not require on-the-job training. He played a central role in bringing about the Iran nuclear deal, assembling the multi-national coalition against ISIS, and worked to ratify the New START treaty with Russia. As a Senator, he quarterbacked legislative action to bring an end to the heinous genocidal wars in the Balkans during the 1990s.

Many of the former Vice President's critics posit that should he win the nomination, he will be swift-boated by Ukraine. But after two general election victories as Barack Obama's running mate, Joe Biden demonstrated that he knows how to punch back. Not only is there no proof that he did nothing wrong, but this is going to prove to be a trial by fire and make him a stronger candidate for the general election.

Donald Trump promised Americans that they would be winning so often they would get tired of it. While Trump is likely to win his trial in the Senate, we know that his reelection is a risky bet America cannot afford. Joe Biden is the best prepared candidate to build a better, stronger world order out of the wreckage this administration would leave behind.

[Hortensis]

33. We want to elect a president for domestic policy, but we are forced to

also choose for a foreign-policy president who can oversee putting the planet as well as our nation back on course. I look over the field, and Biden is the one who can do both well.

299 days to November 3 and electing a real president and Democrat congress.