If Joe Biden does NOT run

[KayF]

it will be the first Democratic primaries since the Iraq War that won't have a candidate that voted for the Iraq War Resolution.

If he does run, then once again, a leading Democratic candidate for the nomination will be a senator that voted for the IWR.

[beachbum bob]

1. little if any issue with people today, doesn;t really matter with what out current issues are

outside of still dealing with the failed outcome that couldn;t been stopped except by Colin Powell and he failed to do his duty to America

[loyalsister]

34. Unless they had peers who died over there

Our culture of endless war and dismissing the humanitarian damage while we empty our treasury to spend on it is something they are going to be paying for for a long long time.

The younger candidates and voters have a different perspective because they came of age at a time of endless war, if not there themselves, the they lost people to it in one way or another. I recently had a conversation with my younger sister who tearfully talked about no longer being able to relate to a childhood friend who spent time in Iraq. I hope it matters to them that their elders stuck them with this wreck that has not fully ended yet.

[LuvNewcastle]

2. It's a stain on his record, for sure, but I don't think it will hurt him much.

If he doesn't get the nomination, it will be because Democrats want to move on past the 9/11 era. Biden's vote will just be seen as a wrong turn the country made in response to terrorism.

[lark]

3. He's certainly not perfect, has some bad moments over the years, but I still think he's the best.

He's the common working man who loves and cares for his family above all. He's turned very anti-war since that vote and I believe has said multiple times that it was a mistake. He was the voice in the Obama admin. that most wanted to end the wars - by far the most antiwar person in the room.

If he doesn't get in, I suspect it will be if he doesn't have the burning fire in his belly to personally make things right in this country. I still think he has a unique ability to do this and want him to run, but he's got to really want it first. if he doesn't run, we still have some very good candidates, I just think Joe would easily win and bring back PA, MI and WI to the blue tent and so we will the presidency back.

[LuvNewcastle]

5. We should all know by now that there is no perfect candidate.

I think the trick will be to find the right person who can anchor the country in these uncertain times. Hopefully at least one of our candidates can do that.

[lark]

7. Yep, my thoughts exactly.

Joe could and would win and totally change the direction of the country, especially with a Dem Senate to add to the House Democratic control.

[Cha]

6. Good post, lark.. I think that's the essence

of Joe Biden, too.

Mahalo

[lark]

8. Thanks Cha.

Mahalo to you as well -

[Peacetrain]

12. That is exactly my feelings also..

He is not perfect, but there are few better than him to get our government back up and running from the disaster we have now

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

37. Common working man?

I have seen this description elsewhere. I am curious about why people think this.

From what I can see on the net Biden was raise poor to lower middle class, though he attended a private high school. From there he went to college and law school. Started practicing law and joined the senate at age 30. He has been in national politics since 1972.

His father may have been a common working man (unemployed, selling used cars, etc.), but Biden seems to have moved up the socio-economic ladder. This is the traditional American Dream - each generation doing better than the last. But that does not make Biden a common working man.

Some may argue that he retains that perspective from his childhood. It is possible. But my personal experience argues against this. My family was poor when I was young. We were on food stamps and at one point we were homeless. But since then, my siblings and I have used educational opportunities to pull ourselves out of poverty and into middle class livelihoods. I still recall being poor, and it has shaped some of my character. But my current politics and perspectives are firmly entrenched in the middle class as that is who I grew into.

While it is certainly possible that Biden somehow gained the perspective of his working class father and maintained it since childhood despite the fact that his own adult experience is comprised of four years as an attorney and forty-four years as a national leader in Washington. But I find it unlikely.

This is to to say he is not a viable candidate for president, simply that I don’t understand the ‘common working man’ appellation.

[lark]

39. It's more from his personal attributes, I think.

When he got elected, he didn't uproot his family, but commuted to DC every day on a train so his kids could stay in their schools and not be uprooted and he could continue to be with them every night. Most Senators get an apt. in DC and stay there or uproot their families - Joe did neither.

Also, Joe always stands up for working class people.

I think those are the 2 reasons.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

40. Thanks. That helps.

So it is more he is a champion of the common working people?

As for moving ... twice when I took a new job in a different state I moved ahead, leaving my family so my children could finish out their school years (last year of middle school and last of high school). I made the effort to visit with them as often as possible (lots of miles on the car). I see that as caring for the family, not a trait limited to the working class.

It must have helped that he lived a train ride away from DC. I wonder what he would have done if he had been the Senator for Wyoming or New Mexico.

But I can see the positive contrast with the behavior of those that look at the job as the priority.

Thanks.

[KayF]

4. I'm not really thinking about Biden himself

I'm just pointing out a phenomenon, where senators who voted for the IWR have a surprising advantage in Democratic primaries.

Let me add that when those senators win our primary, they lose the general election.

[Agschmid]

15. Sooo there is just one example? Just one right? Am I wrong?

[Politicub]

17. It's an interesting fact.

I'm not sure if it will help or hurt him. Hillary voted for the resolution, too, and I don't remember it being much of an issue in the general election. There were some dustups during the primaries, though.

It's certainly not a point to place in the plus column, though.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

26. Sure seems that way... why not go with the one Senator who got the IWR vote right?!

I trust Bernie's judgment on foreign affairs and so many other issues. Judging by the polls, the American people do too.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Thekaspervote]

30. He stood by the NRA when they were money laundering for repukes .. not so trustworthy

[Renew Deal]

9. Most people aren't worried about that vote

2 out of 3 past nominees voted for it.

2004, 2016, and Hillary was close in 2008.

[sacto95834]

10. and the one who didn't vote for the IWR

WON.

[Renew Deal]

11. Not amongst Democrats

[sacto95834]

22. obama

am i wrong or is he not become POTUS? did i dream it?

[Renew Deal]

24. Check out the 2008 primary vote totals

https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/D.phtml

[sacto95834]

25. still won...

are you trying to re-write history? present alternative facts?

delegates are what count. did that change?

my point was Kerry, McCain and Clinton all lost - all voted for the IWR. Obama didn't and won. Why nominate Biden given the trend. Not that I'm all that superstitious.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

27. Point well taken... why Bernie is the clear choice this time around.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Renew Deal]

35. I don't think we should nominate him either

So there is no argument about that.

[Tarc]

38. You're reaching for a correlation that isn't there, kiddo

But the mental gymnastics you're doing to attack Biden are quite entertaining.

[David__77]

13. I'm more interested in his foreign policy views now.

Like for instance on Venezuela and Iran and Russia and North Korea. I want a candidate for peaceful engagement and economic development.

[Politicub]

18. Me, too

We were on a good path with improving relations with Iran before Trump took office. He set us back years.

[demmiblue]

21. Same. n/t

[UniteFightBack]

14. Is that what you're concerned with? Is that where your mind is? For fucks sake. nt

sup

[Kentonio]

16. Sorry, does the unnecessary deaths and maiming of over a million people have an expiry date?

This isn’t some small thing that people can say they evolved on. That vote cost huge numbers of human beings their lives, including thousands of Americans.

[brooklynite]

19. Voters have decided that other issues are more important today...

...as you presumably did in 2016, unless you're going to tell us you didn't vote for Clinton in the General Election.

[KayF]

20. voters decided that from the beginning

in every election after the Iraq war, Democratic primary voters arguably have favored pro-Iraq democratic candidates. This might be the first one, depending on what Biden does, where it's not a choice.

[Eric J in MN]

23. I'd rather that we nominate Bernie Sanders

Last edited Sun Mar 31, 2019, 07:52 AM - Edit history (1)

...who voted against the Iraq War.

Or Jay Inslee who also voted against the Iraq War.

[demosincebirth]

28. Soooo, what's your point? That's a known fact.

[SHRED]

29. Which for the Sarandons,...

....Steins, and Sanders group is a disqualifier.
We hear you.

Now let's beat Dump...okay?

[Thekaspervote]

31. +1000

[LakeArenal]

32. Hey, Bernie...

Show us your taxes...

[quickesst]

33. Fanning the flame.....,

...of a dying ember.

[LexVegas]

36. Are there any candidates that voted against the Brady Bill running?