Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumBlack lawmakers call Biden surrogate's comments racist, demand former VP disavow
I am not racially motivated in any of this, Harpootlian said. I will not be silenced by those who use race as a shield from criticism. ... This is an effort to shield themselves by saying this is racist.https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-lawmakers-demand-biden-disavow-surrogate-s-racist-comments-n1131531
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Black lawmakers in South Carolina are calling on former Vice President Joe Biden to disavow statements from a longtime friend and campaign surrogate that they say are racist.
About half of the 45-member Legislative Black Caucus held a news conference on Wednesday blasting Democratic state Sen. Dick Harpootlian for remarks they contend insinuated that their groups chairman had been bought by Biden rival Tom Steyer because he was paid for his work for Steyers campaign. They said Biden, who is running for president and is a top contender in the upcoming South Carolina primary, should distance himself from Harpootlian following the comments.
We ask that he do it publicly, and that he do it now, House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford said. His refusal to do so will not go over well in the black community, and it certainly will not go over well with members of the Black Caucus that are standing behind me. Harpootlian denies that his comments were racially motivated. Biden spokeswoman Paige Hill said Wednesday that Harpootlian does not speak for the Biden campaign.
The fight broke out just over three weeks before South Carolinas presidential primary, the first voting contest in the South. The majority of South Carolinas Democratic voting electorate is black, a demographic that overwhelmingly supports Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential race. Biden is working to find his footing after a struggling showing in Iowas first-in-the-nation caucuses on Monday.
snip
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
EveHammond13
(2,855 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Celerity
(43,357 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
brush
(53,778 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)Is he pocketing the dough or redistributing the wealth? Harpootlian asked, referring to Govan.
Harpootlian also told the Post and Courier newspaper of South Carolina: He told me he was with Joe Biden until Mr. Moneybags showed up. He continued: This is what happens when billionaires get involved, whether its Donald Trump or Tom Steyer. They just buy things. They dont have to persuade anybody, they just buy them.
Link to tweet
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
brush
(53,778 posts)copy and paste it in the post if it's such a big deal to the poster?
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)I could have put the tweet in the OP and more links, but I was watching the debate
my apologies
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
EveHammond13
(2,855 posts)on today of all days
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
MindMover
(5,016 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
cwydro
(51,308 posts)When it rains, it pours.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
TwilightZone
(25,471 posts)and hadnt consulted the campaign before making any comments"
"Biden spokeswoman Paige Hill said Wednesday that Harpootlian does not speak for the Biden campaign."
"Surrogate" seems like a rather inaccurate word to use for this relationship.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
PatSeg
(47,430 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/02/can-joe-biden-come-back-from-the-brink-new-hampshire
https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/steyer-campaign-paid-top-black-sc-legislator-k-to-serve/article_1ba81bb4-4829-11ea-add7-d3c35a3897ea.html
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)....false, an exaggeration, or an intended smear by those writing the article.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)A surrogate is one who speaks for the campaign in an OFFICIAL capacity.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)Harpootlian is an member of Biden's campaign finance committee
https://thehill.com/homenews/the-memo/477803-the-memo-four-democrats-race-for-iowa-prize
Link to tweet
he is also a bundler for Biden
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/16/biden-fundraising-2020-049062
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-raises-more-than-100000-at-south-carolina-fundraiser/
Columbia, S.C. Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign raised more than $100,000 Saturday night at a fundraiser that brought together the upper echelon of South Carolina Democratic politics, an informed source told CBS News. The fundraiser was organized and hosted by state Sen. Richard "Dick" Harpootlian, a former state party chairman and one of the state's most influential powerbrokers.
Harpootlian was an official precinct captain for Biden
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20200204/iowa-releases-71-of-caucus-results-with-buttigieg-and-sanders-in-lead
Or are you going to now go down the Sanders primrose path and claim that the media is out to get Biden?
It was a shit thing to say, and all Biden needs to do is to disavow it.
Dick Harpootlian has long standing ties with Biden and a history of controversy.
here is a 2015 article
The Unofficial Spokesperson For Bidens Unofficial Presidential Campaign Could Be A Problem
Joe Biden might run for president. He might not. But the consideration of a run has already drawn him closer to a person former South Carolina Democratic chair Dick Harpootlian who could be a liability the moment Biden made it official.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on August 25, 2015, at 3:16 p.m. ET
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/evanmcsan/joe-biden-dick-harpootlian
WASHINGTON For Vice President Biden, the presidential speculation that has lit up political coverage in recent weeks is all about South Carolina. And that means it's all about Biden's loudest, brashest, and most public supporter: former state Democratic Party Chair Dick Harpootlian.
That could be a problem.
But, in an era in which an increasingly diversified Democratic coalition stresses the politics of inclusive language, Harpootlian's got a mouth on him one that sometimes brings joy to Democrats, often brings eyerolls, and on many occasions has at least skirted with the line if not outright crossed it.
"Dick is like a great defensive end in football," South Carolina' last Democratic governor, Jim Hodges, a Hillary Clinton supporter, told BuzzFeed News in an interview earlier this month. "He's going to get you a lot of sacks but on occasion he's going to get you a roughness call."
snip
here is a WaPo article from when Biden first entered the race
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-vice-president-joe-biden-jumps-into-white-house-race/2019/04/25/093ff596-0aef-11e9-88e3-989a3e456820_story.html
A broader network of friends and former aides has signaled hope for months that Biden would enter the race so they can join his campaign, an advantage his aides hope will allow him to quickly pull together a large organization. An underwhelming fundraiser in his first two campaigns for president, he is likely to be aided this time by deep-pocketed donors he got to know during the Obama years.
We need to get more pragmatic and understand that Joe Biden is the only real chance to win in 2020, said Dick Harpootlian, former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. My concern is our nominee has to be able to carry Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan and I dont see that in any of these other folks.
snip
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)....here in 2020 (still waiting to see what that "racist" comment was), and is loosely, VERY loosely, connected to Biden, and the Biden campaign is being bashed because of it.
And now we're given a 2015 buzzfeed article claiming that Harpootlian (a SANDERS supporter) is Biden's biggest liability in 2016?
As they like to say, "connect the dots".
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)finance committee in 2012
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443294904578042993550945404
as he stated himself he was, in 2016, more anti-Hillary than pro-Bernie
also
it is simply not true to say he is
as shown by my reply, you do not let very loosely people on your finance committee, nor give stump speeches, nor let them be precinct captains for your campaign in a state they are not even from, nor go around to multiple states acting as a surrogate
Harpootlian was the head of the South Carolina Democratic Party as well, he is a huge power broker in the state
he a hosted fundraiser for Biden in his own house
Biden raises more than $100,000 at South Carolina fundraiser
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-raises-more-than-100000-at-south-carolina-fundraiser/
Super PAC reveals the big donors bankrolling Biden onslaught in Iowa
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/31/super-pac-big-donors-biden-iowa-110081
here is the quote btw
it was in the OP link
another poster up at the top asked the same thing and I already replied a while back
Is he pocketing the dough or redistributing the wealth? Harpootlian asked, referring to Govan.
Harpootlian also told the Post and Courier newspaper of South Carolina: He told me he was with Joe Biden until Mr. Moneybags showed up. He continued: This is what happens when billionaires get involved, whether its Donald Trump or Tom Steyer. They just buy things. They dont have to persuade anybody, they just buy them.
Link to tweet
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)about the finance committee
I have zero problem with ex-Bernie's ex national press secretary Symone Sanders working for Biden now
I have no issue with Biden on this whole thing other than I wish he would say what Harpootlian said was wrong
more background
Link to tweet
here is the article that excerpt is from
https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/02/03/richard-harpootlian-sharp-tongued-south-carolina-democrat-endorses-bernie-sanders/
snip
Mr. Harpootlian may be best remembered for showing up at a South Carolina campaign event in 2008 that Mr. Clinton was holding for his wifes presidential campaign. There, Mr. Harpootlian told reporters that the Clinton campaign was using reprehensible tactics against the Obama campaign and accused the former president of lying about Mr. Obama in order to continue some kind of Clinton dynasty.
Mr. Clinton dismissed the remark but then let loose with a torrent of criticism against the Obama campaign, Mr. Harpootlian and the news media a public outburst that was unusual for Mr. Clinton and that cast a pall over the primary race, which Mrs. Clinton went on to lose.
Mr. Harpootlian said he warned Mr. Sanders recently that his endorsement came with some baggage. He described the senator as unconcerned. Senator Sanders said he understood that I was supposed to be a pitbull and attack dog when I was party chairman, and sometimes you get carried away, Mr. Harpootlian said. He added that he did not plan to apologize for his past remarks.
Mr. Sanders has been insistent that he will not run a negative campaign against Mrs. Clinton or harshly attack her. When asked about Mr. Harpootlians history of negative remarks, Tad Devine, a senior adviser to Mr. Sanders, said, We cant be responsible for views of people who support Senator Sanders.
snip
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)....a reference to "Mr. Money Bags".
However, I see in the last sentence that Tad Devine is saying exactly what the Biden campaign is saying about Mr. Harpootlian, i.e.: "We cant be responsible for views of people who support Senator Sanders (VP Biden)"
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)Is he pocketing the dough or redistributing the wealth? Harpootlian asked, referring to Govan.
Harpootlian also told the Post and Courier newspaper of South Carolina: He told me he was with Joe Biden until Mr. Moneybags showed up. He continued: This is what happens when billionaires get involved, whether its Donald Trump or Tom Steyer. They just buy things. They dont have to persuade anybody, they just buy them.
Link to tweet
have a great night George
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)We ask that he do it publicly, and that he do it now, House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford said. His refusal to do so will not go over well in the black community, and it certainly will not go over well with members of the Black Caucus that are standing behind me.
video
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)- Someone says something bad about someone
- Search for an ulterior motive, correct or not
- Find a (false) connection to a campaign
- Claim that candidate is "_______" (fill in the blank - racist, homophobic, nasty, etc.)
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
still_one
(92,190 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
aikoaiko
(34,170 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
TwilightZone
(25,471 posts)It seems a particularly odd assertion in a thread that has nothing to do with him.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
aikoaiko
(34,170 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
TwilightZone
(25,471 posts)Sure, go with that.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)...of course something that happened almost 2 days ago HAS to be "the story"!
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)I searched DU and did not find it posted before
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Voltaire2
(13,033 posts)This is a outrage! Call immediately!
Oh and Biden, eh, not so much tonight.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
George II
(67,782 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Voltaire2
(13,033 posts)candidates who will be exiting real soon?
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
George II
(67,782 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Voltaire2
(13,033 posts) but since Biden did so great tonight....
And it wasnt me.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
George II
(67,782 posts)"So he came in behind one of the othet candidates who will be exiting real soon?"
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
R B Garr
(16,953 posts)from Petes poor showing in the AA polls in South Carolina.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)Ho-hum performance in the N.H. Debate...
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
oasis
(49,383 posts)they wouldn't have time to run their campaigns.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
brutus smith
(685 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)Or havent you heard?
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
brutus smith
(685 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Kentonio
(4,377 posts)How is what he said in any way racist?
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
George II
(67,782 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)Cuz you are tenacious.
Keep up the good fight.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)If Biden is criticized by someone, is that person anti-Catholic or Irish? No.
That comment had no racial undertones whatsoever.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
denem
(11,045 posts)Is he pocketing the dough or redistributing the wealth?
That is a serious charge.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)For the Black Caucus to explain what they are using the Steyer money for? Im assuming Govan isnt taking back handers...
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
highplainsdem
(48,976 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Politicub
(12,165 posts)if history serves as a guide.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Gothmog
(145,231 posts)Link to tweet
We have hit the ground for local races, presidential races and everything in between knocking on doors in rural communities and making phone calls into urban neighborhoods. We have had big wins and suffered some tough losses, but we are lucky to speak with so many voters in our communities.
It is safe to say that I know what South Carolina voters are looking for in 2020.....
Sanders divisive and baseless attacks wont get him anywhere in the Palmetto State. And Sanders is proving to us once again that he just does not know or understand South Carolina voters.
By contrast former Vice President Joe Biden knows us like the back of his hand. And we know him.
Joe has more relationships in our communities than anyone else in this race.
He has more history with our communities than anyone else in this race.
And Joe is more comfortable in our communities than anyone else in this race.
Read more here: https://www.thestate.com/opinion/article239256523.html#storylink=cpy
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Celerity
(43,357 posts)I do agree that his campaign is full of dirty tricks though, more than all of the rest of the Democratic campaigns combined.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden