General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: OMG after watching HRC on CNN... We HAVE to get her elected [View all]karynnj
(59,501 posts)As I said, polls showing him losing or tied with potential Republican nominee would be far more concerning Even a Biden vs generic Republican is a better guide. The problem with this format is that some solid Democrats might respond no Even though they would vote for him in a general election. (The example I mentioned was a poll taken in 2007 to make John Kerry look bad and if I remember right he got 48 or 49, but there were also a significant not sure. When he actually ran, he got nearly 66% of the vote.)
Another reason not to push this now is it makes Biden a lame duck now. He has gotten a wide range of legislation passed. The next 2 years are unlikely to have much new legislation. It will be tough just to get budgets and other necessary stuff done. However, the Senate can confirm judges and other people to positions needing confirmation.
Predicting how that will play is what campaign strategists are likely studying. Can Biden run against a do nothing, angry, House where Jordan is running crazy investigations? Will he be able to do enough via executive order? Will the Senate pass popular, bipartisan bills giving the House the choice of voting down stuff that is popular or allowing the Democrats to have a victory. Additionally, we have no idea how the investigations play out, but it's a pretty good bet that they pale in comparison to January 6, which implicates many Republicans, and all the other Trump fraud.
As to HRC, I think that on one hand, she was given a lot by the country. She was First Lady for two terms, she was the party favorite over the NY representative long thought to be the one to get the Senate nomination, and she was the party favorite over Obama in 2008. Then, Obama gave her the SoS nomination. By 2015, she was far and away the party favorite for the nomination over the VP. Note, of course, that she used her positions of First Lady, Senator, and SoS to help the party and the country.
However, as I am sure you agree, nothing is the same as what someone could do as President. It is easy to argue that Gore, Kerry and HRC would have won if there were no voter suppression, tricky ballots, and a Republican echo chamber (far broader and more sinister than we thought).
With all three, we do not know what any of them actually being president would have been like. You never know the path not taken.