Tag Archives: Joe Biden

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Political diversity is far from dead

The next Democratic Party presidential nominee is going to be an old white man. One of the two remaining major candidates is 77 years of age; the other one is 78.

The gigantic 2020 Democratic primary field started out as the most diverse in history: five women; three African Americans (one of whom is a woman); an Asian-American businessman; a gay man; a Hindu woman.

We’re now left with the two old white guys: former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

I am all in for Biden. Never mind that … for now.

What’s left now is for one of these fellows to fight it out with each other and the winner to determine with whom he wants to run for the White House.

So much of the chatter has centered on the rivals who’ve dropped out. I want to expand the field of candidates for vice president way beyond building a “team of rivals.”

This much is as clear as anything one can imagine about the 2020 presidential campaign: The Democratic Party ticket is going to include either a woman, a woman or man of color, or possibly a woman of color.

So let’s quell the talk about the “death of diversity,” shall we?

As for the huge pool of potential running mates either for Biden or Sanders, one of these men can look far and wide well beyond the individuals whom they have defeated. Every state in the Union is full of competent, racially diverse individuals — including many women — involved at all levels of government.

I also agree that the once-huge Democratic field is full of competence, charisma and character. So, whomever emerges from the fight that’s about to commence from this day forward until the presidential nomination convention will have a rich field from which he can find a suitable running mate.

However, you can take this straight to the bank: The next Democratic VP nominee will not be an old white guy.

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Here come the third-party Bernie rumors

Oh, brother.

If Bernie Sanders is adamant in his desire to ensure that Donald John Trump gets shown the door out of the White House after the upcoming presidential election then he’d better scotch reports about a possible third-party election bid in the event he loses the Democratic Party nomination to Joe Biden.

I’m hearing that kinda chatter out there.

The Michigan primary is coming up next Tuesday. Some analysts say it’s do or die for Sen. Sanders in Michigan. If he loses there, he’s done. Toast. A goner. Then what?

The notion being batted around is that he would launch a third-party/independent bid to defeat Trump.

Hmm. I think of, oh, Ralph Nader spoiling it for Al Gore in 2000, siphoning off enough votes to hand Texas Gov. George W. Bush enough votes to squeak his way into the White House. Without Nader on the ballot in Florida, Gore wins the state’s electoral votes and takes the oath of office — with no recount and no Supreme Court decision to settle the matter!

My advice to Bernie is simple: If you’re a man of your word, then you won’t even think about what is being bandied about. Furthermore, Sen. Sanders needs to ensure that the Democratic Party nominee, which would be Joseph R. Biden Jr., would have his unqualified support and that he will campaign vigorously to defeat the current president of the United States.

Are we clear?

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Get ready, Mr. VPOTUS, for the fight of your life

I hope, Joe Biden, you don’t mind a bit of unsolicited advice from someone out here in the heart of Trump Country.

Look, I’m all in on your presidential candidacy. I’ve said so on this blog, Mr. Vice President. Readers of High Plains Blogger know my bias and they either accept/endorse it or they reject/condemn it.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I want to express a deep concern I have for you as you enter what’s essentially a two-man race with Bernie Sanders. I hear you’re going to debate Sen. Sanders soon in advance of another round of primary states.

Therein lies the crux of my concern.

If I were you, Mr. VP, I would hire a debate coach … pronto. You see, I am concerned that you might get too worked up as Bernie lobs grenades at you. I mean, you know already what he’s going to say about you and to you while you’re standing next to each other. Let me refresh you on that:

He’ll accuse you of being in the pocket of zillionaires; he’ll criticize your vote in support of the Iraq War resolution; he’ll say you’ve argued on the Senate floor to cut Social Security and Medicare; he will say you’re the tool of the “Democratic establishment”; for all I know, he might even ask you if you’ve “stopped beating your wife.”

Get ready for that line of attack, Mr. Vice President. You need to be prepared for it. You need a storehouse of zingers. Do you remember the classic “You’re no Jack Kennedy” line that Lloyd Bentsen tossed at Dan Quayle in 1988? I know, it didn’t win the election for the Democrats that year, but Sen. Bentsen was ready to deliver it.

And for criminy sakes, Mr. VP, don’t get so worked up in your responses that you say something silly, or regrettable or … well, stupid!

Political contests usually aren’t won by debating points, but history tells us they can be lost by mistakes and gaffes.

I’m in your corner, Mr. Vice President. If you see this note, take careful heed. If someone on your staff sees, I hope they take it in the spirit I offer this advice.

I am just one American who wants Donald John Trump tossed out of office. I believe you’re the last candidate standing who can make my wish come true.

Don’t mess it up.

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GOP dredges up Biden probe yet again

OK, so this is how it goes.

Joe Biden resurrects his flagging presidential campaign with a stunning Super Tuesday ballot performance and — bingo, just like that! — congressional Republicans decide it’s time to bring back a probe into the Democratic candidate’s son’s business dealings in Ukraine.

It doesn’t matter to Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson that prosecutors in Ukraine say there’s nothing wrong, that Joe Biden broke no laws, or that other political observers dismiss the investigation as a fishing expedition. Nope. Johnson’s going after the former vice president.

Sen. Johnson alleges that Biden committed a conflict of interest act by interfering on Hunter Biden’s behalf while he was vice president of the United States. Says who? Sen. Johnson, that’s who!

Johnson thinks he can summon enough votes to subpoena Hunter Biden to testify about his Burisma work and whether Dad played any role in his work for the company.

Johnson says his seeking a probe into Biden has nothing to do with the former VP’s surge and his return to frontrunner status in the Democratic presidential primary. Sure thing, senator … whatever you say.

Some of us out here think differently. This probe, as they say, just doesn’t pass the smell test.

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Big money supporting Biden? Not in this household!

The more I hear Bernie Sanders suggest that Joe Biden has become the candidate of big money, well-heeled special interests, the privileged few who run everything in America, the more offense I am taking.

I want to lecture Sen. Sanders about something. It’s the truth and I won’t back away from it.

I am not wealthy. I don’t get involved in establishment political activity. I watch the news constantly. I study the issues. I try to understand them.

I am drawn to former Vice President Biden not because he represents big money. I am drawn to him because I believe in his message and the promise he presents to return some decency, dignity and decorum to the office of the presidency.

Furthermore, I also suspect I am not alone in that view, given the surge that the former vice president saw on Super Tuesday. Evan Smith, editor in chief and founder of the Texas Tribune, noted during the election coverage Tuesday night that “same-day voters” had broken significantly for Joe Biden, wiping out pro-Sanders advantages run up by the votes cast by those who voted early.

Many thousands of Texans, along with those in other Super Tuesday states, were moved by the stunning victory Biden scored in South Carolina. I had been leaning toward Biden already, so my vote Tuesday wasn’t spurred by some last-minute conversion from one candidate to another.

I mention this only because Sen. Sanders is drawing what I believe is an inappropriate picture of the kind of support that is lining up behind Joe Biden. The so-called big money had written off Biden after his dismal election performance in New Hampshire.

Then suddenly, he awoke from the near (political) dead. Rank-and-file voters administered the smelling salts and he roared back on his own.

None of this will matter to Sanders. He wants to be nominated for president. Sanders will say what he believes he needs to say to revive the “revolution” he purports to lead. That’s his right.

I just happen to believe he is manufacturing a conspiracy where none exists. It offends me.

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Sanders is cooking up a conspiracy

This is one of the many things I don’t understand.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is now accusing the “Democratic establishment” of conspiring to defeat his bid to win the party’s presidential nomination, that it favors Joe Biden, whose Super Tuesday blowout across the South has inflicted serious injury to the Sanders campaign.

I don’t get where Sen. Sanders gets that.

Biden’s victory was fueled in two parts by African Americans.

First came Saturday’s stunning South Carolina primary victory that came in the wake of U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s emotional endorsement of the former vice president. Clyburn carries fantastic clout among African Americans in his home state; he is the leading black member of Congress.

Part two occurred Tuesday night when Clyburn’s endorsement carried over into Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma and then Texas … all states with substantial African American voter blocs. Biden won them all.

Indeed, do I need to remind everyone that the Democratic “establishment” was calling two weeks ago for Biden to step aside? He had performed dismally in Iowa and New Hampshire. Then came Nevada. He was considered the equivalent of political road kill. Leading Democrats wanted him to bow out, to go away quietly, to cede this fight to the next generation.

Now that Biden has breathed new life into his campaign he becomes a tool of the establishment? That’s what Sanders wants us to believe? C’mon, man! Sen. Sanders is concocting a conspiracy theory where none exists.

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Are we witnessing a comeback for the ages?

I’ve heard more than one pundit in the past few hours say that Joe Biden’s recovery from near political death is the most astonishing comeback they’ve ever witnessed.

I have to concur.

The Democratic presidential candidate who was given up for dead, who was considered little more than political road kill just 10 days ago, is now possibly on the verge of winning his party’s presidential nomination.

Politico reports that if Biden banishes Bernie Sanders in next week’s Michigan Democratic primary the end might be at hand for Sanders’ campaign.

I don’t want to oversell or overstate what we witnessed during last night’s Super Tuesday tidal wave, but Biden’s return from the near-dead is truly astonishing.

Sanders isn’t going to slink away quietly. He is going to fire up his attacks on Biden. He will challenge Biden’s vote on the Iraq War, on his trade votes, on the nature of his political donations.

Sen. Sanders, in my view, is going to ratchet up what I believe is a “class war” pitting the rich against the not-so-rich. He seems to be labeling Biden, a working-class hero to many voters, as some sort of puppet of the elite within the Democratic Party.

Biden ran the table across the South. He picked off Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maine. Sanders appears to have won California.

Next up is Michigan, which now appears to be the sort of “firewall” that kept Biden from combusting in South Carolina.

I am one American voter who wants Joe Biden to keep on winning.

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Can the new/returned frontrunner go the distance?

Before we start fitting Joseph R. Biden for a new inauguration suit we need to ponder a question posed by a friend of mine in an email overnight from w-a-a-a-ay down yonder … in South Australia.

My friend Peter follows U.S. politics closely and he asks this about Biden: And is he fit enough and sharp enough to take on Trump head-to-head, given the President will lie and cheat with impunity and without shame or pause for reflection?

Peter asks a good question, but I want to frame it a bit differently. The former vice president of the United States, who barreled through several primary victories Tuesday — including right here in Texas — first has to get past Bernie Sanders, who exhibited a continuing feistiness while declaring victory of his own.

Sanders got thumped in many of the states across the South. He did win in Vermont, in Colorado, Utah and he won the big prize in California. He isn’t going anywhere. He is in the fight to the finish; at least that’s what he is saying.

I was heartened to see Biden lift himself off the deck with a stellar run of victories. He is a long way from being nominated. It remains an open question at this moment whether he or Sanders will have enough delegates to win the nomination without a floor fight at the convention. Part of me sort of yearns for an actual fight, something to return these nominating conventions to what they were intended to be when the parties conceived of them.

However, I remain committed to hoping that Joe Biden emerges from this campaign in shape to take on Donald Trump.

Peter is absolutely correct. The current president of the United States will stop at nothing to smear, sully and slander his foe. He already has sought foreign government help in undermining Joe Biden’s candidacy, an act that resulted in his impeachment by the House of Representatives. The Senate acquittal only will embolden him to commit even more outrageous acts.

I also remain hopeful that Joe Biden would prepare himself for the onslaught that would come at him full force. He does exhibit some nagging tendencies to commit unforced verbal errors. Those must end. Now! He has to be on top of his game.

However, the once-prohibitive favorite to be the Democratic nominee has retaken his frontrunner status in the race to face Donald Trump. He is far from the clear favorite, but the fight is on.

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What a difference a primary victory has made

A single primary victory in the Deep South has injected a once-moribund presidential campaign with a vigor and vitality that one could not have imagined.

Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary this past weekend and set up a Super Tuesday ballot performance that has many of our heads spinning.

As I watch the coverage of the primary states poll closing, I am struck by the victories being rolled up by Biden in states where he was given up for politically dead a week or two or ago.

I heard someone say tonight that U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, the South Carolina political icon whose endorsement of Biden is seen as the turning point in the former VP’s presidential campaign, could be named “secretary of any Cabinet agency he wants” in a Biden administration if such an event comes to pass.

Gosh, do ya think?

Well, they’re still counting the ballots. I don’t know how Super Tuesday will shake out. As I write this brief blog post, I am hopeful that Democrats across the nation have snapped out of their revolutionary mood and returned to some semblance of rationality and reason.

Joe Biden represents a sort of political comfort zone that I believe we will seek as we ponder who we want to lead us for the next four years. I have had more than enough of the stomach-churning uncertainty of Donald Trump.

Of all the candidates left standing among that once-gigantic Democratic Party primary field, Joe Biden appears at this moment to be the one who can restore the decency that once was the hallmark of our nation’s most exalted public office.

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Biden fits the bill for this old man

Joseph R. Biden Jr. got my vote today for president of the United States.

It is no surprise to readers of this blog. I waffled, wavered and wiggled a bit during the run-up to today’s Super Tuesday vote. In the end, though, I happen to fit into the demographic that is drawn to this fellow’s candidacy.

I once thought he was nearly finished as a candidate:

https://highplainsblogger.com/2019/11/painful-to-acknowledge-but-ex-vp-biden-likely-is-finished/

I am an older voter. I am a white guy. I consider myself to be a patriot. I am a veteran who once went to war for my country. I am retired. I live a quiet life in North Texas with my bride of more than 48 years. I am a one-time firebrand who once wanted to change the world with my single vote; that was a long time ago and I have grown out of that desire.

My keen interest today is in restoring the presidency to what I have grown up understanding it to represent. I believe Joseph Biden would do that for me.

We have been “treated” to more than three years of chaos, confusion, controversy … and contempt for the norms associated with the exalted office. I am tired of it and I want the presidency returned to the dignity the office demands.

I won’t belabor the point I have made already about Donald Trump’s unfitness for the office. I want to make another point, though: It is that Joe Biden, despite his verbal clumsiness and occasionally weird rhetoric, is profoundly fit to deliver the presidency from where Trump has dragged it.

As I ponder now where this primary race heads after today, it is my hope that Biden can collect more support along the way and that he can parlay that support into a presidential nomination … and then election.