Dispatches From the ‘Biden 2020’ Front

Filed in National by on January 14, 2019

Those of us who would prefer Joe Biden support the 2020 Democratic candidate than be the 2020 candidate — show of hands — are having a nervous week, at least in the media. New York Times columnist David Leonhardt implored Joe to run, though without endorsing him:

My argument is that nobody — not the candidates, not the pollsters, not us pundits — knows who the best 2020 candidate will be. And Biden is different from the rest. A field with him puts the Democrats in a better position than one without him.

Leonhardt was once Washington Bureau chief, so he’s about as insider-conventional-wisdom as it gets. FWIW, he lists the people he thinks would make up a good competitive field:

I am glad Elizabeth Warren is running. She combines progressive passion with serious policy chops. I’m rooting for Kamala Harris and Beto O’Rourke, who do seem fresh and exciting, to run. I hope Sherrod Brown and Amy Klobuchar, two populist Midwesterners, run. I hope the uncommonly charismatic Mitch Landrieu does, too. This group, with Biden, is my A-list. And I wouldn’t be shocked to see another candidate do well enough to jump into the A-list.

You’ll notice a name he conspicuously left out, I’m sure.

Match that list against the one Vanity Fair compiled in this piece about where the big Wall Street donors are placing their bets:

The consensus on Wall Street, at least at this moment, seems to be that it’s all going to come down to a battle between Warren, Sanders, Biden, O’Rourke, and either Gillibrand, Booker, or Harris.

More to our point, though, the piece includes a major segment about the good impression Joe Biden is making in some quarters, not just for his long career and loyal support of Obama but for overcoming so much personal tragedy:

“It’s remarkable,” said one senior Wall Street executive. “I mean just when you think about what this guy has been through.” He said he thought Biden might be the perfect antidote to Trump. “Joe Biden probably is the best person for the time which we’re facing. We’re facing a complicated candidate to beat in a general election. We’re facing the need to reach out to blue-collar workers. We need to get back to some sort of semblance of normalcy. I know Joe Biden will surround himself with really smart people. I know he’ll do, quote, the right thing. He’s liberal enough, but he’s not crazy.”

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  1. jason330 says:

    Oy. I can see why beltway types want Biden in. But he had two great chances. 1 – Be the elder statesman and put the brakes on Bush’s vanity war, and Obama would have been his VP ..but No. He voted for it. And 2 – 2016 Clinton/Sanders gave people on both sides heartburn. He could have been the consensus candidate…but no.

    That said, I love whoever the Dems nominated provided the process is fair and transparent.

  2. Kelly says:

    Joe Biden has been saying for months that he might run for President. I wish he would make up his mind and move on. It’s not rocket science. Either you want to run or you don’t. I think he is waiting to see what Hilary Clinton is going to do. If she runs then she is opening the door for Trump to get re-elected. She need to forget about it.

  3. jason330 says:

    ” I think he is waiting to see what Hilary Clinton is going to do. ”

    Oh Jesus. DISQUALIFIED !!

  4. Nico says:

    The people of this nation need to support the Democratic nominee whoever that is if the alternative is another disastrous Republican administration. It matters little if that person is Bernie, Beto, Elizabeth, Joe or even Hillary for that matter. Keep in mind that whoever that is needs to be supported by all of us no matter who that imperfect candidate is come November 2020. Otherwise the lunatic right wing wins again. Staying home or voting for a guaranteed loser like Jill Stein isn’t an option.

    • RE Vanella says:

      Nico…. I agree with your first sentence. My voting history proves it.

      I disagree with your second sentence. I think it does matter quite a lot actually. Nominating a person with specifically weak policy positions, who is uninspiring, and has a very checked past in public life (corporate voting records, tough on crime prosecutors, &c.) is what put us in this situation in the first instance.

      So, I’m going to fight like mad to get the best candidate. The one who can harness the current energy. The one people can trust since he’s been consistent for decades.

      Also, I agree that Jill Stein is trash and a waste of time.

      • Alby says:

        If he was all that inspiring to enough people, you wouldn’t have to fight. The people will decide, and you don’t seem to trust them to do the right thing here.

        Bernie started this with name recognition the others (Biden excepted) would kill for. He has that advantage. Let’s see what he does with it.

        • RE Vanella says:

          Everyone has to fight. This is a bad take. It’s 2019, but regardless of campaigning, debate and record scrutiny, it’ll just be some capricious decision? The next 12-18 months are basically irrelevant? Nah…

          There’s literally an army of activists in tens of thousands ready to move at a moment’s notice. I doubt the other candidates have that combined.

          • Alby says:

            No, everyone does not have to fight. That attitude is why Trump won. Ten percent of Bernie voters failed to vote for Hillary.

            Learning from history means properly analyzing history. But whenever I bring up history you dismiss it as the natterings of old fogeys, so I don’t expect you to learn from it.

            While we’re at it, why don’t you explain why it is that Bernie, despite high name recognition, is no more popular than Biden, whose many flaws are widely recognized.

            • RE Vanella says:

              More Clinton primary voters in 2008 voted for Romney in the general because they were butt hurt. This is another sofa trope.

              Everyone campaigns hard. Don’t be daft.

  5. puck says:

    I voted for Bernie in the primary because I thought if he didn’t win, at least he would push Hillary to the left. That didn’t work on Hillary. But Bernie’s campaign did move the electorate to the left. I am convinced whichever Dem runs in 2020 will have to move left to capture voters who have moved left because of Bernie. They are already doing it.

  6. RE Vanella says:

    Think about this over the weekend. I’m out. This is going nowhere.

    “The naturalization of capitalism which denies its specificity and the long and painful historical processes that brought it into being limits our understanding of the past. At the same time it restricts our hopes and expectations for the future for if capitalism is the natural culmination of history then surmounting it is unimaginable. The question of the origin of capitalism might seem arcane but it goes to the heart of assumptions deeply rooted in our culture. Widespread and dangerous illusions about the so-called free market and its benefits to humanity, its compatibility with democracy, social justice and ecological sustainability. Thinking about future alternatives to capitalism requires us to think about alternative conceptions of the past.”

    —Ellen Meiksins Wood, ‘The Origins of Capitalism’

    • Alby says:

      Timescale. This is about 2020, not the long arc of history. You can’t even get a majority of Democrats to support Sanders, let alone overthrow capitalism.

      It’s not going to happen the way you envision, let’s put it that way. Global warming is what’s going to end capitalism, but it’s going to take 20 more years. And alienating everyone else by pushing for one old man to run for president in 2020 is immaterial to the project.

      If you’ve learned anything about politics, it should be that you can’t go it alone — you have to build consensus. And lecturing everyone ain’t gonna work. If it worked, he’s already have a big lead. He doesn’t. Deal with it — at least, deal with it better than you have so far.