In one of the senates committee meetings, a news agency counted the times he said either "I" or "Me". There were more times than there were minutes in his turn to ask questions. The votes had barely been counted when Biden declared he could have beat Bush. One of Obama's accomplishments was to make him VP so he could send him to that little room with a desk and chair VPs are sent to, Even so, according to the press, Obama had to tell hem to keep quiet. Biden's family experience should help him understand the griefs other families have when someone loses a love one or when a soldiers buddy and comrade is shot or blown up next to them. But if Joe helped those with shared grief, to find a way to move on he could help and connect with a lot of people. I haven't heard that side of his experience. I heard an African American talk about death of a loved one who may have brought sadness and hurt into their lives.He said we always have a choice to put into our heart those memories we love and keep out the others. That is what we carry with us as we move on with our life. Joe could connect with and help a lot more people if he shared thoughts like that than just the tragedies.
5
"Obama felt differently. He could make it up to Hillary and feminist activists for hopscotching over the New York senator who might have blown out the glass ceiling in 2008."
The more cynical (even more than MD) school of thought says Obama's leapfrogging over HRC had little to do with it. Rather, he already bartered his support to get her to be Secretary of State. And he did that to keep the Clintons from sniping at him--to prove their superiority--as they campaigned to take away Obama's second term.
9
Wow, I must be reading the wrong newspapers. I had no idea of any of the scandals--infidelity, drugs, divorce. I wish I still didn't because it's none of my business.
78
People need to remember the bar to replace Trump is incredibly low.
Not a criminal? Join the field.
Can you read a briefing paper longer than a paragraph, or even just read? You made the first cut.
Do you recognize Russia and North Korea are murderous adversaries? You'll easily make the finals.
Just add a progressive agenda, secure servers, and the determination to overturn Republican mismanagement for the stretch run.
Simple. Joe Biden should be as welcome as anyone. We'll see if his message resonates or not. And the obvious losers should have the good sense to leave promptly and gracefully in deference to real contenders and the ultimate primary winner.
42
Oh my. Aren't there a bevy of substantive, serious, compelling reasons why Biden should not secure the Democratic nomination for President other than this latest Dowdian obsession on "Uncle Joe's Family Web"? To start with, the aged centrist Biden comes across as "warmed over milk" in a Democratic Party that has become increasingly progressive, with an ideological awakening that there must be dynamic policy changes in tax, environmental, health, education, and gun control areas, to name just several.
15
Hillary would have made a great president. God, compare her to what we have now. Never understood the hatred so many Republicans had for her. If you asked them for specific reasons they could not give you any legitimate ones that over rode her qualifications. The entire Benghazi investigations were a joke, and some Republicans used them just to drive down her numbers. She is so superior to every Republican legislator in Washington, it is laughable.
94
Biden is not too old; 70 is the new 50. And the gossip surrounding Biden's family is neither here nor there. Biden would make an excellent president. We should be so lucky to have his expertise and experience at the helm.
38
Keep it up. Let's bash all the good guys so we get Trump or the equivalent again. "LIberal" media, my foot.
67
My primary vote will go to the candidate most likely to win and that seems to me to be Biden at this point. I don't believe he should be counted out yet. But playing guessing games so early is a waste of time.
2020 will be a nasty and brutal race. I hope all the candidates take a hard look at their pasts and air their peccadilloes before their opponents, or Ms. O'Dowd does it for them.
33
I would hope that any commentary by Donald Trump on problems of any sort in the Biden family would be greeted with hysterical laughter over its hypocrisy. The idea that Donald Trump has credibility to comment on anything should cause raised eyebrows. A comment on family by him really does take New York level chutzpah.
That said, the Democrats are nuts if they put up a candidate older than 60. They are crazy if they let Hillary endorse anyone. Let the elder statesmen of both sexes push policies, not people. And don't let them run, for God's sake.
25
Biden will have to perform the impossible and keep his "Irish" foot out of his "Irish" mouth and keep his "Irish" hands to himself. His reputation as a politician who always backed the wrong ideas , made a public fool of himself on too many occasions, overstated his qualifications and got "gropey" with too many women and girls too often, not to mention stolen speeches without attribution, etc. will be used against him. He has too much bad history. He might have a chance against a "respectful" Republican, but that's not Trump.
13
One mistake can undo a legacy. Obama's decision to back Hillary means that any chance of reasonable gun control laws are lost for a generation. Obama was a good president and man, but not great at reading the temper of the times.
13
I knew some of this vaguely but not all. Who cares for the family stuff, no one. Dumb story there. But the part that was interesting is how the political class does its calculation which is quite disturbing. Mean, vindictive, petty, crass, etc along those lines. Gee I wish there was an island where they could all go and operate from, sort of a controlled environment where they could scheme away to their hearts content and we could just cut the cable when their obnoxiousness became to heavy it bear.
11
The best Democratic candidate is the one who can WIN. Could the Dems please--please!--quit being idealists and start being realists. Voters will not accept anyone who can be tagged 'Socialist,' or 'lefty.' And they won't accept a woman at the top of the ticket. Sad, but true. Biden has his negatives, real ones, but that is because he is Everyman--flawed, but fundamentally decent. That's why so many people like him. As for age, there is no law that if elected in 2020 he must run again in 2024. If he picked a good VP, and gave that Veep a chance to shine, that person would have a good shot at the presidency in 2024. If the Democrats persist in their usual pigheadedness they will hand 2020 to Trump. And then God help us all.
21
Please stay home Joe. You and your family don't need the added attacks and grief from a run for president. The Dems will compete vigorously, Trump will attack and accuse, the gossip news outlets will print anything and everything, and you may be your worst enemy with will known tendency for gaffe, and miscue.
13
I like Joe Biden, Like most Politicians his numbers are high now that he has not entered the race. I do believe Joe's times has come and gone for whatever reason. One who has not yet entered the race Sen Sherrod Brown of Ohio to me is a young Joe Biden who can get the working men and women's attention.
23
It would seem that Mr. Biden, with all his experience and understanding of government would contribute more to America as a mentor/teacher/trainer/guide to newer government leaders helping them effectively collaborate and formulate good government.. This way he need not wast energy on fiddling with Government protocol or direct leadership involvement This approach just might help get our America functioning on an even keel and not let "personal power" get in the way. DJM
5
In a perfect world all of these fossils would step to the side and pass the mantle of leadership to the next generation instead of hanging on past their time. Our country does not need octogenarian leaders, well intentioned or otherwise. Let them transition to advisory roles and hand the actual reigns of power to younger, more relevant leaders and teach them how to use that power responsibly.
27
Anyone who has read The Unwinding by George Packer surely is more than a little skeptical about Joe Biden regular guy. The ingratitude and self-regard presented there will provide ample fodder for the Trumpians. The book was no right-wing hit job, but a sad commentary on the America that gave us Donald Trump.
7
The Democratic Party must turn to a new generation of leaders. They exist and haven't had time to accrue the 'baggage' that taints Joe Biden.
Biden is a 'nice guy' who has never shown that he can run this race successfully.
He must be the elder statesman who now gracefully step into the wings. Please.
14
What attracts me to Biden, at least running, is that he has the gravitas the current "runnee's" do not. He can elevate the campaign circus where I fear the "kids" will not.
I would love a Biden POTUS, with a female VP of course, but I'm wary of his ability to run the right for this time campaign.
Right now, I think we just need a robust field, talking in serious terms about NEW Deals, be they Green, or for any of the many issues facing the US.
We need some FDR-like NEW Deals for2020. We need to go into the '20's heading aggressively into that future, not trying to hold it off.
We need New Deals on the economy, healthcare, personal privacy, racism, sexism, education, crime, domestic terrorism, children's health, infrastructure (urban and rural), consumer protections, energy, environmental protections for public lands into perpetuity, employee protections, procreation rights, etc, etc...
We need NEW DEALS - period! We need to embrace the issues facing us in the next stage of modernity. And leave these nay-saying, obstructionist, do-nothings like Trump, McConnell, Graham, etc behind.
The Repubs dont want to fix anything. They have been clear about that their lack of initiatives on that front. Trump won't fix anything. McConnell clearly wont do anything progress oriented...
7
Strangely enough.....the answer to Democrats' numerous problems is right in front of their noses again.....Biden. He's the only candidate in 2016 who would have prevented the Trump coalition from coalescing, and he would split it just enough in 2020 to pull off a win. And for obvious reasons (his age, gender, race) he will never be their nominee.
Trump has a clear path to the win in 2020 with the rest of the far left candidates they are floating.
5
There's great irony in the stories behind Gore in 2000 and Biden in 2016. Gore tried to distance himself from the ethically challenged Clinton. Biden wanted to be attached to Obama's hip but was essentially put out to pasture because it was Hillary's time. The time for Biden to announce is right now. What the Democrats do not need is waffling. Trump, for all his warts, and they abound, would lick his chops at the prospect of facing any of the Democratic challengers. Except Biden. Biden brings the stature and ability to wipe the floor with Trump on a debate stage. And, given his global experience, Biden can best serve our country in repairing the extensive rifts Trump has created with our allies. It's a no brainer. The worst thing Biden can do is vacillate. Get into the ring now and we will have our best chance of returning to normalcy.
12
1, The article is snarky.
2. Joe Biden has some historical problems.
3. If he gets in the face, I will likely support somebody else in the primary, probably Klobuchar if she is still in it when they get to PA.
4. If he gets the nomination, I will vote for him
BECAUSE WE MUST BEAT TRUMP.
23
Let Joe run. I think it's shameful that Obama put his hand on the scale. Let the people decide who the candidate should be, Joe or no Joe.
9
What does this have to do with Biden's qualifications to be president? How do his ideas comport or contrast with those of other Democratic hopefuls?
15
I am so weary of hearing about "populist rage." These are the ideological heirs of the angry right wingers of the 1950s. Conservatives are always angry, understandably so. History never goes backwards. They live eternally clinging to snags in the ever swifter flowing river of time.
10
I think Obama picked Hillary as the successor to pay the debt to Mr. Bill, who did have a hand in helping Obama win the second term.
4
Wait. Wait. And...wait some more.
This is an alternative history of why Biden did not run in 2015-16 and it seems it belongs in the news columns, with supporting facts and interviews, rather than in an opinion column. Ms. Dowd purports to know the mind of the former president about these matters and puts him front and center in pushing Biden away from a presidential run.
It seems more likely, if one is going to speculate, that Obama told Biden that the nomination and the presidency was wrapped up and a run would fracture the Democratic party beyond repair. Those intent on the barrier busting potential of a female president, of course, would have screamed bloody murder if Hillary had been denied once again, whether she actually had her heart in running or not.
It is not becoming to sneak around the corner with a widely different narrative and imply "this is the truth" about what happened. All Washington stories have open and hidden texts, contexts and subtexts, often guarded by carefully nurtured lies, but this story, as presented, seems too pat.
Follow up, please?
12
If not Biden who? All the others currently declared are sorely lacking and I'm from a state the Dems need to win.
4
Joe Biden, as VP, carried Barack Obama's water for eight years. As Al Gore after Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush after Ronald Reagan that should, Maureen Dowd notwithstanding, have earned VP Biden an Obama endorsement for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination with the preface "If Vice-President Biden decides to run."
That didn't happen because of a 2009 deal between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The Clintons and Barack Obama hated each other but did not let that stand in the way of a deal that benefited both. The newly elected president would appoint Mrs. Clinton secretary of state, as he did, to tie her to his administration and get her out of his hair for the next eight years as a potential opponent. In return for that President Obama would endorse her for the 2016 Democratic nomination. Again, as he did, clearing the way for the Clinton presidential nomination and telling his VP, Joe Biden, don't bother even thinking about it.
Agita is a good description of the state of the Democrats, the mainstream media, with the New York Times front and center, liberals, progressives, others on the left, regarding the fact that Donald Trump is in the White House. Trump in the Oval Office didn't happen by accident. It is directly traceable to the Obama/Clinton deal just described. The GOP 2016 nomination Donald Trump was a gift to the Democrats. The Democrats gave the gift right back by nominating Hillary Clinton.
7
I’m waiting for Beto. Any Dem who can take Ted Cruz to the mat (well, almost) in crimson red Texas is bound to attract a lot of attention. As for Joe, I’d suggest he retire but he’s not built that way. Maybe a Beto/Biden ticket would work.
Or Beto/Klobuchar or vice versa. All the other Dems are way, way too far to the left. The country is simply not ready for that “all-in” leftist mentality, even though their ideas (income equality, healthcare, education) are mainstream. We need a Dem centrist who will make incremental moves to back us away from the autocratic cliff we’re on.
5
Enough with these white men in their 70s. Let's support a candidate from a younger generation this time. Only younger politicians get that global warming is the most pressing issue our country and the world is facing.
6
To outmaneuver Trump, you'd have to think the way he does, and I don't think Joe will see it coming. Once Trump starts in on what a loser Beau was, the gloves will come off and it will be gaff time.
It's probably best to find someone mean enough to take on Trump. Amy Klobuchar seems to have a head start, and Kamala Harris is not to be trifled with either. Beto's idea of keeping it positive sounds great but that won't last 5 minutes once Trump's attack ads start running.
7
People are sick of career politicians. We need new blood with management skills to make our country decent again. The wannabe candidates are saying anything to get elected. Medicare for all is a classic example. ACA’s biggest drawback is lack of measures to contol cost. I am not blaming Obama. Our politically corrupt special interest groups destroyed that part. It is debatable whether he should have proceded with no control over cost. Obama thought it will mature with time with right measures in place without realization of the impact of the fat cats. Medicare for all may sound good- but it will bankrupt our nation since we won’t be able to change the delivery model. Pharma will raise drug price by 1000% in some cases- others in healthcare will do the same to loot our nation. This is the time for getting a honest candiate with business skills to get the democratic nomination. Michael Bloomberg or Howard Schultz should be our choice. Alas, people don’t vote at the primaries and one of the con candidate will win. People wake up!
3
Biden is "Uniquely qualified to Serve as President?"
You're kidding, right? Joe Biden has no CEO experience in either the private or public sector and hasn't articulated a single new idea in thirty years AND hasn't demonstrated "competence" at any level of government in as many years.
I find it pathetic the so-called MSM will accept any Socialist-Dem candidate as "Qualified" to be President without asking what exactly their specific qualifications are. I don't believe anyone, of either political party, that serves as VP automatically "qualifies" them to serve as President, unless of course they are a former Governor or CEO in the private sector.
As far as Barack Obama's so-called "Legacy" ... remind me again what exactly is his "Legacy?" Well, he and the other Socialist-Dems took a health care system that was working for 85% of Americans and "Fixed" the system so it now works for 15% ... yep, quite a legacy.
Please, Joe ..... RUN JOE RUN!
3
Contrary to what Maureen suggests, Obama did not have the 'dedo' to anoint his successor like some Mexican PRI President. He had a distant relationship with the Democratic party apparatus during his Presidency, as witnessed by the party's poor performance in state and regional elections for all of his tenure. He didn't make Hillary the Presidential candidate. She did that herself, albeit with the questionable support of her husband, through decades of hard work, earning the loyalty of party functionaries across the nation at every level, up to and including President Obama.
12
I will never forget Biden's despicable treatment of Paul Ryan during one of their VP debates - childish, disrespectful and not at all Vice Presidential or Presidential. I think Biden is a big phony and he's way too old. He would not get my vote.
5
I am concerned that should Biden run, and win, we would have a 1 term president, due to his age.
3
For the love of god, please not Biden. The Ds have plenty of talented and capable candidates. Can we please just move on?
5
His first wife and child died when their car was hit by a truck. Joe falsely accused the truck driver of negligence even though the facts clearly showed she ran a red light. The trucker sued Joe and won a generous settlement.
That’s never stopped the clown from rolling out his life of “tragedy” whenever convenient. With tears.
Oh, and just by the way, Joe’s never really had anything other than relatively low paying governmental jobs yet has a huge lakefront mansion in Greenville DE. Thanks to the sweetness of the banking industry.
Trump’s a Big Liar. Joe a strategic one.
9
Your bitter 20/20 hindsight speculations are yet another means to bash Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton. It is getting very tiresome and fails to fully acknowledge the true gravity of the disaster that Trump's presidency is for our nation.Please use your considerable gifts more positively.
13
This is a sign that the high school cool table in the national media is warming up to do in Joe Biden.
6
I didn't hear about any of this personal life detail before you I read the column. You don't need, Maureen, to be the People magazine section of the New York Times.
(--Although I must say it is a welcome momentary break from Trump and climate change). If you want to focus on Biden as a candidate, good - but no need to give the personal details, and please lay off President Obama finally.
16
That's it? Do you write your columns while between express stops on the Metro? Punch them out on your phone?
'Vanity Fair' again. I'll say this, you name your sources. I guess I'm way outside the Beltway because I didn't know about the affair with Beau's widow and his married brother.
As someone who usually votes Republican, Joe Biden is the ONLY Democrat I would vote for. The question will be can he empty out the elevator full of other Democratic candidates and press the buttons for himself.
At 76, it's worth a try.
6
Joe Biden’s family saga is reminiscent of John Edwards. It is the height of hypocrisy to bring up the death of a child repeatedly in your public speeches, using it with voters to appear family oriented and empathetic, but then demand privacy for your family when sordid details are brought to light about infidelity, addiction, etc.
5
Jod Biden has never addressed his plaigiarism, regarding this theft of property as standard political license. He has yet to address his atricious behavior during the hearings on Thomas's nomination to the Supreme Court, refusing to allow any corroborating testimony for Anita Hill's very distrubing accounts of Thomas's workplace behavior toward her. If he can't think carefully about this lamentable behavior and hopes that the public's memory of it won't matter, I can't imagine how he will avoid being pushed around by Trump and every other thug in the world--let alone have any credibility with women and with teachers
134
Um, what is wrong with oriental?
See: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-tsuchiyama-oriental-insult-20160601-snap-story.html
3
"You want the truth, you can't handle the truth." For many years Ms Dowd has put nothing but facts out there. When the facts do not agree with your beliefs she gets attacked. Watch MSNBC they only report what you agree with.
3
Color me stupid, but I can't see what Dowd is trying to get at. She is so fixated on his family history that she misses the real issue, that Biden is the establishment, hanging with the practitioners of neoliberalism.
She also misses the way the GOP will viciously attack him, not on the basis of his children, but on the basis of his own behavior with other people's children. Search on Youtube for videos called "Creepy Uncle Joe" to understand what the GOP will do.
2
Run, Sherrod, run!
7
Ach! Enough with the irrelevant journalism. How exactly does Joe Biden’s son’s marital issues have any relevance to Biden leading the US? And why does it carry more weight than the monstrosity of a life that our current dear leader has lived? Stop repeating the “Hillary’s emails” journalism of 2016. Hasn’t that done enough damage??!!
16
Am I reading a tabloid hit piece ?
Any day I would love to have Joe Biden or any other candidate beat lying, psychopath trump to send mar a lago.
This is another hit job to our 44 th President Obama.
Oh, by the way have you Ms. Dowd read the Biography by Michelle Obama, BECOMING ?
Still number one for the 14th week in this NY Times where you are an op-ed writer. Amazing candor, is a page filler, will help you to understand the couple from South side Chicago more.
Also Mrs. Clinton would have made an excellent President . She won by more than three million more popular votes than trump.
18
We don't need another 70 something white man as President.
2
Biden's dialing for dollars on the corporate speech circuit flying in corporate jets and lounging in 5-star hotel rooms proves his carbon copy Hillary campaign will be a dud, too.
4
Sorry, Ms. Dowd but today's column is better suited for page 1 (with pictures of course) of David Pecker's National Enquirer.
Next time leave the nastiness to Trump.
He has a real gift for it.
16
#1 Much to old , #2 Enough footage off sleazy Uncle Joe rubbing someone #3 Senate history especially Anita Hill hearings are all disqualifications .
Not including that he’s been the water boy for ALL credit card companies in Delaware
5
Joe would be a good Secretary of State. He is a foreign policy wonk, and he gets along well with people. We will need him there.
I believe the country needs someone for the Presidency who also has competence, character, and charisma, but from either the Midwest or the PNW. We need the votes from rural people too.
4
Translation for the politicians statement, "I am (resigning) (not running) (not seeking higher office) to spend "more time with my family":
1. The job I chose has forced me to put my wife last in my life for the previous 38 years, so I hope she's listening because I am now making this sacrifice for her.
2. My weekend with a 19 year old in a hotel in Manhattan is close to being exposed so now is the perfect time to get out of the game.
3. After spending a few days hanging around the house with the grandkids, I'm going hunting and fishing for about three years.
4. I am so sick of committee hearings I could scream.
5. By the third or fourth time you see the same darn issue come up for debate and votes again, it is time to pull the rip cord and hope you have a happy landing.
5. I've been offered a job with (an index fund) (a lobbying group) (my old law firm) that will pay me in excess of one million a year, why would I want to stick around here?
6. I'm fed up meeting with constituents who hate government, don't know anything about it but want it to fix every little problem they've got.
7. I've heard that many people leave Congress feet first, carried out on a gurney. This is somewhat more dignified, don't you think?
8. I can really cash in on the stock market with the tips picked up here but if I stay, it is illegal to use them.
9. Contributing to the dysfunction of govt. has really tired me out.
Top meaning: "I was never going to get a chance to be president anyway."
4
Petty, pointless column about small minded gossip.
23
I would love to see Mr. Biden serve his party and the nation as a senior statesman and counselor. He has flaws, certainly, but his values and principles are strong and worthy of emulation. I believe that he could act as a strong grounding force for the younger politicians who aspire to leadership but need good counsel as to how to achieve it. By leadership, I don't mean the capacity to win against Trump or his ilk; I do mean the ability to inspire, to draw out the best in people, and to find consensus in our divided polity.
2
I dunno, Maureen. Evangelicals tolerate trump's bareback escapades with Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, so it is trump who has broken through the tabloid barrier.
Reagan got elected through criticism of his divorce (of concern at the time, it's difficult to imagine now), and since then, trump has taken salacious behavior through the stratosphere. He makes Bill's relation with Monica look au courant. Add to that Robert Kraft's recent imbroglio (evangelicals have to accept that bit too), Joe Biden could sail through this election cycle as a saint.
What you are saying is that running for president is absolutely brutal these days. Someone like trump, who learned as a child how, not only to lie, but also to enjoy it as an art form and feel comfortable with the consequences of lying and its application to adultery, has become the King of the Twitter World. Trump is the superhuman symbolization of sleaze. And Americans elected *him* (well, okay, with the help of the Russians, Fox Noise, and the Electoral College).
I'll vote for, and send money to, Joe. The trump people have so destroyed our government and its relationship to the rest of the world that we need an exceedingly capable and experienced leader to get us back on course. After that is accomplished, the Oval Office will have been made safe for someone younger and less experienced.
5
Dear Joe, you can do some much for the country by being the learned professor, and the wise parent to these young Democrats who are rushing onto the 2020 bus. Teach them patience and make sure that every day they understand the true meaning of community.
1
Biden is a “warm, blue collar” person? I guess that’s why he voted for W’s bankruptcy “reform” act. That was all for big banks—nothing for the working class. I’d rather vote for Trump than that dispicable hypocrite.
2
Wasn't/isn't his son on the board of some Ukrainian Archer Daniels like mega-agri-corp? Like the Clintons, Bushes, and now Trumps; enough. Gimme Justice Dems who take no corporate or PAC money. Bernie is lighting the way for a brace of youngsters just over the horizon.
3
Biden—nice guy, great public servant—wouldn't have had a prayer in 2016, and even less in 2020. IMHO.
5
Sorry, but young people only go for old socialists and young democrats. Joe brings nothing to the table but a return to the nostalgia of Obama's moribund economy.
He's the democrats Bob Dole, and like Bob Dole It was to give him and his family an honorarium by letting him run in a losing race.
After reading the article about the Justice Democrats appearing in yesterday's NYT, it became crystal clear to me that the Democratic Party has taken a direction that leaves the likes of Joe Biden far, far behind. Walleed Shadid, Justice Democrat's communications director, appears to be the new voice of the party. Moderate Democrats are going to be shoved aside in ways not imaginable just two years ago.
4
With this article, I rather chose either Elizabeth Warren or Beto O'Rourke as the Democratic party candidate in 2020.
1
Biden's luggage includes his dumbness in the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings.With Thomas finally speaking up to promote penalize the free press, Biden has a bad past that trumps his plagiarism in college.
Biden's candidacy would pivot on his performance at the debate podium. While no Democrat can succeed by matching DJT's vulgar put downs and snark, it will be crucial to restore a sense of Trump-the Ridiculous, his laughable bullpocky.Precise global, environmental and economic facts must be spoken in a down-to-earth calm tone.
"Really, Mr. Trump-- the facts are well known; have you read any briefings recently?"
3
Who knows what Biden would do? Is our country so lacking in leadership that our President has to win a popularity contest. Sanders is a joke,Hillary is done and so Biden has to be better then any Democrat. Our country has lost its way. Trump is a “disgrace” the Republicans are racist and simplistic in their power grab. We are lost now as a nation. Biden would seem to be the best choice right now. Only time will tell.
Wish this piece had said something insightful.
8
As all the leading Democrat contenders have already committed political suicide by supporting reparations for blacks, abolishing ICE, abolishing private health insurance, free college for everybody (I can finally get that Gender Studies degree on somebody else's dime!), eliminating air travel and other lunatic fantasies of the Green New Deal, etc. etc. etc. The Democrats learned absolutely nothing from 2016 as all of these positions will only further alienate the rust belt voters who are critical to winning a national election. I pray Biden runs as he's the only Democrat who can beat Trump. And if he is nominated and Trump tries to cower him as he inevitably will, I suspect Joe's Irish temper will have him in Trump's fat face big-time, and I will love every minute of it.
3
In the end Maureen it didn't matter a shred that President Obama backed Hillary Clinton did it. I hope that if Joe Biden becomes the candidate that he doesn't temper his Irish temper. It was disgusting enough to watch that pitbull trump bully Hillary Clinton onstage at the debates following her around nipping at her heels just because she was a woman. Joe Biden has much bigger hands than trump and a much bigger heart.
4
Biden is "touchy-feely alright. Especially with all the women and girls who have had to put with his roaming hands and pushing his face into their personal space. As for his dignity and honor, Dowd conveniently forgets that he was a plagiarist while in law school at Syracuse and got away with it. He will fit in perfectly with the dysfunctional far left Democrat candidates if he decides to run.
5
Maureen, how come you don't mention the family web ties to China and the millions of dollars Hunter and the family made? I guess their nepotism and graft are OK with you, just as long as they don't have the last name of Trump.
5
I wish Biden had been the banner carrier in 2016. He would have won in a walk. Even my Trumpista brother-in-law already sporting his Trump 2020 gimme cap told me at the time he would vote for Biden if he won the nomination.
We wouldn't be exposed to PDA's with Kim Jong-Un. Europe would still be considered family. "The Wall" would never get a mention let alone be a constant above-the-fold presence.
Biden should put the old saw, "You can't go home again," to rest. It's the best place for him to be.
But now, it's not "Run, Joe! Run!"
It is, "Done, Joe. Done."
Biden is the Dems best chance IMO.
1
Maureen, listen up. Hillary lost. Bill has finally shuffled offstage, hopefully for good. You can stop flogging that horse. It’s well and truly dead.
7
C’mon, Maureen....time to stop the Pres. Obama hit jobs. Just look at the CSPAN historians ratings on all presidents, which considers domestic and foreign policy achievements. He is #11, which places him in the top twenty five percentile for all presidents. And this can only improve as historians continue to consider his two term body of work.
P.S. This column looks like a product from the Enquirer.
7
Ms. Dowd, We're too busy dealing with our national Trump nightmare to read the tabloids.
12
@Maureen we don't have to go to the tabloids. Trump has brought them to us. On a daily basis. No need to look up salacious details when they're on the front page of the paper daily.
3
If J.B. vows not to pardon anybody involved in the Trump criminal gang, I'm all for Joe.
3
Dear Joe Biden:
You have had years, even decades, to consider this decision, so make up your mind: either throw your hat into the ring and run for president, or make a Sherman statement and take yourself out of the running. Stop hovering over this campaign with your "will he or won't he?" act.
123
If Biden runs, I think there is a good chance that he will win. He is very likable and he represents a more genteel American past, which is now what pretty much everyone wants, despite Trump's claim on the darker side of our history. That being said, I would prefer Bernie, who represents an ethical and survivable (for the first time) American future. The reason that the "far left" is getting so much support right now is that it's the only reasonable option left. Sanders/Abrams 2020, so I can have hope for my sons.
2
I do not necessarily believe that Obama backed Hilary because he thought she was the best Candidate. It was payback for Hilary's support of Obama when he won the primary against her in 2008.
As far as Biden not running in 2016, I also firmly believe that Biden himself knew that he would not be able to shake his grief over Beau to sufficiently concentrate on a serious campaign. at that time.
The fact that Hilary lost was because of the electoral College and her campaigning style, not because of anything that Obama did. She won the popular vote after all.
Because of the Electoral College we have had two illegitimate Administrations.
We need to get rid of it. It never did serve a useful purpose. Its main intent was to make sure only the well off and well educated got to be President. Not much Democracy in that now, is there.
If Biden runs he will be faced more with his handling of the Clarence Thomas hearings and Anita Hill, than with his family's private problems.
5
Although they have been with us from our very beginning, family dynasties have no real place in the ideal American culture . This breakup is more common than we like to think, but our very cultural premise is founded on less than stable ground.
Things will sort themselves out with the usual result and we will return to the game with the same old lies which invariably drag every culture following them down the tubes. We either deal with existence as it is or unsuccessfully try to avoid it. The problem as usual will be forced on our children and theirs.
Life is after all a zero sum game
1
I would hope that Joe Biden runs, commits to just one term, and selects a young running mate (from the present presidential contenders) that needs to get up to speed on foreign policy so that they can run in 2024. That would be a winning ticket.
8
I respect Joe Biden, but I hope he doesn't run for president... I was a full fledged Beto O'Rourke supporter until he was taking too long to decide if he wanted the job, I went with Klobuchar, my son who will be old enough to vote in 2020 says he's going for Bernie Sanders (he will have to use his own allowance to donate if he wants Sanders that badly ;-). I believe O'Rourke is about to announce he will run, my email is filled up with Beto emails (I'm still on the list from his senate run). I'll watch the debates and we'll see who comes out on top. BTW the son I mentioned that is for Sanders, also thinks his generation will vote for Elizabeth Warren and she has a chance of winning the primary, I say no, no, no.
3
Here we go: MD will start doing for Biden what she for Hillary. Expect at least 2 or more years of it.
15
Too bad Joe's "Irish temper" wasn't put to good use as he and "I misplaced my pants" Ted Kennedy mismanaged hearings with Anita Hill and ended up giving Silent Clarence a pass and a life-long seat with the intellectual grownups, such as they are, of the Supreme Court.
Time for new blood... no Joe, no Hillary, no Bernie, no Trump. Old news, old ways, and just plain old.
11
Joe's family troubles are considerable, but that's not the reason he shouldn't run, Anita Hill, stories of his creepy shoulder rubs on young women will suddenly be back in the press, his gaffe prone ways are not funny, he and Bernie should just saddle up and ride off into the sunset.
7
@I&. And Trump's dysfunctions have become normalized. Trump has destroyed any semblance of decorum and decency in GOP politics. His behaviors released from the shadows, a floodgate of like minded creeps. Visuals of 'Lord of The Rings' come to mind...........Nothing Biden could say or do could compare to the "stable genius" and his cronies. Biden in comparison to Trump is an Eagle Scout. And America right now needs a Superman- Eagle Scout dynamic duo. I think Beto and Biden. As I recently heard said by political strategists, It's not about policy or politics, it's who Americans falls in 'love' with WINS.
The MD and the liberals are now bashing their own after years of love heaped on Biden. Why? Is it because like Schultz he could disrupt the liberal progressive machine that’s revving up. Obama basically told his most loyal soldier to hit the links? Why? Is it because his influence could be compromised in the final outcome? This party is in complete disarray with no coherent strategy to the White House. Amy Klobuchar was skewered by this paper couple of days ago hoping that she would just disappear. Why? Because she’s too center right for the green new dealers?? What is going on? Good luck democrats!!
4
We have a lunatic in the WH and an administration filled with some of the greediest, most vile, evil, know nothing people on the planet. The Republicans in Congress won't lift a finger to get rid of Trump who is trashing our democracy by aligning himself with the murderous Putin and the Saudis and any other tinpot dictator crushing people somewhere. Plus so far only William Weld has the guts to step up and say he'll challenge Trump in the primaries because Weld knows Trump is unfit to be cleaning horse stables let alone be president.
Nonetheless Dowd uses her column to cast shade at Biden because his son and the wife of his deceased son are engaged in a relationship which of course has zero to do with Biden running for or being president and she also takes the time to throw garbage at President Obama and Hillary Clinton because she can't resist smearing them whenever possible. Guess she's setting up her computer to do hit jobs on the Democrats who may run for president while not forgetting to trash the woman who should be president today.
20
@Amanda Bonner "...Trump is unfit to be cleaning horse stables let alone be president."
I think he would do very well at that. After all, did he not declare himself a "stable genius?"
7
Instead of the Democrats picking wall street’s darling, it’s Wilmington’s and DuPont’s, huh? He’s not that good, so move along to more attractive possibilities please.
2
The Democrats never learn, sadly.
11
It would be praising Joe Biden to label him the candidate of the status quo--he is actually the candidate of an imaginary past, that Capra-esque moment when decent, plain-talking, white Christian men blessed us with their moderation & wisdom. As Anita Hill could tell you.
Anybody who believes Joe Biden is a strong candidate for the presidency--a pitable loser every time he's run--doubtess still believes Joe Crowley beat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the 14th Congressional District.
8
Beto and Biden would be good for Our country.
3
I am usually a fan Maureen, but you lost me today. I do not want to see us repeating history. Your comment that VP Biden was given the Medal of Freedom as a way to assuage President Obama's guilt was a low blow. Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and 46-1 are done. We need to move on with a new look and new ideas. Give me Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris or Amy Klobuchar over any of these others. It's time!
5
So here we go again, endless articles about candidates’ personal lives, past foibles, occasional gaffes, and what their third grade teachers thought about their penmanship. NY Times and Ms Dowd did plenty to degrade Hillary’s run, and now here we are again with more trivia while that evil man occupies the White House and the Republican Party grasps a 30 year hold on the judiciary. Oh well, at least we have the comfort of progressive politics in the Democratic Party being defined by a 29 year old air head from Queens.
9
I was enjoying this article and then [insert needle scratch sound effect.]
Am I reading the New York Times or am I reading the National Enquirer?
13
I must not be spending enough time in super market check-out lines. This is the first I have read of this new twist in Biden's family story. Does it disqualify him from running? Not in my opinion. He disqualified himself in the course of his 2 failed attempts, his chairing the hearings that produced Justice Thomas and his having been born 76 years ago.
I can't take anyone seriously as a national candidate someone who has only won elections in a state made up of 3 counties with a population of under 1 million. Sorry Delaware your just a Philadelphia suburb and P O Box printed on corporation's annual report.
I prefer an Elizabeth Warren with Corey Booker VP team.
3
I'm surprised the Times published this naked hit piece. At least blend in some substance with the salaciousness, Dowd.
Though I'm no fan of Biden - wanting to end the tradition since the Reagan Restoration of the Democrats being complicit friends-of-the-banksters - he shouldn't be taken out like this.
So many candidates, so few legitimate leaders...
8
Hi Maureen, thanks for the expose on Hunter Biden... I didn’t know any of this. Keep up the excellent muckraking journalism you practice so well. Doing your best to get Donald reelected in 2020!
22
Now we’ve got the NYT giving us their own Page Six! Thank you so much Maureen! I don’t read The Daily Mail and until now never knew any of this juicy, juicy dish. Really important stuff. Who needs deep analysis in these times of reality TV reality.
10
What a cheap and disappointing hit piece, Maureen. Setting aside the soap opera, do you think Biden would be a good president?
6
This is kind of an icky column. It straddles concern that dt would limbo down to using this in a campaign with almost gleefully revealing family woes.
You should have sold it to the Nat. Enq.
10
Maureen, I’m confident that you could have gotten your point across without climbing aboard the take a poke at Obama cabal so fashionable these days. He wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be the problem. We know what that is.
5
I'm so happy to see you rooting for my choice as the Democratic Candidate. Obama was wrong and his timing even worse. Although he foresaw that people had enough of Clintons he still went with Hillary - just that she would be the 1st woman President. He maybe 76 like the others in the running but Joe Biden is the only real decent human being, who has it all to win beating the current obnoxious one in 2020 with a real showdown. The tabloids are tabloids raking up mud. As a matter of fact it is also an indication that the opposition is very scared. The Trump-Pecker saga is worth noting. And why is Beau's widow and his brother of any consequence? It happens in many American families! Besides it's in the tabloids! From my view-point it's just throwing dirt on someone whose decency is beyond any doubt. Trump and his coterie know that real newspapers like the NYT, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post and every news outlet except Fox will not give any credence nor publish fake news. Perhaps, Bezos will sue the daylights of these tabloids into the sratosphere!
Anita Hill. Blanket impunity for Israel.
I think not.
2
Thanks Ms. Dowd. I haven't been reading the tabloids so until you wrote about it, was unaware of the oh so juicy and oh so irrelevant lives of his children and childreninlaws. So, thanks for letting me know. Any news on the Kardashians?
16
Let's see what the life insurance and medical businesses have to say abut seventy year olds as President. The probability of dieing in office seems quite high to me. Next is the probably of nearly dieing. Age alone, being in the seventies, seems like a flat out disqualification from running in my aged eyes.
3
There was another article that made a big deal about Obama not endorsing any candidate yet. I guess he learned a lesson and probably learned from Trump frequent gaffes and pronouncements as well. Don't comment on things that don't directly impact you.
Right now, we're too far away and there's too many candidates. Some of them will fall off through the process of natural selection and elimination. Let it work itself out.
5
Both Bernie and Biden are too old to run for President successfully. They need to make way for a younger generation. In any case, the prophesy is that Trump will destroy the Presidency by the end of his term - so he will be the last one. The people of the US will decide not to ever allow any one man or woman to have total executive power any longer. After Trump, the US will be ruled by a committee.
1
@David Gold The prophecy? Whose prophecy?
1
I like a majority of Americans, want to see a viable opponent to run against Trump. I may have to settle for Joe. the rest of the candidates are unlikely to get the support of the independent middle voter - which is desperately needed to win the electoral college votes in the "swing states". When the average American still thinks the ACA is a radical concept, it does not help that the pack of likely candidates seem to be stampeding to the left with ideas like "medicare for all" or replacing Columbus Day with Indegenous peoples day. Right or wrong that won't sell in Wisconsin or Iowa.
6
This article seems to refrain 2016, focusing on meaningless headlines about democratic presidential candidates; e.g, Klobuchar is a difficult employer, Biden's family, Senator Feinstein's rebuff of the youngsters, etc. So and so raised this much money. Will so and so get into the race? Senator so and so does not like Senator so and so. Like 2016, this is re-electing trump. Find out where the candidates stand on issues and report that. Let that control the news cycle, not some bright shining object dangled in front of you.
20
We need to face the fact that no one, including "Uncle Joe", will affect Trump voters. They are what they are and no democrat will change many votes. It's time we stop speculating about someone who's time came and went. Democrats are finally moving left as the republicans have moved to the extreme right now for decades. As with his endorsement of Hillary Clinton, Obama lived in a fantasy world trying to ignore political reality while claiming some sort of higher ground. It didn't work out so well in the end.
3
All Hillary had to do to become President in 2016 was make Bernie her V.P candidate. That would have given progressives in the rust belt a reason to show up, hold their nose and vote for her
(Reagan faced with a similar thing in 1980, held his nose & picked his rival the rest is history)
Apparently Hillary would rather Trump win than give progressives a seat @ the table (when that seat is the VP, one practically w/out portfolio)
Stunning lack of Judgment? Political malpractice?
Hillary & Obama had the same constituency: Wall Street
Obama’s trick was to make vague progressive promises on the campaign trail: Hope, Change, etc.. Then do nothing. Wealth still concentrated, the median wage is still flat as it has been since 1972
Part of the reaction now is people are ticked off by false progressiveism. Knowing how to talk to Joe-Sixpack might not work anymore. One has to have credibility that he will fight for Joe-Sixpack’s interests
Hillary’s problem was a failure to not establish credibility with progressives. That’s why she needed Bernie on her ticket. For his part, Bernie did all that he could to avoid a Trump presidency, including visiting Wisconsin multiple times in the final phase
Hillary thought Wall Street money & (minority) identity politics is enough. But a majority is still a majority, in the rust belt at least, and identity politics is liable to trigger a reaction by the majority. So bad idea all around
Joe lacks progress cred. So Liz, Bernie or Sharrod.
13
@Tim Kane I wondered that at the time. She picked bland, reliable and loyal, all the better to not outshine her. She resented Bernie's ease of garnering the love and didn't trust him. Just as Biden can't undo the Clarence Thomas vote neither can Clinton undo "standing by her man."
6
@Kathy or standing by the Banksters.
Her & Bill amassed a fortune giving speeches to the Banksters - worth more than$100 million. They got her daughter a job with a hedge fund company after graduating with a history degree - the most lucrative job in the world. Now she is married to a bankster. Meanwhile Hill & Bill frequent Aspen, the Hamptons & Davos. She couldn't fake progressiveness during the campaign like Obama did, Trump the compulsive liar, had no problem and gave them more lip service than any Pol had done in decades.
I think Joe, while he can speak to Joe Sixpack, I don't think that's enough anymore. Obama's campaign one way, govern another wrecked that. People are going to be looking for evidence of blood, sweat & tears shed for the working family. If progressivism not demonstrated before 12/15/2015, then they're johnny-come-latelies and won't be trusted. I think that leaves only Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren & Bernie Sanders.
Sherrod Brown would win Ohio automatically. If he's not the Pres candidate he's a good pick for VP. If he is, then he could pick a southerner - maybe Beto.
@Kathy Or her vote in favor of the Iraq War.
Why can't the old politicians fade away and let younger, newer ideas step forward. They cling to power as Nancy Pelosi so sadly demonstrates. Democrats have some great candidates lining up, Sen. Harris among the best.
Joe Biden, almost 80 years old please stay away.
8
Peloton is doing a remarkable job.
@Julia Nancy Pelosi is saving our democracy from Donald Trump. Yes, make room for a new generation but sometimes experience gets the job done.
3
For such a smart and astute politician, Obama certainly makes lots of head scratching decisions. Biden’s time was 2016, although I certainly understand his personal reasons for declining. Biden woyld have beaten Trump and spared us all Trump’s freak show. I think 2020 is too late. Bernie has moved the Party left, toward the actual economic center of the American people and Biden’s version of buddying up to credit card companies and neoliberalism no longer pass ideological inspection.
9
Joe Biden can offer us much wisdom as we head toward 2020.
I don't think he should run though. His family travails are beside the point. Lord help us if we cease to appreciate the older voices of wise and decent commentators as we turn toward younger candidates.
5
These days, at age 82, I am thinking that we can take and use the experience and wisdom of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders without electing either of them President. Each of them could be appointed Sensei of the President's Cabinet, with all the obligations, rights, and privileges of a cabinet position.
13
Is the world changing or are it's people changing? Big difference! Maybe, instead of thinking of Biden running for Pres.,we should think of him as running for VP again to a younger,more vibrant and qualified candidate. He could ,with his strong experence as a verified VP , be the guiding hand to a real political administration that is able to work within both parties to get the business of the people done.
As an elder person myself , I believe that we need someone capable to teach a younger person the "political ropes". As a guiding hand to a healthier America, I don't think anyone is more qualified.
7
I'm a retired political consultant. I once worked for Joe Biden. I'm not associated with him now so take this as unbiased. Joe is one of the really nice and descent human beings I have met. Most of the politicians I met along the way were just like us, regular folks with strengths and weaknesses. Joe has his weaknesses, but there is no doubt in my mind that he would be a great transition from Trump, someone to restore the fundamental principles of our country. Wise, old, seasoned, comfortable in his own skin, connecting to the new well educated "elite" and to the regular guy, who likes sports, and drinks beer. At various times America was not ready for Joe, but right now America is ready and needs Biden, I hope he runs.
15
Wise? Let's see the evidence. Championing NATO expansion right up to Putin's chin, that's wisdom? When it obligates us to go to war for Estonia or Poland? What's in that for us? I don't mean US arms manufacturers, I mean you and me. And buying Clarence Thomas's lies was wise?
DMD, you haven't given a single reason why Joe Biden should be president. I don't care how nice a guy he is. When he has had a chance to lead -- 46 years in the Senate! -- he hasn't led anyone or anything. What's the Biden plan for dealing with the climate crisis? with income inequality? with the opioid epidemic? with healthcare? He's comfortable in his own skin all right, and comfortable with the same old same old.
That anyone even mentions Joe Biden for president shows you how important the simple fact of name recognition is for those who view the electorate with contempt. Despite 2016, Americans are smarter than that. This time around we're going to hear a lot about competing policy visions, and when the dust settles Joe Biden will be nowhere in sight.
Biden has reduced the race to name calling even before he's entered the race. Where can he go from there? Where can any candidate go from there? Also his past will come back to haunt him. In his Dem primaries for his previous runs, the other candidates stayed away from his cozy relationship with credit card companies and his family involvement in various credit card schemes.
The best Dem, candidate is the person who talks policy not vitriol. My money's on Brown - the anti Trump.
3
Even if Joe Biden had run against Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, he still would have had to deal with what Bernie encountered: a party machine that had already sold its souls to Hillary.
7
The only positive of a Biden run is that the government has gone so far off the rails,, and the presidency has been so degraded that we require in the interim a sober statesman (even with all his past baggage) to steer the ship of state back to better waters. A much younger person with new ideas is absolutely required, but all the right's posturing, baiting and paranoia that would accompany a young firebrand would be a huge distraction. MIght the answer be Sherood Brown?
2
Joe Biden next to Donald Trump looks like Mount Everest next to Mount Trashmore.
The two Biden sons next to the two Trump sons look like two supernovas next to two wet matches.
The Biden ex daughter-in-law is a blazing blue sun next to the two Trump firecrackers.
Biden's daughter is a titan next to Ivanka.
Joe Biden has more humble humane empathy in his baby toenail than Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton combined.
19
I’m completely nonplussed that Maureen Dowd’s would find relevant to whether Joe Biden should run in 2020 any discussion of the marital difficulties of his sole son and his daughters-in-law. Those difficulties don’t bear on Joe’s intelligence, eloquence, or relevant experience, or the lack thereof. Please, Ms. Dowd, stick to what’s relevant, and stop rummaging around in the garbage looking for a justification for your column.
52
@David M. Brodsky
Well said. Thank you.
3
The fact that Maureen describes Biden as "a seasoned patriarch" is exactly what's wrong with him, as far as I'm concerned. No more big daddies coming to the rescue, please. Trump's claims that only he can fix our woes and his fans clinging dependence on him has has made the daddy-of-our-nation thing sort of stomach churning. (Especially after seeing those Trump/Ivanka lap-sitting photos.) No thanks to a father-knows-best president.
3
Cruel column Maureen, this guy has been through hell and has held his head up high. Find something else to write about.
52
And your point is?? Nothing you can say about Biden's character is tarnished compare to .......and it's all about character.
19
Biden is too old and there are a lot of videos of him pawing women and young girls. He would bomb against Trump. Donors probably like him, which is why he is being promoted I guess.
7
The current issue of Harper's has more about Uncle Joe.
And by the way, will Maureen ever get over the Clintons?
28
He. Is. Too. Old. Move on.
14
Biden is a loser, out of touch and will de-motivate those who the Democrats need to vote. Not one single republican will vote for his "blue collar Joe Sixpact" personna and he will not carry one single state that HRH lost.
3
Supporting Hilary has got to be Obama’s biggest blunder as POTUS
1
I'm much more concerned about the issue Peter Schweizer talks about in his book Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison
Hunter Biden’s China Connections
March 16, 2018 by Jeff Carlson, CFA
"In December of 2013, Vice President Biden and his son Hunter Biden flew to China on Air Force Two. Ten days after the trip, a subsidiary of the Bank of China signed a deal with Hunter Biden’s investment firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners, to form a $1 billion joint-venture investment fund called Bohai Harvest RST."
Can America withstand another family making money off the office of the President of the United States?
3
Ms. Dowd, I don't know who's more at fault here - you for unearthing this tabloid-worthy gossip or the NYT for publishing it. And you couldn't resist some last digs at Obama either - the cherry on the Democratic pie in the face.
Your attempts to "be cute" and ignore policy will sabotage the election and help ensure another disastrous dt term - the likes of which our democracy may not survive. For shame.
53
"A gaffe machine"... adios, Biden!
3
Why is MoDo digging up and airing all this trash on Biden? This piece reads like something right out of the Enquirer. Did anyone really remember the sordid details of the Biden’s sons’ marriages and dissolutions (until they were dredged up again here??) This is exactly the kind of nonsense we need less of when evaluating candidates for the top office in the land. Yuck.
32
Trump is going to go low after Biden's family while he pays off porn stars ,has Putin hack emails for him and has most guys around him indicted or convicted felons. This what we know from open source info as Trump calls the Enemy of the People. If the folks want a Putin style leader featuring white nationalism Trump is your guy.
3
You help take down Hillary and now try to put it on Obama. That’s rich.
51
This column is a disgrace. It brings up gossip about Biden:s family that most Americans never heard about or care about.
40
According to some folklore I heard in Illinois, Obama would have his eight years (first African-American president, Hillary would have at least four years, possibly eight (first woman president), followed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel (the first Jewish president).
All told, Chicago’s Democratic machine would have national control for possibly 24-years.
1
Biden's gaff of calling Asia the Orient is a nothing burger. His family's indiscretions would be back-fire fodder for the mail-bride ordering, porn-dependent, mafia-family-man-child Trump. But...
Biden's old boy's-club gaff of failing to treat Anita Hill with real dignity, his failure to take seriously and expose the sexual predations of Clarence Thomas, that is the kind of gaff that #MeToo conscious Democrats will care about.
That said, let Biden throw in his hat. Let Biden's temper flare, let it blaze. Let Trump dare to attack Biden's family. Then let Biden challenge Trump to an honor duel. America hasn't seen an honor duel since the Civil War.
Of course these days we don't condone bloodshed (except the bloodshed in our streets approved by Republicans serving the NRA) so let the code duello specify that it will be a duel of words in a nationally televised setting...like a debate.
Trump will certainly call upon his vast knowledge of grade-school two syllable words to land a childish blow, but Biden not only has an Irish temper, he has an adult mind bursting with Irish wit. Biden's words will dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Trump will cry like a baby and scream like the overindulged toddler he is. The American audience will watch Biden school the nation's first hoodlum president.
So don't hold back Joe. Get in the race. Let your sparks fly. Let Trump's humiliation begin.
13
If you are going to write about Biden's family, it would have been more relevant to delve into Hunter Biden's consulting work for Ukrainian gas companies and his connections to their corrupt officials.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/europe/corruption-ukraine-joe-biden-son-hunter-biden-ties.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/05/14/hunter-bidens-new-job-at-a-ukrainian-gas-company-is-a-problem-for-u-s-soft-power/?utm_term=.50e0a0d01583
6
What they'll get him for:
1. Plagiarism;
2. Anita Hill;
3. Latent racism or racial ignorance (comment on Obama being ("amazingly") such a "clean" African-American; and
4. Smarmily groping women on national TV and in photos.
His family is irrelevant. He can sink all by himself.
10:04 am Sun
9
Obama knew there was a populist undercurrent - every State of the Union he reminded Congress that many Americans felt the system was rigged and they were being left behind. He bemoaned absurdly low tax rates for hedge fun managers, and outrageous Big Pharma drug prices. He said these things calmly year after year and did what he could though Executive Orders.
Obama underestimated was Trump (and overestimated Hillary), who took these themes, added Immigration and race baiting and supercharged them for his own means.
Had Biden run, and won (not convinced of that either) this would have only delayed the inevitable reckoning America must have with its schizophrenic economic system - which booms while failing so many people at the same time.
The ascendant Left and the New Green Deal are refreshing and affirming not because all the answers are there; though I agree with much of it. Trump doesn't deserve credit for it - but his audaciousness did help enable and energize it.
Having Hillary or Biden as President probably would have meant eight more years of stale gridlock.
Joe Biden is a moderate Republican like Hillary and cannot win a primary and certainly not the presidency.
Heading into my eighth decade in good health and sound mind I know when its time to look to younger people to run the show. As a white suburban kid I see the our country is far different from the 1950's. In the 60's I thought our generation was ready to direct the nation to new achievements. Having Barack Obama elected president I thought we'd turned a corner. Going back to the past isn't the path to take. Thanks to Vice President Biden and Senator Sanders. Let's see a new generation rise to the occasion.
22
"good in meetings" - the reason to anoint Hillary? I would have disliked Professor Obama's class immediately if he let his objectivity distract itself from personal feelings this way.
2
It seems to irrelevant to talk about family scandals in terms of their detriment to candidacies anymore. Trump burned that book and, while I more than welcome a return to more seemly POTUS in a host of ways, the one welcome thing to come out of his win was the idea that someone doesn't have to wear a flag pin, say they go to church every Sunday, or pretend their family is perfect to become president. And before anyone begins the whining, "But that rule still applies to Democrats" (in tones of hurt outrage), ask yourself if it really, really does. The GOP playbook is don't prevaricate, chicken out, back down - just own it. More Dems need to do the same and I think if Joe doesn't listen to worry worts with dated ideas, he is probably the kind of person who could take on his family narrative with a bit of class to appease the old school set, but enough unapologetic sincerity to win the hearts of voters who keep it real.
4
I’d kind of like to know exactly what pubs have owned up to.
Biden or Sanders or Beto or Harris or Warren or Brown or Booker or Klobuchar or Gillibrand or Merkley, who cares?
I don’t care who the Democratic nominee is, as long as she/he wins.
Excepting Pence who is more dangerous than Trump because he does a better job of disguising his abnormalities, I have a hard time imagining a worse President for the United States now and in 2020 than Donald Trump.
In this time and in this place, I am prepared to pledge my undying fealty and all my worldly goods to anyone the Democrats drag in, especially if that person is selected via the Powerball Lottery.
23
@A. Stanton--I am with you all the way on this. Democrats who believe they can be so picky, like 2020 is a usual presidential election year, are out of their minds. What's imperative is to stop the damage being inflicted by Trump and send him back to his penthouse. I have some candidates I would prefer, but when it comes down to it I too will vote for any Democratic candidate. What choice do I have?
1
Back to back, mildly camouflaged hit pieces on the two prime centrists running or considering running for president.
Biden. Too nice. Not smart enough. Not tough enough to run. Take it from Obama if not from me.
Klobuchar is mean to her staff. Really mean to her staff. Too temperamental. And she's mean to her staff.
Ok. We get it.
14
I get through life without reading Page 6 (which I only know about from Law & Order reruns), People, or the National Inquirer. So the tawdry drama of Biden’s family was news to me. Thanks bunches, Maureen.
As for Biden running, he brings little to this moment. Little energy, little leadership, but much establishment baggage. I’ll take Bernie over Biden any day!
3
No mention of Biden's accomplishments while senator? Shouldn't take long. And bringing up a tragedy that happened 47 years ago has no impact on voters.
1
If you want to see what the circular Democratic firing squad looks like, you need look no further than the comments here. As long as I'm offering cliches.... here's another one. The perfect is the enemy of the good. The instinct to find and raise up flaws first, rather than strengths may well be the Democrats undoing.
9
Please "Go Quietly into the Night" Joe. Not going gently will only result in more pain and sorrow.
2
Biden aside, after reading this I don’t have faith in an Obama endorsement of a Democratic candidate.
2
I checked the masthead twice to make sure this wasn't People Magazine. I suppose people are interested in family drama, but what does it contribute to the conversation?
If we're dishing dirt, no one is more muddied than Donald.
20
On the one hand, Joe should enter the race. He has the ability to split the moderate vote and hand progressives a primary nomination that will finally unhinge the Democratic Party from the neoliberal hangover left over from Reagan/Clinton. That's definitely something we should encourage.
On the other hand, Joe shouldn't run. If he somehow manages to win the nomination, Democratic chances in 2020 are extremely diminished. Joe is not the right candidate for these times. He probably could have won in 2016 but, as mentioned, the Clinton coronation was forced to proceed. It's too late to take that one back.
I wouldn't rule out Joe entirely. He probably has better chances against Trump than most other moderate candidates. I'd put Joe ahead of Sharrod Brown for instance. The exception is maybe Beto O'Rourke but we don't know if he's running and we don't know if he's running as a moderate.
Generally speaking though, Joe is not a great choice for the general election. There is already a large body of young independent voters who are highly displeased with Democrats over the Clinton debacle. Nominating Joe Biden now doesn't exactly send the right message.
As much as Party voters would like to wish away their most recent mistakes, the Democratic Party doesn't have the luxury of doing whatever they want this time. The more the old school powers force the issue, the worse off everyone is going to be. You should keep that in mind when voting in the primaries.
2
Joe Biden would be a wonderful President, but his time has passed. He would be almost 80 years old when sworn into Office.
Trump and the Russians stole the 2016 election from what should have been the first woman President, whose professional qualifications and judgements far exceeded the winner.
Fortunately, the Democrats have several women candidates that are far better prepared to be President than is Trump or most of the males in the running including Biden. They bring fresh perspectives, experience, no or little political baggage and the enthusiastic support of millions of Americans.
2020 is the year of the competent woman Democrat to be President.
3
While it remains to be seen who the Dems will choose to be it's next candidate, I cannot help but worry about the horrible track record the DNC has most recently. In 2008, the DNC was ready to coronate Ms. Clinton only to be thoroughly taken aback by the Iowa Caucus that saw Ms. Clinton get thrashed. In Iowa. By an African-American. Liberal. In 2016, the DNC did everything in is power to coronate Ms. Clinton and succeeded in getting a candidate who had to go 15 rounds to defeat an aging socialist. In essence, they chose the only candidate who could lose to Trump. And this is my worry for 2020. I wonder if the DNC is falling under the spell of the Social Democrats like AOC who are pushing fantasy, not reality. What the Dems need is a candidate who can embrace the issues that the Social Dems bring to the political forum but can find a political path forward. Policies that bankrupt the country are not going to win this election. Slogans on the New Green Deal will fall on deaf ears when AOC cannot explain how she is going to fund the trillions of dollars per year that the GOP will identify as needed to make her proposed changes. I fear when Americans realize that the New Green Deal will mean forfeiting their 2000 square foot home, or trading their car for a bicycle, or paying 2x rent because utility prices and the "greening" of buildings will be layered into their rent, that it will spell disaster in the 2020 elections. Please bring on Joe!!
1
@jim avails "Slogans on the New Green Deal will fall on deaf ears when AOC cannot explain how she is going to fund the trillions of dollars per year that the GOP will identify as needed to make her proposed changes."
I'm tired of this claptrap. Here's her answer -- and mine too: they do it in Europe, and if they can, we can. They have free or insured healthcare for everybody. They have daycare. They have family allowances. they have better pensions and earlier retirement and month-long annual vacations. They don't have the obscene inequality of wealth and income we have here. They have strong unions and they don't make constant war on people of color all over the world all the time. They pay more taxes and they get their money's worth. We have paid for these endless wars; we can pay for the Green New Deal.
"The election is theirs to lose," is an expression I rather like. It appears to me that the Dems are doing their best to validate it.
3
The man who can not decide to run or not to run because if family issues is automatically disqualified from presidency. I mean, how will he act decisively in a timely manner as president on issues that affect the whole world.
3
A Biden candidacy will be Hilary all over again: a middle-of-the-road uninspiring plod. The panic caused by Ocasio-Cortez is mostly shock that the voters are now far left of the Dems. So is common sense and real solutions to real problems, which require more than slogans like “stronger together”.
5
I want VP Biden to run, and frankly think he's the "best" candidate, on either side, that has the best chance as truly "making America great again", or at least better than it has been these past several years. BUT... there is no doubt in my mind that the dirty laundry of the family will be aired for the world, and more importantly, voters, to see. I think ultimately, much to the chagrin and perhaps surprise, of the VP, the reaction will be "meh", and maybe even viewed as a "he's messed up like us" positive. But it will be sordid and embarrassing, and worse of all, Mr. Biden doesn't have to wait for a general election for this to make the light of day; there's plenty a Democratic candidate that will be more than happy to put this old new into play.
2
What is the sorted history. Does Dowd mean that she and other members of the Media lied about the Clintons? Hillary clobbered Sanders and received 3 million more votes against Trump despite the opposition of the Russians, Wikileaks, the FBI and a lot of the press. That was a lot for her to carry on her back and still almost win.
17
If Corey Booker or Elizabeth Warren was his VP, it would be a formidable team. And his age wouldn't be a handicap with such a strong VP.
7
@Jean
Maybe for the sake of the country, he should run as VP again, or do the same term limits govern the VP that limit the POTUS?
I like the idea of a centrist; too risky to run a lefty. Uncle Joe works for me as does Gov. Jay Inslee.
That said, in a big Dem pool Bernie has the most advantages, but Trump will punt him through the goal posts, rinse and repeat for the Dems.
While the Dem's pool stays big Bernie will rack up the Dem primary wins, and it will be too late to catch him in the end, and of course even if they could catch him, his fanatics will find fault and not vote in the general.
If Biden's time has passed; Bernie's time is too far into the future including his.
There is no way this country is placing a Marxist Socialist into the WH.
You thought the GOP went crazy when there was a black man in the WH, just wait until you see them with a Marxist Socialist in it.
The Dems will lose all their recent gains in 2022 if Bernie ever won the WH.
N.b., I've nothing against Marxist Socialists
5
He will be 79 on Jan. 20, 2021. He would be 82 on Jan. 1, 2023 if he announced for a second term that would end when he would be 88.
That's not only wrong, it's crazy.
Sanders and Bloomberg by the way, ditto.
No one over the age of 70 should be running for president (says this over-70 year old):
Witness the way 84-year old, tone deaf, self-absorbed Diane Feinstein put down young people this week -- young people concerned about climate change and how it is and will change the world.
About how it will have changed the world 6 and 70 years from now when they reach the ages reached by me, by Joe Biden and Diane Feinstein.
No, we do not need 84 year old senator who will be 90 at the end of a current term anymore than we need 80-year-old presidents. That is just wrong and they need to stand aside not just for the next generation in its 60s but for the next one already in its 40s and the even bigger one reshaping the world, the Millenials.
So as to a Biden candidacy think of the boy's question to Shoeless Joe - "Say it isn't so Joe" and take Bernie with you.
15
As a 70 something I agree. Feinstein should have handed the seat over to de Leon. Pass on the reins and retire folks. Maybe new blood will make it possible for ME to retire.
2
A while back someone somewhere in this paper commented on previous US elections and how when the a younger Democrat candidate ran against an older Republican candidate, the Democrats always won. Read the tea leaves Democrats -- Joe Biden is too old. His time has passed -- and so has Bernie Sanders. Sure they have lots of experience, are relatable and may have good policy ideas but let them support a younger candidate. A stronger overall team is better than more years of the immoral Republicans.
7
@Lily give one example.
The Trump coalition is a lot more than just blue collar despair. It is above all about the decline of white patriarchy. Trump promised the Great Restoration of White Guy Power, aka Make America Great Again.
No windmills or solar powered minicars for these guys, either. They want to see coal smoke belching again from America's World War One era steel mills, when they drive by in their pick up with an engine as big as the one in an 18 wheeler.
But credit is due to The Misogynist in Chief for the #me too movement, which would have been less likely in a Hillary Clinton Administration.
And climate change and #me too are potent liabilities for the GOP deniers. And the reality of "GOP tax reform" is sinking in as April 15th gets closer, as the deficits get taller and working class wages stagnate, no matter how low the unemployment rate.
The youngest are giving Diane Feinstein an earful about climate change and she seems to be hard of hearing.
I hope all of the above brings a younger and wiser electorate to the polls in 2020, continuing the momentum of 2018, and making President Pence a half-termer like Gerald Ford.
300
@Look Ahead
Dear Look Ahead,
"Younger and wiser?"
I don't think age, whether you are older or younger somehow confers wisdom on anyone.
I will most likely vote for the Democratic candidate, unless they are a criminal, but we need to be careful.
Much of the progressive agenda is attractive to "Joe-Sixpack", but the Republicans are going to describe it as "Socialist".
What is often overlooked in this conversation is not that Americans are averse to a more generous social safety net. Nevertheless, when it is referred to as "socialist",in American minds, the term "Socialist" conjures up visions of totalitarian regimes, the latest bad example being Venezuela. In fact, true socialism has been almost exclusively totalitarian.
It is useless and also inaccurate to reference the European model of "socialism", as none of those nations are socialist. That is, the government owns most all the means of production.
The label "progressive" may or may not be a useful brand name if it conjures up or can easily be labeled socialist.
Democrats need to abandon labels and provide a realistic vision of a more generous but not wasteful social safety net.
Joe Biden does not seem to have that label, but seems to support those policies. I would vote for Joe with alacrity.
32
@Look Ahead
I would like to agree with you, but younger and wiser often do not go together.
The recklessness of AOC and her cohorts is as alarming as Donald Trump and his minions. There are really too many similarities, not so much in ideology but in temperament and style.
We need a more thought out agenda. A thoughtful and tempered approach may not sound sexy, but it might be more effective in the long run.
37
@Look Ahead
Good to see some noticed "younger and wiser". The point was that wisdom does not always come with age.
Somehow many of the "Me Generation" have had a hard time focusing on the future. I can't imagine why (sarcasm). Even more so for those older yet.
The world is changing quickly. We need to prepare for a very different future.
And we are not.
That's a problem a middle schoolers can see.
22
While supposedly in his prime, Joe Biden ran two of the most abysmally self-defeating presidential campaigns in modern American history, the first imploding 14 months prior to the election and the other collapsing 10 months beforehand.
Beyond wishful thinking, what credible evidence is there that, when he's already closer to 80 than to 70, it would be any different this time?
Aside from all the political baggage and gaffes, his foremost quality in this cycle has been dithering, a characteristic that represents neither leadership nor inspiration at an especially perilous time. Aren't the Democrats -- and the country as a whole -- in desperate need of both of those qualities more than ever? Then why the hesitancy?
Meanwhile, the hyped-up punditocracy frantically tries to pump helium into an easily deflatable leaden balloon that has been part of the Washington establishment for no less than 46 years. As learning curves go, Mr. Biden's still falls short of being truly uplifting, so the question remains whether it ever will be.
482
@Dotconnector A very good demonstration of connecting the dots. I like Joe Biden, but... 1. He has a track record, and is a proven loser; 2. He is a ditherer, and should make up his mind whether he is going to run or not, instead of subjecting us all to his Hamlet-like indecision.
31
@Dotconnector OK, so you don't like Biden, even though he's one of the only possible Democratic candidates who has a chance to defeat Trump. If you believe that one of the Democratic lefties or one of Democratic women wannabees has a chance to defeat Trump then you need to think again because it's never going to happen.
15
A US senator for 36 years and VP for 8 years. A loser? Really?
24
Even though Joe Biden has a nice-guy image, that's not enough in the politics of 2019. He is a symbol of the status-quo and Democrats want to move away from Wall Street towards Main Street. He also is overloaded with political baggage, including the confirmation of unfit Clarence Thomas as a justice on the Supreme Court. The question is not whether Biden should run to fulfill his promise to his late son but whether it would be good for his family, the Democratic Party and the country. Politics is rough and the timing is all wrong. Biden's shelf-life has expired.
425
@Whole Grains. Only Klobacher knows anything about FP? Joe does too, let him rehire some people who know something. Trump has destroyed our FP alliances.
2
The party does not want to move away from Wall Street (status quo)...just listen to it’s leaders and watch how they work in power.
Some new standouts ( thru media exposure) do want to move. They will be sublimed and allowed to put on a show but that’s it.
1
I was never a fan of Joe Biden's after Clarence Thomas and there always seemed to be a bit of a showboat about him in his earlier years.
No , I see him more as a statesman, a rarity in the political environment we now find ourselves in. President Obama could never have found a more loyal running mate nor a more empathetic one.
Initially, I thought he would add a lot to the debate if he ran but after reading this column, I hope he doesn't. Trump and his Republican thugs would have a field day with the Hunter Biden saga. Their attacks against Biden himself would be just as loathsome as those on Clinton.
So, I hope he stays out. He was the greatest vice-president in my lifetime, loyal to his family, party, president and country and well versed on foreign affairs and what middle class Americans want.
Joe Biden was always one of the poorest members of Congress. He'll be able to make some real money now and the fact that he'd forego that to serve again makes me respect him all the more.
233
@Mary Scott
Do you think it possible that Biden - like Bernie who also has been in politics for years without getting rich - might not have money as his driving desire in life? I think it is terrific to have some people in government who aren't in it for the money, who truly care about the country and the people. Novel, I know, but wonderful all the same.
News flash: There really is more to life than cold, hard cash.
61
@Mary Scott
Biden has money.
When he went to China to negotiate government business, the Bank of China suddenly invested a very huge amount in Hunter Biden's hedge fund, which is just blocks from the White House, not on Wall Street.
This is the new corruption. Hundreds of millions are invested in foundations and funds headed up by the friends and families of politicians. The Clintons and the Trumps also do it.
No need for the old paper bag under the table bribe. This displaced or proxy corruption is the way to go. Instead of $10K in cash, you get hundreds of millions.
It's the way all self-respecting politicians now monetize government.
52
@nora m
You completely misinterpreted my response:
"and the fact that he'd forego that [wealth accumulation] to serve again makes me RESPECT him all the more."
16
I love Joe Biden. I hope history never uncovers anything "salacious" that makes me change my mind. But his gaffes really are the kind of gaffes we flawed folks with our imperfect knowledge make, and that is what some people mean when they say that we are becoming too politically correct. There is a difference between being naive and using a colonial term like "oriental" or thinking it's really cool that you have Native Americans in your ancestry and, hey, we've discovered most people aren't "pure" anything so I'm going to claim that, and just being bigoted and unwilling to reconsider or learn. Some of us pay too much attention to politics, but others just feel as though liberals have suddenly become Puritans, too. The only difference is that the Puritans at least knew what the rules WERE, and suddenly well-meaning people find themselves in violation of standards they did not know existed until they violated them.
4
@wanda
Did you love him at the Anita Hill hearings too?
3
The best people do not always become president, the road to the White House is steep. The Shakespearean heft of the Biden family drama might work in someone less invested in his family but somehow it's almost Joe Biden's decency that has kept him from gaining traction.
And yes, it was a mistake to adhere to the Clinton legacy, it was far past the sell by date. The Clinton machine was always a smokescreen not unlike the Trumpian scrim. Right now the door is wide open to hit the reload button. We've had our eyes opened to what can happen when the electorate drops the ball.
Yet the good news is that had Clinton won there would not be investigations into so much evil in our politics so maybe we are now in a necessary cleansing of our souls. Joe Biden cannot add to that as a candidate and yes, for once spending time with family is not a euphemism. He can go out an elder statesman who served long and well and meant it when he said family comes first then country.
148
@ Kathy
Decency? Clarence Thomas - Anita Hill?
Loyalty. $200,000 sell out to support a Republican, Upton over Longjohn?
Actually it doesn't matter. We will have 4 more years of the new Teflon Don as in Trump.
6
@Nb The only person less credible than Anita Hill was Christine Ford
1
Joe Biden will have to answer for his treatment of Anita Hill if he runs, and he'll also have to answer voters' worries that a single gaffe could spark an international crisis, the way the current president's tweets do. If he can pass both those tests, I don't see any other honest reason he couldn't make a good president.
What a tragedy all around ,very Kennedy in some fashion, that being said ,I don't think any of that will tilt the scale either way for the chance to be elected as a president ,what will definitely hurt him and big is his position on the Anita Hill hearing ,Mr Biden was the chairman of this committee and disregard Mrs Hill's side and give a seat on the Supreme Court to Judge Thomas ,the second part that will give the election away , only because a lot of us remember the Joe Biden architect of the tough on crime that locked up and for decades minority , destroying families by the hundred thousand maybe million.
The uncle Joe figure is not what you think , now if you like to see trump for another 4 years you have to pray for the DNC to support Biden the same way they pushed aside Bernie to the benefit of H.Clinton with the help of Wassermann-Shultz , the old guard do not think like us , they are old and the loyalty idea and the "this is his or her turn" is so passe, I am resolute to not even bother going to vote if this is the case.
4
@Dominique
I am with you on most of your critiques of Biden but abrogating your responsibility to vote is just furthering these types,of power imbalances.
I really liked this column. I also wish Obama--and the media--had let Clinton, Biden, and Sanders duke it out.
A lot of other people do as well. Clinton's loss to Trump, the enormous and ongoing support for Sanders, the increased awareness not to take some states for granted, and rising progressivism have led to Derby day in the number of candidates.
I knew most of the comments would be some version of "that's not what happened" regarding Obama, Biden, and Clinton.
But the sheer number of candidates today says that's exactly what happened. And people don't want to see it again. Even the DNC has changed its leadership and rules to ensure that.
6
I’m trying to understand what exactly the issues with Joe Biden’s son and daughter-in-law have to do with his fitness for the presidency. I read the NYT everyday (and maybe that’s the root of my problem) and I was completely unaware of the situation Ms. Dowd has raised. I’m not sure I’m any better informed about Joe than before I read this article.
35
I am in the same age demographics as Trump, Biden and HRC....we have been rotten steward's for this country. We are 22 trillion in debt and have been in constant military conflict for over 50 years. It is now the younger generations ship, choose a captain from their generation....they would be hard pressed to do a worst job.
20
Please Joe, stay home with your family. You are way too old, it's time for a younger generation to show their mettle.
9
The United States does not need Joe Biden as president. It's time to open up new chapters in our history. Joe cannot do it.
1
Obama didn't anoint Clinton over Biden. Clinton's fundraising machine was vacuuming up the money and her control of the DNC was firmly in place. Biden was grieving and outmaneuvered at the same time. Pragmatic Obama accepted the situation. He didn't cause it.
22
Joe like Jeb may be the obvious mature choice for his party but cannot differentiate himself from being the distillation of all that is good about the Democratic party in order to lead in a political race. What Trump did for the Republicans is strike out on an orthogonal path that made them notice, and vote. I am not sure Joe is Blue's next candidate.
4
Maureen - what is the point of bringing up heartbreaking tragedies? This is cruel.
Joe Biden, nor anyone else deserves this.
Your points are not well taken. Obviously you have never spent much time with healthcare personnel. And perhaps you have not experienced much in the line of personal tragedy. For shame.
36
Agree. This column strikes me as unnecessarily nasty. What's the point of it?
10
@MIMA
This column is really just of the old fashioned tabloid "gossip column" genre.
3
We all like Joe Biden. But, it's time for a radical departure from the days of old. Time marches on.
7
The central problem for the Dems is not with the candidates, but with their voters.
I don't think Biden can beat Bernie, especially with in a large Dem pool. Bernie will always enjoy a plurality but never a majority.
Biden "may" be able to beat him in a binary choice, but then Bernies people will pick up their marbles and go home again.
There is no evidence that the country will send a proclaimed socialist to the WH, yet there is an abundance of experience and evidence which says they will not.
The country is divided into three groups: deplorables, confused moderates, and people that have dreams; only a centrist will be able to govern these rag-tag groups.
A Bernie presidency will be the end of this country and the Dem party. The Dems will be wiped out in 2022 mid-terms.
N.B., I consider myself a democratic socialist, but I know we don't have the horses to pull that off. I want a Ferrari, but drive an old VW.
DJT will be re-elected, I know that sounds counterintuitive but that how this dog and pony show ends.
“It’s necessary to have a wolf’s teeth and a fox’s tail.”
Catherine II The Great
N.B., the Dems have neither.
4
@Prometheus
The best scenario would be that Bernie drop out and anoint a younger, and a bit more moderate, candidate. Bernie should not be running this time. If he doesn't know that by running he is mainly contributing to Trump's reelection he must be in a state of denial. This does not speak well for Bernie's current reality testing ability.
4
@Joe Runciter
But Bernie is running
@Prometheus
For now.
Biden family drama will be fully aired. It's not right of course but in this era everything is fair game. So this column is completely legit.
Joe Biden's family troubles are of no interest to me. For the actual reasons why he should never get near the presidency, see this month's cover story in Harper's: NO JOE.
3
The epiphany that the Obama administration was a really good PR machine, with limited competencies, was pushing Biden not to run. Watching the Clinton campaign stagger from one SF fundraiser to the next Martha Vineyard fundraiser to a Hedge fund speach while Trump campaigned in Michigan, Ohio and Florida was dispiriting.
That brings all the other activities into reappraisal - the Goldman Sachs inspired bail outs, the botched rollout of ACA, the lack of legislation and use of easily overturned executive orders, the trade deals, Libya /Syria incoherencey and the propaganda of the Iran Deal. Also the dire financial state of the Democratic party in 2016.
Now you have Trump.
3
@Tom
You must have only watched MSM because we saw her here on the ground in many places. I agree with your implications that money plays an undue and unhealthy role in politics but attributing your laundry list of mishaps to Martha’s Vineyard fundraisers and the like seems a bit simplistic and uninformed.
Liberal knack for self destruction is so strong that no one needs the Enquirer. Maureen can destroy more liberals in one article, than the Republicans in two years.
19
I personally have deep empathy for the volume of personal tragedy that Joe Biden has weathered over the past five decades. Personal suffering however does not make him a suitable candidate for President. His 'aw shucks' persona that the media promote belies the vicious side of Biden that appeared during his tenure on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is a big part of the reason why Senate confirmation hearings are now routinely ugly. His racial insensitivity also renders him unsuitable; most Americans most assuredly do not believe one needs a 'slight Indian accent' to patronize certain doughnut shops & c-stores. His public proclamations on foreign policy also demonstrate how wrong he so often is. It's time for Mr. Biden to enjoy his sunset years while leaving the rest of us alone.
6
Obama chose the candidate??? Seriously?
8
We love you and respect you, Joe,
but please don’t run.
7
No mention of how Hunter magically was given a seat on the Board of a Ukrainian gas company during the Obama Administration?
3
A kind of Trump effect on Dowd here. She never had rose colored glasses but she has devolved into some kind of political mayhem machine, cranking out one nasty screed about literally anyone or anything every time she approaches the keyboard. I wonder if the "Fairness Doctrine" (since this does go online and would apply if it hadn't been scuttled) would not have been the best editor for this, probably wouldn't be much left of it.
16
Agree. And so intellectually lazy.
2
Is there anything Obama is not blamed for? Another article today faults him for failing to reverse 150 years of institutionalized racism.
19
Maureen why wasn’t this type of scrutiny applied to the Trump children prior to his candidacy if you applied the same scurrilous gossip mongering to his family we might’ve been spared the joy of his presidency
28
With Stacy Abrams as his running mate, Biden would win and the world get back on track toward a better future, one that doesn't view job #1 as making the rich even richer and everyone else (losers by the lights of Trump&Co) sick to their stomachs.
4
Reading this piece, I began to wish that columns as well as comments on this site were "moderated for civility." I did not learn anything here that I wanted to know, and I do think that this might have gone more into Biden's family than was appropriate for the NYT. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned.
19
He should have run in 2016
He and Bernie are too old . (I am 71)
Dems should nominate Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Time for you to retire Maureen.
14
GEEZ - was this really necessary? Or even relevant?
28
There seems little point to a Biden candidacy. For a party going hard Left and fighting over who can be the most radical (Green New Deal/Medicare for All/Tear down existing border walls), where does a grandpa looking white guy known to make gaffes fit in? f you haven't noticed, his "camp" has implied family meetings to make a decision in Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and soon in March.... and still no decision. An indecisive Biden who thinks he can attract the shrinking older white guy vote in the democratic primary is more sad than anything.
1
As I was reading this column hoping to find out whether Biden was really afraid to run because Trump's ugliness would rain down on his family. Before Trump, family was off limits. I thought I was reading Michelle Goldberg but it read like a Dowd article, total gossip, look at me - how much I know about everybody is DC! So I scrolled up and sure enough, it was Dowd. This column belongs in People magazine. And as a other commentator said, I never heard any of that garbage about the Bidens.
14
Tell us, Maureen Dowd, which Democrat will escape your sharp words as they stampede towards the election. Who is your favorite? Certainly not Bernie. Probably not a woman. Who then?
You could certainly do some severe damage going after the Trump clan. There is a vast conspiracy to let the Royal Family off the hook for all their shady dealings and vile comments in the media. Putting wealth and family loyalty over the national interest and the Constitution is not a pretty sight. But somehow, I get the feeling that New York swells have you on their party list. Donald has his wall of billionaires to protect his flanks and backside.
15
Will we even have a fair election? That is by far the most important question.
12
Joe Biden's admirable in many ways, but he's simply too old. So is Sanders, so is Warren. As elder statesmen they could be invaluable in guiding younger candidates into office — not baby candidates such as Beto or AOC, who don't have the experience or track record to be President, but politicians in their 40s-60s who are both seasoned and vigorous. The age polarization in American politics is a serious issue. We already had one politician who went senile while in office (Reagan) and might have another (#45). Though as an older person I find it inspiring that septuagenarians are vying to lead the country, as a citizen I am convinced that we need younger leaders.
16
Wow ! Finally someone speaks out ! I have been pushing your thoughts exactly.
I thought Mrs. Clinton was too old. I love Joe Biden, but you are right. Here is hoping that our hopes will be answered ! Let them all be appointed to a council of senior advisors and let a robust 40-60 year old take the reigns of this nation and bring it back from its current deep descent.
3
This type of political gossip is disgusting. Leave his family alone, Maureen. And write about something meaningful if you possibly can. Otherwise, just don't write.
We deserve better than this nauseating gossip. It's beneath Times readers.
50
As I started reading this I thought oh wow Dowd is written a compassionate op-ed on Joe Biden .
Oh I was so wrong.
As I continued on I see a gossip columnist airing all the dirty details of Biden family shamelessly and at the same time dissing President Obama as always .
Also Dowd’s hatred toward Hillary just like her friend Trump even though Mrs.Clinton is out of the picture currently.
26
Just never going to leave the Clintons alone, are you? What did those two do that sticks so firmly in your craw, anyway?
25
@alprufrock Well, there is a lot that sticks in the nation's craw, but it's old news.
Another “phone it in” hit job by Maureen Dowd. I have no intention of voting for Biden, but his son’s marital difficulties have no part in that decision. Have you no decency?
28
Quite an accomplishment Mo, bashing Obama, Hilary, Biden in one column. Very efficient.
I'd rather read tweets from the clown-in-chief.
36
Okay, I have a better handle on Ms. Dowd’s modus operandi. Under the guise of journalistic coverage, she keeps sticking in the shiv.
Female Congressional rookies (Furies and fashionistas).
The Bezoses (salacious sexts).
Michael Jackson and Woody Allen (perverse).
Are the dating practices of Joe Biden’s son and daughter-in-law relevant to his fitness for office?
I can only imagine the psychological roots of this vitriol: lonely aging Irish Catholic in the Big Apple.
Find a date or a female companion Ms. Dowd.
23
The Ms. Dowd we've come to know and loath is back! Just when we were coming to believe Ms. Dowd was over Ms. Clinton, again with the swipe at Hillary. It's like a recurring malarial fever.
It's cheap and tiresome. You used to be able to write. Sad.
30
@Jack be Quick It might be that Dowd rightfully fears that Hillary running again for POTUS will help reelect Trump.
Ms. Dowd - If this is the best you can come up with for a Sunday Review commentary, I urge you to take a few weeks off. No really - WE don't want to hear from you for awhile.
You have wasted the time of many thousands of readers - and for what? Innuendo, snarky comments and zero substance.
28
Maueen, please apply for a position with "The National Enquier". This column is by the type of writer they are looking to employ. Great gossip, Ms. Dowd, but please put it on the shelf next to the check-out counter.
23
What is this, a hit piece attempting to smear two very fine men?
Anything to deflect from Trump, Manafort and Mueller's ever tightening circle, eh Maureen?
The smell of desperation permeates the air.
19
Why focus solely on Biden’s family’s tabloid worthy headlines?
I think a substantive opinion piece on Biden in the Me Too era ought to address the man’s well documented pattern of violating women’s personal space in ways that make them visibly uncomfortable:
https://www.google.com/search?q=creepy uncle joe buden&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
This behavior is often shrugged off as “creepy uncle” behavior. If we cut through to the meaning of the euphemism—it at best implies behavior designed to make women & girls uncomfortable. At its worst, it implies some truly predatory sexual behavior.
Can we please examine this more closely?
3
Maureen gives her stamp of approval to Uncle Joe while bashing Obama and Hillary. And what does she have to opine about Klobuchar’s salad comb and forking fried chicken or Kamala’s smoking and music tastes?
How frivolous when you have a madman in the White House!
16
Mo:
please crawl under a tock for the next 2 years.
we do not need your opinion on anything to do with the presidential election in 2020.
15
Sometimes a column says much more about its author than its subject. What is wrong with you?
28
Frankly, Ms. Dowd, I have not recovered from your Obama and Hillary bashing during the last election cycle and prior. Today you present Page Six smut no one needs to know. How a tryst in a Biden's family is a reflection on the man himself, goes unnoticed by me and perhaps others. And, please let us not forget, you gave Trump an hall pass during the last election. There is an abundance of real news in our world today and it is a "nothingburger" that you present to the NYX reader.
Shame on you. This piece is irrelevant.
25
No need for Biden to worry about Donald Trump's low blows when he has Maureen Dowd covering his back.
11
And the point of this column is? I learned nothing except salacious details about the Biden family that have no bearing on whether Biden would make a good president. Once again, I wonder why I bother to read her unending snark. A waste of your ink and a waste of my time.
15
Oh, Maureen! “Professor Obama”? You do lodge some legitimate criticisms of President Obama, but it’s easy to be correct now, isn’t it? And you just couldn’t stop yourself from being snide. Too bad.
9
Was this co-written with brother Kevin ?
Seriously.
15
Considering what is at stake in the US right now, I am surprised - but maybe not, that Dowd has chosen to pick the subject of Biden and his family as a focus of attention. Maybe David Pecker can use Maureen Dowd as a "reliable" source. I think it is time for Dowd to go. Put another way, I will never read Dowd again as I have learned not to read David Brooks any more. Trump has nothing to fear so long as those two write for the NYT.
17
Ms. Dowd: You trashed the Clintons, praised "Poppy Bush," and did not criticize W or Cheney nearly enough. As someone who lived in NYC during the last 30 years, I KNOW that you and this newspaper had enough scoops on Trump to have buried him BUT NOW. And now, you trash Obama and Biden. OK. I am planning to start a petition of like-minded readers to beseech the NY Times to get rid of you. I now believe, and I know I have heard, that you dump on people who won't give YOU the kudos that you think you deserve. Yeah, it must be lonely (and bitter) at the top.
26
I’ve got a pen in hand - bring it on.
3
You are such a frenemy, Maureen Dowd. This is just a way to dish about a high political figure, soon perhaps to be candidate, in the most lace curtain Irish way imaginable. Friends like you, my dear...
12
I am completely uninterested in Ms Dowd's prurient columns. Her obsessive hatred of the Clintons coupled with her mocking of Obama; her hagiography of Bush I (and an obvious sneaking admiration for Trump) helped inure many people to the dangers facing us. I invite Ms Dowd to actually find work as a genuine journalist, perhaps at some small midwestern newspaper, and then come back and lecture to us.
24
Alright Maureen. Out wth it. Who paid you to bring up family dirty laundry items that don’t involve Joe Biden himself? By discussing these irrelevant matters YOU are making them an issue.
18
Maureen Dowd can always be counted on to trash and destroy our Democratic leaders with her snarky gossipy innuendos, and then she wrings her hands over the disastrous choices on the right that she helped usher in.
14
Wow. There's not a column for NYT pick on this one. I guess even they don't want to touch this.
Maureen Dowd - infamous coiner of 'that marriage.' With the possible exception of Romeo and Juliet, I don't really think about other people's marriages that much. I've learned you can't really know what's going on unless you're in there. Regarding the marriages of public figures, I don't really know them and they don't know me. We're not 'friends' because we follow each other on Twitter.
Lesson two, what are Sen. and Dr. Biden supposed to do - disown their son and grandchildren?
Lastly, in the tradition of journalistic integrity, if you're going to call Joe Biden 'Uncle Joe,' I expect you to refer to DJT and spouse as Uncle Donald and Aunt Melania. Fair is far.
Another wasted Saturday night column. It's spring training in Clearwater. Here's hoping the New York Times is warming somebody up in the bullpen and seeing fit to place Ms. Dowd on the DL.
16
God, Maureen, you can be unbelievably insufferable. Did you sit around thinking about whose pain and foibles you’re going to dissect next?
18
Russia’s 2016 Hillary bashing, Ms. Dowd, was effective, but yours was probably just as effective. You are as responsible for Trump as Putin.
Today we get a gossipy unsubstantiated column about Obama, Clinton and Biden. You’re a menace.
12
With friends like Mo, who needs anemones?
8
Good grief. I want a black female at the top of the ticket. Enough of these old white dudes!
2
Somehow you left out the part of how you trashed HRC week after week. Earlier in the week, the NYT takes out Klobuchar with a nothingburger story. Now this. Why not hand POTUS another 4 years on a silver tray?
13
I stay pretty current on the news and hadn’t heard or read anything about the problems with his family until you decided to point them out. What a waste of a column.
17
"Salacious" is this writer's stock and trade. UGH
7
Classic Dowd. As if the opposition didn’t have more than its share of dirt, clearly not an impediment for the electorate! Will Dowd now regularly trash Biden the way she did Hillary? How do you sleep at night?
13
Maureen, you are writing this as if you know everything that happened behind the scenes in the Obama White House and the Democratic Party deliberations, and putting your trademark superior, know-it-all, catty imprint on it.
It's well past time you should throw in the towel and retire. After the way you put down Joyce Maynard, I no longer respect anything about your views or your voice. You seem to enjoy tearing people down, just for the fun of it and just because you can.
Vice President Biden is far from perfect, and personally I hope he does not run. But the way you write about people in what is supposed to be a respectable newspaper, not a nasty-minded gossip rag, is repulsive.
13
Really? We're supposed to care about Biden's kids marital drama? Trump has been accused of raping 13 year old girls. Maybe we should talk about Klobuchar's salad eating skills instead.
11
I am struggling to find the point of this essay. I missed this issue of "People" at the hair salon, so I guess I should be thankful for the tawdry Biden gossip Maureen Dowd offers up. But is this really worthy of the Sunday Times opinion section? I mean, don't we need to be focusing on how Amy Klobuchar once ate a salad with her comb?
Come on NYTimes, let's raise the conversation a little please! We don't have the luxury of such frivolity right now.
13
This article proves that Ms. Dowd it the Queen of Gossip. What a sorry occupation.
14
Ms. Dowd has a rather snarky and derisive style of writing that requires a whipping boy or girl. Obama, the Clintons and now, apparently, Joe Biden. She might be going a bridge too far with a basically decent person like Biden.
11
Was there a point to this column?
9
So Maureen's source for this entire hit piece is one unnamed Obama strategist and a whole lot of gossip magazines. Thanks for spreading the gossip about Hunter Biden, since I hardly know who he is and had not heard of his marital difficulties. Honestly, New York Times, do better than this. We have a trashy, corrupt mob family in the White House now, and Dowd is spreading malicious gossip about Joe Biden's family and taking potshots again at Obama? Do better. You have learned nothing from 2016. Nothing.
16
I have watched Joe Biden’s career since before he was elected to the Senate, which was before he was old enough to serve. I have admired him ever since, and consider him to be uniquely qualified to serve as president.
The sad reality of Biden’s life has lent an element of empathy to his character, something sorely lacking in our current president and so many of his supporters. I give not one whit of concern regarding Hunter Biden’s failed marriage. Sadly, it happens, but it is not on Joe.
Trump’s serial marriages, his cheating and his moral failings are, on the other hand, on Trump. He has chosen to involved his inexperienced family in his administration, so they, too, are fair game.
No one is perfect. Not even presidents or candidates for office. Neither is Joe Biden. But he is qualified, and has served the country ably and honorably for his entire political career. Above all, he is competent. The country could do far, far worse, as we have come to realize.
Isn’t it time to try competence for a change?
20
Personally, I want a democratic candidate with a solid history of good ideas on saving us from the perils of climate change, saving us from predatory monopolists, saving us from the corrupting influence of PACs and lobbyists, saving us from escalating gun violence, saving us from the worst healthcare system in any of the modern economies, etc. Far too many would-be Democrats during this perilous time lack solid policy positions. Their 1 sentence “statements” on major issues are not persuasive or credible. They lack a good reason to win the Presidency. What is needed is someone like Elizabeth Warren, who has a true world view, expressed in policy papers; these oppose unregulated predatory capitalism. If not Warren, let’s have someone with even better ideas for leading and improving America, not someone whose reason for running for President (a) it’s my turn, (b) is not policy- driven, or (c) is not believable.
10
@dt Elizabeth warren hasn't so much as managed the late night shift drive thru at Taco Bell .... and she's going to "manage" all of the above? Get serious.
@dt, Personably, I want a candidate who can beat Trump or Pence. If the person who fits that best is Howdy-Doody, I will vote for him with pleasure.
2
Warren?
She's living in a fantasy world and making things up as she goes along.
And you're OK with that?
This gossipy column, of pretending to know what people are thinking and motives are, and rehashing old, non relevant dirty, laundry, should be in a tabloid, not the august New York Times. Too often, Ms Dowd’s gossipy and snarky columns, just leave a bad taste in my mouth.
55
Maureen starts her piece with her usual screed about Hillary and Obama
Then it becomes a melodrama about the Biden family.
I’m not sure what to take from this other than Maureen is working on a script for a B-movie.
Tedious.
38
@Blue
I miss Molly Ivins
10
@Blue Yes, put aside Joe Biden hasn't demonstrated competence at any government position he's ever held, apparently Americans are supposed to vote for ol' Joe because he's had family tragedies like the rest of us.
Maureen will you ever ever get over your vendetta against Barack Obama? It makes it near impossible for me to read your columns.
31
This is complete nonsense. The idea that Maureen Dowd--who repeatedly disparaged Barack Obama and drew cheap caricatures of Michelle--would have any insight on this topic is ludicrous. Yet another lazy, awful column from the worst columnist in America. It's remarkable that the Times continues to give Dowd a platform.
40
Ms. Dowd -- You have really reached the bottom -- I didn't think it was possible, but here you are -- slime and all -- pot shots at Clinton, Biden and Obama. Let's just drop it all and recognize that Trump did not get elected (he stole the election with help from the Russians) and even if that turns out not to be true (which it won't), he's not fit for the job and Hillary was and is (you can't stand that fact, can you -- to quote Mr. Trump -- how SAD). How is this for some facts -- Hillary would have been a better President than (certainly) Trump, so why shouldn't Obama have stood up for her. And your cheap shot at Biden's son's widow -- is that, just a cheap shot and when you read it, you recognize that nothing sounds as low as what is Donald J. Trump every day of his pitiful existence. Many here have called your column vile -- that seems appropriate. I'll make sure not to read you again until the 2020 election is over -- who needs this vile and extremely dishonest writing.
50
Why are you still allowed to foster this purile nonsense on us? It was not enough that you helped elect the vile excuse that occupies the highest office in the land with your endless attacks on HRC, now you debase the Obama legacy. Give up, stop. You sicken me.
38
It’s a fact - Obama lushed for Hillary and advised Joe to get out of the way. If you think that debases his legacy, so be it. But he did it.
An old white guy? How original. Let us make sure to denigrate the young Latina woman with fresh and good ideas, right Feinstein? Oh and then aim the circular firing squad on the black man and woman running - let's make sure to tear down all these excellent Democrat candidates so Trump will win, ok? That is your job in the next 2 years NYT, got it?
11
@Mogwai "Excellent Democrat candidates? Your kidding, right? The last Democrat that had any type of CEO experience was Bill Clinton, every single one of these so-called "Excellent Candidates" are simply a sad joke.
Talk about a lot about nothing, Dowd has done it again. Reminds me of the high schooler writing an essay and just filling the page with words.
29
This piece belongs in the Post or the Daily News, not the NYT. Dowd has sunk to the level of a gossip columnist--and not for the first time, either.
35
Seriously, Maureen has reached a new low with this trash-talking, rehashing of huge quotes from sleazy gossip columns and magazines. What absolute garbage and waste of space. And how does Maureen know what President Obama and Vice President Biden we’re thinking and saying? This is ridiculous. But keep it up nytimes and your paper can again help trump get elected.
25
Mo is out of gas again and reaching for Hillary Clinton for a lifeline. What would she do without Bill and Hillary to pillory?Purposely ignoring Secretary Clinton's phenomenal resume, fundraising prowess and 3 millions votes more than Mo's buddy Donald J. Trump, along with illegal electioneering by Putin and Comey on Trump's behalf, is more National Enquirer than NY Times fare.
30
I guess sometimes even NYT Columnist Maureen Dowd can't think of anything to write about. Better luck next week.
14
This column is an embarrassment to the NY Times. A gossipy, snarky piece that does nothing to elucidate the issues of the day. Typical for Dowd. Time for her to retire. I hope she reads this, though I doubt it.
29
Don't start your dirty pen on the Bidens, Dowd.
23
“It escaped the attention of Professor Obama that a populist rage was rising...”
Damn that President Obama for underestimating the profound cognitive dissonance that calls itself an electorate, which still gave Hillary a majority of the popular vote.
Populism did manage to activate a lot of “useful idiots,” to borrow a phrase from Vladimir Lenin. Strange how so many of them are journalists.
15
Give it a rest, Joe. You lost your bid not once but twice. You stuck us with Clarence Thomas. Go away already.
And Maureen: you give it a rest, too. What a snarky and salacious column.
24
To what end did you right this simple nastiness?
"“Beau Biden’s Widow Having Affair With His Married Brother,” blared Page Six. “Hunter Biden’s Estranged Wife Claims He Spent ‘Extravagantly’ on Drugs, Alcohol, Prostitutes and Strip Clubs,” blasted People. “Kathleen Biden Sobs in Court as She Details the Collapse of Her Marriage to Hunter But He’s No-Show,” screeched The Daily Mail."
That is not about Joe. He didn't do these things. This garbage tells me more about you than it does about Biden, a truly decent man.
When you write about someone write about them. What a concept!
23
I take for granted, not anymore, that I live in a normal family circle---no affairs, no strip clubs, no massage parlors, no drugs---I feel the public, at this point, is also yearning for a modicum of normalcy in the Oval Office.
3
What a nasty, useless little column!
24
What a profoundly stupid op-ed. Trash Obama, Clinton, Biden and Biden's family all in one screed. Hello! Donny Jr. is engaging in blatant adultery; Trump's billionaire friends are getting caught in massage parlors; Sinclair Broadcasting is running N. Korea style propaganda on Presidents' Day no less. Another attractive blonde with no credible bio is named to be U.N. Ambassador; Kushner's real estate bailout is tied to selling nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia and Ms. Dowd is taking an axe to Joe Biden and friends. Pitiful.
30
I'm trying to understand why the NY Times wants Dowd's name-dropping, gossipy, pot-stirring snark in its editorial pages. What does she offer in knowledge or perspective that any random book club or ballteam couldn't come up with? Nothing.
19
Goodness.
Biden has a divorced son and a little bit of titillating family going's on? That is GREAT!!
Americans really LOVE that reality TV stuff in a President.
Look at Trump.
Beating his wife for berating his bald head after he had a squirrel's tail attached to it to hide the ugly bump? LOVE IT.
Three wives? He is a REAL MAN! Hookers and Porn Stars?
ONE OF US!
So, thank God Uncle Joe has some kind of drama to attract attention for Americans.
He would have no chance otherwise.
And, his temper? People will love to see him grab Donald by the ... well....
you know.
14
This belongs in the New York Post and not the New York Times. Maureen Dowd is now officially a gossip columnist.
13
Reading personality comments is to me fascinating though drecky.
MD is big on gossipy stuff, a true fun read.
I acknowledge the above banal garbagey, human interest slop.
For yours truly, politics is too much personality stuff.
Campaign fodder is what some luv.
Hope my voting choices are not so d vacuous.
This is a low blow, Maureen. Salacious gossip, unworthy of you. TG
10
Another trashy column from the NYT premiere narcissist.
13
Lousy article.
All speculation and regurgitated gossip.
Times can do better.
So can Dowd.
if not, leave the pages blank .
14
"Uncle Joe may be the epitome of the establishment, but at least the teetotaler knows how to talk to Joe Sixpack."
The first part of that sentence reveals what would make him lose the nomination. The second part reveals why. We are in no mood for that, given Reagan, W. and Trump's ability to talk to Joe Sixpack. We're past patient with those who will ultimately work for the moneyed interests that establishment Democrats always do while emoting well with the working class. His voting for Thomas' nomination is a pretty glaring strike, alone. Add to that what appears to be personal style and not the right substance -- that's not what we're looking for in a president (or even a candidate). The real can only suffice.
1
As Maureen Dowd reminds us, the Democrats made a fatal error in presumptuously handing their last presidential nomination to a candidate who was indelibly flawed and uniquely vulnerable to the faux-populist Trump. Voters rebelled in part because they felt Hillary Clinton was being rammed down their throats. Joe Biden is not Hillary. But he carries too many question marks to be granted front-runner status out of the gate. Let's see how the other candidates handle themselves - and the voters - before Biden blunders his way in.
2
I had to keep checking the masthead to make sure I wasn't reading the National Enquirer.
53
@west -of-the-river
I thought the very same thing. Joe Biden is not responsible for Hunter's behavior! I rarely read Maureen's editorial. I hated the way she tried to destroy Hillary.
4
I don't want Biden to temper his Irish temper. I want him to use it to decimate that "fool" in the White House. I want a Democrat who knows how to street fight if necessary.
31
Maureen Dowd anti-Clinton hit pieces and prejudiced articles and her take down of Al Gore have cleared the path for W (who during the election of 2000 she did everything to help elect) and Trump. Now she is lighting a brush fire to clear the path for Biden. The most important scandal of the Biden family is not the affair (that's messy enough) but the millions the Biden son (Hunter) took from shady Ukrainian sources. Surprise! the questionable characters in Washington receiving money from shady Ukrainian and other dodgy sources are not all Republicans. I wonder why Dowd didn't include this important bit of information.
9
This column seemed more appropriate for a tabloid than the NYT. Family gossip and Maureen's opinion that Obama alone chose the candidate? Joe's age is a real issue for discussion and the voters will decide if he is too old. I think he might be, but he should have the opportunity to compete and show me wrong.
24
Trump will make mincemeat of Biden. There is so much about Biden to mock. He lost a wife and child in a car crash! Funny! He lost a son to cancer. Funnier. The guy even had a brain aneurysm. He cries when he talks about his losses. Too funny. Trump will go to town and by the time it's over we will all have new things that its okay to mock people about! Can't wait. As a society we are just too protective of grieving parents! Trump will fix that.
31
@Jeff Cohen, that is one or the most cynical, ironic and realistic things that could have been said. What we have become.
3
Anita Hill. Anita Hill. Anita Hill.
14
Never liked Hillary, mostly liked Biden but it's time for the both of them to move on!
Emulated Jimmy Carter, do something useful like building houses.
Can't the Democrats find a good candidate, regardless of sex or sexual orientation or color, 50-ish, with a track record of beating Republicans? Surely there must be one or two out there lusting after the White House.
18
@Fred. Yes, the Democrats can find such a candidate. His name is Mitch Landrieu from Louisiana. His fatal flaw? He is a white male and that just won’t fly in a party that has sold its soul to race/gender/socialist politics. They will fall all over themselves in a sprint to the left with candidates begging for AOC’s endorsement and then lose the general election to a wounded Trump, who will be running on a red hot economy.
1
@Tim
Thanks Tim. Just read his 2017 speech, NYT 23 May.
An impressive guy from an impressive family.
Sadly, I fear your are probably correct.
Biden lost me after what he did to Anita Hill in the Hill/Thomas hearings.
16
Maureen, usually you are poignant if not cutting. This column itself mirrors the characterization of Biden you deliver. It is middle-of-the-road, milquetoast with weak tea altogether. You hedge on each major criticism.
3
Am I reading a NYTimes column or the Enquirer? I got way too much more salacious information in this article than I need or want. Do we really need to continue the reality tv approach to politics- gossip and dirt on Joe Biden, his family, and the alleged backroom Obama conversations that influenced the last election has nothing to do with Biden's qualifications, policies or ability to lead.
NYTimes, you are better than this. We are better than this. Please rise above the nasty political fray and bring us news not gossip.
27
Despicable column, which meshes perfectly with the Reality Show Era in which it's our misfortune to live.
34
Joe's family drama will not be the problem if he decides to run. He is a moderate old white guy in a Democrat Party desperate to nominate a far left-leaning woman or person of color or both. So. No. It's just not the right time for "One Percent Joe".
5
Dowd contrives here to treat Biden every bit as well as she treats Hillary Clinton. Did Dowd ever possibly consider that Hillary ran for President because she loves the USA? Does Dowd think Biden will run to serve his ego first and the USA second?
Dowd just goes overboard here treating Joe Biden with the same kindness and consideration she has shown for President Clinton, President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore. Bless her heart.
18
For a genuine analysis of Biden's record and fitness to be president, please read Harper's Magazine's February 2019 article by Alexander Cockburn on Biden's disastrous legislative history.
This is what we should be talking about. An in-depth analysis of legislative accomplishments and vision and not this type of tabloid pap on potential candidates that the Times is sadly serving up of late.
The Harper's analysis demonstrates that Biden is really no friend to the working class, despite his glad-handing. And it cites actual facts!
Please, let's have some real journalism in this primary. I beg you.
24
@TM
I apologize for the errors in my comment. It should read Andrew Cockburn, not Alexander, and it's the March 2019 Harper's. I hadn't had my coffee when I typed this but that's a feeble excuse.
3
The faint praise from Dowd for Joe Biden and the stirring of the democratic party muck gives this article a sour note, which I think is intended. Ms. Dowd the king maker at work doing what she does best, throwing shade and gossip around in hopes of making a difference.
18
I had no idea that President Obama confided in Ms. Dowd to the degree that this chronicle of his thoughts and actions would require.
16
What does any gossip relating to Mr. Biden's children have to do with his consideration of running for President? Why does Dowd even have to bring this up? If she hadn't, I, as a normal person who doesn't care at all what Page 6, People Magazine, or the Daily Mail have to say, wouldn't have even been aware of of such non-news. Thanks, Maureen for bringing added PR to these useless, meaningless gossip machines that should stay forever in their annointed spot next to the cash register alongside the junk candy and cancer causing cigarrettes.
28
@Mike, that last sentence is poetry.
2
Shame shame shame on Obama. I hadn't realized it was he who decided things. And what a shame for our country. Run, Biden, Run and may the force be with you to win this time! We so need you!!
2
The main problem for the Democrats is they eat their own. Republicans are willing to eat the droppings their leaders leave on the floor as long is they get a tax cut or withhold healthcare from poor women.
10
Wasn’t Biden’s father a car salesman? I never think of them as blue collar but as leeches on us people who work with our hands.
1
Really, what was the point, Maureen? A hit job? On the Biden family, and on Obama?
I never saw any of the salacious tabloid articles about the Biden sons or their wives, or ex-wives, or widows, and I wish that Maureen had not resurrected them.
Joe Biden is not responsible for what any family member does as an adult.
He is responsible for his reprehensible decisions re the Thomas/Hill hearings, and he is responsible for that one plagiarism thing, and he does make a lot of gaffes.....although the gaffes are harmless.
I used to look forward to Maureen's articles. But, sadly, I think she has lost it.
18
Ms. Dowd has long since jumped the shark, but I took the bait seeing her reference to VP Biden. if we truly want to recreate history without the benefit of journalistic integrity, please consider the FL margin of victory in 2000 and Ms. Dowd's vociferous condemnation of VP Gore's prescient stance on climate change.
Alternatively, Ms. Dowd would do well not to breathlessly recount the personal and political troubles of a true public servant.
26
The real question must be asked: How low will Dowd scrape the barrel to come up with some kind of dirt on anyone associated with the Clintons?
At one time in this country, when women were the property of men, it was not unusual for a man to marry his brother's widow in order to keep a roof over her head and food on the table for his brother's children.
Something like this also coalesced after the 9/11 attacks when widows of first responders were drawn to their late husband's partners and co workers and not just for emotional support.
And what proof is there that Obama anointed Hillary as his running mate?
The idea that Obama missed the signs of a populist wave is laughable and desperate on Dowd's part. Obama certainly did not miss the nooses and placards of apes and witch doctors and the whole Trump amplified birther movement to know what was brewing.
And if Obama somehow did miss all those signs there was Sarah Palin's screeching about death panels and that 63 seat loss in the House that we know got his attention.
And maybe Dowd should read some of those hacked Wikileaks Wall Street transcripts and educate herself to learn how and why Hillary became a multimillionaire giving speeches to Goldman Sachs.
This is truly tawdry commentary regardless if you think Biden should or should not run.
19
Obama's greatest mistake was choosing HRC.
4
@Edward B. Blau I rather think it was choosing Robert Rubin to advise him during the 2008 campaign. But, frankly, I don't think it was Obama's choice to make. Such is the nature of the American Experiment in the Reagan Restoration.
Doesn't if feel great to see Maureen Dowd write about Joe Biden with the same generosity and kindness she extended to Hillary Clinton? Ain't she sweet?
19
“ brood that is still brooding” “ temper that Irish temper of his” For the love of God, can we have a quota on glibness? And cliche?
13
Without reading any other comments I judge this to be classic Maureen Dowd. She has to appear to be on the inside, all knowing, whipping Obama and Clinton in one fell swoop. Most egregiously, Maureen stoops to gutter gossip. I am a regular reader of NYTimes and WaPo but had not heard of the private travails and tragic marital woes of the Biden inner circle. I don't need to know of them now. It is disingenuous to list verbatim "scandalous headlines" and then act as if one is a sympathetic adviser to the possible Biden candidacy!
22
A very nicely written piece to disguise the fact that this article is as trashy as the scandal sheets it references. Wouldn't it be nice to reference Bidens positions on various issues of concern.
19
Anita Hill. Clarence Thomas.
Biden can't win as President.
9
@insomnia data, look who you have as President! A well known womanizer, a kitty grabber and what not.
It appears to me that Joe Biden is so far superior to our current president that it shouldn't even be a contest, but I have a question for Maureen. Is there anyone who could possibly run that would not invoke your snarky, demeaning little digs?
I used to appreciate your humorous commentary but lately have noticed a more demeaning tone. I agree that politicians in Washington have become more cesspool-ish and are in need of replacement, but is your family perfect and does that give you the right to criticize someone's children as a standard of presidential fitness?
Come on, Maureen! You don't wrote for one of the tabloids.
14
@Preserving America: it's not just lately. Maureen has been sniping for quite some time now.
2
Ms Dowd's columns always leave me a bit deflated. She invariably injects just a tad of ugliness into any topic and can cheapen even the finest of people. I am reminded of Trump's statement to the little girl about her belief in Santa Claus. Ms Dowd can marginalize anyone. A quote here, another there, throw in some gossip, a little inside information then inject it into the readers' minds.
Trump does the same but with simple tweets. Ms. Dowd requires an entire column.
21
Why isn’t it obvious to all except blind moneymen and Biden that Biden is this cycle’s Jeb, the Establishment’s Great White Hope who totally underwhelms the party base and loses embarrassingly as a result? Bernie makes Biden look old and “low energy.” And Kamala and Booker will steal the black base the Establishment used last time to block the favorite of the white masses, Bernie, and win the Hillary nomination for Wall St. Bottom line: with Bernie taking the Rust Belt labor base and the blacks taking the black base, who’s left for Biden? Only the fat cats and the well-off moderates, much too small a group to elect a nominee in either party these days. It’s either Bernie or Kamela.
2
Mr. Biden has been a very powerful member of the establishment for almost 50 years. If you are happy with the past 50 years, he is your man. When the spotlight focuses on his son and Chinese money, I think most people will turn away. His temper is not an asset for somebody whom DJT will poke and prod at every turn.
1
I've read and replied to several comments. I feel we should let those who have thrown their hats in the ring have their say. We need to hear their thoughts and plans for our country. We also have to 'ask the right questions of them'. Reality please. No more 'pie in the sky' rhetoric.
Where is all the money coming from to support their 'free for all' proposals?
How can we bring America back to the center?
How can we avoid 'hand outs' instead of 'hands up'?
How is that for starters?
1
@Rosalie Rinaldi
1. Adequate tax of the wealthiest. For examples, see other first-world countries where what you consider "for for all" is considered to be fundamental to the well-being of the nation.
2. Whose idea of "the center"? Was FDR an example of "the center"? Was Eisenhower an example of "the center"? The location of "the center" is like "reality" --- with both being totally defined by varying, individual opinions.
3. America's wealthiest are the prime recipients of "hand-outs" -- with the rest of America being victims of "hand-ups" as the many are robbed for the benefit of the few.
4
@justamoment The center to me, is where logic and reality reign. Is that asking too much?
Everyone has problems. 65%, according to a massive Australian study, will have either a Mental health diagnosis, or a chemical dependence diagnosis, or both, sometime in our lifetime. Its only the rich who get to mourn like its a calamity that happens to no other. Rich people have tragedy. The rest of us have hard times.
2
@4Average Joe I think that 65% massively overstates the problem, at least in this country.
2
As far as I’m concerned (and for what it’s worth), Barack Obama did wonders for Joe Biden’s popularity. Before Obama, nobody was seriously considering Joe Biden for anything because of all his gaffes. Obama made home keep his mouth shut.
3
For the good of the USofA we desperately need a knight/knightess on a white horse to ride in and save us from ourselves. In another age Joe might have fit the bill quite nicely. Unfortunately, Joe, time has passed you by because of entitlement politics.
Joe, please continue your role as an elder statesman, enjoy life and go play with the grand kids.
12
Trump's low blows are inevitable. Yours are inexcusable -- as if there weren't an entire White House and cabinet to afflict. I personally care not one white about the shenanigans of anyone in Biden's family except, perhaps, his wife's. I am DYING to hear from somebody respectable; somebody who remembers what loyalty and allies mean; somebody who remembers a time when you could be proud to be an American, knowing that your nation was helping the world. I can't hear from Joe Biden soon enough!
26
@Judy Yeah, but can he win?
Biden's working class cred, as well as his insider liability, are no better nor worse than Clinton's. It's hard to see how Clinton's kowtowing to Wall Street hurt her, since she was defeated by a (purported) billionaire, and a party that condemns Democrats for presuming to put ANY curbs on Wall Street's power.
If you want to swing back the Obama-to-Trump voters, you do not want a middle-of-the-road insider. If you want to swing the Republicans who are uncertain whether their fascist leader is worse than any Democrat, then maybe you do. Whoever the Democrats nominate, billions of dollars and thousands of Fox hours will be spent on convincing the country that they are dangerous anti-business radicals. You can play their game, or you can play democracy.
5
@Martin Some Democrats stayed home in 2016 out of Clinton fatigue. Fatigue with the corruption, the duplicity, the smug entitlement, the Rockefeller Republicanism. Some people were looking for a democrat. I'm having trouble finding one who isn't nuts or self-aggrandizing.
1
Age is a non-issue. The mere election of Mr. Biden would be a poultice on the wounds this country endures. A president, be it for even a day, who cares about people and actually has real and dear friends (and, yes by golly, a dog!), is all the "fresh air" we need.
3
Really? As someone once wisely advised on an altogether different matter: "Wake up! This is the real world."
I live outside the east coast bubble amongst many Joe Sixpacks and I can tell you with some confidence that Joe Biden doesn't speak to them, so you can stop giving him that superpower. The more I learn about Democratic Party courtiers like the Bidens, Clintons and sadly the post presidency Obamas, the more I think we need a political reformation in addition to a political revolution. Thousand dollar haircuts all around!
9
@Concerned Reader. True. In PA it’s known that the Bidens lived in Green Ridge up with the mine owners, not Irish Shanty Hill with the miners
It's as true in politics as it is in comedy: timing is everything. Joe has had a very interesting, very tough life. If Joe would win the primary and go up against a worthy opponent, an honorable opponent, I might encourage him. But he'd be up against a mean, amoral, selfish, narcissistic thing (I can't call Trump a man, it is so unfair to men) who would tear his family to shreds. Perhaps, Mr. Biden, you and Jill should live a worthy life doing good works in your retirement and enjoy life, too. You deserve that. Let it go......
But, then again, we absolutely need someone who can beat the thing in 2020 and I'm not sure who it's going to be. I know Liz Warren can't. I know Kirsten Gillibrand can't. Castro can't, etc. Booker and Harris can't. Beto, no. Maybe Sherrod Brown. I had very high hopes for the last year about Amy Klobuchar, but, wow.....now she probably can't from the hit job (or the truth?) about her desire to demean and we don't need another in the Oval that does that.
It's all rather depressing, actually. All I care about is getting Trump out of office.
15
Gee, Maureen, you are full of opinions, who is your perfect candidate?
Do you have someone you would like to vote for?
Do you actually think Trump is better by any stretch of your imagination than Hillary Clinton or any of the current Democratic contenders?
I also don't include Bernie Sanders as part of the Democratic Contenders, he's not a Democrat.
11
With other pundits weighing in on "Creeepy Old Uncle Joe's" too touchy-feely ways, and now MD shining an unfavorable light on the family that Joe built, we're anxiously awaiting that third nail. Biden is the epitome of the Democratic party at this point, one foot in the grave, the other on a banana peel -- that "peel" being the young turks that want to sweep the old guard out of the way without a clear plan on how to replace the mod-Dems and Independents who might sit out the election if everything comes up "socialist." Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but Biden/Klobuchar would seem to be the ideal ticket, avoiding a reactionary feel-good backlash to the trumpter-in-chief. The country needs workhorses, not show horses, at this point to repair all the damage that's been done over the past 2 years. Despite all the apparent reasons to say No To Joe, Trump every day provides a myriad of reasons to say Yes to two plain janes like Joe and Amy. There won't be much drama but they'll get a heck of a lot done and set the table nicely for the first woman president in '26.
2
@NoVaGrouch Joe's other banana peel is he's not much of a democrat, contrary to the shtick. He's another Rockefeller-Republican-in-drag Clintonian like the "Democrats" we've had as presidential candidates since the advent of the Reagan Restoration.
Every one of the candidates, every one, is flawed. They are all human. The question comes down to who can bring us past the age of rubbing the nose of the candidate in their flaws and laughing about that when your own flaws far exceed the other candidates in the race combined? Is this the America everyone yearns for? A place run by a bully whose # 1 job is to get retribution on his opponents? Imagine a second 4 years of this. What will be left of the soul of America at the end? What would be refreshing is a politician who accepts his errors and apologizes for them instead of embracing someone who comes to the plate and strikes out and blames the person who manufactured the bat. Maybe a few tears is what America needs. When you lose someone or something, having someone to help you work through the stages of grief is needed. Instead of helping Americans remain stuck in the angry stage. Biden should run, if he wants. For America has to figure out where she wants to go. Anger won't bring back what America has lost. If there is one person in America who can relate to what middle America is feeling, that person is Biden. For he can help the middle class Americans who want to punish those who they perceive have taken from them what they have loved. By showing there is a better way.
5
There are probably a lot of people like me, who barely registered the story of Hunter Biden's breakdown and went on to forget about it completely until just now, when it has irrelevantly (and cruelly) turned up here in a column on his father's presidential hopes. Though this not-very-coy takedown of prominent Democratic politicians is standard Dowd fare, blending in headlines from Page Six and the Daily Mail has set a new low bar.
40
Sorry. There are younger, motivated, candidates. Joe would be a retread in this crowded field. His brain chemistry is on the downward trend (mine too, same age). This is his MO, a “hanger on” and then says no. Please step away and help the party.
6
Joe Biden would make a great Secretary of State
6
Where are the facts. Obama never even tried to tilt the scales toward Hillary over Bernie.
4
Obama's personal ambition has lost the Supreme Court forever. Hillary's time was 2008 with him as VP to insure nominations for 2-3 presidential cycles. Instead of having a strong bench for decades were left today with a stragedy instead of a strategy for future success.
1
The biggest single mistake Obama made, was making Clinton, secretary of state. That appointment gave her a false sense of worth and value that she was fit to lead this country. She wasn't.
4
All I care about is finding a Democrat who can beat Trump in a general election, and that man is Sherrod Brown.
Pace Maureen Dowd, Joe Biden's family is not the biggest challenge to his winning. Nor is his age. The problem is 1) his performance during the Clarence Thomas hearings (women will never forgive him); 2) he's old news. Americans currently require their candidate be "new" and "fresh."
We need to face the fact that not one Democratic candidate will be immune to Trump's strategy of undermining them through mockery. He would perpetually address Biden as the Weak Man from the Trash Heap, Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas, Bernie Sanders as The Socialist, Amy Klobuchar as the Office Terror, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris as the Jussie Smollett Fan Club.
But what could he do with Sherrod Brown--charge him with abusing his ex-wife (even though she now exonerates him from this long-ago accusation)? Given that Ivanna Trump once accused Trump of raping her, that would be a no-go place for him.
Sherrod Brown could win. Listen to him talk--he's quietly likable, seemingly in the middle, and yet clearly a progressive on everything from climate change to labor rights.
Brown is a proven winner. He won reelection in Ohio, which means paired with the right VP candidate, he would win the general election.
8
@Emile, I agree with you except that i note your comment got only 6 recommendations.
This column is filled with a lot of tasteless gossip we just don't need to see. The divorces of candidates' families should never be part of a campaign.
10
If Biden were to address Trump, whenever he gets a chance, as a vile and toxic demagogue, as a superb liar and crook, and as a vulgar bully spreading hate and division, one would want to seriously support him. This ought to count with a free press willing to ignore self-serving Trump...instead of doubling their coverage because it 'sells', and place Biden in the decent and honest site of honor he deserves, a real public servant dedicated to represent civil society, following the rule of law, and restoring democracy at home...and human rights abroad.
Excellent description of the stupidity of the Democrats in parceling out nominations for the presidency. They seem to have treated the nomination as though it was a consolation prize for Hillary's losing in 2008, rather than trying to think what was best for the country.
It is of concern that the Democrats seem to be committing the same sort of misjudgment again, in their flirtation with flashy, loudmouthed adolescents whose only clear qualities seem to be that they never saw a microphone they didn't like.
Joe Biden, like all of us, has his shortcomings. However, compared to the current president and his potential opponents for the nomination, he represents thoughtfulness, caring and a large measure of maturity.
2
It’s as if we haven’t had enough of the Kennedys, and now for the next two years Maureen Dowd and journalists like her will be subjecting us to the Shakespearean tragedy that has befallen the Bidens. I sincerely wouldn’t wish what he’s experienced on anyone, but I’ve been reading this story for years and I’m tired of journalists picking favorites and pushing narratives. Uncle Joe? Amy Klobuchar probably wishes she were that lucky to have such sympathy.
5
Biden reacts to Trump badly. He wants to 'take him into a back alley' and throw some well deserved punches. This is not the attitude to have in dealing with Trump. The DEMS need a calm and clear head on their candidate, someone more like Klobuchar. Also, it's easier to defend eating your salad with a comb than your family with multiple tabloid hits.
1
Maureen Dowd inanely insists that President Obama is responsible for the election of Trump, perhaps in the expectation that the New-York-Times-reading public will begin to forget her Trump-leaning columns on the eve of the 2016 elections.
Maureen Dowd, Nov. 5, 2016:
"The problem with Donald Trump is: We don’t know which of the characters he has created he would bring to the Oval Office.
The trouble with Hillary Clinton is: We do know. Nobody gets less paranoid in the White House."
Stop blaming Obama.
9
I am 66 years old and not a fan of judging people based on their age.
Willie Nelson will be the coolest person alive no matter what his age was.
Trump was a jerk from the day he was born, so his age is not an issue.
I'm a fan of Joe Biden and of Bernie Sanders.
What I do want in a President is someone who will be living when the effects of his/her actions take place.
Those who are wrecking and raping our environment and piling up huge deficits are not going to be living to see the effects.
7
Maureen Dowd just cannot help herself from bringing down any Democrat; it is in her DNA. She was too friendly towards Trump before she started criticizing him. That said, I read the comments with more interest than her column because I find that I learn more from them. What I am seeing from the readers is that we are on our way to giving Trump a second term.
It doesn’t matter who the Democratic candidate to run against Trump in 2020 is. No candidate is perfect. We must vote the corrupt Republican party and their tyrannical President out, hopefully he is in shackles by then! Sounds like deja vu of 2016 to me.
Get your heads out of the sand and support the Democratic Party candidate that wins in the primaries! That is what Republicans do!
We cannot have four more years of Trump. Vote Democrat and get our country back on track!
10
I have always thought his plagiarism of Neil Kinnock would be his most difficult issue.
But. You know. Doesn't seem to hurt Melania.
1
He can count on at least one vote. Clarence Thomas.
6
Remember, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, and she would have won the election if not for progressives in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania voting for Jill Stein.
Biden/Harris 2020
Make America Sane Again
5
What exactly is your point? How does unsubstantiated drivel like this make it past the Editorial Board? Is this "All the News That is Fit to Print, or People Magazine? The RNC put up, Jeb! Yes, from the Bush Dynasty. The DNC put up Hillary. Yes, from the Clinton Dynasty. It was no surprise to anyone, end of story.
6
If an old white man ends up running gainst Trump, he better pick one of the excellent women to be Vice President so she can replace him in four years.
3
Joe 6 pack. Will the elitist name calling ever stop? Most dems still don’t realize that statements like that caused us the election,
2
Time for new generation. Biden and his generation need to exit the stage! NOW!!!
2
Good grief. Please Ms. Dowd, you are a Pulitzer Prize award winning journalist. You could have spared us the "Enquirer" style tawdry remarks about Vice President Biden's son and the widow of his son who has passed. His family has suffered enough. Biden is not responsible for the actions of these two adults.
Where did you get the idea that President Obama awarded Joe Biden the Medal of Freedom as some kind of consolation prize? That is undeserved. I f you choose to remember correctly, Biden's son Beau had not been deceased for all that long when it came time for Obama to throw his support behind a candidate. Joe Biden was still emotionally fragile from the grief he felt for his son's passing. Most loving parents who had endured the personal losses in his life Joe Biden had, would be. It was not the time for Biden to run, and President Obama, being Biden's close friend knew this. People would see Biden's tears and confuse grief with weakness. Hillary Clinton was the natural choice, given the circumstances at the time.
I have no idea if Joe Biden's time has come and gone. I respect him tremendously, I just am uncertain he is the right person to take on Trump. I do think a female Democratic candidate could take Trump on and win. Nancy Pelosi has shown that strong women intimidate Trump. They are his Achilles heal. Trump losing in 2020 to a woman would be some kind of divine justice for Hillary Clinton who was cheated out of being elected by Trump and his Russian pals.
14
The bigger problem with Hunter Biden isn't his nauseating sexual affair with his sister-in-law, but his shady hedge fund firm and its odious overseas business dealings in China that peddled access to Uncle Joe in exchange for cash investments. Hunter Biden's business antics makes Trump's kids look like absolute amateurs. Joe Biden himself stood by and let the cash roll in. Move on from the Biden family. They are all awful.
3
Well. Page Six, People, The Daily Mail, quoted in the NYT. Trust Dowd to find a way to enter trash tabloid stories into an actual newspaper. She implies that she is doing this as a kind of favor to Biden, to warn him of how Trump will use the information should Biden run. Nope - she is herself rummaging around in the garbage, trying to pretend it is news. This is exactly what is wrong with our society.
9
This is the least of Joe Biden’s problems. Read the New Yorker profile on him form a few years back, add to that the Anita Hill debacle and then do an Amy Klobuchar style hit piece on him and he is all but done. Let’s leave the 20th century behind, shall we?
1
I don't think there's any path for an old white man to get the Democratic nomination for President in 2020.
3
Let us not take our eyes off the goal here: to restore sanity and comity to the business of being in the White House. As someone who had no clue about the travails of the Biden family malfunctions, I can't imagine what it feels like to be Ms Dowd and to write the most vile columns like this that ought to be the stuff of the National Enquirer. We are in such perilous times with a pathological know-nothing at the helm that raging after Obama, Hillary, and Biden, not to mention all the other Democratic nominees, is a serious dereliction of intellect and patriotism. Don't like them? Don't vote for them. But nominate and vote in 2020 like the future of your children and grandchildren depends on it. The Blue Wave in Red states happened because younger candidates stepped up and spoke to real concerns of their constituents: health care, the environment, and sensible gun laws. Keep the focus on the goal of defeating the aberration in the White House.
7
@Rosemary Galette Problem is, behind the crude Queens carny barker, Trump is unfortunately not that much of an aberration in the White House. The lineage of Reagan and the Bushes is of small comparative comfort when you look at the real substance of things.
1
Palace intrigue is what gets the clicks and this piece delivers. Brava!
Maureen,
Irish temper? Come. on. now. Biden has a temper all his own. You don’t need to draw from and perpetuate a cultural stereotype to make your point.
“And Biden will have to temper that infamous temper of his.”
Infamous, characteristic, inconvenient, short, volatile—I don’t know, I’m sure there are countless others that may fit—take your pick.
Are these not as “punchy”? Not as illustrative bc one might require your audience to know Biden’s history of temperament without you catching them up on it to make your point? Would embedding a reference really be so hard?
Cultural stereotypes seem like a lazy and careless solution to fall back on. Really detracts & distracts from other good point you make. Don’t take your audience for granted.
2
Our planet must be caught up in some voldemort-type magnetic miasma which has infected political leaders globally such that they suffer total amnesia when it comes to governing in the national interest and acting with integrity for the citizens they are supposed to serve. Reading MD's piece, just where is there any consideration that America's interests were in the mix when POTUS candidates were being contemplated? Rather it reads as if the least worst script for Days of Our Lives was the issue at hand...
And don't think we are immune down here in Aus. In the dying days before our forthcoming federal election (in May if we can't jettison the clusterbombs earlier) the current government has thrown all propriety, gravitas and integrity overboard - it's self-interest all the way, and we can see it right out in the open, as it tries to loot the place on its way out. This poor excuse for a govt, which has lost control of our parliament knows, courtesy of social media, that we, the people, aren't ready for them with just cricket bats, we've got the full-blown missiles out... Though truth to tell, we have been watching closely events over in the US and are now very alert and alarmed lest we too get trapped. (Hint: Ask the question: "Is this right?") Our young people and their children deserve better, much better - as do yours. Time to demand governments of civility, competence and compassion.
144
As long as Democrats consider people that don't agree with all of their policies as xenophobic, homophobic, racist, and bigoted, people will hold their noses and vote for Trump. The notion that any candidate can win a Democratic primary while not alienating more than half the people who vote is fantasy. While Democrats try to out liberal each other, they will be reducing independent voters that don't agree with all the positions they deem righteous.
88
And yet Trump will refuse to represent the entire country, the majority of whom don't support him. His divisiveness seems to work. He refuses to unite the country.
26
@Tricia
Recent survey, 74% of population think we have the right amount or too many immigrants, 21% say we need more. Democrat candidates all agree we should increase the number of immigrants allowed in America. Why do Democrats think you're racist if you are for enforcing immigration laws?
11
@Jay Democrats as a whole don't believe "people that don't agree with all of their policies as xenophobic, homophobic, racist, and bigoted" That is Republican trash talk. (Yes there is a small segment on the left that says that; mostly, in my opinion, simply to denigrate the incompetence, corruption and ego of one Donald J Trump.) The majority of Democratic candidates ALL talk about reaching out to the other side of the aisle, forging alliances and COMPROMISING. That is a word that a large segment on the RIGHT think is a dirty word. Where have been the compromises made with Obama on the ACA? Climate change? Merrick Garland? Republicans would rather chastise Obama for using executive orders when the legislature was stalemated; and sat idly by when Trump did the same thing, as an end-run around jointly passed legislation.
46
Don’t the Democrats have somebody with more experience than a few years in the Senate, In their 50s, not a leftist, Who would run on repairing our water and sewer systems, roads and bridges? And maybe use a civilian conservation Corps or WPA to provide jobs, And maybe give skills to this so many who cannot find decent jobs?
6
Biden has indeed had tragic losses in his life and for this he has my compassion.
However, we had better do our homework before we tout him as a savior (again). There is less there than meets the eye.
First, when are we going to get it through our heads that recycled candidates do not inspire? He performed miserably twice! What more evidence do we want? Another born-again candidacy?
Secondly, look at the record behind the glad-handing posture of bipartisanship, for goodness sake. Are our differences with people like Mitch McConnell really superficial or are they differences of core values (or even simple decency for that matter)? Biden really glosses over many issues that are at the heart of our inability to reach consensus.
He stands and gives eloquent eulogies for people like Strom Thurmond and John McCain. Maybe sometimes one should be a bit judicious in touting people with extremely checkered pasts. Sorry if this seems inhumane, but both these men took some very, very troubling stances that had horrific impact.
Third, his love of defending the credit card company's avarice and his support of harsh laws that resulted in mass incarceration will undermine his "common man" posture.
I can attest that as a teacher for many decades in the public schools it was heart-breaking to hear my minority students telling me that their fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins were incarcerated--this legislation damaged a generation of children.
Fourth, Clarence.
Let's just say no.
15
Too old.
Too establishment.
Too many skeletons.
Too weirdly touchy feely.
12
@Edward
Too bad. For you.
Biden is an honorable man and just the contrast we need to return to normalcy.
I'm looking at all those tossing their hats in and I'm underwhelmed with them for carious reasons.
Biden has the experience and temperament and the maturity.
Klobuchar is a female Trump in the egomania dept.
Kamala is too hardline. Is she GOP underneath it all?
Bernie is too old and tired. Love him though.
Booker too unseasoned.
Warren is smart but the GOP sharks will eat her alive.
Beto is not ready yet.
Dems need someone who knows what's up and can withstand the attacks with aplomb and dignity.
So far that's Biden.
2
@Edward especially too touchy feely; ask Stepmanie Carter.
It’s been two years now and and I’m still finding it hard to believe that the American people picked a catastrophic loser like Trump to close the government down, build an idiotic wall, provide a massive tax cut for billionaires, rip families apart on our Southern border and install the most corrupt government ever seen in the home of the brave and the land of the free.
We might have picked Hillary. And maybe we did.
The woman had a lot of hard bark on her. Putin, the Ayatollahs and ISIS would have found that out mighty soon.
She would have found enough Republicans to work with in Washington to get a few things done.
She would not have written any emails or tweets while she was President. Not a single one.
She would have appointed a special prosecutor by the name of Robert Mueller to investigate the nefarious wheeling and dealings of a certain Individual-1.
KellyAnne Conway would today be undergoing the most rigorous tax audits ever seen in the history of the Internal Revenue Service and her car would frequently be towed away to distant municipal parking lots by the D.C. police.
Shawn Hannity would today be followed around New York by men in black SUVs wearing black suits.
Electricity at the offices of Fox, Breitbart and the Drudge Report would have turned out to be an off-and-occasionally-on-again thing.
Mothers and daughters would have gotten a great kick out of watching her boss-around men.
Ah well, we got what we got and probably deserved it.
25
I think Biden is the best candidate for 2020. He should choose Obama as his running mate.
6
Strange, but in this chaotic day, this Average 82 year old can be comfortable with that and wish the Sanity Of Obama could return to the
Helm. Meanwhile. Biden's Presence and wit and Obama's Balance
would counter-Balance the continued presence of Trump's Sociopathic Personality Disorder....should he actually waste his self-centered Existence
as our CEO and as our Center Of Attention (COA).
1
Biden can defeat Trump. The links in the Op-Ed are illuminating but anything goes v #45. Let’s get ready to rumble.
5
Obama was always about...Obama.
HE got reelected, but his party lost 60 House seats and 1,000 state legislative seats on his watch.
He upset Hillary in the 2008 primary, which came as a shock. Trump upset her in the 2016 general. Maybe she is just a loser? The Goldman Sachs speeches and the insecure server didn't endear her to many voters.
A third of Obama counties (in 2012) voted for Trump in 2016.
Looks like his base has feet of clay. He should stay out in 2020. He has done enough damage already.
7
Unlike our current President, whom is a walking dictionary of every possible scandal imaginable, scandals that he is the center of, Biden's family's scandals are just that, and have little if anything to do with how Americans see Joe Biden. Awkward moments at soccer games and family holidays are something we can all relate to; paying off mistresses to stay quiet, scamming people into believing their lives will be better with that TrumpU degree, degrading people on a daily basis, etc., is a harder to stomach.
15
I really like Joe Biden, but I remember an era when 65 was a mandatory retirement age. What is it with all these geezer candidates? Even Elizabeth Warren is 69. It was very evident that Reagan in his second term was suffering from early Alzheimer's, and the current occupant is obviously mentally impaired (aside from his many other deficiencies). It's okay, in my opinion, to be a senior in Congress, but as Commander-in-Chief?
14
@Artie I agree. I don't know how old you are but I am 74. only 1 year older than that despicable guy in the White House oval office. I am in good shaped for my age, but I am beyond my sell by date as are too many of these candidates. Too risky. I was disappointed President Obama pushed against Biden running. It was understandable, but the wrong decision. I am a woman, but that doesn't mean I was all in for Hillary. Way back when Bill was president she came up with one of the most insane, complex health care plans yet. Also too quick on the military trigger. I don't care if she baked cookies or not, but she made me a bit queasy. Of course I voted for her and what a better president she would have been. I hope one of the women out there pulls ahead and is exciting, new and experienced. Senior citizens serve where it is helpful in congress as Artie suggested. Oh I remember the brightness of John F. Kennedy. He inspired people all over the world. Beyond his base, no one claps for Trump (see clip from Munich).
1
Frankly this is simply ageist and I’m stunned how often I read comments like this. I’m in my 40s and so I find myself making similar comments about various “old fogeys” hahaha. Seriously, though, just like many prejudices, there really is no basis for it in fact. In fact, in other cultures around the world elders are revered. They have the wisdom that comes from experience, the best teacher there is. Having now worked with a number of colleagues young and old, I can say that experience really does make a difference while fresh eyes do, too. Anyone who says someone is too old is simply, like a racist, applying a judgement that is completely absurd and harmful. I hope people will think about this.
And Biden will have to face the photo-shopped images of himself the far right has put out that makes it look like he is touching women inappropriately. They are well crafted images, but they are FAKE!!! Snopes has illustrated the fakes and the originals they came from.
That won't matter. Trump and the Republicans will use them against Biden again, and again, and again until they become "alternative facts" and prove Giuliani's assertion that "the truth isn't the truth" but it will be Trump's "truth".
12
This article belongs to a gossip page. As for Biden, I think he should run; this won't hurt anyone. Moreover, I see so much wishful thinking of some president wannabees that we need at least one moderate for real choice.
9
If Biden becomes the nominee prepare yourself for two terms of Trump.
4
Can't read Mo's latest snark. The comments tell me what I need to know. But, all those currently in the race for POTUS have baggage of some sort the she and the GOP can trot out daily. Her disdain of both Hillary and Obama is relentless and tiring.
We, the US, are in a very deep hole brought on by the amoral and ruthless oligarchs that seem to be helping the GOP and Putin disrupt what remains of our democracy.
With all that in mind, I have settled on Biden, if he is willing. With his age comes vast experience. Who best to pull a capable and functioning govt together? Added to that is the recent and hopeful resurgence of the Democratic party as more actually get out and vote. We have some younger possible VP candidates that could gain the experience and knowledge by serving with the elder Biden.
11
Good old Joe hit his political presidential expiration date when Bill Clinton beat him for the 1992 nomination.
Hillary wouldn't have to have beat him in 2016 (even with all the anti-Clinton media). Joe finds a way to beat himself.
4
To what purpose, this? It is indecent.
I always envied your talent. Now I feel only sadness.
13
It really doesn’t matter whose son is sleeping with whose wife and such petty things. Every family has a story and without the drama there is no juice in life, just plain vanilla boring. Joe Biden brings enormous experience wisdom and knowledge to our country’s well being. Even if he doesn’t run for President he is an invaluable treasure to all sincere public servants. he is a guide, he is a compass, there is a lot to learn from him and he has a lot to offer.
Maureen, kindly sign up to a tabloid magazine as their editor, you have enormous talent for unearthing muck on everyone.
15
Not my choice. Why? Anita Hill. We're still suffering from that mistake.
11
Joe Biden should use all of his gravitas and political capital to convince Adam Schiff to run. Add Harris or Klobuchar to the ticket, and that’s a slate that would excite me.
3
@George M.
No, there's too much trumpests negativity about Schiff (who is terrific). But, a Sherrod Brown/Harris or a Harris/Sherrod Brown ticket would be awesome.
1
The next "running topic at Washington dinner parties" will be why does Joe only get hundreds of votes while the women front runners get hundreds of thousands? Doesn't the public understand that Joe has been seasoned by decades of experience in Washington DC?
First, I think President Obama was right in his preference for Hillary Clinton. Did she run a less than effective campaign? Yes. Did she overlook the importance of the mid-west? Most assuredly. But like it or not, Ms Dowd, she was smart and experienced...and a woman. To this day, if things did not become so topsy-turvey re Russia, emails, and Comey, I have no doubt that Secretary Clinton would have been most competent and successful as the POTUS.
Re Biden's son, I can care less about his divorce and affair. Heavens, it is not worth the time and space to write about it. Not to mention, it pales in comparison to that philandering, misogynistic, amoral narcissist tainting the White House. And Uncle Joe? It is time for him to pass the torch, preferably to a woman. If a man, I think Sherrod Brown (if he EVER decides to run) would fit the bill. As a matter of fact, all the present candidates are impressive. I do have one last comment, however: Maureen, PLEASE, whoever will be our Democratic nominee, PLEASE speak kindly of her/him. It is a matter of national security to vote The Donald out of office and send him packing.
10
"...And Biden will have to temper that Irish temper of his."
No. He won't. Not after what the country has experienced with trump. That is just it! We need some of Uncle Joe's Irish temper!
(How I wish there was more investigative reporting than opinion writing.)
7
The last thing the Democrats won’t is a gaffe prone, 76 year old multiple presidential candidates loser, running again.
Same goes for Sanders.
How about picking an intelligent, articulate candidate with charisma. Dems will likely again lose the unlosable election.
4
@Peter Daniel As an ex-Delawarean I can witness from experience that you hit the nail on the head. When Obama picked Biden to run as VP, it was a huge red flag to me that Obama did not know what he was doing. Picking Biden because he supposedly had the international experience that Obama lacked over looked the facts of Biden's short comings---the first of which was the kind of intelligence needed to lead this country on the "Decider's" departure.
Biden will do the most good by getting behind a strong candidate. Who that is remains to be seen. I have no doubt that Biden could counterpunch as good as the best of them. But the slime slinging Trump machine will find a way to ensure Biden is dragged through the mud to the point that brave Joe will come out disgraced and damaged and look undignified. Further, a huge swath of young voters have no interest in a prolonged grudge match between two old white guys. Turn those voters off and you’ve got four more years of Trump.
2
Modo just doesn’t like my favorite prez. I think O thought Joe deserved the Medal, I certainly did. I just don’t know if Joe can win. He will have to run and see. If he doesn’t run, they should try to put him to work on Foreign Policy if a Dem wins. Maybe as Secretary of State or a Deputy at State who could work on reviving our NATO ties and the Atlantic Alliance and trying to hire some qualified people who know what they are doing! Big job. He would be a good FP Prez.
2
Am not so concerned about Biden’s family scandals. What many of us can’t chase away from our memory bank is Biden’s handling of the Anita Hill hearing.
3
Quite a warning here. I believe Dowd is saying in this column -- look, I can't resign, but I can warn you that I am ill-equipped to deal with the spicy memelord reality of the 2010s and you should expect no predictive value from my commentary.
I remember reading Style and Op-Ed columns in national papers in the 1990s which dredged up minute bits of gossip about increasingly irrelevant people. The columns I remember were written by people who "have been here forever", who had a loyal but dwindling following of insiders, and who were entirely inscrutable to me, the outsider reader.
That's the impression I get here. I thought I had been following politics -- I think I understand what Flynn, Manafort, et al. have been up to -- and I actually weirdly feel like I know a lot about Arnold Schwarzenegger's son Joseph Baena.
But am I hopelessly out of touch for not watching the details of the former vice president's family life? Or is Dowd telling us that she is?
3
The removal of Trump is the real National Emergency, everything else comes second.
Just try to imagine the current buffoon in there until 2025. If that doesn't give you the dry heaves, you have a stronger constitution than I have.
5
Not up on National Enquirer stuff. As a kid we went through grocery lines thru the 60's and 70s glancing at Enquirer and People and Star - whatever. Jackie and Bobbie and Bobbie and Marilyn...Most of us neither bought nor read them - obvioulsy too many people did. My decision about Biden's 2020 would-be-could-be candidacy came from watching video of watching Biden's interrogation of Anita Hill in the wake of GHW Bush nomination of Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court. Uh, Joe Biden was a Democrat way back when? Was he really? You'd never know that by the good ol' .01 beer-drinker friend of the blue collar man. I was too busy working and getting under-paid in comparison with males who had the same positions as me when this went on. I worked in government at the time. Recently I saw those hearings on cable and podcast. Not in any way, shape or form would I ever consider Biden a viable president or even candidate for president. "Shameful" is a mild term for how I feel about his beviors then - and it wasn't oo long ago. Never would I vote for him - too many men - just like him then and now. WE need something different and more hopeful.
Biden's family tragedies and scandals, and his very human way of dealing with them, made him seem even more like one of us.
Hillary Clinton never was. We were nothing to her except votes, which she felt were owed to her just as she knew Obama owed her his blessing. Her destiny. I never respected or liked her, and doubt Obama did either.
This makes me wonder who he would have preferred to win the presidency. I would guess Biden, except that he really was concerned about his age and emotional state.
I am absolutely craving that Irish temper of Joe Biden to go after Donald Trump and I am betting about 60% of America is, too. Go get 'em, Joe!
2
Biden’s putative candidacy seems modeled on Hillary Clinton: a known quantity, long experience, waited-my-turn leader who is, most of all, not the other guy. Didn’t work for Hillary - in her own party, even, but she didn’t learn the lesson, nor did the Democrats, in 2008. Doesn’t work for Republicans, either, see: McCain, Romney and the cast of thousands who sought the 2016 nomination along with Trump. Right or wrong, voters crave new blood and most of all, new ideas. Biden won’t win.
2
Jee Ms. Dowd. You, along with wonderful right wing pundits Goldberg, Thomas, Douthat, just can't stop piling on to Obama. At a minimum all of you know the man was a decent president--perhaps a great one once we get a little history under our belts. So he supported Clinton. It was political calculus and while he got it wrong with respect to the electoral college, he got it right with respect to the popular vote. Many of us didn't agree with Clinton or with Obama's support of her but by the mathematics at the time the party's opinion was that she was the best candidate to push.
Somehow I missed all that stuff about divorces and re-arranged relationships in the Biden family but, come on, how relevant is that background? If we can ignore Trump's grabbing what he shouldn't, surely some family discord doesn't diisqualify Biden.
Biden shouldn't run because Biden is too old. Biden shouldn't run because Biden is too tied in to the old status quo--which was exactly the same problem many of us had with Clinton. Biden's got the character but he doesn't have the vision. It is time to move on. This country needs bold and moral leadership even if mistakes will certainly be made. But nothing, absolutely nothing, can compare to the mega-mistake of Trump and his absolutist right-wing lieutenants.
So get positive Ms. Dowd and find the right person to promote rather than spending you word capital on dissing Obama and revisiting Biden's family problems.
13
I would personally love to see Biden run. I don't care if the candidate is male, female, black, white, brown, or yellow. I want someone who can beat Trump, and I believe that means they must have a strong personality and unfortunately not necessarily a strong ideologue. We also desperately need someone who is experienced in foreign affairs which very few of the candidates have. A progressive will only further divide the country, we urgently need someone who will try to bring us back together and can negotiate with the other side with moving the country forward on foreign affairs, climate change, etc. Biden and maybe Klobuchar seem to be the only ones that fill this void at the moment.
9
Biden jumping into the presidential contest might be the biggest lift for Bernie Sanders as progressives coalesce to avoid the ticket splitting that'll elect another blindfolded, pinata playing, neoliberal fostering "centrist."
Lets see which near octogenarian has the most energy. And where will the respective campaign financing come from? I think we all know the answer to that.
1
"..the party would want to follow the first African-American president with the first woman president." If this is true, which I believe it is... it was pure foolishness. Obama won the presidency not because he was African-American, but because he was the right person at the right time. And it will be time for a woman president when the right woman rises up at the right time... not because a handful of elitist democratic liberals think it's time.
15
@ZenPolitico
I think Obama won the election when McCain selected Palim as his running mate.
1
Nope. Obama was elected primarily because, as a presidential candidate, he was the "first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" who did actually come along at a time when the USA was trying to recover from the racially-tinged wars in the islammic world that the Bush administration began.
1
Biden is too old to be our next President. All this National Enquirer level gossip about his family pales in significance to what several of the comments printed here remind us of: his part in getting Clarence Thomas seated on the Supreme Court. Bring in the younger candidates!
12
Why turn to "Page Six" when all one needs to do is to read this column?
By the content of her columns we know who Ms Dowd does NOT want to see run for President, so I suppose the question is whether she will take a stand and come out with a full-throated endorsement for a candidate, rather than picking everyone apart and concluding that there is no one who is the moral equivalent od donald trump.
How many people associated with Biden are Russian operatives, or have been indicted, convicted or pleaded guilty in relation to efforts of the Russian Government to sabotage our Democracy? Is Biden taking advice from Putin on foreign policy? "Inquiring Minds Want to Know"
29
If personal and familial scandals were a disqualification for president, Trump would not be in the White House.
35
I knew Maureen couldn’t help herself with her neurotic fascination with the Clintons and it wasn’t far into her Opinion that she was back blaming the Clintons. Joe Biden is a nice guy but he wasn’t presidential material in 2016 and he still is not.
Democrats need a younger, more progressive candidate to defeat Trump and fortunately for Democrats and America there are many highly qualified and electable candidates running for the Democratic nomination.
20
Biden has to run. He can beat Trump in the three states Trump won by a total of 77,000 votes. Another Trump presidency will destroy any hope of rectifying the misery he has already caused to our democracy. Another four- year term of Trump and his incompetence and it could take years to recover. Biden with a woman or an American of Hispanic ancestry as Vice President would be unbeatable.
4
Joe Biden is complex. He is part intellectual, part Everyman. He’s bitingly smart, yet prone to gaffes. The Vice President is ‘one of the boys,’ yet a palpable loner. He can be glad-handing, while also seeming sullen and introverted. He can be jovial then crestfallen all within a the span of a single sentence.
Which is to say, he is human. Almost super-human, if you look beyond his missteps and consider the anguish he has endured. He is probably the most qualified of all candidates to confront the boorish jackal Trump, but I worry that the unhinged sophomoric psychotic Trump will be vile and evil to Mr. Biden. I would love to see the former Vice President be elevated to the presidency; I just don’t know if I can stomach the journey through the primaries and nomination to the debates with the wombat Trump and finally to Election Day.
In the end Mr. Biden will do the right thing, which is, of course, whatever route he pursues. He should know that Real America is rooting for him, and has his back whichever path he chooses.
16
@H. Clark
An unfortunate insult to the Wombat.
@conn nugent,
Did you see the state of the union, Pelosi is 78, makeup, face lift will do wonders ,
Both houses, old real old old white me and women Feinstein in her 80’s, Supreme Court Ginsburg in her 80’s . trump looks young compared to this bunch.
This was not a quality MD article. It belongs in a supermarket tabloid. Having said that, I have to say that Biden is the last person who should be thinking of participating in the upcoming Democratic circus that will be soon visiting cities throughout the USA. He and Bernie are "old white men" who will not get half the votes needed to beat President Trump.
18
A reasonable wish list for a leader: A sincere desire to serve the country, a functioning moral compass, a solid work ethic, a keen and curious intellect and governing experience.
If that's Joe Biden, then I hope he runs. If it's Kermit the Frog, I hope he runs too.
Just, please, give the current scoundrel squatting in the White House his walking papers.
16
"And Biden will have to temper that Irish temper of his."
If Trump steps over the line; Joe Sixpack and his wife would probably side with Biden, if he opens up with both barrels. Yes once in awhile Biden may say some stupid things, but how does that compare with the ignoramus we currently have for President. Biden can call malarky; malarky and hear a roaring cheer from the crowd.
Biden's family should realize Joe is on the most important rescue mission of his life. Four more years of Trump will corrupt this country beyond repair.
Select a capable progressive female for VP (Harris) win the mid west back and excite the female and minority populace. It is the Dems for the taking.
12
@Babel LOL! Harris is anything but progressive! Biden is basically a republican if you judge him by his voting record in congress (which is how I judge candidates - not by emotion like most here).
My concern is that good people like Joe Biden might not run out of fear that Trump might attack his family.
I understand that it's easy for me to say people should not be afraid to run and I know this is not an easy circumstance for any potential candidate to navigate -- especially when dealing with a narcissist/sociopath like Trump, who has to be the world's smallest person.
I just don't want Trump's bullying tactics to prevail.
7
Joe Biden's decent, Irish temper is one of his best assets. You see it when he's standing up for America, for women, for middle-class and working families, for unions, for minorities--racial and sexual--and for anyone who is marginalized or in need.
You see that temper when Biden uses it to inspire hope, empathy, and tolerance, which is unlike that thing now occupying the White House and who uses his temper to promote hate and fear. The only time you should see Biden's and Trump's names in the same sentence is when you read "Biden defeats Trump in a landslide."
13
Joe, you're a good guy, you're a nice and decent guy. But there are two reasons you won't win; Your Crime Bill was shortsighted and showed no foresight but more important, the country is crazy dangerous even more than the past. You'd have to be crazy like Trump to run for office. The man is dangerous. He's New York if you know what I mean.
I did not know that Beau and Hunter supported a Biden run in 2016. I thought that Beau urged his father not to run, which, given what happened is unfortunate.
Although I supported Bernie I share Obama's regard for Hillary. She lost because (1) Comey, (2) a craven and clueless corporate media that never thought Trump could win and that loved the money they were making on his campaign (happy to see Les Moonves getting his comeuppance after bragging that while Trump was bad for America he was great for CBS ... the money's rolling in," (3) misogyny; (4) 25 years of attacks from a very real, very dangerous and vast rightwing conspirators, and (5) a poorly run campaign.
As to 2008, John McCain would have beat her easily. Why? See 3 and 4 above. I had a neighbor who once said to me, "If Hillary is running, I don't need to know who she's running against. I'm voting for them."
Running against Hillary, McCain wouldn't have needed to court the knuckle-dragging Neanderthal vote by choosing Sarah Palin. He could and probably would have nominated Joe Lieberman and picked a lot of votes he lost by choosing Palin.
3
Maureen,
You’re talking about Hillary Clinton as though she didn’t get 3 million more votes than Donald Trump.
Hillary wasn’t the problem, although I absolutely agree she’s a terrible campaigner and kind of prickly. The very undemocratic Electoral College was the problem.
15
@celia - Hillary was the problem; Bernie was the solution, and those 2 - 3 million more votes all came from California. The electoral college is how it works; Hillary didn’t quite figure that out waiting for her coronation once she rigged the primaries.
3
When I read the headline, I thought "wow, Biden has some issues in his background, gotta read this." And then its some marital infidelities in the family tree. Meanwhile, we have Trump with ethical armageddons going on. Even Trump could not bring this up with all the baggage he has in his closet. This is like a ripple on a lake compared to a tsunami. If this is all they have on Biden then I say "bring it on!"
15
@Grubs He absolutely does have issues in his background: his voting history. His treatment of Anita Hill is also inexcusable and disqualifying. There are people that made the right decisions in those same situations..and guess what..they happen to be running for president as well!
Biden’s main appeal is that he can make people believe again in the relevance and decency of our government - something that 45 helps to erode with every tweet. That one act can help heal the increasing, difficult divides among us. Is he perfect? Nope. But he’s been through the wringer and is still standing. And he seems, by all accounts, to like and respect women. That’s a novelty in the White House lately. We have alot to fix, fundamentally, so I vote yes. My one question - provided that this column is accurate - is how does Obama come out and campaign for him? Or does he not?
4
So now Page Six, People mag, and the Daily Mail are source documents for Mo--how low can you go? None of that is about Joe Biden's decades of service, love of country, and vast ability to crack open the Trump Book of Atrocities and reverse everything this crime family king has inflicted upon America.
We got lucky with Barack Obama. A young senator with modest accomplishments, but with a high intelligence, an ability to surround himself with great advisors, and a natural gift to speak extemporaneously in paragraphs to us in terms we understood. There were zero indictments of anyone in his two-term administration.
Now we need an experienced leader who can work well with the First Branch of government to repair and restore. There is no time to learn on the job. Of course it is time for a new generation of leaders, and a Biden-Harris ticket, along with honest and capable Cabinet members from the aspirants, sounds about right to me.
9
Let him run if he wants to. He won't be getting my vote, his only chance for that would have been in a pinch in '16. But he has an awful lot of supporters. Probably not too smart to deny them a chance vote for their candidate of choice and artificially choke off the field. Because that worked out really well for the Dems in '16.
3
Hey, this nutty country "elected" Donald Trump, so family drama is, apparently just part of the reality show called American politics.
Just engage the electorate in the coming primary season and let them listen and make their choice. Maybe it could be educational and kind of fun for us all, at least it will take Trump off the front page, so sure Mr. Biden, run if you wish.
There are people in this country who will only learn from, listen to, someone of your age and experience, so you can truly add something to the competition.
Me, I am far more to the left than you, but even so, I recognize that you might be able to restore balance to the Congressional "force", especially the hypnotized Republicans like Graham.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
6
I'd prefer to see Al Franken be the nominee over any of them.
7
Biden, a war baby, born in 1942, before the post-war boomers, is TOO OLD.
Time for a younger man: Eric Swalwell. Polished, smart, knowledgeable, energetic, etc.
3
He gave a paid speech in Michigan to a bunch of Republicans for, I believe, $200k, while people in Flint are being poisoned by the water. He’s disqualified, as far as I am concerned. Also the Anita Hill hearing disqualifies him.
3
Never mind the 2008 and 2016 elections. Now is the time for Joe Biden.
We need a fighter to take on the Bully-in-Chief, one who, unlike Trump would fight for the right things. Biden described how his mother taught him to stand up to bullies, instructing that he had to bloody their noses. That's the attitude to take on Trump.
We need someone likewise Biden who truly 'tells it like it is.' Trump uses the cover of honesty as an excuse for being crude and also for being a pathological liar. Biden's lack of political polish is the perfect counterpart to Trump's pretense of being a non-politician. Biden's 'gaffes' aren't faults, they are proof that he's just a person. Crying in public just means being open.
This moment has been waiting for Biden.
3
The numbers tell the tale- Joe Biden is 76 and has spent 36 years in Washington.He has had a good run and is still affectionately called Uncle Joe.He has had a long and important history in Washington but he is not part of,it’s future.It is time for new leaders with ideas attuned to younger voters who will be turning out in greater numbers.There are other candidates who can relate to the “Scranton” voters.Joe Biden needs to take his final well deserved bow and gracefully exit the stage.
5
Wow, who his children date is so irrelevant to any competencies he brings as a candidate. I'm pretty surprised anything but the most gossipy column would care about it. I hadn't heard about it and wouldn't (won't) give it another thought. Once I figured out the columnist here was referring to his kid's affairs, I stopped reading.
It is a shame he didn't run against Clinton in the primary, however. He might have won, and won the presidency. Who knows.
2
Maureen:
Welcome back to your poison pen.
Wow! Great hit job on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Even better because it is completely gratuitous.
As a 72 year old male, I would suggest that putting a 76 year old into office for 8 years is a flawed strategy. 84 is a tough age to be pulling all-nighters as required. (Certainly the much younger Trump can't seem to stay coherent for 288 characters, let alone for 8 years.) I spent last weekend showing 2 5 year olds and a 3 year old snow, carrying and riding sleds and building snowmen. Trump could not do this. None of us septuagenarians should feel we are physically up to the job.
Unlike Bernie Sanders (who is also too old, but is at least on topic) Biden's views on many subjects are quaint. Biden is a triangulator, looking for the mythical middle ground. Unfortunately there is no middle ground between crazy and sane, between fact-free and fact based.
If we do not act on global warming at a federal level on an urgent basis the damage to my 5 grandchildren will not just be that they will not be able to play in snow with their grandchildren, but that they may not have anything like the quality of life even my grandparents had.
And yet you, Maureen, still do not get it.
Please write about something that matters.
44
The only reason the Biden(s) candidacy seems viable is Donald Trump. Hillary would have clobbered Biden like she clobbered Bernie. (Granted, not all of the clobbering was on the campaign trail.) But clobbered him she would have. Besides, Biden did the calculus of those who would have resented him getting in the way of the 'First Woman President', and they'd have clobbered him as well. Oh, and all that Page Six stuff, that just qualifies Biden even more in the eyes of the Millennial Voter.
4
A new low for Maureen, the Limbo champ. No. Joe shouldn't run, but for other reasons: age, centrism and Male, Pale, and Stale.
It's time for the Dems to be a party that will promote policies, e.g., that integrate economic and environmental priorities and that affect people who will be alive in 2050 (not me!).
21
And Joe, please stop touting your wife as DR. Jill Biden, she is a psychologist, not and MD!.
I personally would love Joe to be POTUS. However, he has
far too many votes in Congress to defend. He is a good man with a big heart, but he hasn't always been on the smart side of history in the last half century. It's time for a young candidate, without baggage, to lead us out of this hellish nightmare.
22
Biden's problems go well beyond a family's messy divorce. For one, there is the Anita Hill hearing. He admitted he should apologize but has not done so yet. And there is more, but at the moment I am seeing red.
7
In 2016, I often wondered if Maureen was really a stealth Republican. Maureen's hatred of Hillary is so visceral that it overrode rational political views. And I'm no Hillary fan, never was.
This column reminds me of Marley's ghost, eternally chained to dragging around the mistakes of the past.
Yes, Biden was probably a better choice.
Yes, Hillary was a very flawed candidate.
But it's 2019, Biden's time is gone, and we have an ongoing national disaster on our hands.
Let's not backtrack to Obama bashing, Hillary hating and retread candidates, including Bernie.
We need to focus on all voters, instead of identity politics.
It's jobs, health care, Midwest appeal and regaining some trust with blue collar voters.
We need a forward focus as well as a new start.
36
How about education regarding CLIMATE CHANGE? Without our planet nothing matters.
@Betsy Steele
Absolutely. But first we gotta get people elected.
If America should have learned one lesson since 2016, it's that our fundamental values, principles and national purposes are either personified and upheld by our President, or are threatened by his/her lack of them . The truth of Republicans' mantra that "character counts!" has been convincingly demonstrated for the past two years, as a morally- and intellectually-defective Chief Executive . . . and probable foreign agent . . . has violated everything we should stand for. Joe is a good man, experienced and skilled at the intricacies and demands of governing; respects the Constitution and the rule of law; carries the values we need put into action; and isn't so doctrinaire, radical or ideological that his Presidency would incite partisan resistance from the beginning. I would totally support his candidacy, and bet many others occupying all spots on the political spectrum would do so as well.
10
The problem with Joe Biden is that, even though the Democrats have rejected his repeated attempts become their party's presidential nominee, he remains staunchly convinced that America will get it right next time. Unfortunately next time never comes for Joe Biden. Maybe Biden should accept the fact that being Vice President was as good as it was going to get for him. It's a shame that Biden simply refuses to pass the torch on to the next generation of Democratic presidential wannabees.
6
@sharon5101 it’s true. If anyone ever suffered from “it’s my turn” syndrome, maybe we are seeing it here.
Aren't you worried that by disclosing how Obama tilted the playing field to favor Hillary lightening will strike you? I wasn't sure but held a strong belief that Obama pushed Biden out of play to ensure Hillary was the nominee. So much for Obama or Hillary being the political geniuses so many wish they were; with Biden we wouldn't have Trump now sitting in the White House - note the use of the word "sitting" because Trump has delegated all of his domestic decisions to the Federalist Society, the NRA & whatever white nationalist group is the flavor of the month while his foreign agenda is solely determined by whatever is best for Putin which is to reduce U.S. influence & power to third rate status. As to those who assert that Trump could have been effective in attacking Biden, definitely not so - many were legitimately concerned over Hillary's disregard for national security by using a private server & insecure personal phones & when Hillary proceeded to destroy the evidence that could have proved otherwise her explanations for doing so were incredulous. The only thing Hillary proved she excelled in was collecting staggering sums as a speaker to those who needed her favor if she had won. Biden has real empathy for the bottom 90% so certainly would not have avoided campaigning in the Rust Belt or devoted all of possible time to socializing in Beverly Hills & Central Park South which is why character assassination will fail against Biden despite the Hunter Biden story
6
@sbmirow I get the impression that you never heard a word that Hillary Clinton said or considered her record, the real one. She excelled at very many things and would have made a remarkable president.
7
What baffles me is why Joe Biden made a public statement supporting his daughter-in-law's affair with his surviving son Hunter. He was happy that they found each other? His daughter-in-law Kathleen must have been devastated by that, and her children are old enough to understand that their grandfather was taking sides. Why not simply say that this was a family matter that he wouldn't be commenting on? His poor judgment in this matter appalled me. I understand that he was (and is) grieving, but I would think he would want to keep all the people he loves as close as possible.
15
I will vote for my tuxedo cat Capt Ahab before I vote for Trump.
Thanks for the enlightenment, Ms. Dowd.
6
trump lowered standard on everything. now every other person thinks he should be the president.
1
@San mao The sad part is that we may elect someone who is unqualified just to get rid of Trump.
It's interesting to read this article after reading Andrew Cockburn's devastating critique of Biden's legislative record in the March issue of Harper's.
Personally I don't think Joe Sixpack would really care to vote for the Senator from MBNA, family losses or not. Especially for the African American Joe Sixpacks.
Biden's been wrong on so many issues, it's astounding that he is even considering running.
5
Still not voting for someone who supported the Iraq War and Biden joined the party of trying to re-write history regarding that monumental foreign policy mistake by presenting GWB with a "Liberty" medal last fall for his treatment of veterans. Trump, vile as he is, and on his worst day, is not worse than the war criminals and their accomplices who gave us the Iraq War. That includes Biden.
4
@Ross The Bush/Cheney government offered the American people information about S.Hussein and 'weapons of mass destruction'. Colin Powell went before the U.N. to plead their case. Forever more, all we'll hear is so and so supported the Iraq War. Huh! We make our judgments based on information afforded us. If we are misled or lied to, it's not our fault. They had the data, not us. They sat in on security briefings, not us. We were lied to for reasons unknown to us at the time. Time to let that go and stop flogging those who were duped by believing in the leaders of their country.
@Rosalie Rinaldi It's not something that should ever be "let go".
I remember white-knuckle-listening to the debate between the 2008 vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, and worried that Palin was besting him. Palin possessed not even a microscopic amount of Biden’s knowledge about world affairs, but no matter. Caring not not a whit she was in no way prepared to be vice-president, she nonetheless effectively took charge from the get-go, asking first if she could call him “Joe” and then using his polite acquiescence to skewer him with an uniformed but clever riposte. Similarly, Trump now owns the over-confident-and-uninformed mantle in today’s politics, and so I fear that Biden’s inherent decency would again be no match for such an opponent on the 2020 presidential debate stage. (See Jeb Bush in 2016.) No, we need someone who can best Trump with a verbal slight-of-hand when he is least expecting it and in a way that Trump won’t know what happened. For all his political gifts, Biden’s Hamlet-like reluctance to enter the race in concert with his Sarah Palin moment suggests he is not the one.
4
For me it comes down to what Joe wants. People in their 70's, like me can be completely effective if they so choose. Most people are surprised to find I am over 70. I'm not sure why, but I lead a healthy lifestyle and am quite active. So if Joe is physically fit, mentally alert and has the desire and stamina to run for office I would support him.
He has an enormous resume in international relations. And that is something we will need since Trump has destroyed most of our relationships with our traditional allies. Biden can relate to middle America in ways that some much younger candidates may not.
His gaffes used to be a problem, but after Trump and his word salads, I think Joe would be a welcome relief.
And speaking of Trump, his and his family's sexual transgressions are way over the top compared to Biden's.
I think Biden can go mano a mano with Trump, and I'd like to see that.
4
@Suzabella: I agree! And it would be refreshing to have some sanity in the White House after the thug leaves. All of these candidates have flaws, somewhere, somehow. They are human. And those flaws will eventually be pried out by our Republican enemies of the people. Nothing compares with the lies, indecency , racism, misogyny of Trump so the field more than evens out as we go forward, warts and all.
1
For me it isn't just that Obama was our first black President, and indeed I believe it is high time a woman now win this office, too. It is equally important for me that we finally see some generational change taking place in the Oval Office. I thought Obama was ringing in the younger generations now being given their chance to try to sort out the future of our country and correct some of the mistakes made by previous presidents and their administrations. Instead, we hear of the same old thing - the "70+ ers". We have one of those right now in the White House and see what he has done, so is it worth even considering another one, no matter what party affiliation?
2
Why are you going after Biden's family? Biden's got a good story for himself: he's experienced and has ability to relate to the working class. The others are running either on their personal demographics or popular but vague policy proposals. It should come down to the character of the person who will be in the White House and how that person will relate to the voters, other politicians, and world leaders.
3
I miss Bam Bam everyday - but the worst thing he ever did as President was to put his thumb on the scale for Hillary. Dowd argues that Obama should have let things play out between Joe, Bernie, and Hillary. That's it? Did it ever occur to him to sit down with a "next generation" Democrat, or two, or three of them, just as Harry Reid did when Obama was a young Senator?
Hillary belonged in the same category that we delegate to all party's nominees that lose a general election -- people like Dukakis, Kerry, Mondale, and Gore. It's one and done.
5
If Biden were to win the election he would be 82 years old before the end of his first term. Similarly Bernie would be 83. Although roughly the same age as these two, I think the country would be better served by an Obama-like youthfulness, especially that of a female.
6
He is qualified to run.
Let him run.
I would support him.
I would never vote for any of the left-wingers who are trying to get the nomination and neither would most Americans.
Part of this is about beating Trump.
He can do it.
The lefties can't.
Let the Dems choose their future.
2
Obama’s other sin of forgetfulness was failing to share his campaign funds with state Semocratic parties as other Dem presidents had done. This lost many statehouses, where reapportionment is done, to the Republicans and let them gerrymander their minority to a majority. Obama is behind Eric Holder’s effort to redress this now, but It would have been far better if The Thinker had thunk of it then.
5
I respect, admire, and like Biden. He's now too old. For the record, I'm 60 and almost too old. And I can't help but feel this little mash note to "Joe" is yet another excuse to bash HRC. Not that you require one.
Seriously.
7
Behold the elephant in the room - invisible in this article: a few days after the 2020 presidential election Joe Biden will turn 78.
2
Gut reaction? (see below) "Biden can beat Trump." No. How old is Bill Bradley, anyway? Also, how old is Edmund Brown? Everyone knows that Trump is too old, and that it will surely catch up with him, like the hounds and riding to the quarry. The point is that there is so little respect left for the "never never land" that Washington is that some, which both exude, is badly needed if only to save face, the opportunities for which are apparently soon to be extincted. The ground work has been layed by Trump for something other than constitutional government. What follows may only be a prelude to horrific war, the mania for which will likely increase at the frustration of not being able to find a viable alternative to the "swank", perversely ethnocentric boor. It makes one wonder just what "our thing" really means.
We would be so fortunate to have Joe Biden be willing to serve our country as our president.
1
Joe, we love you. Don’t run. Keep your private stuff private. Your country respects all you have done. We need someone younger. Be an elder statesman. U.N. ambassador. Court of St. James. You’ve earned it.
7
Mmmm... Maureen got a few in on Clinton and Obama. Somehow that is more satisfying than when she rails Trump, who is too easy a target.
But to her point, Biden is yesterday’s man just as Clinton is no one’s woman, and Obama is today’s last Victorian Gentleman.
These are the Democrats who tacked right, making it become a party of moderate Republicans, which is the straight line cause of Trump. They are a bleached and starched liberal lite, and bear no resemblance at all to the great FDR.
Throw out the boomers, abandon the aged, and open the door to the future.
3
The real questions are not about Joe Biden’s family gossip. They concern his ability to lead the country across the wide spectrum of domestic and international challenges. I personally do not think he is up to the challenge. Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas. Support for the Iraq war and form my point of view failure to ever take a big political risk. Sure, the cancer moonshot came after his son died. Very good work but reactive and not proactive. He may be electable in 2020 but I don’t think he would be the best choice for President. Of course I would delight in seeing him debate Kampala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Kirsten Gillibrand. His record and current views on feminism, social justice, the economy, foreign policy and the environment would be exposed for all the world to see. I think he will defer that opportunity.
There's an awful lot of blood around that water is thicker than.
--Mignon McLaughlin
I can’t imagine what would motivate someone to write a piece like this. Lots of tabloid references with nary a hint that this isn’t intended to ridicule the named subject.
I have seen very few men or women of such decency, devotion and dedication commit themselves to a life of public service in this great country as Vice President Biden has. Everyone who loves this country deserves to see him as president.
You’ve written far better editorials on your worst days, Ms. Dowd. I wish you hadn’t written it and I’d certainly be happier had I not read it.
I hope that your editorial somehow miraculously escapes V.P. Biden’s view. Please respect him and his family and show gratitude for their service to America.
8
Who cares? This has nothing to do with Joe Biden, but is just a thinly- disguised catty attack on his family. Joe Biden has real serious issues like Anita Hill that make his candidacy unlikely to succeed, but the behavior of a wayward son is not one of them. We don't need to read National Enquirer -worthy stories like this and Any Klobuchar in The Times, especially when we're dealing with Donald Trump.
7
After the vulgarity, ignorance and imbecility -not to mention chutzpah- of Donald Trump, his family and associates, the country desperately needs the level of experience, knowledge and temperament that VP Biden brings.
As for family-related “issues”, it’s not like these rise to the epic levels of Harvey Weinstein or Jeffery Epstein The country is ready for an able person who can actually listen and empathize with the working public - both white and blue collar - who live in perpetual state of near penury, no matter how many hrs they work.
1:why the heck should the Biden family
tragedies be gossiped about at dinner
parties in Washington?these people, it
seems to me, should be the last ones to
judge other people's moral values.
2: can we please put to rest the cliche
about infamous bad tempers? it seems
that I have read a variation of this article
about every Presidential candidate in my lifetime. now it's Biden or Klobuchar or
God knows who else. they are all demanding,
we get it. now ,for God's sake, let's move
on.we have a president to elect.
5
If no one else steps forward, Biden is the best candidate. Can beat Trump and govern. But, I would prefer Mark Warner and would like to see a breakout of a centrist.
Biden has awful politics. He is corporate tool and a war monger, distinguishable from the Clinton's in only the most superficial respects.
That said, there is something tawdry about this column's rehashing of all of Biden's family drama and trauma.
It is really none of our business. It is irrelevant to Biden's fitness for office. I'm tired of all this nonsense. I don't care if Biden's son had an affair. I don't care if Bernie's suit is rumpled or if he got blotto in a Russian sauna in the 80s. i don't care if Beto skateboards. I don't care if Harris smoked weed or listened to Tupac. The time and space that supposedly serious news outlets devote to this when there are substantive issues that they are ignoring is infuriating.
925
@Christopher I agree with most of what you say. (Except I don't believe JB has awful politics)> That said however, the important point imo is Trump's vile and incendiary personal remarks about his competitors. He'll turn over every rock and stone to destroy anyone in his self-serving way whether it's true or not. Actually, truth and Trump is laughable. He never met a lie he didn't like.
Anyone running against this deplorable has to have a thick skin and must fight back at every lie and slur that he spews. Fight fire with fire. We all know much about Trump now and his competitors should use that knowledge to annihilate him. Taking the so-called high road leads to a resounding loss. Said loss will not only be personal it will be felt by our country and the world.
48
@Rosalie Rinaldi Say what you will about Trump (it's hardly exaggeration), but Trump or not, these things would be addressed in some way if Biden got far enough into a presidential bid. Even if it were some political ad sponsored by a third party, it would be brought up.
Unlike Christopher and you and me, enough people do care about these family issues because it gives them a reason to feel superior. "My family would never be caught up in such scandal! How can he lead a country if he can't raise an upstanding son!" It's gross and tangential at best, but people will still feed into it.
11
I originally thought Biden was simply too old and missed his moment.
But after seeing how shamelessly Warren, Harris and Sanders pander to the far left, and thinking Klobuchar's bad boss thing is starting to stick, I'm liking Biden more and more.
The election will be won or lost in a half dozen Midwestern states. Biden will play well there. Think about it.
225
Pandering to the far right worked just fine for trump. All pandering to the far left is going to do is get us healthcare for all. You can’t find consensus with that 35% in trump’s base, you have to create your own 35%.
30
Bernie will play there well too. Think about it.
14
@Sparky
I'm not sure the politicians you mention are "pandering". Maybe they genuinely believe that a nation as rich as this one can afford to offer its citizens the health, education, and economic justice that will help it thrive into the future. Judging from polling, there are a great many voters who agree with them. It's obvious that Manichaeism and deregulated capitalism are failing the country as a whole. The USA has been headed to this point for a long time, and the presidency of Donald Trump has only underscored how deeply we have been let down. Most of the candidates who get characterized as "far left" are supporting ideas that were reflected in mainstream Democratic policies prior to the Reagan years; policies that even had the support of some liberal Republicans (when there were such people). The Constitution calls on our government to "promote the general welfare", and in recent decades, the government has been doing a poor job at that. It may be time for us to look back at the direction candidates like Warren and Harris are suggesting we go.
49
America reminds me of the Catholic church and the later-stage USSR right now in terns of choosing its leaders.
When an institution is getting on, or threadbare, or deadlocked, it seems to go with an elderly leader who won't be around long enough to implement changes. Who doesn't have the energy to implement changes. It chooses an older temporary caretaker, like a Pope Benedict or Francis after a whirlwind like a John Paul, and awaits the next change.
Think of Biden as a temporary caretaker president and pull the lever.
5
Yes. Biden is a caretaker Clinton until Chelsea decides to run.
Every candidate brings family baggage of some kind because that is the nature of families. There is no perfection in the course of human events. The people realize that and are more forgiving than some of the press that thrive on the foibles of the famous. The real issue is political and Biden represents reason in this age of magical thinking on both sides of the aisle.
4
There's an unspoken premise that Biden can connect with blue-collar voters. There was once some truth to this and it made him a good running mate for Obama. And arguably in 2016 he could have won Pennsylvania, where his appeal is especially strong. But this limited and past appeal in no way makes him a viable candidate in 2020. To most voters he looks like an establishment Washington Democrat, another insider, another legacy candidate. That's far different from being the moderate, pragmatic, independent Democrat the party now needs.
8
@G C B I never thought I would utter these words but 'an establishment Washington Democrat' sounds fine to me. We tried the outsider; the so-called successful business man and look what it's gotten us. We need a candidate who knows how to fight McConnell and his ilk. I admired Pres. Obama and still do. He was my kind of human being but Boehner, McConnell and their minions never gave him any support. They were the representatives of the new GOP and it's been downhill ever since.
I remember all the rhetoric from Chavetz, Gowdy, Jordan and my personal favorite Stonewall Nunes to mention a few. How about Orrin Hatch or was it Grassley who said Trump may be the greatest of all U.S. Presidents. I hope those words are etched on their tombstones.
2
Joe Biden shouldn’t be held responsible for his grown children’s troubles. But he was chairman of the senate judiciary committee during the Clarence Thomas hearings, and IMO he is responsible for both the outrageously shabby treatment of Anita Hill and for the tragic confirmation of Thomas to the SC. For those reasons, Biden is not my choice.
13
I think Biden is a great guy. I think Hillary was an extremely competent government official. The problem with both of them is that they represent the time when the Democrats lost their way.
The Democrat party that made America great, FDR, JFK, LBJ, was a party with leaders who took bold and decisive actions to help the poor and middle class achieve the American Dream. The "New Democrats," Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and even Barrack Obama, were moderate pragmatists who didn't want to do anything that might offend Wall Street. We can't return to those kinds of politicians, we need bold new leaders who are once again willing to rock the boat and fight the wealthy oligarchs running America today.
46
@Ronny What you say is so true imo. Wall Street, lobbyists, special interests all have a hand in running our country. Maybe it was always this way but with the 24/7 information highway we now know too much. We know how little our vote means once it is gotten.
4
Biden is mainstream America, a decent person, flawed like me, but not fatally. If his candidacy serves no other purpose than stimulating the debate in the primaries, then run Joe, run. The others seem to be learning day-to-day the lessons of presidential politics, and this is no time for amateurs.
13
Post-Trump there is a new criterion in town. It's no longer who's the most qualified, knowledgeable, honest. It's who's the most manic, unpredictable, emotional and verbal. Biden fits the bill as for the latter qualities but he would also sneak the former qualities onto an unsuspecting public. He seems to have it all. Give him a go.
7
Two divorces , three wives , one scandal after another and lots and lots of salacious things did not impede the ascent of Donald Trump . It helped the restrain of the Democrats and the naivety of the public at large that thought it could not happen here . I do not think Joe Biden is the best candidate . I think he is too old and too gaffe prone . But he will be a good President if elected , certainly better than the present occupant of the Oval Office . Most importantly he is a decent man . Something that Donald Trump is not .
40
@Bernardo Izaguirre MD Dear Doctor, You and I would be a better candidate than the present occupant of the Oval Office.
2
He is simply too old. Can you even imagine if a 76-year-old woman said she was going to run? Biden has served his country admirably for decades but it's time to move on.
9
@Cmd He's still younger than Bernie, who is delusional enough to think he can not only win, but make great changes without having a plan.
At least Biden has the type of experience that would enable him to do the job, unlike the other older candidates.
26
@Cmd Nancy Pelosi's performance as Speaker so far at age 78 gives me great hope that even in their late 70s certain politicians can still have a great deal to offer. It would be unusual to have Joe or Bernie leading the charge, but these are unique and perilous times, and if that's what it takes to right the ship, we need to consider it.
1
@Fred - I guess I am delusional enough to vote for the only declared candidate that has framed the issues before the American people.
Breaking glass ceilings and being the first woman president vs. globalization, four decades of stagnant wages, and a bankrupt foreign policy in the Middle East.
Who is delusional in the face of those realities?
2
I've known Joe since grade school. We both went on to prep, Archmere Academy School for Boys. I don't recall him ever getting into TROUBLE, which for many of us was favorite sport.
On the "like-dislike" spectrum, for me he is dead center. Were we to meet at a party, we'd talk for a few minutes, and move on. Regarding a presidential bid, I can neither support him, nor oppose.
Feels strange.
5
The only question worth asking is: who among the Democrats can beat Trump? In my opinion the answer is Biden. But I am happy to have the other candidates tell me why they think they can.
29
@Gentlewomanfarmer, based on upcoming findings by multiple parallel investigations let us hope that Trump will not dream of running for any public office ever again. As a private citizen he could do whatever he wished hire whoever sleazy character he could but as a public servant (yes he is Americans’ public servant, he works for us), he cannot work Willy nilly, he has to stick to the word of law, which he and his family have managed to dodge evade and fool, all along. No more. Justice is coming.
2
@petey tonei
From your keyboard to God's ear, but relying in any way on the investigations is likely wishful thinking. Without an absolute threat of imprisonment, Trump is going nowhere. He has no conscience or shame.
1
Biden fan here. But he's much too real, too honest, indeed too altogether human, to be electable in today's US. Since Reagan, arguably to a certain extent including Obama, the presidency has gone to the best actor, the best fantasy- spinning story teller. We want fairy tales, such as "Morning in America, and "MAGA", not truths such as "Folks, we've got a lot of work to do, a lot of stuff to fix", and certainly not "Our planet will die unless we radically change our ways." In my opinion, the people we desperately need are simply not electable. And that is an indictment of us, not them.
49
I remember Barack Obama saying that he consulted Senator Edward Kennedy when contemplating his 2008 presidential run. Sen. Kennedy advised him that there is a right time to run and it is essential to know that time and take advantage of it. It might sound a bit mystical but I think the late Senator was correct. His advice certainly worked for President Obama.
I realize that it takes enormous stamina, determination and yes, ego, to withstand the nearly inhuman rigors of a presidential campaign in this country; however, I am wary of politicians who lose in the primaries or beyond and just keep coming back for more. To me, it sends the message that such candidates are obsessed with gaining the office and the titles that go with it, as opposed to being driven by a passion to serve the people and enact an agenda that they truly believe in.
If a politician is in her or his seventies and has already tried to catch the brass ring more than once, it's time to think of other ways to occupy the remainder of their professional life.
26
A sort of contradiction or circular argument here ? If the person does indeed believe in his or her mission , then why not continue the pursuit after prior primary defeats ?
3
@Will Eigo Because getting elected President has not worked and is a huge undertaking, requiring vast expenditures of money and human capital. There are other ways to advance an agenda or an ideology.
1
Above all, the next president must have a sense of decency and ethics and just second to that he or she must have the governmental experience to hit the ground running in January 2021 if our nation is to recover in a reasonable time.
While he's not exactly perfect, Joe fits those criteria, overall, as well or better than anyone.
Only he knows if he's up for the slog. As for his family dramas, humans in pain very often do self-destructive and/or bizarre things. Who hasn't seen this in their own family? I'd like to think enough voters would see past the inevitable shameless exploitation of Biden's family issues.
22
Joe is the most qualified candidate. He is a good man. His compassion for poor is well known. He is the only person who can run the government bipartisan way because he did it . He has good relation with so many GOP lawmakers and they respect him. He is a family man. I do not like to disqualify him for his age. I think his age and long experience in government is an asset.
34
I'm sorry, and I mean no disrespect, but Biden's time has come, and gone. He is simply too old for consideration. We need political leaders who evince an investment in the impact of all they might do on a future they, themselves, will experience. One they will live to see. Biden's future, at his age, is past.
Shocked? This is one viewpoint thought, if not expressed, by many voters I'm sure. And it's a valid point.
There's also another one, equally valid. It's that from the dispassionate perspective his age affords him, and the impact of those experiences his life has had upon him, he stands a chance to be the wise leader we need. Someone who can embrace the plans the future needs to insure a good one.
His mind seems intact, unlike a certain person currently occupying the power oval (and who is of comparable age I might add), and by such write-ups as this he seems willing to try. To go with a religious metaphor you can think of him as a Moses; a person who can see the way to the promised land and is willing to muster all the energies he can to set the pace for his people, all while fully recognizing he will not get there himself.
Perhaps this is a leader we truly need for us right now. Someone who cares about the future for all of us, and not just for the vested few.
John~
American Net'Zen
21
He has great experience and would have been a sound President. But as I approach my 9th decade I am more and more convinced that we need people in their 50s in these high offices--old enough to have significant experience but young enough to have endurance and the ability to accept new ideas.
71
@JPE
"Young enough to have the endurance and the ability to accept new ideas".
Wonderfully put!
I might add young enough to actually believe that climate change is real.
17
Here it is again; catering to, even worrying about Trump’s low blows. Not a tabloid reader, or an invitee to D.C. dinners, I had not heard of this family drama. And after Presidents Carter and Clinton- it sounds like small stuff anyway.
It’s issues. It’s policy positions. Maybe he’s changed from middle-of-the-road pablum, feel-good promises (aka, Change) that somehow get watered down to whats acceptable to backers. Lets hear what he has to say. And where his campaign money is coming from. Family drama...unless he makes all of them his advisors, demands Security clearances when they’ve been denied....not even close to worrisome.
32
Thanks for the insights, Ms. Dowd ... I appreciate family issues ... But I DON'T want the next presidential discussion dominated about "how much a family man" the occupant of the White House happens to be. Not interested!!!
Will the president have the knowledge, communication skills, and frankly, the good character commitment to the interests of working-class Americans? Being a “good family man” doesn’t say much to me about his support for others outside of their family.
38
I share what I consider your best point and lay it at the feet of Obama: "It escaped the attention of Professor Obama that a populist rage was rising, and that a multimillionaire taking a fortune from Goldman Sachs on the eve of her campaign might not suit the moment." Many of us felt this way and while we loyally voted for HRC, we felt that "professor" Obama had missed the moment. I think Joe would have made a better candidate.
40
@getGar
Well, Obama is a multimillionaire. And I doubt very much that Biden is NOT a millionaire. As a matter of fact I believe Bernie is likely a millionaire, too. Ms Dowd seems to have missed the point that James Comey would shoot off his mouth not once but twice damning Clinton's campaign. That RUSSIA (really who'd have thunk it) would be an active participant in the election pulling for the other side, that Bernie _ it's all about me folks- I am a Democrat for the day- Sanders would get in the race and STAY in the race long after he had any glimmer of hope at doing anything other than diminishing Hillary's chances. Hmm, why didn't Obama see these things? Maybe, he saw the elderly bumbling Biden - who I recall calling Obama "articulate" back in the days leading up to the 2008 campaign, for what he is- an acceptable VP who should not be president.
3
I agree.
1
Snark aside, I don't want Biden to run. I didn't want him last time either. Can't the Democrats come up with a decent candidate who's not a mediocre "maybe"? We were supposed to all go along with the fact that Hillary was simply not able to give an inspiring speech. No, politicians must be able to inspire if they want to lead. Biden, too, has problems putting his words together, blew the Anita Hill hearings, and has an embarrassing family, but we're supposed to all follow along because he's a decent guy at heart and not Trump. No, that is not enough. We need a leader, someone strong, someone who can inspire us (including our young people) and the world to be the best we can be. That just ain't Joe.
62
@Bob G.
I agree with this. Can't the Democrats come up with someone for a better reason besides "it's their turn"? For what it's worth, I don't think Biden is too old. I simply think he's mediocre at best. Being lovable for his gaffes ("Ooooh, that's just old Uncle Joe being himself") doesn't cut it.
6
@Bob G.
His "blowing" of the Anita Hill hearings belie the idea of Biden being a decent person. He traded her reputation for peace with his senate buddies- and asked some pretty disgusting salacious questions of her to boot.
5
Biden could establish a new political precedent by being transparent and honest about his past mistakes and what he has learned from them. Doing this violates a central piece of political manhood, in which mistakes are not admitted or, if grudgingly admitted, not acknowledged. Breaking this taboo would be a huge breakthrough.
If Biden broke the taboo and was still successful in some primaries, he would do an enormous service to our political debate. He and his success would pressure other candidates to be more forthcoming about their mistakes and changes of mind. This would make his campaign even more impressive.
But he has to have a good veep.
9
I have had some staunch lifelong OC Republicans tell me that they would vote for Biden to save our country from Trump. These are people that voted for Trump and honestly believed that he would pivot to be a real president. Think long and hard about the fact that Joe, may be both the center left and center right candidate which could win. Pair him with someone like Sherrod Brown as Veep.
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@Fabienne Caneaux
" Pivot to be a real President"?
Most who voted for Trump are more than satisfied.
He actually has over produced results.
That pivot statement is.. baloney.
Joe will someday way something snarky about AOC and that will be his end.
1
@Fabienne Caneaux
Nope: two white men does not represent an aware or responsive representation of any voters except white male GOP supporters. You need at least a different veep.
@Fabienne Caneaux - life long OC Republican votes are not a constituency for the future. Trump is theirs... now reap the whirlwind.
Does anyone not remember that Reagan had a form of dementia that was hidden from the public and we were fortunate enough to have others making sure nothing went awry. Right now we are suffering with Mr. T who has obvious problems relating to mental health and has made a mess of our relationships internationally and domestically. and praying there are true patriots protecting us from disaster.
We need someone under 65 to run and win. Preferably a male/female ticket or vise versa. It is time for Sherrod Brown to come out of the shadows.
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@Phyliss Kirk
While Sherrod Brown doesn’t quite meet the under 65 criteria, I think he would be an exceptional candidate as someone with a balanced and thoughtful progressive agenda coupled with a genuine appeal to working class voters for whom he has been a champion. He would likely be a strong contender in the Trump Triad (PA, MI, WI) while also help bringing myriad light red and purple states into play. Many exciting candidates available to balance the ticket. Run Sherrod, run!
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@Phyliss Kirk We didn't "have others making sure nothing went awry". We had Dick Cheney. He made sure that his fracking chemicals would not only remain secret but would foul the waters of all of us, including his progeny. He shot off the face of a 'friend' without apology. These are but specks of sand in his wake; the remainder are legion. He has in the past and continues to carry the smelly smell of something that smells smelly. He was no hero and no babysitter. He took advantage of being second-in-charge with all the fervor of of the millionaire criminal that he remains.
2
Brown plus Warren. The perfect combo.
2
Biden would be a welcome addition to the 2020 presidential sweepstakes since the current front runners Harris, Booker, Warren, and Gillibrand have gotten off to less than auspicious beginnings out of the gate. Rushing to judgement, pandering, and identity politics may not ultimately be the best path to the white house especially in the general election when moving back to the center may prove challenging for the aforementioned candidates even against a very morally and ethically compromised Donald Trump.
Biden, on the other hand has qualities like experience, empathy and temperament that would appeal to moderate independents as well as traditional working class democrats in the midwest and Pennsylvania and purple states like North Carolina, Arizona and Florida. Given the growing divisions in this country even a one term President Biden might be the right healing medicine for our time.
12
Bernie is the current front runner.
Biden's not the guy. He has too many negatives...not to mention that he's supported a Republican over a Democrat and he's too much a part of the old thinkers in the Democratic Party. It's time to move toward a progressive future in a rapidly changing world.
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@dbsweden, Biden has supported a fellow human being, how does it matter if he is republican or Democrat? The Trumps became republicans overnight after supporting Democrats for decades, trump even donated generously Hillary’s senate run for which the Clintons were even invited to his wedding to Melania! Trump and bill Clinton payed golf together shared locker room jokes together, wink wink, boys will be boys.
1
Joe Biden would lose. He's too nice and would be quickly sidelined by Trump. I haven't seen Biden going after Trump. Why should I believe he would now? Democrats are just too nice. Bernie has the guts to win, but the Republican propaganda machine and their Television industry is too powerful and controls all Americans.
8
Propaganda machine does not control all Americans-thank God-just some. And not a majority. But their reach is still disturbing
1
Above all, vote to win: Sherrod Brown
A decent, principalled, very bright, lovable, courageous, tough, mildly outspoken, liberal three consecutive term Democratic Senator of a red state (Ohio) who believes in climate change, LGBT rights, pro choice, and so forth. Look him up.
He has and will get many red state moderate Republicans and Independents to cross over party lines. If a Progressive like Warren or Bernie gets the Dem nomination, Trump will be re-elected in 2020.
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@Win
I also think Brown would be an excellent bridge between those more in the Bernie/Liz faction with those in the more moderate faction.
5
Biden had his chance many times over the past thirty years, but was too much of a lightweight. He will be pushing 80 if he were elected president, in 2020, which is not an age to be running and managing the most complex government in the world. In addition, Biden actively campaigned via a fundraiser in 2018 for a Republican Congressman, and his endorsement helped the candidate win in a close race against his Democratic opponent. That is a fatal error for any major party presidential candidate to make.
We desperately need the next generation to step up, take charge, and help steer our nation onto a better path. We absolutely do not need, or want, the same old, same old (Biden, Sanders, Warren). I think Senator Klobuchar is the right age, with a very good track record in the Senate, and who seems to have the mental toughness to not fold at the first salvo of Republican criticism. She is in the Pelosi mold of inner and outer strength.
26
@alank Did you read the article in the Times yesterday about Senator Klobuchar? Until I read the first few paragraphs about eating the salad with her comb, then telling her aide to "clean it," I didn't think it was possible that Trump could outclass anyone.
You know, if Klobuchar (who’s not winning any Boss of the Year awards any time soon) is really that good, you shouldn’t need to make up stuff for her.
1
@alank But Ms. Klobuchar is a tyrant. according to her office staff.. That will doom her to the "dustbin of history "..
The WOMAN thing, and all that.
1
Shakespeare said "There is a tide in the affairs of men...". Joe Biden missed that tide in 2016. He played Hamlet (a lot of Shakespeare at play here) will into the fall of 2015 much to the frustration of Democrats. He didn't come out with a firm "no" until after Hillary's Benghazi testimony where she looked invincible. The Benghazi hearing could have destroyed Hillary's candidacy. When it didn't, and in fact showcased her strength, Biden must have calculated that he could not beat her in the primary. Obama, and Joe's family situation aside, he made the decision not to run, and he alone bears the responsibility. The tide of 2020 is not likely to come his way.
28
Ugh!
11
Mr. Biden should enjoy his retirement. However much I like him, he's too old to run.
The only one who has a real chance to get the Democrats' broad spectrum energized and united is Senator Sherrod Brown. He puts his money where his mouth is (e.g. he and his wife do not accept the incredible health insurance for life deal that Congress gets, because he thinks that the only way for things to change is to have Congress experience for themselves what it takes to arrange for one's own health insurance). He's got blue collar roots, went to Yale and has had and still does have an exemplary career in state and federal government.
The fact that he has easily won three consecutive terms as Senator in a consistently red state (Ohio) shows that he can get voters to cross over party lines.
Bernie, Warren, etc. are not palatable to enough voters for the Dems to win the White House and a primary vote for any of them will therefor turn into a vote for Trump.
43
Obama chose Biden as one of the last representatives of the boomer generation. Biden is likable enough but he has never had a vision--he was always a good follower.
The Democratic Party was under Bill Clinton's influence way too long. That meant no young politicians were developed for years. So the field of candidates we now have are flawed but NO ONE is as flawed as Trump. Can only cross my fingers and hope enough voters think so too.
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@Donna]
Biden is not a Boomer. He’s older than Boomers.
The oldest Boomers are 73. The youngest are 55.
Please people. Get this right.
1
"But not all families have to stomach Donald Trump’s low blows, as Biden will if he runs."
Running against Trump would mean low blows, for anyone. He'll find something, or just make it up like he did with Obama.
You can't get away from Trump's low blows by picking a different candidate. That is how he'd fight.
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Oh, good grief, Maureen! For the next 20 months, is the NYT going to have, “Who’s getting voted off the island?” every Sunday? Let’s play Trumps favorite game, “Reality TV!” Let’s not!
Vice President Biden’s family had divorce issues? REALLY?? How does that match up against Trump’s “female genital” grabbing, his bedding down a sex worker weeks after his THIRD wife gave birth to his child, his voyeurism with costume-changing, naked female Miss Universe contestants, his telling Howard Stern on NYC radio that he could call his daughter, (Ivanka), a piece of “vulgar term for a female human.”
The number one issue in this nation is the hideous, obscene, income inequality that is beating down everyone all the way to $100,000 a year income level. It's exploitation. It’s the lack of decent paying jobs, lack of job security, lack of corporate concern for the workforce based on Friedman’s workers-as-servants concept of “corporations only responsibility is to shareholders.” Wow! What happened to communities?
The next most important topic is healthcare. Lame critics and politicians are claiming we can’t afford universal care. Horse whooie. Stop and un-do the price gouging. What are the plans and legal procedures for that and still preserve the elements of fair-minded capitalism while providing universal healthcare?
Lots of things to talk about Maureen that voters need facts on besides yet-another, “Who’s getting voted off the island?” You are still a journalist, right?
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@Liam Jumper
I couldn't agree more! This is what she does for fun. It's a take-down presented as a caring friend.
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@Liam Jumper
Amen! Enough with the circular firing squad, which has become Dowd's signature approach to what is supposedly her political party.
43
I too agree - exactly what was the point of this article.
41
Mo, this column is among your more vile; you demean and belittle three people: Biden, Clinton, and Obama. Your ferreting through Joe Biden's relationship to Obama is intended to diminish him and spin Obama's friendship with Biden as completely transactional; what has he done to deserve this?
I think Joe Biden is a sterling person--very much the antithesis of the buffoon sleeping in the White House tonight. I think he has integrity, warmth, and deep life experiences that Trump could never comprehend. That said, this does not seem like the right moment for Biden to run. Maybe his moment has come and gone and it is time to hand off to the next generation. Part of my feeling is protective; it is hard to imagine the rain of abuse and calumny that would be Biden's incoming barrages from the Trump campaign.
Sometimes the most effective place for a person who aspires to the presidency is to be a statesman not in that high office; I have heard this said of Ted Kennedy--he couldn't make it to the presidency but as a Senator, he had such impact on legislation over the decades he represented Massachusetts that his impact and legacy is just short of a president's. Perhaps the same is true of Biden. He doesn't need to be running for office for him to have a stage as an elder statesman calling us to our higher angels and reminding us that he has the right stuff to counterpunch the GOP through next year's election. I hope he takes the higher road and not run in the primaries.
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@mother of two
The problem is we have politicians, not statesmen.
Not sure we'll ever have a statesman in Congress again who chooses to do the right thing for the country , re-election be damned.
3
@mother of two
Can I get an "AMEN"? Completely agree.
5
There are no perfect candidates. They all suffer from the same human condition. I'm unwilling to commit to any of them at this stage of the game. Let them fund raise. Let them go out on the campaign trail and show us what they've got.
Amy Klobuchar lost me with her treatment of staff. She literally tried to keep staff from being able to work for others. We need a president that treats others with respect.
Tulsi Gabbard is smart and well spoken but I think she needs time to mature.
I can see why Joe Biden wants to be president. He feels like he's earned it just like Secretary Clinton did. What they need to realize is that it's not about them........it's about what the country needs now and are they the best person to fit the bill. Time will tell.
40
@Julie Look up Sherrod Brown
1
If Bernie somehow becomes the candidate, I and my fellow baby-boom Democrats will be happy to vote for Romney or some other reasonable Republican.
If Trump runs again, I’ll simply stay home.
I loathe Sanders for a variety of reasons, and I’m not happy about the other candidates hogging the left lane.
Does anyone in their right mind think Bernie & Friends could possibly win red or purple states?
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@David G.
Think about it. If you stay home during in 2020 you will essentially be voting for Trump as so many did during 2016 when they refused to vote for Hillary. We might not be in this truly hellacious national nightmare if simple reason had prevailed.
4
@David G.There are many of us here in VT gagging daily as we watch Bernie Sanders, step in and rile up his angry white men of the left again. The personality cult of Bernie looks like Trump's, but with different hats. The misogyny, the covert racism, and the tired 30 year old rants of the most creepy kind of capitalist there is (leave VT for 2 years to sell your books, forget about voting in the US Senate, and the cap it off with a party for Susan Sarandon and your celebrity pals)......ugh.
2
@David G.
You're no Democrat. You and people like you are why Trump won. Do everyone a favor--stay home.
2
Too old, too flawed. How old would he be at the end of a first term. At the end of a second? No also to: Clinton, M. Obama, anyone named Kennedy, Sanders, Harris, Bloomberg, Booker, and anyone begging for the job. I nominate Bill Gates. VP? David Petraeus. For a better education, healthier, safer nation. Who could beat them.
6
@Barry The track record of businessmen in the White House is appalling. ( Bush 2 and Trump). We now know that expertise in business has not transferred well to political skills. And I'm being charitable in describing Trump as a "businessman".
2
Thank you, Ms. Dowd, for this latest profile of The Honorable Joe Biden, and it is sorrowful to learn of all these tragedies that have taken place in his family.
This American voter plans to support this distinguished statesman, and his vice-presidential choice will be a deciding factor in electing this measured and reasoned patriot to the highest office in our Nation.
16
It's no secret that the 2016 run for president was miscalculated by, well, everyone. Since the power centers in the Democratic party ended up anointing HRC , instead of allowing a truly open primary season, we'll never know if the groundswell for Sanders would have turned into a tidal wave, propelling him into the White House, instead of you-know-who. As for the GOP, it speaks for itself.
My hope as the Democratic nominee hasn't announced yet, but if/when Sherrod Brown does announce, he'll have my backing. He has a lot of the appeal Joe Biden has in what used to be called Middle America, but is younger, with a solid progressive/working class record. Plus, he's from Ohio, which tends to elect Presidents. Besides, I love how he manages to wear suits that look like he slept in! Such a folksy appearance does not, however, completely hide a first rate, thoughtful intellect. Let's see how this plays out, just not behind closed doors.
56
Revisionism.
However much Obama would have pushed Biden, the Dems would not have listened. Biden polled below Sanders in Dem Primaries from May 2015 onwards. What good would Obama's endorsement have done?
Sure Hillary lost but revising the story line can only mask the real reasons why.
33
@Mike Edwards
She didn’t lose. She had 3 million more votes.
1
I have two grown children in their 30s.
When they were born I prayed to God that my wife and I would not experience the indescribable pain that would result in either predeceasing us. I still pray that prayer.
I have only sympathy for Mr. Biden and his family and wish that the ancient adage “time heals all wounds” applies, but I know with the loss of a child, it never will.
That being said, Mr. Biden bears responsibility for, in large measure, Clarence Thomas being a Supreme Court justice, and for vilifying Anita Hill, with all the disastrous sequelae that ensued for our democracy.
I’ll never vote for him.
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@winthropo muchacho
If on Nov 3rd 2020 if you see the choice of Biden or Trump hope you can get past what happened long ago. Otherwise you might get to see Donald get 2 more picks at the court.
3