Joe is our best hope to beat Trump. Joe’s voters will turn out. The AA voters will turn out. Older voters will turn out. Blue collar voters will turn out. The lefties, the P.C., and the free everything crowd will follow in McGovern’s path. Trump voters get it. Winning is all that matters to them. Let’s elect Joe and then pick him apart.
18
The thing that strikes me is that between the Biden opponents and the Biden supporters who see him as the pragmatic choice, there is quite a bit in common—namely that none of them really actually like Biden. Even his supporters say, “This isn’t about the candidate I like the best, it’s about electability.” That strategy historically has gone wonderfully for Democrats. It’s what we did with John Kerry, Hillary Clinton; oh wait....
9
Take it easy on Joe.. He is our best chance right now!!
5
The fact that Biden can’t figure out how to deal with the “woke” crowd is a symptom of a bigger problem, which is that he’s kind of an idiot. He’s not going to stop flubbing things, even in the dudebro crowd.
11
@Jeremiah Crotser No, he's just resistant to saying, "I defer to the omniscient majesty of you Masters of Consensus thirty-year-olds."
16
Joe Biden would have been a great candidate in 2016 and I believe he would have easily defeated the current occupier of the White House. Had that happened we would not now be surveying the destruction wrought upon the accomplishments of the Obama Administration and wondering how we will ever repair the damage done. But apparently it was "Hillary's Turn" in 2016 and that may be why Biden didn't run then.
Now with some 25 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination I can't help but wonder whether it may be time for one of these new faces and not ask the old familiar ones to "evolve" to suit the times. I remain open to all the candidates at the moment.
Nevertheless, on Election Day 2020 I will cast my vote for the nominee of my party, whomever he or she may be. I will not express any displeasure I may have with that nominee by staying at home or casting a sulking ballot for a third party candidate.
This election is too important.
4
Really?! Now you are suggesting that he apologize for everything he's every done in his life. Are you trying to turn him into Beto? Please no more apology tours. This is not a Twitter election.
18
When Biden took his seat in the Senate in 1973, before many/most of today's Democratic base voters were born, most people expected a Senator to get things done and bring home the dollars, not wage an ideological war. You could get nothing done unless you were willing to deal with some individuals, including those who chaired important committees, who were not great people. This was especially true for Democrats, whose senate majority at the time was dependent on southern Senators.
9
Say it ain't so, Blow! In piling on Biden for being Biden, a man who developed in another time and place, in demanding that he change his inner core, his very successful, modus operandi, you are not only asking an impossibility, but giving people who are unsure excuses not to vote for him. Remember that Lyndon Johnson played the racist for years before he was able to move civil rights into the 20th century.
As for the Anita Hill events, which were cringeworthy even by the standards of the day. You are too young to remember, but I can still picture a smirking arch-bigot Strom Thurmond leading Clarence Thomas into the Senate for his hearing. The Republicans played the Democrats, who were terrified of losing their black base, on that nomination. It always seemed as if there was a Democratic fix in to just let Thomas through; Biden was simply the point on the spear.
Biden is most likely sufficiently woke today. The question is whether or not he can connect with enough people to win in 2020, unfortunate articles such as yours not withstanding. If a combination of newly found wokeness and old fashioned bro-ness is the winning combination, I'm all for it.
9
I give Vice President Biden many thanks for his years of Public Service. Anyone who has ever worked in a government service knows that it isn't for the money nor the public recognition. It is and always will be a form of Public Service.
In his many roles, Vice President Biden, worked for the people. He didn't do it for the money or public adulation. However, it is time for the torch to be passed on. He, along with Bernie Sanders, do not relate well enough with the much faster and tech savvy younger generation. It is time to say Thank you for your service and move on. Help the Party win and repair the damage caused by the current circus master attempting to lead the country.
2
What Biden proves is that racial things have been so bad for so long that we are ready to acquit anyone who did not actually promote Jim Crow back in the day.
That Biden was a creature if his time does not exonerate him. It may well be true that had he been more progressive, he'd not have stayed in office so long. The American voter is not without persuasive force when it comes to cowardice and privilege.
Joe is a survivor of a hateful time. He knows better now. But others come to the table with that advantage and without the baggage.
2
Biden leading the polls with 24% shows us the 76% of the voters don’t support him.
2
@Kathy B. That would be 76% of registered Democrats.
3
@Kathy B There are thirty candidates in the race. He’s polling better than everyone else. And he may be their second or third choice.
Would you support him if he had 76% support, a totally unrealistic number that nobody in the primary hits?
3
Mr. Blow. Come on man!
You have yet to write a singular word of question regarding the candidates that you personally prefer. Instead, most of your recent columns focus on Joe. Why?
You clearly appear to be a person that has yet to really speak with the people from critical swing states who actually will make all the difference between Trump and ?.
Please get out there and do some real reporting. That is your job not mine. I don't get paid to cover politics for the NY Times. It is not my full-time job. It's yours!
But you lose me when every other contribution is to lambaste the only person who currently polls favorably against Trump in states where it counts.
Convince me that this is not the case fine. But please do so with some factual analysis but until then, please spare us all of the non-factual Brady Bunch analysis that might fill your chest with pride but in the end fills the rest of us with simply air, just like you your lungs.
16
I am more concerned about his mental capacity. For example he could have said the likes of Eastland controlled the Senate in the day and being civil with these "mobsters" was the only way to accomplish anything. The president may be a ceremonial job largely, and if so, it does not matter, but if this is the worlds hardest job then its important to have somebody at the height of their mental capacity to do so. While straight talking I doubt he can keep up with the likes of Elizabeth Warren. We shall see if its better if a partially senile Biden replaces a partially senile Trump. Its conceivable that in this case these good intentions pave the road to hell.
2
What a pity that Mr Blow and others worry about "bro-ness" (is that a thing now?) and other superficialities and "personality flaws" while we face what is perhaps the most crucial election of our lifetime. Have you no sense of... history?
15
Thank you, Mr. Blow. You put into words what I had only been able to express as a nagging, vague discomfort with Mr. Biden.
5
I also found the repeated use of "Rev" in his interview with the Rev. Al Sharpton odd. He kept saying, "Rev" while leaning forward to emphasize something. I know Sharpton is not a real minister but if he was, it would sound disrespectful to call him Rev. I wish you would comment on that. And yes, I also found the repeated use of the word bro as odd. It seemed forced to me and not natural to him.
2
When Biden says, “I get it, I get it” - I don’t think he gets it.
6
I completely agree with everything in the article except the view that Biden can and should accept criticism. This is the US and the second one admits anything it shows up in the NYT as its own item "Biden admits being tone deaf". I dont think he can or should win with the many items of baggage hanging over him. Biden was fine as a supporter of everyone's favorite, Obama. However much they did with the ACA, they did not address the important issues of inequality that Sanders and Warren are raising. Time for a new team.
6
@WHM
Everyone should be open to constructive criticism. On the other hand, Biden, at 77 is the person he is and is not going to change personalities. If he did, it would look and be phony.
I'm not really paying much attention to the primaries because I will vote for any ham sandwich opposing Donald Trump.
But I happened to see the beginning of Biden's apologia remarks in Chicago after the confrontation with Kamala Harris. I was in a full body cringe while he kept his granddaughter on stage with him and repeated awkward vaguely sexist cannards about the ongoing devotion of daughters vs. sons, and how one day they wake up "like a snake in the bed". The kind of stuff few middle aged men and even women would probably ever think twice about. But I felt so bad for the young woman. We deserve better than this. We may not get it, but we do deserve better than this.
6
I have downloaded the article, and will post it on Facebook after President Trump wins the 2020 election.
10
Although I prefer Warren, I would vote for Biden. But, it won't be enough for a Democrat to win the WH, we've got to take the Senate away from the most evil man in the country, Mitch McConnell, who successfully blocked nearly every item on the Obama/Biden agenda. Unfortunately, Biden has no problem with destructive policies of Republicans like McConnell because he conducts he behaves properly in public.
Also, Democratic voters can't afford to simply give the keys to the WH and walk away. We must remain engaged with the new administration to keep its feet to the fire and help carry out the agenda. Previous administrations have failed to develop a substantive relationship with the Democratic base.
7
Once again Democrats prove that they are not interested in winning elections.
Democrats are interested in forming circular firing squad over minor policy differences, whining that no candidate is perfect, stabbing each other in the back, and declaring they will not vote for the eventual nominee picked by the party because, sadly (as pointed out previously), no candidate is perfect and as good “progressives” they can’t accept a less than perfect candidate. .
I understand it might be hard to find common ground with Republicans these days, but now we can’t even vote for a Democrat if they don’t check every box in the past 30;years, as well as the present? I am in despair.
Well, I intend to vote for the eventual nominee of the Democratic Party - that is, if any Democrat survives the next year of homicidal competition. I only hope others will do the same. After the last election, I would hope most realize even a flawed Democratic nominee has got to be better than Donald Trump.
If not, Welcome to four more years of Republicans destroying every advance Democrats attained in the entire 20th century.
15
Here’s a challenge for Science, find away to turn off Drive and Ambition, So we know when it’s time to step aside and let the next generation take control.
I suspect that, in thirty to forty years, people will look back on the "woke" culture of the late 2010s--with its focus on public shaming, its dopey mantras any lingos, and its stubborn resistance to critical examination--and think that it is all rather "problematic" and cringe-inducing.
21
I was reading the Times article about the great Shirley Chisholm the other day. It recounted how she became 'friendly' (for want of a different word) with George Wallace. It was a different time, and that is how people got their job done. Woe to her if she were in Congress today!
And yes, Joe Biden could have and should have been more respectful of Anita Hill's testimony and allowed the testimony of others, but let's remember that Clarence Thomas was ranting about a "high tech lynching" at the time and how would that have played out today? Not an easy row to hoe.
For myself, I am prepared to vote for the Democratic candidate in 2020 no matter the lack of perfection; pray God it is not Kirsten Gillibrand.
9
So you are not really prepared to vote for “any” Democratic candidate, as you suggest. She is a contender, as are all at this point.
And those who use the notion of a circular firing squad are repeating it over and over again, and making a distinction between the rough tumble of the GOP candidates through the primaries. What was those personal assaults on Cruse and Marco Rubio by Trump,
This was not an article written about Democratic candidates, but simply an interpretation of Biden’s state of mind as he begins the race for the White House. Senator Harris was testing the waters on an old issue and she hit pay-dirt. unable to pivot on the spot, Biden needed a long interview answering soft ball questions from Chris Cuomo. The legal arguments of busing at that time needed to simply say,, I am sorry and we have a better understanding of what the world has become today. Something. Anything would have been preferable to his lame reply and his talk of his civil rights record. Under the circumstances, I believe that Mr. Blow was very kind to Biden, but his Bro-ism will have to give way to something else. Perhaps he can make the adjustment, or maybe not. Sadly Pelosi’s mis-use of her power in the House may alienate those who are AOC fans and the fans of the other new Congresswomen who believe the future is now.
1
@Hope Madison
Teddy Kennedy had a good working relationship with Jim Eastland and other like him. He had no choice.
"Come on, Man" Indeed !!
My retort is pointedly simple - "Go Away, Man, yes you Mr. Biden, Just Go Away", and please tell your Pelosi Schumer Democratic Party to go away as well, back into the wilderness of their own minds, so real honest to goodness representatives of the American people, Elizabeth Warren and / or Bernie Sanders, can take back our government from the corporate masters and wealthiest donors who have co-opted it, and who are growing bolder ever day as they seek to gain full control of our nearly dead Democratic Republic, and convert it into the full-fledged authoritarian state it almost is.
I firmly believe that this go-round, the long ignored and abused American people will not repeat the 2016 debacle, and will send both Trump and the Pelosi Schumer democrats into oblivion, never to return.
5
It's time for the Democratic party to stop taking it's base for granted. Trump, more than anyone, has proven this. Trump now has his highest approval ratings of his Presidency, and he didn't achieve that by being out of touch with his base. The Democratic Party hasn't really stood for much since Bill Clinton was elected. The moderates of the party function like an outside European third party which has to be courted every election and has disproportionate power, with little guarantee of their loyalty. We've done the Moderate thing for decades, and now even when we win we get a candidate who's to the right of old moderate Republicans. Enough is enough! Warren 2020!
2
@karisimo0
It was the Democratic base who chose Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Kerry, Obama and Hillary. No one forced them on the voters.
Biden continuing to lead in the polls is disturbing not only for the reasons mentioned here, but also because it thoroughly dismisses the loss of Hillary Clinton because she was considered too much of a "politics as usual candidate". We have a slew of possible candidates who truly have the potential to inspire and excite the next generation of voters - young men and women who are much more comfortable with the "designer coffee" crowd and manners that older generations. Why is it so difficult for Democrats to reference the excitement created by President Obama, and the fact that he obliterated the establishment reps, McCain and Romney. He tapped into the youth culture and was the cause for our first president elected as part of the internet and social media age.
That is not to say that Biden has only to tap into this same source, but ... come on man, you can't ignore them and what's important to them any more than you can ignore the country's centrists, communities of color, or advocates for women's issues. Republicans will focus on the ultra right conservative base to win. Democrats candidates must have a broader focus and cannot afford to make mistakes of the past, which Biden is already doing. His casual dismissal of the complaints against him will prove to be his undoing. He could change, but the fact that he doesn't want to speaks volumes and makes him the wrong choice in the coming election.
5
Kamala Harris is nothing but bad news and I hope she is not nominated. If she is the nominee I will vote for her but she does not give me the impression that she is in it for all Americans. Kamala going after Biden was in poor taste and very telling of her agenda. In other words she has an axe to grind and she is fighting against the wrong party.
21
I agree with everything Charles says. Plus, on a practical level, the one thing Biden's supporters say is he can beat Trump. Not that his policies are good, not that he is best suited to deal with the problems of Americans. Just that he is electable- because the polls put him ahead.
However... From what I saw in his exchange with Harris, I believe Trump will make mincemeat of him. He is not quick on his feet. He is not good at ferreting out Trump's vulnerabilities other than saying he is terrible. We see how far that got Hillary.
I'm leaning towards Warren, because of her policies and her proven track record of being able to implement them (e.g., the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). However, I think Harris is best able to best Trump in a debate.
If this wasn't so serious it would be fun. Unfortunately, the fate of the planet rests on this next election. That may sound overly dramatic but it is kind of true.
6
@Peter Wolf
You are shopping among the candidates looking for the one who will be the President that you want best. Fair enough, but why do you think that that candidate will win the general election and be sworn as the next President?
2
Is "bro" a slur against white males or can males of any race or ethnicity be slurred with the term?
I think the NYT is stooping to new lows, by (among other things) allowing slurs to be used in the subject lines for articles (or even at all).
I would presume that comments using slurs would be weeded out before "appearing". Its too bad the staff editors don't hold opinion columnists to the same standards.
20
Since when is "bro" a slur? Slang, yes.
1
@Michelle
Bro is definitely a pejorative. Anyone using that term is attempting to diminish and dismiss the target(s) of the term. Ultimately, it reveals more about the user than the target.
6
"Google John Stennis/Joe Biden". Another one of Biden's heroes. Amazing...
Come on, Blow. Let Biden be Biden. And maybe he was right about a couple of things. Crime steadily decreased after the crime bill. Maybe our tendency toward violent crime is genetic.
10
When Charles M. Blow writes about a "culture in which self-righteousness and assumed altruism" produce a sense of entitlement, he could have been describing modern liberalism.
19
@Charles Chotkowski: I'll take modern liberalism over the patriarchal boys club mentality any day.
2
News flash, Joe Biden is the only Democratic candidate that is polling with a consistent and wide lead when going head to head with Trump (source Washington Post- ABC News poll, taken between June 28 and July 1).
Biden has a clear advantage over Trump, leading the President by 53% to 43% if the 2020 presidential election were being held today.
Trump polled about even when matched with other Democratic candidates among registered voters.
Wake up folks. It's Biden or bust for Dems.
10
I don't know that the "scrapper" image that Biden has would work against him in a face-off with Trump. Tough talk gets people elected, we know that's ultimately what got Trump elected. From a standpoint of pure entertainment (setting aside the seriousness of our current circumstances), I think it would be hilarious to watch two old men on the debate stage out tough-guying each other.
As for the election of 2020, from a standpoint of concern for the future of the country I can only hope that the instincts of cooperation and compassion that brought about the creation of civilization prevail over the instincts of greed, xenophobia, selfishness and authoritarianism. Whomever is nominated to face Trump, I hope he or she strips away the veneer of populism that makes Trump so appealing to those who need a daddy/savior and exposes him for what he is: a pure opportunist, only out for himself.
5
Mr. Blow has written eloquently about the dangers of Trump and a second term. I would not be so quick to criticize Mr. Biden. We all must remember that there are places called Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The flavor of the month is now Harris. Let us remember that while Biden was a public defender, Senator and Civil Rights activist, Harris was forcibly busing black men to prison as a prosecutor. C'mon man.
13
Biden has many weaknesses analogous to Clinton's weaknesses, not the least of which is an inability to see his own shortcomings. I fear he won't hold up in tough campaign against Trump. Many of the issues Trump should be taken to task on, like racism and inappropriate behavior toward women; Trump will only point the finger back at Biden. Part of Trump's genius is the ability to diffuse criticism by turning it around on his critics. Sadly, even though Trump is likely a rapist and Biden likely a guy who doesn't understand when a hug is inappropriate, Trump will make it look like Biden is the dirty old man, and a lot of voters will go for it. Time for a younger, more contemporary, more progressive candidate, who is tough enough to stand up to Trump. That sounds like Harris!
3
Dem party voters should stop voting their fears. If you think 25 percent credit card rates, payday loans, The Great Recession, the Iraq War, Clarence Thomas, segregation, out-of-control student loan debt, a stagnated minimum wage and stagnated worker salaries, 1 in 5 black men being in jail, unequal application of bankruptcy laws, and misogyny are ok with you, then Joe Biden is your man. Biden is directly or indirectly implicated in the existence of all of them. I watched the Dem debates and realize we have at least a few candidates can beat Trump, especially Warren and Harris. Joe doesn't have to be the one.
3
"The perfect [candidate] is the enemy of the good."
4
“We have predators on our streets.” He said of violent criminals during that speech: “It doesn’t matter whether or not they are the victims of society.”
Why is this an offensive statement?
A crime is a crime. And a victim doesn't have the right to create more victims. Isn't that what Biden is saying there?
Race and gender discrimination is American's biggest problem to solve in the coming years. However, the liberals idealistic approach that often is too blind to differentiate a real problem with a perceived one is not going to solve it.
The real solution is not turning a blind eye on the crimes committed by anyone, but to make sure all criminals are treated equally under the law regardless of the color of their skin, gender or social status.
And also, the inappropriate touching that Biden is being accused of is a perceived problem, and it is insulting to bring it up and weigh it against sexual assaults. Not just to Biden but it is insulting towards all victims of sexual assaults.
Though it is the media and opinions like this that fails to distinguish between real problems and their quest for purity, that normalizes and authenticate Trump and the GOPs behavior.
12
The obvious response to criminality produced by want and abuse is to feel sympathy for the criminals because they are victims. After all, it was other people’s heinous treatment that damaged them so that they became predators. However, whatever their history, they are predators who lack any empathy for their victims, just as those who had victimized them. At some point, people must be held accountable to end this process. For some it also means sequestering them as the only way to protect others from them.
6
@Sam
The criminals are mostly treated the same if they have the same resources. The greater problem is the kinds of acts which are crimes and the crimes that they are. The possession of drugs and sale of drugs has been treated more harshly than violent crimes. People who are drug abusers are treated like criminal sociopaths instead of substance abusers. The three strikes laws do not consider the seriousness of the crimes, so real dangerous predators and weak willed social misfits end up with life imprisonment. The whole system is irrational. It serves nobody's good to apply laws in draconian ways. It harms society rather than making it safer.
Biden appears to be living in the past where Republicans were actually human beings capable of reason. His delusions that this may be possible with the current cadre of Republicans is either ignorance or indicative of his place in the same greater environment where quid pro quo operates behind the scenes.
Neither position is attractive in a presidential candidate in an election defining our very existence as a country.
3
Perhaps Biden is implying that a white Democratic President might be able to get conservatives to compromise on some legislation...Based on the general bonhomie that exists between white men...Perhaps McConnell might compromise with a President Biden, because their whiteness lends a implicit “face saving” element ...Just like Biden did with old segregationists...
Do we think the ACA would have had zero GOP votes if Obama had been a white man? Presumably the next Dem President will need GOP support to pass sweeping bills like a Green New Deal...
Food for thought
1
Blow has a point of view that is definitely biased towards having this country be more like he would prefer, and so he sees Biden from that perspective. What he cannot see is that the people who obstruct the actualization of his vision, share his feelings but not his perspective, nor why they remain unable to accommodate each other. He simply lacks their perspective.
There is no fair explanation for the condoning of Trump’s racist expressions that resonate with his base. That is the consequence of the failure of this country to address the racism that was commonly held amongst white people who were in the majority when the Civil Rights acts ended segregation and Affirmative action and integration were attempted to remedy it. Even while the bounty voted to end that injustice, it failed to end the racist beliefs and habits.
Reversing the inequities of wealth which lock most people into their circumstances is one big problem. Recognizing that race is a false concept is another.
1
@Casual Observer
"...Even while the majority voted to end that injustice, they failed to end the racist beliefs and habits..."
Completely agree with Annabelle who commented as well as with others who see Joe in a more positive light and on The six states we need to win and Joe being in lead there. As a Hillary delegate to the DNC in 2016, I thought it impossible for her to lose. Today, As much as I would love to see a woman in the oval office, I do not believe the country will support any of the women running to be president. The top two have pluses and minuses and in the end of course I will vote for the Democratic nominee, hoping it is not Sanders.
12
I like Sanders but I think he would just perpetuate the divisions which Trump has opened widely.
3
"We don’t need to replace a septuagenarian brute with a septuagenarian bro."
Hear, hear! Thank you as ever, Mr. Blow, for your incisive critique of dominant privileged white-bro culture in elite institutions, and its staggering blindness to its own shortcomings.
As a woman of color in her 30s, there are any number of Democratic candidates I would happily support at the drop of a hat, but if the Dems nominate Biden, he and they will have a long way to go to convince me they deserve my vote.
7
@Jan. So basically you will only vote for a woman.
5
@Jackson Not necessarily -- there are several male candidates who have impressed me more than Biden, just as there are several female candidates I would not consider worthy of attention.
1
@Jan So if the nominee is an older white male you would vote for Trump?
3
C'mon man, where would Times readers be without the daily hit piece on Joe Biden?
25
@Joe Runciter The "hit pieces" should serve to toughen Biden up and help the DNC develop some kind of defense since, once he is nominated, every news cycle will be a very nasty, non-stop barrage from the Right (and Putin), no point sugar-coating how low-down and dirty the 2020 campaign is going to get.
Hum. Some would otherwise describe Biden as being, in the vernacular, authentic.
I believe it is generally dishonest of us to impose today's values on others simply because they have lived longer than many of us by a factor of two.
Biden is a product of his time but also one who has evolved over time. This is a mature balance... a balance most of us will - and can - only appreciate once we've traveled down the road for seven decades rather than three or four - Mr. Blow included.
18
Not mention that his ideas on how to fix the climate are misinformed and irresponsibly unambitious. Only one candidate, Elizabeth Warren, has even mentioned that carbon will have to be removed from the atmosphere. That's light years ahead of the other candidates.
2
Joe is your father's Oldsmobile. He is just not suited to be the leader of the Democratic Party, or to be the Democratic nominee for the president.
2
Biden has been attacked for working with segregationists to pass legislation? Where would our black citizens (including Kamala Harris) be had not Lyndon Johnson changed tactics and worked with the southern Democrats as Senate Majority Leader and as President to pass civil rights legislation that no one else, including John Kennedy, could have accomplished? No matter how much one may despise the people Johnson and Biden had to work with, the point is it worked. Maybe a discussion on Harris’ record of defending corrupt prosecutors should now be give equal time.
23
I am so tired of "woke" -- both the word and the concept. It means nothing to most Americans who don't live in NYC or LA. And those are the people who will vote for or against the nightmare that is Trump.
30
Here we go again Charles. You shot down the Democratic chances and Hillary by bad mouthing Bernie last time around. Now you’re doing it once again by becoming part of the circular firing squad in its quest to shoot down the only candidate that can beat Trump. Joe Biden's not perfect by a long shot, but he's 100 times more preferable to what we call a President that's in the White House now. The sorry thing of this whole mess and the primary goal should be beating Trump. Unfortunately, this time around we don't have the luxury of letting the cream rise to the top and getting the best qualified person for the job, elected to the Presidency. We must settle for who can defeat Trump, by appealing to largest part of the general population and not to the fringes.
17
Once again thank you NYTimes and Charles Blow for clarifying where a high profile political candidate is really at in his/her mind: Joe Biden chose to not treat Anita Hill right, especially when it was obvious that she was so terribly mistreated by Clarence Thomas and then by the biased Senate hearing questioners! The 1994 Crime Bill when Biden and Clinton sold out to the mean-spirited Republican anti-minority machine making drug crime sweeps rounding up young, minority, sometimes minor drug offenders sentencing them to lengthy prison time, causing nation-wide extreme prison over-crowding...i was directly affected by all of that as a classroom teacher in the Florida Dept. of Corrections, 1994, when our prison classrooms were overwhelmed, unmanageable, unnecessarily dangerous, and exposing every one, including the convicts, to great harm!...along with a youthful offender student i was interviewed in our prison classroom, 1994, by the local newspaper at DeSoto Correctional Institution, Arcadia, Florida...we BOTH tried to create a positive image of prison education there in DeSoto County despite being in Klan territory!...the positive, uplifting front page story was picked up by major newspapers around the state and used by the Florida legislature to NOT CUT funding in the state budget for prison education!...REDUCiNG RECiDiViSM, proven by ALL of the nation-wide surveys taken!...put the money in education, NOT incarceration! Gratefully [email protected]
2
Biden is antiquated. He's akin to using a vacuum-tube computational device in the age of the microchip. We need someone who understands the complexities, the details, the nuances, the tapestry of contemporary global events. His time in the White House seems to have been for not. He didn't learn that the GOP cannot be "reconciled" with, that McConnell et al are beyond reasonable discourse, or that "reaching across" the partisan divide doesn't work (ACA was passed with 0 GOP votes). Biden would do us all a favor by apologizing for running, retiring gracefully and letting the New Wave of the party win.
6
I'm Biden's age and a pretty moderate Democrat, or Republican, registered as an Independent voter. I think I see things Biden's way most of the time---from his touchy feely attitude towards individuals, to his pride for his prior legislative accomplishments. There are notable differences in our political lives that he has accepted and I think he should be applauded for that. And, I think his opponents (Harris especially) are short sighted when they criticize him for past positions that he has held.
I am proud, as I am sure that Biden is, that I have participated in small ways to the change of our national attitude towards minorities of all kinds. He should continue to plead his case so that our youngsters understand how much progress we have made in 75 years. Political and social mores change gradually and he should not be criticized for his views 50 years ago, which were very progressive at the time.
22
As with so many Democratic commentators of late, you sound like a man trying to convince himself of something he doesn't believe in, Charles. There are much shorter ways of saying "he's too old." I want a President who is likely to be around to live under the policies and laws enacted by his administration, not one who's past his natural shelf-life. I am nearly 70 yo myself and I'll say it: "Biden's too old." Bernie and Trump are, too. But it is glaringly obvious that the powers-that-be in the DNC have anointed Biden, much as they did with HRC in 2016. That said, prepare yourselves for four more years of Trump.
3
Honestly this article is based on such a crass misunderstanding of what it would take to beat Trump. If the Democrats lose, people would do well to blame this mindset -
15
First: Democrats need to work on getting Democrats out to the polls, not try to woo a handful of Republicans. There are more people who identify as D than R, so we just need them to care enough to vote.
Second: If we want moderate policies, we need someone who will negotiate from the left and get to the middle, not someone who will negotiate from the middle and get to the right.
If Biden gets the nomination, I'm going to vote for him, but I'm not going to be excited about it. And a lot of progressive people I know will stay home because they think that he'll just end up implementing rightist policies.
8
I agree with your premise, not that Biden would be rightist, but that we need to elect someone on the left who will negotiate to the middle. I strongly believe we have more progressive minded people out there who are just too ambivalent to take an interest in this terrible beast we call politics. (Honestly, has no one heard of Wisconsin’s Fighting Bob La Follette, the father of Progressivism?)
Biden is that old perennial candidate that knows how to schmooze but needs to step down and let some fresh blood in. He can pass along some wisdom, but for god sakes, it’s time to hang up the cleats.
I had hopes with this Congress that we would get the money out by at least getting rid of Citizen’s United, but so far they’d rather make sound bytes and rile up the right that get some work done. The day we get Pharma, Banks, Oil, Telecom, and the rest of Corporate out of politics will be the day we hear the People’s voices.
1
@April, I hope you are wrong about people staying home. No one can stay home this time -- our democracy is depending on people getting out and voting. We MUST vote.
Biden was wrong. There are degrees of wrong.
Trump has proven that denying guilt and refusing to make apologies... works. In fact it works over and over and over.
If the democrats force every candidate to go on a revolving apology tour, they will lose the election. Biden is forced to apologize again, after apologizing for change in abortion views, encroaching on personal space, a bad description on Obama's reason for success...
I am a republican, but i like Joe. I probably would even vote for him. Am i sure he would make a good president? Depends on which previous president you compare him to.
Socialism, reparations, impeachment, extreme green legislation, increase taxes and circle firing squads are not going to win elections. The way to change things is at the ballet box, not sound bites.
Rising tides float all boats. The democrats need to quit trying to sink so many boats.
I like many of the democratic candidates and their policies. I don't like self righteous indignation. It didn't work for Hillary.
13
For 2020 it is not Biden.
5
Joe Biden's time to run was four years ago, not now.
Then, as now, Biden's run was preceded by a long period of public indecision, his Hamlet-like "To Run or Not to Run ... "
Mr. Blow's accurate sketch of Biden doesn't include this peculiar trait which, in my view, affects everything he does.
Biden's indecisiveness results in poor timing. His sudden retraction of his life-long support for the Hyde Amendment was crude and only for political expediency.
Since 2016, Trump has morphed into a hulk whose drive to authoritarianism continues uninterrupted even after Democrats have thrown everything at him.
So this time out Biden is a few years older and faces a stronger Trump. Also, there's something else that's stronger now than it was four years ago: Identity politics.
Biden is likely to continue stumbling into distractions from retractions, explanations, justifications, and his reluctant acceptance of criticism.
With age we accumulate varying amounts of experience and also baggage. What we lose is agility and endurance, qualities essential for the brutal demands of the presidency.
Mr. Biden should pass the torch and help a new generation reach the White House.
oz.
7
While I had hoped for the predicted "blue wave" last November,
the Democrats will have to put that blue wave on steroids in 2020. Beating Trump will have monumental consequences because it will likely allow Dems to keep the House. They may even take back the Senate if the voters disgusted and dismayed by Trump for infinite reasons, decide the Senate Republicans are equally, or more, at fault for our nation's corruption and moral decay.
But, if Trump hangs on to win reelecton, whatever is left of the blue wave will recede with the tide with long-term consequences for the country and the world.
This means, whoever the Dems choose as the nominee, she/he will have to take charge of every conversation, every debate, every news cycle. The last of these is in Trump's domain. And he is never afraid to create a false narrative (all-out lie!) with a quick series of tweet. He may even survive on one hour of sleep per night to serve his twitter finger impulses.
I will be a newly-minted 76 year old come election day. My dream candidate will be a moderate to the core but open to new, progressive ideas. But first, she/he has to beat Trump.
And Trump's fear of losing in 2020 has more to do with exposure to criminal charges from the Southern District of NY, than the hurt from losing to anyone. It is no longer just his ego at stake.
It is his fear of incarceration and/or poverty that drives his 2020 campaign. Hence he casts blame to as many as possible.
7
In the late 80's and early 90's there was a real crime problem, and the crime bill that came to be in '94 addressed it, and was very popular at the time. I remember when 42nd st was peep shows and adult book stores and a place where I was in fact robbed on the street in 1990. No law is perfect, and more recent legislators should have made changes to the law, you can't lay that all on joe Biden. He's one man who has been out of the Senate for over a decade. There are 535 members of congress who've had 12 years since he left to address criminal codes. There are state laws too that need to be updated. There's a private prison industry that survives on lobbying politician's, prosecutors, and judges to keep them full. Joe Biden got the legislation everyone wanted in the early 90's passed and it made us safer. The fact that it hasn't been updated since then as new information comes out and as times change, that's the real issue.
12
Worthwhile constructive article. But late in the article, the author suggests that other democratic candidates could also defeat Trump. While I fervently hope this is true, there is a dramatic difference between how Biden polls against Trump and the rest of the field. In the latest head-on-head poll released this weekend, Biden defeats Trump by 10 points while our other candidates only by a point or two if at all. That is a huge non-trivial difference if one's goal is to rescue our democracy from Donald Trump. So, maybe it's time we democrats quit ruminating on the human flaws that JB exhibits (indeed that may be why the public likes him) and begin to recognize his value as a candidate. Maybe the public likes the idea of a 60's era TV dad -- and all the predictable stability that represents.
11
The people who want to vote for Trump are going to vote for Trump. Nobody (and that includes Biden and Sanders) is going to change that. What is needed is a candidate who will excite people, and that doesn't happen with tired mantras, long, ambiguous histories, or pie-in-the-sky fantasies. At this point, the candidates who can bring home good visions and practical ways to go about it are Buttigieg, Harris, and Warren. One could possibly add Booker and Castro to that list, but they are stretches. For the good of the country, the rest should realize that and drop out to pursue the major supporting roles that are required (such as winning Senate seats). And the lesson to be learned from the so-called debates is that when a questioner asks a ridiculous question, the response should be to label the question unanswerable and give a good answer to what should have been asked (just ignoring the question doesn't work--it needs to be called out for the absurdity it is).
4
"But you can't hold your own halo"(Fantastic line Charles Blow.), without it slipping from your hands and getting trampled on. That's the thing with white male privilege, you have had it so long and had so much privilege you don't even realize when it no longer is working for you. You are used to being given the benefit of the doubt, that's what you've always had. You are used to assuming people will see you as the good guy despite gaffes, etc. because they always have. You never were second guessed, not seen as worthy or up to the challenge, or even questioned before. It's a 'hard knock life' to be treated like one of the rest of us. Yet, as is pointed out here, Biden has used his 'white, male privilege' to right wrongs versus do wrong to whatever is right about this country, as Trump has. Biden is definitely redeemable, Trump - not so much! Lord, help us to be moved by what moves you, even if it means leaving our privilege behind, whatever kind of privilege that is.
6
Biden's ruffianism? It takes one to beat one.
Most of the Democratic field is better than Trump. But only Biden can beat Trump. Enough said.
10
Nevermind this stupid discussion.
Back in the day, some forty years ago, a really big lie was foisted on the American people and reiterated ever since. The lie said government is the problem. We'd been in a Cold War with the communists for 3 decades by then and everyone could see what a problem big government in the Soviet Union was.
So, it was easy to use the Cold War propaganda to begin an anti-government movement in the U.S. Who would benefit? The wealthy, of course. That was the whole point. Four decades and several tax cuts later America is the most unequal of advanced countries. Our once proud middle class, that had been the envy of the world, stagnated and became the poorer cousin of some of our European relatives. America's infrastructure is crumbling. We now have 500 billionaires and 500,000 homeless.
No more Republican light. No more tracking to the center.
7
I really don’t get the title or gist of this column. It seems like a case of generational misappropriation to me. The “Bro” moniker is a current term which implies camaraderie and likemindedness, like being a Bernie Bro. Whereas “man” was often used to express hostility and displeasure. And a lot of times it didn’t mean anything, just an air filler. “Bro” and “man” are not really equivalent terms by any means. I doubt anyone would dub themself a “Biden bro”.
6
C'mon man, you must be living in hipster Brooklyn. Yes, much of America has evolved from the machismo mad men of the 50's and 60's, but a vast swath of America is still madly machismo and responds to, and will vote for, someone who speaks about being tough, strong, aggressive, and powerful - all words DJT LOVES to pepper his rhetoric with from his early morning tweets to State of the Union addresses.
If Joe has any chance of winning the center and whiddling away at the Trump's base, he needs to come across as the bro you'd rather have a beer with than the hipster ordering another machiatto double shot soy latte.
Just visit any Cabela's or Pro Bass Shop and you'll see what I mean.
128
@FrankWillsGhost
Democrats always seem to be trying to figure out how to get Republicans to vote for them, rather than getting Democrats to vote for them. It's not a great strategy.
50
@FrankWillsGhost: "Just visit any Walmart, you'll see what I mean.
FIFY
10
I doubt that anyone born after Reagan was President ever has known the politics in this country has been anything but partisan and tribal. This divided electorate actually started when a huge number of Democrats changed to Republicans in a huge rejection of progressive policies and laws enacted and implemented by Johnson as well as reaction to the youth anti-war and anti-materialism and social libertarian movements of the Sixties. Before that, there was a common attitude that we were all in this together that persisted from the Presidency of FDR, Truman, and Eisenhower. Kennedy was elected on it but began to lose it even as it reached it’s apex, as reactionary tendencies from the right began to coalesce in the Republican Party. But only the Boomers recall any of this.
The biggest problem we have is not Trump, nor his supporters, nor comprising Democrats who fail to show enlightened views to each and every key constituency of the Democratic Party. It’s the loss of the sense among Americans that we are one nation of many diverse people’s, E Pluribus Unum.
21
Biden is a formidable candidate but eventually his baggage will catch up with him. Joe Biden has all the good intentions towards all including Blacks yet it seems in drafting the laws he has differed to his segregationist mentor; leaving the Blacks in the cold.
On the other issue of being unfair to Anita Hill, it is clear that he sympathized with Clarence Thomas as he himself is addicted to sex.
Again Biden gets credit for all the accomplishments of Obama, but if we look closely more often than not, he has argued against Obama's initiatives. Biden has some serious baggage and it will be his undoing.
The above I posted before Biden's debate and the one below after his debate.
Biden's biggest mistake was allowing segregationists to mentor him. Naturally he threw the Blacks under the bus in key areas like busing and crime laws. As I said Biden's very serious negative baggage will eventually catch up with him. This first debate did just that. Harris has pulled him down on his busing mistake. His shine is already beginning to wear off.
After the debate Biden trying to white wash his busing mistake has exposed a major flaw in his White House qualifications. He has a proven record of having opposed busing. He sponsored a bill trying to block Federal funding for busing.
Instead of owning up to this mistake, he is denying it. This disqualifies Biden from the highest office.
1
With all due respect, why can’t democrats, at least this time, stop picking on other democrats? It is absolutely imperative to get trump out of the WH . Why don’t they take a tip from the “never say a bad thing about your party” republicans? The focus should be beating up on trump, McConnell, and republican senators and representatives. This country cannot survive another term of these madmen in power.
Would it not make more sense to stop all the negativity about Biden from forty years back, especially since he is perceived as the person that can win? Harris has got to stop bringing up what she feels bad about when she was a child. Booker, too. Get over it and, please get this field down, eliminate all these self-serving one percenters who are turning this primary into pandering the presidency to death. You don’t run a winning campaign with 40 year old “I felt hurt” or “I want an apology” musings about the front-runner. This is just too important. Think of the country,
Also, back in the nineties crime and crack needed to be dealt with. I know there was inequality in the sentences meted out and it wasn’t fair. But is it worth the price of losing this election and the country, because it will be over for us if we do.
6
@Sajidkhan. He did not say they ‘mentored’ him, with all that implies. He learned to hold his nose and work with them to support legislation, including progress toward racial equality. The Civil Rights bills under LBJ were enormous strides forward for our nation and the world. Biden was an active part of the required work toward those goals. If he had refused to work with Southern Senators, NOTHING would have been accomplished. Biden knows how to get things done, and we need him as President.
3
Kamala Harris was on stage because of people like Joe Biden. For her to put a dagger in Joe Biden’s shcest and Kavannaugh speaks cloves of the duplicity of her character. She is pathetic and not vicious enough to take down Donald trump. Hope she withers away.
15
Lol, Blow trying sabotage Biden. In this era, when the hysterical fools start screeching, you do not apologize.
Apologizing is the worst thing you can do, since the people you will be apologizing too will not accept it and will continue to try and destroy you. You need to respond as Trump did, either with indifference or even more insults.
8
That's it? What's wrong with Biden is he says, "C'mon, man," and strikes Blow as a "bro," whatever that means. Does it mean he seems masculine, and if so, so what? As for suggesting he'd like to knock Trump up side his head, I for one would pay to see that.
16
I fail to see how any part of wanting to smack Donald Trump in the mouth is not admirable.
14
I know of few humans who would not want to do exactly that.
3
It seems like there are dozens of Democratic candidates, but almost all of the stories and opinion pieces in the NYT are ones that find fault with Biden.
Isn't that kind of weird? Haven't seen a story yet on, say, Jay Inslee.
The inescapable conclusion is that Biden isn't "progressive" (whatever that means) enough for the NYT's writers and audience, so they go after him.
That's what happened to Clinton, too, liberals and far-leftists went after her, and that got us Trump.
Yet, where is anyone in the NYT apologizing for that? Biden doesn't apologize well enough, but nobody at the Times apologizes at all!
17
“...he kept saying to Cuomo, “Come on, man,” to punctuate his sentences, a rhetorical device that men often use among themselves, in locker rooms and barbershops, to recognize, register and reinforce masculinity.”
A tad bit condescending, don’t you think Mr Blow? Imagine discussing a female candidate’s appearance on Oprah....
“...she kept saying to Winfrey, “Oh my goodness, girl,” to punctuate her sentences, a rhetorical device that women often use among themselves, in locker rooms and hair salons, to recognize, register and reinforce femininity.”
Who would put up with such a derisive tone?
16
oh good lord. People do not say "Come on, man" to "renforce masculinity." It's just an expression!
The circular firing squad continues.
21
Say what you want about Biden, but he's still the only "not extreme leftwing" option, and that is what will land him the nomination.
15
"In his mind, he is one of the good guys who shelved much of his privilege to fight for the oppressed. To some degree, that is true. But you can’t hold your own halo. You have to be able to see that you can still do harm when you mean well. That’s Biden’s blind spot."
Wow - I think you hit the nail on the head - an extremely well-written paragraph
3
Mr. Blow adds his thoughts to the growing consensus among the Gen-X progressive pundits: Biden is the wrong man because, er, he's Mr. Wrong. The narrative observation points, some from Mr. Blow, others gathered from the fumes of similar boilerplate, go something like this:
1. He's too much like a dad, uncle or grandfather. Just what we need: President Patriarch. So out of step.
2. Worse, he's too much like an unwoke but liberal white dad, and he wears polos and khakis like Republicans do.
3. He's too uncouth, inelegant, insensitive, tone-deaf, inartful--a boor, a brute(!). Nay, he is a "septuagenarian brute" (really, it might behoove Mr. Blow to beg Mr. Biden's pardon for the ageist insult).
4. In the age of intersectionality, Mr. Biden's the walking convergence of whiteness, cis-gender masculinity, and heterosexist tendencies. He might cause a wormhole.
AAAHHNNNDD . . . he beats Trump 55% to 44% in the latest General Election poll.
Your piece strains credulity, Mr. Blow, as it fails to appreciate the many well-witnessed virtues of Mr. Biden's character and public service--and what these would mean in a general election that will be dirtier than a ________________ in a ________________.
It's not "Come on, man." It's "C'MON, MAN."
16
@Sam Daniels
My apologies to Mr. Blow. Reading my comment, I notice that I have misquoted the opinion writer.
President Trump was referred to as the "septuagenarian brute"; Biden, by contrast, was called a "septuagenarian bro."
As penance for my misquoting, I offer my retyping of these clumsy phrases. Please notice that the ageist dog-whistling is still present.
5
I’m a child of the ‘60s. I read all the philosphers, novelists, history books that led to the ‘60s revolution. I had the idealist’s view of the way the world should be was in a neverending argument with anyone who favored the status quo. So, as we were lurching headlong into the god forsaken ‘80s, imagine my shock when my mentors called me naive!
I was dismayed then angry that my role models had ‘given in’. But now, that’s how I view many of the so called ‘progressives’. In the present climate, with Trump fortified by tanks in the street, the idealists dream of a just society —one that includes impeachment, reparations, democratic socialism — just is not going to get the MAGA votes. Democrats have to think more like Nancy Pelosi —do, say anything that will get Trump et al off the stage. If that means checking extreme speech at the door for a while....then that’s what needs to be done. And if that means nominating Biden...then do it. Someone who professes to have been able to work across the aisle will be more palatable that an extremist, progessive though they may be.
8
In the 80’s, the Yipees became the Yuppies. I wonder how and to whom this generation’s late adolescent ”progressivism” will eventually sell out.
2
Okay, we get it (even if Biden doesn't). The problem is that if he spends the next year and a half criticizing Trump's behavior while apologizing for his own we're going to end up with another four years of The Donald. Biden needs to come up with specific policy proposals and to do so as soon as possible. Here are two big and bold ones that I'd suggest: tax the rich to the extent that they'd be paying for the benefits and services that target the poor (thereby removing that burden from the shoulders of the working class), and extricate this country completely from the Middle East (taking billions in foreign aid from Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia and using it to shore up the nations in Central America whose citizens are flooding our own borders). We need a President with transformative ideas, and those are two that, to my mind, would capture the public's imagination.
6
Trump, a tyrant wannabe who admires murderers such as Putin and Kim, has done a masterful job wrecking our decades-old alliances with almost every democratic nation. Domestically, he is at war with women and persons of color. Biden, above all of the 20+ Democratic hopefuls, can restore our global alliances and reverse many of Trump's misogynistic (intent to scrap Roe v Wade), racist (suppressing minority voting), and xenophobic (appalling treatment of people fleeing from peril) initiatives. He deserves the nomination, and I am confident if he gets it, he will select a capable woman of color as his running mate. Biden has a long history of doing good as well as a proclivity for gaffes, but whatever it takes, this country cannot suffer through an 8 year Trump presidency.
5
Although I often agree with Mr. Blow, here I have issues. I found what Harris did in the debate to be a calculated attempt to peel off Black voters from Biden by using a wedge issue more rooted in the past than present realties. Further, her own true life story, as the daughter of upper-middle class Academics in the Bay Area should not be overlooked. She was not a child raised in a place of segregation, nor by the 70s, racial oppression. Quite the opposite--Harris had social class privileges that were quite different than those of children busing was intended to help. Harris seems to have place herself above reproach by claiming she was victimized by segregation and racism as a child. While she may have experienced some racial oppressions as an adult woman of color in politics, her behavior at the debates I find self-serving and not rooted in truth.
16
The op ed is driven by a false premise. Biden comes off as anything but strong. He is weak, timid, and constantly apologizing. Does anyone really look at him as the "tough" candidate in the Democratic field? What nonsense.
5
Mr. Blow, I believe there's an irony where you criticize Biden for his "ruffianism." You're perfectly happy in your other pieces to shoot from the hip with unsubstantiated evidence that we must do everything (no matter how crude) to curb purportedly cruel acts against people of color, women, etc. by xyz political figure and society, and yet take issue with Biden's rhetoric of "teaching the schoolyard bully a lesson."
To the contrary of your condemnation of Biden's "self righteousness" to appeal to a younger, left leaning crowd, I really wish Biden would grow a spine and call the situation for what it is- Trump won because leftism, on shock claims and cheap theatrics, alienated moderates in this country for the sake of satisfying a black and white, simplistic, ignorant worldview. Mr. Biden shouldn't apologize for his past actions- he should take a realpolitik position and admit that leftism is driving the democrats off a cliff and we need to return to reason and moderation. No more of trying to play nice guy in an attempt to appease the left and moderates at the same time. No more feeling guilt for negotiating with segregationists when that's the only way forward. No more, "I feel bad because popular opinion amongst unruly millennials says I'm wrong." If Biden finally has the nerve to defend a moderate viewpoint against leftism, I have no doubt he can go against Trump. But please, no more appeasement for the train wreck that is the left.
10
@Joshua
This is the best, most succinctly stated reasoning that the DNC needs to grow a spine and eject the progressive train wreck and start realizing that the only way to beat Trump is to peel off his support from the middle-out. ONLY moderates in this day and age make good Presidents because its only they who demonstrate the common sense bi-partisanship necessary to govern effectively and well.
3
I'm a white guy about Biden's age. Statements like we should forgive his errors 40 years ago are nonsense. At the time, we knew that laying your hands on women was wrong, and we knew that blaming black folks for the failures of white society was wrong. And we certainly knew that his treatment of Anita Hill was wrong, wrong, wrong. Just remember: Clarence Hill, the worst Supreme Court justice we have (and that's saying a lot) is our long-term gift from Joe Biden. It's time for him to recognize that he's not just yesterday's candidate, he's never been a good candidate.
3
@Robert Thomas or someone similar would have been on the Court even if Biden chained himself to the doors of the SC. That appointment was inevitable.
People also don’t remember at the time that many black women supported Thomas. They saw it as a bunch of white men trying to tear down a man who belonged to their community.
Life is complicated, and so are politics.
5
Thank you, NYT, for the thoughtful, fair and very appropriate criticism by Charles Blow of Joe Biden as a worthy but flawed candidate. I'm a relatively new subscriber to the Times and Charles Blow had not been on my radar as a columnist I regularly seek out to read. Based on this column, he will be from now on.
1
Progressive Democrats shy from a fight, preferring to denigrate by insinuation (working in the 1970s with segregationists to get a bill passed “must” make you a racist) and criticize for not being fuzzy-and-cuddly enough for tender sensibilities. Time to grow up! We are dealing with a literal madman in the White House and an entire political party that has gone mad with him. I want a fighter, not a wimp. And if you want to know what Joe Biden is really made of, look at his actions—and stop pouncing on every word, for heaven’s sake. Who can survive that kind of nit-picking? Personally I’d like to see a Biden-Harris ticket.
2
I seem to remember Obama pretty famously saying "Come on, man!" from time to time.
10
"We don’t need to replace a septuagenarian brute with a septuagenarian bro." Love it!
1
This is not the time for the Democrats to nominate white, male septuagenarian for president. It would be great to be able to run a Harris/Warren ticket without considering how the collective American male ego would respond to an all female ticket. They would make a great team though.
This is like watching a slow motion train wreck. Biden won’t be the nominee, because the sole reason Obama and his team selected him for VP was because they figured he would be more appealing to blue collar, racist, whites than any other running mate, and would help mitigate the loss in votes among that cohort.
After the Great Awokening, Biden doesn’t stand a chance. He’s going to go down slowly at first, and then suddenly, a la Jeb in 2016.
This will leave the Dems with Kamela or Warren, one of which will then be curb stomped by Trump so hard that on the day after the election, journalists will he reaching for comparisons to Mondale and Ferraro and wondering how the Democrats can find their way back. “Where’s this generation’s Bill Clinton?” will become the theme for the next few years.
It’s all going to be glorious. I just wish I could fast forward to the best parts, like election night and the day after.
5
The Democrats...and now Mr. Blow are all about shooting themselves in the foot. But unfortunately their accident affects the rest of the country and democracy itself. Trump won because of the electoral college. We are a gerrymandered country. Someone has to take stock of reality and try to get the MAGA people to cross their self righteous line. Biden might just be the most likely one to do it. Do what’s necessary for the future.
10
I am for any of these Democratic candidates who can beat trump!!
2
@BlueMoon
We have just learned that Trump's approval rating among registered voters has climbed to 47%. He only needed 46% of the popular vote to win in 2016. He will give Putin free rein to interfere with the election next year, and there will be many states where the Democratic nominee and Trump will poll within the margin of error, making election tampering more difficult to uncover.
Many thanks, Blue Moon! I read hundreds of comments implying that we ONLY need to get out the vote. No, we need also to work diligently to assure the integrity of the election process and--especially--the accuracy and verifiability of the vote.
3
You mean they will post opinions in the NY Times that are nothing but one candidates talking points against another? Where is the insight here? Where's the consistency? In one paragraph he maligns Biden for not accepting responsibility for the "mistakes" as defined by his opposition. In the very next paragraph, he's calling Joe out for doing just that! Hmmm... I wonder if he is a Harris supporter? Actually no... I don't wonder at all!
10
White and Black were both very angry about bussing in Denver, C0. Black and white people did not like putting their five year old on a bus and sending them across the city. Harris may be happy she got a good education but the black neighborhoods had one of best High Schools in Denver. I think she was not giving the whole story but then neither was Biden.
5
I wish progressives would just admit that they will never support Biden or his vision of our future, rather than insisting that he just needs to apologize for this, that, and the other thing, and then they’ll feel better about him.
I hope he sticks to his guns (hopefully, this phrase has not been deemed insensitive by the woke police, as we just discovered that “cmon man” is “problematic). He should stand up for himself and recognize that the vast majority of Democrats (and the country) find it adds to Biden’s occasionally incoherent charm.
He needs to stand with the people who like him, and not attempt to appease the progressive left. No matter what he does, it will not be enough.
8
@Mercury S
Biden may win the nomination for simply standing up to the left. Rational democrats realize that identity politics are done, and they don't want big dramatic changes in social programs or Russian collusion to drive their party. They want more affordable health care and better paying jobs.
7
What's wrong with bro-iness? I'm a bro, and my friends and acquaintances are bros too. In fact we're bros, brothers or "man". One of my favorite football highlight segments is the "c'mon man" feature. These are terms of bro-iness endearment - what's the problem?
If progressives want to take away our bro-iness, then some of us bros in the middle will have reduced options come election day.
12
This is not compassionate or constructive criticism. This is a tear-down of a decent man solely because he isn’t sufficiently woke to satisfy the enforcers of progressive purity. Read the poll numbers, for gosh sakes. But more importantly, please recognize that decent people come in all shapes and sizes. They’re not limited to what the progressives deem fit at the moment. Keep pursuing this path of single-source virtue and not only will Trump win, we will get what we deserve.
17
Unfortunately, I believe Biden's time has past. I didn't ever think he was presidential material, lacking that charisma or elan that attracted the masses. He was and is practical, in a Fritz Mondale way; and we know how Mr Mondale fared in 84.
The only candidates to date that catch my eye and ear are Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg. Elizabeth is a fire brand policy wonk who does not lack for positions on the issues. Mayor Pete has the charisma, intelligence, and empathy, qualities that could help him be our youngest POTUS. He came a long way in owning his problem with the recent South Bend police shooting.
Biden? just seems like a big nothing burger to me, no offense intended. The democrats need to have a candidate who, rather than engage Trump, can diss him in dismissing his bluster. Mayor Pete served in the military and has lambasted Trump; who has no comeback as he has no clothes.
3
Trump always has an ugly comeback.
1
The phrase "come on, man" is now somehow triggering?? So we should all self-censor and not say "come on, man"? This is the thinking that will cause Democrats to lose to Trump.
15
Well said. We can criticize without demonizing. I don’t know why he’s leading in the polls aside from sharing outmoded ideals with a heck of a lot of voters.
So Biden should be "less resistant" vis-a-vis the implication made by Kamala Harris that he really is a racist?
7
@Joanne Whitmire
The idea that everyone should respond to charges of "racism" is where the left gets it dramatically wrong. It doesn't realize that the accusation is over-used and so often unjustified that it has become an annoyance.
7
Biden comes with flaws which are endlessly pointed out. How about giving the same scrutiny to other Democratic candidates?
Many of the other front runners are way to liberal to win in key states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota. They have great ideals, but I don't think the rest of the country is ready for them.
Send reporters to Western Pennsylvania out in the country and ask them what they think of the present group of nominees. Now that would be a good story. Instead we get opinion pieces by people who sit in the NYT echo chamber. I like some of the liberal candidates, they ring true to me, but I live on the Left Coast and most of the country is out of step with me.
The very liberal wing of the Democratic party is living in its own bubble, thinking the rest of America agrees with them. I don't think they do.
It's easy to get lost in the idealism of the left, but if they win the nomination, they better figure out a way to bring the swing states along with them.
14
I doubt Biden will win the the nomination. In fact, I'd put my money on Kamala Harris, mostly because of the ease with which she crushed Biden at the debate. Dems feel that she'll be able to do the same to Trump (not necessarily on the same issues) in debates and win the presidency. I suspect that that judgment is correct. I wish she was less centrist & more progressive (I'm talking about her record, not what she's saying now) on a range of issues. But if the choice is between Trump & Harris in 2020, I'll definitely vote for Harris.
2
@Jenifer Wolf
Trump does not have to debate.
3
@Jenifer Wolf
We now know Harris spent months planning her calculated and manipulative attack against Biden, with memes, tee shirts, and a full blown publicity campaign ready. It will never work against Trump.
Harris, the daughter of wealthy, highly educated parents living in California, went on to become a prosecutor best known for locking up poor black women whose children skipped school and for obstructing justice to prevent a federal judge from learning a lab tech she oversaw falsified massive numbers of results leading to innocent people, mostly poor black men, being convicted of crimes they never committed. Over 600 cases were dismissed because of Harris.
Harris used a rhetorical trick in saying she didn't think Biden was a racist all so she could disingenuously argue he was one. A primary reason Biden was so flustered and gave a terrible answer is because he's decent and cares about the accusation.
Harris could never do it against Trump, who along with the over 60 million who will vote for him no matter what, would just laugh at the accusation. Harris lost any chance to win the presidency by going after Biden as she did. Trump will bury her with it. You can hear Trump already attacking Harris for going after "poor, sleepy Joe Biden" as a racist. Trump will say that it means Harris thinks every white guy is a racist. You better believe it will stick to Harris like glue with every American except for the small loud members of the far-left woke train-wreck crew.
12
@Robert B You're right on much of what you say. But unless you can make me believe that American foreign relations would be as chaotic under Harris as they are under Trump, I would vote for her, though I would prefer that Sanders, Warren, Gabbard, or Booker was the candidate - in that order.
Biden is not the Democratic nominee. He is the only candidate who has the experience of leadership and a record of accomplishments to show the ability to serve as President. But he’s imperfect. He does not have the perceptions of a person who has lived non-white in a country that was nearly all white. He has not the perceptions of a woman. He has not the perceptions of people born after Reagan was President. But he tries to do the right thing as he sees it. That makes him a good candidate. But he may just not win the nomination.
Democrats have to see the challenge as not beating a clever manipulator who does not belong in the office of President but the nearly half of the electorate who supported him and still support him. They are the people with who they must contend and reach an understanding or the problems will get a lot worse.
4
Like the other writers, I will vote for whomever the Democrats nominate, including Biden. However, we must look and move forward and Biden is stuck in the 1980s.
Further, the Democratic nominee will have to be able to speak about race comfortably and meaningfully, much more so than in the past. I don't know that Biden would ever be able to do that--worse, it doesn't appear that he would ever understand that.
Given his age, I would feel more comfortable with him if he would present himself as a transitional leader. If he should be nominated and win, and then run for re-election, he would be well into his eighties.
Like Mr. Blow says, come on, man. (As a I woman, I am only using this term in this context. I would never use it otherwise; Mr. Biden, it does not resonate with me.)
2
Good article, but I’m tired of articles like this. I think it’s time to elect a woman President. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) or Marianne Williamson (author) would all be better Presidents than Donald Trump.
2
You nailed this commentary Mr. Blow.
1
Blow strongly dislikes Biden and mocks his
"Bro- iness" which he never did to the all time "Bros" Bill Clinton and Obama.
Then he uses the derogatory term "septuagenarian bro" for Biden which is offensive to older Americans.
Blow then condemns Biden for his 1994 statement "We have predators on our streets" ignoring the epidemic of violent crime in the U.S. with 640 shooting victims in Philadelphia alone so far in 2019.
"Come on man".
Blow should reflect his own "self righteousness".
26
There seems to be a tendency to argue about things that happened a long time ago. Things DID happen a long time ago, but now is now. We should worry about what might happen tomorrow (and what we can do about it now).
12
I think it has become fashionable in politics to never admit that you made a mistake. Prior to this I think it was fashionable to try to agree with everyone.
Regarding Mr. Trump, I have no problem with the tough words of Joe Biden. Mr. Trump needs a motherly (or fatherly) figure shaking a finger at him.
He is deplorable, and needs to know it. Hillary Clinton was incapable of this, because of the outrageous (and, in my view, meaningless) tactic of lining up the females against Mr. Clinton.
The gloves will be off in the debates with Mr. Trump. I look forward to a debate season where Mr. Trump gets put in his place.
4
I have loved Joe Biden's bro'vado for a long time but it got stale sometime after the last campaign. I admit to having a "Cup of Joe" coffee cup from that time which holds my dentures. So. Old guys like old guys. I am 82. Now, a big BUT. Knowing how I am at my age I do not think that my brashness works all that well with a lot of people and I have toned down the geezer thing. I suggest Joe do the same. Don't be a caricature of the "get off my lawn" guy. I am in local politics and keep getting re-elected. Gentleness wins every time. I do know a lot but I do not want to come off as a know-it-all.
6
I agree entirely. The fact they are running him this election when they know that everyone will suck it up & vote for him anyway because he's not Trump because that they know he wouldn't be able to win in a more normal election cycle. If your platform consist of "I'm not as bad as Trump", maybe you should get out of politics.
2
Biden took flak for citing his working relationship with segregationist senators as a model of cooperation across ideological lines, but it was the little extraneous detail that I found most telling: “they may have called me son, but didn’t call me boy.” That was irrelevant to the point he was trying to make, but male dominance has always been the name of the game for Biden, and hierarchy -- be it male vs. female, old vs. young, white vs. black -- somehow finds its way into every gesture and utterance. For Biden, as for Trump, to apologize for past conduct is to show weakness and jeopardize one’s place in the macho pecking order. To paraphrase Sinatra, whatever regrets they've had are too few to mention.
Despite all this, those of us focused on taking back the White House should stop lamenting how unwoke and often uncouth Uncle Joe is. A ticket headed by Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren may inspire progressives, but is practically a setup for a rout on the scale of 1972 or 1984. But if Biden can discipline his tongue, and makes good on his threat to impose alpha-male justice on the schoolyard bully, maybe there’s still hope.
6
Again - as always - excellent column and some pretty good advice for Biden I must admit. But I have question - if Biden wins the candidacy for president here are the options:
• Vote for Biden
• Vote for Trump
• Vote for another candidate
• Stay home
• Quash your vote
It seems to me that the primary concern for USA and the world is to dethrone Trump. He has no bro-iness at all - he sounds more like “fuhgetaboutit”.
Hoping something happens in Congress.
2
Good luck, Charles, with your belief that apologies for every "wrong" ever committed by any privileged, white, hetero-sexual male in the past is the way to go.
With that attitude, you'll at least have money-boo-boo to regurgitate all over not just for two more years but for six.
13
You know Biden is on the right path when all of then talking heads unite to tell us - absent empirical backing on any sort - why Biden can't win.
Throw in a few pejoratives that mock his white maleness and the take-down is complete - how did we get to the point where 'bro' is an acceptable shorthand term for a 'certain' type of candidate?
Btw - the empirical evidence is courtesy of the most recent polling - the only clear winner in a head-to-head versus the Trumpster - you guessed it - ol' Joe the Bro.
10
With friends like obama, Biden doesn't need enemies.
9
Aw gee, would ya give Biden some space already? Can any one of us, including you Charles, go back in time and see things with today's lenses? The 1994 crime bill was one of those things that try as you might to think how it could've, should've worked out differently, how Biden shouldn't have supported it, it's a no win situation. Biden shouldn't have to go around apologizing to everyone including Kamala Harris, for not supporting federally funded busing back then either! A lot of people didn't think so. Whiningly posing as she did onstage about "I was that little girl" was such a picture perfect attack dog rehearsed setup, it reeked. Let the guy have some breathing room. Our culture has become way too P.C., it's stifling.
15
Again Mr. Blow writes the whims and fancies of a particular subset of the American left...not America as a whole. Somewhat remarkably though he picks an example of Biden's combativeness toward Trump which is precisely his most marketable feature. Show me those now opposed to Trump who would vote for him out of sympathy from Joe Biden physically kicking his butt and I'll show you an empty room. They'd all be outside parading and celebrating in the streets.
What's refreshing about Biden is he isn't running to be Brooklyn Borough President or the Mayor of Portland, Oregon. These places are so disconnected from suburban voters (who will decide the election) at this point yet so connected to the media figures who scoff at the suburbs as to be very dangerous for any attempt to unseat Trump. Ignore this at your peril.
9
Although I sympathize with, or agree with, specific things Charles Blow says about Joe Biden, I recoiled from the article in its entirety. It “has a tone and temperament issue” (to borrow Mr. Blow’s words), a whiff of superiority and superciliousness, that cuts off thinking and discussion.
In Mr. Blow’s telling, Joe Biden is out of date; “modern mores” have passed him by. Biden is “a man of a particular time”– don’t ask whether there are positive qualities of that time have things to teach people with “modern mores” (and don’t examine the extent to which Mr. Blow is a man of *his* particular time!). Don’t weigh the defects and virtues of “modern mores”, despite the fact that many people may question several of those mores (does Mr. Blow?). No! – end of discussion.
Don’t dare ask whether Biden botched what might have been less unacceptable accounts of his alleged sins. That would make Biden more human. He is a “septuageniarian” (a fossil): Q.E.D.
8
You have to be able to see that someone meant well and is an ally. That’s Blow’s blind spot.
Constant whining to people on your side about their mores from 30 years ago is a huge turnoff to those who share your values.
7
@Steve Cohen Have you ever heard the quote, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions"? How many passes should one receive for their questionable comments/behavior because they "mean well"? Meaning well does not negate the impact of your words and actions. Biden is a classic case of someone who has never been held accountable for what he says or does because he always "means well." I'm over it.
I have always liked Biden in spite of his gaffes but at this point in the 21st century as he wages his latest campaign he is definitely mired in the 20th century. Time to move on preferably a woman president if she is the best candidate or any of the other candidates who have a vision based on the policies required for the 21st century, not some feel good nostalgia.
Mr. Blow is not entirely wrong, but he is among those Democrats who are "eating their own." Biden might be the one who can beat Trump. Had he been the candidate and not HC, Biden would now be President. He would not have lost the rust belt as Hillary did. Respectfully, Blow is wrong when he suggests any of the Democrats candidates could beat Trump. Because the Democrats have adopted Bernie's far left positon on everything, much of middle America will hold their noses and vote for Trump. Wake up! You need a moderate with an honest economic message ( not just an attack on Trump). Otherwise, Trump will win again. Draft Bloomberg or the man who was running Starbucks. Then, Trump would lose, and sanity would be restored to the US.
7
I hope he will get the nomination. Not because I love him, but because our main priority should be getting Trump out of the White House. The damage from four more years of him will be bad, and the leftist backlash to it (and damage from that) will be just as bad. I hope Kamala can be his running mate. Let the Dems show they can work together and overcome their differences. Everyone should take a page from Pete Buttigieg's book- let's work on what brings us together as a nation, not what tears us apart.
7
What is wrong with you people. 'Who hasn't compromised their principles a little to get things done?', 'Joe Biden is a good man who's always tried to do the right thing', 'I like Joe, he's done so much for this country'.
Take one look at his record. He isn't a good man, he isn't a man of principle, and he certainly hasn't done good things for this country. Criminal justice, the drug war, military adventurism, the surveillance state, bussing, financial deregulation, and so on. He has been on the wrong side of every major issue. The simple reality is this: Joe Biden is an amoral, unprincipled politician who will go wherever, whenever the political winds blow in that direction. He's not a rock standing against the stream on a solid foundation of principle and morality, he's a political windsock.
6
I hope Biden gets the nomination. I will vote for him. He appears to be moderate, honest, and able to compromise with those that think differently from him. Something we sorely need in 2020, something we need today.
9
Would it be better if Biden were an effeminate, self-effacing, constantly apologizing man. I am happy that he is what he is and his masculinity is a part of that. I wish that Blow and others would stop trying to take Biden down. No Democratic candidate is perfect. Biden would beat Trump. Who else can that be said of? Lay off Biden.
12
The democrats are self immolating and the Mainstream media is helping them do it. Meanwhile Trump is laughing all the way to his next term.
13
@rd: Except, when his onion-thin skin gets in the way. Which, by the way, could be his Achilles heel. But, don't take my word for it; ask Nancy Pelosi.
1
Guess who else fights criticism? Why, Trump! Are you looking for a candidate who will beat Trump or a candidate who will win the approval of woke academia? Biden's tough guy talk is so repulsive? Well what does that make Trump then? Please remember half of your country at least puts up with the trash talker in chief, if not approves of him. Does the Democratic Party and do liberals want to get their votes or not? By the way, I am not saying Biden IS the best bet. I am just saying that him saying he would take down Trump in the gym doesn't render him less worthy of the candidature. This is extremely insignificant stuff, you gotta think bigger.
7
Joe Biden’s disgraceful treatment of Anita Hill and his long standing opposition to school busing disqualify him from the Democratic nomination. He is nothing more than another rich white man who believes that he is entitled to be President . Its time for Biden to Move On.
1
Charles, are you now going to write a critique of Ms. Harris and her clearly showing how tough she is? Did you critique President Obama when he would say “ come on”? He just left off “man”. I believe that Biden is tough. Both my wife and I are “ boomers” and we find the “ the come on man” cool and yes, endearing. Ronald Reagan had his tag line “ there you go again”. I think Joe’s “ come on man” is great and will definitely get under “ Trump’s skin”. Now, come on Charles, lighten up.
14
Yes, this 'come on, man' junk has got to go. I'm so sick (already!) of hearing him say that. Ugh. And speaking of that, why does Kamala refer to her audience of mostly black women as 'guys' which she did at the Essence Festival? Guys! No! We're not guys! Women are so many times referred to as 'guys'. Just another tiny element of the Patriarchy that continually tries to rule our lives and women, without thinking, are a part of that oppression of women.
I don't like Joe. I'm 68 and I think he's too old. I don't like his referring to Obama in a way that feels like using him. I don't like what he did to Prof. Hill and he had to be forced to 'get it'. I just don't like him. But it very much worries me, as criminal Trump climbs in the polls, that Joe is the only one that moderate independents will even think about voting for. Whoever wins the primary will win because of black women and at this point, as it was with Mr. Obama, Joe has more support from them than Kamala.
I don't trust the Dems to not blow this election. I don't trust the Republican/Russians not to steal it and for people to not be fooled by all their lies.
There's a long time to go. I'm already muting Joe whenever he comes on the idiot tube. Even though he's way up in the polls and beating Trump by ten points.......I'm quite worried about it all. How can I live in a country that could re-elect Trump? Our country.....gone. Because it will morph into a dictatorship if he is re-elected.
Scary.
4
@sophia I know how you feel. I felt the same about Obama.
3
Then please stop dissing Biden out of a win. We’re not electing an infallible flawless progressive. We’re trying to elect the person that can win. Why, why can’t progressives stop throwing victory into defeat looking for a unicorn.
4
Thank you for so perfectly laying out all of the things about Joe Biden that rub me the wrong way. I'm a 43 year old white guy and *I'm* cringing at how out of touch and disconnected he seems to be. I can only imagine how the 20-something crowd responds to him. What I don't get is the, so far, unwavering support of the black community. Is having been Obama's running mate THAT strong of a pull?
1
We need a young candidate with a sharp mind like Buttigieg or Harris. Joe is too old.
read this closely every one.
BIDEN CANNOT BEAT TRUMP!
2
@Casey Jonesed Any of the top 5-6 candidates can beat Trump if democrats stop practicing self-inflicting wounds - they seem to suffer from some kind of autoimmune disease. Go out and vote, you can – I can’t.
2
Joe: Please retire and enjoy more time with your family. You did much for our country.
Maybe he is not the best candidate, but at least he has not offered open borders, reparations, voting for felons, school debt forgiveness (if you sacrificed and paid, you are a sucker), free college (which already exists as community colleges).
So, until a moderate with chances shows up, I am with Joe.
11
Very few people really think Joe Biden is a racist, and that could work against him in the general election. Not being a racist is necessary to win the Democratic nomination; but, in this day and age, being a racist apparently is what wins the big one. And being a racist just isn't in Biden's DNA. Pity.
What we need is a paradigm shift in human thought, whereby racism would be looked down upon as a thing of the past, where the color of one's skin really didn't matter.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of us all. When we understand all this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
2
To paraphrase Biden - c'mon man, you are too old, insensitive and way out of touch. Seriously, Biden has zero introspection and empathy, which makes him no better than Trump.
I’ll take a septuagenarian bro over a septuagenarian brute any day, especially if the brute is Donald Trump and the bro is a bro because of “assumed altruism” (whatever that means...we liberals are now criticizing people for acting with altruistic intent?) and for not defending themselves against brutes by saying things like, “I dare say, sir, you’re behaving problematically, please stop.” C’mon man!
5
But Trump is “holding his own halo” and rising in the polls! Why not Biden?
2
The first African-American in the history of our country to become President of The United States picked Joe Biden as his VP. I'd guess that Obama and his team did a thorough job of vetting Biden and knew his past completely. He became VP and served Obama and our country very well for eight years. Some in the Black community seem to be having short-term memory problems.
7
Guy talk is talk between males which is considered to be inappropriate, especially by females. Girl talk is talk between females which is considered to be inappropriate for male ears. Only one is considered politically incorrect. Gimme a break.
4
All we need is for Biden to go macho a macho with Trump, what a sorry spectacle that would be.
Guess you want four more years of Trump.
The others that are running also have faults and big faults.
The Democrats and people like Blow are giving the presidency to trump for another four years.
Biden is the front runner and should remain so if you want a different president.
The African Americans like him until you, Blow, destroy him.
I wonder what we could find in your past Mr. Blow.
I wonder if we looked hard what we could find in Warren's past, Harris' past, Sander's past and even the kid from Indiana who actually isn't old enough to have a past, but the Republicans will find something..
Be assured the Republicans are searching. They don't need your help.
Democrats destroying Democrats.
8
How about the fact that Biden is too old?
He shouldn't run. Liberals today will never accept a white (straight) male as their presidential candidate. It's not in their concept of diversity. His own party will destroy him. What's the point? Of course, they're going to end up with a white president, the most egregiously flawed human ever to hold the title, while they keep looking for Ms Perfect.
4
Well, if it come down to choice between an entitled White man from the 20th century vs. a wannabe king from some time before 1776, I know who I'm voting for. Though I would much rather vote for a 21st century candidate.
2
There are some accurate assessments here by Charles Blow. Some that should be heeded by the Biden team. Also agree with comments such as Greg Gerner's below. As Democrats let's be able to learn lessons. Hiding in words will not solve the issues in front of us.
I don't want Joe Biden for President.
Full Stop
Times pieces attacking Biden are unrelenting. If Biden's lucky a critic writes "I don’t believe he’s a bad person" before launching into how he resists all "growth and acknowledgment". It makes one wonder what Biden did which might make reasonable people think he's a bad person.
In using this standard you must apply it to Kamala Harris too for failing to apologize for locking up poor black mothers of truant children and for obstructing justice to prevent a federal judge from discovering that a technician in the lab Harris supervised falsified results. Despite the obstruction, over 600 cases were thrown out.
Using this standard look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she received a 4-Pinocchio rating from fact checkers at The Washington Post based on "facts" she falsified, including made up Pentagon spending.
What did Cortez learn? Nothing. She insisted in an interview with Anderson Cooper that any daring to question her were part of a conspiracy and that it didn't matter if she was "factually right" as long as she was "morally right". How much ink was spilled by Times pundits on it? In contrast, over 40 major pieces, besides these unrelenting attacks by every Times columnist, are used against Biden.
In Biden's dedication to MLK last year he acknowledged many of the mistakes he's made. However, what's happening now isn't about Biden's supposed lack of "acknowledgment". It is about excommunicating Biden, and anyone who remotely thinks like him, from the Democratic Party.
8
"We don’t need to replace a septuagenarian brute with a septuagenarian bro."
Really Charles????
Joe Biden is leading in the polls. He is the only candidate who consistently beats trump.
I know, the woke left doesn't believe in polls; unless, of course their candidates benefit.
Equating Joe Biden with donald trump is beyond ridiculous and you know it. Try thinking about SCOTUS 7 to 2. If that doesn't sober you up, I don't know what will.
7
"Joe Biden has a 1960s T.V. dad quality"
Well observed, Mr. Blow. So does Ben Carson. This is the fallacy of form over content, which in Carson's case was a disaster.
We don't need a folksy aw-schucks uncle who drops food on his shirt front. Biden's judgment is deeply flawed, and no amount of come on manning or aw-schucking can fix that. The need of the hour is for a junkyard dog, one whose first instinct is to knock the regressives' teeth out. We have been at receiving end of their hate -- sexism, racism, bigotry -- far too long. It is time to hate back and hit back.
Geez. Based on some of these comments, I guess Biden's recent behavior (which I find disappointing and alarming) is actually appropriate? Men really don't want a woman in there. So sad to see this macho resistance to progress. Guys: there are plenty of outlets and arenas for your testosterone-riddled brains. Go to a football game or play some video games. Politics, like education and increasingly medicine, are in need of a sensitive, maternal touch.
Charles, c'mon man! Better a septuagenarian bro' than a septuagenarian mob boss with a self-professed penchant for molesting women. Unfortunately, this is a society that knew what Trump was and elected him anyway. Uncle Joe's ability to fight back against the vile slanders that any Democrat nominee will face might be our only chance of getting the brute out of the White House.
4
We have all heard the phrase "damning with faint praise". What we have seen both during and since Senator Harris's publicity stunt during the debate is "praising with faint damning".
I believe Joe Biden's posted plan for addressing climate change called for investing approximately 85% of what Senator Warren's did. One can expect Trump's plan to spend approximately 0%. Even in some bizarrely linear world where the president's plans are not watered down by Congress, this means an eco-voter could only support Warren if her odds of beating Trump were 85% of Biden's, and there is no reason to think that her chances are anywhere near that good.
The highly educated coastal progressive voters may not relate to Biden, just as many older voters can relate to him but not to much younger or very progressive candidates. The difference is the former group (remember, they are highly educated) should know that "relatability" does not matter anywhere near as much as defeating Trump and needs to act like it. Educational achievement conveys a civic responsibility and should imply an ability to understand the big picture while using numbers appropriately. Educational achievement does not convey entitlement and while only implying that someone has learned to yell "me me me!" as often and cleverly as possible.
3
Just keep pulling apart Biden and tearing him to pieces. We will
then have another 4 years of Trump and the total downfall of our democracy. This patriarchal country, filled with machismo, racism and misogyny will not, I think, elect a woman. Nor will they elect a crabby old guy, a socialist, like Bernie. Frankly, if
Mayor Pete looked like Rock Hudson and was not gay, he might
have done it. A husband in the White House? Uh Uh.... They won't buy it. Biden is the safest bet so far - ergo, give it some time, stop the assault on him and give him some space to breathe. We have no statesmen in sight, no charismatic figure, no Obama like orator to come out of left field and win the day. We may just need a peaceful transition to a good man who knows how to run the country, brings back justice and fairness and works with our international community, not the fascistic ones. I rest my case.
8
Race always matters.
Every white Democrat, especially those of a certain age, no matter how liberal, no matter how impeccable a civil rights record, no matter how many black friends, needs to tread very carefully.
It's the third rail in the US.
Maybe one touch is survivable. No more.
Blow needs to remember how Democrats lost the last election- in which Democrats assumed thei candidqate was so powerful, so unstoppable, that nothing that Trump did or might have done, could get him elected. So sure were the voters and even the oddsmaker in Britain that they convinced een Trump! He prepared to lose the election and was ready to return home to NYC when he discovered-almost miraculously-thqat he was the new President-not everyones alleged fave-Mrs Clinton. If the so called intellectuals and opinion makers of the Times and others, once more assume they have magical powers to decide who runs, what should be issues in the election, once more, then Democrats will lose. There will be no black candidate-, there will be no 39 year old woman with absolutely no understanding of needed sklls, and no amount of denigrating the front runner-Mr Biden-will make his small time opponents more palatable to voters. If he does not run as the Party's candidate-many middle of the road voters will stay home,(again or, will vote GOP. I wish more of the professional scribblers had been alive for elections in the 50's and 60's, so they would recall what a piker and creep JFK and his brother RFK were. It was not the Kennedy's who passed the Civil Rights act of' 64--it was the hated and despised "segregationsit", LBJ .
3
All of you who can't support Joe Biden because.... Have declared if he is the Democratic Candidate you will vote for Donald J. Trump. Is that right?
4
I think Biden's old school ways will serve him and the voters better than trying to mimic the new school candidates. They may both make you cringe, but better a bro than a wokester. The people should have the opportunity to choose between candidates who present themselves as they are and how they will continue to be if elected. Seeing as these are politicians, you can assume that how they act and most of what they say is calculated for effect. But sometimes the mask slips a bit and you see the real person.
2
Biden and Harris were both high on my list for candidates but what Kamala Harris has done by attacking Biden for something that happened far in the past has knocked them both off my list. He came across as being weak in debating and she is pursuing what I see as identity politics something that will not win over the voters in the 5 states that are so important in this election
2
It remains to be seen whether Biden is fast enough on his feet to get the nomination. That said, I am beginning to sense that, God forbid, Faux news and the GOP may be onto something about those of us on the left. Specifically, you seem to have greater disdain for the machismo that Biden displays with phrases like “man” and others that display hyper masculine defense mechanisms we may associate with bullying. The crime bill, working with segregationists, etc, seem to bother you less in your piece than his simplistic machismo, or bravado. That uncle Joe touched women and ticked off Anita Hill more than a generation ago seems to have no affect either on the most recent polling data indicating that sleepy Joe, by a fairly wide margin could best the Trumpster. While it is still too early, his lead in yesterday’s poll is significant, Warren and Harris’ leads are not.
You are wrong Charles, Joe Biden was hardly privileged. He is not a Kennedy, a Clinton, or an Obama—all have vast wealth compared to the Biden clan. I think this is where those of us in Back Bay, East Village, Chevy Chase, and Berkeley are off the mark about Biden, and why he polls so well in the flyover which the Dems must win to eject Trump convincingly from the WH. Biden is the last Dem standing for whom so many in the flyover can identify with, have enthusiasm for, and respect —his grittiness, his monosyllabic linguistics—who they feel (I think correctly) can go toe-to-toe with Trump. Defeating Trump is the goal!
5
Biden was a poor candidate for president 10 years ago and he is worse now BUT I would strongly disagree that he "like much of the Democratic field, could beat trump". Harris and Warren (and certainly Sanders) probably have no chance of beating trump when they start singing the "health care for illegal residents, free college for everyone, Medicare for all" song orchestrated by Bernie. Those are bridges too far for most Americans and that doesn't even account for the baked in "deplorable" vote trump would get if he did in fact shoot someone on 5th avenue.
So the conundrum the party is increasingly facing is just this: is it better to nominate someone like Biden, who doesn't seem to have any more of a policy vision than Hillary Clinton did, but who might conceivably beat trump or is it better to nominate a "progressive" with plenty of policy vision that is so out of step with much of the country that they have no real chance? The best alternative would probably be Pete Buttigieg but for two things. One, his rather naked ambition- extreme even for a presidential candidate. Two, could a 37 year old gay man win the American presidency in 2020?
5
I consider myself center-left and was deeply disturbed by the unrealistic, deficit exploding proposals from the candidates during the democratic debates. Free everything to everyone!
The virtue signaling and necessity to demonstrate that a candidate is "woke" appears weak and calculated. Biden has fought for the right causes during his career and seems genuine. Is he supposed to change who he is? I believe that in the debate he did not want to engage in the circular firing squad with another Democrat even though Harris was willing to point a gun at his head in order to gain a few dollars and points in the polls. Remember Reagan's 11th commandment? Attacking each other in that way potentially weakens the field. His reluctance to stab another Democrat does not indicate how he would face Trump. I like Biden's mannerisms and character and think that he has a chance of winning enough independents to beat Trump. I am afraid that the majority of the current Democratic field appears to pander so much to a vocal twitter minority that a Trump victory is almost assured if they continue on their current path.
9
I don't think he'd make a bad president. I just don't see how he can run a winning campaign. I think Trump will make mincemeat of him and that it is just silly not to see it. It is surely true that he can appeal to the center of the Democratic party but he is a bit out of it in his answers and just not quick enough on his feet to make it through the sort of campaign that would take place. That said, most of the other candidates have already give Trump enough ammunition to do serious damage in a prolonged campaign.
1
How nice of Charles Blow: "I don’t believe he’s a bad person, or a racist, or a segregationist. That’s ridiculous. "
Basically then, his entire critique of Biden, however well-meaning, is about style.
There are plenty of excellent presidents who would in fact qualify as a "bad person" in 2019, but who did enormous good for this country, from many of the Founding Fathers, to Lincoln, to Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, JFK and others.
Trump is not only a "bad person," a racist and so on, but a hazard to our nation. This is politics, and Biden wants to win, not be in the good graces of Charles Blow. That means not committing political seppuku every time he's criticized for being un-woke.
Focus, people!
6
He apologized. Sheeh. What do you want? Biden with critics like a bad marriage. He's trying for God's sake. Critics like the wife that says " you breathe too loud". I'm all for the scrutinize of candidates, but not for the minutiae monitor--ridiculous and anti-productive
6
One fact remains even if Joe is an imperfect candidate: he is the only one who can beat Trump in 2020. His "come on man" comment may not play well with some but it certainly does to those blue-shirted men in PA. Ohio, Mich. Wisconsin and other mid-western areas needed to defeat Trump and his corrupt administration. Joe is one of them, the common man, flaws and all. You'll get my vote, Joe. Come on people, eyes on the prize!
7
What Joe has not learned is that it almost doesn't matter what you meant to say. What matters is what others hear. I learned that only a couple of years ago when I said something to someone that I thought was clearly a friendly kidding. He took offense and I was completely blindsided. Then I stopped to think why he was offended. It finally got through my thick head that really what was important is what he heard. I went to him, apologized. I didn't bother explaining my intent; I told him that although what he heard is not what I meant, but that I knew I still owed him an apology. I also told him that when I apologize, it meant that I was truly sorry and that it would never happen again.
I am lucky that he accepted my apology and we just started over from there.
2
Charles Blow suffers from the same problem as does Senator Kamala Harris, namely applying today's standards to past actions by Senator Biden, but without the context of the time of each of those actions AND the changes of standards since the time of each of those actions.
Unfortunately, that's poor analysis on both their parts.
Going one step further, Charles Blow and Senator Kamala Harris both ignore Senator John Kerry's political guidance: "You don't negotiate with your friends; you negotiate with your enemies. VP Biden did just that when dealing the segregationist senators.
Neither Charles Blow or Senator Harris outline how their analyses of VP Biden's actions are valid with applying the time context to each of those actions they criticized.
Further, neither one of them offers a single bit of evidence on how you prevail over political enemies in the US Senate without negotiations when you consider the arcane rules of that body which allow a single senator to stop action on proposed bills. That fact alones implies an ignorance of political realities in the US Senate for the last 200 plus years.
5
I think Joe Biden comes across as privileged and condescending. What was he thinking during the 2012 campaign when he appeared before an African American audience, adopted a phony southern accent and said about his political opponents: "They're going to put y'all back in chains"? He must have a really really high opinion of himself and his goodness to think he can get away with such rhetoric. If African Americans had called him out then, maybe he would be in less trouble now.
1
"In his mind, he is one of the good guys who shelved much of his privilege to fight for the oppressed. To some degree, that is true."
You are being too kind, Mr. Blow. Mr. Biden has supported the big monied interests for most of has career, and the man in the Senate for the big banks. He has been a solid supporter of the military/industrial complex.
He may have fought for the oppressed at some time or another, but it's much easier to remember the times he fought for the interests of the oppressors. It it's true that to some degree he fought for the oppressed, that degree would not light a candle.
1
"We don’t need to replace a septuagenarian brute with a septuagenarian bro."
If that's not ageism, I don't know what is. The implication is clear: This guy is old, not up to snuff; be wary and forewarned: You're not dealing with a human at the top of his game. His sell-by date has passed.
(Yes, I'm in my 70s. So you can discount my comment. Okay, not you, but did you flinch at "septuagenarian" in the article? Oh, you didn't? I see, said the blind carpenter as he picked up his hammer and saw.)
2
Dear Charles Blow,
I know you don't like Biden, but why do you have to be disingenuous in your criticism?
"I don’t believe he’s a bad person, or a racist, or a segregationist. That’s ridiculous. I just believe that he is a man late in life who believes that he has always behaved admirably over that life."
Does Biden believe he's always acted admirably? He's the king of self-deprecation. And if this is not a situation singular to Biden, then why are insinuations about his stance on civil rights being raised by Harris, who actively fought federally mandated prison reform for CA, and championed the criminalization of truancy in CA? Why aren't her credentials being questioned this way?
You attack his manner of speech. You sure did extrapolate a lot from "c'mon man." Confirmation bias much? There was no dust-up about his comments of working with segregationists. There was a misrepresentation of what he said and meant by other candidates who were looking to target the frontrunner to move up in the polls. And because context and social media don't go hand in hand, it worked.
Lastly, Biden connects with people through touch, including men. There are countless pics and video of him embracing men, too. Yes, it's not always appropriate, and he's recognized as much. What else do you want? It feels like your using the Fox News playbook: misassociate something again and again until it sticks.
7
Too much baggage Biden. If he's the candidate the Republican media machine will destroy him.
1
Those of us voting in this declining Potemkin democracy might prefer the Bland v. the Blond leading the Blind here; beyond that we expect NOTHING from Biden
Biden was correct in the debate when he said "my time is up".
1
"Biden, like the rest of the Democratic field, is better than Trump any day. Biden, like much of the Democratic field, could beat Trump", writes Mr. Blow. On Biden able to beat Trump, I think he's 100% wrong!
@willw on much of the rest of the field I think he's wrong.
As usual, you are spot on, Charles.
I am a 70 year old white female and Joe makes me uncomfortable. Same old white guy stuff. The things he says he can't help saying. Let the women have their say. Let the minority candidates get some press coverage. Biden could not possibly go head to head with McConnell and win, let alone Trump. McConnell's "legacy" is that he is bent on full out destruction of everything the Dems did in the last 70 years. And Trump is too dumb to put up a decent fight. He'll just bluster and make noise while his "base" base eats it up.
I want to see the women candidates have at Trump. All he can do is call them names and try to shame them which doesn't work. If he wings, Biden will look to "work with" the Trumplicans and that is simply not a useful attitude for 2020.
You had your day, Joe, now go home --
No, Joe, you must go.
You're no longer "in the know,"
You just don't have any glow.
Take a tip from Mr. Blow --
Now's the time to end your show,
Leave before you stub your toe!
3
Like many of the NYT editorial police, this author rests on one of the glaring reaction points that may have brought Trump to the forefront.
PC.
This author's criticism of Biden cites numerous PC moments, but never says what one should have done or should have said. This editorial is just an essay with a string of make believe insults that make subtle points over and over again. Points that he is a racist, too old, or just too much of something, ill defined.
It's an exmple of smear-trolling, bouncing around in an echo-chamber. Discrimination based on age, and smear trolling expressing wanna-be racism.
Expressions of this kind make sane people want to stamp out PC activity at every turn. It creates an antithesis that is real. It's viewpoints like this authors that seed the opposition. Opposition like MAGA.
Is there a place where moderate dem's can hang their hats right now... I don't see it.
You are simply elevating MAGA with your words.
5
Of course Biden’s major problem is his ‘come on man’ bravado. His many racist gaffes, his too-freely wandering touch with females, his consistently wrong foreign policy positions, his destruction of the historically collegial Senate confirmation process, his current age and feeble & flustered debate performance, and his nearly 50 years in politics with few accomplishments have nothing to do with decline in support.
Joe Biden will Win President Donald Trump but the 14 Dem's candidates in race for other try throw everything at Joe Biden about his Son, Bus and Abortion issue.
At no other time in America History have to beat Dragon in White House Donald Trump what about Joe Biden he been mold Job 40 years and Democrats all should try get over finish line so respect of President will come back to all America.
President Donald Trump say will try take credit on Stock Market but really start with President Obama and Joe.
Keep sticking it to your best and most loyal friends just for the petty sake of it and you soon won't have any left, just when you need them all the most. You are all starting to become just as exhausting as Trump, bathing the electorate in obtuse historical triviality that has no meaning in the context of today's reality. Stop and listen to yourselves. When you insult Biden with these ridiculous character attacks you are doing virtually the same to a good percentage of all male democrats who find themselves over forty. That's tens of millions of reliable voters, who despite your apparent wishes aren't quite dead yet. Newsflash, we can hear you. Pardon us all for not being flawlessly "woke" to the precise societal imperatives of 2020 back in 1978. I for one, only received a C- in clairvoyance.
8
Let's not be too helpful to him he is after all part of the entrenched system that has lead us here to this mess.
BTW the GOP put the Clown El Trumpo up front so you would forget about the criminal Bush administration. We still need to arrest and prosecute that whole administration.
1
Biden is not a perfect man, but I believe a man of good basic moral composition, and equally if not more importantly, A Man Who Can Beat Trump... and bring America back from the brink of Cult Fascist Nationalism and Destruction.
3
Correct me if I'm wrong please. Obama did not back Biden for president, he backed Hillary.
2
I want Donald Trump to be defeated in 2020. Joe Biden can beat him, and he is a decent person.
4
I like Biden because he doesn't pander, grandstand, or take cheap shots.
6
Oh, Joe! You so missed the boat. You miss it over and over. The women of The View gave you a perfect opportunity to sincerely apologize and move on, but you just could not take it.
Apologizing is not admitting nefarious intent. Apologizing with so many buts and qualifiers is NOT an apology.
You make some people uncomfortable with how touchy feely you are.
You had a hand in how offensively Anita Hill was treated.
Your self-righteous excuses do you great harm. Your inability to just simply apologize is a HUGE black mark.
You know, my dog Sheba jumps up on people without permission because she is just so full of love and excitement to see them. I know she has no inappropriate intentions, but it is still out of line and I apologize for her and try to get her to stop.
You just seem so stubborn and clueless about all of it.
I'll vote for you if you are the nominee, but I won't be happy about it.
1
"His first impulse is to get his back up and fight, rather than be empathizing and accepting. It is that thing in him, his own certitude that his motives are honorable and pure, that allows him to casually diminish or dismiss the pain people say he caused them."
Who's to say getting back up and fighting isn't the right first impulse. Democrats need to dispense with the self flagulation and start leading.
5
@Todd
I agree.
As the Democrats, aided and abetted by the media, self-destruct looking for the perfect candidate to please every single voter under its diverse tent, Trump and his band of merry, cruel, corrupt and incompetent (mostly) men will glide smoothly to re-election. Then for the next 4 years, there will be thousands of hours of electronic media and forests of paper committed to figure out what went wrong.At the same time, the holier than thou “Christians” will rejoice in their divinely selected President stacking the courts and laying waste to everything that’s been accomplished in the past 50 years!
Keep on keepin’ on Charles and company.
3
I have a question for Mr. Blow - why is challenging a bully to prove he’s a big a man as he claims - even in a fist fight - problematic?
Any school child that has effectively ended bullying knows that the power dynamic has to be flipped. Sometimes, that requires force or at least the credible threat.
Non violence has its place. But with a man like Trump, the only choice is to unmask his real cowardice. Someone - anyone - challenge him to a duel and mean it. Illegal? So what. Antiquated? How quaint. I’ll bet you a reasonable amount of money he no-shows because fundamentally he is a bully and a coward.
4
This column just describes wealthy white male privileged behavior. When one holds that social standing that is so especially vaulted in this country that one can actually be accused of horrific crimes and still be appointed/elected to some of the most powerful and influential positions in our nation, of course you don’t feel a need to reflect and repent for a little racist policymaking here, a sexist/misogynistic joke there. Joe Biden is a washed up career politician who still can’t shake that he was in the White House but not running it, and he’s going after the POTUS office not because — in my opinion — he believes he’s best for the job but because he *deserves* it. He can’t even be bothered to show up for campaign events that every other candidate shows up for or participated in, including the multimedia Q&A feature in this very publication just a few weeks ago. He announced his run late, and with little to no policies to make up for his tardiness. He continues to be flippant and remorseless for his past errors and slip-ups that have NOT aged well. As a POC woman and millennial I want someone who can adeptly play the role of POTUS for 2020 and beyond. Joe Biden and his promise for moderate (read: restoration of pre-Trump status quo to make all the Boomers feel comfortable again) approach ain’t it. Hang it up, Uncle Joe.
It sounds as though Biden is trying to out-Trump Trump with the "reguluh guy" persona.
I don't think that's going to work.
@Jay Arthur
If you had been paying attention this is and has been Biden for 50 years. It is not a posture assumed for a run against trump.
3
... ..Whatever... When its time to vote, each of us will vote (hopefully).. And let the chips fall where they may.
.. No single person is going to decide the outcome of the election.. it comes down to millions & millions of individual votes.
.. Seems kinda pointless to keep carrying on about 'who can & can't win'... 'who should & who shouldn't win..'
...-- No matter what a person thinks about who "should win", their vote is just one tiny part of a big, cumulative, voting process..
..So ya just have to see how it goes.
Trump beat Clinton. He’ll beat Biden also.
@Thomas
As has been pointed out numerous times Clinton won the popular vote, the electoral college elected trump, not the people.
3
We have an insufferable person in the White House who can't accept criticism, do we need another. Is Biden going to make his campaign an apology tour?
Why does he keep saying "man"? I don't believe he ever spoke like that before.
That being said, I'll vote Democratic regardless of who gets the nomination, even it's a monkey.
Dear Charles,
You can'r rehabilitate Joe Biden. He is who he is. I know he's the choice of the Clinton wing of the Democratic party. And I know he's supposed to keep Bernie the "red" from dragging the party away from its key corporate donors.
But Joe Biden has had an unspectacular career as the consummate Washington insider. Shake hands and make a deal. It doesn't matter if the 'deal' was to keep schools in his state segregated.
And so what if he supported mass incarceration? Local black politicians did too. Only they also asked for drug treatment programs, job training and better schools. But, as Joe would say, half a loaf is better than none.
But Biden's crowning achievement was as Obama's VP. Old Joe was supposed to smooth the path through congress for Obama's key legislation.
After Obama Care you see how well Joe "the great compromiser" did. He was a dud and Obama's legislative agenda completely tanked. Yet Joe's signature platform is that he can reach across the isle and get things done.
Oh really? He couldn't even get a vote on Merrick Garland in the Senate from the committee that he used to chair.
Biden is the classic "devil that you know," as opposed to the ones you don't know. In such a crowded field that's inevitable. But as the field winnows down Joe and his old ideas will fade. Just as they should.
1
Seriously, Charles Blow? A man who has lived a life as well lived as most needs to publicly examine it to make some of the electorate what? Feel better about themselves? This truly smacks of ageism. If we lived in a culture less youth enamored-nay, obsessed- perhaps people would actually listen to, learn from, and honor someone who has gone and served before;warts and all. The parsing of the culture of Biden is ridiculous in terms of what we need to focus on. Truly, you guys are becoming incredibly boring. Raise your hand, journalist, if you, too, jumped on the Never Biden Bandwagon. Luckily, the electorate learned their lesson about how far off the reporting was in the last general election. Biden still leads in the polls.
5
@Mac right on Mac!
Keep it up, pundits. Keep hammering Biden for the slightest indiscretion. Keep focusing on his every word and deed, looking for something - anything - to criticize. Keep writing about all his many failings as a human being as your ignore the imperfections of other candidates. Keep it up, and Biden’s standing as the most - only? - electable Democrat will wither and die faster than you can say “congratulations on your re-election Mr. Trump.”
5
Do you want to turn the election into an apology tour? I'm sick and tired of people dredging up Anita Hill and the crime bill. All these women clamoring for apologies make me sick. They need to look at their conduct too. I lived through this era and saw many women who were only too happy happy to use their sexuality to gain advantage with powerful men. And for the record, many black leaders supported the crime bill when it was passed, so call them out too.
1
The problem with the "just apologize" mantra is that once you've bucked the purity enforcers on the Hard Left, that wing of our party is never satisfied. Unless you've been fighting for decades for the abortion rights of transgender men while railing against everyone in law enforcement but Robert Mueller, the Hard Left will forever brand you a little bit racist and a little bit of a plutocrat.
2
Joe Biden: known trusted ethical knowledgeable experienced caring.
That works!
2
"Bro-ishness"? Why is this term necessary? Why can't you just write a thoughtful article without resorting to lazy generalizations?
There is a regrettable subculture in every race and gender. Liberals have done a mostly admirable job of discouraging people from using lazy shorthands and generalizations that reference those groups. But for some reason it is still open season on white people, especially white males.
It's just so stupid and pointless. People pull their hair out over every perceived slight, every imagined microaggression, and every "problematic" word. But "bro-ishness" in the New York Times in 2019? What does this accomplish, other than lend credence to the right's position that there is a war on white men? And, just to be clear, I don't believe there is a war on white men (not in any war that matters anyway), and I am still a staunch supporter of the progressive cause.
But the double standard is getting really tough to take. You could write this exact same article and make the exact points without resorting to this lazy generalization.
Either these terms are regrettable because lumping people into large groups and describing their behavior in simplistic terms is wrongheaded, or the left is hypocritical and is really only interested in protecting its favored groups. If the liberal ideals of equality and universal dignity are to be believed, the first option has to reign. Please do better.
3
As Mr. Blow well suspects, I suspect, the only chance for Mr. Biden to win the Democratic nomination is to come out swinging in the next debate & to project strength in every interview from this point forward. A clever, nuanced approach is not his approach. The competing field is not going to roll over & yield to his presence.
In Biden's case the perfect is the enemy of the good.
1
Mr. Blow has an extremely incisive take of Joe Biden. His assessment of Biden is spot on. And yet, despite Biden's failings, despite the fact that he is clearly a candidate of another era, he will not be penalized for his views.
Why? One need only look at the wholly unfit, ignorant man in the White House right now. On the other hand, women candidates are castigated for the slightest fumble. But men, especially white men, may literally be felons and not lose votes.
We have a literal felon in the White House now, and yet folks are still bringing out those tired tropes that the women candidates are practicing identity politics, smearing Liz Warren regarding her ethnic heritage (even though their smears have all been debunked). Every male candidate will be "forgiven" for any of their "lapses" and worse, before the election. And Joe Biden will never have to answer for his mistreatment of Anita Hill.
So it will come down to this -- Joe Biden vs Trump. If Joe is smart, he'll pick a male VP literally half his age. If he does so, he'll win the election. Never mind his praise of segregationists -- all the Bernie Bros who couldn't find it in their "conscience" to vote for Hillary will easily cast their concerns aside and line up to vote for Biden. And regardless of how much better our women presidential candidates are, the 2020 contest will be between a serial groper and a serial rapist.
1
If you are into money-laundering, you probably know all about Delaware, where you can legitimize any business you can imagine.
This country needs a leader to take on really serious issues and move us forward. Biden has done his service and quite frankly I'm really sick and tired of listening to old guys atoning for their past. Enough. The dems need to focus on getting someone who can beat trump, get competent people into an administration, and reset our government to tackle those critical issues.
The leadership that is needed sees the future and is not driving forward by looking in the rear view mirror.
"Biden still leads in the polls, and if he can maintain his lead he may well win the nomination."
In spite of all that Mr. Blow finds wrong with Mr. Biden, he still leads in the polls.
Apparently many people do not agree with what Mr. Blow sees as bad; on the contrary, they may see it as good and positive.
Stand your ground and dig in your heels probably gets more votes than I apologize for my life which is now hopelessly out of date.
5
Mr. Blow has an extremely incisive take of Joe Biden. His assessment of Biden is spot on. And yet, despite Biden's failings, despite the fact that he is clearly a candidate of another era, he will not be penalized for his views.
Why? One need only look at the wholly unfit, ignorant man in the White House right now. On the other hand, women candidates are castigated for the slightest fumble. But men, especially white men, may literally be felons and not lose votes.
We have a literal felon in the White House now, and yet folks are still bringing out those tired tropes that the women candidates are practicing identity politics, smearing Liz Warren regarding her ethnic heritage (even though their smears have all been debunked).
Every male candidate will be "forgiven" for any of their "lapses" and worse, before the election. And Joe Biden will never have to answer for his mistreatment of Anita Hill.
So it will come down to this -- Joe Biden vs Trump. If Joe is smart, he'll pick a male VP literally half his age. If he does so, he'll win the election. Never mind his praise of segregationists -- all the Bernie Bros who couldn't find it in their "conscience" to vote for Hillary will easily cast their concerns aside and line up to vote for Biden.
And regardless of how much better our women presidential candidates are, the 2020 contest will be between a serial groper and a serial rapist.
1
I have worried about Joe Biden's age should he beat President Trump in 2020. I would be less concerned if he chose Senator Warren as his running mate and said he would be a one term president. Fat chance of that happening, right???
Another anointed, inevitable Democrat for president from the chummy old corporatist back slapper class of 1970 is certain to fail election. Put simply, we don’t want him.
Nice job, for a change, Mr. Blow. You desperately want to have Joe go down in flames as soon as possible, but you do it by faint praise and by lamenting that Joe is just being Joe (which used to be the excuse for Joe's behavior when he was a useful adjunct to the Obamas).
Let me guess, Mr. Blow: while you don't say so, the perfect substitutes for Joe would be Kamala Harris or Cory Booker. Of course.
But the good news is that they are unelectable. And only Joe is likely to be able to defeat Trump. So, once again, you and your fellow Progressives will have talked yourselves into defeat. Perhaps this time you can blame the Chinese, instead of the Russians. I'm looking forward to the false narratives in the post-election lamentations.
1
I dare say Mr. Biden's politically incorrect "bro-iness" might appeal to a lot of Obama-Trump voters. And that's a good thing in my opinion!
2
This is compassionate constructive criticism that I hope Biden reads and takes to heart. That being said, I can definitely imagine Biden choosing a more progressive running mate if he wins the nomination and allowing that person a significant role in his administration. Whatever his other flaws, I see Biden more as a collaborative than confrontational leader. VP and members of his cabinet would have a real voice. Which means that if he is the nominee, there's really no excuse not to vote him in even if he is less woke than some of the competition.
209
@Rmark6
Yes, he is more collaborative, as Obama attempted to be. McConnell is not.
22
@Rmark6
Nobody elects a president based on who their running mate is. It's never happened and it never will. Biden doesn't have the charisma to win & the running mate isn't going to make any difference. We need the top of the ticket to excite voters. Nobody is going to be excited by Biden.
"If he is the nominee, there's really no excuse not to vote him in..."
That's very think gruel for why someone should have the Democratic nomination for president in 2020: "there's really no excuse not to vote him in...."
That was true of Hillary and a huge part of the Democratic electorate sat home because she bored or antagonized so many people.
We need an exciting nominee people can't wait to vote for.
Joe Biden's not that person.
18
@Rmark6,
"This is compassionate constructive criticism."
No. This is the circular firing squad. Keep it up and it's 4 more years of Trump.
23
From here, Biden looks good because he is a decent and caring human being, (as are many of the other democratic candidates). But, what is vitally important is ending this morally-bankrupt-nightmare-of-an-admistration. Trump can tout a booming economy until the cows come home, but without dignity, grace and respect for others, I would rather be poor with my integrity intact.
337
In the end it’s all about winning and you don’t bet on a two time loser with baggage if you want to win. The only candidate with an existing national movement is Bernie. It’s about time the Democrats learned how to pick a winner.
6
@Holly Biden's having thrown Anita Hill under the bus is not indicative of a decent and cary human being. I rolled my eyes recently when I learned there is something called the "Biden Courage Award". "Courage" and "Biden" are not two words I would ever put in the same sentence together. Biden is a "get along to go along" type. He seems to believe his folksy charm and smile is enough to get him elected. Trump will clean his clock.
13
@Bobotheclown. Sanders cannot defeat Trump, and it is time you Sanders fans with your heels dug in realize it. The two leading contenders, Biden and Trump, are the least likely to defeat Trump. You want to defeat Trump? The only candidate now who can do so is Pete Buttigieg, because he's SO sane, so calm, so decent, so truthful and authentic, and he makes Trump really look glaringly like the monster he is in comparison.
22
Perusing through the comments, the most common statement I see is that Trump is a disaster that needs to be replaced. I keep wondering, what disaster? And you folks that want to replace him should start recognizing that its, and always has been, the economy. If the Obama/Biden economic policies were so great, why didn't they produce a great booming economy? It was stagnant and lackluster at best. Even given that Obama/Biden started their administration at the end of the economic crisis, surely after 4, or 5, or 6 years, their policies would have taken root, and resulted in booming growth and a booming stock market. Obama/Biden last 2 years saw growth avged under 2% - 1.87 to be exact. After several more months of that low growth into his administration, Trump has us comfortably over 3 - as a direct result of his policies. Upon the election of Trump, the S&P, at yesterdays close, has soared 40%. Anyone have an idea as to how much the S&P rose for Obama/Bidens last 2 years? Look it up - 1.4%.
Is that where you folks want to take us? Trump reversed all of Obama/Bidens policies, including slashing their onerous regulations and cutting taxes. Biden has promised to raise taxes and bring back those regulations. Lower taxes and regulation fuels economic growth. Trumps Presidency, compared to Obama/Biden's, is proof positive of that. Seriously, when are you folks ever going to get that?
10
@NYCSurgical - You seem to have forgotten that the Obama administration started in a giant hole of the 2008 recession which took years to get over. Bailing out the banks did little to help consumers get back on their feet. And Republicans tried to stop, did stop almost every bill created to help after 2010, so nothing got accomplished for 6 years. It recovered on its own, thanks to Congress being against the Administration and each other.
The economy did start growing at a more rapid pace in 2014. Its continued growing since. The growth is mostly limited to stocks. The bag mixed for growth in wages and individual industries being saved. See GM shutting down Lordstown.
You probably own stock and are happy. But some are really, truly struggling despite the decade of growth since the Great Recession.
29
@NYCSurgical
There are important regulations. Like ensuring clean water and air. Like making sure a credit card company cannot fleece a consumer. Character matters. Constant lying, diminishing our alliances and worshiping dictators matter.
This is to me one of the main differences between liberals and conservatives. Deals with the devil do not end well.
5
Trump's booming stock market is a sham. It is financed by his tax cut which will leave our current year deficit in 2019 at 4.6%, the largest percentage ever in a booming economy. The 'job-killing' regulations Trump is destroying are those which protect both our environment from further destruction and our citizenry from banking fraud. Both these undertakings will lead to a precarious future for our country, which doesn't concern him, and, apparently, you, at all.
6
It's not ridiculous to call Biden a segregationist. That's what fighting integration with James Eastland is-- being a segregationist. I admire your willingness to try to soften to blow by being polite, but we need to stick to the facts and define what he has been politically according to what he's done. As Jonathan Kozol, the education writer, said, "To the extent that Biden has been involved in Civil Rights, it's been as an opponent."
9
@James
For those who haven't seen and heard for themselves, NPR and the Washington Post, both, published transcripts and audio of Biden talking about all these things in ways that are unequivocal.
Biden stood in stark contrast to even the most liberal of Democrats at the time. That says a LOT.
4
@James
And yet, somehow, Obama missed these horrible character flaws when he chose him to be VP despite Delaware's irrelevance in presidential elections.
2
By the time the clowns in the car finish stabbing each other in the back, the Democrats will have lost the 2020 election.
The stunt pulled by the “moderators” in the debate did no one any favors by asking for a show of hands on whether the candidates would support essentially free healthcare for illegal immigrants. This is a complex issue and does not have a simple binary answers. One or more of the candidates should have called them out for boxing them into a position. Most people favor emergency healthcare for all, regardless of legal status, but not necessarily full cradle to grave coverage for illegal immigrants. Now the Republicans have, for them, wonderful campaign ad showing how Democrats will squander money.
570
@Thomas Smith
I could not agree with you more re: those "show of hands" questions. The candidates should refuse to answer any question posed in such a fashion that doesn't allow for a nuanced response.
As a viewer trying to evaluate my voting options, it's virtually pointless to see people raise or not raise a hand if they're not allowed to follow up with the rationale for their answer.
303
@Thomas Smith
And that question about eliminating private insurance? Sounds written in Russia to me.
The moderators were playing for the other team and should have been called out. The candidates should refuse to answer setups like these and question the question and it’s deceptive intent.
58
@Thomas Smith
Any candidate with a brain would refuse to play the "show of hands" game and say, "I won't diminish the complexity of any issue by conceding that the choices are binary. We need a better debate than that."
39
Why not just say it? The man is oblivious to who he was and blind to the world as it is today -- and sorry for nothing, except that people misunderstand him.
Meanwhile, there is, for once, real choice among the Democratic candidates -- candidates more knowledgeable on policy, less prone to error, horror and orthodoxy.
The country may be ungovernable, and irredeemable, but why not at least pick a real one, than a candidate thirty years beyond his expiration date?
194
Biden will eventually self destruct in the heat of future primaries. He will never make it to the ballot so we should just forget about him for awhile. The real issue is how to migrate the fragmented Democratic base around Bernie who is the de facto leader of the party and the strongest candidate against Trump.
2
@jrd
I think Biden may very well self-destruct given the time to do it. He certainly has exhibited some symptoms of foot-in-mouth disease in the past. But, to single out just Biden for criticism, and every day - article after article - , when others, and most especially Harris, have big loud skeletons rattling around in their closets, smacks of a vendetta on the part of the Times. And, more than anything, it makes the Times look very, very, small in my eyes, and I'm sure the eyes of many others.
2
@jrd
I completely agree with your comment, but lose no sleep over Biden’s candidacy. It’s only a matter of time until...boom (foot in mouth) for him. I wish he were more self- aware. If he had been, he wouldn’t be gaffing his way around the campaign trail.
1
It would be wise not to pick apart Joe Biden. He may be the only candidate who can beat Trump. The majority of people in this country, including Democrats, are moderates. We need to get rid of Donald Trump. We need to support any candidate we think has a real chance of beating him. Joe Biden is that person. I love Harris, Warren, and Buttigieg. They would make great running mates for Biden. The country is not ready to elect them as President yet.
3
You offer Biden some good advice, Charles Blow. But we can also pick apart all the other Democratic frontrunners. Warren should stop saying she wants to take away private health insurance. She also needs to moderate with the banks, otherwise Wall Street will work tirelessly to decimate her campaign. The same goes for Sanders. Harris needs to be less opportunistic. Buttigieg has had problems controlling his own police force, giving the appearance of being too young and inexperienced.
We have just learned that Trump's approval rating among registered voters has climbed to 47%. He only needed 46% of the popular vote to win in 2016. He will give Putin free rein to interfere with the election next year, and there will be many states where the Democratic nominee and Trump will poll within the margin of error, making election tampering more difficult to uncover.
If Trump manages to win again next year, the survival chances for our democracy may pass the tipping point, especially if Democrats fail to retake the Senate and the courts continue to be packed with arch-conservatives for at least a generation to come.
The primaries will play out. A Democratic presidential nominee will emerge. We need to support that candidate. We need to register Democrats and ensure that their votes are properly counted. We need to get to work. The time for that is now.
583
The time to support Bernie is now. The sooner the rest of the amateur hour get off the stage the sooner a real campaign can begin and the movement that can topple Trump can gain momentum. Very few candidates can beat Trump and Bernie is one of them. But Bernie is the only candidate who can repair America once in office. Our choice is clear.
4
@Blue Moon, no matter what, if Democrats do not retake at least the White House as well as both chambers of congress, America as we knew it is over. And I am sorry, @Bobotheclown, but Bernie does not answer the question of who can win all across the country, especially in the middle where we most need to shore up support.
37
@Bobotheclown---Bernie is old news. His time has come and gone. Drop out and then support 100% the nominee unlike last time.
52
In my humble and foreign opinion, you truly DO need younger politicians. You need younger people running your government. You need their energy, their optimism, their strengths. You need their enthusiasm for living.
Good luck !
53
Best comment in the thread.
@Wendy Winslow
But how about the older folks' experience, wisdom, knowledge, and patience?
2
Charles Blow explains Joe Biden's stumbles as due to living in a bygone era, as one who sees himself as an entitled (white?) male who credits himself for being overly aggressive- a tough guy.But his inability to present himself in a more favorable light for the current Democrat's base is surprising given his long experience as a national political figure. With better advisors and his willingness to change, a few hours of interpersonal coaching could make him a much more desirable for the current era. Had he responded to Senator Harris's personal and emotionally laden defense of school busing by first expressing an understanding of her feelings e.g. "You feel school busing helped you in many ways, I m sorry that I wasn't more understanding at that time.
As a result of listening to you and others, I have evolved and am more empathic now. Unlike President Trump who, etc.".
He need not be defensive and begin to see others from their perspective.
1
@TMS Harris was ridiculous.
Joe Biden is a nice man. But there is a reason why he lost the other two times and why he will make it a third. He isn't Trump. He can not stir up emotions, he is for globalism and apologizes for EVERYTHING. People are also looking through the lenses of NOW rather then of the time. We all have worked with people we do not like or agree with. BUT, we hold our noses and work with them to get the job done. Am I a Biden fan? No, Trump supporter. But I am a person who believes in fair play.
There's an alternative to apologizing or proclaiming your innocence and good intentions. Listening. Affirming. Biden could have "won" the Harris interchange by simply looking at her while she was speaking, listening then saying, with as much genuine feeling as possible, "I think I understand now why some of my words caused you pain. I've learned something tonight. Thank you." Period. Back to you, Moderator.
2
In his answer to a question at the 2016 Glamour forum about his strategy in Clarence Thomas's hearing. He took an exasperated inhale, sighed loudly and said: "Look, here's the deal:" Biden then told a bald-faced lie about 2 women who he said were unwilling to testify by recalling experiences similar to Anita Hill's. Not so. They were absolutely willing and had flown to DC so as to be available. Biden had made an agreement to limit the hearing to a single day in order to prevent their testimony. With his eyes on the presidency he didn't want to be the one to stymie the confirmation of a black Justice.
If there was one moment that put me off Biden, it was seeing how easily - and forcefully - he lied in response to the question.
The father-son article about Biden and his son Hunter in this week's New Yorker reveals that Uncle Joe regularly screamed at every single person on his staff, despite his self-promoted compassionate persona. He also insists that the women who've complained about his invasive touching were really comforted, despite their articulate complaints. C'mon, man - they know they loved it!
Why do we dismiss the soft-spoken, experienced and intelligent moderates like Hickenlooper and Bennett and embrace the entitled?
Consistency between image and actions matter. Like Hill, I'll vote for Biden if he's the nominee, but I wouldn't be happy about voting for an ambitious liar just because trump is a more repulsive one.
2
Really good article. Articulates what a lot of my democratic friends kind of feel, but didn't have the words to say.
While I do not think Mayor Pete is anywhere close to being ready to be President (maybe in a few years), one of the most significant moments of the debate was when he was challenged about the police in his city, and he simply said "I didn't get it done". He didn't try to talk his way around the issue, but fully acknowledged, and took responsibility for it.
I found it courageous, charming, and incredibly refreshing. Contrasting that with Joe Biden is almost jarring.
2
Were Biden truly winning, except among elder voters, he’d be further ahead in the polls. Once again Mr. Blow zooms us in to something crucial, that way that the traditional and institutional privilege, chauvinism, and the pre-assumed being can alter and will into being something, such a lead or media sway, that isn’t necessarily there.
It’s amazing how we are such a “ throwaway” culture. Now, Joe’s being tossed aside after “ carrying water” for President Obama for eight years and being a very loyal VP for Obama. Right now Joe Biden is not my top person to support in the primaries and there are four candidates I admire very much but I would never throw Vice President Biden under the bus. His voice is needed.
3
This is an excellent column, but my fellow Southerner must know that the segregationists Talmadge and Eastland, however offensive, wielded great power then and had to be accommodated to get anything accomplished. The greater question is how these racists came to attain such power in Washington. It seems that this is a national blemish.
1
The Democrats are not our enemy, Charles.
I dislike Bernie. I dislike Elizabeth. I find Kamala annoying and self righteous. And, yes, Joe can be odd sometimes.
But a Democrat must replace Trump next year. MUST. And I will ENTHUSIASTICALLY rally for, donate to and VOTE for ANY Democrat that wins the nomination.
We cannot squabble amongst ourselves.
This article was gratuitous.
8
My worry is that Biden is not quick enough for the debates. He should have been able to defuse Harris, Yes I took a position that many other liberals took at the time, we did not think busing was the answer. There were many arguments why and i thought they had merit. I wanted something more sure to solve the problem. WE all look back at decisions we made and reevaluate them with new info. You now realize your position on proscuting juvenile offenders was wrong and you have admitted it, we all have decisions we now want to do over. Its called learning and getting experience and i have a lot of that on my side. Been there and done that many times.
Instead he blanked. This worries me.
3
Donald Trump and the Republican Party are abhorrent and vile and need to be voted out of office. I admit that the fear of them retaining power is scary enough to make me vote for Joe Biden if he is the eventual Democratic nominee, as it was for me to vote for Hillary Clinton. But I will be again holding my nose as I pull the lever. For Joe Biden and politicians of his ilk are Republican enablers. Through his support of banks and credit card companies, he has impoverished literally millions of people. His votes in Congresshave enabled those financial companies to charge usurious interest rates on credit card and other financial loans, and on student loans as well. He voted to remove successful financial safeguards that had been in place for decades, the removal of which directly caused the home mortgage crisis and the Great Recession. It is especially sad to me that Joe Biden receives great support from the Afro-American community--for he has hurt that community terribly. More money was lost proportionately by that community in the home mortgage crisis than any other group. And when Biden wasn't directly impoverishing that community with his financial votes, he was putting them behind bars with the harsh Crime bill he authored. He hasn't only compromised with segregationist senators, he recklessly "compromised" with Newt Gingrich as well. IMHO, Joe directed millions of folk to vote for Trump, because Joe made the Dem party an increasingly unreliable alternative.
1
Sure, let's find the wimpiest candidate we can find, that'll win us the presidency in 2020! Let's spend a little more time on what's needed to take on Trump and a little less time on all the personality quirks of the leading candidate of the week. There's a disturbing trend in the pundit class and the more rigid progressive factions to insist candidates undergo rigorous self-criticism and self-flagellation over perceived sleights. Do we want to win or do we want to winnow the field until we find the candidate least likely to be acceptable to middle America?
5
We old people grew up in different meaner times. It probably made us meaner. If we disagreed with someone or disliked them we could still work with them. I never found progressives to be that way but the rest of us could. Biden managed to work with some mean people and he helped change the country because of it. You have to ask how much change is a mean person willing to take. Could it have been possible to demand free college education for black people during reconstruction? How about today?
There might still be lingering prejudice but a lot has changed. Sure the sixties fervor for justice is back in the media but remember it gave us Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. Even Obama wasn't much of a progressive or at least he didn't get far ahead of the voter.
3
We would all do things differently if we could go back and do our lives over. On balance, Biden's politics and demeanor look about like those of Bill Clinton, and he far exceeds Clinton when it comes to personal behavior. Biden is who he is adopting an apologetic tone is not a winning strategy. He needs to defend his record because he has one. Newly elected "woke" candidates have no record to answer for. They also have no chance of beating Trump.
4
"Many of us, as we age, survey our lives, measure our behaviors against modern mores, and regret some actions."
Does the other septuagenarian in the White House ever regret or apologize for his past of sexual assault, racism, greed and immorality? His behavior has never changed in decades. An unapologetic leopard like Trump does not change its spots. Biden meanwhile, for the most part acknowledges and regrets his controversial positions of decades ago, ones which have changed with maturity and evolved over the years. So have mine. As a 65 year old I admittedly have wavered and changed on countless political issues, convictions and personal mores which I once espoused during the 70's, 80's and even 90's. I had and still do hold regrets about many of them. I completely get it how Joe has done so as well like "many of us...when measured against modern mores" of the 21st century. Has Donald admitted to his "evolution" as well? Clearly the answer is no. The Democratics should take inventory of all of his egregious actions, positions and beliefs of past decades and compare them to the on-going ones of today. Drive the message home over and over for the public to remember. The sad fact is that Trump's supporters will always turn a blind eye to his massive defects of character and revel in "expository" articles like this to add fuel to the fire against the other candidates not just Joe Biden. In the words of Donnie Jr, "We love it." Where's the love for our good guys?
4
We Dems do not have the luxury of assessing the qualities of our presidential candidates as if 2020 will be a normal election. Only one goal, whoever our candidate: get rid of DJT.
7
So, Mr. Blow, what I hear you saying is that everyone should accept and give in to rampant political correctness and when called out (usually by someone from the far left progressive wing of the Democratic party), should apologize. Nonsense. Biden should be himself, a moderate Democrat who will appeal to the many moderates whose voices are drowned out by the progressives. Without a doubt, Biden is the only Democrat running for president who can beat Trump.
12
Spot on! Thank you for the well-reasoned, clear, and insightful assessment of this candidate. My hope is that the DNC does not shove him down our throats, because young people will stay home from the general election in droves.
2
“It is that thing in him, his own certitude that his motives are honorable and pure, that allows him to casually diminish or dismiss the pain people say he caused them.” A true believer. Doubt is useless.
Truth is we can try to destroy any candidate... young, old, progressive, too this or too that. Entering into this brutal arena is a sadistic (and masochistic) journey. Perhaps Biden could reflect more on his white privilege and macho ways. Perhaps he could apologize for being born in 1942 (here we go with ageism) and for all the biases and that implies. Perhaps he could apologize for being a white male. Give me a break, man. He is a decent, experienced and authentic candidate. He has much to prove, along with the others who are running.. But guess what, he is not perfect. But he is a good candidate for these times. Let's focus on policy, please.
7
When I look at Biden through the lenses of his privilege, including his white male privilege and his previous political positions, he seems to have a 20th century working-class version of an old-school knight's noblesse oblige.
While it's interesting to look at him that way through a social sciences lens, it doesn't actually do anything to address that he can't quite get through his head that despite his best intentions, he has inadvertently hurt people in ways great and small.
I don't doubt his general intentions, but Uncle Joe is not my first choice for the Democratic nod.
At the same time, I can't help but notice that one of the things that Trump supporters like about the Donald is that he never apologizes.
It's too easy to put the race into apologizers versus non... isn't it?
I agree with Mr. Blow regarding Biden’s impulse to resist criticism rather than empathize, yet Mr. Blow’s critique of Mr. Biden’s “every man” disposition and colloquialisms strike me as unfair and quite frankly, misandrist. I say this as someone raised in Virginia who has developed professionally in Manhattan. There is a gnawing, pretentious backlash here against the culture many American men were readily socialized to embrace. Bred through sports and endless expectations to navigate social competition by embracing more “alpha” behaviors. Many American men have learned to find success by mastering both aggression and poise, and the value of that balance has been categorically dismissed by the various waves of feminist theory that broadly paint it as unfashionable. I empathize with Mr. Biden’s almost instinctive resistance to media challenges to how he presents himself. I have found that living in NYC, social culture has repeatedly asked me to hide rather refined expressions of masculine culture in favor of more passive aggressive expressions of masculinity, which frankly, I question the value of, as it’s precisely those refined masculine instincts and behavior that has helped me navigate NYC’s professional culture. I too hope Mr. Biden embraces a tone of empathy to truly capture the political moment, but painting him as some sort of male dinosaur is unfair and is its own failure of imagination. This is the same man that nudged President Obama towards marriage equality.
5
Calm the moderates in the swing states so they’ll feel safe voting for the Dem, and excite the left and the purists so that they’ll (maybe) bother to vote? Good luck with that? Trump 2020 here we come!
3
I still think Joe Biden is our man. His appeal to the general population of voters say something about what most Americans want - a return to normalcy. The fact that his opponents are delving back 40 years to find something to complain about speaks volumes about Biden and his attackers. It's sad to see Biden's lead drop 10 point simply because Kamala Harris took a cheap shot at him during the first debate - a pointless attack without substance yet she was rewarded for the ferocity of the attack despite its lack of substance. When Hillary and Bernie were debating, they didn't attack one another - they explained what each would offer. Harris is down on my list in the herd.
10
@styleman
How was Ms Harris asking a question about something that affected her and in all likelihood affected many folk during that time. I was impressed with her just as she impressed me by not running away from the man who got on stage and she apparently not disturbed handed him the microphone when he reached his hand to her so he could speak. That took a lot of bravery and self-control.
I am still for Mayor Pete, 's Harris and Cory Booker, I think any combination of these folk would be a good team for the U.S. President and Vice President.
@styleman I think you are right on the mark. Mr. Blow and many other black men and women are caught up in some mysterious type of wishful thinking that envisions only a black person as the next U.S. President. Barack Obama whom history will recognize as one of the greatest American Presidents rigorously vetted Joe Biden to be his VP. Kamala Harris is no Barack Obama. She is simply another opportunist who will go to any lengths to gain a few votes. Anyone who so treacherously attacks another of the same political affiliation damages only herself. Biden would probably have chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate and four years later she would have become President. Unfortunately. her greed, impatience, and pure stupidity won't allow this scenario.
.
1
@Alecfinn The questions Harris asked Biden were about (1) his remark that he could work with people who he disagreed with to get the nation's business - passing legislation - done. Almost every black leader understood the context in which he intended those remarks. but Harris twisted it into something ugly. She was "hurt" - really? (2) busing in the 1970's. I was unable to see any substance in her raising this old issue. The Democratic primaries should not be a ninja contest or as Obama put it - a circular firing squad. The only qualified candidates are Biden, Warren & Gillibrand plus the one who is not running - Adam Schiff. The rest are just taking up oxygen.
1
I will vote for any democrat over 45. We need to get some truth and values back in our society. Joe is not my first choice, want younger and more forward thinking. The bravest out there is Warren who has daring plans she has articulated and will fight for.
3
Joe Biden:
Was ahead out of the box.
Moderation over Revolution.
Nagging narrative and denial about his past overwhelming his image and his message.
Grandiose notion that he can personally overcome the deeply negative dynamics of our profound political division and dysfunction.
76 years old.
1
Joe's a good man and he did the best he could. He's a
part of American political history warts and all. But he's
got to stop apologizing for everything he did in the past.It is
what it is and move on. I'll vote for him if he's nominated as
I will for any other Democratic nominee.
3
This piece should be entitled:
"Why Biden Will Lose to Trump (If Given the Chance)"
1
If Dems accept Biden they will lose the left and many of the center left that wants to say goodby to the good ole days.
3
@Expat
Do they prefer Trump? If four more years of Trump does not motivate them, then they will deserve another Trump term.
3
@Expat So, they prefer Trump? Voters who stay home because they don't like Biden are just hurting themselves.
2
Mr. Blow, this column is the best encapsulation of Biden's problem I've found. Contrary to what some commenters are claiming, you are not attacking the man or using some trivial PC test to disqualify him. Rather, you concisely described a significant weakness of Biden's that truly compromises his fitness for this office in this day and age. Arguing that he's "better than Trump" is silly--so am I, but the country needs far more than the likes of me. Biden's sanctimony begs for the scrutiny he's receiving, and he's proving he lacks the humility to see that "meaning well" does not prevent one from causing harm.
141
Biden is not without flaws, and he is not constantly attempting to achieve the goal of blamelessness that would characterize a truly spiritual devotion of his life. But he can solve problems that require working with people with who he disagrees, which is his how he has devoted his life’s efforts. As hard as that might be to reconcile with living as a moral and insightful person who lives life in harmony and virtue at all times it is a far better way than Trump’s with his lies, fears, and disregard for the consequences of his acts.
7
Biden can be insensitive. To many, that is truly a big problem because it is they are sensitive. What did he do that was deliberately hurtful?
1
If you really want to have a focus on entitlement, why not go through all the candidates and talk about the many ways that each of them are entitled.
And for that matter, if Mr. Blow is so in touch with understanding entitlement, why doesn't he give us an exposition on how many ways he is aware of his own entitlement
3
@Peter M
The opinion piece was about Mr Biden..
@Alecfinn
Yes, but the focus on entitlement could be highly relevant (in different ways) to all of the candidates, as well as the author (who may lack the self awareness of his own entitlement).
The weakness of the opinion piece is that it suggests that Biden is uniquely guilty of such "entitlement".
1
Biden will be the nominee because the rest of the candidates are unacceptable. But he will lose.
2
@Jackson
Ummm NO I am impressed with Mayor Pete, Ms Harris and Cory Booker. All for different and the same reasons.
But then opinions vary...
1
While Joe Biden is not my first choice, for a Democratic party Presidential candidate, I did like his recent interview with Chris Coumo. The more he talked, the more I began to understand where he is coming from. He is a man of honor and integrity. He is a fighter. Certainly, times have changed, but I believe you can’t underestimate his seasoned political experience. And, I do give him credit to want to make a run for the Presidency. Will running for a third time, be charmed?? Only the celestial pundits know for sure!!
2
I don't think it's fair to hold what seemed OK in the past against present -day Biden BUT it was never OK for him to dis-allow corroborating witnesses for Anita Hill -- perhaps why we have Clarence Thomas today. That's one example. This country needs a President who can shake it up, change what is wrong, address the disasters we are facing, like Climate Change, and Biden, though a distinguished relic,is too busy defending his record to become sufficiently visionary to address those monumental tasks. When it comes right down to it, neither was Obama.
2
@Vicki lindner
Disagree with you comment on Mr Obama, he certainly tried to help the greatest number of us. Everyone has faults and shortcomings but we need someone who can think things through after researching the topic. Mr Obama certainly used the G-d given intelligence before making decisions that could affect most of us.
We need that type of person to be POTUS.
1
CHARLES'S Piece is coherent so far as it goes. Absent from his accounting is the fact that Joe Biden was the Vice President who served loyally under Barack Obama for 8 years. Obama showed his gratitude by awarding him the Medal of Freedom. I categorically reject the notion that Obama gave that award to a person so grievously flawed as Charles would suggest. Joe Biden made essential contributions to our foreign policy, supplementing Obama's limited experience in international affairs. I am unaware of any time Joe sought recognition for his outstanding service. Charles also omitted the fact that about the inappropriate touching, he said that he was resolved to try to change and apologized for giving offense, which was not his intent. David Brooks, fellow columnist, said that Joe is a touchy guy--when he spoke with him he got a shoulder massage. David didn't seem any worse for the encounter. Joe Biden is correct in defending his positions and in correcting his critics, as they are only entitled to criticize him if their arguments are valid and accurate. Are we so used to expecting patrician blue bloods and billionaires, no matter how flawed and deceptive, as the only worthy candidates? Joe on camera kissed his son Beau on the mouth. That's how they express affection in his family. I came from family where at gatherings everyone kissed everyone else. In Europe it is customary for people to embrace and kiss upon meeting. Tolerance for cultural differences is essential.
6
Of course he did. He needed a white man with gray hair to win. He repaid the favor with a medal and 8 years of added relevancy. Bye Joe.
"His first impulse is to get his back up and fight." Sounds like a prescription for victory in the contest against someone like Trump.
9
@John D.
Isn't fighting and attacking what brought so many people on to the Kamala Harris bandwagon?
1
"Bro" has no meaning. Or it means anything you want it to. So lose the labels, and actually say something.
6
I was wondering why, if, as Biden keeps claiming, his Civil Rights "record speaks for itself," why then won't he shut up about it. Then it occurred to me: much of America, especially trump voters, love white male victims. And trump voters are who Biden is courting. For obvious reasons, Harris is the perfect villain; how dare she challenge him!
In his CNN interview, Biden was the perfect white male victim; the kind we see constantly in Hollywood movies: the wounded underdog capable of violent annihilation of the dark forces against him, who is guaranteed victory because that's how American movies always end. If his weak performance at that debate was an accident, what a brilliant way to capitalize on it: be the victim "America" loves.
1
Joe Biden is not a dynamic candidate; he's spends most of his time backtracking and his Democratic challengers can run policy and personality circles around him.
In order to win a general election, you need enthusiasm and you need to stir people's passions.
Joe may be likable, but his lukewarm appeal certainly won't be generating a blue tsunami in 2020 if he's the nominee.
Joe Biden is a familiar face to Americans, but you need to be a passionate fighter to capture America's imagination at the voting booth.
Fortunately, Biden won't be the nominee because Warren-Buttigieg-Harris-Sanders will out-energize Clueless Joe by the time Iowa, New Hampshire and the February-March 2020 primaries roll around.
Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders seem to know how to do that by articulating specific policy that will help unrig decades of Republican Reverse Robin Hoodinism that have wrecked the country with unregulated vulture capitalism that treats most Americans like vending machines.
Biden is going through the motions on a 'dignity' platform, with a dash of entitlement vaguely reminiscent of the entitlement some accused Hillary Clinton of.
But Americans need more from a candidate and Clueless Joe offers us his naive dreams for imaginary bipartisanship with Republicans who have thoroughly rejected democracy, representative government and the Constitution.
C'mon, Joe, get a clue...and get out of the race and let the 2020 blue tsunami roll over radical Republistan.
16
@Socrates
Yeah for sure. The front runner should drop out now so the mob of 23 can fight over the nomination's food scraps. Good thing you're not a campaign expert.
1
Why do I viscerally dislike Joe Biden? Why would I as a real progressive in every policy area - except maybe immigration, because I believe in an ordered society - vote for Trump over Biden? Maybe Charles hit it. Trump knows who he is and doesn’t apologize so no one can manipulate him. But Bidens a nobody (except in his public persona and offices) who’s got to prove himself - and is deeply scarred by life. Biden is the guy who’ll get us into WW3 not DT. Every day Andy looks better. Every darn day.
“...no one can manipulate Trump”? Fox News manipulates him everyday!
@Janet Sulek I don’t know if that’s so self-evident. But I dont watch tv. Look how he stopped the War with Iran. Don’t underestimate this guy. He’s been around the block.
One hundred years ago, racism was institutionalized. Children were raising to understand that race differentiated people, that being white was a privilege and not being white was a disadvantage. This made insensibility about race a persistent normality for non-whites about which they could only share with others who were not white.
Today, racism is neither institutionalized nor has it been entirely refuted and rejected. Children are taught that it is wrong and unacceptable, but they still experience it and learn to accept it from people that they know, including in their families. They express attitudes that reveal the racial attitudes of a century ago. Non-whites are expressing their dismay and determination to have none of it.
But many are also asserting that it’s due to the very same circumstances as existed a century, ago. That just blows the mind.
@Casual Observer. I have no idea where you went to school, but children were NOT taught that being what was a privilege.
Not in my school. But that was long after the years after World War I, when such attitudes were still popular. Then, The schools and all the institutions treated white people as equal and non-whites as less than equal. That was across the country. In the segregated South, the children were taught that lesson even more explicitly. Even grown white people who overcame those false attitudes recognized that they were still too common amongst so many others that anyone who ignored them could suffer.
If it means getting rid of Trump, I will vote for Biden. He would not be my first choice.
But I would love to see some "young blood" in our White House. We need the new energy, but most of all a new path. I am not a spring chicken but am growing tired of the laughable comments by those "seniors" that don't understand technology, (example: Republican that doesn't understand Google versus Apple) or can't relate to the issues that they themselves did not grow up with.
I might be a senior but I sure as heck know we didn't have airports during the revolutionary war. Time for some young blood; big change.
2
Biden is a nice man.
He was VP under Obama though Obama, when Trump was elected told David Remnick of the New Yorker, that the two people he thought could take on Trump were Kamala and Pete, not Biden.
He also loves to speak about his past but has nothing to show for the future.
He is truly out of touch with America.
He will not be President and probably not the Dem nominee.
3
He said of violent criminals during that speech: “It doesn’t matter whether or not they are the victims of society.”
What exactly is the issue with this statement in hindsight? Once a person establishes themselves as a violent criminal then I agree with Biden completely. It doesn't matter what their background is at that point. They are a violent criminal and they need to be locked up so they can't be a violent criminal in public anymore. Let's not bash him for stating something entirely reasonable even if today's woke leftists don't like it. Obviously we should strive as a society to avoid producing future violent criminals (e.g. anti poverty measures), which is something Biden agrees with.
1
I think you and many other columnists are far too critical and nitpicky of Biden. His alleged "bro-iness," is actually quite endearing and poses no threat to his candidacy, especially among older voters. Being a man who grew up around toxic masculinity, I can tell you with full certainty that Biden does not evoke toxically masculine qualities. The fact of the matter is this: we need a fighter to hit back against Trump, whether that's a man or a woman. Therefore, slightly more aggressive rhetoric is required to swat back at him, and it would be an absolute shame to begin labeling this rhetoric as overly masculine or toxic. We know what happens when a politician remains non-confrontational and polished when they go against a ruthless bully. They lose (i.e. Hillary Clinton). We should seek politicians who are altruistic, kind, and occasionally aggressive (or, I suppose, "Bro-y"), such as Biden. Those traits are the mark of a great leader. Any and all columnists can find fault with any candidate for president, and they do. I suggest taking a more holistic view of Biden, one that takes into account the entirety of his personality and does not cast an overly critical eye upon a single perceived fault.
5
I have never been a fan for the John Wayne branch of maleness, but I am also not a fan of the humorless squad of liberals that are trying to find offense at every word uttered by a white male. Soviet Apparatchiks had a better sense of humor (and looser censorship) than some of our cultural warriors on the left. Political discipline can seem admirable, but in practice it is just repressive. People need to poke fun, be irreverent and even offend for them to be human and to express themselves. The left needs to loosen up and go back to being the party of "live and let live" and step away from the being the Spanish Inquisition (even if nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition).
6
The "Come on , man!" responses were jarring. Biden seems to be voicing lines in a different play than the one we're watching. He's out of sync and all of his folksiness is not going to solve that. By running, he is stealing the spotlight from those who can defeat Trump. Joe, go home to your grand kids. They need you more than the country needs an "inevitable" flawed nominee.
On the contrary, Biden should stand up to the identity-driven criticism being leveled against him. Americans are tired of identity politics. Biden's strength lies in his not allowing this to derail him -- as it shouldn't.
4
@AACNY Civil Rights questions are "identity" politics? For everyone or just "certain people?"
1
@Gustav Aschenbach. So, Gus, why does Harris backtrack on busing?
1
Biden shouldn’t try to match Trump’s false bravado and braggadocio. None of the candidates should. That just plays right into Trump’s ponderous wheelhouse.
Biden is best when he talks about American values and reminds us why we are a country.
I am just not sure we need yet another avuncular patriarch.
2
I like Joe Biden because he has a lot of experience that lends itself to the US presidency, including serving for 8 years in the number two position of Vice President. I like Joe Biden because he has a very compelling backstory, from humble beginnings to the Vice Presidency and overcoming unimaginable personal tragedy in between. I like Joe Biden because he is already a familiar, reassuring, civil and amiable political figure among our foreign allies. And lastly, I like Joe Biden precisely because he is a nice & decent man who obviously loves public service & who appears to genuinely wants to find common ground & help ALL Americans. A nice persona does not mean Joe Biden is a pushover, either. He is a principled man who is more than capable of fighting for what he believes in. In many ways, Joe Biden is the anti-Trump candidate from experience to temperament. Ms, Harris' "prosecution" of Mr. Biden in the debate seemed like a contrived and disingenious take down of him for his vote cast during a different era. tr was later revealed that Kamala's own views on busing were not all that different from Joe's. While media pundits were praising Ms. Harris' debate performance, I was disappointed in her for trying to destroy one of the good guys when the real menace and racist is sitting illegitimately in the White House. I loathe Donald Trump and the Republican party overall but I am tired of so many politicians in rage mode 24/7. A nicer Joe Biden sets him apart from the others.
8
What Joe Biden (and Nancy Pelosi) already know that Mr. Blow is not yet ready to acknowledge, but I hope soon will.
The great bulk of the American people are not Democrats or Republicans or Trumpsters or Radicals or Socialists or Far-Right Monsters or Woolly-Headed Idealists.
We are small-c conservatives and traditionalists.
That is why Joe Biden continues to do well in the polls notwithstanding the widespread misgivings about his age and his style.
First thing Democrats must do before we barrel any further down
the track to a horrific, disastrous loss in in 2020 is change the name of our party.
We are currently the only remaining sizable political party in the country that is committed to the maintenance of the U.S. Constitution in its present form with its separation of power and First Amendment provisions designed for preventing any President from taking over the country and ruling it with an iron fist and from abridging the nation’s right to a free press.
We should be calling ourselves America’s Party made up of
conservatives, traditionalists and protectors-of the-Constitution, the only true ones still around.
We should be making the protection of the Constitution the central provision of our political platform and highlighting this in every speech and political ad we make.
The party’s flags and banners should henceforth be reading:
“Vote for Joe Biden. Don’t vote for him, if you don’t like the Constitution.”
5
We’re NOT gonna beat the charlatan-president by APOLOGIZING all the time! Rather than micro-analyzing every word, we should save our “sorry requests” for when we really need them.
2
Anyone who thinks that Biden is too old school, anyone who says that if Biden is the candidate they will vote for a third party candidate is working for Donald Trump.
Trump managed to maneuver the 2016 Republican contenders into slaying each other and he walked away with the nomination. He plans to repeat that move until whoever the Democrats nominate is so damaged he can finish him/her off. Remember his fake sympathy for Sanders and how he knocked the Democratic Party for not playing fair? Looks like he is doing an excellent job of it already.
What fascinates me is that he gets the liberal media, that supposedly is so against him, to follow his every lead. Why can't they see that?
5
Biden is a likable fellow with a wonderful demeanor who consistently beats around the bush. So I have absolutely no idea what he stands for. The other candidates have yet to thrill me. They disingenuously make promises that they know they can't keep, veer too far to the left when pitching policies to certain constituencies, and often demonstrate false outrage for the cameras. I'm still waiting for someone formidable, smart, and capable of compromise when called for. Democrats, please don't let me down!
1
I’ve never heard a person running for President say , “Come on man” more than Sleepy Joe. It’s derisive and contemptuous. Which is another reason Clinton lost last election.
2
This is like a love letter written to Donald Trump, and I know he is gloating at the way in which you are taking down his only legitimate opponent for the vast center of American voters.
2
There are few civilized nations across the Globe, where Joe Biden will not receive a warm welcome. He will lower the political temperature in America the Bold, and reunite The People from East to West, North to South; protecting us from the Enemy-Within; the predators, the nest of vipers, the swine and wolves; those who would feed us alien corn.
He will reach out to our troops on the ground, in the air and across the seas, remembering our forgotten veterans; his son Beau at rest, and those here at home.
Known as the Last American Cicero, Biden will honor all generations, and seek the counsel of wisdom from those who have led honorably time past; preparing the young in our midst for the challenges we face at the dawn of the 21st century.
In times of adversity or joy, Joe Biden with innate gallantry and chivalry, will remind the Nation of the privilege and stealth it takes to be a true American, and he will abide by the law of our colorful and multi-faceted country, surrounded by all ages, those willing, fit and capable, those of us who care, to honor our country with heads held high, carrying a sense of responsibility with fierce decorum, dignity and democracy.
Esse Quam Videri - To Be and not Appear to Be - In The Land of All People, where the heart and the spirit of the World are to be found in the United States of America, united under the banner of Joe Biden, and those who would follow in his footsteps.
1
Joe Biden is Ward Cleaver running for president in 2020. (Only those of us over the age of 60 know that reference.)
We know that Ward was a good dad, a moral person, an upstanding well intentioned member of his community. What we didn't know was that as a child Ward had to stand up to and sometimes fight bullies (which many of us rightly admire), but from that early lesson he developed a personal flaw: not to tolerate any criticism, to assume he was always in the right, to not examine the legitimacy of any unfavorable judgements. And since he could not see or accept any culpability on his part, saying he was sorry was never necessary.
We know Ward is a good man, an honorable man, a virtuous man. We know he is not perfect and those of us over 60 can admit we are not perfect. Ward needs to assess his mistakes, admit them and ask for forgiveness. Let us hope that he continues on that path. For that matter let us hope we can do the same.
Can we not forgive Ward for his mistakes? Can we not accept that his flaws do not warrant universal condemnation? Whether he gets the nomination or not, Ward is a man who loves America and deserves our admiration.
If he wins the nomination, can we not see that Ward deserves our support, that with all his pimples, he is nothing like the vile toad that haunts our nightmares?
2
It makes me laugh to hear so many Democrats call the candidates “far left”. I suspect they don’t know their history. If So then FDR was far left. The party moved right under Clinton and has been moving there since. And they have not done anything to reverse Saint Reagan’s destructive policies.
I truly believe that a transformative candidate can win. Trump did. Granted, he was a terrible one, but he was transformative.
4
@LFK Yes! I have long been saying that people who keep talking about Progressive this, and liberal that, and if we don't stay centrist, we won't play in Peoria, are conveniently forgetting that Hey! That used to be what this party was about! (And let's not forget that Clinton was the last President to completely kill the crippled Glass Steagall act.)
I was so excited for Joe Biden to run, but more and more he appears out of touch, arrogant, and unwilling to examine his behavior, and it's so disappointing. I say this as a black woman, who had been hoping he'd run long before he announced his candidacy. I still have hope, he will get the message, but we don't need another "bro" in the White House. We don't need another "leader" who knows it all and is averse to self-reflection. Toxic masculinity is a big part of the current political climate and his unwillingness to listen and to apologize is a turn-off. White people - especially white men of privilege don't have the luxury of getting adamant and defensive when other groups call them out on past errors in judgement - even if they were made with good intentions. No one is asking Joe to self flagellate, just to listen, to make those who have been harmed feel seen and heard. Biden doesn't seem to realize this and it makes him appear out-of touch in an increasingly diverse America. As an older candidate, he doesn't have the luxury of appearing out of touch. How hard is it to say "I made a bad call, I regret it, here's what I've learned, and I really want to hear from those I hurt so I can continue to do better?" That kind of bold leadership would be honorable, and a breath of fresh air. We are so weary from the current parade of ignorant doubling down that is destroying our country. Come on Joe Biden, be bold! This is how we listen and collaborate as a country.
2
Modern liberalism is the problem. The reason why is that the “we’re going to ruin your life for your mistakes” crowd is the Left. The Left has created a climate where it is impossible to admit wrong doing and where lying is reinforced. The Left on Twitter and with the help of the media will literally destroy a person’s life over any mistake and that includes anything that might be forgiven. Most of the presidential candidates are too far Left to beat Trump. If the Dems destroy the moderates, they will have no chance of beating Trump.
3
Say what you want about 'bro-ness,' Charles, but politics is theater and sometimes you have to go with the lesser evils. "Come on, man" doesn't appeal to me; but I'm not a guy with masculine identity issues. I'm wagering, however, that it's precisely Biden's 'bro-ness' that will allow a substantial number of eligible male voters to vote Democratic without having to tell themselves they've lost their masculinity.
Surely this is one of the reasons why Joe is currently ahead of Trump in the polls. On occasion non-toxic bro masculinity can triumph over the hyper-toxic brute kind -- and this is something that Warren and Harris (may they continue to prevail!) really can't counter at the visceral level of white male identity politics.
2
It's patently obvious that Biden's bro banter is a deliberate campaign strategy to court those white working class voters that American politicians have fawned over since time immemorial. You know, those voters who were so triggered by the notion that the country is no longer all about them that they were - and are still - willing to accept and believe literally anything coming from Trump and the Republican party. How is bro banter going to be an effective offensive strategy, when there's no red line that Trump can cross that will make these voters abandon him? We can problematize Biden's perception of his own white heterosexual masculinity all we want, but it doesn't change the reality of what we're up against.
1
I think a substantial part of Biden’s appeal is rooted in liberal nostalgia for Barack Obama and what he represented to us and our nation (and the rest of the world for that matter). But Biden is no Obama - He is not an inspiring orator that makes you want to read a book. He is the boozy, homespun antidote to Obama’s occasional esotericism and stuffiness. That role suited Biden well. However as a stand-alone candidate he lacks rhetorical prowess to both harness his political experience and convey to the public at large as to why said experience qualifies him for the most powerful office in the world.
Oddly enough, Biden does not even seem like the most traditionally ‘liberal’ democratic candidate. I think that designation is reserved for one Elizabeth Warren. Her ‘radical ideas’ are in perfect harmony with the original conception of ‘liberalism’ as espoused by John Stuart Mill, and developed by one Harriet Taylor. From women’s rights to individual freedoms and health, to her economic nationalism and foreign policies, she is in fact the center left candidate in the truest sense of ‘center left’. She is the ideological, philosophical and dialectical extension of Obama’s legacy, which is one of ‘liberalism’, that brave theory first discussed at the rhino exhibit in London between clandestine lovers.
1
We'll see how Biden does in the next debate. If he can't improve on his first debate performance, then the Democrats definitely need to look elsewhere for their nominee. They need someone who can go toe-to-toe with Trump, no matter what shenanigans he pulls. I think Harris, Warren, and Booker can all do that, and maybe Buttigieg. I have my doubts about Biden.
1
@Jediprof On the other hand, while I agree with Mr. Blow's assessment of Biden, one of his qualities that may appeal to voters, including some of the independents and maybe even some disaffected moderate Republicans, is precisely that "tough guy, 'guy’s guy' sense of himself." That is, I think one of the things that appealed to some men (and women) in those Midwestern swing states about MAGA was a return to traditional gender roles. Biden fits that bill--perhaps not a selling point for most liberals, but liberals should be onboard with whoever the nominee is. It's getting enough votes outside the liberal camp to vote for the Dem nominee that is crucial for the Electoral College vote.
But Biden still has to be able to handle a debate better than he did the first time or Trump would make mincemeat of him.
I just don’t think Biden will win. I could be wrong.
2
So, Mr. Blow, what I hear you saying is that everyone should accept and give in to rampant political correctness and when called out (usually by someone from the far left progressive wing of the Democratic party), should apologize. Nonsense. Biden should be himself, a moderate Democrat who will appeal to the many moderates whose voices are drowned out by the progressives. Without a doubt, Biden is the only Democrat running for president who can beat Trump.
5
When Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee for President you will all fall in line. Period.
2
Thank you Charles for identifying the underlying character of Joe Biden during his interview with Chris Cuomo.
In his braggadocious comments concerning the President, Biden
reveals himself to be who he truly is, a bully.
It seems that Biden is something of a wolf (an old-school
politician) in sheep's clothing (a progressive Democrat).
Come on, bro, we can do better.
2
Charles Blow has an incredible ability to understand human nature and know why people do what they do and think what they think. This is the best evaluation of Joe Biden I've seen. Understand, we need to be careful to not beat up on Joe Biden. Even though it's too early to know, he may be the only person who can beat 45. Let's face it: there is only one goal. We have to make sure we don't ruin our opportunity to win the election. Give Joe Biden a chance to understand his issue here, and perhaps with his apology today, he's on that course.
A Biden-Booker ticket can beat Trump in a national election governed by the rules of the Electoral College system. I don’t see how any other combination of the Democrats now in the race can do that. PA, MI and WI must be flipped. Biden-Booker can accomplish that. I doubt that any of the others can.
I do not have faith in the polls. I do not believe Biden is the front runner.
3
I think Biden will be easy to tear down. - and therefore he is Trump's best hope.
2
Take a cue from the soccer champions. We can elect a woman, Hillary DID win, even with her negatives. It's time. Biden wants to win because for him it's unfinished business. I do not care about his unfinished business.
4
I agree 100%---for a millisecond. Then, that pesky EC thing snaps me back to stark reality. Until we decide to muster up enough gumption to become a truer democracy, and repeal the EC and its Minority Rule derivative, we need to remember who elects presidents. And, as is now so painfully obvious, the "thinking" isn't always based in logic and reason with the Rust Belt Minority.
As long as this "system" is acceptable, we can expect the revolving door of lesser-of-two-evil elections.
That doesn't bode well for political idealism, Mr Blow...
2
Joe just reacts the way the majority of males tend to take criticism - to defend with his ego. There are 3 ways to respond when criticized: to push back (which both Biden & Trump do), to take it personally and beat yourself up for it (what many women do) and to listen and learn from it (what Mr. Blow is suggesting). In the heat of battle in a campaign, all are in survival mode. In my mind, at least Biden is a big enough man to apologize for past mistakes. However, the best response for candidates is to acknowledge past mistakes and to illustrate examples where they have made better choices or to show how they have learned from them and talk about future policies/plans. Defending what you have done in the past just creates arguments. Admitting past bad decisions and moving on takes the power away from your critics.
2
I think he is doing great. Keep it up Joe. Hoping for a Biden Harris ticket in 2020.
3
Biden sure does apologize a lot, when he has nothing to be sorry about. This is indicative of a weak personality who would be a less than definitive leader.
1
Thanks for the insightful article. Biden will *never* get my vote. He’s done nothing to deserve my vote, has no clear vision for the future, fails to see his mistakes and limitations, and is too old for the job. Add to this, he is seeming a little arrogant and hanging onto Obama’s coat tails. Sorry but being his VP is NOT enough to qualify him to fix all the problems created by Trump.
1
I didn't realize Biden is seen as too aggressive. To me he looks old, tired, ineffectual and sad, hiding the glaring fact that the Obama-Biden presidency was the biggest let-down in political history behind his big reassuring smile.
No attitude and no style can hide that Biden is yesterday's man, without the passion for progressive change Americans need.
The media is setting Americans up for another major disappointment.
3
Other than early polls, I don't know what makes think that Biden has a strong grasp on the lead of the field. He has twice run for the Democratic nomination before, and he has yet to ever win a single state primary.
1
The one flaw of Biden's that does bother me the most is that when looking back at some of the things he did with the best of intentions with perhaps the best available information and advice at the time, he can't reflect and update his position knowing that things change.
My parents made medical decisions for me as a child that in retrospect were poorly made - but they were made with the best advice and data available at the time. My parents say that if they knew then what they know now, they'd make a different decisions.
I'm not sure why Mr. Biden is unable to make that assessment. It's an important thing to do when President, adjust decisions as information changes.
3
Joe reminds me of a Confederate statue. 100 years ago a statue was erected to honor those that served. Now, it's looked at as archaic and out of touch with today's mores.
And, Joe is just mobile enough to keep the pigeons from landing.
He is showing his age and he reflects the same arrogance we saw in 2016 from Hilary. His "moderation" will result in place holding, not substantial change, should he win. He is not the candidate for the times.
1
"He seems to have emerged from a kind of vintage bro culture in which self-righteousness and assumed altruism produces its own form of machismo — tough and touchy — that feels just a tad discordant with modern liberalism and a tad entitled."
I'm not buying that.
"Altruism" can be very safely and closely associated with the "left", but however Biden's "machismo" may be categorized, it would certainly occupy an extremely small subset of it. as there just aren't an overabundance of "tough guys" that are associated with the various "new left" movements, or even "classic" liberal Democrats.
Biden is more of an outlier, just a guy who overcame a stutter as a child who never forgot the taunting and continued to use that as fuel.
The "bro culture" comparison just doesn't ring true, as that is much more prevalent in the pseudo tough guy antics that you might see demonstrated in greek life on campus, i.e., the Brett Kavanaugh's of the world.
When Biden says things like he's going to take Trump behind the barn and throw him a beating, I really don't think that's coming from "bro culture".
That's just Joe being Joe.
He will need a lot of new material.
He wore out the c'mon man and the stories about his father years ago.
2
Trump is hurtful and defensive as he he tries to portray himself as better than he is. Biden sometimes falls into this same attack mode as he tries to counter Trump's maliciousness as he was when he has talked about physically confronting Trump. But is this really what the America wants, meanness and and the lowest common denominator? Perhaps so as a huge part of our electorate chose Trump. Apologies in Trump's terms make someone look weak, perhaps the worst thing you can say about a person these days. What have we become as a nation?
For a candidate whose whole reason for running is his promise to restore civility, Joe Biden sure has been uncivil when it suited his purposes. He's not the wholly unrepentant bad boy that Trump is, but he's sure been unrepentant often enough.
1
Joe Biden is overall a good guy who has passed his prime and should retire NOW with his reputation relatively intact. He should leave the attack on Trump to those who are younger and more capable of handling that fight.
1
I like Biden and certainly would vote for him if he's the candidate but, he does date himself with his style of politics. The "come on man" over and over again is his way of trying to show that he's 'cool'. I wonder if Pres. Obama used to cringe every time Biden said that?
I wish Biden would not run for president and make the Biden Cancer Initiative his closing act. That would be a great service to society.
2
Ageism, like racism, is a cheap way to promote status -- to promote yourself or your own preferred (and far less tested) candidates. Why not look at what people have done and the details of what they plan to do -- and avoid the (however mild) cringe-worthy adjectives ("slowing," "late in life," "1960s T.V. dad" -- and stirring up a form of bigotry that's really no more acceptable than any other? Do you really want to engage in the same oh-so-clever name-calling that we now so closely associate with Trump?
1
Our speech so clearly defines us and the age we came from and identify with. But if you are running for high office and pledge to solve the problems of today and tomorrow, your speech should in some ways reflect the understanding and conversations of now.
Biden often employing addresses like "folks" and " ladies and gentlemen" doesn't suggest he's speaking to other than his own generation ( and mine). It's a puzzle that as Charles suggests that he Biden hasn't had , or listen to, better counsel on that important issue.
Charles, I fear that the mistake you're making with Joe Biden, whom I think you see as a talisman for white men generally, is that you seem to feel that all white men need to throw ourselves on the cross and apologize for every wrong ever done to anyone by a white man.
Biden was Barack Obama's VP for eight years. By all accounts he did a pretty good job supporting the nation's first black president. You probably liked his feisty "temperament" when he was defending Obama. But now it's a sign of a "failure to grow"? And that is a symbol, I suppose, of the failure to grow by all white men?
Despite changing demographics, white men are are still a substantial part of the electorate, and if they continue to go to Trump in big numbers the Democrats will have a hard time winning in 2020.
My point is this: People don't vote for people who hate them. White men are not going to vote for Democratic candidates whose main policy stance involves re-litigating history and blaming them for every misdeed ever done. I get the white privilege thing, but wouldn't it be more productive to talk in terms of bringing everyone up rather than dragging down white men to make others feel better about themselves?
Again, nobody, including white men, will vote for a party, or a candidate, that hates them. Democrats need to take this to heart and remember it.
5
The President is not the super in loco parentis of the nation, knowing all the people’s feelings and concerns, and seeing that all are comfortable and secure from being upset. We want a representative to see that our laws are fulfilled and our international interests are addressed.
Biden said nothing racist, he did nothing racist, but he reminded people of a time when racism was common and was tolerated because it was common, because to get things done for people one was forced to treat racism as a common attitude. He opposed busing to make schools desegregate, which while a tactic to integrate was not a proven effective one. His comments with what was wrong with it were true but were justifications for separate but equal educations. He had to treat segregationist Senators as regular people because they were. Nearly all who do wrong are regular people, which is why it offends so much.
His reaction to bullying is classic, stand up, fight, and they retreat.
The crime bill reflected a get tough policy. It’s bad consequences were not by design.
His familiarity with women he did not know was patronizing and presumptive, and it was not considerate.
Biden is a mixed bag. Basically, he’s a good man but he can be uncomfortably insensitive as to how what he does affects the sensibilities of others. He can express himself without considering meanings which are ambiguous.
The question is he able to be a President who will represent us despite his apparent flaws?
It's not an exaggeration to note that almost everyday in the NYT, another columnist--and sometimes the news reporters--write disparagingly of VP Biden. It began the day he announced and accelerated way before the first debate.
When you combine this with the complete lack of scrupulous examination and criticism of other candidates and their public records, it looks like a smear campaign.
On the other hand, NYT, WaPo, and electronic media seem to be falling all over themselves to promote Senator Harris, with not one iota of misgiving about, let alone any examination of, her record when she was DA/AG in California.
A short list of Harris's resume there?
---Prosecutorial misconduct in the cases of George Gage and Jamal Trulove, among others.
---A coverup of the discovery that a police lab tech was using the drugs he was supposed to be testing and in the process tainting evidence that resulted in false convictions. After the judge who found out questioned Harris, her response was to try and get the judge disqualified. Didn't work and 600 convictions were overturned.
---Refusal to back legislation requiring police to wear body cameras
---Refusal to investigate officer-involved shootings
---Prosecuting, criminally, parents of truant children
The list goes on. She's nobody's civil rights champion, well, until now.
What would be the reaction if Biden had such a record?
C'mon man. Tell the truth.
2
@cmk
Thanks so much for this info. No resume is perfect, but this information certainly gives a person something to think about and perhaps adjust his/ her thinking about Ms. Harris’ bid for the presidency.
1
The news cannot contain all the facts in every article, it can only focus on one story at a time. The newsworthiness determines where and when stories are reported. It’s biased by what news organizations determine their readers will be interested to hear or read.
Biden is the front runner and receives more scrutiny. When Harris is the front runner, she will receive it.
@CAO. Although all of this can be found in CA public records and LA Times articles, here's a summary link from "Democracy Now," dated July 2, 2019. https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/2/kamala_harris_not_a_progressive_prosecutor
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for a useful piece that brings important, often overlooked issues to the fore no matter what conclusions one draws. An example of why I read the Times.
1
But, none of that negates that fact that Biden has a tone and temperament issue that it would behoove him to adjust. We don’t need to replace a septuagenarian brute with a septuagenarian bro.
In short Joe needs to lose whatever authenticity he's been able to hang onto after his lifetime of public service. No thanks.There are many reasons, including for his own sake, that Joe ought to get out of the race ASAP, but so long as he insists on running he ought to follow the courageous example of John McCain, invite the press along and, come what may let it all hang out.
"Much of the Democrat field could beat Trump"? Dream on Charles. If the Democrats run on abolishing private health insurance, reparations for slavery, showing more concern for the needs of illegal immigrants rather than for struggling Americans - which seem to be the "field's" overwhelming concerns at the moment - than the Democrat nominee will be toast.
1
As a former Hillary, now Trump supporter, I love this. It is clear that straight white men aren't wanted, unless they're "allies" of opposed minorites, constantly apologizing for historic injustices. other than .
3
Liberals are our own worst enemy. First by adding the number 25 to candidates. Hillary and others are ample proof that if you have ran before and have lost, the chances of you winning are dismal. This goes for B&B (Biden and Bernie). They are also fairly old candidates who may become senile or die in office. The young don't gravitate towards them. They are the perpetual politicians who are quite despised in the general by a small by significant number of voters. Looks like they would win right now? Just remember how Hillary polled initially, even Obama thought she would win! With Putin's help Trump is poised to win. We need someone who is not Mr. Nice Guy but a Ms. Who do you think you are talking to! Dems, hand the baton to Kamala!
1
his ship has sailed.
sad to say, but it’s gone.
goodbye.
1
News flash: on balance, most people are like Biden. That's why implicit bias exists, and not just about race matters; it seems to be a feature of humanity. The more we see ourselves as a staunch good guy, the harder we will deny to ourselves any evidence of the contrary.
Certainly, in recent years, a larger percentage of people are learning to recognize that in themselves and work past it, but it's much harder to do that if you've gotten away with i for 70+ years. We have to remember, too, that Biden is a product of that final wave of Democrats transitioning from the segregationists to the civil rights fighters. What he saw, deep down, as a vast gulf between himself and that old guard seems like merely a narrower and narrower pond to later generations.
Biden's self esteem is bound up in his belief that he did the best anyone could have fighting for Right, and he may be right considering the times during the busing debate and the crime bill. Bound up for 50 years. How many of us could weather our self esteem being challenged like that, especially publicly, much better than Biden does?
Of course, we want a President who can take that kind of self-examination and come out of it better than Biden. But part of what makes it hard for him is that he is a moral person. Versus Trump, for me that's the most important thing. So if it comes time to pick a Democrat to run and all but Biden are still polling within the margin of error versus Trump, I can't take the chance: Biden it is.
2
After Biden made the amazingly ignorant statement, "He did not call me boy," he demanded an apology from Cory Booker apology for calling him out.
Never mind that Booker most likely was in fact called "boy" in his life.
Biden is tone deaf, just like Trump.
1
Genuinely inventive people have no shame admitting mistakes. They know that 9 out of 10 brainstorms turn out to be bad ideas.
2
Biden's redeeming quality is he will win against Trump. Is that good enough? I reserve judgment.
3
Charlie, let's give him a chance.
Joe's got more going for him in his bid for the Dem nominee than anyone else.
"Aggressive" is OK when it's a controlled agressive. Joe is not one of those "Is this a private fight or can anyone get in....?" as are too many of the other candidates.
You should try it, too. We all need to try it.
1
Joe is a nice guy with 40 years of baggage which American doesn't need. It hides the real issues we face. We need someone like Amy K.
1
You are right on again Mr. Blow.I love reading your well thought out columns. You have captured what is wrong with this candidates sense of the life we are all living in 2019. It is not 1969 any longer. Most people in America were not aware at that time and most not even born yet. Another issue with Mr. Biden is he is part of the Washington swamp. Do things the way they have always been done. I also did not see much legislation that he personally championed and stood his ground to shepherd through passing. I don's see any passion or quest for better for this country in what he says. I believe he thought this mission would be a cake walk if he just stood as a common man. He would not be questioned. Further, his motives are all ego as far as I can see. He was never President for many reasons and those reasons have not changed. They are now brought out into the light and found wanting. He is not the candidate and neither is Sanders. Their time has passed and they need to retire. And so do so many of the aged Congress and Senate members whose judgement is clouded by the past. We are in sad shape legislatively because of these aged hanger on people who wont step down and should. Anyone over 65 should retire now. Biden's time and approach to this country are past and not appropriate for the population and problems of today. What did he do as VP. Nothing and that has been the problem throughout his career. His thoughts are antiquated and grandfatherly and not of this time.
1
Biden's critics are dishonest, and factually inaccurate.
Biden did not praise segregationists. He said that he worked with them when compromise was possible- as a responsible senator would do. Tell me, Charles, would you refuse to work with the heads of ICE and Homeland Security, or Trump supporters in the Senate, if the resolution would get kids out of concentration camps? Or would you hold out for immigration reform, negotiated with people whose politics you did not despise?
Biden opposed busing. So did most of his constituents, and so did most Americans, and not merely for racist reasons. I supported busing at the outset but, when I had a child, refused a private school admission because I did not want him bused for an hour, to an unfamiliar neighborhood. That school was predominantly white; the public school he attended was integrated. We liked that the public school was integrated, but chose based on the bus.
Was Biden supposed to fall on his sword, support busing, lose his Senate seat, and do none of the good work that he later did in the Senate on civil rights, over a fifty year period, rather than vote with segregationists on the single issue on which they had common ground?
Biden's "evolution" is not "slowing." He did not anticipate that the left would be so obtuse as to abuse him for being an effective senator and practical politician. Everyone jumped on the bandwagon, sanctimoniously, self-righteously - and where not cynically, in ignorance.
3
For once, not a bad column. I don’t think Joe has accepted the fact that the media and younger people have no knowledge of the recent past. Having no clue as to what went before, they freely criticize those who made decisions in that far different world. If he wants to continue to run (which makes no sense), he must accept that fact.
You sure are generous with him. I thought Biden would be great because I knew he could laugh right in Trump's face in a debate. Why everybody doesn't do this I don't know, but I knew Biden would. But when he said, re the women's complaints, "I get it, I get it," in a voice that was insulting + ANNOYED, I agreed with my son. He just said, "Biden would be a disaster."
1
Joe Biden is a good man and has the common touch, but history shows he's been on the wrong side of too many important issues (Anita Hill and the Iraq War stand out, among others). His time has passed.
The Presidency - done properly - is a huge task to undertake, and it's not a job for someone in their late 70s. It's time to pass the torch to the younger generation, people with energy and new ideas. It's still very early and field is still muddied, but I expect that one (or more) of the younger candidates will emerge. Regardless of whether that candidate is leftist or centrist, or somewhere in between, that is who to get excited about. The realities of passing legislation will temper the tendencies of whomever gets the nomination.
Having said that, if Biden turns out to be the Democratic nominee, I will vote for him in a New York minute.
It's all about winning. I'm not sure our democracy can stand another four years of Trump.
2
Please no!! I am a lifelong Democrat and appalled and sickened by Trump. I am going to be 100% behind whoever is against Trump. Having said that, the Democratic party (and for that matter the NYT writers) must see what many of us see; the current group of Democratic presidential hopefuls is not talking to this country's political center. I am hoping Kamala only brought up Biden's lack of support of busing to appeal to the very left of my party. I too attended school during the busing era and I have a very different perspective than Kamala's. And my absolute and complete opposition to bringing back busing is in line with the vast majority of Americans. Please do not do this! Please let's pick a candidate that can beat Trump.
4
I'm younger than Joe by about half a generation, and here's my take on his inappropriate touching. It's not that social mores are changing. What he's done to many women, while it's not sexual in nature, has been inappropriate and uncomfortable for decades. He wasn't called on it back in the day because most women were too conditioned to keeping silent, especially with a man of power. The thing that's changed since then is that now we feel much more able to say, "I don't like that. Knock it off!"
1
“You can’t hold your own halo.” Once again, Charles Blow gets it exactly right. I like Joe Biden and admire his service, but he’s got to loosen up and show some humility. He’s got to earn my vote, not expect it. And I’m a Boomer.
2
Too old, too out of touch, too reluctant to change--that's Biden. He was wrong on abortion, wrong on crime, wrong on busing, wrong on praising working with segregationists, and wrong for America in 2020. We don't need an old "white great hope" who often seems more of a dope (pardon the rhyme), but his macho locker room braggadocio is just what is also so abhorrent about Trump another old white male with a sad history of racism and schoolyard bullying. BUT, is there a Democrat out there who can decisively beat Trump with the economy roaring and his poll numbers going up to their highest level? You'd think with a couple dozen candidates someone would stand out, but this lifelong Democrat is very worried, especially with our very Constitution in mortal danger. We need someone with the moxie, determination and skill of our World Champion women's soccer team. We need a courageous, fearless political competitor like Megan Rapinoe. I hope she's out there. Come on, woman!
Too old, too out of touch, too reluctant to change--that's Biden. He was wrong on abortion, wrong on crime, wrong on busing, wrong on praising working with segregationists, and wrong for America in 2020. We don't need an old "white great hope" who often seems more of a dope (pardon the rhyme), but his macho locker room braggadocio is just what is also so abhorrent about Trump another old white male with a sad history of racism and schoolyard bullying. BUT, is there a Democrat out there who can decisively beat Trump with the economy roaring and his poll numbers going up to their highest level? You'd think with a couple dozen candidates someone would stand out, but this lifelong Democrat is very worried, especially with our very Constitution in mortal danger. We need someone with the moxie, determination and skill of our World Champion women's soccer team. We need a courageous, fearless political competitor like Megan Rapinoe. I hope she's out there. Come on, woman!
I think it’s kind of a white savior thing, millimeters away from the implication that black people ought to be grateful. So it’s inconvenient and uncomfortable for Biden, having inhabited this friend-of-a-black-person (and benefactor of all those black folks back in Delaware) persona, to be now told he’s guilty of doing it all wrong.
The notable part is how none of this came up during the Obama years, perhaps because a VP is such a marginal figure.
I worry that the effect on white voters is going to be that they might feel a kind of guilt by association. After all, many well meaning folks are oblivious to the idea of a collective guilt in these matters, and might react negatively to the foregrounding of racial issues, seeing that as inimical to the concerns of the majority, or people who are used to thinking of themselves as the majority, anyway. Feeling guilty about race could well keep people away from minority candidates.
1
As you say, Mr Blow, it "feels just a tad discordant with modern liberalism and a tad entitled" and also defensive and like he's not really hearing/listening to the concerns of a wide range of we the people.
To me in this race, like Hillary in 2016, Joe Biden seems overcooked. He's done a lot of things in his lifetime (tip-of-the-hat!) and he's welcome to do lots more, but being President is maybe not one of them.
I'd love to see him back out of this and really get behind somebody. That would save him face. It would definitely be more fun for him and everybody else. That could be powerful.
It seems that if journalists aould strive to write articles like this one, we might really get somewhere in our understanding of our differences.
This piece hits the mark -- gently and kindly. Let's hope Joe reads it.
Like many Progressive pundits, Blow cannot see Biden’s appeal as genuine or complex. It is a widespread failing among a rump of Democrats who have been intoxicated by their self-produced sense of righteousness. Identity-based wokeness is offputting for many voters. The 2016 election should have driven home that lesson, but Progressives seem to be doubling down on an urbanite formula that is Trump’s best chance of another four years.
1
My thoughts are these. We need to stop trying to decide whether people are racist or, for that matter, sexist. Instead, we need to evaluate how their actions and beliefs contribute to institutionalized racism and oppression of women. Without knowing or caring about Biden's heart, there is enough information in the public sphere about his policy agenda over the years to know that he contributed to mass incarceration and continued failure of school desegregation. And then there is the bankruptcy bill. And then there is Anita Hill. And the one consistent fact about Joe Biden is his lack of insight, accountability and regret for his actions. His lack of growth over the years. All of this gets papered over by his Vice Presidency during the Obama years, which worked because his known relationships with people like Thurmond and Eastman and his known positions on crime and banking were a counter-balance to the perceived risks of America's first Black President.
I will vote for Biden if he's the nominee, indeed, I will volunteer for his campaign. But I am hoping for an Elizabeth Warren Presidency and whomever she selects as her Vice President.
2
Mr Blow, your portrait fo Mr Biden may be spot on. We don't need 2 guys getting into a locker room fight. We need leadership to undo some of the damage Trump has done to the country.
It is time America elects a female president.
7
“Biden, like much of the Democratic field, could beat Trump.” This is where you lose me. I believe that most of the bro-y tactics referred to are devices that Biden uses to attract needed votes in Penn, Wisconsin, Michigan. I think that few of the other Democratic candidates could pull those who voted for Obama and then Trump back the way Joe likely can.
2
So the rap against Biden is that 40 years ago he was not progressive enough by 2019 standards
While Biden is not my preferred nominee, that is just not fair. Do you want your 2019 behavior judged by 2040 standards?
145
@Bob Politics is not "fair". If you can't stand up to fight the battle, go home. As we all know, Trump will not be "fair" to his 2020 Democratic opponent. Trump would love to fight Biden and he could win against Biden, like he did against Hillary.
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@Bob In 2040, sure. It's 2019 right now and Biden is stuck in the past.
12
@Bob No, the rap is that now, today he can't see that his behavior TODAY (still getting into someone's personal space, still talking about hitting other men) is problematical. I'm approximately his age, I grew up under similar circumstances, and while I would vote for him if he becomes the nominee without hesitation, he makes me cringe.
28
Joe Biden has served his country admirably, and with some success. However, his insistance on "serving" is now a mantra that is a mere echo of good intentions. He is not of this era, is clumsy and resistant to the needs of 2019. He should be, as we say in French, "remercié", and graciously step aside for those who can better represent and achieve what the USA currently needs, desperately. He simply cannot.
3
Biden's recent attempts to appear enlightened and willing to admit he was out of step as he attempted to remain a moderate during the era when Civil Rights issues were clearly in the crosshairs of our nation, and for him as a member of the United States's Senate, are coming across with him looking more chastised and fearful than in step with the times, living in this 21st Century.
2
He will be close to 80. No, just no.
1
@AG
Pelosi's close to 80 right now.
1
During the Obama terms, Biden did act like he was in a "Buddy" movie or tv series, most of the time.
What could have been a more "Bro Movie" moment than Obama's surprising Joe with the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
And that's how Joe sees politics: Relationships, more than policy. Trouble is, in the era of Trump and McConnell, relationships are for chumps. And Joe simply doesn't mind being a chump nearly enough.
1
Charles, this is so on the mark. Your assessment is spot on. If he ends up as he democratic choice I hope he heeds your advice. I often wonder why politicians doesn't get out in front of the criticism, acknowledge it and own it. One of the things I like about Warren is she acknowledges that her beliefs have changed and evolved over time. Sanders insists he has consistently held the same beliefs. I am more interested in politicians who can be critical of themselves and show growth in their thinking, own their mistakes and articulate an understanding of current social and political positions that are inclusive of all.
4
Why on earth does anyone think we want to go backwards to all his failures at this critical juncture ? He voted for the Iraq War- that’s enough for me to never vote for him; and that’s just one of his disasters. He’s a major reason we have Trump not our salvation.
1
I agree with everything you say. BUT if we want to appeal to voters also stuck in the 1980s when it comes to racism and misogyny Biden must continue to be the septuagenarian bro. We need to defeat Trump.
"We don’t need to replace a septuagenarian brute with a septuagenarian bro."
Yes, we don't need a "bro." But this may be the only choice we get. And if this is the only choice we get, let's make sure that we, ourselves, choose to be bigger than ourselves, and vote for the "bro."
This is not an endorsement of Biden. This is an endorsement of "get rid of Trump." On this, we cannot afford to be less than 100% unified. I'm not at all happy about this. I didn't like Hillary Clinton, I don't like Hillary Clinton. She ran an arrogant and ignorant campaign. As the wife of BIll Clinton, she has absolutely no excuse to hide behind. Not Comey. Not Putin. Not even Hillary Hatred.
But I would much rather have her as President now. We have to be bigger than ourselves. It's an unearned privilege to not like a President whose worst actions will not really affect you much. When you vote, cast your vote to protect the people who will really be hurt if the really wrong person is elected.
1
Charles, this is a great, timely piece, and I’m hoping that Joe reads it and takes it to heart. It’s funny that you bring up the, “Come on, man” phrase. My husband and I always laughed when President Obama used that phrase when trying to get a point across, or focus on something ridiculous that was said or done. In fact, we would sometimes use it ourselves or even say to each other, “I miss ‘Come on man’ so much”, referring to missing the former President. I’m wondering if Joe picked up that habit from Barack like us. Even if he did, Charles is right...it only fits certain places and is inappropriate in others.
I liked VP Biden as President Obama’s 2nd in command. They obviously became fast friends and there is no way that Biden is racist. But he needs to change with the times, and needs to own up to his mistakes in an authentic, timely way, not when the pressure on him to do so is great, like we’ve seen in the last few weeks, but because it’s the right thing to do. I watched every minute of the Clarence Thomas hearings, and I will NEVER forget (or forgive) the way Anita Hill was treated. Biden had direct control over that committee and the ability to call the other women who complained about Thomas. Think where we might be now if Thomas wasn’t approved. If this is what he means by “working with the other side” I want no part of it.
I would prefer someone else to be our next president. That said, I would vote for him in a heartbeat. Anything to get The Groper out!
6
There is another quality of Biden's that causes endless trouble. He seems unable to stop bringing up the deeply negative side of what he's talking about. Like talking about the 'civility' in his work with southern senators and making a point of saying "He didn't call me 'boy'" - which immediately signals the unconscious mind of the reader or hearer of it that Of Course, he didn't, Biden is White. Then he attempts to show how much he appreciates young black men, and in the process he manages to use the word "hoodie" in a sentence that ends with "gang-banger". It's as though his own subconscious automatically inserts the most offensive and inflammatory word where it will have the greatest impact. In a poet, this would be genius. In a politician it is a great liability.
3
Come on who really wants Biden and his old slap happy stance. Regular Joe. More importantly what is never discussed and analyzed in NYT is where a candidates donations come from and how that will affect what the candidate will do. If they are small donations from the grass roots only, fine. That means the candidate is not owned, not bought off and can actually represent the voters. If the donations are huge from corporations and the ultra wealthy, Then we have a gigantic problem. That means the candidate is bought and owned by those corporations and wealthy people. They are of no value to us, we will be ignored. They work only for the elite.
Do you know why Nancy did not fulfill her promise of a 15 dollar an hour minimum wage, and will never fulfill it? Corporations who own her don't want it. She knew that from the get go and lied to the American people anyway.
Most of the country is massively progressive, it shows in the polls and Joe, bought and sold and will do nothing for us. Progressive policies cannot happen when a politician takes the big bribes. Biden still thinks, like Hillary that the status quo should be good enough to get elected. I say we deserve much more than the same old corruption.
Speaking of polls, not mentioned in Dowd's opinion on Nancy, was that Nancy's poll numbers hover around 27 percent. Told you most of Americans want progressive policies. Sell outs don't cut it anymore.
2
Biden is easy going, happy go lucky, not offensive to the senses, familiar to the masses, and with a zillion years (or close to it, lol) in politics. He is a “safe” Democratic choice.
Democrats are again on the road to handing trump victory.
3
Just another in the seemingly endless series of hit pieces on Joe Biden in the NYT. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is the only Democrat with a commanding lead over Trump among registered voters. The more he is unfairly attacked by the left, the more solid his support by moderates.
1
When it comes to Joe Biden, it appears the media has embarked upon a death-by-a-thousand-cuts strategy. Why so much animosity toward a Democratic Party stalwart, a man whose gaffes and missteps may be more numerous than desired, but are never rooted in malice?
If will become apparent soon enough if he has lost too many steps to wage an effective campaign. In the meantime, why is it necessary for the media to take potshots, many of which seem more than a bit contrived? He doesn't accept criticism well? Show me a politician--heck, show me a human being--who does.
It couldn't be more obvious what the 2020 Democratic Party ideal is for journalists and news pundits, and for many rank-and-file Democrats as well. Joe Biden ain't it. And those who would prefer to see him out of the race should just be straightforward about the reasons why.
Biden has served this country for decades. He deserves far better than to be raked over the coals for flaws, real and imagined, when his only real failing at this point in history is that he is an old white man.
The most important consideration for me is whether he is an old white man who can defeat Trump.
2
Did you prefer a self-doubting hand-wringer apologizing at every turn? Some people love to judge without context. It's easy when you have no history. We smell the tactics being used against him. Is he a dopey guy? Yes. Has he done anything to justify these attacks from within his own party? Maybe but that doesn't make the attacks seem any less politically motivated in a very transparent way.
3
And this was not the first time he spoke this way: “He’s the bully that used to make fun when I was a kid that I stutter, and I’d smack him in the mouth.”
I do not want a presidential candidate who talked this way at whatever age he might have done so. This mode of thinking and speaking shares all too much in common with a well known man who speaks that way about treating women.
Not part of the culture I was brought up in.
Elizabeth Warren. If my fellow Americans show they are unable to vote in the numbers needed for her to become my president, then my America deserves to relinquish any claim to being the world leader it claims to be.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
3
Fun watching him backpedal on almost every issue. I have no idea what he stands for.
4
The late Steve Goodman wrote a song called "If Your Life Was on Videotape," the premise being that you would play some parts on repeat but fast-forward through others. VP Biden needs to re-watch and learn from the parts he would fast-forward through. Playback is a great teacher.
I believe he is a good man with good intentions and an admirable record of service, but wonder if he can truly own his entire life, or if his time to take genuine ownership of it, acknowledge it, apologize where necessary and move forward has passed. Of course I will vote for him if he is the nominee. I just wish I could be more enthusiastic about the prospect.
1
In all fairness, I heard this interview from CNN with Vice President Biden with Cuomo, and Biden was responding to Cuomo’s question: if Biden was up to debating Trump. It was not about aggression but it was very specific of his ability to debate.
So for Blow to manipulate and edit the context is not right. Blow states “ During the CNN interview with Cuomo, Biden bragged: “I’ve never been accused of being — not being able to spar. I’ve been accused of being too aggressive.” This depiction of Biden as being very “machismo” is false and ignores the truth and is meant to marginalize the honorable Vice President.
1
I am doubtful Biden can beat Donald Trump. He does not appear to be possessed of genius. He lacks charisma. Calling Chris Cuomo, "Man" numerous times during the interview was cringe worthy. What's next, "Dude". Biden is way past retirement age. And it shows.
2
Come on man, is reducing ourselves to pettily picking apart the mannerisms of our candidates the tactic we're using to try and improve our political system? You're really going to psychoanalyze Biden to the point of claiming his manners of speech are "reinforcing masculinity"?
I think this kind of mind-reading is one thing we as liberals need to check each other on. I suggest reading some of his other pieces, and then consider the possibility that Mr. Blow is projecting his own biases on his summation of Biden's character here...
2
Joe definitely should take care to be MORE politically correct. It costs nothing just some awareness of emerging modern norms. He is gaffe prone. Segregation-ism was never anything to be co-operated with- just on principle alone. It should be uprooted- not co-operated with. You don't cooperate with a prostate cancer- ou remove the darn thing. What is Joe going to do on the campaign stage with Donald Swamp? Be nice to him? Be reasonable? Punching President Trump and Circumstance in the nose or boasting about theoretically doing it back in school is not going to work for right or left people. If he thinks Kamala was too rough what is King of the Swamp going to do with him?
2
Biden’s bro speak as you call it is more likely to reach working class people who see that as authentic. Wonky speeches or preaching is tuned out by a lot of people these days.
I believe people need to go out and really see America. Conservatives need to spend quality time in our cities while liberals like Mr. Blow need to spend some time in Western PA or suburban Charlotte.
The core issue to this primary is whether Democrats think they can win by presenting an aggressive liberal agenda that will bring out more young and minority voters than it turns off OR whether a “steady eddy” moderate center left agenda would win.
Keep in mind that “centrist” Obama carried Indiana in 2008. He carried Indiana and Ohio!
2
It's become pretty clear that most of these anti-Biden op ed pieces are taking potshots at Biden because the authors really want someone else to be the nominee. And the anti-Biden comments largely stem from a sense of frustration and impatience which are mostly misdirected at the Democrats. I'm not saying that Biden should be the nominee, or that he is immune from criticism. Far from it. But these commentaries and comments have a nasty, often dismissive undertone that seems unwarranted. Biden is "tired", "too old", "someone whose time has passed", is a "Clinton clone", etc. Get some perspective, please. Stop wasting your breath and your outrage going after Biden as if he's the enemy. He's not. You're reacting more than you're thinking. Give the opposite a try. Support your favorite candidates -- and there are a few good ones -- but no one up there deserves the kind of criticism being hurled at Biden these days. It feels more like a mob with each day.
5
@Buck Thorn it is a mob. The same mob that enable Trump's ascendancy.
2
I’ll vote for Biden if he is the nominee, but without much enthusiasm. Replacing Trump with Mr. MasterCard is not going to do anything to alleviate the underlying rigging of the economy that Trump, a world class rigger in his own right, ironically seized upon to become the pied piper of the discontented. We need Warren to lead us into real structural change, not the fake change Trump suckered his vase with.
5
Biden has taken lots of heat lately, maybe too much. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that he is a good man, in old-fashioned parlance a gentleman. He stands in stark contrast to the thuggish, ignorant brute who currently inhabits the White House, who has seriously damaged our country’s standing in the world. If Biden gets the nomination, I will of course vote for him despite his limitations. He is the only one in with a good chance of defeating Trump.
2
If you want a “moderate” , then vote for Amy Klobuchar.
Amy Klobuchar for President.
2
The first step is to replace the brute.
Please try to keep you eye on the ball. None of the Democratic candidates are accused of high crimes and misdemeanors. None are would be dictators.
5
Sorry, Mr. Blow, your penchant for condemning anyone and everyone for doing the jobs that they felt necessary to do is demeaning to those people, to yourself, and to the ideology that you so blindly espouse.
Joe Biden has no reason or obligation to apologize for working with members of the Senate, no matter what their political persuasion, in doing the nation's business. That is, after all, exactly what he was sent to the Senate to do.
This concept of "them" against "us" that you are trying to perpetuate does nothing to move this country forward.
Biden's thinking that we should work together does.
6
Way more than a day late and a dollar short. Pack it in, Joe.
1
Cory Booker please. All the positives of Biden. None of the negatives.
1
Joe Biden was invited to Ottawa, Canada for a state dinner in his honor in December 2016. Although he exhibited signs of age even then, his speech rose to the occasion, never more fiery than when he concluded that the US-Canada alliance “own[ed] the finish line.”
Biden came across as uncertain in the recent Democratic debates, no doubt encouraged by his handlers not to speak too much so as to minimize his gaffes.
Early polls are not reliable. Trump emerged from the Republican primary as the nominee, over early leader Jeb Bush, and eventually prevailed over Hillary, who consistently led in the polls. The Electoral College—and possible Russian propaganda—did Hillary in.
The American electorate can only observe the political process play itself out and hope Democrats do not end up sabotaging one another. Thus far, they have been admirably circumspect, with only Harris and Booker attempting a takedown of Biden in order to secure the black vote.
Biden is going to struggle to the Democratic finish line, and it seems increasingly unlikely that he can prevail over Trump despite the tough talk. Democratic infighting is just going to give Trump’s handlers more ammunition for the Presidential debates.
Warren and Harris will continue surging, absent a major mistake, and either may ultimately be better able than Biden to challenge and defeat Trump.
Policy proposals sound nice on paper, but they have to pass Congress, which is not likely given the current makeup of the Senate.
I will vote Biden but I desperately hope that he is bested in the primaries by someone more aspirational and aware of contemporary values. Elizabeth Warren promises to tear down the foundations of all the major industries and will be dashed upon the rocks of her own making. But Gabbard, Harris and Mayor Pete all offer hope, inspiration, and a genuine want for a better, more inclusive, future.
4
We need to recapture the senate and rid the country not only of Trump but Mitch. We need to focus on issues that can be resolved immediately when we enter office in the same manner that President Obama did.
We need to hold these candidates responsible for real plans and not hot air. Booker has a plan for housing but why didn't he do that plan in Newark NJ? He has a plan for the justice department why didn't he do something in Newark, The Climate Control governor has a plan that he tells us he is the only one who did it. Why then is he not talking about the specifics? Why isn't he writing specific steps in how he achieved this climate changer proposal into implementation.
Ms. Warren has a plan, Joe Biden has a plan. The current president has no plan, so lets get over ourselves, get registered, protest at the border, get the kids out of cages, send money to Puerto Rico, get the religious communities involved and lets get busy. Each city should be building temporary good housing for the people who are trapped in cages, we should be using our technology to build data bases to help people who come to this country.
I am tired of hearing about age, sometimes people who have experienced every lie that the political leadership can tell ,see the red flashing lights immediately, age is just a number. Democracy needs to last forever in America, and no one should be allowed to try and take it away from us. Not Putin, not Trump nobody.
Come on man is right. There's a fiction-writer's insight into character and character development in this column, only it's no fiction: Biden believes too strongly in his own altruism, as do many on the left and even the left-leaning. (Because this is OUR primary, I'll leave the right and the far-right out of this for now). Between the hair-smelling debacle, the false Senate civility narrative, the trip down Anita-Hill-memory lane, even the time he said his oft-mentioned bro, then-candidate Barack Obama, was "nice and clean," I always want to tell Uncle Joe he's not always right, even when--and maybe especially when--he thinks he's being "nice."
342
@dinahcox Your characterization of Senate behavior in Biden's past is a bit ahistorical. It isn't a "false narrative" because there actually was a code of civility in the Senate for many decades. It always sounded a bit hokey to me, but it was real, for the most part. It is in the past 20 years or so that code of behavior has pretty much vanished, exacerbated by the McConnell era. In the House it has been longer than that, especially since Gingrich got his grubby fists on the Speaker's' job.
11
@Harvey Green I appreciate what you're saying, and indeed the word "false" is--thanks to the fakery of the fake-news-president--a bit overused these days, but the extent to which this "civility" depended on a questionable sense of "safety" from threats to (even the more benign version) of white male supremacy should be taken into account as well. I notice this same dynamic play out even in contemporary "smaller" spaces like "the comments" on news stories; that is to say, men, and maybe especially straight white men, even when they're ideologically opposed to one another, still feel the safety of the water cooler and manage to extend something like "civility" to one another. Nostalgia is almost always clouded by the biases of the past (and, now that I think about it, the present, too).
11
@dinahcox Good luck in believing any of the other "light weight" DEM candidates have a chance of winning against D. Trump, he will crush them.
J. Biden a political, clever, astute and intelligent operative who helped Obama as President rather than just being an able V-P is the only person in the DEM fied able to properly take on D. Trump.
1
Say what you will but Biden is teh problem if you ask me. he was part and parcel fully involved in passing the laws and repeals of law that have taken this nation to where we are now.
So from my POV he is the thing we Democrats are trying to get rid of in our government. Let us not forget that in spite of his good points how disappointing Obama's presidency was when it turned out he was averse to confrontation of the republicans he could have destroyed easily by simply describing to the public exactly what they were doing in refutation of their publicity stunts.
3
I look at former VP Biden's run for the presidency as embodying two glaring faults: an unwarranted sense of entitlement and a belief in the veracity of his public persona. The entitlement should be evident in this, his third run for the presidency, even though he self destructed on the two previous occasions.
He may actually believe that he is a "union man," even though he never carried a union card, while I have possessed a union card for more than forty years. Yes, he has been a good supporter of organized labor but he also sponsored a draconian change in the bankruptcy laws which has burdened many American families. His treatment of Anita Hill as chairman of the judiciary, imperiled support by teacher unions in his subsequent race for re-election to the Senate. Then his past support for education and labor issued won endorsements, today maybe not.
His flip flop on the Hyde Amendment and inadequate apologies over Anita Hilll are more problematic than helpful. His lack of discretion in saying nice things about segregationist senators and in endorsing a Republican candidate for the House seem rather indicative of a politician living in the past. His party has changed in the last ten years, while Sen. Biden is living in an idealized past. His beloved Senate is no longer a place of compromise and deal making through no fault of his, but it is a different political work for which he is qowfully unprepared.
413
Biden is an eerie replay of the sense entitlement that permeated Hillarys campaign. They both so clearly thought it was “their time” while ignoring the glaring faults in their political personalities and being blind to the effects of their lifetime of baggage. We saw this play out in 2016, is the Democratic Party seriously going to make the same mistake again? It looks that way. Why doesn’t the DNC just step back and let the people decide this time? They will pick Bernie and he will win. What’s so bad about that?
12
@Bobotheclown
Ah, Bobo, what's so bad about that is that he'll lose to Trump and along with that loss, he'll kill off any possibility of Democratic coattails and will thus also lose the senate and probably the house. Other than that, Bobo, he's just swell.
5
@Bobotheclown Bernie can't win. He has some great ideas but he's a hard sell for people who just want to support their families and pay their bills. He's too dogmatic and too adamant. The don't want drama. They're looking for stability. He'll never win the all-important swing states.
8
OK Charles we get it, we all would love a Democrat leader that's vibrant and electrify the base to get out and vote their truth. But this election is about getting the Trump out of office. How can we equivocate Biden's non-apology to Hill and Trump's multiple allegations of sexual assault??? Keep your eyes on the prize.
10
Amy Klobuchar is seeming like a strong moderate contender. The lefties can get all dirty throwing Joe out and Amy can ride to the top. Trump would have very little to throw at her.
2
Charles actually is overly kind and optimistic about Joe. He is an out of date, moderate who is gaff prone, inarticulate and at times a bully. We need someone who will offer solutions to our critical problems (like healthcare, environment, immigration), not tweaks of Obama policies.
6
When we say that discussion of the candidates' merits and trouble spots is a "circular firing squad" filled with "petty attacks," it's an attempt to shut off democracy. What may seem petty to a 60-year-old white male may be extremely important to a young African American male, and we need the latter's vote in November just as much as we need the former's. Dismissiveness about what's important to young people is deadly to the Democratic Party and its ideals. After all, if we'd simply anointed Hilary Clinton as our candidate in 2008, we would have no Barack Obama. I very much doubt she could have beaten John McCain if she couldn't beat Trump. We would not have Sonia Sotomayor or Elena Kagan as Supreme Court justices, and the court's rightward pitch would have happened 8 years sooner. So we would almost certainly have no legal gay marriage, among many other advancements. Sorry, but I will be as critical of Joe Biden as I want to be, and I'm happy to read this opinion piece. It makes excellent points that need to be said, not buried.
3
Spoiler alert: if Joseph Biden is the Democratic nominee, I'm voting for him. I don't have a great deal of enthusiasm for him now. That will probably change during the Labor Day to Election Day marathon in which both candidates will be on the road just about every day. And I will be dreading the attraction of Donald Trump around the country. And I will be praying for a Biden win.
All of that said, I am not certain where America will go if he wins. It will mean a nicer, cleaner way to get up in the morning and be glad that the long nightmare is over, as was said in 1974 after Gerald Ford replaced Richard Nixon. But that was then.
Joe Biden, to me, still doesn't get it. I know about all the schoolyard taunts and threats and the tentative steps toward separating one's self from the other guys. But the ladies do have a point about not wanting to be touched. You can be a nice guy but there are lines that you can't cross.
The ex-vice-president was a hit (I think) in South Carolina. But he's going to have to steer clear of booby traps and his career is replete with them. "That was then but this is now" is not quite the explanation that I want to hear from someone who's running for president, especially when he was glad-handing men who were much worse than George Wallace ever was. Or defending busing. Or embracing a crime bill that branded some others more likely to end up in jail than others.
I want to hear how he's going to beat Donald Trump. And Scranton, PA, won't cut it.
444
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
Spoiler alert. If the Democrats are that tone deaf, again, to nominate Joe Biden, I'll be voting Green Party. I gave them a pass in 2016 but not this time.
12
If we're all going to live together in any kind of harmony, each of us will have to reach beyond our own age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, etc. and struggle through the difficult work of understanding each other. Our difficulty doing so is the fuel that feeds Donald Trump's political strategy, and Mr. Blow has rightly called Trump out for his disgusting habit of amplifying our divisions. Mr. Blow has also justly asserted his own right to be treated with dignity by those whose cultural experiences differ greatly from his own. And that is why I find it so disappointing that he does not see fit to extend the same empathy and respect to Joe Biden.
14
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18: You write ""That was then but this is now" is not quite the explanation that I want to hear from someone who's running for president, ..."
I quite agree, it always makes me want to ask "But what about tomorrow?"
18
Joe Biden is 3 months older than me, and I see some of my past in his present. I think and hope I've matured/mellowed some over the years.
Joe in my opinion spent too much time in that male locker room in Washington, the Senate. So much wheeling and dealing with men, most your own age. You live and work in a time capsule that remains static. Mr. Biden needs to shed those times past and look forward. The other candidates can give him that guidance.
I will vote for Mr. Biden if he gets the nomination, but my preference is a Warren-Harris ticket or vice versa.
800
@cherrylog754
"I will vote for Mr. Biden if he gets the nomination, but my preference is a Warren-Harris ticket or vice versa."
Warren looks strong, and Hillary has (in part) paved the way for her. But Warren needs to learn not to be baited (e.g., senseless DNA test), and not to imply (foolishly) that she wants to take away private health insurance, and she needs to compromise with the banks (or they will work mercilessly to destroy her campaign).
I have reservations about an all-woman ticket. Frankly, I have reservations about Harris and Buttigieg generally. And Biden and Sanders may simply be too old. If Warren holds up, she would be better off choosing a running mate outside the field of presidential frontrunners.
46
@cherrylog754
Amen and pass the yard signs, phone banks and rides to the Polls. Warren-Harris. The Sisters are doing it for us ALL.
27
@cherrylog754
Biden was the Vice President just 3 years ago. Why do you speak of Biden like he has been the subject of a cryogenic experiment in 1970 and he was only recently was thawed.
These newbies act like they were born with the institutional knowledge that it takes a lifetime to acquire. Come on man! Joe has just the right tone. Any Democrat can win the States that Hillary pulled in 2016. We need the candidate that can win back the States that Obama and Biden won in 2008 and 2012 in 2020. We are fortunate that we still have half of that team available.
37
All I know is that Joe Biden is the only candidate who polls way out ahead of Trump and I, for one, have grown fed up with the constant, petty attacks on fellow Democrats by the constantly complaining, never satisfied “woke” Twitter Left, And if the Democrats continue to kowtow to the far left, we will be looking at another four years of Trump and GOP supremacy as well as another 20-years of right-wing Federal judges and Supreme Court justices. Which means that any progressive legislation that might be passed in, let’s say, from 2024-2040 will be overturned.
The presidential election will hinge on six swing states (WI, AZ, PA, FL, OH, MI). And Biden is popular there.
If the progressives stop threatening and tearing down all the moderates and pragmatic liberals and worked with everyone to take back the senate and keep the house, then a Biden presidency would sign into law far more liberal legislation and appoint liberal Judges. Why is that so hard for them to understand?
891
@Annabelle Biden polls well because of recognition. I am a moderate but I also recognize that the next election will depend on turnout. I worry that Biden won't turn out the base, just as Bernie will cause moderates to pout and stay home. There are several candidates in that sweet spot that is acceptable to moderates and exciting to the base. I wish Bernie and Biden would both recognize that and step aside, but their egos probably won't permit that.
119
@Annabelle Exactly. This is about the electoral college and persuading certain voters to vote against Trump this time, but the NYT and most of these commenters can't seem to figure that out.
128
@kjb
If those candidates are acceptable to moderates and exciting to the base, why aren’t they polling better?
70
It’s all about the senate. No matter which couple of democrats win the nomination, they’ll get nothing passed unless they take the senate. If nothing else, Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell have been models of how crucial Congress is in keeping this country in balance.
Nothing Biden has said or done in his long career can remotely compare with the behavior of our criminal-in-chief. Every time the Democratic candidates pick at each others’ failings, they lose another voter who stays home on Election Day. Remember the “two flawed candidates” false equivalencies that put Trump in the White House. This crowd needs to start actually supporting each other; that’s how the Republicans do it.
4
Letter perfect. Joe Biden was an excellent VP, the perfect partner to President Obama’s elegant and cool genius. The common touch and relatable. I’m sorry to say this, but He’s missed his flight and is stuck in the Terminal. Joe, I love you, man, but it’s time to enjoy your Family, write books, and help others Campaign. With deepest respect and gratitude.
1061
Lady of the Plains: I agree with you...but what if polling continues to validate his candidacy and time separates him from Bernie Sanders (unelectable, in my opinion)? What if he falls behind Elizabeth Warren (my preferred candidate) and post-convention, America takes fright at the possibility of another serious (Democratic) female candidate? He’s not a viable VP choice, nor do I think he would accept. But he can be a huge asset if he can find some humility when and if the voters lose their enthusiasm for him. He cannot turn this into a nasty food fight.
60
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
Red- let the process play out. Our Nominee- MY Vote. I don’t have a particular dog in this fight, I’m just stating my opinions. What I do know : People that pout and refuse to vote because their pony didn’t win : loathsome. Might as well vote for Trump. BTW, I’m Warren/Harris myself. But realistic and flexible.
148
@Phyliss Dalmatian-So who do you want as nominee another identity obsessed, social engineering, east coast liberal, elect me because I am not Trump and I am a woman and my time of anointment is due, never met a war, trade agreement, Wall Street banker, men are the enemy candidate like Hillary?
If you do you are all but giving the ego maniac Trump another term.
Learn from history Phyliss or forever be condemned to repeat its worst mistakes.
If you don't want Biden, fine but Warren and Harris have already put three nails in their coffin with identity obsession and social engineering.
If you want a female Biden, urge Pelosi to run. she is his female clone, ie support moderate progress programs for all Americans like Obama did and Hillary miserably failed at.
21
This is not about Mr. Biden being just a nice, old fashioned slightly addled guy. He’s condescending. His whole demeanor screams that African Americans and women are nice and all but just a tad lower on the ladder than white men. He’ll let them know if and when they can have rise up a step. He never heard of a war he couldn’t vote for. He was the Senator from Delaware making it easy for banks to safely, and profitably, prey upon the middle class and poor. He knew how to play the game to get where he is. Maybe he’s the best Democrats can come up with. But, Trump’s changed the game and old Joe may not be up to it.
5
Instead of sniping at people whom we NEED to replace the pretender squatting in our White House, Mr. Blow, perhaps you and other columnists might take a different tack at criticism. Perhaps you can suggest that some, and please name them, consider a run for the Senate, which we must also control to bring some sense back to government. And no, I'm not suggesting that we need to be apologetic, just that we stay focused on the whole picture.
5
Mr Blow, I usually agree with you but here I have to take a different path. 2019 hindsight was not present on the floor of the Senate in 1994 so harking back to old issues while informative is not necessarily relevant. For Ms Harris voluntary bussing was a boon which to others, forced by gov’t mandate, it wasn’t. No one thing is the panacea for all cases. Compromise is the art of getting the best deal one can using the resources at hand, be it working with racist southern senators or obstreperous NY congressional representatives. In that aspect Joe Biden did his best, to look back now at the varied results of the crime bill—please see an excellent 2016 article from the Brennan Center for Justice—is just that, to look back. Biden is correct that the future is what counts in winning the prize (I Corinthians 9:24). Perhaps you think Ms Harris or Mr Booker would make the better candidate, if so, declare yourself so we can see your biases plainly. I don’t think they are better. I think that in this stage of the race anything can happen and probably will. The prize is regaining with White House and ridding the country of this vile amoral man squatting in our House, along with the cowardly, criminal minions who support him public as they cringe and deride him in private.
6
Here's perhaps an unpopular opinion: it is not only about defeating Trump. Perhaps it is not even primarily about that. It is about taking serious steps, very quickly and perhaps radically, to face an existential crisis: environmentally, with global warming, socio-economically with the next generation in debt and the middle class in danger of disappearing, a strategic threat to the future of democracy. Add to that the challenges of technological change, with great opportunities but also risk both for our material prosperity and civil rights (think election meddling, surveillance technology etc.).
Trump is certainly making things worse, to say the least, but these strategic challenges will not simply disappear with him, and we might not be able to afford 4 years of an OK president with a decent agenda fit for a bygone age. The pace of changes in the world will not slow down for the American public to catch up . We need a Green New Deal right now, we need comprehensive reform to revive the middle class, we need serious answers to the rise of China and Russia, to the migrant crisis, to populism here and abroad.
How do we make this politically viable? I wish I knew. But I suspect electing a "centrist" who clearly is not fully aware of these issues, and who has proposed no serious solutions, is hardly the way to do so.
So, yes, going for someone like Warren is a big risk, it might lead to 4 more years of Trump, but I fear we no longer have the luxury of playing it safe.
3
I am dismayed by the way you dismiss the 1994 “crime bill” with one word: “disastrous,” and suggest that supporting the bill tarnishes Biden’s legacy. The bill banned assault weapons, provided billions to prevent violence against women, addressed crimes against children, created the sexual predator registry, and many other valuable things. True, we can see in retrospect that some measures were extreme or unsuccessful. But there WAS a problem, and Biden tried to address it.
He said “we have predators on our streets”... we did! I lived in Brooklyn in the 70s, 80s, 90s. I remember having my car vandalized over and over, until one day it was gone - stolen. I remember two men who asked me for a cigarette on the street one night, then violently attacked and robbed me, leaving my neck bleeding from a knife wound. We DID have predators on our streets, Charles.
Perhaps Biden has changed, perhaps not enough. But times have changed too.
13
Here's how I see it from half a world away. No matter what Joe Biden has, or hasn't done, in 2019 (and even more for 2020) he's one thing for sure -- yesterday's man.
And the fact that he so obviously doesn't "see" it - proves it.
2
Come on man! This article is a good example of toxic anti-masculinity. This is the very thing that is likely to keep Trump in office next term.
Recently someone asked me why I think so many people from my working-class home town are conservative. I explained that almost everyone I grew up, men and women alike, see Democrats as too weak, as too soft.
More than anything, Democrats need some healthy "masculinity" in their candidate, whether it's a woman or a man, someone willing to fight a bully, someone not worried everything they say might offend someone, someone who is not willing to let someone mischaracterize their past.
Blow argues if Biden just 'apologized when people asked him to' all would be ok. No, it wouldn't. It would show he's willing to say anything to get elected, that he'll let left-wing bullies get the best of him. Blow is arguing for Democrats to do more of the thing that turn so many people off the party.
9
@SC
Biden just apologized for his remarks about working with Talmadge and Eastland, after refusing for two weeks to do so. He reversed decades-long support for the Hyde amendment under pressure. Increasingly, he appears to be a man who simply folds.
4
Were Biden truly winning, except among elder voters, he’d be further ahead in the polls. Once again Mr. Blow zooms us in to something crucial, that way that the institutions of privilege, the chauvinistic masculinity and pre-assumed being can alter and will into being something, such a lead or media sway, that isn’t necessarily there.
4
@frank livingston
Except that he is truly winning. Are you arguing that older voters don't count? Older voters are a much more reliable voting bloc than younger voters. Perhaps you need to focus less on politically correct blather (institutions of privilege indeed...) and more on the substance of what Biden is selling and why so many people like his message and personality. He's the anti-PC Democrat, which is exactly what the party needs if it is going to carry the center.
“Biden, like much of the Democratic field, could beat Trump.” I want to believe this statement. I’m not confident it’s true though—especially “like much of.” The voters of New York and California unfortunately won’t be deciding what happens in this next election.
5
It is precisely because Biden is who he is, that he can win over the largely white, non-college, socially conservative voters in the battleground states who will decide the election. Don’t change, Joe. And don’t apologize.
5
He is not up to the job. Very problematic at this point! He always appears to be forcing us to defend his presentations. Not good! I was hopeful but he is getting squashed in the media. He is embarrassing.
4
We need to get Trump out. Biden would be capable of having a strong woman VP and accepting one term. Wishing for more is just that — wishing. We won’t get beggars riding that way.
1
@Lee
Nobody accepts one term.
Mr. Blow is kind to Mr. Biden. Unquestionably he's a white man of a certain time who can't understand why he's judged differently than in the past. But he's also a long time politician, whose reflex is never to admit to a fault. That politician's reflex is as much of a problem in him as his other unfortunate attitudes. Mr. Biden is proving repeatedly that he's not well suited to be the president of a diverse country. Of course he'd do a better job than Donald Trump, but that's hardly the bar that he needs to clear if he wants actual support, and not just people holding their noses and voting for him because he's not DT. But, as a long time politician, he may be prepared to take nose-holding votes as validation.
2
@Stephen Merritt:"Unquestionably he's a white man of a certain time who can't understand why he's judged differently than in the past."
The firebrands of the Democratic Party want to pretend all programs deemed as social justice or restorative justice were or are correct by definition. Anything that failed to live up to its promise failed because of evil folks and their actions.
Throw in the term "white man" and you have the perfect mix for the Democrats' ideal campaign speech.
Being "judged differently than is the past" is more often a case of political amnesia or revisionism by Democrats. Busing is one prime example. Going into details would just lead to posts being censored by the NYT.
Once again- the perfect is the enemy of the good. Trump will win with this micro-ethics litmus testing of Dems.
10
Pres. Obama is right that democrats are in a circular firing squad. Biden should be more open to criticism but let's please not let the democrats all destroy each other so that we hand Trump another default victory because everyone hates the democratic candidate so much.
7
What is bothering me (a dem) is that Biden is not evolving. After all these decades.
Obama was against gay marriage ? And his daughters changed his mind.
I can't see Joe's family's influence on him - not apologizing, whining, complaining, revisiting the past, his terrible losses talk. We want new policies and ideals and a future.
Not interested in meeting Trump behind the school or barn or whatever.
Oh man.
Retire Biden. I like you.
1
@Maggie
Considering how his son Hunter behaves, they don't seem to influence him for the better.
There are people (of either gender) who would rather eat a bug than apologize, even when they know they should. Sadly, Biden seems to be one of them.
“Come on, man...” [is] a rhetorical device that men often use among themselves, in locker rooms and barbershops, to recognize, register and reinforce masculinity.
And you wonder why Democrats lose elections? Stop alienating large groups of people that vote (like men!), and focus on the issues that matter: how about starting with disgraceful private health insurance and ridiculous college tuition payments?
5
Okay, but if we start with disgraceful private health insurance and ridiculous college tuition payments, we still have to say that Joe directly heavily contributed to the prevalence of both of them. Satisfied now?
Because Trump is a wolf in wolf's clothing, we are supposed to be content with Biden, a wolf in sheep's clothing. Biden thinking he's conscious regarding women's physical boundaries when he's tone deaf lets people off the hook who behave as he does. His non-apology "Gee, I'm sorry IF you were offended. That wasn't my INTENT" is more manipulative than Trump's "I'm not sorry at all," because Biden is suggesting that there is wiggle room on whether or not his actions cross the line, when they obviously do.
Come on, women. Vote for someone else. Please.
3
Is it me or do I not recall nearly this level of scrutiny of any of the Republican people running in the 2016 primary. Picking apart the Democrats is always gratifying, as we're so quick to agree and do ourselves in.
7
With a lifetime in politics, the measure should be different from the one whose experience is non-existent. Both are brands.
Of course mistakes are made over a long term. The fear are the ones being made now.
2
Now I must say what is on my own mind.
Kamala Harris is not running for prosecutor-in-chief. If Democrats have a goal the candidate has to stick to it. The problem with the party has been ego and pretentiousness in recent times. We have already forgotten the lessons of the highly qualified Hilary Clinton. This is where Joe Biden comes in with experience in the Senate getting along with both sides of the aisle. Remember Sam Nunn? Richard Lugar? Biden knows he will need Republicans (with a large R) to defeat Trump. He will need Obama voters who fled to Trump. I lived through all of his political history. I see a lot of gaffs, mistakes. But I also see a can- do approach, he saved Amtrak among other things. On the right side of disarmament.. Most Senators voted for the war. Not just Biden. But he has been on the right side of many issues. Maybe we don't remember Adlai Stevenson II, nor even Daniel Patrick Moynihan. They were eloquent centrists snd straight talkers but not abusive. JFK was a centrist. Bill Clinton was a centrist. Obama was progressive but a centrist on several issues. Fantasy without the concrete will stymied us. We will surely have Trump again. I would settle for trying to undo the massive damage of the last 4 years, then moving forward. That is not a minimum goal. It's the essential plan. Let us not make the perfect the enemy of the good.
10
Contrary to this op-ed, I much prefer the VP Biden who stands up for himself over the woke-induced mea culpa required from the left. Let’s take Sen Harris’ attack issue - busing. Busing? Busing??? When Biden opposed busing, 95% of the electorate did also! Only 4% of whites and only 8% of blacks supported it!! Yes, segregation was a disgrace but mandated busing kids out of their neighborhoods was not the remedy anyone wanted. So now, nearly 50 years later, Biden has to say he is sorry to Kamala Harris for opposing a completely derided social engineering policy that ultimately failed (and was found unconstitutional in 2007)? I wish he had just said, “Yep! I opposed federally mandated busing just like the rest of the nation did. And they were right!”
20
And mature adults acknowledges their error in supporting a cause or issue that in hindsight was the wrong decision. One doesn’t have to be awoke to admit that when evidence shows your decision was wrong own it. And work to undo any damage. His unwillingness to do so is the problem. Not his original votes.
@JWyly
The point is that Biden wasn't wrong in his opposition to forced busing. Busing was wrong, and failed in its objectives. That's what the evidence shows.
I don't respect much about Biden, but his refusal to apologize about things he's not genuinely sorry about is one of the things I like about him.
4
The work of undoing the transportation legislation was the work of those people who engineered the public crisis in education in the 1980's under the Reagan administration. The elites were terrified to look at data that showed minority children were actually showing improvement so they land blasted the entire educational system.
Now, in addition to preventing disadvantaged children transportation to schools where they will actually learn about government and history we have charter schools - the cause of the most widespread RE-segregation in our history.
If teachers were actually supported, respected and not under constant covert attack to keep our nation's minority and poor children uneducated we wouldn't be living in a world where a racist misogynist like Donald Trump was the president of the United States.
The summary of Ronald Reagan's "A Nation at Risk" is where we are NOW. That's right - back to the good old days. That falsified, unsubstantiated, egregious, and intentionally widely publicized opinion paper was the beginning of the modern deterioration of public education. The most poignant message from this report was, "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war." It turns out though that his foreign power that this unqualified early right-wing group spoke of turned out to be home-grown.
Mr. Blow, maybe as a NYT columnist, you are cushioned against the effects of the policies Mr. Biden championed. Others less privileged are not:
- the dead American soldiers in Iraq, and the tens of thousands of wounded, visibly in their missing limbs, and invisibly in the PTSD they suffer, from the war that Mr. Biden supported
- the millions of refugees from Iraq's war zones and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed
- the millions struggling under credit card debt from which they can never be released under Mr. Biden's bankruptcy law
- the brown and black men now in prison under the school-to-prison pipeline Mr. Biden helped install - and took pride in installing
- the millions of women who still cannot speak up about harassment at work, after Mr. Biden's humiliation and shaming of Anita Hill.
No, it's not about bro-iness. It is about Mr. Biden's policy positions. When he could have stood up for the powerless, he opted to support the powerful. No doubt the credit card corporations, the military-industrial corporations, the private prison corporations - thanked him in the ways they and he know well.
I hope my fellow primary voters will remember. What I can do to publicize reminders, I will.
2
Come on, man. No more Trump.
If (big if) Biden is the one most likely to garner electoral votes away from Trump, then he belongs on top of the ticket. His running mate could excite turnout among the disappointed factions. I wouldn't want Warren to leave the Senate for VP (only for the presidency), although, whomever might be Biden's ideal VP running mate, given his age, that VP might become president.
(Gloomy. Who knew speculating could be so hard?)
3
I like hearing someone talk about giving Trump a good what for.
4
Joe Biden is one who goes along to get along. When that is your modus operandi it is hard to apologize because, gee, I am a good guy who does not want to make waves.
We need a Candidate who will make waves.
3
@Jean What we need is a candidate who can beat Trump. Far left Progressives do not stand a chance. We need a centrist who bends left and the only one I see running is Biden.
3
@Lois
You do not need to be a Far left Progressive to level the playing field for all. And this is what is really needed. I do not believe that Joe is up to the task.
1
It all comes down to this...Can Biden turn out the vote? I don't think so.
4
@Phil M
Why do Dems need to be "turned out?" Can't we get ourselves out to vote?
Until warren, sanders and Harris get off that mandatory Medicare for all, Joes the only one who can win. No one advocating abolishing private healthcare can win. I like all three of them and I think Warren or Harris could win but not on Medicare for all. Right now JOES THE ONE. Put that on a hat.
9
As a married man, I consider come-ons to attractive women I encounter disrespectful of my wife, and I am content to take away from such opportunities to be told that my wife is lucky to have me.
2
I usually agree with Charles Blow, but not this time. I think that Biden is trying to stand up to an unforgiving political culture that combs through words and deeds decades old and demands groveling apologies, even when no apology may be called for. (I think an apology was called for in the Anita Hill hearings, however). I attribute the Scarlet Letter phase this country is going through to its Puritan roots, where there was no sense of grace, little sense of forgiveness, and a great deal of unyielding judgment and ostracism. Biden, a working class Catholic from industrial Pennsylvania, has a different approach to life and politics. I hope he can get through to the self-righteous judges who stand so ready to condemn him and others. Theirs is a foolish strategy, one that is guaranteed to divide Democrats and ensure trump's re-election.
10
Never understood why this man seems to be attractive to any Democrats. He's never demonstrated the ability to get any votes outside of tiny Delaware. Being Obama's VP doesn't count.
5
The other problem with Biden threatening to “smack [Trump] in the mouth” is it implicitly suggests that he can beat Trump—in a fist fight, or at the polls—because Biden is a man, a man’s man, a real man. Whether Biden realizes it or not, he’s implying that this is not the time for female candidates, because only a man can take the real fight to Trump. I like Biden, but again, bye, Biden.
4
"He is a man of a particular time whose evolution seems to be slowing." A brilliant agist euphemism.
3
I think Biden is being unfairly targeted and no amount of apologizing is going to stop his critics. Why should he apologize ? Because Kamala Hariss’s “ feelings “ were hurt ? Give me a break.
Yes he is from a different generation. But people like the writer of this article and others will never be satisfied.
Hariss isn’t a team player . She’s an egotistical snake.
Let’s lighten up a little and cut Joe some slack !
16
“You walk behind me in a debate, come here, man.” Biden continued, “He’s the bully that used to make fun when I was a kid that I stutter, and I’d smack him in the mouth.”
That is EXACTLY the kind of blunt language that we need to hear spoken to Trump. There is a vast difference between getting in the gutter with him, and simply putting up a boundary, "No! This will NOT do."
What a difference might it have made if Hillary, as Trump had stalked her during the debate, had turned around, looked him in the eye, and strongly held her ground. "What are you doing? Get out of my space!"
The majority of Americans want Trump out of their space, out of their head, out of their life. Like victims of emotional abuse, they long to feel empowered again.
All the complaining about Trump doesn't make us feel empowered. Discussing the minutiae of the legal system won't do it, and the most articulate of commentaries doesn't create the visceral feel of assertiveness and boundary setting that we need.
A calm, firm "No. Enough", is the voice that we need in America today.
11
I'm a Democrat in Austin which has plenty of them, but I remember the debates that surrounded Al Gore which were similar to the noise that also surrounds Biden. Then there's the line about the good should not be the enemy of the perfect. Number 1: Trump must be voted out of office. 2:We're still quite a ways from the primary. 3:Winnowing will continue. As one writer here put it, let's don't eat our fellow Dems as we try to narrow the field to the strongest candidate and then vote for her, or him, but Democrat. Don't do the Nader, Stein, Perot, Weld, etc.
4
This whole piece is spot on, Charles.
Biden's knee-jerk instinct to self-defend is really a mill-stone around his neck, and a weight the rest of us should neither have to bear or defend. We know his heart is in the right place, but somehow it doesn't seem generous and open enough.
"It is that thing in him, his own certitude that his motives are honorable and pure, that allows him to casually diminish or dismiss the pain people say he caused them."
It stunned me that his first instinct, when Harris called him out, was not to say, "Gee, I am so sorry that my comment caused you personal pain. That was certainly not at all my intent in making those comments, and I'd like to pause here and now to ......"
A major fail.
4
Exactly. I thought Biden passed up a perfect opportunity to show compassion and reiterate what he intended to imply with those remarks.
3
Correct. Joe and I are close to the same age. His time has past and he should retire to a role of pontification. In 2020 we will elect a female President and for my two cents it should be Elizabeth Warren.
She is not part of the very wealthy, has a good set of values and has a plan. :) It is time though that she needs to start talking about how she is going to pay for her many plans. The answer is Controlled Capitalism. ... https://lstrn.us/2CORkXF
6
@Banicki
Two weeks ago Business Insider reported that "Sen. Elizabeth Warren's 2017 financial disclosures placed her net worth between $4.6 and $10.6 million."
Not very wealthy, no.
@LS Check out her history. Her roots are in the working/middle class. Nothing wrong with success if your mind and feet are well planted.
After the debates, after weeks of obviously organized attacks on Biden, including in these comments sections, the polls still have Biden beating Trump by double figures. Trump is competitive with every other Democratic candidate in those same polls.
Biden may not be everyone’s ideal candidate, but as matters stand, he is our best chance to beat Trump and save the nation.
7
you know it is hard .I really like uncle joe, but I cant get beyond his treatment of Anita Hill. He put Clarence Thomas on the supreme court. I made mistakes in my life, but my mistakes were not a threat to this country. Biden's mistakes definitely have had a relevance and impact on this country.
6
@christina r garcia
Eleven Democrats voted to confirm Clarence Thomas as Supreme Court justice and Biden was not one of them.
M@christina r garcia
He was presiding over confirmation for a black justice. Thurgood Marshall was one name another. A no win situation for a dem.
So he admits the trip to South Carolina was for damage control, with no deeper intention. He is out of touch, and seems physically frail and mentally stuck in some other gear.
5
I've been saying it to everyone I know: Just say you're sorry, and that you learned from it, Joe. It's not that hard.
2
Trump is afraid of Biden, politically and physically. I'll gurantee Trump doesn't stalk Biden if they ever debate the way he did to Hullary.
3
Disagree Mr. Blow.
You should be less resistant to people like Biden who innocently uses words that are not the most articulate in trying to make the point that Americans in modern times have never been so divided.
Instead of bringing people together and writing about solving problems with moderate progressive solutions that benefit all Americans, you are obsessed with purity, PC zealotry, identity obsession and social engineering and generational shaming.
When you do the former Mr. Blow you help elect Obama, when you do the latter you help elect Trump.
11
ANYBODY BUT TRUMP!!!! that's my moto and it will never change. Unless one of his children should be deluded enough to think they could fill the office. Then it's anybody but A Trump.
1
Biden is in the uncomfortable position to be running for president and telling people why they should like him - pleading with people. Sadly, I don't think Joe is the guy to lead us Dems thru this mess & to the presidency.
But Mr. Blow is even more off mark in taking multiple shots and critiquing Biden by his own present day standards. Surprisingly Blow is guilty of judging Biden only by his own limited contemporary world view.
Come on Man - you just can't win.
3
With all due respect, sir, a bully needs to be really punched hard in the face.
And only once he runs off and cries, can we begin to learn again.
2
Very well put, thank you.
1
This is all great advice - if the goal is to make sure Biden doesn’t get the nomination.
You don’t have to like Trump to learn from him. Never apologize. Al Franken apologized.
Anyone who believes Biden owes them apology will not forgive him anyway, and everyone else will lose respect for him once he bends the knee.
Best to stand his ground.
4
The worst thing he said in the interview is that Russian interference in our election would never have happened under his and Barack Obama's watch.
What???
That's when it happened!
Also, the Ukraine deal his son made should be his undoing.
9
@Jackie they knew about, McConnel would not agre to a bipartisan warning about it and said that he would attack any White House action as being partisan.
Yes, Trump and Biden come from a similar place in several respects. The pugnaciousness, the inability to accept criticism, the inability to say "I'm sorry." are commonalities and that is not flattering. I image Biden in some international meeting pulling a W. by putting his hands on someone like Merkle.
We don't need Biden.
3
This column is another example of the circular firing squad Obama has more than once warned about. At this point, anyone who wants to see a replacement for Trump get in when 2020 rolls around should minimize any criticism of anyone who might be viable enough to move him out of the White House. The air being consumed by some of the really non-viable will be reduced by the eligibility thresholds for the 3rd debate, so that many of the real charlatans and those auditioning for cable news commentator slots will be gone quickly enough without the need for further criticism. The smart play with the field winnowing, would be to stop sniping so a viable contender that could be the driver of the moving van doesn't get taken out by friendly fire.
155
@Kevin
Wow! Yes, absolutely agree. Thanks for the comment, Kevin.
13
@Kevin I don't think it's sniping or the dreaded "circlular firing squad" to write an thoughtful article about the the way a given candidate is floundering which Biden clearly is. I think it's a gift to Biden if he reads this and does some soul searching. But let's be real about the firing squad. You have no one but yourself to blame if you continually (for decades now) shoot yourself in your own foot.
9
@Kevin
It's not a 'circular firing squad'. What you are witnessing is what's called a Primary Election. Viability is part of the process.
If a candidate cannot take a punch, I would like to know about this before the General Election. Biden not only seems to have a glass jaw, he walks right into punches, or punches himself via gaffes.
If there are issues in a candidates past that are disqualifying, I would like to know this as well.
A candidate's record is fair game, and should be debated, along with their plans for the future. Biden likes to tell stories about the past, but will not own up to his many bad judgements.
BTW, Trump will certainly not run a campaign of 'minimal criticism'.
16
Biden is the only electable Democrat. I like that he is not loud pushy arrogant self righteous. Busing was a huge mistake. Sending children away from their local schools involuntarily changed many students educational experience.
He has been framed as being not up to the fight with Trump.
"Come on man" I agree is at best silly and outdated. He will have to use his logic strong words to combat arrogant narcissistic divisive President. The alternatives to Biden are weak and political out of step with mainstream America. Medicare for all only and federally subsidized is a disaster politically and financially.
6
I think the people who are "left of Biden" kind of like having DJT as their POTUS. He's fun to bash, and he allows them a very special fantasy that the country is on the verge of making a hard left turn because Trump is so terrible and the bus is careening all over the road. They managed to keep Hillary out of office, and now they're gunning for Joe. Chant it with me now: Four more years!
5
It will come down to Biden vs. Trump. The GOP us counting on it.
1
It's a bit late in life and in his career for Joe to be working out his issues in public and learning how to respond to criticism of his record.
Much of his support is based on nostalgia. We want a "return to normalcy." But the arrow of time only flies in one direction. There are no political time machines.
Joe is a guy who almost gets it. He almost gets it on women's rights (Hyde amendment), he almost gets it on the environment (natural gas? fracking?). Even on race, he's a step or two behind the times on how to communicate. When he tells a room full of potential donors that nothing fundamental will have to change, it says to me that he doesn't understand how rapidly and radically the world is already changing. When he talks about reaching across the aisle once Trump is gone, I wonder how he can have forgotten how well that worked before Trump arrived.
How does Joe compare to Trump? As "Hyperion to a satyr." But if he replaces Trump, he'll have a hard time dealing with an unyieldingly hostile Republican party, if he still thinks of them as reasonable people who've been misled. Obama wasted years pursuing that pipe dream.
Is he the most likely to beat Trump? Today's polls say yes. But there is plenty of time for a candidate like Warren or Harris to gain name recognition and support and open a bigger lead over Trump than they currently have. And I think they better understand the times and would be better equipped to lead, once elected.
4
in grammar school,Joe fixed upon the notion of being POTUS. He carried this fixation to prep school. No one actively discouraged the notion. He did fine with it.
Rolling through the years, he stuck to it, from county politician, to the US Senate (youngest ever elected to that august conclave). The rest is public record.
The references to violence in this article are laughable. I never, ever, heard of Joe being in a fight.
I don't begrudge Joe the presidency, I just wish he had more style, some Savoir-Faire.
So we're not allowed to impeach and we have to accept an old school nominee. Hmmm. No wonder Trump's approval rating is at a record high.
Sounds to me like the Dem hierarchy is about to make the same mistake that convinced a lot of people to say "Why bother?" and stay home the last time.
The saying "No risk, no reward" comes to mind. If you're going to suppress the voices of a large part of your support, don't be surprised if they lose interest.
The idea is to get all Dem supporters out to vote, not try to attract Trump voters. If you haven't learned by now they're not going anywhere, you never will.
141
@JimmySerious
If those people don't come out for the candidate they prefer, Biden will win the nomination, fairly and squarely. Not my first choice either, but the nomination process, like the general election, rewards the voters who vote.
12
@JimmySerious There's a good article in yesterday's Washington Post "Haunted by the Reagan Era" about how older Democrats have been bruised by past defeats. I would say traumatized by past defeats.
13
@JimmySerious
Any Democrat who doesn't get out and vote, regardless of the nominee, is a de facto Trump supporter. But the support of Democrats by itself isn't enough to win. The voters who need to be attracted, are independents who, like it or not, tend to be centrists. Ignore the polls in the Democrat beauty contest; the ones that matter are "whoever" vs Trump.
11
It really doesn’t matter how dangerous are Biden’s temperament flaws.
Because he has another more serious drawback.
As presidential material: he is too old.
I myself am Oldster With all my Marbles, so I know whereof I speak.
5
A thought provoking article Charles !
Joe Biden is not a racist , or a sexually pervert as he is often accused of.
Getting along with segregationist to get things done was also a political maneuver on his part .
But what Biden has done decades ago was he that he failed Ms. Anita Hill and thus giving us Clarence Thomas is a tell tell signs of a weak man.
Also his debate days with Paul Ryan was one of his great moments, but years have gone by and I don`t see him standing up to trump`s loudmouth lies .
Biden suffered personal losses in his lifetime , he might be the last politician people person we ever had.
But wish he retires gracefully.
4
Vice President Joe Biden doesn't need to reinforce masculinity in his drive for the White House. We've all had it with a macho president (except for his red-meat base). Too many artifices of rhetoric ( ("C'mon, Man!"} and schoolyard bully remarks by the Democratic candidate in too many interviews won't rewrite the history of two elderly men (78 and 73) fighting for our presidency in 2020.
Donald Trump needs a more charismatic challenger to unseat him than Joe Biden, who though game and tough and middle-class, hasn't got the social media chops that put Trump in the White House to begin with. No matter who leads in the polls, Charles Blow, we know how polls failed America in 2016. Does anyone but Trump stand a ghost of a chance in our election next year?
1
@Nan Socolow
So glad you asked! Bernie beats Trump outside the margin of error ever since 2016 and still does. Furthermore, he never threatens to punch anyone, has energy many fifty year old could wish for, and accepts and learns from his mistakes. His passion is for social and economic justice for all. As a bonus, he voted against the Iraq War and has lead the fight to end our involvement in the war on Yemen.
Sick of endless wars that drain the treasury, transfer the money to our military/industrial/Congressional complex, worsen climate change by flying drones, planes, and bombs that use huge amounts of energy, and leave us less safe? Vote for Bernie.
2
A male version of Hillary. The Dems must go with the donor pet, so thinks Pelosi.
He is too old. That's realism, not ageism.
5
Here we go again, with Mr. Blow taking his weekly shot at Joe Biden. This time, Blow addresses the idea that as we age and the world changes around us, we should take measure of our past actions against the current social/societal climate and "apologize" for the harm and pain we have almost certainly caused others. That Joe Biden isn't apologizing, is, in Blow's warped reality, a knock against him, and another reason why he isn't fit to be President at this moment in time when so many on the far left are preaching a "my way or the highway" mentality. Of course, most of America doesn't see it this way and Biden's lead among registered Democrats also shows that most Dems don't either. What Blow gets wrong - again and again and again - is that "growth and acknowledgement" is not about retroactive justice, penance or prostrating oneself to the left's twitter-lords (AOC). To grow we do not need to erase our past. We do not need run from it. We do not need to cow to a mob. I applaud Joe Biden for taking a stand, for being rationale, and for keeping his past votes, actions, etc in the proper context.
10
I’m voting Democrat. Period.
13
Mr Blow, every word you wrote is true.
And that "come on, man"... that was an epitome of a come-back.
However, anyone and I may even include Voohoo Williamson among them, is better than Trump.
Mr Biden for all his prior gaffes, mistakes and 70/80s attitude is an honest man, and does have insight.
There is so much wrong in this WH, you got to have someone who knows and is well versed in all the nuances of administration. I don't care if its him or Warren (she would be my choice), democrats need to grab hold of White House and then the Senate.
Otherwise, all that is wrong, is going down a further landslide of more wrong.
Reading Mr Darroch's leaked comments about Trump today, UK ambassador to US... it is astounding his insight, clear cut details and alarm calls. And the way he told his superiors to handle Trump... so embarrassing.
These are unusual times in US politics, we just need a decent intelligent human who maybe doesn't lie all the time... beggars can't choose, whether food came off a middle-class home plate or was thrown out of a restaurant, food is food.
And at this point in time, we are beggars in real.
8
These Biden problems are all on the most overrated two term President Barack Obama. I do remember thinking when Biden became Obama’s running mate how could a black man possibly choose someone who called him “clean and articulate.” Well I never voted for Obama because I couldn’t stand all the Messianic nonsense that got him elected. He only became a US Senator because of peculiar Illinois politics and a ridiculous Republican “sex scandal” involving Jack Ryan and his celebrity actress ex wife. The disaster of 2016 will pale in comparison to a loss next year. Biden will get destroyed by Trump.
5
Who cares about his minor personality foibles, if any. Getting Trump out is all that matters.
Focus!
Vote!
11
@RjWHe is not capable of getting T out.
All I can see is this. First, the vital importance of Trump being soundly defeated. Second, the Democrats forming a circular firing squad.
8
I am very disappointed in Charles Blow, Kamala Harris, and Corey Booker. First Senator Harris mischaracterized Biden as someone who has not been a valuable and consistent ally to the Black community. Second, this demand for apology is so patronizing as to smell of race-bait. Third, this destructive infighting over what happened 30 years ago should at least be more accurate--most Americans white AND BLACK opposed busing---less than 10% for both groups.
Finally, what about the issues of 2019-20?
Give Senator Harris credit, she has a sharp knife, one that cuts into Biden's lead but, guess what, it is a double edged knife that will not only cut into Senator Harris appeal but is playing right into the hands of Trump.
For Democrats to eat their young like this is not good.
Mr. Blow and Senator Booker are undoubtedly hurt by the "boy" comment--granted--but piling on ad infinitum suggests opportunism.
9
Harris acted like Trump and hit below the belt. Even tho she is my neighbor she will NEVER get my vote again for anything. I don't know why Biden shouldn't be little bit defensive and on guard when he takes hits like Harris's.
8
Thanks Charles for this very introspective article about Biden.
We all know that Biden displays frequent bouts of hesitancy to be objective about his own (mis)behavior and to admit and apologize for his mistakes, if applicable. I still can’t forgive him for his obliquely chauvinistic behavior during the Anita Hill hearing and his blatantly misogynistic habit of disrespecting women by touching them without their consent, under the guise of conviviality. True Leaders acknowledge and learn from their vulnerabilities, evolve and lead. Not Biden - he doesn’t get it as he is not a Leader.
When I was in school, one of our philosophy professors used to opine: “Objectivity is a pool of subjectivity”. I didn’t have any idea what it meant - now I do because as a grown man, I understand that we should learn from our mistakes, curb our degree of subjectivity and try to be as objective as possible. Seems like - Biden never learned.
I still remember Biden’s first foray into Presidential politics and the subsequent ones as well. He ran underwhelming campaigns and his leadership style is kinda MEH! He will go down in history as Obama’s Veep and not for his lackluster Senate career.
Is he going to be better than the bloviating buffoon currently in the White House - of course he will be - but do we need another septuagenarian gerontocrat as our leader.
Biden manifests political anachronism - he is somewhat stuck in the past from the era of the sitcom “Father Knows Best” (1949) - Oy Vey!
2
I too have been bothered by Biden's seemingly out of touch persona and his inability to see what has changed in society.
I was particularly bothered by his inability to understand why elderly retrograde southern senators called him son rather than boy. As a 70 something white male from Louisiana I know why they did. It was not respect. It was racism.
Worse than being a little oblivious and out of touch, Joe Biden seems unwilling to prepare.
He says that he did not expect to be criticized by Kamala Harris.
He should have been.
You do not get to win the presidency without knowing in advance what you will be attacked with.
3
If this is the change the Corporate Democrats have to offer us then no thanks. I would rather rub your noses in it with Trump for four more years than vote for this joke.
1
This article is a joke. Mr. Blow argues that Joe Biden is some kind of out-of-touch frat boy because he isn't sufficiently apologizing and reckoning with behaviors or decisions made long ago that he and others of a certain political persuasion have deemed inappropriate. This is folly. Experience is a virtue and experience only comes with making mistakes. I give Biden full marks for acknowledging that times are changing, but not allowing himself to be pulled down by ridiculous hindsight assessments of his decades of public service.
8
@John While I intend to vote again for Trump I agree w/your assessment by Blow re Biden. Until yesterday I appreciated Joe’s stand firm position w/respect to the unfounded charges but now he’s capitulating to the “I don’t think Joe is a racist, but......” Sad.
The prescience of the Dead:
“Please don't dominate the rap, Jack,
If you've got nothing new to say.
If you please, don't back up the track
This train's got to run today.
I spent a little time on the mountain,
I spent a little time on the hill,
I heard some say "Better run away",
Others say "Better stand still".
Now I don't know, but I been told
It's hard to run with the weight of gold,
Other hand I have heard it said,
It's just as hard with the weight of lead.”
New Speedway Boogie
Grateful Dead
1969
3
A lot of this simply comes down Biden (and Bernie's) prime issue -- that their age is disqualifying. The primary reason is that neither can be expected to perform well in 9 years at the end of their second term.
However, this old-fashioned 60s dad problem illustrated the other side of the age problem. Even if these candidates could be expected to be able to perform such a grueling job, they still are tethered to a bygone era.
It's unfortunate that the founders did not put an age limit in the constitution. I'd much rather have a 34 year old president than a 74 year old one. This silliness about 'age discrimination' in a field dominated by the elderly needs to go. We need enforced retirement and a government run by people with the vitality to do their jobs.
3
@Ezra
Ever heard of Ruth Bader Ginsberg? Sharp as a tack and in her eighties. How about Benjamin Franklin? Ambassador to France when in his seventies. Churchill? Prime Minister of Great Britain at 77. Need more examples?
1
@nora m
Those are nice counter-examples but they are anecdotes that do not prove anything. They are not typical, and all but RBG are all younger than Biden would be at the end of his second term. I love RBG but she has missed a bunch of work this year and the country would be better off if she had retired when Obama was in office.
If you've ever watched someone age into their 80s you would be quite familiar with the likelihood of cognitive and physical decline, even without the strains of such a difficult job.
None of us can undo the past.
None us us can do much about what we are today.
But we certainly can do something about what we will be next week and the month after, and the year after that.
Past is often not prologue, unless of course you are columnist in a major media outlet.
The nomination process is very early and Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren are gaining speed. But I want remind people that the Democratic party does not elect the next president. The nation does and a lot of that nation likes old Joe Biden just the way he is.
I would venture to guess that half the country does not keep up with the news. All of the things pointed out here mean next to nothing to them. Many think Trump is a jerk but still approve of him. Many only source Fox News for information. And an unfortunate far too many don't even bother to vote.
This is what we are up against in the battle against Trump. We may very well end up with cranky old Joe as the nominee. Why pull a media Hillary on him and tear him down every chance you get just so you can have something to write about. Remember how Maureen Dowd shot holes in Hillary every chance she could?
Old Joe is far from perfect. His time has come and gone. But he may very well be what the majority of voters want, warts and all. In the defense of decency and honor, go after the most indecent and dishonorable one of all. Donald Trump. We know old Joe is a relic, but an old relic might just be what America wants.
19
@Bruce Rozenblit
Very well stated, Bruce!
2
@Bruce Rozenblit
Hillary did not lose because the media "shot her down". She lost because she was an equally terrible choice. Her polls were always neck-in-neck with Trump for most disliked.
1
Biden isn't going on an apology tour so progressives can feel more comfortable voting for him. Truth be told the left has been trying to sabotage Biden's campaign since he announced. Their distortion of his vote for the 1994 crime bill is a good example of their tactics. Revisionist progressive historians have clouded the record. It's beyond question that by the early 1990s, African American citizens wanted a response to the crime & violence in their communities. It was out of control...that's never been disputed by anyone. Everyday young black men were being murdered at an alarming rate. That's a fact. The dead are the tip of the iceberg, those who were maimed, beaten, robbed, fled their homes or lived in fear reach into the millions. Cries for police action were unanimous. The 1994 crime bill which was a response to these calls wasn't perfect. We know that 25 years later...that's hindsight. The fact is influential black pastors who lived in these communities signed a letter encouraging the Congressional Black Caucus to support the bill. The bill had the support of 10 black city mayors who were desperate for a solution to this problem. And in the end over half of the Black Caucus voted for the bill, so they obviously didn't think that on the whole, it was terrible legislation. And let's be clear about something else. It had overwhelming support in the Senate...passing 95-4. To blame Biden for consequences that no one could have foreseen is outrageous.
21
Can we just get a democratic into the White House first? Unite! We all want the same thing to get Trump out. Stop discussing petty things.
11
I adored Joe Biden as vice president for eight years. It was his perfect niche. His choice not to run in 2016 should have been the end of his national political story. Biden sticks out like a sore thumb in this race. He should never have gotten in. He is trying to run on a past that no longer exists. I hope that he will bow out of the race before the primaries begin, but I know that is hoping for too much. I find his responses to issues and people embarrassing and out of touch. I respect him and I will vote for him if he is the Democratic nominee. But, I do not think that Biden would be the best choice to defeat Trump--no matter who he runs with as his VP.
6
Biden, like all of us, is flawed. My 22 year old daughter summed it up, saying he seems like he’s from another time. A relic of a man who, to her generation, can only be seen as a grandfatherly figure.
But we have a raging fire in America, threatening our democracy. Our big goal, the only immediate goal, must be to eradicate trump and trumpism. Unity is key. Any time and energy spent beating up other democrats will make reaching this goal harder.
22
Biden's "problem" is that he has been around long enough that some of his earlier decisions, made in different times, are now judged to be inadequately progressive. George Washington was a slave owner who ultimately allowed for his slaves to be "freed" upon Martha's death; do we reject him as a hero because of his early views, even though they eventually morphed into what modern times would judge as correct?
As Dems continue to scourge each other, providing succor to the GOP, we are losing sight of the imperative of 2020-- voting tRump out. Biden stands the best chance of getting the votes of those moderates who voted against Clinton (I don't think they were voting FOR tRump.) We need a center left candidate.
Hard to believe, but there are many, if not most, voters who do NOT follow social media and do NOT have their opinions informed by tweets. Paying undue attention to that form of communication gives you a skewed view of the American public. For example, it allows tRump to feel like America loves him!
Wake up, as opposed to being "woke!"
12
All Biden needs is a 60 year personality do over. I don't think he's "star" quality --no Obama or Clinton brilliance there. Way too macho and retro for the "Me Too" era.
2
Trump would eviscerate Biden in debates.
5
He would probably be beaten by any of the Democratic candidates. He was beaten by Hillary.
I think Kamala Harris would destroy Trump. And would be more focused and disciplined than Joe. Joe has always been gaffe-prone and the conservative media will take any gaffe he makes and beat him over the head with it for the rest of the campaign. His lack of preparation for the last debate was apparent with his response to Harris’ criticism about his past position on busing. If he goes into a debate against Trump thinking he can wipe the floor with him by just being Joe, he could be in trouble. I don’t expect a career prosecutor like Harris would make the same mistake.
I really wished last time that Joe had stayed in the race. This time, I think it is time for someone new who can inspire the next generation who have to look forward to living with the mistakes that our generation has made to come out in numbers and who has a chance of putting us on a better track.
Perhaps Biden's description of how he would handle Trump lurking behind him at a debate was inappropriate. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that Hilary Clinton's equally inappropriate passivity in the face of Trump's hulking presence in a debate in 2016 hurt her.
6
@Angelo Sgro there was no win available for her; she would have been seen as unaccessibly aggressive if she confronted him.
1
As a white male in his eighties and a life-long Democrat, I think Mr. Blow has hit the nail on the head. Great column.
9
Biden is pretty great and is by far the best shot anyone has at beating Trump.
7
There are lots of good candidates and a long time to go before the elections. At this time during the last campaign you would have been laughed at if you suggested Trump would have been the Republican nominee let alone would beat Clinton.
I am hoping that this will finally be the election that will be decided by the issue of climate change. I don’t think Biden is the person to lead that charge.
Charles, although I understand and agree with you, my one hope is that in a year from now, I hope that the Democrats will come together and unlike in 2016, when many bitter Bernie supporters voted for the narcissistic buffoon instead of for Clinton, they will vote for Joe Biden or whoever has secured the nomination. The Democrats must also maintain their majority in the House and take back the Senate. Otherwise, we will be faced with four more years with the dangerous buffoon and wannabe autocrat Donald Trump, whose ideas of making America great are tanks on the streets of Washington, filthy inhuman detention centers on the border filled with small traumatized children, cozying up to murderous dictators along with a host of other evils supported by a morally and intellectually bankrupt GOP and a cult-like base.
11
@Maggie2 Americans have needed leftward change at least since the Bush-Cheney era. Despite an inspiring campaign on the left, Obama-Biden failed to get it done.
Only Bernie Sanders has the passion and the programs to prevail upon the usual right wing forces and give economic justice a chance.
If Sanders is cheated out of the nomination again, millions of his supporters will not vote.
2
Republicans, especially Evangelicals, fervently embraced Donald Trump despite the fact he was having unprotected sex with a pornstar a few months after his son from his third wife was born. Despite the fact he was having sex with a Playboy playmate. Despite the fact he illegally paid to cover all of this up during the general election, after footage leaked of him bragging about sexually assaulting women. The list goes on.
They turned a blind eye to all of this because they understand that power begets more power. You win the presidency, you cheat in the Census to favor your party for a decade and you win the Supreme Court for a generation.
None of this is excusable. But perhaps the Democrats could appreciate who they're up against and stop excoriating the one person, by far, who seems to beat Donald Trump in every general election poll by a healthy margin. The alternative is to run this circular firing squad all the way to another Trump term.
11
Mr. Blow, column after column, gets to the core of various matters with thoughtfulness and without malice. Here he has done just that regarding a good man who’s time has passed. But please, Mr. Blow, remember who’s character most needs to be lanced. And lanced. And lanced again. Sir, thank you for all you’ve done. Now please keep doing it.
3
If it is true that Biden could beat Trump but so could lots of the other Democrats then he would likely not be running and leading in the polls. It seems to me few voters are excited about the thought of a Biden administration. Things can change between now and November 2020 but at this point Biden is the candidate most likely to swing the States needed for a Democratic victory. If he wins the nomination it’ll be because most Democrats fear a second term for Trump term and won’t take a bigger gamble on a candidate they consider more vulnerable in the general election.
9
@AVIEL If Obama could not get progressive change done, who would believe Obama's number two would get it done?
1
@AVIEL
Wish people would read columns more closely before commenting on them!
Mr. Blow wrote:
“Biden, like the rest of the Democratic field, is better than Trump any day. Biden, like much of the Democratic field, could beat Trump.”
Did you catch that?!
“Biden, like much of the Democratic field, could beat Trump.”
the democratic primary process should not be a race to see which candidate is the most 'woke'. the only goal is to bring forward a candidate who will crush trump. biden may well be that person, and he will get my vote if nominated, even though I love Elizabeth warren. to paraphrase Lombardi, winning isn't the most important thing. it's the ONLY thing.
21
@butlerguy With all due respect, a vote for Biden is a vote for the old establishment. And today Donald Trump is the old establishment on steroids. Beating Donald Trump is one thing; beating right wing corporate greed is another.
1
@butlerguy
Lombardi was wrong — and that attitude fits Trump and is NOT one we should emulate.
If winning is everything, then it’s OK to lie, collude with the Russians, cut sweetheart deals with dictators, accept the word of dictators over one’s own intelligence service, obstruct justice, and fan the flames of bigotry, racism, misogyny, and xenophobia in order to win!
But it’s not. Let’s put away football bromides, one of the world’s most violent, brutal, life debilitating sports, and restore decency, democracy, honor, and justice to our country.
2
@Marsha Pembroke I couldn’t agree more with your idealism and your goals. The restoration of decency and justice to our political sphere may take some time, given where we are today. Let’s not forfeit the chance to get started because the purity of our ideals blinds us to the achievable good.
1
All Biden really has to say about his past positions is that we are and have been in a social evolution for well over a hundred years. The world changes around us and we have to change with it or be left in the dust.
13
I’ve thought a lot about the debate stalking mentioned here. The way I would handle that is not by punching Trump in the face. I would say to the moderators something like can someone please bring the president a comfortable chair to rest in? His bone spurs seem to be bothering him.
(Of course that may only work if the candidate is younger than Trump.)
12
Anti-Biden stances are a mistake. If we are unable to allow people the right to change, to adjust former viewpoints, we aren't very liberal.
America needs first of all to defeat Trump and hopefully regain the whole Congress. There is nothing more important than that.
I would like to consider Biden and Harris but that's not to be. Biden and Warren, on the other hand, sounds like a good ticket.
20
@Steve
The problem is that Biden is mired in the past; until the other day, he refused to acknowledge any changes; and he keeps trotting out examples from 30-40 years ago (working with rabid segregationists to block school integration and undermine Anita Hill was appalling— and compounded by his recent defense days ago of states rights).
Of course, we need to raise questions and criticisms about Biden — many of us who are anti-Biden are so for good reasons — his vote for the Iraq War, his complicity with Obama’s militarism and domestic spying, his crafting of the anti-minority crime bill, his strong support for the Hyde amendment, and his markedly anti-women point of view.
Had he changed; had he evolved; had he admitted all those were errors; that would be one thing. But he hasn’t and has double down on those old positions.
It’s now it’s too late. Even this latest apology came only because his poll numbers were slipping.
He’s also in bed with corporate capital, especially the finance industry, and just the other day, told a group of wealthy donors that he wouldn’t do anything to threaten their lifestyles!
By saying anti-Biden stances are a “mistake”, you are telling Biden critics to “shut up”. We won’t and a key reason is exactly the one you cite. We need to defeat Trump and restore democracy and Biden isn’t the candidate to do that.
The more people see of him, the more they learn about him, the lower his support is.
If Biden can't figure out how he's not resonating with people, he shouldn't be POTUS. His problem is he's too old. He's too out of touch and trying too hard to sound like he's young and hip.
I like Warren and Harris more and more. I think they'll surge to the top. I won't vote for Biden in the primary, but if he's wins it, I'll vote for him in the general.
Vote your conscience in the primary and the party in the general.
14
@JL22 "His problem is that he's too old." Really? Substitute any other label for a minority group and you might recognize the ugliness of that statement.
All of us can strive to continue to improve, regardless of age.
@Hugh Sullivan, Yeah. Really. He's too old. This job requires incredibly long, stressful and unpredictable hours, physical stamina, quick thinking and an ability to function and focus under extreme pressure.
If Biden were 22, we'd say, without apology, he was too young.
Biden is the only democratic candidate that could lose to Trump. He is, literally, Clinton redux.
9
@Rick
As I've said in a few other comments - Biden is yesterday's man.
And his "yesterday" is way, way back, in the early 90's.
@Rick
Biden's "secret sauce" is that he's not a left-winger. If you don't want Biden to be the one, don't run extremists against him.
@Rick- ya and trump is still trump, isn’t he?
I hope if Kamala Harris presses Joe Biden on a position he took 25 years ago (crime bill) or 45 years ago (busing), Biden asks Senator Harris about some of her unjust actions and lack of actions while District Attorney and later as Attorney General of California. She has stood in the way of justice because she couldn’t admit she or her subordinates might be wrong. Harris has shown a willingness to let wrongfully convicted men rot in jail. These well documented events seem to get little coverage in press.
21
@Midwest Moderate
Harris is just like any other prosecutor out there: 1) Aggressively throw charges against the defendant and see what sticks, like spaghetti against the wall; 2) Build a name for yourself; 3) Seek higher office.
Harris is about furthering her career. To be fair, most of the field of candidates is like that too.
2
@Midwest Moderate Two words, MM: Kevin Cooper. Look him up on Wikipedia and you'll find the story of a man railroaded for a triple murder and the actions of AG Kamala Harris who blocked a test that would likely have exonerated Cooper. People who play politics with people's lives will never get my vote. Ever. If she's the nominee, I will abstain.