Joe is remembered fondly as the excellent VP to Barack Obama - he is a known and trusted commodity. Yes he has shortcomings, but he does the best in poll after poll in state after state against Trump and winning this election is the only priority. The more dramatic candidates are more risky in the general. These are the obvious reasons for African-American support of Biden. I personally would like someone younger and somewhat more aggressive on progressive policies, but I completely understand the support for Joe - winning in Penn, Mich, Wisc is all that matters.
2
White voters always have the luxury of casting their votes for more "exotic" pie-in-the-sky candidates, but people of color were and are far more likely to be impacted negatively by unfair Trump administration policies and therefore, for them it is imperative that the next Democratic nominee be someone with an actual chance to unseat the incumbent in 2020. So, out goes Buttigieg, Warren, and yes Bernie, making it plain to see that the only candidate they are pinning their hope on is Biden.
That is one way to explain how Biden's held steady as the front-runner in the polls when so many expected a collapse.
Liberals were and are still entirely wrong about what this election cycle is about. It's not about breaking glass ceilings and having the most diverse candidate possible out there. It's not even about "energizing" the crowds (whatever that means) or upending the status quo... it's about defeating Trump. Simple as that.
That requires a candidate with broad appeal across the political spectrum, not someone firmly entrenched in the most radical ideology-- progressive or not.
Black voters, pragmatic as always, understood this quickly.
They too can flex their voting muscles too. And they will.
1
Minority voters have more to loose. Those who make less, are less likely to get the best job or entrance to the best college value experience and achievement in a candidate. It is honest. It's that simple. These voters are wise to reject the media's obsession with appearance over experience. Perhaps, we, as voters, should do the same.
1
Yeah but show me how he could win the election.
2 polls, Emerson and Rasmussen, show growing support for President Trump in minority communities. Ruh roh!!
The DNC has to nominate who will be Trump. Period.
1
Regardless of what you may think of President Trump, I believe we have to acknowledge that he had the acumen to identify Joe Biden as his biggest threat with regard to his reelection. The ongoing impeachment inquiry which, it appears, will come to naught, is not only welcomed but is fulfilling the President's objective to call into question the unseemly conflict presented by the younger Biden's position on what must appear to many Americans to be a questionable energy company in the Ukraine at a time when his father was vice-president AND the administration's point man to prod officials in the Ukraine toward the goal of fostering honesty in their government. Sadly, with each passing day of the impeachment imbroglio the electorate is reminded time and again of what is being presented as a conflict and possible misdeed by the former vice-president. Yes, Joe Biden may get his party's nomination but he is being weakened immeasurably by the process and Trump's misdeed of holding up military aid and official acknowledgement to the newly elected president of the Ukraine in exchange for the mere announcement of a formal inquiry into Hunter Biden has exceeded the President's calculus by any measure even he might use to gauge his intended effect.
Warren's rigidity on Medicare-for-all has already doomed whatever chance she had for the nomination. Sanders is Johnny One Note who always looks to be on the verge of a stroke. The younger moderates have a lot more general appeal, but each has a serious "electability" issue. So that leaves Biden, who's clearly past his sell-by date and whose only virtue is that he's not Trump. For me, the only candidate I could get excited about has the initials MB - as in Michael Bennett, not the former NYC mayor. As a senator from the West, he's refreshing. He's also bright, compassionate, moderate, experienced, especially in education. He got drowned out in the early debates by all the Warren/Sanders noise. But the DNC, among other power brokers, should look again. He's the real thing. And he could beat Trump.
2
Am I the only Democrat who doesn't want someone in their 70s or 80s as president? Especially not Joe Biden. I am stunned that he retains such popularity. What about Elizabeth Warren? Is America that repulsed by the idea of a woman president? Or how about Peter Buttgieg? He is interesting; young and vibrant. He is the most appealing candidate to me. I want a younger candidate; someone who has the health and energy level to take on a demanding job.
1
Whatever happened to "one man, one vote"? The DNC continues to tinker with the nomination process and, very likely, will allow a very weak establishment candidate, Biden, to become the nominee. And, that will ensure four more years of Trump.
Also, may I point out that black voters are less than 12% of the national vote; so, why should they be given such a "voice" in picking a nominee?
2
I don’t think Biden is a strong candidate but I’d vote for him in the general election if he is the nominee. But I will never vote for the Sanders/Warren wing of the party. I am watching with increasing concern how these political zombies are trying the resurrect the failed ideology that should have been buried under the rubble of the Berlin Wall. They are not social democrats. They are socialists. No question that they would bring a change - in the same way that the plague is a change from the flu. Biden, Mayor Pete, Bloomberg - anybody but a socialist. If it’s a choice between Bernie and Trump, I’ll have to cast my vote for the buffoon over the true believer.
1
So to take a bleak view of things, cautious, party-loyalist African-American voters in southern states they cannot deliver in the general election may once again play a decisive role in nominating the party-hack candidate of the Institutional Democratic Party, all but guaranteeing defeat next November.
2
Seems silly for the DNC to nominate a candidate based on landslide victories in states where Biden or any other Democrat has very little chance of winning in the general (Alabama, Mississippi, etc). 2016 should have taught Democrats that they should pay attention to primary results in Michigan, Ohio, etc. so Trump doesn't get elected again.
3
Soe of us have been saying this all along. IN today's RCP Poll Average, Warren's numbers and bernie's numbers are headed straight down. Yes Pete has moved up, although he is still 4th but he has Zero Black Support.
The simple reality is that we just literall cannot nominate a guy who has no support from a key - and large- constituency in the Democratic coalition.
1
You go to the voter for polling, but for the election, the voter has to go to the poll. Black people are not monolithic. These days there is a diversity of education, class, wokeness, religious beliefs, age, gender, political POV, etc. within the "Black voting bloc". So, Black people are familiar with Biden as Obama's VP, which might make them comfortable with Biden when polled, but will they be inspired to show-up and vote next November? The conventional wisdom is that Black people don't want to be taken for granted by Democrats. When Black voters look beyond the familiar and take a deeper look into Biden's history, actions, words, and promises, will they be motivated to actively support and vote for him? He's just taking them for granted.
3
I wish reporters would wait until life happens before they try to report it. I dislike anticipatory reporting, whether it's this analysis, or telling us ahead of time what a candidate's approach to a debate, etc. will be. Journalism trying to create the news rather than reporting it.
8
What unites Democrats is defeating Trump. The rest is a side show. The day after Super Tuesday we will know who Democrats believe can beat Trump. Be in no doubt, it will be Joe Biden.
3
Aspirational lefties: Warren's 59 plans, open borders, M4A, the free healthcare/college billionaire 2¢ tax, are not going to pass, or if passed, be deemed constitutional. Reality: a Harvard professor Grandma is not going to beat Trump in swing states, neither is Bernie, the entertaining self declared socialist. Nor does the gay youngster from Indiana have a chance, even though he implies 7 months reserve duty in Kabul is comparable to raising the flag on Iwo Jima. Kerry was ridiculed by the right for actual combat, and his Purple Heart Award.
Short of a Trump national economic collapse, Biden's the best we got to win the Electoral College.
4
Even if Joe wins the nomination he will not pick up the young, diverse Democrats and Independents who back Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. And even if he beats Trump, what can we expect? Certainly not change, but more of the same failed policies and tactics that gave us Trump.
4
@Mike Havenar
If Biden wins, he’ll work to undo the damage Trump has done both domestically and internationally, get us started on an aggressive climate policy, work to get passed a universal option for healthcare, and make improvements in education, as well as other areas. He’ll also do what he can to bring the political temperature down. It’s not everything everyone wants, but it will move us forward. It’s likely he’ll only run for one term, and then we can do this again in four years with candidates who have four more years of experience under their belts. And hopefully we can have these discussions about how far left to go in a saner political environment.
3
Anyone who thinks Biden has a shot at winning after he bit his wife's finger, or told his story about children rubbing is sweaty hairy legs and then putting them in his lap, must be dellusional.
Biden seems like he is barely functioning as a human. He comes off as a broken robot that just spits out disjointed DNC talking points without context.
If Biden gets the nomination, we will surely have 4 more years of Trump.
If the DNC wants to win, they need to run a real candidate, not a special-interest puppet like Biden. Even Bloomberg has a better chance than Biden.
6
@Justaguy
I, for one happen to doubt that Bloomberg "has a better chance than Biden".
Evidently you fail to take into his racist "stop & frisk" policing policy into consideration -- but if you think that Black voters are going to overlook that, you're not only very out of touch, but very much mistaken.
2
@N. Smith
Agreed, Bloomberg won't win those votes most likely.
But...
Look at all the slights and gaffes and actual policy's of Biden's that hurt Blacks and Americans in general; that Black voters seem to be willing to overlook.
@Justaguy,
Agreed, Biden does seem to be Sundowning.
When your campaign tries to keep you out of public and from speaking...it's not a good sign.
Biden is a puppet of those he's promised "Noting will change!"
1
If Biden wins, we will probably watch two to three years news coverage on Ukraine, Biden and his son.
2
@LL Biden has proudly boasted ofdoing FAR more than Donald Trump was ever accused of doing in Ukraine. He can literally be inpeached in January 2021 just based on what CNN has been lecturing us about Trump.
Joe Biden isn't going to win the nomination, despite the NYT's unwavering support.
He doesn't deserve it either.
The Democratic party should be allowed to pull hard to the left, instead of trying to become a mini-GOP (also referred to, as 'center').
The knifes will be out soon.
5
@waldo
First of all, you're in Canada so you actually won't be involved in our elections.
But if it's four more years of Donald Trump -- which is just about guaranteed if the Democratic Party continues to split itself apart, you can only thank yourself for the outcome.
Good luck with the tariffs.
1
@waldo
The only ones who can stop a pull to the left are voters.
1
The endless gripes in this comment section about how the Dems "need to nominate someone who can win swing states!" while ignoring the fact that Biden has been polling strongest against Trump in most if not all swing-state polls (and even places like Texas and Georgia). He ain't my perfect candidate either, but simply wishing that Warren will "energize voters" and win the swing states ain't gonna make it happen. Ohio and Wisconsin aren't California and Connecticut.
5
The mainstream liberal media continues to push centrists who are guaranteed to lose to Trump's populist agenda. Biden, Pete do not stand a chance against Trump. Why do you forget that Obama ran on a populist agenda, he ran as a centrist that's a different story but what made him win is the populist/ upliftment of the working class message.
2
Black voters appear to like the Democratic establishment more than white voters who tend to focus on perceived ties between the Democratic establishment and large corporations. So far it looks like Biden does have a big advantage if black voters continue to support him. It should be kept in mind that a big reason that Hillary Clinton won every southern state in the primary was her support from black voters.
2
@Bob
Unfortunately, those southern states she won in the primary were all guaranteed RED wins in the general.
Basing a campaign upon winning losing states, got you Trump.
1
I will vote for anyone that the Dem's choose. However Biden is my least popular candidate of the top 4 right now. He is a gaff machine and will eventually fall to Trump because he does not bring the same enthusiasm as other candidates. Same reason why Clinton lost. Lots of Dems just didn't show up or switched sides. Dems don't fall in line like GOPers and that my dear friends is why 2020 looks very depressing.
3
If both Sanders and Warren were one candidate, that person would be running away with this primary. The voters want progressive change. It's what I will vote for in the primary. I'd like to vote for someone whose policies I'm enthusiastic about in 2020 instead of just voting against the horror show we're suffering under.
10
Why on earth are southern states that don't have a chance of being in play in during the general election having anything to do with the nominating process?
Hillary killed Bernie in these states, yet lost to him in the rest belt states she took for granted -- and promptly lost to Trump, ceding him the presidency. When we are talking about Biden's support among black voters, most of it is coming from these very red states where he doesn't have a chance in the General.
Are we going to make the same mistake again?
It doesn't have to be Bernie, but for God's sake let's at least pick the candidate that is going to give us the best chance of taking the blue and purple states!
12
@cz Well, that would be Joe Biden! And that's why he most likely will be the nominee.
At this point, it is more important to nominate and elect an experienced politician - centrist, leftist, socialist or whatever that may be. Whatever it takes to put a sane person on the WH.
2
Biden does not have strong support. He needs to NOT be the candidate. Even talking about him as a candidate for President is a joke. Trump would love to run against him. But hopefully Bloomberg will be the candidate. Biden can't even articulate one sentence.
2
@Uofcenglish If Bloomberg had any courage at all he would spend his money running against Trump in the Republican primary. Him being in the Democratic primary isn't helpful at all in my opinion.
4
@Uofcenglish "Biden does not have strong support" and Bloomber does? Where?
1
I'm from MA and will not vote for Biden.
1-his health is begining to show. He has a hard time speaking full and coherent sentences. He's amoderate at best and will not change anything so if the DNC is pushing him and ignoring a more progressive candidate Trump will have a 2nd term.
Bernie can't be bought, has the best ideas, is not too old, and can beat Trump no problem.
3
@jack
Bernie is "not too old"? Sorry.
But what calendar are you operating from?
He's almost the same age as Biden for goodness sake.
4
This nomination process is too close to call and is rapidly becoming utterly boring.
Is this a scheme to get Dem voters to go along with yet another establishment favorite, despite general reluctance to do so?
1
Hands up if you are disturbed by the warped logic going on here, that a white, christian, male, moderate, status quo candidate, a candidate who will REassure the wealthy, appease the racists, comfort the lady grabbers, that this candidate is the strongest advocate for progressives. Say what now?
Basic fact (repeated evidence suggests) is that people (voters) like to be on winning teams and to vote for winners (see DT rhetoric for reference) so if they’re told Joe is a winner more will vote for him, thus making him a winner. Its a primal thing, not a reasoned thing. That begs the question, then, why are we being told the other candidates are losers? Who doesn’t want them to win?
5
Joe Biden does well with both African Americans and white swing voters in the Midwest "blue wall" states that the Dems need to carry. Nobody else in the race offers this key one-two punch. The activist left that backs Sanders and Warren is not the constituency that wins presidential elections for the Democrats. Do you believe Bernie Sanders's claims that he's going to be able to turn out 20 million new people who never previously voted in a presidential election? Me either. I'm clear-eyed about Biden's shortcomings, but he's a heck of a lot better than 4 more years of Trump... Biden isn't just the safe choice, he's the smart choice as well.
9
@Richard Ralph Watch the Joe Biden "hairy legs" video and come again... This is the candidate we are going to put up against Trump?
@Karen Thornton For every "strange" Biden video or meme you can come up with, I can come up with twenty Trump nonsensical tweets/videos/memes. Don't care one bit. His voting base doesn't care either. Just like Trump, Biden's proven to be Teflon. Still front-runner after attacks from the Left, the Right, Russians, bots, you name it. Still head and shoulders above other Dem candidates.
I think there's a civil war brewing in the Democratic Party between black voters and the white progressive left. If/when Biden gets the nom, that civil war will blow wide open.
In 2016 progressives showed that they wouldn't respect the decisions of black voters. Meanwhile black voters, of which I am one, learned that while white progressives talk a good game, when push comes to shove, they can't be trusted. I'll never vote for a progressive (as opposed to liberal) for the rest of my life.
5
@Marcia
NO! The last thing we need now is any kind of a prognosis of a Civil War between the races., Democratic or not.
Trump has already laid the groundwork for that, let's not give it to him.
Stop there, please.
That said, if there is a conflict, it will be between progressives who see their way as the only way, and everyone else.
Oddly enough, in that way, they're as bad as Republicans.
1
Joe Biden wins the Democratic nomination... then what? HRC won the nomination on the backs of black voters in 2016. Then proceed to lose the Midwest when not enough black voters showed up at the polls in places like Detroit and Milwaukee to win Michigan and Wisconsin. Joe is going whole hog blue collar to avoid that scenario. He is appealing to voter loyalty --OK. It's just his campaign performances are horrendous. He's 77 but often seems like 87. Is this a brilliant disguise? Or is he going to get eaten alive by the Republican mean machine?
2
The Democrats will lose to Trump if Hillary continues to inject herself in to the conversation constantly. She is a lightening rod and reminds Obama to Trump voters why they did not vote for her. She also reminds a goodly number of people who voted for Hillary because Trump was so terrible of how much they disliked having to make that choice.
Get Hillary out of the limelight before she throws the race to Trump.
3
@nora m Hillary who? The only people who continue talking about Hillary are people who are nervous about Trump's chances of impeachment.
Here we go again, just as with Hillary Clinton: African Americans in SC support Biden at this particular juncture; therefore, since all African Americans all think alike all the time it's a sure bet that all African Americans everywhere will always support Joe Biden. What could possibly go wrong?
3
The NYTimes is pathetic. Really...Bernie Sanders is far and above every other candidate in fund raising by ordinary voters, small donations, and he's raised many millions. If the democratic leadership insists on pushing Biden on us, for sure you are guaranteed four more years of trump. I'll write Sanders in before I pull the trigger for Biden.
2
@Ericka
We Agree!
@Ericka Bernie Sanders will not win the nomination. The sooner you and his followers realize that, the better. When that is done, if you still decide to sit on your hands the way you did in 2016, the next four years will be on you.
Bernie voters are like children. They will throw a tantrum to get their way, only to realize they can't always get what they want.
How selfish of them.
1
I’ve really been warming to Joe Biden. I think a practical, common sense approach is the way to win. Places like Wisconsin and Arizona are winnable with someone like Biden. A progressive firebrand is an uncertain risk in those areas.
11
"Think of it this way: Candidates gain delegates based on voting in both states and districts, which are Congressional districts in all but a few places. "
Should be "Think of it this way: black voters in red states that will never vote for Biden in the general election will have an outsized say in whether Biden will become the democratic nominee."
3
@Prof SB
I don't know why you think that black voters in red states won't vote for Biden in the general election? Overall at worst in most recent presidential elections the Democratic Party nominee has gotten at least 90% of the black votes in the last several election.
Also if there is ever any hope of turning states like Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida blue in future presidential elections the Democratic Party would be wise to appeal to black voters and consider their interest.
I'm more than a bit tired of the DNC repeatedly focusing on particular groups among the electorate to carry/save the election, while ignoring Left-of-Center voters and telling us to just 'get on board' with whomever the DNC chooses. And if they lose an election, we are all to blame, even though we end up voted for their candidates, regardless of their politics. Why are Establishment Dems constantly fearful of handing over the reigns to someone Progressive, for once?
4
Biden could also quickly lose, if he doesn't win the first couple of states, then his entire argument (I'm electable, and that's literally all i'm offering) quickly begins to fall apart. He has one half of the Obama coalition (black southern support) but strongly lacks the other half (professional upper class white liberal support) as they keep shopping around. Currently it's with Mayor Pete but that's all been a big game of musical chairs. Considering that 3 other states go before South Carolina the momentum could shift away from him enough that even if he wins South Carolina it won't be nearly as decisively as hoped for. He is a very vulnerable front runner. Doesn't mean he would lose, just would be far from conclusive.
Just saying that people don't really pay attention until the last few weeks before voting begins, and voting patterns change a great deal based on how the other states vote.
Biden also has very soft support, his voters are not ride or die for him. Many of them can easily switch to another candidate, they can be easily poached of he starts losing.
2
@Bo
when the upper class white liberals finally realize that nobody else besides Biden can win the general election against Trump, they'll come on board.
3
@Bo
The thing is, you’re assuming the only reason people support Biden is that they think he has the best chance to beat Trump. Quinnipiac’s most recent poll asked which candidate would be the best leader, and Biden scored at the top (26%) vs Warren (19%), Sanders and Buttigieg (12%). https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3650
Also, Biden is leading by about 10 points and Nevada, and the argument that Biden’s support is soft is debatable. He also does well among the more conservative of left-leaning voters.
2
@Richard Ralph
In a general election the DNC no longers gets to be the sole arbiter of how Biden is portrayed.
Those constant rumblings from the left about his supposed senility. Get ready to see that replaying non stop over and over. Because it's being suppressed for the primary in order to destroy the left flank of the party it's going to really hit hard as new information once the general election hits. Remember the DNC doesn't control the GOP.
Also Biden's segregationist past will be ironically used by the GOP against him. So his black support in the primary will once again most likely drop during the general.
i think 2020 will be a measurement of the decency of the American people and of our commitment to leadership in the world.
1
@Anton
I think 2020 will show us how selfish and self-serving various factions in the Democratic Party are. If divisions which currently exists in the party with regards to race, liberal vs. moderate, etc. aren't addressed and if those factions in the party can't come together and turn out the vote in 2020, the Democratic candidate is going to lose the election.
3
Really? The last time I saw these sorts of charts they predicted an almost certain win by Hillary.
Bottom line, the dems better find a candidate that can appeal to the masses and doesn't want to push programs that are difficult, at best, to implement (e.g. medicare for all).
2
This paper has done and continues to do all it can to push Biden into the nomination on behalf of their corporate underwriters and allies at the DNC. They seem content to ignore entirely the interests of anyone outside the Baby Boomer generation and the polls of their landlines. Moreover, Biden will do nothing to protect the environment, he will do nothing to protect working families, and will do nothing to help us fight for progressive values. He is a re-establishment of the Neo-liberal centrist norms of the previous century that have led the world into the predicament it is in now. To forfeit the earth on behalf of private industry is a sin this paper will never live down.
3
@Andrew G
So go ahead and vote for Trump then. It's a free country.
1
Trump is going to crush Biden, in both the election and all of the debates. He can't even handle himself in the democratic debates.
Who really thinks Biden has a chance?
6
@Bill Women protecting their right to abortion...
farmers losing their workers to trump racially motivated
immigration policy, coal workers that did not see a coal
come back and these are just three groups
trump has alienated with his bigotry, incompetence and lies.
Most important the majority of states and counties have either gone back to paper ballots or paper back ups..
and most American voters are now aware of online foreign
actors trying to sway the elections of 2020 in favor of trump.
Let me assure you, 2020 will not be an easy victory for trump the opposite and considering how he won 2016 thanks to only 88k votes in the rust belt I'd say trump will lose the elections of 2020 and this nightmare of a faux presidency will be over.
1
Biden will NOT be the nominee. His only role now is to divide the delegates to such an extent No One will get the number needed on the First Ballot. So start sidling up to your favorite Super Delegate if you are in the Field and not named Biden.
2
@GregP Yeah, many candidates have been thinking about a brokered convention for some time now, and I am sure they have been doing the dance. But given that these Super Delegates are usually insiders, Biden may have it covered, as many may feel like he does have the best chance . I am also suspecting that Bloomberg may have a few. Without an official pledge, anything can happen to steer them, including how candidates are polling later in the game.
Ariana Grande, “MY GUY. thank you Senator Sanders for coming to my show, making my whole night and for all that you stand for! @headcountorg and i are doing our best to make you proud. we’ve already registered 20k+ young voters at my shows alone. also i will never smile this hard again promise.”
Social media is the voice of the politically involved.
Loud and clear.
It will not be Joe Biden.
Young people are voters, they do not read the NYTimes. So save your powers convincing readers a moderate has a chance.
1
Times readers. It's time to get behind Joe. He is decidedly not Hilary as many suggest. He's a much more sympathetic candidate-his compassion and good will are tangible. And for all the talk of inclusivity, what I see time and time again, on these pages and elsewhere is a kind of patronizing, almost incredulous attitude toward the hundreds of thousand black voters who support Biden. That attitude is, of course, itself racist, though it appears difficult for progressives to ever perceive themselves as such.
6
If Biden is the Democratic candidate, Trump is re-elected. We cannot let either happen.
1
Are black voters really supporting Biden? I don’t trust polls especially telephone polls of supposed black people. When I think of how toxic the Obama brand has become, how Biden is basically a quieter form of Trump, and how the black electorate has changed in recent years, I am not sure history-based predictions will hold. SC will be a start , not the whole story, but an opening into the reality of the black vote.
1
Now that the NY Times has outlined how Biden could grab the nomination, I look forward to their doing the same exercise for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. (Buttigieg has no chance given his complerte lack of support from POC.)
Also, a couple of corrections:
Re: "Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren have shown some traction with younger, nonwhite voters. Mr. Sanders in particular has polled better among nonwhite voters than any candidate other than Mr. Biden, though he remains a distant second."
Sanders has done much more than merely "show some traction" with younger POC -- in fact, he leads even Biden among them. That's significantly more success than showing "some traction."
Sanders also leads with Latinos -- beating even Biden among them. That would have been worth pointing out to readers, the "non-white" population comprises more than only the African-American community. Latinos could put Sanders over the top in California, Texas and other states with large Latino populations.
Finally, the article seemed to suggest that Kamala Harris could do well in SC -- yet there's zero polling or anecdotal evidence to suggest that; also, the Times JUST put out a long article on her campaign's implosion! So hers was an odd inclusion in this article.
2
@Thomas D.
The issue with Latino voters historically is that they do not turn out to vote in significant numbers. For the presidential election in 2016 about 60% of eligible black voters turned out. For Latino voters the number was below 50%.
The single biggest thing the Democratic Party can do 2020 elections and beyond is to focus on increasing Latino voter turnout. There are states like Arizona and Texas with traditionally large Latino populations and states like North Carolina and Georgia with significant increases in Latino populations that offer compelling opportunities for the party.
1
The same people who demonize the Electoral College are the same ones who are fine with states THAT WILL NOT SEND BLUE ELECTORS to DC determining who the Dem nominee is! This is crazy. I don't care who the Dem Party in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc support. Their state is not going to "vote blue no matter who" so WHO they prefer is less important than Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Biden cannot win marginal states. Trump can. Sanders can. That is the only match-up that can even remotely be competitive AND get voters out in down ballot races. Either we nominate Sanders OR we re-elect Donald Trump.
3
First Hillary Clinton and now Joe Biden.
Why is it impossible to find a suitable Dem POTUS candidate?
As a center-left democrat I see only two alternatives to throwing up:
1. Don't vote.
2. Vote republican
2
@St.John
And that's EXACTLY how we ended up with Trump.
Tell you what.
Leave Argentina and come live here for awhile before you start to advocate "Vote republican".
1
Clinton 3.0.
The DNC has learned nothing from 2016 and are preparing to cram another bad candidate down their base's throats.
3
In other words, many paths to keeping Trump in office. What a bunch of ... er... Malarkey!
2
Now do Bernie.
5
If you want another 4 years of Trump, pick Biden. This man is a mental disaster and totally disconnected from the Zeitgeist.
2
Joe Biden isn't just dumb, he's corrupt. He might win the primary, but he will never make it through the general. At some point his peccadillos with Hunter and the Board of Burisma are going to catch up to him. We don't even know what other skeletons rattling around in his political closet are going to jump out and bite.
3
Why don't you people stop speculating and just report the news, with no slant. Why don't you try that?
4
Yet again, the NYT disregards the real contender - the honest man - the only person of true integrity in the race: Bernie Sanders. Colour me disgusted.
4
@A. McVeigh
Just a small reminder.
It's the American electorate who will decide who the "real contender" is -- and not the NYT.
What a carelessly written article by the NYTimes. Extremely disappointing. In your efforts to "find new angles" you are, at best, distorting the truth and, at worst, purposely leaving out relevant facts because they don't fit your narrative.
Let's take your chart of "delegate rich districts" ..... there are at least 16 districts with 8+ delegates. Only 4 of those are districts where blacks make up 25% or more of the population. Meaning 12 are districts where more than 75% of the voters are white. You didn't highlight that. Why?
You also conveniently left out, for example, that Biden also has the highest percentage of white votes in South Carolina. Why was that left out?
You left out that blacks make up only 20% of Democratic voters? Why not include that?
If white Democrats coalesced around a candidate, that person would not need ANY black support, yet you have already started the narrative that if things don't go well, it will be about what blacks did, instead of about what whites didn't do.
Very careless.
2
This is an informative article, but where are the articles which discuss the POSITIONS of the various candidates?
There has been some discussion in the NYT about the wealth tax proposals of Sanders and Warren. Sanders proposes a wealth tax of 8%, Warren of 6%. France tried a wealth tax which maxed out at 1.8% and the revenues achieved were disappointing. I would prefer a very high income tax rate, say 90% on billionaires, to a wealth tax.
The far left talks a lot about a Green New Deal, but I looked for an explanation of what this means. I have been reading the recent book "On Fire" by Naomi Klein. I have never before read such a poorly researched book.
It is true that climate change is the most pressing problem of our age, a problem which Klein tries to address.
But she doesn't seem to understand the science behind climate change.
Klein seems to deny that climate change is primarily caused by population growth. There would be no serious climate change problem if world population was less than a billion, as it was when Malthus issued his first warnings in 1798, When "Limits to Growth" was published in 1972, world population stood at roughly half the current level.
Time is running out. I wish that one of the Democratic candidates would tell the truth about climate change: Any program to mitigate its effects must include a program to provide family planning to the world's poor.
Africa is slated to double in population by 2050. We need to limit the suffering.
Perhaps the best outcome for the primaries would be if no candidate gets nearly enough delegates to capture the nomination. That result would do three beneficial things for the Democratic Party.
First, it would mean that the nomination decision would be made at the convention; and although that makes old-style political brokering possible, it also makes it possible to make a more reasoned political judgment--one not dominated by social media ads and untruths--about who would be the best candidate to beat Trump based in part on which issues are most important in the voters' eyes.
Second, the convention takes place July 13-16, which is much closer to the November election and would allow for more timely and accurate judgment about issues important to voters close to the election. It would also make possible a better judgment about which candidate would be most effective campaigners on those issues.
Third, picking the candidate in late July deprives Trump of a smear-campaign target until about 3 months before the election.
There is no way to improve the chances of such a "conventional" outcome to the primary season. Except perhaps to encourage every Democratic primary voter to assess who has been getting large numbers of primary delegates up until your state's primary and then to VOTE FOR ONE OF THE CURRENT NATIONAL UNDERDOGS WHEN YOUR STATE'S PRIMARY IS HELD.
1
Really? The Democrats are pinning their hopes on Biden? Can't they vision the disaster that Biden will be in one-on-one debate against the President? His inability to speak intelligently will be on focused display all the way up to election day.
2
There's a lot of irony here. Black voters, the most courted voting block by Democrats for generations may hand the nomination to Joe Biden, who has the misfortune of being a centrist, when centrists are currently out of vogue with the more progressives in the Party who may withhold support for him. It suggests that Democrats are not synchronized, not surprising, that's how they always seem to be.
2
Of all the dark events that could materialize during the next year, none short of nuclear war could be worse than the re-election of Donald Trump. I really like a lot of what I hear from many of the Democratic candidates but they are subsumed by the thought of four more years of a Trump presidency.
If Biden wins the Democratic nomination, he will have already experienced the foreign election interference and domestic propoganda which for many is already growing thin and more recognizable with every utterance by the Trump sycophancy and the Russian propoganda machine.
1
The next president of the United States is going to be either Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump. Why? Bernie represents the real opposition to Trump's regime and to Neoliberalism, which is the "condition" that helped set the stage for Trump's kakistocracy.
7
@Luis Mendoza
Nice try. But Sanders STILL doesn't have the Black vote.
Did you red the article?
1
@N. Smith
Forget the black vote. Sanders doesn't have ANY vote, expect New Hampshire. He is losing in National polls, in SC polls, in Iowa, in CA. It's not even about Black people.
2
I am still puzzled by journalists recently putting out a number of articles about the black community not being a monolithic group and that it has many points of view, and out of the other side of their mouth spinning the narrative that Biden has them all but locked up and other candidates need not apply. My suspicion is all he has is an early lead and once they strip away the fact that they are not getting a third Obama term and are just getting another run of the mill Corporate Democrat, that if they do their due diligence and as individuals examine all the other candidates, there are others that may not be pandering that will better represent their interests. I don't see the logic in the statement that he is the only one that can beat Trump if all that commends him is a smaller baggage car than Donald, when there are a range of candidates that they can find a home with that have the same capability to win.
2
Biden may not be the man that the progressives want but he is a loyal American, unlike the man in 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Biden appeals to swing state voters because he sounds like them, looks like them and shares their values. He has the Bill Clinton quality of being a man of the people. Oh, he gets confused and makes gaffs, so what. He is not a threat to the security of the country.
The farce in the office now, fears him, so much that he has the Attorney general, Rudy and countless other stooges traveling the world looking for evidence to stop his candidacy.
Americans who are brown in color, basically live in a world of reality. We know America for what it is, we love it in spite of its treatment of us. We are among America's most loyal, we have fought in all of its wars.
Biden, as I said in the beginning may have drawbacks as do all candidates for any office.
The damage done by the Donald will long outlive him, but Joe is the man that can stop the bleeding.
6
There is a steady stream of attacks on center left anti bankster Big Pharma and anti war candidtates in Dem primaries.
Biden's only chance of winning the nomination is if Obama becomes his WINK VP.
But this is an interesting use of time spent by the NYT instead of looking at 40 years of public policy Ronald Reagan instigated to cut taxes for the rich and cut services for the rest of us.
We'll see if the right wing that props up the moderate Republicans like Biden and Clinton are successful in their by now sustained attacks on my candidate Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, both candidates who are standing a little to the left of popular Republican President Dwight Eisenhower.
2
I find this sober analysis extremely discouraging. It describes how Democratic voters are like the blind men feeling differing parts of the elephant. Our antiquated electoral processes have left us with a system in which consequences unintended by any set of voters are virtually inevitable. And as a result the largest minority-- the poorly educated and mis-educated rural white reactionaries win the general election over the saner majority and we continue, as Einstein put it, to drift towards unimaginable catastrophe.
1
Sorry that I haven't read this, but look: if Biden wins the nomination, it's four more years of Trump & his VP -- unless the impeachment goes through.
2
I don't think we need any charts. I am from Massachusetts and I will vote for Biden because he is the only one who could beat Trump. Love Warren, but she wouldn't stand a chance. Patrick is a joke. so much for contenders from my State. Sanders is too old, sickly and leftist to win. Buttigieg would never get minority votes. Clear as can be.
7
The Democrats seem weak and divided. The black vote meant something when we had a black candidate. This election, we are all Democrats, Americans, we should be concentrating on uniting for once in this country. There should be no more importance placed on a black vote than a white vote because our votes are equal.
Really....don't you think it is time for racism to loose?
1
@s.whether
OH, PLEASE. Don't play that race card.
Just for the record.
Black Democrats have been integral to elections way before there was even a Black candidate.
Another thing.
This is America. Race will always matter.
2
@s.whether
The black vote, Hispanic vote, Asian American vote, etc., all mean something, regardless of the candidate. Besides, on a national level, Biden still polls a little ahead among white voters too - just not by the same margins. And Biden is well ahead in swing states, which are key in displacing Trump.
1
Go for it, but Trump has this election in the bag.
2
Why should Black voters help Joe Biden win the Democratic Nomination? Could it be the crime bill that unfairly targeted African Americans for long prison terms? Perhaps it is his friendships with segregationists?Oh I know his harsh rhetoric and opposition to busing to help achieve integrated schools?His almost demonic grilling of Professor Anita Hill during the Thomas SCOTUS hearings are also a feather in his civil rights cap right?Other than the 8 years he stood next to Barack Obama Joe Biden has done very little to assist the Black community and plenty to hurt and burden that community. Black Americans owe Joe Biden not one thing certainly not their votes.The Black American community is like any other in this country and if Joe Biden wants that vote he needs to start EARNING it.If he is incapable of doing that then he can drop out. This country needs 21st century leadership and courage Joe Biden possesses neither.
1
@Marian
I agree with you. Time will tell if the polling of black people is accurate.
At the end of the day it's a pledged delegate accumulation game....and on that basis, it's Biden's to lose.
The problem is 88 percent of Americans sren't Black. So what does this say in November?
1
@Michael Livingston’s
It says that the 40-odd percent of white Democrats need the13 percent of black voters to turn out in order to win back the WH. Other groups don’t bring sufficient numbers to Democrats. One third of Latinos voted for Trump and Asians are too small a group to make a difference nationally.
@Michael Livingston’s
It may be true that black Americans may be only 13% to 14% of the general population. But bear this in mind, no Democratic Party candidate has won the nomination in the last 60 years without substantial support in the black community. No Democratic Party nominee has won an election in the last 60 unless they were capable of turning out the black vote in significant numbers.
What you are missing is that although black voters represent 13% of the population. They represent a considerably higher percentage of democratic voters in places like North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Virginia, and Maryland.
So what does it say in November? In 2016 Hilary Clinton failed to campaign strongly in Michigan and Wisconsin, and she was unable to turn out the black vote in Pennsylvania.
She lost Michigan by less than 20,000 votes.
She lost Wisconsin by less than 50,000 votes.
She lost Pennsylvania by less than 120,000 votes.
The result of that is Donald Trump in the 45th President of the United States.
Joe Biden will loose the Democrats chance to get rid of Trump. He stands for all that went wrong with Hillary, the status quo. The health insurance must love him. not good for the rest of us.
3
Yeah, we were all supposed to support Hillary Clinton because she won overwhelmingly in the Southern states.
Great, except for one little detail.
Those states where she won so overwhelmingly were never going to go Democratic under our Electoral College system. The only thing that could have turned Mississippi and South Carolina blue would have been the entire white population staying home and the entire black population out in full force.
Has this been the longest primary season ever? Dear lord I've had enough. Too many candidates. So many pundit opinions, sure that they are right. So many fears of who will win (understandable). I'm as progressive as they come, and support Warren and or Sanders. But if Biden gets the nod, even though he's near the bottom of my choices, I will get up off the floor and vote for him. I hear from people all the time: "I've thrown away my vote too many times, I'm not doing it again". If ever there is a time to not do that 2020 is the time! Anyone who wants Trump gone and doesn't compromise deserves what they get.
6
The DNC clearly hasn't learnt the lesson from last election.
Lacklustre, out-of-touch centrists are not going to energize the electorate
Four more years, folks...
121
@Rick
Here's something perhaps you fail to realize.
Democrats come in all shapes and sizes when it comes to where they stand.
Not all are centrists. Not all are progressive.
But if they all don't find a way of coming together,THAT'S when it will be four more years, folks.
33
@N. Smith
I disagree, I do realise that there is a wide spectrum to the left of centre
The issue is the, and I'll repeat it, "lacklustre, out-of-touch centrists" are what are considered the "safe bet" because they are centrists but history has proven otherwise. Joe Biden is yet another Hilary Clinton
You're right that coming together is the issue that could make or break the next election, the DNC broke with what their electorate wanted last time with Bernie Sanders. To their, and our, detriment
7
@Rick
Centrism does not equate only with being "out-of-touch." It also equates with addressing the needs of the most Americans. And that may well be what more and more people gravitate toward as we realize how much our democracy is disintegrating under Trump.
20
Now matter how I feel about the need for a younger more progressive candidate, Biden appears to strike the right chord with the voters in the states that we need to win. He could help turn the Senate Blue, and I consider that essential if we are to see any progress.
If Biden is elected, the country will have a calm, experienced leader who is respected by our allies. I think most voters want the calm.
For progressives, the win would mean a Democratic Congress writing the legislation and involved in budget decisions. That would be a good thing.
2
Most people currently supporting Biden are probably mainly supporting him because they view him as the default option. If he finished fourth in Iowa and NH (which is where he currently polls there) it will be very hard for him to continue to get people to view him that way.
Hopefully poor finishes from him early will help literally anyone else become the nominee. In a debate vs Trump, Biden would be as weak as Jeb.
5
The Democratic party needs an intervention. How can it continue to neglect the obvious and plot paths into the past instead of recognizing the structural changes and reforms so many voters made clear in the 2016 and 2018 elections. Biden is leading the party into a worn out lazyboy recliner in a South Carolina nursing home and that's not where we need to be.
5
Watching this from afar in Canada, even I know that Biden has no shot of winning the election over Trump. Our Conservative party just had a "breakaway on an empty net", and couldn't get the job done because of an obviously poor leader. It's unfortunate that this seems to be the case for my southern neighbours too. Biden will not win - and while the logical folk know that the attacks on Hunter Biden have no bearing on Joe, it will sink in with the easily-swayed voting block just like "her emails" did. Come on, USA.
4
Sooner or later all the candidates who have been enjoying moderate to great success in overwhelmingly white states are going to realize just how important the Black vote really is, and then the rush will be on.
But just for the record.
Black voters already recognize who's been in their corner, and who best holds their interests.
No matter what anyone else says.
2
Remember that play in the 1960's, "The Great White Hope?" That describes Joe Biden. This country will not elect a woman, or a gay man, or a Jewish socialist, or a person of color, or another billionaire. That leaves Biden all by himself in his own lane. You can find fault with him if you like, but if you want to beat Trump you'd better embrace him like your long-lost uncle returning from better times. A progressive cannot win. We need to wrap our heads around that wee factoid. Biden will bring peace and calm to Washington, something we all long for after three years of Trump's daily chaos. Sanders or Warren would add to the fighting. They'd be liberal versions of Trump. Perhaps Biden wouldn't win, either, give the power of the incumbency and the president's cult-like followers, but no Democratic candidate has a better chance at victory than he does.
88
@baldinoc - 75% of all Democratic-voters under age 50 voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primaries, and it would have been an even larger number if there were not so many roadblocks in place to discourage college-age voters like closed primaries in many states with no ability to register a party-affiliation on the day of the primary. Joe Biden is Clinton 2.0 just like many of the candidates -- They don't stand for ANYTHING. They spend a ton of money on polls and political analysts in order to know what they should "say." Then they represent what Wall Street and the 1% investments crowd want. Their votes in Congress prove who is their masters.
I voted for Bernie (and I am age 70) because I remember when my Pell Grant paid for my first two years of college and books. I remember when unions were strong and allowed our family to have paid health care, summer vacations, and a retirement pension for security. The Democrats run on social issues because they CAN NOT fight for wages and jobs, because they are sold-out to federal lobbyists that give money directly to the party! (A reason why Bernie Sanders is an "Independent" because he doesn't wish to spend half his days fun raising for the party among the big-money corporations, lobbyists and CEO investments crowd.)
51
@baldinoc:
Quote: "if you want to beat Trump you'd better embrace him like your long-lost uncle returning from better times. A progressive cannot win."
That's what we were told in 2016. And look what happened.
That's what we've been told for 40 years, ever since Reagan was elected. And every time, the country gets pushed further and further to the right, to the point that we now have an authoritarian lunatic in the White House.
So yeah, let's just keep doing what we've been doing and go with yet another milquetoast, centrist, Republican-lite candidate. That's worked out so well for us so far.
58
@mjpezzi Winning in the Democratic primaries is one thing. Winning in the general election is something else. Sanders is just not likely to win over African Americans, suburban white women or swing voters.
9
This is how Hillary won. She ran the table across the south. There's mythology among so-called "progressives," that the so-called "Democratic establishment," secured HRC the nomination, when in fact it was black voters, especially in the South. For example, she won South Carolina 75-25. Not sure that Biden can reach those same levels, given the number of candidates in the race. But, if he does win, you can rest assured that there will be all kinds of howls about the establishment giving him the nomination, when in fact, it will have actually been the voters. And, I am not saying this because I think Biden is a great candidate. I don't. But it's important to be wide-eyed about the facts.
6
@Chingghis T
I think it’s cute when somebody writes that “it’s important to be wide-eyed about the facts” in the same comment where they say “Hillary won.”
2
A party that chooses its candidate for his or her appeal to a minority of voters is likely to win exactly that: the support of a minority of voters.
6
@Green Tea
And that's exactly how we ended up with Trump.
4
@N. Smith
Except it's not how we ended up with Trump. When Republicans don't like their candidate, they swallow hard and vote. When Democrats don't like their candidate that sit at home and pout. THAT is how we got Trump.
2
I think the black vote in VA for Ralph Northam tells you what you need to know - that vote will go for who can win.
A Stacy Abrams VP would be a fantastic incentive.
2
@C Lee
Northam was not on the ballot in 2019.
Toss up states should have their primaries first. Who cares what South Carolina Democratic voters want - that person will not win South Carolina.
Let toss up states choose the candidate. That person will win solid blue states and will be competitive in toss up states.
2
Isn't it true that most states will distribute their delegates proportionally according to the percentage of votes a dem candidate gets? And because of the size of the candidate field, doesn't that almost guarantee a brokered convention? And when all that convention wrangling is done, will there again be blocks of voters whose candidates lose who in turn become disillusioned and stay home? Meanwhile, the one-dimensional trump base stays the course.
1
I don't understand the nominating process. How many delegates are selected by states that will never vote for a democrat anyway? Votes should be allocated by how close the last election was in given states. Swing states get the highest advantage, then blue states, then deep red. South Carolina may help select a candidate, but it will be a long time before South Carolina votes for a democrat for president.
7
As a native Iowan, I hear repeatedly that Iowa is not representative of the American population or the Democratic Party. Alas, I agree with this, and I think that the Democratic Party needs to reconsider how it chooses it's nominee.
But South Carolina is not representative of the U.S. or the party, either.
10
@Chris Rasmussen
The small state that is demographically most representative of the US is actually Delaware. Biden would probably like to have the first primary there.
3
In 2016, black voters made Hillary Clinton the Democratic nominee...and then did not show up in large numbers in November to enable her to win the general election! If they currently support Joe Biden, so be it, but I certainly hope they show up to support him on Nov. 3.
4
@Chris Rasmussen
"Black voters made Hillary Clinton the Democratic nominee...and then did not show up in large numbers in November to enable her to win the general election.."
Really?
What are your information sources to substantiate this?
(FOX not included).
2
@Chris Rasmussen
Moreover, 10% of blacks - mostly men - voted for Trump/GOP.
The U.S. remains a violent and dangerously misogynist nation that is imploding from an abject refusal of males to simply become civilized to the female 51% that it keeps harming and denying rights in order to control.
@Maggie
53 percent of white women voted for Trump.
2020 is the Year of Biden. We can call it year one, after the Trumpian disaster preceding it.
3
Over the last several weeks, story after story in these pages have trumpeted the supposed decline of Elizabeth Warren's campaign, despite the candidate's continued strong showing in key primary states. Now, for Joe Biden -- a candidate whose campaign actually is in decline -- we are provided with a theoretical prescription for victory.
Can we have no better proof that this paper is making editorial choices designed to promote an outcome in 2020 that will sit well with its readers in the wealthy Democratic elite -- as well as the advertisers that target them?
42
@CH I agree with you.
I suggest that the paper identify EITHER #1.) the alignment of the author of each article OR #2.) the purpose of the paper or its editorial board to host OR push the article.
These "convincing articles" are feel good but tend to make the tRump look right and start to make NYT or WP the opposite extensions of FOX NOT-new.
8
@CH “Over the last several weeks, story after story in these pages have trumpeted the supposed decline of Elizabeth Warren's campaign, despite the candidate's continued strong showing in key primary states.”
Warren polling
October 24 Iowa: 28%
November 21 Iowa: 19%
October 14 NH: 31%
October 13 NH: two polls 25%
November 26 NH: 14%
S.C.: she’s 20 points behind Biden.
So could you please tell us where the candidate has “continued strong showing in key primary states?” Because she’s getting creamed and dropping like a rock in the first three.
Looks like the left is getting their excuses lined up early this time.
1
Corrosive identity politics racism + toxic culture war religion is what got America into the fix we're in. Just because it was Republicans doing it in 1980+ is no excuse for Democrats to have taken up that noxious gamesmanship from 2008+.
Winning the battle every 4 years by one political party or the other and its targeted shenanigans has divided the nation and resulted in the United States losing its soul. By creating more wars within that we cannot now seem to escape, more = less and less and less.
I have two questions: why pick Biden for this analysis as its conclusions are valid for at least two other candidates as well?
And: does anyone honestly believe, deep down, that under the current electoral system, with gerrymandered districts, Republican-imposed impediments to voting, and Biden's own uninspiring personality and (for many) disturbing history as a moderate (at best! e.g. the crime bill, Anita Hill, association with Obama's wars and neoliberal fascination with the money boys), that he could defeat Trump?
And: when are Democrats going to wake up to the fact that no president is going to save our democracy? We have to do it ourselves, and at the local level. Better anyone more or less than Trump, but in the end, a Biden presidency is likely to be more of the same for working people.
148
@G. O. Who are these 'working people'? Perhaps you mean the shrinking middle class, and the reality is, Trump hasn't really been all that bad for them. The US economy is humming along, mostly on cheap credit and consumer debt fueled consumption.
The next POTUS will most likely get to pick at least TWO supreme court judges and make hundreds of other life-time appointments, impacting all facets of American society for a generation or more.
Remember, Trump only won by less than 80K votes spread across four States. Biden is the only candidate capable of rebuilding the BLUE wall of the Rust belt while also being competitive in the South.
10
@Nick Hi Nick. Thanks for your reply. No argument with paragraph 2; but I'm not sure why you assume Biden is the "only candidate" who can rebuild a Blue Wall--check the polls. At the state level the Wall is bright Red--can Biden fix this? As for the economy, I remain skeptical: the Fed has been cooperative, prosperity based on credit is traditionally risky, the jobs that have been created pay poorly and many are part-time, and, aside from yet another deficit-expanding tax cut for the rich, what exactly has Trump or the GOP done to sustain real, and equitable, economic growth?
9
@Nick The "blue wall" of the rust belt is gone for good for the Democrats. There was an unserved political market need for xenophobia and racism in those states, and the GOP and Trump now fill it. Those voters before Trump chose from two things they didn't like very much. They voted Democratic as union members and from tradition. Trump has wiped away those interests and replaced it with something they really like - racism and xenophobia. You can't put that toothpaste back in the tube. Those states will likely be tossups/lean GOP for the foreseeable future. Florida is gone for the Democrats as is Ohio.
4
In 2015-16, African American voters were enthusiastic supporters of Hillary Clinton in the primaries, and were instrumental in her victory over Bernie Sanders. However, African American turnout for the general election was depressed, and was a key factor in her loss to Trump. Subsequent analysis found that many African American voters were disappointed in her lackluster, centrist general election campaign. Many were also disheartened by lingering disappointment with the Obama tenure.
We are at high risk of a repeat in 2020. Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton are similar candidates in both their politics and their somewhat uninspiring campaign styles. Might African Americans put Joe Biden over the top in the primary, only to lose enthusiasm during the general campaign?
151
@thebigmancat you may be right in your analysis, but the comparison between Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton has always bothered me. She is a much more polarizing figure than he is and she had a lot more liabilities than he has, including her husband who has his own problems that were transferred to her. Add to that that voters have already experienced 4 years of Trump, and the calculus just isn't the same as it was in 2016. I'm hoping that general election voters will realize that 4 years of a potentially lackluster centrist Democrat will be a lot better than 4 more years of a Trump presidency.
46
@thebigmancat That is true only if you compare Clinton's results against Obama's. For an obvious reason, Obama's runs increased black turn-out significantly. Clinton's results really just showed black turn-out reverting to its standard, which is 5 to 10 points below that of whites.
There is every reason to believe that turn-out will remain at it's traditional level, which is why Democratic strategies of turning-out Milwaukee and Detroit voters while ignoring, or even antagonizing, rural areas of those states concerns me.
11
@thebigmancat Non-support for Clinton was for reasons that do not transfer over to Biden, who is simply a far more likable candidate. Should he add an African American candidate to the ticket as VP, say Cory Booker, the voters that stayed home in 2016 will turn out in 2020.
14
By all appearances, Joe Biden does not have the mental capacity to be President. You figure that into your electability equation. Otherwise, you are just living in denial like the rest of the “Malarkey” campaign.
28
@Purple Spain
Biden is a poster boy for the term "befuddled".
To be fair, he probably always was but at 77 it looks more concerning. Sanders, on the other hand, is alert and vigorous.
This racist dynamic from "black" voters terrifies me, because it's just another tool that Putin leveraged in 2016 to divide the good people of the US against each other and help get his puppet Trump elected.
Kamala Harris is explicitly running as racist, just like Bernie Sanders did in 2016, and it only helps Trump and his politics of hate.
Elizabeth Warren is good, but the only one I really have confidence in for the general election 2020 is Buttigieg. Mayor Pete is the best one to take us forward from where the best president of my lifetime - Barack Obama - left us.
Unfortunately, Pete Buttigieg is judged to have the wrong skin color, and that racism could throw the election to Trump. Again.
Biden can't win in the general. Buttigieg can, though.
5
@Astrochimp
You aren’t terrified by the racist dynamic of Trump’s base?
@Astrochimp
"Unfortunately, Pete Buttigieg is judged to have the wrong skin color, and that racism could throw the election to Trump. Again."
There is nothing wrong with Pete Buttigieg's skin color, but this record on race relations as the mayor of South Bend Indiana leaves a lot to be desired.
Black voters have taken note. Now, that he's decided to run for president he's been trying to rehabilitate his image in that regard. If he is unable to do so he won't win the nomincation.
2
@Carl "... but this record on race relations as the mayor of South Bend Indiana..." What did Buttigieg do wrong? What would you do differently? Be specific.
If there is one constituency that is diminishing in its political power, it is likely the African American voters. Between 1980-2020, America has gone from monochromatic to full scale mosaic; influence has diluted significantly. With the preference for social conservatives and fiscal liberals, this bloc now shares space with Hispanics - who vote against abortion, and for religious-nut-judges.
I like these projections and stuff, but are African Americans even a bloc today? As in, are they really a bloc consequential enough to turn an election? Republicans have come to control everything despite them.
I fully expect to read and see unending blarney about lost registrations, people not being 'allowed' to vote, voter intimidation that prevented African Americans from voting in 2020 and after. I fully expect to read that many African Americans (one too many) refused to vote because there was no black candidate on the democrat ticket. I expect 10-15% of African Americans to vote for Trump in 2020 (versus 6-8% in 2016).
Given the diversity and richness in this demographic, and presence of tremendous variance, all predictions of "this is how blacks can or will vote" is tenuous at best, and eventually counter productive.
7
Joe Biden, "The Senator from MBNA," backed a 2005 bill that stripped students of bankruptcy protections and left millions in financial stress. Can it be that black voters are either not aware of this or don't care?
27
Two days ago in Council Bluff, IA, Biden bit his wife's finger twice before 200 people.
He has addressed Cory Booker as Mr. President, and announced in the last national debate that the only black woman senator in history was an ally many years ago while Sen. Kamala Harris protested. In the same debate he said that his approach to abuse of women was to punch, punch, punch!
The more people realize that he is losing it, unable to beat Trump in a debate, that his two brain aneurysms and two surgeries in 1988 are beginning to take a toll, the more they will look elsewhere for a centrist to beat Trump.
Obama was not well known when he ran against Hillary who had the black vote sewn up due to Bill. It took a while until blacks accepted him.
Pete is said to have a black problem. This is a myth. He was totally unknown a year ago except for a tiny group of people ( Obama praised him as someone to watch). Over 60% of blacks say they have never heard of him.
However, when people do get to know him they support him overwhelmingly.
Now that he is surging in NH and Iowa the media and his detractors say, Well, those states don't count. They are too white.
Would they say this if their another candidate were taking first place there?
Of course not.
Pete will be our next and best president.
10
@Simon Sez
Nice list of strikes against Biden. You missed a big one that is overlooked in this side of the partisan coverage of the impeachment inquiry. The Ukraine story is very bad for him. Trump may have been grasping at straws but testimony during the hearings indicated that Hunter Biden's Burisma relationship was at least a bad look. Who knows what evidence we'll see but there is really no good angle here for Biden. There was simply no legitimate business reason for a Ukrainian energy company to have Hunter Biden on it's board other than to influence American policy through Vice President Joe Biden. Track Biden's career and the wealth accumulated by his relatives during the length of it and you are bound to find many other examples.
2
@Simon Sez
I suggest you read an article - or two - in The Guardian to learn why he will never get black support without which, he will never be the Democratic presidential candidate.
2
I shudder at the thought.
3
Black or other groups of voters will not be doing themselves any favors by getting Biden the Democrat nomination. Trump will wipe the floor with incoherent Biden.
19
I suppose there's a superficial appeal to black voters for Joe Biden: "If he was good enough for Obama, he's good enough for me."
But scratch the surface and you see a candidate with a history of plunging the country into unnecessary wars, which exact a far higher casualty toll on minorities.
On the other hand, in Tulsi Gabbard we have a true minority candidate with a record of genuine criminal justice reform and a war-as-a-last-resort-not-a-first-option approach to foreign policy that will keep our young black men and women alive.
11
@Charles
What's Tulsi Gabbard polling? Maybe 2% and how much money has she raised?
However appealing she may be she is much better served building a tract record of legislative accomplishments to run on and getting some executive experience to show people she's capable of actually implementing policy in a competent manner.
Without a substantial following and campaign money she's not a viable candidate.
The reality is within the next 120 days the field of candidates will probably be cut in half. The realization will set in among the candidates that haven't gained traction yet is they simply don't have the appeal, recognition of money to win.
@Carl
Tulsi started out as a R and now visited Trump, Fox News, and debates attacks on D.
She is positioning herself for. R future.
Get rid of delegates. One person, one vote, one nation-wide primary. Period. Same thing with the general election, no electoral college, no electors. One Person, One Vote, Period
21
@Mike
I agree. Without that delegate thumb on the scale, Obama wouldn't have won the 2008 nomination.
Seeing very little value in this newspaper continuing to run this type of analysis. The world would be a better place if the NY Times allocated it's resources and talent towards actually educating the public so that black voters (and other groups) can vote based on their own knowledge, understanding, and interests, rather than voting as a monolithic group. A finding such as: "Historically, black Democratic primary voters have tended to back a single candidate" should be terribly disturbing. Our individual and collective interests better served if candidates worried that our votes were truly up for grabs as opposed to traded as blocks among the political elite.
11
Nominate Biden and re-elect Trump. It is that simple.
The southern states he leads in will all go for Trump next November, so basing a nominee on the primaries in the south is not wise. Hillary followed the same path and her failure to engage in the Rust Belt gave us President Trump.
Democrats will win by energizing the base- not pandering to the so called middle. Polling shows Biden is nobody’s second choice when asked and Bernie is the second choice of many Warren and Biden supporters. What does that tell you?
Tell the Donor Class that they are not going to get a so-called centrist this time. The Democrats that have won ran as Progressives or promising Progressive values- Bill Clinton and Obama. Those that ran as centrists- Hillary Clinton and John Kerry lost. Al Gore was robbed by a Republican Supreme Court that appointed Bush.
The choice is Senator Sanders or Senator Warren- Mayor Pete will quickly run out of runway and the rest are already down for the count.
10
Why we should start the primary season in two of the least typical states (Iowa and New Hampshire) is beyond me. And the press feeds this oddity. I will wait for early March to see the lay of the land.
4
If Biden wins the nomination, it will be a repeat of 2016 and Trump will win. There is no enthusiasm for Biden, and hoping that he is the best moderate bet to beat Trump is the same as thinking that of Hilary.
16
It's clear that Warren/Sanders cannot win the general election. The country sees it, the majority of democrats see it, and African Americans see it. This is the wisdom.
Joe Biden's views are more moderate and represent the majority Americans and democrats. Senators Klobuchar, Booker and Bennett, and Mayor Buttigieg and several others hold similar views and positions, but none of them is getting enough support at the moment for various of reasons.
Joe Biden is not necessarily "betting on strong support from black voters" to get the nomination. He is betting on the wisdom of moderate voters who are the majority of democrats. I guess his experience in politics and his humanity (yes in making errors) do not hurt either.
13
@RM
You are not looking at the polling data I have seen if you think Sanders cannot beat Trump. The Emerson Poll just before Thanksgiving says otherwise.
15
@RM the data shows support of progressives positions not centrist ones
The DNC and MSM are controlled by elites threatened by progressivism and so generate the false meme that only a centrist can win
Biden will lose to Trump
Sounds good but no matter how the data is interpreted the data should be questioned since most statistical analysis is either simply wrong or very advanced but obvious. As an African American male who resides in "the New South" - I just don't see the Democratic platform as attractive. Both parties can be cited for their anti-black, Afrophobic views and policies: housing and employment segregation. Thus the question is:
"Which white ran party will administer less pain to me as a black person?"
Trump's polices regarding respecting life, gun ownership, and protecting the borders is good enough for me because those are the basics.
3
@Jonathan
The critical vote remains college educated women of all races and in every state, particularly swing states. You can break that down into smaller demographics, but that's the overarching picture.
Suggest the Democrat men finally begin to pay attention to that fact and the issues that women have been clear as day shouting as important to national leadership of the nation for decades to, apparently, deaf mute males everywhere. And now in 2020, we have a fresh generation of American females who will vote for the first time.
More than 51% of America is female and absolutely exhausted with carrying on its shoulders the incompetent circular bro firing squad of both parties.
Republican male leadership understood in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 how easily Dem men can spilt second turn into racist, misogynist pearl clutchers. The GOP paid close attention to Dems tossing frontrunner Hillary Clinton under the bus in 2008. Building on its 1980 strategy, the GOP in 2016 further decoded how to alienate conservative and some moderate women from the Dem pack. All the GOP has to do is sit back and watch Democrats play stupid social justice warrior games, over and over.
2
@Maggie
The irony of your post is that approximately 52% of white women voters voted for Donald Trump.
If white women are seriously sick and tired of "with carrying on its shoulders the incompetent circular bro firing squad of both parties." How do you explain this?
Doe these women suffer some sort of Stockholm Syndrome?
Or could it be they see the benefit to their husbands, their families and themselves of having somebody like Trump in office?
Sanders's team says they have a strategy to bring out those who sat out the 2016 presidential election. Well, that should not be too hard for them to do - a good chunk that sat out was their supporters to begin with who were bitter about their choice losing out to Hillary in the Dem primaries! If the former Hillary supporters behaved the same way, then it would be harder to get them to vote for Sanders. But I tend to think that most Hillary supporters have better sense than to allow that evil that is in the WH!
1
@Jay
'But I tend to think that most Hillary supporters have better sense..'
they have been chanting 'not my president' since she was 'robbed'.
I do not think those folk have any kind of common sense at all.
4
@Jay Actually, a greater percentage of HRC voters "sat out" voting for Obama in 2008 than Sanders sat out in 2016. Stop peddling the myth that Sander's voters cost HRC the election.
12
@Jay
“... I tend to think that most Hillary supporters have better sense than to allow that evil that is in the WH!”
They nominated candidate possible who then lost to that evil, in no small part because of her hubris and failure to make any real effort to unite the party. I’d be a bit more cautious about my glass house were I considering throwing stones.
12
Curiously, no mention is made of the Super Delegates controlled by the party. You know, the ones that significantly contributed to Hillary winning the nomination. The whole system is rigged. Why not eliminate primaries and let everyone run the winner being the person who gets more than 50%?
19
@In-betweener
The 2016 election was not rigged. This is conspiratorial thinking that borders on Trumpian falsehood. Hillary Clinton won 3.8 million more votes than Sanders. Even without super delegates, she would have won handily.
2
@In-betweener
'Curiously, no mention is made of the Super Delegates'
You're right. You know they will be told by the DNC to elect Biden.
This thing is so super rigged.
12
@In-betweener
Both parties have so-called super delegates.
However, Democrats - especially males - didn't seem too bothered when the Dem super delegates whole hog jumped on board to elect Barack Obama in 2008, instead of front runner Hillary Clinton.
1
Time to reform the primary system. Delegates from states that the Rs traditionally win should not be allowed the same weight as delegates that the Ds actually have a chance of winning.
8
@Dawglover
So rig the game so that the D's always win, and the R's always lose.
got it.
That's sounds so fair.
1
Joe Biden, despite all of his faults, is still able to assembly the largest coalition among left-wing primary voters. He is certainly not unifying the party, but in today's factional Democratic Party, he has still established the biggest tent, even if that big tent is only 28% of the party.
The underlying issues and the inability to settle on a candidate are rooted in the lingering effects of 10+ years of identity politics encouraging people to make arbitrary political decisions within the party. Identity politics may well give Trump the 2020 election as well.
8
@Xi Lee
Identity politics appears to work really well for Donald Trump.
Where is your outrage?
1
Now that only six candidates will be in the next debate, let's see who emerges. Up to now, the "debates" were nothing more than a media circus. Now, we have chance to see real substance, as the candidates will be able to be forced to answer questions. It is up to the sponsors to keep the debate on track, and to get real answers as opposed to personal attack session.
By the way, what this article misses, are states where an independent voter can vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary; Colorado is one of those states. Thus, independents, like myself, will have a say in the nomination process.
For me, I still prefer Biden, because of his wealth of experience and is not promising varies ideas and plans that would never get out of Congress.
5
I don't understand why Joe Biden is running besides simply wanting the job and promising to restore an imagined post-Watergate but pre-Newt Gingrich era of civility. A Democrat who wants to inspire voters to turn out has to have more of a message than a Democratic version of "Make America Great Again", and if he has one, I have yet to see what it is.
50
"[Joe Biden] is betting on strong support from black voters in Southern states and urban areas to help him accrue the 1,990 delegates needed to clinch the nomination."
Betting on strong support from black voters in the Southern states may well be a valid strategy to win the Democratic nomination. It is a weak strategy to win the general election, however.
Those same states will overwhelmingly go to Trump thanks to winner-takes-all. That strong African American support is nothing less than a trap.
Nominate the candidate who does best in the swing states Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida. If it turns out Biden is that candidate, so be it.
187
@Active Germ-line Replicator
It's a fair bet that Biden will win the primaries in most if not all the states you mention.
20
@Active Germ-line Replicator
A major reason that Clinton won the nomination was that she won primaries in the southern states that are unlikely to ever go Democratic for president again during at least the next 50 years. And then in the general election, blacks didn't turn out for in anywhere near the numbers they did for Obama.
23
@Active Germ-line Replicator Ohio is not going Democratic again any time soon. Trump has given them something neither the old GOP or the current Democrats give them - racism and xenophobia. Trump won Ohio by 8 points.
4
Undecided voters. Rural voters. Suburban voters. Urban voters. Voters with some degree of higher education. Lower economic level voters. Midwest voters. Southern voters.
These are the some of the ways that white voters are acknowledged.
Black voters. Latinx voters. Asian voters.
These are the ways that non-white voters are white-washed.
Do you think statistics aren't racist?
25
The Dem nominee will be Bernie Sanders.
27
@DG
Moderate voters are afraid if the change the Bernie Sanders represents. He has yet to find a way to broaden is appeal. Unless that changes, there is no way for him to get the nomination.
12
@Carl
Really?
Sanders had the most NEW donors, again, in the 3rd quarter, by a huge margin, in comparison to any of the other candidates.
His base is still growing. As are his coffers.
By the by, all the candidates need to broaden their appeal to get the 51% needed. Thus the nomination is still in play for all (some) of them.
10
@DG I am sorry, but he is a socialist, and mainline democrats (that includes myself and most democrats) are not ever voting for him.
4
It's becoming clear that there is no unity candidate like Obama who will bring all the groups that are part of the Democratic coalition together. I think for that reason, it will be difficult to beat Trump. The need and desire to bring better and more affordable healthcare is the only issue that has the potential to bring the party together and win nationally but the haggling over the particulars of each plan proposed threatens to break the party apart for no reason. Just say we care and they don't and figure out the details based on what can be done.
39
@jonr At this point in the nomination process, Obama was trailing. Unity behind one nominee never jappens this early.
24
@jonr
Only two Democrats- Bill Clinton and Obama-have won in the past 40 years, and they’ve both been young, charismatic, moderate, and unifying.
We’ve got a field of bright, quirky people, but no one who’s particularly exciting to more than 30% of the Democratic electorate.
Trump will likely be in until 2024. Best play defense.
5
@jonr
Trump ran on a healthcare plan that would be better and cheaper and people believed him. We are now almost 3 years into his presidency and he still hasn't provided any details of such a plan if they even exist which is doubtful.
I guess the message is that the voters are too gullible to know when they are being lied to.
7
It strikes me as very strange that so much rests on South Carolina, a state that I guarantee you will absolutely not be in play in the general election.
Such is our crazy quilt election system. About the only thing that can be said about Iowa and New Hampshire, however small and non diverse they may be is that at least they are swing states which might have a better chance of choosing someone who could appeal to those elusive swing voters.
It's quite frustrating for those of us who don't live in the early primary states and therefore have no say in the matter of who we get to vote for aside from donating to and volunteering for our favorite candidate if our life circumstances permit.
Is this any way to run a country?
116
@Brooklyncowgirl You are right that the early primary states have an outsized effect. However, in a state like North Carolina, which has many African-American voters, those voters certainly have as much right as anyone else to weigh in on the eventual nominee. Just because the white replublicans in that state won't be voting in the democratic primary doesn't mean that the democrats in South Carolina (or any other state with a republican majority) should get to influence who the democratic nominee is going to be.
5
@Brooklyncowgirl
The way Democratic primaries have been set up results in a non-representative nominee. There is no way a Democrat is going to carry South Carolina in 2020. S.C. was chosen by the DNC to boost the chances of a moderate/conservative candidate. We should be more concerned about nominating a candidate who will matter in the states that will be in play.
22
@fast/furious
The candidate with the most delegates wins. You can't nullify people's votes simply because there is a chance their respective state will vote for a Republican in a presidential election.
2
Excellent analysis.
Whether blacks are supporting Biden because he was Obama's VP or because they really like him and/or he can beat Trump is academic.
The last choice is the crucial one that all Hillary supporters should heed.
Nominate the best person who can defeat Trump. Don't concentrate on identity/social engineering obsession, Neo con views on banks, wars, elect me because I am a woman and the era of the white man is over etc.
Concentrate on moderate progressive issues that a majority of electoral college voters are for (not the popular vote).
A national, affordable, quality health system ( improvement of ACA or a Canadian type system) with private input not a massive socialist effort.
Spirit or Roe not abortion on demand.
Helpving the poor not demonizing the rich.
Staying out of no win wars not abandoning our allies.
Common sense immigration policy not open borders.
Limited tariffs on the worst of slave labor countries not an insane trade war against friend or foe.
etc. etc.
12
The irony here is that neither black candidate, one of them the first descendant of American slaves to run since Jackson, has been able to gain much traction in a party whose nominee is largely determined by black voters. Obama was a Kerry, Kennedy, Daschle creation, successfully marketed to both the black and the college-educated communities. A celebrity like Oprah might have pulled that Obama coalition together again and packed the star power and wealth to unseat Trump. The present slate of candidates is going to have a hard time. Our best bet is that Trump will realize that if he loses in 2020 he will be indicted in 2021 and chicken out. Considering his character, or lack of character, that's a real possibility.
9
@Billy Glad
Trump is ego driven, and his ego believes he's going to win the next election.
The fact that the Democratic Party is divided increases his chances of winning.
3
@Billy Glad
What does Trump have to lose? If he leaves office, he will no doubt be indicted at least in NY if not by the feds.
More frightening is the prospect that he loses and then claims the vote was a fraud and he refuses to leave office. Who's going to stop him? The justice dept? The military?
8
@Billy Glad
" Obama was a Kerry, Kennedy, Daschle creation, successfully marketed to both the black and the college-educated communities. "
I strongly disagree with this statement. I'm offended by the idea that Obama, the first black president, was the "creation" of three white men. That entirely strips him of agency. He is a brilliant and highly accomplished person who became a political force because of his own talents and effort.
5
An informative piece, but the media's decades-long obsession with "horse race" campaign coverage does our nation a disservice. Why no mention of the activists group Black Womxn For's endorsement of Elizabeth Warren last month? Why nothing on Warren's speeches at Historically Black Colleges and Universities? When Warren gave the commencement speech at my university, Morgan State, last December a colleague said to me afterward, "I hope students were really listening. She was talking about issues that will make a real difference in their lives."
21
@Greg
And why no coverage of Bernie's rally at Morehouse College? It was electric - oh, yeah, that's the reason!
The unwritten rule that Democrars fall in love while Republicans fall in line, in my opinion, has always been one of the weakest aspects of Democrats selection of its candidates. Political love can change every couple of weeks. I have always thought Warren was the weakest candidate. Her 47 policy proposals are a manifesto for failure. One she embraced anything from Bernie the love ended. The main thing Biden has going to for him his the amount of hate trump brings out and I believe that will be enough for biden to beat trump.
6
Much, if not, the majority of Biden's support is name-id driven. Hillary Clinton was a flawed 2016 candidate and owes her nomination to southern black Democratic Primary voters in states Clinton had NO CHANCE of winning in the General Election. Let's hope after the Holidays voters start paying attention and not make the same mistake in 2020.
29
@Bill Edley
"Clinton had NO CHANCE of winning in the General Election. "
That's absurd. Clinton was polling very strongly for a long time. Change a few things and she would have won - e.g., if Comey hadn't issued that ridiculous letter or if Jill Stein voters and/or liberal non-voters had realized that Trump had a real chance of winning.
And those kinds of thing could happen to anyone.
I want to thank the authors for their analysis of Biden's strong position to win the nomination based primarily on support from black voters. My question is: How many times can you make mistakes and still be popular? He didn't support Anita Hill, voted for increased incarceration, and the Iraq War. As a result, we have Clarence Thomas, more blacks in jail, and more persons fleeing Mid-East turmoil, resulting in a White Supremacy backlash against immigrants here and across the globe.I want to thank the authors for their analysis of Biden's strong position to win the nomination based primarily on support from black voters. My question is: How many times can you make mistakes and still be popular? He didn't support Anita Hill, voted for increased incarceration, and the Iraq War. As a result, we have Clarence Thomas, more blacks in jail, and more persons fleeing Mid-East turmoil, leading to a White Supremacy backlash against immigrants here and across the globe.
24
@Abe Markman
Biden's authorship of the 1994 Crime Bill put a generation of young African American men in prison for relatively minor offensives.
African American voters appear highly selective on the issues that matter to them in ways, often seeming to ignore their best interests.
17
@fast/furious
Kind of like white rural voters that vote Republican.
9
@fast/furious
Well said.
2
Just what the voters of need, a status quo pol who tells his Corp., Wall Street, establishment billionaire backers..."Nothing will change!" Biden went on to say that the rich should not be blamed for income inequality, pleading to the donors, “I need you very badly.” “I hope if I win this nomination, I won’t let you down. I promise you,” he added. https://www.salon.com/2019/06/19/joe-biden-to-rich-donors-nothing-would-fundamentally-change-if-hes-elected/
The candidate that bragged about getting along with segregationists.
Really voters?
This is the guy you think will lead us into the future?
Big money and the establishment are betting he's their man.
While their sycophants in the media sell it to you.
Here's your safe pol guys. The best money can buy.
"Nothing will change."
82
And in related news, having received criticism on its "No Malarkey" bus tour in Iowa, the Biden campaign is expected to announce that its new and improved campaign slogan will be, "You kids stay off of my lawn!!"
32
@Fred Esq. So true. Or maybe “You young whippersnappers need to put your records and eight tracks away to come out and vote!”
1