Biden does not inspire confidence for you, Michelle? Not glitzy enough for you? How about over 30 years legislative experience in the Senate and 8 years as Vice-President, witnessing at close hand world events? And well liked by all of his colleagues. That's is impressive enough and confidence inspiring enough for me. While you knit-pick over statements, whose context were understood by the black community but twisted by petty politicians like Corey Booker and Kamala Harris (oh and yes, good ole Bernie), you help weaken the Democratic Party's response to Trump. Nice work.
31
Last week Goldberg was in the tank for our crummy mayor singing his accolades. She may be the only New Yorker to do that. Now she wants to sink Biden’s campaign before a single vote has been cast. Pulling the ageist card is not cool. The Dems are the only party that could possibly lose this thing. They excel at the Circular firing squad!
27
Biden's tried this twice before, gotten crushed each time. Should be obvious, he's a weak presidential candidate even without the ton's of political baggage ever present to drag him down. How he could be leading the field at this point is astounding given his history, makes establishment Democrats backing Biden look like seriously slow learners... Agree with Michelle on this one.
21
Oh please,stop with the unrelenting pile up
on Biden.
Where were all of you when Trump was
gearing up his campaign.
29
Biden's the man for me! He'll get our country back in shape. He said he would only run for one term.... that's ok...the next term would be for one of those "change the world" democrats. The main thing is to support Biden and not tear him down....that would be right up Trump's tree.
44
The safe candidate, eh? They said that about Dukakis, Gore, Mondale and a thoroughly forgettable list of others, mostly endorsed by the safe NYT. Biden is not only safe (boring) he is obviously too old for the rigors of campaigning.
65
My sentiments exactly, Michelle!
3
Joe is too old and not sharp enough to wrestle with the trumpster. We need somebody strong, incredibly intelligent and someone who can kick can kick DT's bum.
Anyone like that out there? If so, please come forward immediately.
12
It should be clear that Biden is an old white privileged male who wants the presidency as a last feather in his hat. This man clearly has no new vision, ideals or passion for anything other than his former segregationist mentors and friends. If elected, he will once again bend over backward and turn flips to appease Republicans for the purpose of winning over over one or two rare moderates to claim that he has a bipartisan deal. Obama made a fool of himself so so many times in pursuit of bi-partisanship. Republicans obstructed everything he attempted to do. Biden thinks Obama was hampered by his race, and that he (Biden), a good ole' boy, will be able to compromise with McConnell. Biden is obviously living in a bygone era, and I suggest we leave him there and move the Party forward.
15
The title of the article misstates the central issues with Biden's "performance on the trail" and candidacy. The issue is not "electability" or "likability" that history has shown it is a fool's game to predict. It is Biden's incoherence, age and lack of vision (as well as his record and role on many significant issues, including his vigorous opposition to school busing/desegregation, his mishandling of the 1991
Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, his advocacy for the 1994 crime bill, his 2002 Iraq war vote, and his leading role in passage of the anti-debtor 2005 Bankruptcy Code amendments backed by major credit card companies) that does not make him the best option to be the Democrat nominee.
9
Give me and Biden a break. This is just the beginning of a very, very long campaign. Let's not write anyone off before even the 1st debate!
12
Ms Goldberg, why do you write about Biden’s ethnicity and gender with derision?
Is that OK now? Would you think it fair if someone wrote about you in like fashion?
24
Maybe Biden's supporters just don't care to reenact High School Musical or Drumline?
7
Nytimes is in full “anyone but Biden” mode just like they helped torpedo Bernie Sanders when Clinton was their preferred candidate.
16
Imagine the outrage and cries of Racism! if Goldberg had written about Cory Booker, "He may be a likable black man, but his performance on the trail doesn’t inspire confidence."
And would the Times even have let such a sub-headline be published?
26
At one time I thought Biden was the guy who would give Trump his due and win the election - but that was 2016. Not any more. If Biden gets nominated it will be Hillary redux but much much worse. Joe should hang it up. His time is long gone. We need new, invigorated blood in the party and that includes Nance, who has done the party and all of the U.S. a gross disservice with her failure to impeach strategy. Warren for president.
7
Biden and Obama led to Trump. Let the old time Democrats go. Liberals have been taking all the blame. It's time to give them some power, for a change.
6
Shame on this tiny-spirited, tepid and razzmatazz-driven op ed. If we're looking for Kid Rock in our presidential candidates, that's what we'll get. The media workers need to take a close look at how shaped they are by social media and publicity agents - and cut it out!
12
A recommendation to all Demcrats: pass on anyone over the age of 60.
5
As an Independent who is disgusted by Mr. Trump, I don't think Mr. Biden is a good choice for the Dems. He comes across as an old line, big smile politician who craves attention and says a lot of goofy stuff in that quest. A little less selling and more serious discussing, please.
12
Judge Biden on his intent.. he is not a hysterical screamer looking to make a 10 second sound bite. Want a fast talking politician appealing to the Far Right or Far Left...then you will get a Donald or a Tax crazed Democrat wanting to replace personal responsibility with a financially overextended government.
The Republicans, that includes Reagan, W Bush and now Trump, have been fiscally irresponsible for too long.
Bring back socially responsible business friendly Democrat can't be any worse. If you want a movie star talking his made up lines then we will end up with a FOX/CNN talking head.
3
Do I want Biden? No. Will I vote for him if he's the Democratic candidate? Yes. Until then, this is the primary and everyone does have a right to choose their preferred candidate, but please do not (as the popular post says) turn democrats into clay pigeons. Any single one of them is better then Trump. Support your candidate, argue on the issues, register everyone you know, get everyone to the ballot box. Those are the real challenges right now, not who's 'likable' or who's the most progressive. My preferred candidate is Bernie, but I'll back whichever one makes it through enthusiastically, and I hope that if you're a democrat or a sane independent, you'll do the same.
114
@Abigail
Thanks for an adult voice in this discussion.
24
This is feeling like 2016 all over again with one person seemingly anointed to be the nominee without even one vote yet being cast. Be very, very careful Dems else a replay of that 2016 election will occur. Biden is not a winning candidate for 2020 -- we must move beyond him.
4
All this talk of electability ignores another important quality: competent governance. I was unimpressed, to say the least, with Biden's performance as the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Too many of his Senate votes leave me concerned about this judgment. For example, he supported the second Iraq invasion. How did he come to that decision? Does he even remember his reasons?
I am not impressed with the record of most candidates seeking the Democratic nomination at this time. They all make statements about values, which can be reassuring. Those who make statements about policies provide more comfort.
However, a long list of accomplishments in both legislation and administration is not to be found among most of the resumes they offer.
As the primary process proceeds, I hope that the winnowing process will take note of both the potential to win the election and to potential to govern well.
4
Lots of age prejudice on view in both the column and the comments. I do not support Biden. I support Elizabeth Warren, and she is in her late sixties. Warren is intelligent, forceful and energetic. Don't judge people based on their age.
14
@Mitch For me, forceful, energetic and intelligent are almost all that should be necessary to defeat Trump. I would add being ravenous is also a very BIG plus. Whoever is the Democratic candidate had better radiate a monumental desire to win and want to win while not being as comparatively cool and cerebral (as compared to Donald Trump) as Hillary was in 2016.
@Mitch
Goldberg judged Biden not in his age, just on his ethnicity and gender. I guess that kind of racism and sexism is OK at today’s Times, as long as the target us white and male. It IS even better, of course, if he’s also “old.”
7
I remember a Joe Biden appearance on Meet The Press. He looked pretty much the way does now. Without much fanfare, he announced his support for gay marriage. It took a moment to gather the import of what he had said; it really sounded like an everyday conversation you might have with a neighbor. I think that one of his great appeals: he sounds like a neighbor and he is easy for the average person to relate to.
6
Cannot read Michelle Goldberg without thinking of Al Franken. What a loss to the public discourse, and for what? Ms Goldberg showed incredibly poor judgment in calling so early and urgently for his resignation.
19
We need to pick a candidate with the best ideas, who can generate the most enthusiasm, and let the chips fall where they may. I fear that by focusing too much on "electability" (as if we could actually judge that accurately!) we will be in the same situation as 3 years ago: stuck with a candidate who seems like a natural choice but is really the same 'ole same old.
2
Let me get this straight.
1. Biden is ambivalent about abortion - so am I . I am pro-choice, but abortion is a painful decision in virtually all circumstances. It is hardly as binary as people on either extreme of the argument make out.
2. A questioner was happy with Biden's answers on a question about abortion access but related to domestic violence, even if some "activists" were not. OK ...
3. His supporters are not as vocally or physically enthusiastic as some other candidates.
I like Biden because he is essentially a centrist - like I suspect a plurality of American voters. That makes him more likely to be elected than most of the Democratic candidates who are tacking left as fast as they can.
I don't like Biden because I think he is too old at a time when the country needs a person with youthful energy. I would dearly love a centrist candidate in their 40s or 50s but they don't seem to exist or they can't get any traction. So I am sticking with Uncle Joe. Maybe he will pick Obama as his Veep ...
10
@CarpeDiem64
A white male centrist?
Horrors! Stone him. STONE HIM!!!
4
If the great majority of primary voters would just speak and vote for the particular candidate they liked best, they would come up with the best candidate. Fretting about the thinking of the other voters is counterproductive.
2
The political press just doesn't get it.
We know that Joe Biden has flaws. We know he's in his seventies, that he sometimes speaks in a screwy way, that he's really kind of a politician caricature.
But we like Joe Biden. He's shown himself for decades to be a basically good guy who is fundamentally decent and even largely honest.
Him not handling some statement or interaction in just the way some political reporter thinks best is irrelevant. This is not a "horse race," despite what political reporters want it to be. It's about who can beat Trump. That's it. That's all.
Biden can definitely do that. Nothing else matters. Period.
13
@CastleMan
Biden is an invitation to four more years of Trump. Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris would make an excellent president.
Don't waste your vote on Joe Biden!
It's goingto be a reality show with a reality show audience and reality show judges.
Think he gets to be the last man standing?
Both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are likable and have some good policies, however they are too old.
6
@DAK
What if one of them is the nominee?
Who gets your vote?
I firmly believe that Biden has the best chance to win in 2020 at this time, and we all know the incalculable importance of the coming election on so many levels.
But we will not really see if he has maintained sufficient wit to go along with his grandfatherly populist manner to counter the verbal jabs he will encounter in the debates from some sharp candidates who will inevitably test him.
Being on the defensive is not the look that wins for him -- it is Joe the affable and approachable man who can turn fighter when needed that will get the white male vote necessary to carry the electoral college. I have no doubt about his basic decency relative to being a politician. How he has dealt with tragedy in his life is most admirable.
He's imperfect, no doubt, but the self-righteous far left-leaning candidates have limited appeal, and patriarchal sexism remains a major obstacle for any woman seeking the highest office in the land of the "Founding Fathers."
Social democracy is a losing philosophy which runs counter to all the myths that define the American identity. Such advanced policies can only be accomplished incrementally, with the exception of Climate Change, which is an emergency.
The talking heads and the outlets who employ them are making a lot of money analyzing every gaffe.
The first few debates will determine if Joe is up to this campaign, I believe, as he has looked very tentative to date--much to my surprise.
4
Myths exist to be challenged. Every appeal is limited, and Biden are not exception. And thanks God, FDR and LBJ were not so keen on incremented, otherwise we would still waiting for SS and Medicare.
4
Biden is unelectable due in large part to his shallowness and lack of credibility. Biden might well be a good fit for a used car salesman, not the president of the United States of America.
5
The russians must have figured out a way to automate responses to there posts!
5
It's amazing that we nitpick Biden's mistakes when the man in the White House, with 42% support, literally talked about grabbing women's private parts and has been accused of assaulting two dozen women.
11
@Wilson
One problem here is the lowering of standards. Comparing anyone to an example — Trump — who possesses the lowest level of ethics, morality, legality and intelligence possible means almost everyone looks good.
Hilliary looked better in these categories, and lost to Trump. Nope, Joe, you will inspire apathy and disinterest.
We need to move the bar back up, to a level that the times demand. We need someone who can rise to the challenges of today, not barely be better than the treasonous criminal in the WH now. I’m afraid Biden would push more fossil fuels and crappy minor changes to Obamacare, rather than solve the basic problem of corporate skimming and gouging in the current health care system.
Don't we want to do much better instead of just a little bit better than the man in the WH?
Michelle,
To save space, will create a standard form of the following – then just update with the columnist’s name...
W in the Middle
NY State
May 26
Mo, it’s this simple...
The Dems could’ve had Michael Bloomberg as a candidate, for the asking...
Bluntly, I think Obama put the kibosh on that – jealous of hizzoner’s deftness in working the system to secure a 3rd term...
Though Biden might confuse himself with Bloomberg – I never will...
The US will get back onto the moon before a Dem gets back into the WH...
PS
So many folks conflating the election of an ombudsman with the election of a mayor...
In the asymptotic limit – they elect an ombudsman as mayor...
How’s that turning out???
1
Sorry but I stood five feet away from him and you're wrong.
5
I suspect the top 10 Democrats ll would be more competent than the man sitting in the White House.
2
I am sick of picking Democrats who appeal to Republicans.
11
I heard Biden speak at a rally in Orange County Ca back last October. Yes he was an uninspiring public speaker, with typical politico platitudes.. Dems then swept every Congressional race in an area that has been solidly Republican since the 1930's. If that's what he can produce, he can win the presidency.
The media craves a colorful flamboyant story..., sorry Uncle Joe is not that. As for me, we already have "color" in the White House and it is eating up our great traditions and comity. Biden's my man!
8
Are you sure it was Biden, not the guy in the WH?
To paraphrase this story's subhead, "She may be a likable white woman, but Michelle Goldberg's performance on the punditry trail doesn’t inspire confidence."
17
You should be careful not to fall into the same "snarky comments" trap that you colleague, Maureen Dowd, did with Mrs. Clinton. I am convinced that her negative comments about Mrs. Clinton helped get the current president elected. Let's hope you don't do the same and help get the current president reelected!
8
His time has passed. It is interesting, but predictable that Obama has not endorced him. Warren is the one.
4
@sbanicki, Obama had to be dragged kicking and screaming into supporting same sex marriage and everybody, well. me knows it. maybe that's why he preferred Hillary for president and scty of state and once again is dragging himself re supporting his loyal veep. I do love elizabeth Warren. but please Michelle, stop stomping on Joe biden. I'll be happy to vote for him to throw that disgusting man who would be king out on his ear to the tender mercies of the sdny.obama did reference the circular firing squad re the 24 hopefuls. I voted for him twice,but count me among the disappointed. as Dylan said"if you can't lend a hand. get out of the way" joe has done some things I don't agree with, but so have some of the others. Booker of nj is married to big pharma because that's where the money is. so please, stop it already.
1
Mr. Biden, I am glad you sought to discuss issues about her repeated abortions for unwanted pregnancies resulting from repeated rapes by her husband, (she said), in private, with the woman concerned. I hope you advised her that abortion was not meant to substitute for on going birth control if you live with a rapist... or divorce.
5
I can't help but wonder how many of the most recommended comments (which are almost all anti-Biden), are actually from Republicans who view Biden as the biggest threat to Trump's reelection or from special interests (corporate, religious, foreign countries, etc.) who want to keep Trump in power. Internet mob lynchings are a dime a dozen, and this forum is not immune.
I would also note that the Times Picks (in accord with their recent, politically correct-driven, anyone-but-Biden agenda) are largely anti-Biden, and to a great extent Times Picks are what drive readers views to particular comments.
7
Even with his new parts, he's starting to look old.
2
All you need to know about Michelle Goldberg is: she's a big supporter of AOC....the loudmouth, aggrandizing liberal. She wouldn't be for Biden if he was 55 years old.
Let's hope Joe can summon his strength and common sense and run w/Kamala Harris to evict Trump.
9
And what wrong with loudmouth? Last time I checked a loudmouth won the WH. Don't Dems want the same thing?
1
Everyone makes errors and struggles for a word now and then, particularly as they age. It's not necessarily a sign of weakness or of a failing mind. Stress, fatigue and other factors can cause it.
I'm more concerned with how Biden thinks, not whether he stumbles over a word or two.
57
@Barbara
I am nearly 70. I reach for a word now and then. I am not as quick as I once was. I am also less impulsive than I was. I am more thoughtful and compassionate. I listen better. I am wiser.
24
@Barbara The problem is, it is a BIG part of a candidates job to inspire people with a coherent vision, and a BIG part of the President's job to communicate effectively via public speaking. Having to listen very closely, mentally edit for clarity, then eventually conclude "Yeah, I guess," is not desirable in a candidate.
10
@Barbara
But delivering a message is HUGELY important - whatever the reason for failing to do so consistently well...may be.
I never see Cory Booker or Elizabeth Warren or Pete Buttigeig stumble or fumble to say what they mean or mean what they say. Especially not in the ways that Michelle Goldberg cites here. And I agree with her (while I don't doubt Biden's general sincerity) he comes off as an actor who not only has trouble with his lines - but overacts as well - maybe as compensation.
10
Much like Hillary, Biden carries significant risk and little upside. For instance:
- He can be labeled as a "DC Insider" "Establishment insider" and/or "more of the same." This will cement the perception of Trump's status as the" outsider candidate" and as the change agent (the last three presidents rand and won as outsider candidates and change agents)
- Being in office for decades, Trump will be able to blame him for our national problems that have accumulated (e.g. costs of health care out of control, insolvency of SS and medicare, crumbling infrastructure, etc.). I'm not saying Biden is responsible for all of this, but Trump can and will associate him with these failures.
- He voted to support the Iraq War, and voted for similar stupidity in Libya and Syria, plus botched our response to Ukraine/Crimea.
- Speaking of which on Ukraine, he may have some skeletons in his closet, using US foreign policy to further his families interests in Ukraine, something that will come out more during the campaign.
- He looks and sounds old, and I hate to say it, but at his age, carries significant risk with the unpredictability of health. If you watch some of his recent speeches, he's very deliberate in his speech and at times slurs his words, and some say has early signs of dementia. At the very least, he won't be able match the campaign energy of Trump and give 3x speeches per day in 3 different states.
3
@Joe Arena
He’s not my first choice. But if Biden is the nominee, he gets my vote.
End of story.
10
This premature piece makes it look like the NYTimes is out to eliminate Biden early on as a candidate. Let's hope they don't
endorse one of the other twenty some candidates months ahead of the election. Just report for now on what candidates say and do and on voters' stated reactions, NYT. Don't opine. Let the candidates speak for themselves and let the voters think for themselves for a change.
12
I like Joe Biden. He's human enough to make mistakes and acknowledge them. He knows how this democracy is supposed to work. He always worked across the aisle and, frankly, sometimes across the aisle was better than some of those in his own party, as we have discussed this week. He's not perfect. But by God, if he is the party nominee I will vote for him in a heartbeat. He can beat Trump and that's what's more important right now. And with a gang busters vp nominee, peace could return to the kingdom.
7
Electable? How to know? Trust the polls? How are they taken? Do they miss key elements of the electorate?
If turnout is key to trouncing Trump, Joe needs to get out the youth vote. And that requires talking boldly about climate change.
Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren move me. But even John Delaney delivers a stronger, clearer message.
I have a Joe Biden sticker on my car. But I am beginning to worry.
1
Biden and his supporters want Democrats to go down fighting for political moderation, i.e., GOP lite. Inspirational!
4
@wilt, as long as there are democrats who will call people like Joe Biden "GOP lite", we are probably doomed to 4 more years of DJT.
If you prefer Warren, push for Warren...but if you have to slam Biden in order to do it, you're doing something wrong.
8
There's a saying: "Democrats fall in love. Republicans fall in line." I don't need to fall in love or be inspired. We'll likely never have another inspiring candidate like Barack Obama was. I just want Trump to be in dustbin of history. If Biden can beat him, that's all I care about.
7
With open eyes any one can see that Joe Biden is a frail, elderly gentleman.The rigors of office may be too much for him. He needs to retire and write books.
4
More than once, I have stated in the Times comment sections that I would vote for the mole which was Bill Murray's nemesis in Caddyshack before I'd vote for Donald Trump. Biden's current lead among the Democratic choices worries me in one very important respect: he has tried before and has lost or been forced out. Repeated failures when charging an identical object by the same person is a signal that such a contestant may repeat the failure. This is my caution about Biden.
1
I have noticed a pretty virulent anti-Biden strain in the reporting and op-eds from the NYT. Not that I'm an ardent fan, mind you -- I think his time has passed, and that he should have run (and likely would have won) 4 years ago despite the understandable decision not to do so in the wake of his son's passing.
But this paper is surely not scrutinizing and criticizing behavior and background of other candidates to the degree that its (almost always female) authors are going after Biden. Is that because he's the current frontrunner? Or because he's "another old white male?"
6
So far, Biden is the only one who is actually running for the office. The rest of them are running so far to the left that they have no chance of ever winning a general election against anybody, even Trump. It is like somebody forgot to tell these folks that they eventually need to carry Ohio and Florida to actually be President. But by all means keep talking about massive tax increases like you are the second coming of Walter Mondale, the abolition of ICE, and slavery reparations. All that stuff goes down well among moderate, blue collar voters in the Midwest and with the Florida retirees. Go Joe Biden. Like him or not, so far he is the only real game in town.
7
It's cute that so many commentators seem to think that they, as Democrat primary voters have a say in the choice of nominee. The coronation, like in 2016, has begun. The party elders, super-delegates and the media will gradually tell us what's good for us and the sheeple will fall in line. About electability, Trump wasn't considered "electable" by anyone. Oh BTW the Democrats have dug themselves a deep hole. In a country that is majority white, apparently being a white male is problematic. Now imagine telling your base that their nominee is a White male... 2020 will be more amusing than 2016. Nightly news can be boiled down to Democrats advocating for illegal immigrants, free tuition, student loan forgiveness ... candidates falling over themselves to be Santa Claus to buy votes by giving away free stuff. Probably sounds great in the Coastal echo chambers... but last I checked we still need the flyover country to win the Electoral college.. I wish we had an honest media in this country. We have a right wing media and a left wing media... just no plain old media to keep both the parties honest.
6
I don't get why Democrats are held to a much higher standard than Republicans. Why is it ok for Republicans to elect Trump, but Biden, a decent, if slightly awkward candidate, is written off? Republicans are happy to have a liar, accused by multiple women of assault, who cozies up to our enemies and insults our allies, who ignores the constitution and takes the law into his own hands, but Joe Biden is seen as the unelectable one? Have Democrats gone crazy? The point is to get Trump out of the White House. This is not the time to nitpick about candidates. Any of the Democrats that have announced their candidacy will be better than Trump. Joe Biden's dog would be better than Trump. I can't believe that Democrats will let this opportunity slip through their fingers because of some perceived flaw in Biden, or Warren, or Sanders, or whomever. Think of the past three years. Think of four more to come. And, then stop the bickering and just vote for whoever the Democrat is. Honestly, the way it's going now, the Democrats are going to reelect Trump with no help needed from Republicans.
7
I like Warren. The tussle with Trump would be a great cage fight. And, we might actually learn something about the two of them. Joe is too nice. With trump you have to be ready to hit below the belt, kick , scratch and claw.
I think this needs to be established. While I don't doubt Trump has ugly tendencies and uses them to pander to the more extreme parts of his voting base, there are plenty of people who came out and voted for him in 2016 mainly because they fell that their lives would be better off economically.
A candidate who was reported saying to donors that "nothing will change" is not the kind of candidate that will inspire and bring back the two-time Obama voters, many of the independents, and those who became a victim of outsourcing and automation.
If Biden gets the nomination, I fear a repeat of the 2016 elections because he, like Hillary, is a status quo politician who didn't campaign on these problems.
1
Joe Biden's bipartisan establishment left problems unsolved and people left out and created large groups of unhappy people who resented this bipartisan establishment and ultimately elected Trump. The best he can do is bring this bipartisan establishment (that disagreed but worked together rather than letting their disagreements escalate to war) back together. This is his expressed aim.
The other side wants to win rather than be bipartisan, which is why Obama was not more successful. If Biden brings them back to working together to solve problems, rather than using these problems to win elections (often by making them worse), he merely recreates a situation that ultimately did not do what it had to do to survive. This would be much better than Trump, but would still not give us what we need.
Somebody has to punish big money and large corporations until they fear something enough to really observe the limits set for them, rather than pretending to observe these limits while in reality finding loopholes and exceptions and workarounds and just ignoring the limits. As long as most people think of corporations and big money as basically benign and occasionally misbehaving, this will not happen.
They fear Bernie and Warren. They do not fear Biden.
I worry about competency. In my mind, there is only one reason Biden's campaign would be keeping him out of the fray, away from voters and questions - he can't handle it. And my question is why not?
After the first debate I think you are going to see Biden drop in the polls. He just isn't that exciting as a candidate. Most of team Trump would consider me a leftist, most of the left was consider me whatever the progressive version of a RINO is (DINO?). I am resolved to vote for the Democratic candidate. We do need a strong candidate because I think most are right. If he loses, he will call the election results a fraud with the enthusiastic backing of FOX and the GOP and refuse to leave.
1
I can make a confession thanks to this article: I liked Biden when Obama chose him because he appeared just the salt of the earth, American pie running mate needed to win. Now Mr. Biden feels more the archetype throwback than a pulsing reality, sadly even more so than reality tv personalities. I don’t want to see Biden navigate Washington with the best, and it doesn’t seem he’s present enough to face walls needing bulldozing.
3
Why does it matter he stumbled over a line? I'll take that over the pandering the other candidates seem to be doing, promising outlandish and focus group-formed proposals that will *never* see the light of day in the likely-GOP Senate.
The last bit was comical: "There were 20 or 30 people, a smaller group than those accompanying Harris, Booker or O’Rourke, and despite a few earnest woo-hoos, they weren’t nearly as loud as the others."
Who cares if people aren't losing their mind at the sight of the guy? What does matter is that the people you mentioned in the example above - Beto, Kamala, and Cory Booker - are getting steamrolled by Biden in the polls. It's not even remotely close. Biden doesn't need energized voters. He already has quieter ones who will undoubtedly show up in early-voting states and give the guy 35-40% of the vote out of the gate, giving him the momentum that will carry him through Super Tuesday and to the nomination.
A part of this opinion relies on the notion that politics should be fun for people involved in it. I don't want to be entertained by it, and I think a majority of Democratic voters are in that camp. I want to nominate and hopefully elect somebody that I don't have to hear about every single day when I go about my life. I think that person is Joe, and this piece ironically seems to confirm that.
9
I'm looking for a candidate who will work across the aisle and get along with McConnell and Graham. Without that, they will return to their obstructionist behaviors that we saw with Obama and nothing will get done. While Biden might not be my first choice, at the moment I am thinking he is the only one who can do that. I fear that the other candidates don't have that knack.
3
@Elizabeth Berke McConnell has zero interest in "getting along" unless you do what he wants -- then you'll get along famously.
4
@JA I have to be hopeful about something in this election cycle.
The fact that a primary campaign strategy seems to be to keep him mostly hidden, limit appearances, and script/control those he attends as carefully as possible does not bode well.
He's up against a guy that - notoriously - can't be controlled at all by his campaign people. Truth is, that my have gotten him elected. Hillary was also tightly scripted, but it often came off as just being inauthentic.
It may be that the American people are just tired of what politics has become ... with every word, every opinion, every position being exhaustively focus-grouped to death.
Trump, for all his shortcomings, came off to many as being refreshingly authentic. He says deliberately provocative things, never apologizes - only attacks, could care less what the press thinks of wild statements. He's not even particularly concerned with the truth - but he comes off as being alive, having fire in his belly, being "real". In short, the very things everyone complains most about are (as the old software saying goes) "not a bug, but a feature".
IMO, Biden - who seems hesitant to even appear in public - is simply not the one to go up against him. Biden gives me the same feeling as Carter, a warm, comfortable guy sitting in front of a fireplace in a sweater.
The Democratic primary has no shortage of people with articulated positions that also seem to have a fire in the belly. I just think Biden's time has passed.
All this talk of Biden being more "electable" and the safer choice to beat Trump is in effect saying, "Vote for Biden because he's not Trump." This approach is playing not to lose instead of playing to win, which is a fatal strategy. Better if Democrats nominate a candidate with big ideas who can inspire and motivate people to vote FOR them and their ideas, not just against Trump. Joe doesn't fit that bill.
3
If you look back through the history of Presidents, most of them would be considered "un-electable", and yet they were elected. I'm not sure what this indicates, but it would make a great thesis for someone. In any case, at a minimum it means that trying to predict who will be the next President is about as likely as winning the lottery. Who would've predicted Trump? Or Obama? Or G. W. Bush? Or Clinton?, and so on.
My two cent theory is that it comes down to what voters project ONTO the candidate, more than what the candidate themselves projects. If that's true, the person who can best assess the mood of the country and what the people want, can promise to deliver that will win. That may sound simplistic, but how well did Hilary's campaign do at that?
So, what is the "mood" of the majority?
1. Get rid of Trump.
2. Restore economic fairness to all Americans.
3. Health care affordability.
4. Addressing the fears of foreign competition taking away jobs and depressing wages.
On this last point, many who scream about "illegal immigrants" are misguided in their belief of how they impact their jobs/wages. Off-shoring (even to Mexico) of jobs is a far greater threat, and who's in favor of that? Trump and the Republicans, and "centrist" Dems like Hilary and Biden.
Yes, there are other big issues like climate change, and equal rights for everyone, but the above four I think are what most Americans can agree on. I doubt Biden can deliver them, but if he can do #1 he can win.
For a while, at least, it is just fine for Joe Biden to be a placeholder for whomever will eventually head the ticket. He's an affable avatar for well-intentioned straight white guys, harder for Trump to aim at and less likely to disappear beneath the waves of a Trump onslaught than most of his competitors. When they get done burnishing themselves against each other, one will emerge to step into that faithfully held place and we will all say thanks, Joe, for your service. Then the work of beating Trump can actually begin.
7
@JP "He's an affable avatar for well-intentioned straight white guys." Great way to put it.
I hear the rattling of party machinery gathering forces to forward the nomination of a long time party hack who is thought to be "owed" his shot at the title. As with HRC, the results will be disastrous.
6
I agree that, right now, we are hearing that. Despite being in the supposed age group that wants Biden, I think he may have missed his time. Goldberg's concerns echo mine. I am waiting for the many debates before I make my choice.
2
Biden's biggest problem is that he has misdiagnosed what ails the country. He thinks the problem is Trump, and that if we just get rid of Trump everything will be fine. But Trump is a symptom, not the cause, and things will not be fine if we just get rid of him. We need to deal with the inequality and corruption that are tearing the country apart, and Biden is not the guy to do that. Furthermore, he doesn't have the edge to take on Trump. Remember what happened to Jeb Bush? I expect the same would happen to Biden.
9
As a die-hard Democrat, I can tell you that I can not vote for (primary election) a self declared socialist. I do not think extreme left candidate can not win in general election in America. I strongly believe that there should be no Litmus Test for the Democratic candidates in local election. Most swing voters are at the center and their votes are extremely crucial. The Democratic candidates should talk about Americans too in addition to migrants and also for non-LGBTQ voters. Do not go crazy against pro-gun and pro-life voters. We should be a big tent where everybody is welcome.
Under these circumstances, Biden is the best candidate so far.
6
@ASHRAF CHOWDHURY: You will never get a functional public sector to run on buccaneer economics. The public sector of a mixed economy is inherently socialistic. The private sector is capitalistic. There is something for everyone in a mixed economy.
5
@ASHRAF CHOWDHURY
I suppose when you retire, you will reject that 'extreme left wing' Social Security check, and Medicare coverage.
Do 'swing voters' votes count more than anyone elses votes?
Should everyone vote the way 'middle america' is expected to vote? Why?
Are they somehow more enlightened than the rest us?
6
@ExPDXer
Yes, because moderate swing voters in the middle of the country provide the necessary electoral votes to reach 270 and the presidency, as clearly evidenced in 2016. The progressive blue coastal states do it provide enough electoral votes. That's how Trump won and he can do again.
4
I like Biden a lot as a human being despite his mistakes from the past and his penchant for putting his foot in his mouth. And maybe in a one on one debate with Trump he would look good with his quiet decency but he actually looks a bit frail to me and I wonder whether he is vigorous enough to endure a long campaign. I guess we'll find out in the coming months. In my view, Warren has the most depth but she is very strident and that might not play well with voters particularly those who are already inclined to not vote for a woman.
2
I was with you until the word "strident." She brims with passionate conviction that, yes, at times, feels like a tsunami. I don't call that strident. If she was soft spoken, she would be considered a push over. And then she'd be criticized for that.
4
Biden is seriously pathetic. He makes Jeb look like a youthful ball of fire. He makes Bernie look like a JFK. Trump keeps lucking out, doesn’t he? Once again, as with Hillary, Wall St. has hired the black establishment (including the preachers) to block economic progressivism in the Democratic Party by nominating yet another dependably neoliberal friend of the far cats. Blacks are now the voting block tools of the economic right in the Democratic Party that the Evangelicald are in the Republican. Both groups are easily dustracted and bamboozled with “social issues” into voting for the rich and against their own best economic interests. Obviously, the rich don’t care what party their president comes from as long as he’s economically for them against the masses. No wonder they get the blacks to nominate such loser Dems for them!
4
@Fred White I suspect this picture was cherry picking and not one reflecting the many times that I've seen Biden on the TV. Biden is in great shape, especially when comparing to the fatty one in the White House.
2
Articles like this are helping re-elect Trump. MGoldberg for Trump! Yay! Cancel her column!
9
this is a surprisingly lame article. first, since John Lewis, who has the strongest civil rights credentials of anyone alive, agreed with Biden about the need to work with the opposition, I find the harping of white liberals and Black candidates really condescending and self serving. second, wow let me see if I can follow you here, Beto found 20 people to yell as he entered so he must be a better candidate..no one thinks Biden or any of the other candidates are perfect but tearing him down (like the Times built up Hillary) may make for a nice story but is undermining our country's future.
6
This is nothing but a preconceived conclusion groping for a story. "they saw him mansplaining rape trauma." Sister please. Say what you really want. "I want a female president." Don't cloak your disdain in ideological excuses which you don't bother to clarify.
Please Democrats, if you sink this election in single issue stubbornness Medicaid won't even exist. This election is as big as all of us. When Democrats double down at the voting booth the whole country loses. Remember the final months of 2016? Warren bowed out and graciously advised her supporters to move their votes to Hillary because Hillary had the best chance of winning. Many of them voted for Warren anyway. Bernie was not so gracious and his idiot base cast wasted protest votes. And here we are. Don't do that again.
11
Is there a problem being a white man in a 68% white nation?
5
@Joe No, just a clue-less one.
1
With a recession coming in 2020 any Democrat would be able to beat Trump. Trump would probably not be nominated to run again because with a recession he would lose a large part of his base. I think that by the time of the Democratic convention the issue under discussion would be about how to deal with the problems of the recession and possibly Biden, who is aging more as time goes by, would not be the appropriate person to deal with the economic problems that this country, and perhaps the world, would be facing. Warren would probably be the person who would be more suitable.
5
@Harveyko Warren won't be able to beat trump. She is too left for independent like me. At this time we need someone like Biden who can work across aisle. Let's focus on getting someone who can beat trump and get rid of trump and Mitch McConnell. Once Biden becomes our President, I believe he will put Warren in a good place and help her accomplish some of her goals.
2
He's the anti-trump. Is that enough? Not in a normal universe. We want someone with ideas. An exceptional person. Someone to take us forward into the twenty-first century. Right now, we just want someone to bring us back into the present. someone to mend alliances. Someone to reassure our shocked allies that America can still provide leadership as the financial and military leader of the free world. Someone who can negotiate rationally with despots, while also negotiating rationally with the next economic leader. Biden's probably that person. We can take a step forward when we've recovered our balance.
5
What's with the likeable "white man" in the subtitle? Fortunately it was not in the article, so maybe we can chalk it up to an editor's careless snappy phrasing. But Michelle Goldberg, undoubtedly a likeable "woman," should know the harm and the insidious message contained in this identity politics-infested language.
6
Awesome article love it
2
when exactly did it become acceptable and not racist to call someone a white man/ asking for a friend
getting pretty tired of all this reverse racism (by the way the word racist is soooo overused its is disugting)
4
Get off Biden's back. Do you really want to help Trump get re elected? Biden is 500 times better than Trump. Lay off him. Ray Sipe
10
Warren/Brown for America
1
Sorry. I just don't think we need another boomer president ...
http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2019/01/its-time-for-boomer-politicians-to-step.html
2
He may be a likable white man? that's a weird set up.
2
Oh no.
Biden had two chances and did not come near a respectable result both times. Now he's A. riding the coattails of Obama, and B. trying to makes us believe that the destructive and vicious GOP will miraculously "work with him", because..??? AND he pledged to go for only one term, which means he would be a sitting duck from day ONE! This is not how I want the future to look like, this is actually a worst case scenarion and frightens me.
8
I was in attendance as a delegate on the convention floor Sat. morning. I actually followed Kamala Harris in to the building. The excitement from her supporters was undeniable. I am still undecided, though I lean toward Warren. I suspect there were others there who were able to see candidates in person that day, and were impressed. Harris impressed me, Butigieg impressed me. Yes, he did make it to the Saturday event. In fact, I was lined up in the ladies room, and when they announced him, ladies gave up (as did I) their place in line to rush out and hear him speak. As soon as he finished I rushed back to the now empty restroom. He excites the crowd. I was not a Klobuchar fan, but she spoke and I can definitely envision her as POTUS. In other words, I imagine some leaning towards Biden heard others and began to think again. He spoke at the end of the day. The competition is fierce.
7
Selecting Biden as a presidential candidate is to assure a Trump victory. Enough Progressive Dems under 45 may stay home for Trump to get re-elected. The logic may be that it’s better to have the devil you know then to have a 1980’s Republican-light like Joe Biden, who will do absolutely nothing about critical issues facing the nation.
7
Who cares about him as a candidate. He represents the "progressive neoliberalism" (as the great political theorist Nancy Fraser terms it) of the Obama-Clinton axis and more of the same nonsense that everyone is utterly sick of. Please. Go away.
5
I'm about as progressive as you can get but what is the point of a candidate who checks all the right boxes for me but can't win and even if they did will have little support from Congress because they are on the fringe?
That said I voted for Bernie because it seemed obvious that 2016 was going to be a weird one and the only way to beat a bad guy with bombast is a good guy with bombast.
I'm not sure people will have the same appetite for inexperience this time.
I'll vote for whomever I feel can beat Trump toe to toe, at his level, because apparently that's our level now, which is a whole other issue.
4
Electability she-lectability.
Biden is so yesterday.
That’s he so many people’s fave is, I think, quite concerning.
What are we trying to do? Turn back the clock? Go back to Before Trump? Stick our heads deeper into the sand?
Not acknowledge that this society, our country, has huge problems?
Do we really think the good old boys in either party have a clue?
Schmoozer Joe—are you kidding me!?
7
He is electable, do you remember who’s is office now
2
His appearance and demeanor suggest his time has passed; he looks frail and feeble.
9
If given a choice between Donald Trump or Joe Biden, Joe would win hands down. We already know what we're getting with Trump: a pathological liar who rules by the seat of his pants given his aversion to reading and studying or doing any kind of meaningful work on a given subject. Trump's ignorance and inherent stupidity always seem to rise to the surface. At least with Joe, we can trust that what he says about a given subject is truthful and the result of meaningful study.
When confronted with important choices, with Trump, it's how can he personally benefit. With Joe, it's how can the country benefit.
4
@Mike B.
Not really.
It's how the credit card companies can benefit, long a Biden constituency in Delaware.
Or how the good ole boys can benefit.
I'm hard-pressed to think of anything Biden has done for the country; maybe nudging President Obama toward supporting marriage equality.
4
Please stop trashing the only electable candidate we have! I just hope he picks Andrew Gillum as his running mate.
2
Oh my goodness, are you telling me Joe Biden is NOT PERFECT? What a revelation!
3
He looks old and tired. Not inspiring. If he wins, I hope
he takes a long nap before he gets sworn in.
2
Good grief, Michelle Goldberg, what are you doing? Biden is the most likely Democratic nominee, and you're penning hit pieces? If you don't like him, fine, support someone else, but don't beat him up for the general. This piece is filled with absurdities: Trump's performance is preferable because he makes things up rather than fishes for accurate figures? Biden was "mansplaining" when he applauded the courage of a rape victim who chose to speak? Those attacks ring as ridiculous as a tin foil bell.
11
@Y.N.
Biden has lost the presidential chase twice previously, 1988 and 2008.
He'll lose again.
2
@Dave T. Fine, then let him lose; don't rough him up so much that half the Democrats stay home if he wins the primary. That's a splendid way to give Trump another four years.
3
Biden has been around longer than I have (and it takes me three or four tries to get out of the car), yet I can't think of anything he's said, or done, other than doodle while Republican senators savaged Anita Hill.
He's an accomodationist, as is Nancy Pelosi, as is Chuck Schumer. None of them is evil; none of them is ever without the buffer of an entourage. None of them have a feel for the broken country.
Of course the Democratic candidate needs an outpouring of black votes, but blacks as well as whites and voters of many shades may well understand that even Biden or an obscure Democratic mayor (Deblassior... what's his name?) is infinitely preferable to the mobster currently breaking our way of life.
6
Unhappily for my almost 75, though that's obviously Joe's dementia
and punditry aside, THERE
ARE TOO MANY RUNNING
I do not expect debates to narrow
the mess enough to matter, and watching
tonight and tomorrow night ... seems a bummer, interesting for junkies perhaps
The hope is that Trump continues as
the POTUS presiding from back pocket & toupee top
Absurdity is reality, and our rivals if not enemies enjoy our denier of climate change et cetera, embarrassing as h
Joe's VP choice matters
DJT makes orange not great even with vodka,
just screwy drivin
Progressives derailed the year 2000 election by voting Nader/Green Party, accomplishing nothing but cursing the world with George Bush 2, the worst president in history until Trump.
Consequences of the year 2000 election of Bush cost thousands of American soldiers lives, millions of lives in the middle east, trillions in taxpayer dollars. Still progressives continue their high-stakes games.
Biden isn't "motivating" enough to get progressive support? How 'bout the prospect of the worst Trump could do.......people dying in war, dying from inaction on climate change, not to mention species extinctions. The nation, world and planet have suffered greatly because Gore was not elected. That's on you, progressives, and now you threaten to do it again.
A 2020 Dem candidate like Biden could include some progressive policies in his/her platform and still win the necessary swing states, but not the whole progressive enchilada. But the ideologically pure demand the whole enchilada. They don't care about consequences. Shame on them.
10
Exactly this. I'm not sure about Biden because I think whoever goes against Trump is going to need some swagger and I'm not sure he has it but please understand we are a pluralistic nation, if you aren't ideolologically compromising in some way with your vote your ideology was probably put there by a major political party. Test for ideological purity I'm your local politics please but national elections require pragmatism.
3
Biden is a loser with nothing to offer. I'd like to see more positive coverage of Gov Jay Inslee whose climate focus is vital. of Bernie Sanders and of Elizabeth Warren who also offer needed, worked out issue plans.
3
So to summarize the article- you don’t like Biden, he speaks gibberish but not as well as Trump, and he didn’t come into the meeting with a bunch of drums and fanfare. He’s not offered any real answers except to those he speaks directly to, and they think the answers are reassuring. His ideas hark back to when the US actually tried to do things positive on a national and international level, but he hasn’t said what he will do going forward. Instead you favor Elizabeth Warren who has already kowtowed to Trump with the Native American nonsense. It should not be any surprise if Trump gets back in - you’ve already endorsed him with this kind of nit picking foolishness. Biden may not be Obama or FDR, but he is not Trump and if we want to get America back again, you need to get rid of Trump. Which of the other candidates will do that or has a shot at doing that? Biden maybe, the rest, not! Articles like this are great...for Trump. Do you need a new MAGA hat?
10
It is terrible comment on Joe Biden. You cannot even use emotions AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO SAY THAT. Based on the performance of the past and the people who know him he is more than qualified likable,capable to make decisions for the good of our country.At lease he is free from sexual assault complaints against him and is a good family man with dignity and honor. Comparing him with the others i think he will glow America with wealth and respect from outside.
3
Another great article, Michelle Goldberg.
Everybody keep in mind, however, there is a long way to go.
Lets not do the usual Dem nonsense of not finding the best candidate, so much as christening the heir apparent (e.g., HRC, Al Gore - both awful candidates).
2
Keep pushing the Progressive Agenda and I can promise you a Trump win in 2020. (AOC, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Warren, Sanders are all but working for the Trump Re-election campaign)
That's a promise you can take to the bank.
Even Jen Gennai, Head of Responsible Innovation at Google, trying to bias the company's products to favor a political agenda won't help the Democrats' progressive agenda in 2020.
My suggestion is to get on the boring Biden bus now if you want to win the White House. It doesn't guarantee a win, but it is your best chance.
3
Joe Biden looks and sounds like a very old man who is yay close to turning frail. Come on, people. 69 (or 70) needs to be the maximum age for a new American President.
4
Michelle - you come at this perfectly weighing all the right elements and your take is much appreciated by all those I associate with. A small political group of older women, very active, very studious and supportive both in energy and action (not to mention $$s). One of us always brings to a meeting one of your columns or notes on an appearance. thanks, keep plugging.
2
There seems to be a yearning for yelling contest as raucous groups are favored over the others and quiet, private answers are shunned. I don't quite know what to make of this line of argument against a candidate other than emphasis lines following an admitted ideological disagreement with him. Is this observation passed on the others? But it is biased. Is this advice for yelling? But Trump yells and do we really like him? Why to treat a personal, one-on-one conversation with an abused woman as "mansplaining" something? Would it have been better if he probed her for more details in public? Oh, then he could have been called insensitive.
No, this is not one of your better columns, Ms. Goldberg.
4
I love Uncle Joe, but he's lazy. And anyone who has seen him on the trail recently can tell that his heart really isn't in it this time.
5
Hopefully for Biden, substance will outpace the show. Harris, Booker and Beto will arouse a younger crowd but their statements are in themselves telling younger voters what they want to hear. And last week, Harris and Booker were so wrong in their criticism of Biden, who was pointing out the positives of reaching out across the aisle to get things done. I lost respect for Harris and Booker on that note because it was an early sign of the candidates going to cannibalize each other and eventually weaken the eventual nominee against Trump.
2
Dems keep talking about the need to turn out the vote. But if Trump being on the other side of the ticket isn't enough to turn out the vote, then our democracy is already lost.
4
There are a number of young, intelligent, enthusiastic and energetic candidates running. Why would Dems want to pick an old, tired out warrior who has seen better days? I like Joe, respect him for a number of reasons, but there are at least half a dozen candidates much better suited to the job at hand.
Besides, Trump debating either Harris or Warren would be great fun.
6
"That’s Biden at his best — undisciplined, but with a big heart."
I guess it was his big heart that allowed him to take away the bankruptcy option for working class Americans. Trump will lambast him for that one during the debates - and working class Americans will cheer.
Please, don't let Biden give Trump four more years.
6
So basically if Biden gets the nomination the younger more liberal Dems won't show up in force and if someone like Warren or Sanders gets it many of the moderate midwestern Dems will sit out. I guess we should prepare for another 4 years of Trump.
6
Joe Biden inspires trust but he is not an inspiration, so to speak. He just does not have it in him. It is just not him.
The calculation is going to be who can bring the bacon with the middle 40% (the 30% on each side will vote how they will vote, it's a given) and who, at the same time, will be able to hit Trump rhetorically when faced off with him.
My feelings are that Joe would do well on the first part of the assignment and not so well on the second part. The second part - present a formidable, witty, rhetorically nimble opponent to Trump's bile (in the real time !) - he will bumble completely. The question is where is this line between those two quantities that gets Democrats elected?
Maybe Joe Biden should be the VP again?
1
One glance and I'm not energized or inspired at this point. Yes, as a stand alone, I did get the feeling of an actor struggling to remember lines. But it is a great falsehood of the modern political campaign to pretend that you do it alone. The candidates are, unrealistically, required to stand, alone, and be good with, any, and all, statistics. Not everyone is like that. In fact, there are some folks who have impeccable statistical recall who would make terrible presidents. Statistics are not everybody's forte. And you don't do day to day governing this way, where's its all got to be, accurately, in your head, alone, by your self. These interviews and appearances really need to open up to allowing a team to appear, some of whom would have statistics, even on a computer. I would be very interested in who the candidate had on their team, in how they interacted, together. Mr Biden, if chosen, will not do it alone, who's he got with him?
2
Yes, its true, Biden is just not quick enough. Obama was so outstanding in his thinking that Biden was seen as a smart guy even though he just stood by and smiled.
WE have some really really smart candidates with precise well thought out idea, who read, keep up, listen and are are of things. Its a real treasure to have these available after the Bush, Trump, Ryan, Mc Connell.
Problem is, there are millions who do not care about logic and policy , they want a loud, entertaining person to insult and attack their perceived enemies. So, we are in a personality contest not an election to choose the best. If Joe can out shine trump and get elected then will it matter about his less intellectual abilities? I think not since all of these well informed people will be in the government and promoting their ideas and if Biden is presented with them he will go along- No vetos.
3
Since Driven Snow isn’t running, best give him another look. One term with a democratic congress to clean and restore, then somebody else builds on the restoration. If Democrats can find a way to muck this up, they will...
2
@JRB
Forget "purity." lets go for integrity and a record we can count on regarding vital issues like climate action, corruption and public health. We have much better options than Biden.
I don’t care who the nominee is. “Who” is not the issue! The issue is, whoever has the D, that’s who we ALL vote for! No off the wall third party protest vote. No Bernie or nobody. No, I don’t like her/him. No, I need to get my nails done...we all vote for the democrat up and down the ticket...that’s the issue!
3
Some comments here feel the Dem's are too radical and angry too get elected, others fear they just want to raise taxes, and others for some reason just don't like them and fear Trump will just get reelected. Cheer up folks and take a good hard look at who they are running against. Trump is the angriest, foulest mean spirtied and the most unlikeable man ever to become President. This campaign is just beginning. It will shake out and the last one standing will be stronger and more polished. "Right now the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." FDR. I know that for many is seems that the Ork's have control of Middle Earth, just remember the battle is not over it has just been joined. There is always Hope.
6
The reason Biden is there at all is that a very young, green Obama picked an old salt from the Senate to serve as his veep.
But the country may not want the old salt. We do need to return to those values that made America strive for greatness during the last several decades toward goals that we hoped to achieve.
Trump ended a lot of that vision. The next president will have to undo a lot of Trump who has spent the last two years undoing a lot of Obama.
We can do with a new vision of America: one that serves all the people.
6
@Occupy Government : A beautifully quiet and reassuring tone. Thank you so much.
1
Buttigieg is the strongest of the bunch at handling almost any question with swagger and brains. He is fantastic at deflecting arrows - like when he suggested he would not actually be the first gay President (I never thought of that as a come-back).
The eventual debates with Trump will be when voters really make their decisions. Buttigieg would look like a vote for progress and brains. I'm pretty sure Biden would look like a the same old Democrat thing and Trump would have his arsenal of insults to make him look weaker.
11
If nothing else, Trump is the chickens coming home to roost.
If we Americans had done a better job running our country and finding qualified candidates we would not be in this fix.
At 74 years old I’m retired in France watching America dissolve through a clear prism across the ocean.
I left America when Bush invaded Iraq which for me was the last straw of greedy incompetent politics.
With the time I have left in this life I’m loathe to spend it trying to save America’s lost cause.
3
Barack Obama had the intellignce, integrity, and strength to buck the odds and become elected despite a huge segment of the population that is overtly racist, and a larger portion that is quietly so. And then there was the venomous miasma of contemporary politics. I feel he may have been the best president in my lifetime (65). And yet Obama was reviled by the right and their minions. We need a champion who can prevail against a huge, weaponized opponent whose political tactics will likely make every election in the past seem like a polite parlor game. Trump is rapidly dismantling this country and its reputation in the world. I see no one in the democratic field that will last even a couple of rounds in a race without rules or concience. This is a national emergency and all I see is a field of blindly confident hopefuls of minor stature with hopes of saving the day on a shoestring and a prayer. If a powerful and charismatic option doesn't develop in a desperately short time, we WILL Have 4 more years of Trump. And that would be a disease that will devastate this body.
4
Thought Uncle Joe was not the best choice before he finally took the leap. Had all the earmarks of another Democratic coronation but without the savvy and the fire Hillary had.
Then there is the current second string and hangers on — enough for a small symphony orchestra but lacking any semblance of harmony other than to the mantra — Gotta Beat Trump.
Seems that lots of energy is being and will be expended just trying to sort through the throng of candidates, building a credible election strategy, and beyond that — a strong and credible vision for the possible when it comes to Presidential governance.
Right now it is a free-for-all with volumes of promises that are far from the genuine American center or what is politically possible.
It all makes Trump look very disturbingly unstoppable.
2
We need a nominee with the energy and vision to reverse the Trump Administration’s terrible policies, and enact our party’s vision for future. I fear that, in his desire to get along with the other side, Biden will not confront the Republicans and their “go-along-to-get-along” behavior for their leader’s worst instincts. It’ll take a fighter like Warren or Harris to clean up the swamp in DC and nationwide.
1
@Jean this sounds silly to say, but reversing Trumps damage doesn't take energy or vision, it's totally straightforward. You don't need ingenuity to right this ship, just level-headedness.
2
Goldberg seems to have a problem with anyone who is Male, Pale - and Stale. That is, she is sexist, racist and ageist. So much for the so-called "progressive" wing of the Democratic Party. She claims to oppose Biden ideologically, but doesn't spell out the bases of her alleged ideology. A set of biases and prejudices does not constitute an "ideology."
Not one of the nominee wannabes have articulated a foreign or defense policy as yet, despite the incomprehensible nonsense that has emanated from the Trumpniks. Instead, other than Bernie and Liz, there is mostly ( a motley?) catering to identity politics, the special treatment demanded by each and every self-identified "victim" group. Well, maybe the Dems will be able to aggregate a coalition of the aggrieved, as Trump was able to do in 2016, but which the Dems failed to do monumentally in 1972 and 1984.
If the "progressive" Dems really believe in economic justice, and national security in a radically changing global geopolitics, they had better stop the two-faced nonsense and demand candidates spell out how they will try to provide both. If not, voters might passively decide to accept the devil they know by just staying at home.
4
It would be a mistake to put Biden in a debate with Trump--the man with too much conscience who searches for words, against the unconscionable master liar who sees no need for thought. Please, let's not do it. I'm for Kamala Harris--she has her full wits about her, and as a prosecutor she will be fully prepared to face down the con and crook.
6
I have the sinking, pit-in-your-stomach kind of foreboding apprehension at having Biden as the Dem nominee. I was so disappointed when he announced he was joining the race. A democratic win, across the boards, in the states, in Congress, and in the White House, depends ENTIRELY on voter enthusiasm. Those who vote dependably democratic will vote for whoever the Dem candidate is. But those who stayed home in 2016, will stay home again in 2020, feeling pessimistic, depressed, and overlooked, again. If Biden is the nominee, we will have 4 more years of Trump-trash-destruction of our democracy. You can count on it.
5
Chanting supporters and activists do not represent consensus.
3
By the time the Democrats get done with each other their candidate will look like an identikit composite of Eleanor Roosevelt, JFK, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Which is to say that as a party they lack a cohesive identity. They are a party divided amongst themselves and we all know what happens next. I don’t look forward to it.
1
I've reviewed the positions of all current candidates -- those that answered the questions posed in the one-on-one interviews the NYTimes staged the other day. Shame Biden didn't participate; he would have made my short list -- now down to, at most, five.
To be blunt: If any of the radicals -- and Warren tops that list -- becomes the candidate: We are in for another four years of Trump.
Warren is not radical at all. She represents the populist consensus in this country - the same that elected Trump and lifted Bernie. The difference is that she is honest and knows how to be effective, respectively.
1
Harry Truman was not very inspirational when he was vice-preident and president. He was not a great orator, in fact quite a poor one. But he was one of the best presidents we had. You want exciting, superficial Hollywood glitz that garners TV ratings? Then vote for Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren, or better yet, Donald Trump, who is sure to win again if you keep dissing Biden over silly stuff. I want a return to normalcy, just like most voters across the country. No East-West Coast extremist progressives but someone who can appeal to most Americans and get rid of Trump/McConnell.
2
The last time a sitting President (like Trump) lost an election was 1992..George H.W. Bush.. The incumbent President has a big advantage, and ousting Trump will be very difficult..no matter what the polls show..
.. But the Democrats will no doubt shoot themselves (again), by moaning & complaining if 'their' candidate doesn't get the nomination.. It's already started. Rather than just vote for who they prefer, Democrats will spend a lot of time knocking the candidates someone else wants to vote for...
...--And the bad blood will run...
Only one question matters as to Biden’s candidacy. Can he beat Trump? We need to see more of Biden before we can answer that question and then vote in the 2020 primaries.
2
"...a likeable white man..?" You guys (or should I say, a white Jewish woman...is that how we're doing this now?) are shooting yourself in the foot with pointlessly antagonistic click-bait references like that. The previously posted comments about Trump being re-elected and noting that Sanders and Warran being too extreme are right on point. The Democrats are sunk if they try to swing the pendulum too hard. There are a lot of voters between NY and CA that just want someone, anyone that's not Trump but likewise won't vote for a far-left candidate. The winning Democratic candidate will be more to the middle or traditional. Labels like "likeable white man" throw far too many undeserving men under the bus and make race an issue when it really isn't. Pardon me, but I don't vote based on race/gender and quit assuming that I do.
6
The Democratic machine is too afraid of Bernie and Warren, they are repeating the 2016 mistake by pushing Biden to the forefront.
When we use the same variables in the equation the results are the same. Democrats have to have a candidate with fire in the belly, not just a white nice guy who doesn't want the Presidency badly enough.
The team in finals wins because they wanted it more than the opposition.
The Republicans are looking for one more seat at the Supreme Court and if they want it badly enough they would lie, cheat and steal to get it. They did it before and will do it again. Joe is too nice to stand in their way.
Bernie and Harris would make a good team or for that matter Warren and Beto would make good pairing. They have fire in their belly and want the office badly enough to defeat the Republican/Evangelical machine.
4
The man crashed and burned twice before in his quest for the Democratic nomination. And he is older & more out of touch than ever this time around.
I certainly hope he doesn't succeed this time either
3
I have a sinking feeling that Pres. Trump will be re-elected. This from a dot of blue in a red sea.
3
I love Kamala, I love Elizabeth, I love Mayor Pete, I love Cory, I love them all. But Biden is the only one who scares Trump. Why? Because the single largest body of voters in this country remains white males, plus the wives of white males who vote with their husbands for household peace and harmony. Sorry, it shouldn't be that way, but that's the way it is.
1
@Bob Dana
I would agree with this. If this were an ordinary election, then any of the 23 Dems now running would be acceptable. But as Eleanor Roosevelt would say, this is "no ordinary time." We need someone who can get those electoral votes in the Rust Belt. Warren et al can fill the Cabinet and duke it out for 2024.
First, we must bury Trump. -- thegamesmenplay.com
1
I remember Clint Eastwood in one of his Dirty Harry movies saying to an overconfident superior. "You're a good man. And a good man always knows his limitations".
Someone needs to be Dirty Harry to Joe Biden.
Biden is a good man, but, I feel he might not appreciate his own limitations.
2
This article and its comment section are perfect examples of the problem that Democrats are facing this election. The majority of NYT opinion pieces about Biden are negative, and the vast majority of comments to those pieces are anti-Biden, yet he is a heavy favorite in polls right now. Those with the largest platform and most vocal are not currently representative of the democratic electorate. Even if one argues that Biden has "only" 30-some percent in polls, the number of positive Biden opinion pieces and comments is well under 30% at NYT.
Don't get me wrong, I love NYT and it's impact upon the world. I just read these sorts of opinion pieces with a very large grain of salt, knowing that they are not necessarily representative of the party as a whole. I, for one, am a proud, young democrat who has not decided who to back yet, but am finding that the loudest voices in the party and media don't reflect my views or priorities.
1
Unfortunately, watching Biden this time, I feel that he is over the hill again...forgetful, slow, blurting out the wrong thing at the wrong time. He's a counterperson of Trump.
He doesn't seem to have the energy, except that when he rambles, it's forever.
4
Joe Biden is looking very, very old now. Just look at the way he moves and walks.
3
I will not vote for this knucklehead, in the primary, but I will vote for him if he's the nominee. I HOPE voters are more discerning than to vote for Biden. Almost any other candidate is more qualified, in 2019.
5
Republicans will run a hate campaign to suppress voter turnout for Biden just as they did with Hillary, and it will be effective. People who have to wait 4 hours in line to vote will not show up for Biden, and he will be PC’d to death by his own party.
This is like watching a train wreck.
5
I’ve had it with “mansplaining.” I’ve learned a lot from a lot of men, even old white ones. The solution to race and gender bias is not more bias.
2
Electability and center of the road is such a hoax. The fact of the matter is that the country in its present form is deeply divided. The "right" side, wants to "crush" the "left" side. The "center" is frivolous at best and can very well just stay out of the election. Many have very wisely pointed out that recent "fit for the job" Hillary and Gore like candidates have been beaten by low IQ totally "inapt" candidates like W and Trump. IMHO, the left should give "inapt" or "extreme" a chance and see what happens this time. Time to say bye-bye to old "electable" Biden!
2
I refuse to vote for President if the Democrats nominate Biden.
2
I'm so annoyed that Sherrod Brown did not run. Lke, really annoyed.
@The Lorax
i agree wholeheartedly.......love sherrod brown and think a ticket with him at the top and michelle obama for vp would be hard to beat....don't care that michelle doesn't want to run....the country needs her so she has to do it in order to get the black vote
The Callaway commentary is so Goldberg. Are we really supposed to have sympathy for a woman - an Army veteran - who "needed two more abortions" at public expense. What happened to personal responsibility?
So, where's all this "thoughtful" anti-Biden commentary coming from? What on earth is the problem with an eminently experienced, mature, decent human being with a "big heart" being president?
Michelle plays on our ageism.
1
Biden is like the Wizard of Oz, when the wicked witch (Trump) is circling the Emerald City, spelling out "Surrender Dorothy!" The terrified populace points, quakes and then as a group shouts, "To the Wizard! He'll know what to do!" It turns out the "Wizard" had no ideas, no magic power. In the end, Dorothy and her friends had to solve their problems using their own wits and perseverance. Biden may be a nice old man, but he's no wizard, and he's no answer.
5
Yes, by all means, start tearing at the democratic candidates! The more popular, the more tearing to be done. No mercy for gaffs. No mercy for changes of position, no matter how obtained.
After all, how much more damage can Trump do in eight years vs. 4?! It’s more important that you, Michelle Goldberg, have something to say! Get it out there. Tear away and hold out for perfection!
Biden has done enough for his country and really should withdraw from candidacy. The younger voters really want someone other than another elderly candidate, male (especially) or female. Sanders has his devotees, but his ship has sailed. Warren has a strong chance, but can she stand up to Trump? History would say probably not. Buttigieg is looking more and more presidential. The police problem in South Bend is one that is common to a great many cities in the USA, and he's got enough bravery and leadership qualities to actually show up and let the townspeople talk....and his listens to them. Kamala Harris? Maybe.
3
The leaders who thought that the systems we used in the past were effective brought us to the point where we have no future. Explain to me why we would turn to them to save us now. “Biden 2020 “ too little too late
4
Definitely more Dan Quayle or Gerald Ford than Lyndon Johnson.
3
As long as the DNC doesn't meddle in the primaries as they did in 2016, and allo all the candidates to express their ideas/agendas, then voters can make their choices for nominees, instead of party bigwigs.
Uncle Joe (and Bernie) are just too old, too "yesterday" to beat Trump who has proven himself to also be too old and too "yesterday" to govern in the 21st century. It will not be enough to be nicer than Trump or more knowledgable. It will take someone who can pry Trump out of his spider hole and force him to fight like a man.
Yet he looks much better than Bernie.
1
What we need is an HONEST President/Commander -in-Chiel
That is basically what this nation needs now; honest, trustworthy men and women in our government; and not
those in government who are being subsidized by corporations
who want government to enrich them.
Honesty ...that is what we will find in Joe Biden....that is what
will defeat the corruption in D.C.
1
Biden is a has-been and by-gone politician. He is actually a version 2 of Hillary. The Dems will lose if they repeat the same mistake by nominating him.
3
"He may be a likable white man."
Maybe it'll be Castro, so we can have a "likable" Latino. Or Sanders and have a "likable" Jew. Or Harris and have a "likable" woman of color. Or Mayor Pete and have a "likable" gay man. I'm a white geezer. I've never voted Republican. My New Deal liberal ideas have not changed; they've grown stronger. I don't know for whom i'll vote in the primary, but it will be because of whom I think is best, NOT because he/she fits some sort of niche. I'm tired of being a member of a demographic it's okay to marginalize. I am who and what I am and I feel no guilt about it. Please STOP pigeonholing me.
3
Judging by the comments below it’s time to beat up on the aging Joe Biden.
Now that he’s at the end of his political career and suffered many personal tragedies including his sons untimely death than there is nothing left to do but shred his last ounce of dignity!
1
Biden is a disaster. The only way we win is NOT nominating him. NO BIDEN.
3
There is a gunfight brewing for the 2020 presidential election and Biden has is knife all sharpened.
2
Same ol' Joe. Yes, unelectable.
2
"a likeable white man"? Why is this not a discriminatory and stereotypical assertion? With this type of rhetoric, Trump is a shoe-in for re-election.
1
Joe Biden would be doing the entire US a huge favor if he just joined the ticket of Senator's Warren or Harris as their VP (I'd say Mayor Buttigieg but that combination just won't work).
It would be even more helpful if he ran for Senate. It's mind blowing that there are now 24 democratic presidential candidates, while they struggle to find anyone viable to re-take the Senate (where Senator McConnell has controlled the entire government for the last decade).
2
It's comical how for some, out of 20+ candidates, only Biden is suitable: the others are all extremists, "progressives." It's funny how 4 years ago a woman running was vilified because of the perception that she was "entitled," but here we have a man coronated by much of the "liberal" press as the nominee, more than a year in advance of the election, and despite the competition. And he barely even needs to make an appearance! No double standard at work between "deplorables" and, how many gaffes are we at now? And that's not entitled.
7
The NYT should be ashamed. Today, the paper published an attack piece about Joe Biden and two puff pieces on behalf of Warren and Sanders. BS from NY got it right. Trump re-elected with strong assist from left wing Dems. Sanders sank Hillary's chances in 2016 with his campaign. Same group and NYT seem determined to try and re-elect Trump in 2020. This nonsense should be stopped by moderate Dems as soon as possible
6
@kenneth reiser Stopped watching MSNBC and CNN when they made the Biden - Booker non-issue full-time coverage.
Biden is too old to be President. He looks old (transparent, crepey skin), he sounds old (raspy, soft voice), he speaks old (halting, unsure of himself). He is an old man.
Trump is old, also, but, so far as we can see, has not fallen victim to the vagaries of old age. True, his mind is blank, but it always was. However, he still seems vigorous - especially compared to Biden. The old man.
4
I am and always have been pro choice. As a man I do not believe I can tell a woman what she can do with her body. But, I do have a problem with the woman who has had 3 abortions. She seems to be using abortion as a birth control method. I am not saying that any of the 3 abortions should have been denied, but she seems irresponsible and her story is fodder for the anti-abortion group.
3
Unfortunately I agree. I despair no one can beat the con in chief. I'm terrified for our democracy and planet, as well as decency and the rule of law.
I like Joe Biden and hopefully he is reading this opinion piece with comments and taking it to heart. Joe Biden has to retool his approach to old school campaigning and start talking about the future. He should not be too cocky in the fact that he was vice president. Enough with the old war stories. Yes, he can get along with the old ultra conservatives (Republicans and Democrats), but this is a different time and he has to be rough and ready. Biden should be prepared to answer questions. No let's take it off line stuff. People want to know what he believes in and his proposed solutions to today's issues. The Democrats are going to need someone who can be as rough as Trump. All of the candidates are going to need comedians to write insults to hurl at Trump and use them. Whoever the candidate turns out to be, they should be ready to shovel Trump's garbage back at him. The 2020 presidential campaign is going to be a school yard brawl. The gloves should be off. No more playing nice.
3
The fact is that it all comes down to a couple of swing states, Candidate Biden has already won NY,NJ,CA,WA,OR,MA...but so has every other democratic candidate. The Dems need somebody who can win PA,WI,OH which Biden can do and all the rest can't. It's as simple as that.
5
Michelle, I'm challenging you to leave NYC and actually travel throughout the United States. For some reason, the left, hasn't figured out that Presidents are elected through electoral vote. YES, the opinion of a rancher in Monticello Utah is important, and frankly that individual will never vote for Sanders or Warren (disclaimer: I love Warrens originality and ideas but she won't win enough states because she has been branded an extremist). I've heard the thousands of arguments that it is going to change, but frankly, it isn't going to for the 2020 election and those states that have relinquished their sovereignty and federalist rights in the name of Popular Vote are foolish. For small states, the electoral college is the last thing that gives them any sort of relevance. So, keep writing your columns. You are actually helping Trump by bashing the best chance the Dems have.
1
Personally not getting that “inspire confidence” feeling from any of the current Dems pushing for the lead. Quite sad really. Hopefully the debates tomorrow help, but unless something changes it looks like Tump will win again. All the people in the USA and this lineup was the best the Dems could do?
If this is the worst you've got on Joe Biden, I think he can relax. No matter how 'bad' he looks in your eyes, he (and anyone from the Democratic line-up) is still 1,000 times better than Trump, who is rotten to the core. That said, I would still like to see an Elizabeth Warren ticket with pretty much anyone as Deputy with personal favorites to include Julian Castro and Jay Inslee. However, the reality is Biden is probably the best shot, given that E. Warren would probably be viewed by many as 'too radical' or 'too intellectual'. Sad but true, most people relate better to politicians who are more like them.
149
@Mark Crozier
America is a democracy of appearances, not of carefully weighed critical thinking skills. This is a culture with a strong history of anti-intellectualism. The candidate who looks or talks like someone they can relate to and understand is the one the voters choose. Not the one who understands the problems of today, but the one who understands the voters of today. That's why Biden is unsuitable. He does not appear to understand where we are and has the compromised look of somebody who won't try.
15
@Mark Crozier
It's time to be "too radical". To go back to someone from the Obama regime, the failings of which set up the incursion of a neo-fascist into our presidency, would only set us up for another failure. We need a strong radical !! We need to restore democracy in our country, and the best way to do that is stringent action (call it radical if wish) to raise the income of bottom 50% of our economy which has foundered while the income of the wealthy has skyrocketed, and
insure health-care for all.
17
@JFP
What you might consider a "strong radical" (Sanders?, Warren?) wouldn't look all that "wild" in a European nation. Germany has the Green Party - which made some significant gains in recent elections. Other nations have Social Democratic or Democratic Social - type parties that are pretty mainstream. What used to be a Democratic party for the working class has moved well to the right. It needs to go back to what it once was - the party of FDR, unions, as opposed to the party of "coastal elites" only.
12
Michelle Goldberg is just confirming to those who have known for quite some that the so-called "centrism/corporate establishment democrats" like Joe Biden/Hillary Clinton and their baggage is what got a clown like Trump elected in the first place. In addition, in the previous eight years rather than deal with actual policies and issues that were important to a cross section of long time democrats, the party chose collecting money over winning elections ultimately resulting in the loss of almost 1000 democrat seats at the state and federal levels PLUS all THREE branches of the executive. The under 45 voters saw nothing in Hillary Clinton and the democratic party in general, stayed home hence, handing the election to an individual that had the worst approval ratings of any candidate in presidential election history.
One would have hoped by this time those democrats that continue to support the "Safe third way Wall Street establishment" crowd would have learned by now, clearly they have not.
Joe Biden as the candidate almost guarantees another four years of Trump and even if, by chance, Biden were to win, he is just another centrist who will do basically nothing to conduct meaningful change in the direction of America, while waiting in the wings for 2024 is another Trump type character, only this time he will be a lot smoother and smarter than the Tweetster and he will probably get elected.
2
What's the old saying:
Dems fall in love with their candidates,
Repubs fall in line.
2
This is no time to be knocking any Democratic candidate.. More positively might be to suggest a possible Biden/ Warren ticket.
Combine their strengths.
4
@Darchitect I think the point is Biden is doomed to be Hillary 2.0 and we should not go with the so-called "safe bet". He doesn't appear to have many strengths or even much personal conviction.
Fun fact: Sanders, Warren, Harris (in fact almost every democratic candidate) have pledged to support the nominee no matter who she/he/undecided is. Biden has not.
Tell me again, who is the unifier?
2
Let's keep our eye on the ball.
The goal is to remove Trump from office, that's it, period!
Therefore the democratic nominee must win Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
To do that, the nominee must talk about those issues that affect the majority of this center right country, particularly those three battle ground states.
Those issues are healthcare, the economy & immigration.
Promising reparations, free college for all, medicare for all ($30 trillion), elimination of ICE, trillions of dollars for the Green New Deal, elimination of all school loan debt will reinforce the worst stereotypes about tax and spend democrats.
Remember how the democrats won the House in 2018, especially in those red and purple states?
It was a simple and focused message about protecting our existing healthcare system, creating jobs & dealing with the immigration crisis.
Nominating and extremist candidate will ensure that Trump gets reelected.
3
If Democrats subscribe to the need to "fall in love" we will have 4 more years of this. Ask yourselves is America will be better for it. There are plenty of people who didn't vote or voted for a 3d party candidate or even voted for him because they didn't "like" her. This was despite the fact that she had the best prior experience for the job since George H.W. and he was a game show host.
I'm not in love with Biden, but I love my country. If he falters, I'll be voting for the ABT candidate.
3
Each of the Democratic candidates must pledge NOT to put any of their colleagues down in any way. Emphasize one's own positives, but DON'T give Trump or the Republicans anything negative about any of the others that they will take to the ill-inormed and Fox News led mass. The candidates must win the nomination on thir own merits, not by putting anyone else in their party down. Using this strategy, the Democratic nominee has the best chance.
5
Call me an ageist, but look at videos of Biden and Trump 20-30 years ago, and it's obvious they were much sharper and more articulate then than they are now. They are both sundowners, and it's only going to get worse at an accelerating pace.
3
1750 comments in, I'm probably repeating someone else here, but Michelle, as astute as she can often be, managed not to mention Elizabeth Warren while discussing the Democratic candidates in this column -- which would have been the only effective reason for writing it to begin with. No one else is going to make a difference.
1
I live in Columbia, and friends who attended this event said exactly the same thing - that he was really underwhelming in person.
3
Biden is a good man but his time has probably passed. Same for Bernie. Democrats need someone new with new ideas. I think a ticket pairing Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete would generate enormous enthusiasm among younger and more enlightened voters who are concerned about the damage Trump and the GOP are doing. Both candidates are very impressive communicators with good insights, and no one can match Warren's personal familiarity with how most Americans live and the problems they face, her depth of knowledge or her bright ideas. They could be the antidote the immorality, ignorance and bluster of Trump and his republican enablers that the country needs.
3
I was prepared to hate Goldberg’s article based on its title, but I did feel after reading it that she was trying to report her unbiased take on Biden after seeing him at three different events. It should not surprise anyone that Biden is rusty. Unexciting. Has trouble firing up the crowd.
Would nominating him be akin to a repeat of Dukakis, Mondale, or Kerry?
Is there a better general election candidate currently running? Perhaps in both cases. But those who argue that there’s no such thing as electability and then tell us to not be biased about who is most electable, let’s also not let our own biases interfere with who the Democratic Electorate want to be their nominee. Even Goldberg indicates that the people who met Biden at the same events that she was at responded positively to him. Had nothing bad to say about him. Isn’t that enough?
2
Joe Biden can't win, can't catch a break. First, he's a "....white man." Shame on you, Joe. White? Come on! Then he is mansplainin' because he says the woman has a lot of chutzpah to get up and tell her story of rape at the hands of her father. Mansplainin'? And then there is the matter which should really be at the top of the list of things which many, Ms. Goldberg included, seem to find objectionable. Age. Biden is old. Imagine that. So, racism, sexism=no good. Ageism=okay. In fact, quite prevalent. I heard one professor on a liberal TV station say the other day something like: "Could Joe Biden talk to someone under 50 years of age, please?" Ageism is not okay and is not acceptable and should be beneath someone so bright and skilled as Michelle Goldberg. BTW, I heard Goldberg on Chris Hayes show last night(?) say that she had personal affection for Biden, however.......With personal affection like her's, who needs antipathy? Stop hating on Biden because of his age. It is wrong and if we keep hammering the one sure thing (yeah, sure thing) we have then we may have another 4 years of this evil that has pervaded the land. Think.
4
I get that voters see Joe Biden as a "regular guy," but he just stumbles and crumbles in trying to explain anything. I do not see him rallying a lot of enthusiasm in a 2020 contest.
4
Smh, Biden get out of the race and let the party have a chance!
1
Please tell me which of the Democratic candidates looks more electable than Biden. Personally, my favorite candidate is Elizabeth Warren, but she is just not going to emerge as the candidate to beat Trump. Anti-Trump pundits just don't like to think that the presidential election is again going to be won by the electoral vote not the popular vote. Co astal states which might possibly contribute to a Democratic victory are Florida, Georgia, and NC. Are they going to back any Democrat but Biden. Probably the election again is going to be won or lost between the two coasts. Name the states which voted for Trump last time and are at all likely to vote this time for any Democrat but Biden.
2
Joe Biden is the comfort food candidate. White mashed potatoes, who doesn't like that?
1
Stop the use of "mansplaining". It's offensive and sloppy language.
Ms Goldberg is pushing the Democratic party to another angry split after the 2016 didaster. The election of Trump was the result of numerous millions of Democratic party voters-many like Ms Goldberg-angry at the party-who decided that Ms Clinton must be punished. As they believed she would be President anyway,(Trump hadn't a chance-they believed) , she should be brought to heel by the left wing and feminists of the party. The result is as we now see it.
If Voters do not try to maintain some semblance of unity-then Trump can golf his way to victory-again. I suggest people simply compare the agenda of Biden with that of Trump and his cohorts.
If neither is a great pulic speaker-at least Biden is a Democrat. Or maybe Ms G is happy enough with her personal situation and cares little whether the President or Congress is GOP or Democrat.
4
@meloop Hillary lost because she was so sure she’d win that she didn’t bother asking the Midwest for their votes. Voters who’d previously supported Bernie, but voted for Trump after Bernie lost, wanted change. They didn’t vote for Hillary because she was and is a corporate Democrat, the status quo. Voters still want change and many of them will refuse to vote for the status quo. If Joe Biden wants their votes, he should work to earn them, rather than trying to guilt or bully them into voting for him.
2
@meloop
Respectfully, "as long as it's a Democrat" doesn't work for me. It got us Trump. Ms Goldberg is pointing out obvious Biden problems. They remind me of a bad version of Hillary. So many good candidates in the pack.
1
My thoughts on Biden have not changed. To me he is Hillary Clinton in a guy's suit. Whatever group is pushing his push for president is the same group who brought us a Trump presidency. Another back to the way things were, same old same old, politician -- exactly what we don't need.
If he is the nominee kiss the presidency goodbye. How about we move into the 21st century? How's that for a radical idea?
3
Sure, keep denigrating Biden, choose Elizabeth Warren. Lord knows the last time a Massachusetts liberal ran for president it was not a pretty sight. Do we want ideological purity over winning? While I understand the problems of the Hyde Amendment, the issue is a non-starter with the American public. The vast majority support the Hyde Amendment. While it may be a popular issue among the Democratic base in the primary, it will hurt our ability to defeat Trump in the general election.
7
@Brian This is true.
Every one of my Trump-voting relatives believes that Democrats want abortion to legal right up until the moment of the child's birth.
Do not give them the taxpayer-funded abortion issue too.
I am sick to death of Democrats squandering every bit of political capital for 40 years on abortion. Ditto for gay rights.
Frankly there are social + economic justice issues that affect a lot more people.
1
When Bill Clinton was running for President, I saw a bumper sticker that said, "It's as easy as ABC" (anybody but Clinton). I'm looking for a new bumper sticker that says "It's as easy as ABT" (anybody but Trump). Democrats need to stop providing Trump with ammunition by attacking other Democrats. The goal is to defeat Trump, no matter who is elected.
5
Doesn't "electable" mean it's the most likely? I feel like the most electable person is the person who rallies excitement and support like past elected candidates... Trump/Obama. That looks like Pete and Warren to me. Pete being Obama-like in his come togetherness and Warren being Trump in terms of being fiery and controversial. We'll see what happens.
3
@T
Unfortunately, Warren isn't fiery enough to confront Fox news. (Her liberal media isn't too concerned with veracity much of the time either so she's missing that). If she wants to get the attention of Trump voters in my family she'll have to go on their network and earn their respect. Pete, Tulsi, Bermie, Andrew all seem to understand that
Democrats have to go big or go home.
Now is not the time to play it safe or choose a candidate because he or she will be the lesser of two evils.
We don’t simply need an alternative to Trump; we need a President.
6
Lets face it.. none of the Democrats are home runs.. --A lot of the Dems have big plans (erasing student debt, free college, universal health care, etc).. but they lack truly captivating & inspiring personalities. There are a lot of fine politicians in the bunch, but no obvious world leaders..
.... But, still, any of them would be preferable to Trump..
--Do they have the stuff to beat him.?
1
@mike
yep, you’ve summed it up well.
If the government and our discourse were not so broken. If our view of ourselves and our standing in the world was not so low, I would stand with Bernie or the younger progressive candidates. As it is, only Elizabeth Warren or Biden are moderate enough to make the 100 degree turn from Trump to sanity. I don't like asking young progressives to wait another four years, but the electorate is still comprised of too many people who accept Trump's bombast. We need at least some of their votes.
1
Seriously, Goldberg, you might just as well March down to Trump Hq and volunteer, as you spread Trump's smear about there being "something mental" wrong with Biden. Criticize his stances, not the person.
8
@John Burke
His stances have been fraught as well
Dems have a problem. Regardless who runs, Trump will tar them as "socialist (of course this is, well, not a dog whistle but a bull horn to the 1%, because any taxing of them to pay for us is Commie-ism is essence)". What is their answer, particularly given Medicare and Social Security are in essence definitively Socialist answers to social problems.
Do you defend what is clearly socialist (pointing out the GOP wants to eliminate the public programs, making them "privatized" cash cows). Or do you wiggle around the issue with a fog of weasel words?
Keep in mind Dems did not fight for the "L" word, and have been lost in the wasteland, Congressionally anyway, most of the time since.
And Socialism, as a goal, is as simple as drawing a pie circle on a blackboard and saying- given X people what's the fair way to divide the pie? Say ten people (draw ten equal pieces). Then challenge the others on the stage- what's your weltanschauung? Well...
(then go on draw half the pie for one, 2/3rds what's left for 2, and the rest...)
I like a lot of Warren's plans. But she has to effectively (10 words or less) win every challenge to any one of them. She may find herself tied down by the "centerist" (Biden proxy?)Lilliputs this week. Too many targets... and she is very shy on "socialism" defense...
This piece smacks of hypercriticalness to me.
Joe looks fine. Circular firing squads seem to appeal to Dems. Why? K, I’ll take a crack at it.
Self hate?
Lack of empathy due to screen time overdose?
Whichever or whatever it is, it’s can hand the election over to the Republicans, at a very bad moment in history.
7
Why does Ms. Goldberg seem to have it out for Joe Biden? Am I misremembering, or is this at least the third article against Biden that she's written?
How about writing why you think one of the Democratic candidates is the one who will win, without denigrating any of the others?
9
Biden is a tedious centrist.
Bernie-Warren, Warren-Bernie!
I’m an old white woman. Please don’t give me an old white man to vote for.
4
Oh gosh I’m exhausted and we haven’t even started.
4
Molly Molly you have to get over your anti Biden bias. Trump has to go. Biden can beat Trump! I support Biden. PERIOD
4
@Doon
Just listen to Biden. I don't believe he can beat Trump
Biden is not electable because of:
1. all the seniors who are angry that Biden tried to undermine Social Security three times.
2. anyone concerned with climate change - Joe was a big promoter of fracking worldwide.
3. the many working people driven to desperation through “lunch box Joe’s” vigorous support of NAFTA and the vile TPP.
4. many of the students who are now carrying crushing debt loads and look forward to a life of servitude because Biden, MBNA’s man, made sure they would not be able to declare bankruptcy.
5. all the sons and daughters killed or maimed in Iraq, after Biden held – per Scott Ritter UN arms inspector – sham hearings promoting such war. When Biden publicly mourns the untimely death of his son, he never mourns the deaths of millions of innocent men and women he helped cause.
6. his use of racist dog-whistle terms to support of the infamous Crime Control Act of 1994 and fighting against busing for desegregation with Jesse Helms.
7. many will stay home because of all the women he has disrespected with his unwanted touching, and still won’t admit it is not innocent – it’s how he fakes being a “friend” to people - and his past efforts to reduce insurance coverage of contraception.
8. everyone else who suffered because Biden’s idea of working well with certain heinous politicians is to sell out to them: 90% for them and 10% for the American people.
Please go away, Joe Biden, media invention, job and people killer, cruel smiling fake.
4
The real problem is no competent, successful person wants the job of president. That’s why the self selected roster consists of nothing but clowns, commies, crooks and career politicians.
Ms. Goldberg, please don’t tell me why you don’t like Joe Biden. Tell me who you do like and why. Your colleague Ms. Dowd spent all her time telling us why Sec. Clinton was a terrible person even when the only other choice was Trump. Look how that turned out.
Don’t make the same mistake.
10
Sometimes, the bible is relevant: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth." (Rev. 3:15-16)
1
Joe Biden is the Joe Lieberman of the Left.
As I look at this whole field of democratic dreamers, all I see is a collection of individuals with great ideas, varying degrees of energy and potential funding, but none with the kind of charisma or mana- a la Obama or the late Robert Kennedy, or perhaps Bill Clinton- that will enable them to defeat tv reality show celebrity trump. If only the Democrat's could clone a hybrid- a. Beto's youth and energy, b. Biden's experience and goodness, c. Mayor Pete's intellect, d. Harris' aggression e. Warens plans f. Ryans moderation g. Sanders youth appeal. So who might that person be?
What do you think?
2
Biden's support is centered in conservatism amongst so-called liberals.
1
Check the last Democrat over 50 to be elected President..........
“a likeable white man”...would you be mentioning anyone’s race if it was Elizabeth Warren or Cory Booker?
5
I don't know who wrote the headline (he may be a likable white man) but it is offensive and sexist.
4
Biden=Clinton:Time to move on...
2
I couldn’t get past the extremist title. I have no idea what this article is about.
3
Wow. "He may be a likable white man".
Replace "white" with any other demographic descriptions and that line would read as completely horrifying.
6
#metoo opinion writer who wants a woman presidential candidate.
1
Joe Biden will be on the national debate stageł in 2 nights. We’ll be able to evaluate him then.
As for Michelle Goldberg: Why don’t you tell us what you really think?
I stopped reading when Goldberg used the term "mansplaining". The Golden Rule: is it correct for men to write about "womansplaining"?
4
Maybe Biden isn't running to the taste of people who reflexively describe -- as you do -- a candidate forum response as "mansplaining rape." I sure hope so.
3
there is an old joke: what is the difference between a cannibal and a liberal? ....
...cannibals don' t eat their own .
please keep in mind , the election is a binary choice -so let's not over indulge on the appetizers
6
At least you admit your bias: “I don’t want Biden to be the nominee for ideological reasons.”
That colors your view. You don’t want him as the nominee, period. So you write columns that reinforce that view.
But hey, let’s act like the current President doesn’t have daily brain freezes when he speaks. Eyeroll.
5
The current occupant of WH doe no Ned Russian assistance this time as he can count on so-called option masters like the author
Biden "doesn't inspire confidence?" The guy is a walking train wreck. See https://www.amgreatness.com/2018/12/18/bidens-prominence-illustrates-the-dems-weak-bench/.
And note that the book alluded to in the article, "I Heard You Paint Houses," is being made into a major movie (Scorcese, Pacino, DeNiro, Keitel, Pesci) that is scheduled to be released in the fall).
1
May we live in interesting times. Yikes. We must be careful what we wish for.
The dynamic that centers the upcoming 2020 election in my opinion is the strong yearning for (hopefully) a majority of the electorate to remove Donald Trump from the White House and relegate his administration to that "dustbin of history."
So many people are so fed up and sickened by this man and his abhorrent policies that they would probably vote for the dog catcher if s/he stood a chance to accomplish that end.
For me, I am pulled toward Pete Buttigieg or Kamala Harris, but if Joe Biden has the best chance of winning the presidency and stopping this madness, then he has my vote.
Putting the Democrats back into power will right the ship of state, get us back on track to being the greatest nation in the history of the world, and stop the Statue of Liberty from weeping in New York Harbor.
4
@Len How about a Warren-Buttigeig ticket?
@C Smith
The one real question I have about Elizabeth Warren is will the middle of the country vote for her. But personally, I do like her platform and the way she has taken on Wall Street.
1
Goldberg is right when she says that "ordinary voters don’t seem to care about the gaffes that obsess cable TV commentators." To which she might have added, "newspaper columnists." I guess there's no chance that the pundits won't overthink this, if only because they face deadlines.
But to say that Biden was "waxing nostalgic about his civil relations with segregationist senators" goes over the line and misrepresents what he was saying (he wasn't being nostalgic, he was defending pragmatism). It's bad enough for Cory Booker to pull that trick. It's worse when an opinion writer throws fuel on the fire.
6
Millennial Democrat speaking here. Just a quick note to say neither myself or my friends are voting for Biden. He is not electable because no one in my age group is talking about him or cares for his policies. If he is the nominee I'll vote third party, like I did last time. The Democratic Party has a lesson to learn that we have to stand for something or we will fall for anything. There is no middle ground candidate that can win on the left. The party seems bent on learning that lesson the hard way with Trump's reelection.
2
@dnyabuti
You say you aren’t voting for him.
You’ll vote third party like you did last time.
So not only did you help elect Trump. You’re pledged to help elect him again. To teach Democrats a lesson.
You may well get your wish for more of Trump. If others so pseudo-nobly and childishly sulk and pout and follow your example, if the Dem nominee is not pure enough for them, I’d guess you’ll indeed get your wish.
3
I believe most people feel he missed his window during the last election but they are too afraid of Trump being reelected to reject what they are told is the best shot of defeating him in the next election.
It is a bit like a gamblers paradox (sunk cost argument) - they know they will lose the game but are unwilling to stop playing the game and move on to another option since so much has already been 'invested' to this point.
I think most people will agree that he seems a bit too old for the job at least that is my take.
1
I think Sanders and (to a lesser degree) Warren will scare away moderate voters in 2020 with some policies that are too far out in left field. If one of the lower tier Dems (like Harris) could break out of the pack, she or he could help bridge the gap between old-school Biden and the unelectable leftists. So far, that hasn't happened but I'm waiting.
3
Whether you are for Biden, not for Biden, or neutral on Biden this column puts the campaign focus on the wrong spot. The difference between 26.5, 25.6, and 24 in 100,000 in mortality rates is minuscule compared to the difference in rates between in South Carolina and states where access to abortions is not hindered by religious extremism. Criticizing Biden for not remembering the exact number, just the ballpark range, is pointless nit picking. Write about something important, for example, the many solutions being offered to provide universal healthcare by this array of candidates. If you lose your job in America today, your healthcare vanishes with it. How do the candidates propose different ways to solve that problem?
@J. Larimer I found the quote of Biden's garbling to be quite telling. For me, the point is not that his statement was completely incomprehensible, but that it suggested that an aide had shoved a few talking points to him just before he addressed the Planned Parenthood forum. Females constitute, I believe, 53% of our population— a majority. But having been in Washington for decades (and having supported the Hyde amendment), he wasn't able— on his own— to provide a clear, succinct response to the question "access to abortion: yes or no?" His failure suggests that he either hasn't paid attention to a major issue in women's lives or that he doesn't want to say what his real priorities are.
The Times and the Democratic party elite are determined not to elect a "likable white man" - or any man at all - in 2020. We better be careful letting these would-be puppeteers put their collective thumb on this scale. In 2008 the elite and their media decided it would be "first woman follows first African American" and worked that narrative for eight years. The primaries were a sham - the source may have been foreign meddling but the content of Hillary's hacked emails proved beyond any doubt that the party was manipulating what should have been an open and fair primary process - and look what it got us (The Washington Post reported: "Many of the most damaging emails suggest the committee was actively trying to undermine Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign."). I will be happy if the best candidate is a woman. I'll be really disappointed if the party can't learn from 2016, move away from identity politics, and focus on developing real plans for better governance and on fairness in what should be an open, transparent democratic process. My biggest fear is not the existence of unfairness, it's that the unfair process led to an unelectable candidate. I happen to favor centrist, "New Democrat" (Democratic Leadership Council or "third way") policies and like Biden on substance, but even if I were for the far-left of AOC and Warner, I'd be mostly afraid because these biased tactics won't get us to the wrong Democrat, they're leading toward a second Trump term.
5
@TJ Did you mean "Warren"? Mark Warner isn't running.
Independents who might be swayed will grudgingly pull the lever for Trump if the choice is an outdated-use-by-2016-Biden or an-all-time high-stock-market Trump.
4
Every day now there is a put-down of Biden. This one revolves around Biden’s stuttering over some statistics, his imperfect choice of words, and his supporters not being loud enough.
Other comments here indicate that he’s not passionate enough; I.e., entertaining. If you want loud and entertaining vote for Trump.
Personally I want a president who is familiar with government, who is thoughtful and conscientious, who is diplomatic with friends and foes alike. Most of all, I want a Dem nominee who can beat Trump. When it comes to the debate stage, folks aren’t going to care about a stumble here and there if the nominee is trying to be truthful and empathetic.
Let’s stop this daily assault on Biden for ridiculous reasons, or Trump will be back for four more years and the extinction of Democracy.
9
Over and over and over we have heard electability discussed as something without a measure.
It has a measure in the head to head polls in the states we must retake.
Biden and Sanders consistently beat Trump in PA, MI and WI by more than the polls' margin of error. No one else does.
We must win this time.
@David Corrick.
But only Biden can beat Trump in states like Arizona and North Carolina, and even possibly in Texas. We may need these as a cushion in case one of the other states doesn’t pan out.
I have said since before VP Biden announced that he should not run this time. I hope that he is not the nominee. Yes, he's a great guy who can trade barbs with Trump man-to-man, but we have been down "Biden Road" too many times already and there are too many potholes to fall into. Sadly, I fear that he will lose the election like a burst Hillary balloon and we'll be stuck with King Donald the First for as long as it takes for our society to either implode or learn how to live under martial law.
Am I being an alarmist? An old adage says that alarmists are always right eventually. I fear that "eventually" will become "now" if Biden is nominated. He will lose. So will America.
5
Democrats 2020...Snatching failure from the jaws of victory, Part II.
9
Rather than trying to dump all over Joe Biden, I think Michelle Goldberg would do herself and her readers a favor by writing columns extolling the virtue of her favorite Democratic nominee(s). Since we haven't even had the first debate yet, there is plenty of time for Democratic voters to focus on the positives in a candidate and choose him or her rather than falling for someone who is merely good enough. You can save the hand-wringing about Biden for next spring if it looks like he is going to sleepwalk his way to the nomination. But this is way too early for that sort of thing.
3
I'm in my early 70s, and though my spirit feels ageless, I'm well aware that my body and mind are gradually declining. This is not a problem; it's in my nature as a human being. Like the rest of us, I was born to live, grow, develop, decline, and die. The topic of age should not be taboo in this election because of some fear of seeming ageist. At 78 Joe Biden is simply not at the peak of his powers, and I have no doubt that he will become gradually less capable in the years to come. He's served us well, but it's time for him to step aside--and if he had more self-awareness, and more concern for the public good than for his own self-image, he would gracefully defer to someone younger and better able to handle the formidable job of chief executive.
16
Biden travels around the country raising money from the corporatocracy. If that doesn't alarm anyone, I don't know what will. Biden will be great for the big banks, corporations, wall street and the 1%. For the rest of us? Not so much. I wish Democrats would stop trotting out these old neo-liberal candidates that believe in incremental change and will work hard to maintain the status quo. Hello? There are so many serious problems facing our country and the world right now. We're on the brink of environmental disaster if we don't get our act together in 12 years. We need someone with bold, brilliant and bright leadership that will meet these challenges head-on and address them aggressively and intelligently. Someone who will outshine the rhetoric of Trumpism. I wish the Democratic party would stop clinging to the past and following the script from the 1990's. This is the 21st century, they need get with the program and move into this century.
6
@jmb It doesn't bother me. What you call the "corporatocracy" employs most people in America. Without them, you would have Venezuela on the Hudson.
@Pierre
Not true that without the corporatocracy that we'd have Venezuela on the Hudson. There's a name for a government that's controlled and dominated by corporate power, it's called corrupt. This is unacceptable AND it goes against our founding principles as a democracy. We're a government for, of and by the people. Remember?
I personally like Joe Biden. His policies are not what we need right now. He would have made a wonderful president in the 90's or early 2000's, not today.
I’ve been watching the candidates closely. There is no one with the charisma and talent that equals Obama as a candidate. I wince when I watch some of them on TV.
We are at risk for picking a “dud” to go up against Trump.
I keep asking myself “is this the best the dems have to offer?”
Some of them, even ones I like to some degree, will get obliterated by Trump on the campaign trail.
4
Patricia, Warren and Harris have it. You need to track down and watch full speeches by them.
1
I'm in my 50s and not as sharp as I was in my younger days. U.S. Presidency is probably the hardest job in the world (when done right). I don't think it's a bad idea to have younger presidents in the Obama/Clinton age range. There are plenty of stories about Reagan's detachment in his second term. We know that Trump babbles and when you look at videos of interviews when he was younger he was quite sharp. Pelosi also babbles.
9
Yes, Pelosi has many talents but when she is on TV, I cringe as she stumbles over her words. Where is the next generation of talent? Out of 300M people, I can’t believe we are seeing the best.
The great shakeout on the Democratic side has not yet begun. It may turn out that there are more than two lanes, but there will clearly be at least two: the Old Democrats and the New Democrats. Biden currently has the Old Democratic lane to himself. That's why he's the front-runner, getting about 1/3 of the vote in current polls. The other candidates are splitting up the New Democratic lane and trying to define what it will look like. If I'm right, then as the field winnows, Biden is not likely to pick up a lot more support. Unless moderate Republicans and independents vote in the Democratic primaries, he's going to have a hard time winning a majority of delegates.
3
@Theodore Seto
Joe Biden has no problem collecting corporate/Super Pac money which translates to another four years of Trump.
Dear Michelle,
You may not of intended it, but the way the headline refers to “looks” is not polite really.
It implies that he doesn’t look good.
4
Joe’s age is legitimately concerning, but the bigger issue is his lack of vision. We all remember how HRC struggled to articulate a real purpose, and how much that hurt her campaign. Hers was the “It’s my turn” candidacy. Biden’s, I’m afraid, would be much the same. We need to go with who inspires us.
9
@Jeremiah Crotser
I would have hoped by now the electorate would have "finally" learned if a candidate, regardless of party, is collecting considerable amounts of campaign finance dollars from lobbyists and Super Pacs, their vision is dictated by the donors which is almost always at odds with that candidates constituents. Biden falls into that category.
2
@Deus You are correct that by now American voters should have learned that politicians answer to those who fund them (and to their own personal ambitions!). However, Trump's strong support by people who tend to be working class and victims of his policies (such as they are) and the long elected tenure of Mitch McConnell are just two examples of Americans NOT learning that lesson.
I found Hillary Clinton quite inspirational both times she ran. And I still do. It appears Michelle Goldberg is doing to Biden what Maureen Dowd did to Hillary.
1
It appears that Joe will end up like Hillary. Presidency is not in their fate. If Donald Trump can cut a deal with the Thug from North Korea for denuclearization of Korean peninsula acceptable to world community, he is destined to share Noble prize with that North Korean dictator. With that in hand probably no Democratic presidential nominee can defeat Donald Trump in 2020 Election. He will be reelected.
5
@Trevor Diaz There is no such deal to be had that actually denuclearizes the Korean Peninsula. The deal is that the Thug from North Korea keeps his nukes, or maybe fewer of them than he currently has, in exchange for the US lifting all sanctions and moving its troops out of South Korea. Even Trump won't make that deal.
If there is one dottering geezer among the candidates, it is Bernie, not Biden (who has more energy than a locomotive.). C’mon Michelle. Let’s see you call on Bernie to drop out.
10
@Irving Franklin
Exactly the opposite.
Hope you don’t get Joe biden, but Donald Trump.
3
You lost me at “good-natured gangs in a rival musical.”
Someone on a web forum commented that Biden's heart is in the right place. I can't speak to that but his foot is certainly in his mouth.
5
And then you put him next to Trump.
2
as President .. you don't have to BE the smartest person in the room.... you have Find and Hire the smartest people in the room.... a rule FDR knew well... a rule the present occupant of the much diminished office.. has not even passing acquaintance with..
5
Another politician from the Dems that to me will not get elected. He is a career politician and there is the problem. People in this country are fed up with career politicians. When this country was founded the leaders where all part time and now it is career that seems to center on keeping your job at all costs and not what you have accomplished.
5
@Robert
Good point. Also helps to explain how and why we got our current president.
Some candidates may seem like they have the tenacity to take on Trump. But their policy strategy is decades old. Others may be up to date on policy, but do they have the toughness to withstand the barrage of attacks that will surely come from Trump?
Dems need a candidate who has both if they expect to get everybody out to vote in 2020. Personally, I think Kamala Harris is the closest they have to checking off all the boxes. Although I haven't counted out Amy Klobuchar. We haven't heard as much from her as some of the others. Which makes me wonder if her strategy is to hold back and let the others duke it out, Then swoop in when the time is right.
1
Ability to inspire.
Ability to influence others.
Dozens of sponsored bills passed in Congress.
Experience abound in both foreign and domestic issues.
Oh yes, and “a big heart.”
Who do you like Michelle?
4
Hillary was a terrible candidate.
Biden is a joke of a candidate.
Will the DNC repeat their recent history?
Has Biden ever won a primary?
He was a benign choice as Obama’s VP.
He’s not in any way a leader.
Please, joe, go to your family.
13
The Democratic Party principals will shove Biden down our throats just like they did Hillary Clinton. They are the ones who long for the past, who are frightened by the passing of their world. They long for the ascendancy of their own smugness, the same smugness that doomed Hillary Clinton. They have spent too long being called leaders and feeling the illusory security of being deferred to. They are blinded.
10
Joe Biden is the only one who can take on trump and win.
2
Those lulled by a commercial culture that sells youth as the human ideal should pause and ponder what young people have brought us in the past decade: Google, Facebook, social media mob rule, a decline in literacy, the commodification of empathy, the elevation of trivia, and a mass alienation of video game culture and virtual reality. Young folks move fast and break things.
Trump does that too.
Ok, so Biden can't rap to save his life. But rap is for most Americans affect and rawness, which gives it insider cachet that mass marketers love. Biden, Warren and Sanders aren't rap artists. Biden and Sanders talk like the people who elected them, neither are Ivy League nor the Main Line. Sanders lilts with anger and outrage and both he and Biden speak from authentic lives rooted in genuine communities. Warren is more Oklahoma and teacher than Harvard.
Reagan -- as despicable as he was popular -- was never coherent or clear when he didn't speak from a script. He was folksy and avuncular. Bush I and Bush II made Saturday Night Live comic Dana Carvey a fortune by their torture of English.
Biden doesn't hold a candle to Obama, our most literate and articulate president who couldn't push ACA over the finish line without Biden and Pelosi. And Biden doesn't make folks feel small like Barry Obama apparently did.
Goldberg needs to get out more if she thinks Biden mumbles like an old guy instead of those folks in 4 or 5 states who will elect the next president.
4
Why not write a column in which you make a strong case for one of the other candidates. In other words: Stop playing safe. (Which is what you and many others accuse Biden of doing.)
7
Democrats need a candidate with Energy and Charisma. This is a TV election and you have to be a TV personality. Likeabilty alone will not make the deal.
3
E. Warren is my favorite ... but I agree with Bill Maher. America swoons over celebrities; we don't have a clear cut winner out of ~25 dem candidates; somebody (ahem, Gayle) get Oprah to run ... please!!
1
Mr. Biden has had his chances . It is late. If he were a patriot, he would bow out and endorse Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren. So should Bernie Sanders. Please no old white men this time.
5
I appreciate your reporter’s reporting. She clearly doesn’t support Biden but tries to give an unbiased report. It’s hatd to know what will happen this election. It’s like the climate and so much else these days: unpredictable.
In the era of Trump, Biden’s gaffe laden campaign errors are easily ignored. Because the misfit in the WH has lowered our expectations to such a level— that Biden could shoot someone in Times Square and I would still vote for him over Trump!
3
If Joe Biden is the most electable Democrat, Gerald Nadler will have 5 years to impeach Donald Trump.
5
Starting your op-ed by calling Joe Biden a "likable white man" betrays a baked-in negative bias against him because the author would much rather see a woman or a POC take the nomination. It's a shame that identity politics has come so far that a lifelong civil servant, senator and former VP is reduced to a gender and racial stereotype. Would an article describing Harris as a "likable black woman" even be permissible in the current ethos? Or would the comment board light up like a Christmas tree (oops...I mean a non-denominational ornamental tree...) with outrage from this group? The double standard is thick.
11
Don't worry, Biden will self destruct before the election.
3
No he' not the Safe Choice at all. Trump will eat him up and spit him out. Bernie Sanders is just as bad. Just can't get what drives this old man... So neither one of "these guys" are winners... Let's go find the real one, the one who will stomp on Trump and head America towards that Shining Light again...
3
@Usmcsharpshot--He is so undisciplined, he will follow tRump's lead, in "debates," as if tRump had him by the nose. Biden does not have what it takes. I don't think he asked Obama not to endorse him, I think he's covering up that Obama will not endorse him.
Considering the fact that Jill Biden doesn't want to be First Lady, Joe should take his life-long partner into a great retirement. Do it for the grandkids. Do it for us all.
7
You know how nobody you know supported Trump, but somehow he won the nomination anyway?
Joe Biden's not intellectually prepared. This article nicely summarizes what many of us think. If your leading candidate makes you anxious, he shouldn't be in the lead. I hope Biden drops from his top Dem spot. As VP, Biden was Obama's back slapper. Mr. Good-Times. When some age, their minds show it w/ an obvious erosion of wit & quick thought. This is Joe Biden. Opposite is Mayor Pete B. I'll go w/ him.
1
Then who does? Mondale lost 49 states. Lets beat up on Biden some more so the one we really want to run comes out ahead. Have we forgotten McGovern? Those who fail to Remeber are doomed to Repeat. Does anyone really believe the Far Left is going to sell in the Rust Belt? No wonder The Right eats our lunch on a regular Basis. Lets cut the circular firing squad and Beat Trump. Stop giving the Master Liar, Trump, talking points. Now we are talking about Looks? Give me a Break!
6
The caricature of HRC in many comments is truly disgusting. If you had taken the time to read her platform or her detailed fact sheets, you would have seen she supported real progressive programs. But you were too lazy & none of this was covered by the media which only wanted to cover 2 improperly marked, improperly classified eMails.
And many refer to refer to her savagely ripped out of context comment in which she said "You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that...."
Now tell me you deny that there were and are Trump supporters like that.
BUT that comment ended with:
"but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives & their futures, and they’re just desperate for change. It doesn’t really even matter where it comes from. They don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won’t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroine, feel like they’re in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well."
Read the full transcript at:
https://time.com/4486502/hillary-clinton-basket-of-deplorables-transcript/
11
@Len Charlap The reality is the Clinton was the anointed one last time. She was the Democratic candidate for only two reasons; she had name recognition as the First Lady; she lost to Obama and the establishment thought that it was her turn.
Policy papers written by staff don't mean anything. She was not an inspiring candidate; she had very little charisma.
4
@Reuven - So does Trump have charisma? I prefer intelligence, knowledge and compassion to charisma.
1
@Len Charlap Yes, although I despise Trump, he has much more charisma than Clinton did. I didn't like Clinton, but she was the only choice in the previous election. The issue isn't who you or I prefer; it's who will win the next election.
I am not going to vote for Biden, but to accuse any man of "mansplaining" when he is answering a woman's question is not doing the feminist movement any favors.
6
He's purposely triangulating with racists. No one is this politically stupid: it has to be a rhetorical policy, just as it was Hillary's first instinct to triangulate with the European racist neofascists to say, Yeah, Europe's done enough; close the borders. It was reported right here in the NYT, and, as Varoufakis rightly said, it alone disqualifies her from any position of leadership, not that any is on offer.
That's what the corporate, "centrist" (read: rightwing) Democrats do: they wait for the GOP to take its position, ever more far-right, and they move even further to the right, plant their flag, and hippie-punch their own base. And lose. Lose, lose, lose--and when they win, as with Obama, they lose. The GOP is ratcheting the country into literal fascism; the Democratic leadership is helping.
Yep, keep going for the fourteen swing voters still left in the swing states. Do that, instead of bringing in any of the 100 million who didn't bother to vote in 2016.
Definitely don't hand the keys to Sanders, the most popular politician in the country despite (perhaps because of) near-total elite disapprobation.
They're so desperate, the thought-leader corporate types. They'll even try to start a fight between Warren and Sanders to split the progressive vote. Anything to Stop Sanders. Trot out an ex-Trot like Kazin. Beg, plead, whine, scare, lie, warp, spin, ignore. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Every time I see it, I send another $250 to Sanders. I'm a happy class traitor.
3
Close in time, we saw Biden and Warren at two events in New Hampshire. Biden was in a small, intimate, backyard Q & A; Warren, was in a packed town hall-about 400 people, made intimate by her passion.
Biden was exactly as Michelle describes: incomplete in his sentences and thought patterns, but you knew the point he was making. The impression we had was that his mind was working faster than he could get the words out. Yet, after all his years of giving speeches, one would think he would have mastered this problem. He made two mistakes in our opinion: he talked about his very early years in the Senate and Mike Mansfield-whom few in the crowd probably knew. And, as an example of bipartisanship, he cited the passage of the Cancer Moonshot bill after his son passed-not a good example because there is no way the Congress would have voted against this. What he failed to address was how he would deal w/McConnell, who surely would oppose him as he did Obama. In fact, I have not hear a single member of the press ask him about this. Shame on the press for not bringing up this very relevant issue.
As to Warren, whom is my choice, she is brilliant, quick, funny, on-point, knows her facts and figures, who she is, what she wants, her vision is clear. She represents clear change for this nation and is what we need. I would love to see her on the debate stage w/Dumbo Don. But, I fear many Americans are still not ready for a smart female in the White House.
5
Right, “the polls say...” you do know that anyone with caller ID doesn’t answer polls. They represent an older, less educated and more conservative perspective, but media relys on them incessantly. Why?
2
Obama once said, "you can have chicken, or you can have steak. That's what's on the menu, that's the choice." If that is the case, I would gladly choose the Biden filet over the Trump chicken.
1
Ms Goldberg thinks "he may be a likable white man." Have we sink that low with identity politics that the misogyny and racism is no longer even ironic? What hypocrites.
8
Nothing in this article shows Biden to be anything but a strong candidate who will appeal to a majority of voters. Ms. Goldberg’s slanted analysis of the candidate’s every move just highlights her prejudice against Biden because he is a white man who has been around for a while. Give me an old white man who can win and who is realistic about the workings of government over pie-in-the-sky inexperience any day.
2
To Michelle and all the other socialists, remember George McGovern. And we got Nixon.
4
Please stop
Just Stop
We are on fire, drowning and losing a war to a bunch of know nothing racists. Anyone is better than what we have
What we need is a commitment to voting all blue all the way through. - We need to right this ship before it is too late.
Nothing else matters - eliminate republicans willing to dismantle our republic, neglect our infrastructure, imprison our citizens for debt and gerrymander our voting rights. Sure I can afford to fly my daughter home for healthcare but is that the world we want to live in? Just stop
6
An on with the character assassination of Biden by Goldberg et al. Of course, this has little to do with Biden himself, and a whole lot to do with his being white, male, and old.
5
Pleas joe, retire. We’ve had more than enough of blue dog democrats.
1
I saw him speak at a graduation. He looked and sounded fine.
Why don't you support who you want instead of ripping at who you don't want.
4
Biden is nothing but a corporate shill - just like Hillary. he's been put into the ring by the big-money elites to torpedo any chance of a progressive getting into office and putting a wrench into the plutocracy. the sooner he's bumped out of the race, the better.
1
OK y'all Blah Blah Blah. I don't care. The opinions better start helping there cause than hurt them. The GOP is UNITED behind for the quest for Power. They are not divided. They can and most likely will win again. Given the edge they have in the electoral and a popular president in their opinion that speaks/ scares them into submission with the talk of immigrants and socialists. If the Dems continue to bicker and don't start cheerleading the Presidential hopefuls and eachother then you lost already. Sure don't go easy on them but wow it be nice if you weren't out to kill your own even if it meant more of a sugar coat. All the 2020 prospects are far better choices and far better humans than Donald. Stop it with the bickering and start selling. Because I don't CARE , who is the nominee. I don't care at all. I will vote for a cinderblock in a wig. ANYONE would be better than him and the governing that has followed him. So If you are going to hate at least make it know how much better they are than the monster that is bleeding our economy and morals DRY. I've had it with the internal self hate. Get over it can get winning already.
2
Biden is anachronistically out of tune. He is blind to progressive, inclusive,diverse Woman-affirming Dem party he is zero part of. Proven shameful sexism/racism with trappings of GOP shill. To my view, Elizabeth Warren is Dem right candidate & 2020 POTUS.
5
The best Steve Rattner could say about Joe's performance in South Carolina is that he wasn't as bad as people thought he'd be. But no one left thinking it was the best thing they'd ever heard. Wow. This is worse than candidate Hillary.
Why is the press making excuses for Joe?
2
Good to know Joe is a likable " white man" . I notice that Kamala Harris is not described as a likable black woman or Andrew Wang and "Intellgent Aisan man" There is more to someone than race and gender. But I guess it is a pretty good article written by likable white women with a Jewish last name.
8
Biden's moment has passed.
1
Yes our looks change when we age , wait til your there!
Biden has my vote .
The corrupt democrat party will push Biden through just like they did Hillary. They determined this years ago. They’ll rig the primaries in his favor. The reason they like Joe is because he’s pro big money and Uber rich. Nothing like the status quo for Joe!
Any democratic candidate is better for America than Trump. You all can fight it out, I will vote blue all the way through.
4
Liberal columnist tears down Democratic front runner. Where have I seen that movie before? And how did it end?
Meanwhile, the guy who benefited from the tearing-down is accused of rape--AGAIN. But you'd never know it from all the articles, here and elsewhere about how Joe Biden seems electable but can't really win. Because he touches women on the shoulder. Because he doesn't orate well. Because he's an old white guy.
Can we please focus on the real threats to our democracy, and let the Democratic Party choose its nominee in peace?
3
From Politico.com: "President Barack Obama was elected during an economic cataclysm, and his first major task was passing an economic stimulus bill. But Republican leaders were determined to stop him, and he needed to persuade three GOP senators to support his bill and break the filibuster. He assigned the job to his Senate whisperer, his chief dealmaker, his aide with the best bipartisan relationships: Vice President Joe Biden.
To nail down those Republican votes, Biden went into legislative stalker mode, schmoozing his old Senate colleagues into submission. He called Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania 14 times during the presidential transition, repeatedly asking: Whaddya want? He kept tracking down Susan Collins of Maine in her hometown of Caribou...In the end, Biden won over three Republicans: Specter, Collins, and Olympia Snowe of Maine.
The deal got done, and it helped end the Great Recession within months."
ACA needed one vote in the Senate to become law. Biden secured the final vote for Obama. ACA would never have happened if not for "over-the-hill" Joe.
Obama wouldn't have been Obama without Joe.
He's earned this.
9
Why would you even have your column's subtitle start: "He may be a likeable White man..."
Has it become so fashionable now as an oxymoron to blast a man or woman for their whiteness before even discussing them as a person? That it's cooler to be Black if you're capturing the youth, public sphere or entertainment? How about Black and also gay? Way cooler still! Congrats! You've just insulted and turned off people in this regard from the getgo.
7
I'm afraid that Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate would just hand Trump 4 more years, heaven forbid
Wow a lot of ageism going on here.
5
@Jane
I see a lot of astute comments, many by people who themselves are riding the 'aging train' and understand
what they see manifesting in 'low energy Joe'.
There's a word for what Ms. Goldberg saw: early dementia. That, plus his risk of a third, and possibly fatal, anuerysm, are reasons alone to abandon Joe.
2
I really don't care what you opinion is or what you think, I read and listen to candidates and then make my own decision not based on your opinion. I get a little tired of people telling us who to vote for and why, that didn't work out to well for the democrats in 2016 when they forced Hilary on everyone.
The editorial staff at the times has decided that Biden is not the right candidate.
Too old, too white.
Not instep in the age of identity politics.
In the last election the “Hilary meter”
was glued to the right side with .
She was eminently qualified but unlikeable.
(As was Romney)
Be careful with Warren as she may follow Hilary into the dustbin.
She needs to take a real stand on immigration.
She can write a thousand policy proposals but until she is willing to take a stand that represents Americans and not the millions of illegals she cannot win.
The goal is to get Trump out.
L
2
Michelle's columns do not inspire confidence either. She writes as if the whole country shares her very Blue consciouness. Her "progressiveness" is frightening becasue she dismisses anyone who is not on her "team" I am a Liberal which is not the same as the self styled Progressives who want to impose their views on others as much as the Alt -Right. I have lived in 4 countries and 5 states (mostly Blue) and I find Ms Goldberg's views often as pernicious as say Steve Bannon or her fellow columnist Ross D. The latter at least are not afraid to admit that they have an agenda, Ms Goldburg pretends to be Miss Everyone, she is not.
5
Mr Biden is past his pull date as a candidate for 2020 Pres. He was never presidential material and he isn't now either. I fear addled Dems will nominate him and we will be saddled with the Orange Menace for another dangerous four years.
To paraphrase this story's subhead, "She may be a likable white woman, but Michelle Goldberg's performance on the punditry trail doesn’t inspire confidence."
3
I'm not saying that I support or decline to support Joe Biden, but if Thomas Jefferson, George Washington or James Madison were still alive today, would you tell them to forget about their establishment of a constitutional republic and all that. "You guys owned slaves! Back to generational monarchy for us." Joe Biden has been in power long enough that he cannot pass the illiberal left's purity tests. That's what happens from working with terribly unsavory people in power over a long history in the legislature.
Keep this up and you'll create a 'circular firing squad'. You WON'T get better social programs, reaffirmed abortion rights, polysexual bathrooms OR Donald Trump out of the White House.
Do you want a President or a gameshow host?
Oh jeez. I can see it now: Biden is the nominee due to his electability, Trump wins 2020.
1
Totally agree...USA needs new, YOUNG blood.
October 11, 2012.
Joe Biden vs Paul Ryan for the Veep slot.
How quickly they forget, as they rush to accuse Joe of having no fire in his belly.
Same Dems dumped on Nancy Pelosi too.
Ms. Goldberg, you make comments in this piece like, "I want him to be a strong one...he didn't seem strong," referencing Joe Biden, that pretty much mimic Trump's attacks on his opponents, notably Hillary Clinton. So it's just fine for a woman columnist for the New York Times to suggest that there may be something physically or mentally wrong with an elderly male candidate for President but male candidates who do the same of elderly women running for office is repulsive and out of bounds? Joe Biden not immediately recalling exact statistics shows he is weak, but anyone bringing up Hillary Clinton's fainting at an event, coughing constantly on the stump and being unsteady on her feet is making sexist attacks?
I am really sick of all of the hit pieces The Times runs just unabashedly slamming Joe Biden because he is "too old." I don't recall any of those when Hillary Clinton was the candidate or anything about Nancy Pelosi, the pushing eighty Speaker of the House. Come on.
4
Hey Joe, just how clean and articulate are you? With your constant, confusing, confounding, badly worded statements you have to clean up after with a political disinfectant?
From 2007: CNN in quotes Biden on Obama: “…. you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."
Then: "I deeply regret any offense my remark might have caused anyone. That was not my intent, I expressed that to Sen. Obama."
Biden said his remark was taken out of context--
" Obama is probably the most exciting candidate that the Democratic or Republican Party has produced ….he's fresh. He's new. He's smart. He's insightful. And I really regret that some have taken totally out of context my use of the world 'clean.'"
Biden said he was referring to a phrase used by his mother. "My mother has an expression: clean as a whistle, sharp as a tack.."
Obama said he thinks Biden "didn't intend to offend" anyone.”
"He called me," Obama said. "I told him it wasn't necessary. We have got more important things to worry about.
Later: "I didn't take Sen. Biden's comments personally, but obviously they were historically inaccurate. African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate."
But in 2019, Biden could be called ‘inarticulate’.
Biden has got a bad case of the Hillarys sadly the Dems that have power like Biden are stuck in the past (aka being bribed by big oil and pharma) and just cannot accept the reality of today.
I would vote for Biden if he gets the nomination. I am afraid a Biden nomination would cause a lot of people not to vote. I am not inspired by Biden.
3
Michelle Goldberg seems to be on a mission to disparage and discredit Joe Biden's Presidential candidacy through this opinion and similar comments made on some cable news channels. Why? She also contradicts herself when she acknowledges that Joe Biden has "the ability to draw crowds", but at the same time commenting that "there is little excitement" at his events and "less visible energy" in his campaign because his supporters are "older." His strong lead in all polls should speak for itself. With age comes wisdom and "personal warmth " does matter to voters", and it can't just be that all his supporters are only "older" voters accounting for his strong lead in the polls!
2
One problem with Biden and Sanders is their age. People in their late 70s suffer higher rates of cancer,heart disease, dementia, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. These might be offset by having more experience and better judgment.
In 1944, president Roosevelt was only 62, but he didn't look well to observers. Therefore, they decided they needed a reliable person to succeed him should he not be able to complete his term. They therefore replaced vice-president Henry Wallace with Senator Harry Truman.
Should either Biden or Sanders be the nominee, the delegates might think back to what happened in 1944.
Joe Biden is a very warm and likeable person. However, he just does not have the "energy" to run a vigorous political campaign or meet the demands and stress of the Presidency. Despite his claims about being able to work with those on the opposite side of the aisle, I don't recall him being especially helpful to Obama who got absolutely no help from the GOP in anything he attempted to do. In all respect for the man's political career and his past accomplishments, and he should retire, write his memoirs , and become the 'elder statesman" of the party.
2
If a candidate can’t win against Trump, for whatever reason, then I don’t want them. Period. No matter how much I may like their policies. The upcoming 2020 election means life or death, for our democracy and probably for me. So if Biden is the only Democrat who can win in the swing states, with the votes of moderates and disaffected Republicans, then he’s got my vote for the nomination. The alternative, is the abyss.
1
Trump rode to victory on a wave of malignant nostalgia and fear of the future. Now the Democrats are doing the same. If Trump peddled warmed-up leftovers of economic nationalism and promised return to the 1950s, they are peddling warmed-up dregs of socialism and promise return to the 1930s. What are Sanders’ and Warren’s platforms if not reincarnations of the old discredited ideas about planned economy and “economic justice” based on pandering to the dwindling working class? Only fringe candidates, such as Mayor Pete and Andrew Yang, dare speak about the new horizons of automation and AI. We need a new vision, not just new people. I don’t care about Biden’s chronological age but at least his platform, such as it is, looks back to the age of Obama instead of FDR. Perhaps the best we can hope for is short-time nostalgia instead of a long plunge into the past to escape the morbid fear of the future that seems to have gripped this nation.
I am pro choice and support Planned Parenthood - with annual donations. But when a woman steps forward and mentions her three abortions, and is praised for having incredible courage, I get a sinking feeling. I guess it's not politically correct to inquire after birth control. This kind of pandering around a justifiably charged issue will hand Trump another four years.
5
Just a thought, there is a great probably that at least one of the old timers on The Supreme Court will not survive over the next 4 years.
Democrats need to think clearly and wisely about putting forth a candidate who the middle of the country will vote for; yet Biden can not be counted on as a viable choice.
It's not that Biden is old - it is that his ideas and style are dated.
At this point in American politics, in most elections, there are more non-voters than there are voters. Ask yourself, why is that?
Part structural - voting on a workday, long lines, Electoral College, registration requirements.
Part cynical - vote suppression laws, disenfranchisement of felons, gerrymandering...
But possibly the biggest part is the two-party system, where the two parties have moved so far to the right representing essentially only the donor class .
Surveys on campaign finance, Medicare, gun control, endless wars, taxation of the rich, living wages, education financing, and global warming, among other issues, indicate that the populace is center-left to progressive.
The Democrats used to represent labor and more of the middle class. Corporate Democrats...not so much. They tend to be "Republican Lite".
In an election between a Republican or Republican Lite, a progressive might conclude "you lose either way".
Joe Biden is, at best, moderate. He likely will suffer the same enthusiasm gap that Hillary did - although, at least she would have been historic. I doubt the same old, same old will work; a positive candidate with a vision is sorely needed.
In my opinion, there's three I'd support enthusiastically. There's another three that could grow on me. The rest is holding my nose while I vote, which in NY will scarcely matter.
2
Joe is too old, full stop.
Relax everyone, it's June of 2019.
At this point in the 2016 campaign, Jeb Bush was the GOP front runner.
The same for Hilary in the 2008 campaign.
In 6 months as the primaries are looming the polls will look a lot different, and as drubbings in the primaries start stacking up, most of these candidates will bow out.
1
Elizabeth Warren is probably the only Democrat with what it takes to beat Trump, as long as she does not deliberately alienate working class, gun-owning, men, in the manner of Hillary.
Bernie would have crushed Trump in 2016, but the Democratic establishment insisted on Hillary, who was simply too tied to our oligarchy. I worry Bernie is not going to be able to win in 2020. That leaves Warren and too many others who appear "too light" to beat Trump.
It is possible that Biden could dodder into a victory over Trump, but I doubt it.
1
We need, desperately, to quite electing people who have a ten-year time horizon. I'm in my 40's and have children and I don't feel like anyone in this world is looking out for them. I'd like to see a president who's a day over 35 take the job!
1
Goldberg and several other columnists have been engaged in a sustained attack against centrist candidates. I also sense a bitterness toward any male candidate, as though the female aspirants are entitled to win this time, and never mind the unholy mess that attitude produced in 2016. My suggestion is that Goldberg actually talk to the blue-collar Midwesterns and rural westerners who voted for Barack Obama twice and then shifted to Trump. She might grasp the importance of "likable" (interesting she uses this term so dismissively) in actually winning (isn't that the goal) elections.
8
@JET III, I totally concur!
I suggest that Goldberg and other journalists try a new idea...let the PEOPLE decide. Since HRC was all but anointed without the benefit of a competitive primary, we see precisely where that got us. We need to exchange ideas, exchange experience (yes, that counts), and, yes, listen to polls and listen to the people.
This Biden bashing on the part of the media is a gift to Trump.
Bottom line, if you find the need to bash Biden, maybe you need to evaluate why just talking up your own candidate isn't enough.
1
@JET III... I don't think this was an 'attack' piece at all. Calling a spade a spade...incidentally,I like Biden, is what it is,even if it doesn't conform to your preconceptions. I thought it was objective journalism.
1
Just please don't bash the Democratic candidates. Please. The media helped elect Trump by 1) giving him more attention than he deserved, 2) giving accusations against Hillary Clinton more attention than they deserved. Counteract that now by NOT giving Democratic candidates bad press when it's not necessary, and 2) not giving Trump the SERIOUS coverage that his antics should rule out.
4
You know what, this whole diatribe against Biden is a perfect example of how the Democratic Party is threatening to implode and fail to unite in a must-win election. You've got an experienced senator, vice president, and, as you admitted, a guy with a heart that shows real empathy to everyday working class Americans. The fact that he doesn't get you excited doesn't mean a thing to me. We need someone who can bring stability back to the executive branch of government and reverse the tremendous damage done by Trump. There are a number of good rising stars in the Democratic Party who will take their place in office at some point, but right now we have an emergency in our country, and it is stomach churning to witness this kind of whimpering exposé that supposedly outlines all of Biden's vulnerabilities, but mainly contains subjective and biased interpretations of his behavior. If you don't like the guy because of a difference in political ideology, just say it and be done with it and forget the slow motion shellacking of his motivation and effectiveness. Get out there and promote the candidate you really like, and let others make their own determination about Biden's leadership.
7
@Bill A.
Biden is many things, but having "heart that shows empathy" is not one of them. His platitudes and friendliness with the press and celebrities mean nothing to the students he damaged with draconian bankruptcy laws. Or to the workers he told that China is not a problem.
Joe Biden shows empathy and heart only to those that make him look good to the public - media, celebrities and his own family.
2
No, we need a candidate who we can rely on not to need an aide with a power winch standing by, you know, to yank his foot out of his mouth.
All right, Ms. Goldberg. I’m starting to get it. You do not like Joe Biden, and you’ll do what you can to see him besmirched, thus paving the way for an unelectable Democrat and another four years of disaster with Trump. But no, you say. An ultra-liberal candidate with allegedly “new” ideas (for “new,” read ideas weighted with more rhetoric than realism) will not merely win activist Democrats’ votes, but will also sway those swing voters who turned states like Michigan and Pennsylvania into Trump states in 2016. Not a chance. Those non-liberal voters are still out there, 62.7 million of them according to the 2016 count, and they’re not impressed by the candidates who impress you. If I have to, I’ll close my ears against the shrill screeches of Elizabeth Warren, admit that she has a good program to run on, and vote for her in 2020. But too many of those 62.7 million conservative-leaning middle-of-the-roaders who voted for Trump won’t. Nor will they vote for any ultra-liberal. They will simply go to the polls and vote Trump again. I’ll grant your point: Joe Biden is not the perfect candidate. Neither was FDR in 1932, or JFK in 1960, or for that matter, Abe Lincoln in 1860. But the fact that you don’t like Biden will count for nothing when we go to the polls in November 2020. What will count are those among the 62.7 million voters who can be convinced to abandon Trump.
7
And I'm one of those independent registered voters who will do exactly that. Good response. Even if I don't like Trump,
1
@Tom Cuddihy
Your misogyny aside, those 62.7 million voters did have a choice between a Biden-like candidate and Trump. They chose Trump anyway.
To have a succeessful middle ground candidate, you need to have a successful middle class voting base. You don't have a successful middle class voting base, let alone one of 62.7 million people.
I see comments demanding a candidate with personality, spark and charisma. We don't need a personality; we've seen where that leads. We need a seasoned, rational leader who combines experience and insight. All this hyperventilating about the need for radical change is leading us down the same path that resulted in Trump beating Hillary Clinton. I hope the New York Times is not going to go on the attack against Biden for all the wrong reasons. This article concerns me because it sounds like that's exactly what the author is doing.
8
All you “Biden needs to go away, he’s uninspiring, too white, too male, too old, etc.” folks: if he ends up being the nominee just imagine what 4 more years of trump will do to this country! Biden could not be as bad, and Hillary wouldn’t have been either.
4
@Mossy Hillary would have been worse. Had she won, then we would REALLY need to worry about Russia collusion.
6
@Mossy
You may be right, but who want to try?
1
The only way Biden loses this nomination if he tries to appease the Democratic party's activist left. He owes them nothing. They despise him. Since he announced they've been actively trying to undermine & sabotage his campaign. Progressives can't stand the fact that Biden doesn't check any of the SJW boxes. He's white, he's old, & he's male. Well, that's too bad. Lets set aside the blatant, racism, sexism, & ageism they're using as a weapon against him. What bothers them, even more, is that Biden is going to suck up all the oxygen in the room forcing Harris, Warren, Booker & other progressive favs to withdraw early. They would rather lose with Cory Booker at the top of the ticket than win with Biden. They would rather reign in a Progressive Hell for the next four years than serve in a moderate heaven. Let's hope they don't get their wish. Progressives are their own worst enemy. They alienate voters with their insistence on ideological purity, their inability to compromise, & their insufferable arrogance. If Democrats nominate a progressive candidate then all is lost. There is no progressive majority in America & never will be. The numbers are simply not there. And there certainly is no progressive Electoral College coalition in America that could get to the needed 270 votes. This is just another situation where political correctness has run amok. Progressives worship at this Altar. Mainstream voters don't. In fact, they detest it. Keep this up & we will lose in 2020.
214
@Bill Brown Good lord, we don't live in a monarchy and Biden is not the next in line of succession. Every one of these candidates has every right to campaign hard, win hearts and change the world if he or she is good enough. Your post literally scares me.
195
The American people need Medicare for all and free community college education education. Why can’t Americans have what citizens of every other first world nation have had for decades? Why can’t we invest in the health and education of citizens, instead of starting more trillion dollar wars for oil?
65
I suspect that Bill has made up his mind for the "we" he speaks for but for anyone else interested in a reasoned argument supported by evidence, please see this: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/opinion/democrats-midterms-progressives.html We will not win if we don't generate enthusiasm on the part of the young and the politically discouraged.
42
Here comes the typical "bash the frontrunner" article from Ms. Goldberg. I do wonder if Ms. Goldberg would be more forgiving if the frontrunner were Sanders or Warren or Harris? As a registered Independent I've watched with great interest as the Democratic party has been tearing at it's own seams as it tries to reconcile the loudest parts of it's tent (AOC/Sanders/Warren socialists) with it's more moderate wing. Like it or not you need to win the middle to win the Presidency (sorry, the left is not enough) and Biden has by far the best chance of doing that. Get on board.
198
@John I do think that winning the middle is critical. And the left that thinks it doesn't matter if they vote if Biden is the nominee better take a really good look at Trump and his team. It's not just enough already. It's too much already.
11
@John
The Democrats can win with Amy Klobuchar. She is a centrist that leans left.
I watch my adult children struggle with affordable health care and student debt.
I have also worked with college students and I think that their most important issue after climate disruption is health care. If I was their age I would want portable health care so I could go where the good jobs are. I would also want both state and federal governments to deal with pollution and climate disruption.
Soon most of the rivers and lakes in Wisconsin will be polluted with agricultural run off.
If portable, universal health care and finding solutions to pollution and climate disruption are socialist ideas, then I am a socialist.
15
@John please remember Sanders is a new deal FDR democrat, which is not a socialist. Warren is an avowed capitalist with regulation. AOC likewise is not a socialist in the traditional sense of the term. Helping your fellow citizens is not socialism, no matter how many times the socialist big business/corporate media say it.
us army 1969-1971/california jd
29
I trust Mr. Trump to be re-elected. However, all you write notwithstanding, Biden is your best hope for making that not happen.
Ignore the ignorant polls, and go one Democratic candidate by one, and imagine each running against Trump. And go state by state.
You will soon see, maybe unfortunately but we are in the reality business, none of the women will be a contender. It's not that a woman can't win, it's that these women can't win. It's not enough to win the six or so large liberal states.
Mayor Pete. This I think is unfortunate, but it is what it is. If you think a gay person can win in 2019, with a first husband in the White House, you have more faith in America's current values than reality would suggest ought to exist. Maybe in 2040.
Bernie? He may win four states. A Jewish person from Brooklyn with an unashamedly Marxist agenda? I wish Americans were more open minded, but no. Too much Marx. Young people are deserting him for younger candidates (those who cannot win even the nomination). Bernie was the “not Hillary” vote. No Hillary - no Bernie.
Booker? No. A coach. A fitness instructor. A mayor at most. Not even a Senator. Sorry. Not Presidential material.
And the rest? Single issue, single digit candidates, or "how about me"? If Trump could do it, I can do it. They forget: Trump had imposed himself on us for 30 years. He was not new. What was new (and exciting) was that he would have the audacity to think that he can actually win.
68
John Xavier III, I respectfully disagree. To say that other candidates are one-issue candidates tells me you haven’t done your homework. Check out two women, Elizabeth Warren and Marianne Williamson, and you’ll see that they have spelled out their many issues and their plans to implement them. There may be others, but I know these two women have. We must have someone who will work for some much-needed changes, not someone who appeals to the leaders of their he Democratic Party. We’ve tried that.
8
@John Xavier III
"I trust Mr. Trump to be re-elected. However, all you write notwithstanding, Biden is your best hope for making that not happen."
Biden is the best hope Democrats have. He should take this op-ed to heart. He needs to focus on and reinforce his strengths. He needs to learn from and work to mitigate his weaknesses.
Michelle Goldberg apparently does not want Biden to be the Democratic nominee. But I see her comments as advice for what Biden needs to be studying. I construe this column as a pep talk, really.
6
Marxist agenda? If investing in the health and education of citizens makes me (and the rest of the first world) Marxist, then call me a Marxist
17
Since Ms. Goldberg admits to ideological dislike of Joe Biden everything she has said is questionable. Whatever Biden is, his is non-ideological. He knows that the abortion issue has good and bad people and ideas on both sides. He knows that wanting to help foreign countries in distress is noble but does not always work in fact. He knows that political and gender correctness may be nice but impossible to enforce or to recommend really. He knows that in our history segregationists were on the "wrong side" of history, if history has a wrong and right side, but also that some segregationists opposed integration for practical reasons and were even supported by some blacks. In other words, a man of his flexibility and practicality is bound in the eyes of ideologues to seem weak. It may be a very desirable weakness in fact. It could work.
4
ah yes. Liberals eating their own. It is going to be a year and a half of liberals playing gotcha with Biden.....who is the only person who can beat Trump.
Then these same liberals will moan and yell about Trump. We saw it happen in the last election with Sanders, where he created absolute hatred toward Clinton among many liberals (we saw it, read it). And now those same people wonder why we have Trump.
Go for it Michelle. Do your own version of piling on. Our grandchildren will be the ones who suffer.
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@Travelers
This would only be "Liberals eating their own" is Biden was actually a Liberal... he's not.
8
Hillary could not inspire enough voters.
3
@mike
That's it Mike! Tell all those life-long liberals that Biden, and they, no longer qualify as being liberals because they don't adhere to the far leftist, "progressive" rules-for-being-a-liberal.
It is what Sanders did, and data showed it was enough to get us Trump. You see, Mike, true liberals are people who learn from experience. Far leftists and progressives, instead, get that warm glow of feeling that they, but nobody else, has access to truth. So they don't learn.
18
I thought the objective of campaigning was to determine who would be the best LEADER, not the best PROMISER / not the best SCRIPT-READER. I'd much rather support someone who occasionally stumbles over a word or phrase.
Who I can't support is someone who blusters through a ridiculous oratory, filled with promises that successfully "gin up" a poorly-informed base, but ultimately come with a ... "Well, I was talking in generalities of course we can't ..." cop-out.
And, our next President needs to be the person who will engender respect from: World Leaders, Friends & Foes; Congress, both sides of the aisle; Business Leaders, across the broadest spectrum; Citizens, and those hoping to one day become them.
Those qualities are what separates Joe Biden, and a few others, from those Candidates who's "big ideas" are driven by a need to pander to groups who, when confronted with the failure of their Candidate to win the Nomination, take their votes and sit on the sidelines like the bullies and sore losers they truly are.
4
Remember Nate Silver practically guaranteeing Clinton's victory? Those were polls that were taken right up to the night of the election. Polls are worthless, particularly at this stage. Normal people in this country aren't paying a lick of attention to an election a year and a half away. Any polling at this point is flawed. We'll all get a look at Biden in the debates upcoming and he'll be gone in short order. His handlers won't be able to keep him under wraps anymore.
3
@Ross
“Remember Nate Silver practically guaranteeing Clinton's victory?“
Actually, no.
I do remember Silver warning that people were over confident. And that there wasn’t enough polling from key Midwest battlegrounds. And that Trump so “just a standard error away” from winning and will if the polls are off by what they were in 2008 & 2016 (spoilers: they were).
I also remember him being pilloried in the press for his warnings.
Maybe you should go back and read the material again.
1
Unless the democratic candidate is willing to slug it out with Trump, he will win again. policy papers are nice, but they don't win elections. Messengers win elections.
We have a vile, corrupt, contemptuous president who is an embarrassment and a disgrace to this country. That needs to be said, over and over and over again. The question is, who is willing to do it.
2
Biden's time has passed. He should get off the stage and become a mentor, and perhaps Chief of Staff, to someone who can truly excite the younger generations of voters, as well as older folks like me. I seriously doubt that Obama sees Biden as the best hope for the future of the Democratic party.
And so the Democratic Circle Firing Squad begins in earnest. This election will be decided not by Republicans, not by Democrats but by Independent voters. Of all the Democratic nominees Biden is the one who will appeal to this decisive voting block.
The fractures in our Democratic Coalition are real. Don't let them ruin our chances to have Democracy return to the Federal Government.
Debate, disagree but we all need to stick together come November 2020.
4
Circular firing squad indeed. Look at the glowing, almost heroic portrait of de Blasio in the prior editorial vs the carefully curated image of Biden here. Just ridiculous. It's about winning my fellow dems not about destroying each other from within.
4
Anyone who has been in "public service" since 1973 needs to go away.
At some point politicians seem to regard the presidency as a birthright: McCain's, Romney, Bob Dole, Al Gore, Jeb Bush, Mario Cuomo... The list goes on.
After a couple of decades or so you're no longer serving the public. At some point you're 're only in it for the gold, the power and your ego.
If we had the term limits we need none of this would be necessary.
That said, Joe Biden will never be the Democratic candidate: The media won't let him.
The media assault on Biden is almost comical at this point. For the liberal press he's too white and not liberal enough. For the conservative press he's too liberal. For both he's too old and he's a bumbling, plagiarising fool.
The media's relentless coverage of Trump in 2016 was like reporting on a horrible car accident. As much as they didn't want to, and despite the I'm With Her ads and endorsements, they had to cover every gory detail on the Trump campaign, day after day after day. That likely got Trump elected.
Whether Biden would be a good president or not makes no difference. The press decides who will win. They messed up in 2016. They won't be making that mistake again.
2
With a career chock full of placating and enabling those in power, Biden is utterly last in leadership.
2
Everybody is arguing for or against somebody. The person to be against is Trump and we still have time to pick an opponent so we should let it play out and then get rid of Trump.
3
If Joe Biden wins the nomination he'll be Hillary 2.0. Change my mind.
1
@paul Tell us what YOU are going to do about the "if"?
I have a sinking feeling that Trump is going to re-elected.
189
Well, then it is definitely time for a third party.
With the chance that Trump might win, if not now, when?
9
@Tuxedo Cat at a time when the introduction of a third party won't make it all but guaranteed he'll win. That's when. Because right now, it will. You'll split the Democratic vote without pulling anything away from the party of Trump. They will back him up all the way - the only way to win is to have the majority of us who know what kind of conman he is stand up and say so.
I come here not to praise the Democratic party right now, but just as it was the case in 2016, if you don't back them in 2020, you're making it that much easier for Trump to win. You may not like it, but that's the reality, and it does not care one whit for your feelings about our current choices.
36
@Zach Yes, a third party has historically syphoned off votes, and often to many, regrettably so. I get you there.
I am talking about a very, very strong candidate.
Crikey, the election is not until November 2020.
We still have 17 months!
No option should be ruled out, to defeat Trump.
11
I don't know how someone can have been around so much and still look so naïve.
There are many in this country who feel Sanders and Warren st al are too extreme and won’t vote for them, including a former Republican like me. They are in the Midwest, the south and mountain states. There are many who see that these people are too angry and agitated and are trying to outdo each other in how they will tax everyone to death. Right now, for me, I don’t want excitement. I just want proven experience in the middle lane. I don’t know how many more are like me. I suspect quite a few.
214
I am like you, but there is not one of the 24 who meets our standards.
7
@Mel. I appreciate your open mind, Mel. A problem I have and which perplexes me and which I think is the real challenge for Democrats, is that the very things Trump supporters love in Trump, ie: anger, his name calling, his authoritarian tendencies, his racism, sexism, anti-Muslim rhetoric, and constructing an Us. V. Them culture, ie: divisive, they rage and rant about in a Democrat. While referring to Hillary Clinton as "hiLIARy, and having a meltdown about Obama's "lie" about keeping your doctor (I, for one, did), calling others liars like it's a disqualified, even saying, for example, "Michael Cohen is a liar, so he has no credibility", fully accept Donald Trump's pathological and chronic lying (up to 23 times a day now). Their drum beat condemning Bill Clinton over his affairs and accusations, even used against Hillary, versus their total silence or complete dismissal of far more credible and multiple accusations against Trump, including having heard him admit it himself. Imagine if Obama had defended Putin over his hacking into US emails in an ongoing attack on our elections and democracy...AND had instead focused his rage on the FBI, ruined careers of men and women who devoted their lives to protect us from such attacks? Or had broken the law over and over again and over actual serious things (versus a meritless civil suit that was thrown out of court) with any a care from the GOP and his base? How does one counter that kind of okay for me but not for thee mentality?
64
@Mel
They/we are on the coasts too!!! (though not many of us, I will admit). The problem is that, by nature/definition, moderates aren't very loud. We need to get louder.
27
Uh, sorry but I'm a little in the dark about why the subheading here has to refer to his color and whether or not he's likable as opposed to competent? Qualifications to be a U.S. president have to go beyond willingness to support abortion or this particular author's concerns. The logic in this article that would justify the alt-right's passion for Trump too.
7
If Joe is so good at wrangling Republicans in Congress to pass legislation, why didn’t he do that when he was vice president?
Joe Biden is certainly a congenial person, but I'm not sure he is really a leader. What he calls civility may, in reality, be a pattern of going along to get along. Thus, there was his handling of the Anita Hill hearing, his votes for an overly punitive crime bill, a bankruptcy bill that benefitted credit card companies at the expense of ordinary people, the Iraq war, etc. There is a disturbing article in the Intercept about Biden's collaboration with Mitch McConnell in 2012 to go around Senate Democrats to enact legislation favorable to Republicans and bad for the country: https://theintercept.com/2019/06/24/joe-biden-tax-cuts-mitch-mconnell/
In the current campaign, Biden discontinued his longstanding support of the Hyde Amendment, because that is what the Democratic Party demanded. That is not leadership. If he really believes the Hyde Amendment is good law, leadership would be sticking to that position and explaining his reasons for doing so.
I suspect that if Joe Biden is the nominee, Trump will steamroller him.
1
With the exception of 2008 and 2012, we Democrats have nominated someone who didn’t inspire passion in 2000, 2004, and 2016. All of them — Gore, Kerry and Clinton — were supposed to be electable and highly qualified. Where did that get us? Two disastrous wars, cuts to major social programs and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Will we learn and correct course in 2020?
1
There is a word to describe Biden's campaign. It is not "out of date" or "outmoded" particularly; it is not 'too conservative" or "insufficiently progressive". No the word that applies is STALE.
216
@Bill H
Not stale. Realistic. Thoughtful. Reflective of the actual electoral landscape. What Biden represents is incremental positive change and stability. Biden can win the center, while Warren and Sanders cannot. Biden can win disillusioned Republicans, while Warren and Sanders cannot. Biden can cut deals with the other side, while Warren and Sanders cannot. This Country needs someone to bring people back together, not whipsaw us from one extreme (Trump) to another (Warren/Sanders).
28
@Bill H, surely Mr. Biden is a nice man with money but he is age 80. Nothing wrong with age 80 and he is aging gracefully but lazy, hazy summer days lounging around a pool or golf course engaged would be my idea of life at his age not solving world and USA problems.
12
@Bill H
I watched the day he announced in Delaware. I've always thought he was OK. I was never excited by the prospect of him being president. I thought that maybe his time is now.
The truth is that I watched him and thought that he didn't look like Uncle Joe. He looked like Grandfather Joe. I'm 63 and have nothing against the elderly but you can tell in his movements and gait that he has very much slowed down. Trump is older, but a very young older and despite cheese burgers and Coke he still has amazing energy. Enough to stay up and watch Fox and Fiends and still be awake for Hannity.
If the Democrats want the excitement and energy this election needs, and if they want the 18 to 30 year old voters to really come out, Biden is not the answer.
There are 22 other choices. Pick one.
24
I'm getting whiplash from all of Michelle Goldberg's opinion pieces about whether or not Joe Biden is electable. It would appear that the verdict is different depending on the day.
4
Trump is a danger to the world, not just the US. I am skeptical that any of the Dems other than Biden can beat Trump in the 2020 election. I am sorry for those who feel for Bernie, Josh or the women. But the fact is that the Trump base will vote for Biden, and the GOP is 80% behind Trump. So you need to get the working class whites to vote Dem. It is as simple as that. Maybe my age (76) is talking, but I really believe this.
3
"He may be a likeable white man ..."?
I think the most ironic moment in history will be when the supposedly progressive, supposedly inclusive, supposedly oh so concerned with equality Democrats end up losing in 2020 because they turned their nose up at the, by far, best candidate they had, a man who is experienced, smart, compassionate, who has enough wisdom not to bow down and grovel when the PC crowds demand it, and who actually understands that to be President means to lead everyone, because they've worked up so much resentment against white males they just can't see past Biden's sex and race.
Biden is exactly what we need this time around. Even if someone like Bernie were to get elected, the last thing I want is four more years of people screaming at each other and growing even further apart. We need a break. We need to wake up from the ugliness of the "us vs. them" era and start to remember that what we have in common is so much more than what divides us. And for that to happen, we need a President who actually believes that.
4
Mr. Biden makes speeches telling his Union audiences how much he will change things. Then he meets privately with his billionaire backers and tells them that, when he is elected, nothing will change. To betray the workers in this manner is the function that the Democratic Party plays in our system. The only point of interest thus becomes, Which particular candidate gets to carry out this agenda, or Who's ahead in the horse race this week? But the eventual Democratic nominee, whatever their age, color or sexual orientation turns out to be, will faithfully serve the capitalist ends. Unless of course there is a catastrophic disaster, i.e., the workers vote for a Socialist candidate . . . .
2
Is he Trump? No?
Then he's electable.
Sincerely, a Warren Supporter.
3
It's well past time for Biden to retire from political life and spend time with his family.
One word seems to sum up Biden at this point: "Yawn".
So this is what passes for analysis as to who should be our next President? Sure, Biden can chat with people for hours after an event (resulting, no doubt, in most of them supporting him). But don't you know, "Kamala Harris came down an escalator accompanied by a cheering throng and a high school drum line." Not to be out-done, Corey Booker had "boisterous backers" and Beto O'Rourke had "raucous fans."
And Biden supporters? "[D]espite a few earnest woo-hoos, they weren’t nearly as loud as the others."
I missed the part where Biden's decades as U.S. Senator and 8 years as Vice President were compared to the relative inexperience of his Democratic rivals (Sanders and Warren excepted).
Have I tuned in to Fox News by mistake?
3
I don't understand why Biden is ahead in polls. I thought Trump's base was a brick short of a load, but it appears so are democrats. I am frightened.
Biden is not my candidate, but this is a pretty disappointing and unconvincing hatchet job. I expected better from Goldberg. A few points:
1. Personal warmth without the ability to move crowds can be enough. It was the profile of the elder Mr. Bush, who was also known for his rambling discursive speech patterns. Pundits at the time also said it would sink him and he couldn’t win election. Their complete ignorance of how politics work was unmasked in the end (and then, as usual, covered for by dumping on the defeated candidate). It also fairly describes Ms. Clinton (whose loss had nothing to do with crowds or enthusiasm).
2. Cherry picking a tongue-tied moment of an older candidate to suggest they “can’t remember” is just nasty bigotry. Most candidates often sound inarticulate in verbatim extemporaneous quotes (the press routinely cleans them up). I have more than once heard similar verbal stumbling about from Booker and Harris; but if I choose to quote them verbatim, with every hedge and stammer, and imply (unfairly) that Booker or Harris were intellectually not up to snuff or challenged by standard English, I would rightly be condemned for trading in racist stereotypes and blowing dog whistles.
3. Journalists like Goldberg who oppose Biden on policy (or, apparently, “ideological”) grounds would do better to drop the ageism and try to understand his appeal. It is more than “electability” and name recognition.
5
It's worth noting that 70% of Democratic voters do NOT support Biden. We may be stumbling towards a 2016 Republican primary situation where the large field leaves Biden as the nominee despite a minority of support within the party.
Certainly some other voters may default to him in a one-on-one race, but that doesn't seem likely for the Warren/Sanders crowd.
Hopefully, the field clears out quickly enough to give us a better look at the serious contenders.
Trump will get away with tagging Biden with the too-old, too-cranky, too-forgetful, and doesn't-hear-that-well label, and will play it masterfully at the cult rallies. You can run a little video clip imagining it in your head.
This should terrify every Democratic primary voter, because in the general election campaign, when it's too late, it will be too late.
Ms Goldberg who else would you recommend we vote for next year? Whinney, teary eyed, sensitive Corey Booker? Trump would chew him up. The Democrats will probably blow this whole thing with guys like Booker. I'm afraid Trump will be re-elected for four more years of stripping America of Democracy and the Constitutional oversight of presidential power.
1
Let's lose this election! Keep it up Michelle. None of the others are electable as they don't speak to ordinary sensible people.
2
I hate to say this but do you really think that those undecided Republican swing voters who chose Trump last time would vote for a woman or a LGBTQ over Donald Trump? I think what liberal PC Democrats are overlooking is that those voters have no problem with Joe’s performance or his ability to manage the reins of government once in office.
1
As an older white male, I have to say that considering Joe Biden as our president is a form of regression. Let us not look backward, but instead look forward. Let us find a good, intelligent, candidate that is under the age of sixty, please. A candidate for a president, that will be a president for the future of our country, not its past.
To me it is so simple. Joe, you have completed your service for us and we thank you. Your time is past. Step aside and let the new ones lead. Pass the torch.
Why do feminists and progressive need to tear down white men? I am not white, but the obsession about gender and someone not wholeheartedly vocal about the radical liberal issues will assure Trump's victory. The pundits in the liberal media and people with the social-media horn are bent on doing irreparable harm to our country. They are Trump's unwitting allies.
2
I suspect the DNC, as well as the big money king-makers, will push Biden all the way for the nomination, as they did Hilary, as a moderate Democrat who will "make deals" with the deal-aversive GOP, and he's also pro-corporation. This is a horrible mistake. We need a vibrant, honest, savvy candidate with an appealing vision of where the country should be headed. Biden doesn't cut it. But this is the Dem way again and again-- calculate erroneously, watch the polls constantly, play it safe always. A tried-and-true formula for failure.
I feel sorry for Joe Biden for the tragedies in his personal life.
However, I think that Joe Biden should drop out as he personifies political anachronism as manifested by these examples: his inept and callous handling of the Anita Hill hearing, his hesitation as a DE senator for the school bus program and desegregation, his long term support for the Hyde Amendment, his propensity to touch women without their permission under the ostensible guise of conviviality, his close ties to the segregationist former senators and last but not the least, his habit of making cringe-worthy comments like how once described Obama: “very mainstream guy for an African-American”. He was also accused of plagiarism. On top of that, Biden ran very underwhelming presidential campaigns in the past.
I know everybody is very schmaltzy about Biden like: Uncle Joe, Joe will be Joe, Joe is just a product of his times yada yada yada. Sorry these are all excuses or empty platitudes for a guy whose presidential electability ship has sailed long time ago. Biden just doesn’t have it - let’s accept it.
I know everything is relative and compared to Trump’s bloviating buffoonery and divisive demagoguery, Biden comes as a “Knight in Shining Armor” but in reality, Biden is not that Knight or anything close to that. It’s just our DESPERATION to get rid of the “Shock Jock” provocateur in the White House who is masquerading as the President.
Let’s Cross the Rubicon - elect a woman president. Fingers Crossed!
Nice isn’t good enough for the future. Biden’s done his best in the past and he should quit while he’s still ahead, for his own sense of dignity as well as give his party the greatest chance of defeating the disgraceful despot who’s been destroying our democracy for the last three years.
Vote.
Let's be honest, Michelle. Nobody is truly electable any more, their fissures and failures being what they are these days.
It really comes down to finding someone perfect to cast the first stone. The one who was perfect wasn't stoned.
Look up the definition of eligibility for being elected. You won't find "likable" nor "inspirer of confidence." What should be part of eligibility is "committed to serving others for two terms tops."
Take two-termer Obama, for example. He was likable and confident and could read a teleprompter like nobody's business, never mind his results. Two terms at anything political is enough.
Think of volunteering to serve one's country as similar to volunteering for the draft during a terrible world war. We are no longer made of such sterner stuff among our political volunteers. Many of them become electable, but few are worthy of such demanding service to their countrymen and women.
1
Absolutely amazing. When he was Obama's VP we were told daily by the mainstream media that Joe was ready...no one in the country was better suited or more ready to become president. Now, because he isn't radical enough he is a flawed candidate. And people wonder why no one pays attention to the media in this country anymore.
1
The same people who told us Clinton would win in a walk are now again putting their two cents in the mix. Why not we all try something novel. How about letting the voters decide who Looks Best? I would rather look at Biden in The White House than Trump.
Since no one has polled me, I can't help but believe there are millions out there who are NOT supporters of a too-old white man who reverses his stance on just about everything, and is as milquetoast as they come.
Biden stays out of the spotlight precisely because he can't manage it.
I like Warren, Harris and Booker.
Very unsafe. I don’t see the autoworkers in Mi, PA,OH, etc., who first voted for Obama/Biden, and then flipped for Trump, now flip-flopping back to Biden. They have clearly established themselves as wanting a new person—someone different. If they had wanted continuity they would have supported Hillary. If it’s between Biden and Trump, that could mean in MI, for example, only 10,000 need to stay home on Nov. 8. That plus better turnout of the energized Trump-haters could still result in a narrow- margin win for Biden. Maybe.
I continue to maintain that ANY Democratic candidate will beat Trump in these states. Biden, furthermore, to get the nomination, will do so only by outlasting and surviving a competitive primary process that will shrink the number of his competitors as a result of their own gaffes , or their abject failure
to rise above 0. It will also be a Biden gaffe-fest that will hurt him in the general (remember the « deplorables? I can’t wait to hear Joe’s version) .
His winning the nomination will be an uninspiring act of sheer survivability. Something like John Kerry’s candidacy’s was. But the hatred of W was just not enough to put Kerry over the top.
Just who will emerge —or implode —among the Democrats is as unpredictable as whether Mayor Pete’s response to recent police shootings in South Bend can go viral one way or another.
I rate all Democrats chances as equal right now—especially Biden’s.
With a field of 20 plus candidates and none but the political hobbyists paying close attention at this point in the campaign, let's trust the system to do its work and stop worrying about electability.....keep an open mind folks, it's our patriotic duty to nominate the person we feel best qualified to lead the nation in troubled times....and we're a long, long way from having that answer......
The differences between Biden and Trump add up to a mountain. The differences between Biden and the Democrats MIchelle favors "ideologically" add up to a molehill. So of course let's concentrate on the molehill.
2
Joe Biden should never, never never have entered the race. His presence is a stain on the Democratic Party that needs bold, progressive policies that will undo the harm caused by the current administration...We do not need 1959 Retro Joe who still lives somewhere in our past...
I tired of the obsession with winning over a few ignorant, Joe-the-plumber, white male voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania. If the Dems want to win this election they need to fire up their progressive base and get young voters out to the polls. The future belongs to them.
1
Could it be that Biden is just the Democratic Party's "warm-up horse", to be replaced later on by a real candidate?
Wow. This Ivory Tower litmus test nonsense is getting old quickly. He wasn't waxing nostalgic about the segregationists. His so-called "gaffes" are for more intelligent, honest, and coherent than trumps babbling.
Can the Dems once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
3
Agree with you totally Michelle, and appreciate your TV commentaries.
Joe needs to retire, go home to Jill and their grandkids. The last thing Democrats need next year, facing the evil threat of another Trump term, is 2 seventy-somethings duking it out. People will stay home in droves!!!
I predict Joe’s final campaign will succumb to the energy, diversity, and fresh ideas of his opponents for the nomination.
November before last I voted for the DNC's chosen candidate even though she was my second choice. If they nominate another person because it's his turn, I may just sit 2020 out.
I am an old (64) liberal white man in Ohio.
I will not vote Joe Biden if he wins the nomination.
He is just more of the same old big bank, big business, Wall Street arm of the Democratic Party.
We do not need Republican-lite.
We need a real democrat who will take on the ruling elites.
Joe should go back home to Delaware and commune with his credit card company buddies.
1
It seems to me that Donald Trump decided he wanted Joe Biden and everyone fell in line behind this. I want a president from the generation who will be trying to clean up the mess that this one has created...
1
Now that the beginners shouting, ''Socialism!'' look to be in real trouble, the call has gone out to the progressive media that it is time to take Joe Biden out of this race.
The patriotic, realistic Dems who would have voted for Biden are mostly gone over to the GOP anyway, I suppose. Obama & Congress took care of that.
1
Ruth Bader Ginsberg is nearly a decade older than Biden. She is still sharp as a tack, but she doesn't look or speak young. She looks frail. By your logic Ms. Goldberg associating looks with competence , why aren't you writing a column about how it's long past time for her to resign?
Why is it okay to discriminate against someone based on their age? Obama thought Biden more than competent all through his Presidency. Do you think Obama has poor judgement?
I'm not a Biden supporter, by the way.
3
@The Poet McTeagle
There were in fact some (Erwin Chemerinsky being perhaps the most prominent) who back in 2013 and 2014 publicly urged Justice Ginsburg to call it a career so that President Obama could nominate her successor while the Democrats still had a majority in the Senate. There are many more who have since rued the fact that she chose not to back then. If she passes away, or reaches a point where she has no chooice, a la Marshall in 1991, but to step down before the Democrats retake both the White House and the Senate, then the recriminations over her refusal to retire in 2013 or 2014 will be quite bitter and acrimonious.
Ugh I know you are right. What is an anyone but Trump gal to do.
Biden is only candidate who can stand up to Mitch McConnell and the anarchists in the Freedom caucus. He is also the only candidate that has the stature and acumen to negotiate with Putin, North Korea and Xi. Even Obama fell short on those measures.
2
I like Bill Maher’s choice best: Oprah!
1
The reason we have the extremely infant and mother mortality in this country is due to the organization of our healthcare system, not due to abortion rights! Get the facts Joe!
@Ed - So you come from the Donald Trump school of how to play well with others, I guess?
Your post says EVERYTHING about what is wrong with this country, and makes the case in remarkably few words exactly why we so desperately need someone like Biden to lead right now.
1
Wait for DNC to bring us the next round of Trump presidency by shoving Biden's nomination down our collective throats, similar to what they did with HRC. The establishment wing of the democratic party will never learn, so we are stuck with them until this generation dies out.
1
Don't think you need to see him in person--on TV he looks confused, weak and old
Sorry.
Michelle, stop it. There is only one target in 2020: Trump. If you keep on nit-picking Biden, you will re-elect Trump.
4
Biden: the hair plugs and face lifts certainly don't make him more appealing as a candidate, quite the contrary. They become the metaphor for exterior with little interior.
Here we go again with the bashing of one candidate after the other.
Just Stop.
2
Yes... poor Joe. He’s a dull candidate. Not sure he can stand up to a blustery liar like Trump in the campaign. Dems need to look to Warren or even Beto for some brains and charisma.
Likeable, but probably overrated, elder or rather elderly statesman past his due date. Is he the best Dems can field?
Those brainwashed by a commercial culture that sells youth as the human ideal should pause and ponder what young people have brought us in the past decade: Google, Facebook, social media mob rule, a decline in literacy, the commodification of empathy, the elevation of trivia, and a mass surrogate alienation of video game culture and virtual reality.
Young folks move fast and break things. Trump does that too.
Biden can't rap to save his life? Rap is for most Americans all affect and rawness, which gives it insider cachet that mass marketers love.
Biden, Warren and Sanders aren't rap artists. Biden and Sanders talk like the people who elected them, neither are Ivy League nor the Main Line. Sanders lilts with anger and outrage and both he and Biden speak from authentic lives rooted in genuine communities. Warren is more Oklahoma and teacher than Harvard.
Reagan -- as despicable as he was popular -- was never coherent or clear when he didn't speak from a script. He was folksy and avuncular. Bush I and Bush II made Saturday Night Live comic Dana Carvey a fortune by their torture of English.
Biden doesn't hold a candle to Obama, our most literate and articulate president who couldn't push ACA over the finish line without Biden and Pelosi. But Biden doesn't make folks feel small like Barry Obama.
Goldberg needs to get out more if she thinks Biden mumbles like an old guy instead of those folks in 4 or 5 states who will elect the next president.
6
Democrats strategy to win the 2020 presidential election:
1) Find the candidate who is leading in the popularity poll
2) Find every possible negative criticism of this candidate.
3) Pile it on.
Should work like a charm...
2
Are we talking about the same Biden who served as HRC’s ambassador to the rust states? He campaigned for her as well as Michele, Obama, Sanders, and Bill...need I say it any more clearly, RETIRE already!
It seems like Biden wants to build a bridge to the 20th century.
Ms. Goldberg dislikes Biden for "ideological reasons" as is her right. Those reasons include a rejection of the past.
But I have to ask her,
You don't like Joe Biden B/C he wants to "go back"?
Take a look at today's White House.
Do you dislike what you see?
So does Biden. He's the antithesis of that, so, of course, he wants to "go back"!
And, BTW, none of Ms. Goldberg's examples support her "low energy" claim; the guy stayed up all night doing retail politics.
Gotta love that "reliable voting base", too.
Joe might not be my first choice but if he is chosen by Democratic voters I am all in for him and his election, and that goes for any of the other nominee. We can't afford any carping Sarandonistas from inside the party or those associated with other candidates. A President represents more than one individual - he or she represents those that they will appoint and advise. As we have bitterly seen those choices have serious consequences, Trump trolls both foreign and domestic will flood social media about how the nominee is either too left or not left enough. The stakes are too high for any of us to be useful idiots in the service of Trump and those who support him.
1
Michelle, was it not you that suggested de Blasio was a good mayor?
Whether I agree with you (which I do) or not, why anyone should listen to what you say is "mind blowing".
Joe Biden comes across like a Rick Perry.
There is an analogy with former Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry of Texas—
Both are well liked and warmly interact with voters, BUT...
Biden's political positions, like the family history in the speech he purloined from Neil Kinnock in the 1980's, are mostly borrowed. Such a person cannot be a leader, only a follower. If he gets elected, the US will crawl forward into the 21st century. Oh wait! What century is this?
Electable? Compared to whom? Trump?
So the author slips in Biden is not her candidate around the middle of the article, critical and negative from the first to last words.
Democrats, better to write positive comments about who you support - the Trump team finds this genre of Democratic negative opinion delicious.
How about a Biden-Warren ticket, with Warren for president in 2024, and re-election in 2028?
Joe Biden is "Make America Great Again," barely left-of-center version.
What are Biden’s big personal accomplishments? What major legislation did he push through? He’s been a Senator for years. What does he have to show for it?
@Ilya Shlyakhter
Quick internet search says primary sponsor of 42 enacted laws. Mostly on crime and foreign policy (his committees). One he cites most: the Violence Against Women Act. Also widely credited with scuttling Reagan’s Star Wars proposal and stymieing right wing attempts to undermine arms control treaties.
1
If Biden becomes the Democrat candidate, I have no hope for this country. Trump will crew him up and spit him out, and voters will again stay home on election day
"Awww, c'mon folks. Give meee a breeeaak. I was, was, I was coming here going, going over all of my friends and some new faces, too."
Agree with this article. He’s looked doddery to me.
Agree completely w/Sheila Hooker's comment below. Biden is a nice man, but not at all what we need after 4 years of destruction after Trump. Because of Trump's damage, we can't afford modest, incremental change -- especially on issue of global warming -- tic tock.
We also need a strong populist to level the playing field for ordinary working people & stop the economic gouging from the rich. America needs Elizabeth Warren.
1
There are several factors that are consistently present in winning presidential candidates:
1. A "fire in the belly" and passion to be president. I think Biden is running because friends urged him. He looks like he'd rather be home with his family. Like him or not, Trump is full of fire and passion.
2. The ability to excite and motivate your supporters to donate and work hard for you. Passion and enthusiasm are contagious. Obama and JFK had this in spades. Biden is totally lacking.
3. The ability to identify and exploit issues that get voters firered up committed to your election. Trump is the absolute master of this. What has Biden got?
181
@Phil
Another factor that contributes to getting elected president is that the candidate is, relatively speaking, a "fresh face."
Can't say that for Biden.
7
@Phil. You just described Bernie and Liz.
8
@Phil
-Where is the issue of 1,000,000 teenage women
being forced each year, by the Republican Party, to have unwanted babies?
-Where is the issue of 2,000,000 people living in
homeless shelters or on the streets in the U.S.?
-Where is the issue of unaffordable housing, nationwide?
-Where is the issue of the Republican Party offering mental lightweights as candidates?
10
Joe Biden doesn't look electable on TV, or any other way either. If Biden becomes the Democratic nominee, I believe that he will hand us Trump the same way Hillary Clinton did.
Joe is a great guy and very likable, but he is just flat too old to become President. Fair or not, that window has closed.
I'll be 76 in a few months, making me a year younger than he. Thank goodness I'm still reasonably lucid but there's no question the sharpness is receding. At this age one feels it every day. Like it or not, it happens to everyone and it can't be avoided.
It's bad enough at 76, but it will certainly be worse at 82, which would be Biden's age at the end of his term if elected. We went through this with Reagan, who was clearly in the early stages of dementia toward the end when he was merely 77. That should have given us pause. Modern medicine helps us live longer, but it hasn't found the key to insuring we can process complex information longer, as the President must do.
In short, electing old men is dangerous. Just say no.
4
@John Binkley, The reality is that if he wins the primary, if more people vote for him, then he's not too old. The reality is that if he wins the primary, then he IS electable. The reality is that if he can beat Trump and he wins the primary, I'll vote for him...gladly. If Warren wins the primary, I'll vote for her...gladly. If Harris wins the primary, I'll vote for her...gladly.
I'm so tired of the press trying to convince the public that Joe is not it...when the polls say, at least for now, that he is.
I'm so tired of Democrats and Independents jumping on that bandwagon because they like someone else better. You like Warren? Fantastic.. talk her up...but don't denigrate one of the candidates who could end up being THE Candidate.
Badmouthing Joe, doing ageism on him is no different than doing sexism on Elizabeth, or racism on Kamala, genderpreference-ism on Pete.
You're just helping Trump.
I think I've seen this movie before.
The DNC, heavily weighted toward the controlling big-donor obedient establishment portion of the party, rigs the game for one of its own. The message: it's his/her time.
Candidates with bold ideas are forced to the margins - no matter how badly needed and base-energizing those ideas may be.
Result: The candidate anointed by $10,000-a-plate elites wins the nomination and the portion of the base that wanted a fighter and donated to a fighter and worked tirelessly for a fighter is branded wild-eyed and radical and told to shut the heck up.
Feeling abandoned, used and betrayed by a party which fills our inboxes to capacity with pleas for money, the base fractures and loses energy.
If Biden is nominated, I will put pencil to ballot for him with one hand and hold my nose with the other. (For example: I'm a senior and I know that he has tried three times to over the past 12 years to cut Social Security and Medicare.)
Having already lost its soul, the Dem party is very much at risk of losing its toughest fighters because of gaping knife wounds to their backs.
4
Energy, enthusiasm, intelligence, honesty, being in touch with matters of importance to the American public, these and more all are necessary requirements for our next president. Biden has some but certainly not all of these requirements. In this most critical election we need the candidate that will inspire confidence to all Americans. Its time for major change and Biden is not the one to bring it about. His strength at one time would have been the ability to work with both the Dems and Repubs, I'm afraid those days are long gone.
3
Michelle Goldberg seems to be suffering from the fatal disease of bashing the front runner. Why do media pundits do this? In 2016 they gave vast free publicity to Trump, considered then to be a humorous anomaly among the candidates, contributing to his election. Meanwhile, the front runner gets bashed. There is a reason why a candidate is a front runner - voters support him/her. So why does the media bash him/her? To support a lesser candidate? To put forth a candidate with less chance of winning? To spark up a better, longer lasting story? The current field of Democratic candidates is doing a better job of resisting the impulse to bash their opponents for the nomination than the media is. Because, perhaps, the Democratic candidates, unlike the media, realize the most important matter at hand is defeating Donald Trump, not scoring petty points.
5
Come on, Democratic Party leadership, just let the primary play out and don't put your thumb on the scale this time. Everyone should realize by now that every vote in every state counts, but it should also be kept in mind that if Democrats and those who lean Democratic are given any reason not to vote, they won't. Don't give them the "rigged primary" reason again.
The bigger point, however, is that twice this century so far, a major party picked its presidential nominee solely on the basis of perceived electability. How did that go?
1. The Democrats nominated John Kerry in 2004, and he became the only Democratic nominee in the last 30 years to lose the national popular vote (and by a pretty large margin too, by more than 3 million votes and 2.4 points nationwide). Democrats should actually be glad that Kerry lost that year, because the ensuing Great Recession would have buried the Democratic Party at the federal level for a long time, but that topic's for another day.
2. The Republicans nominated Mitt Romney in 2012, and even though the economy was still struggling at the time, he nonetheless lost to President Obama by nearly 5 million votes and 4 points nationwide.
Both men ultimately failed to sufficiently motivate their party's base, in addition to lacking the necessary cross-over appeal. "Electability" can mean failing to truly inspire anyone. The Democrats should avoid making that mistake here.
3
Biden is “normal”. A number of the people I know are comfortable with him because of that and have said that they do not want a left winger. They just want stability right now. How much will depend on his running mate. That will probably be the setup for 2024.
7
So who is “left wing”? Anybody left of the guy in WH is a left winger in my mind. Unlike the guy in WH, any of the other candidates are normal and both physically and mentally healthier than Biden. We cannot take a chance w Biden. He will lose to Trump
If Biden heads the Democratic ticket in 2020, I won't vote for him for a whole bunch of reasons not even mentioned by Ms. Goldberg (although they're worse, by the way). I'll vote for the Green Party.
Voters would be well-advised to steer clear of Biden, not least because Biden is an open invitation to four more years of Donald Trump.
2
@dbsweden "Voters would be well-advised to steer clear of Biden, not least because Biden is an open invitation to four more years of Donald Trump."
Ya, mainly because people will vote for the Green Party. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
If you don't want Trump, vote for the Democratic candidate, whoever they might be.
1
Doubt a Biden vote is 4 more years of Trump, but your Green Party vote sure is.
2
Do you WANT four more years of Trump?
I heard him speak at the recent Planned Parenthood Presidential Forum and frankly he was incoherent. He could not finish a concise thought and was rambling in run-on sentences. It was painful to hear and actually made me sad. I know many believe he is the most 'electable" candidate but after this performance I'm very skeptical. We need an energized, galvanizing candidate with a sharp mind.
10
I Think Joe Biden is too old to run for president. As I have watched him in interviews, he seems old, worn out, and a bit out of touch with todays world. I am aging as well, and have noticed I am not as sharp as I once was, and that is part of the aging process. I think America needs a young vibrant forward thinking candidate, which Biden is not. I have alway liked and supported Biden in the past, but we need a change for America's future.
9
I predict that if anyone other than Biden is put up by the Democratic Party to challenge the President in 2020, we will have four more years of Trump. But then based on my 2016 prediction, I am batting .000 pct.
3
What I sometimes think about when I consider Biden, is his actual understanding of "how things work" - - if someone wrestles the title from Trump, they are going to have a LOT of building to do, as Trump is not really, ironically, a builder: he is better at deconstruction.
Biden seems to be learning about how his presentation is a problem. It was a huge problem for Clinton.
I think MAGA needs to become, Make America Great: Admit...
Joe Biden is like a warm blanket on a cold night. But, eventually, we will need more. At this time we need a progressive in the White House. Someone like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.
I am so conflicted. I really like Joe Biden. He is a champion of the working class, and he has a lifetime of public service and incredible knowledge about our government and the senate in particular. On the one hand, I am confident he can win some votes back in the rust belt. On the other, he doesn't generate the enthusiasm we need among young people and minorities to win this. We must win this election, or we may never have another chance to save the republic. I think we need a woman and a person of color on the ticket. I am a middle age white man, and I am not impressed at how we have managed this country. It is time for a change.
3
@Todd
But can they win Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin? I'm not so sure. We also need independents, and I'm not sure they'll go for a woman. If Biden is the nominee, but the young people are not inspired enough after four years of Trump, then they will deserve a Trump sequel.
Buttigieg, Warren, Harris and Sanders ( the only ones who now look like they have a chance) all seem to have major problems compared to Biden. Warren seems in a dream world giving everyone everything and speaking about things like the banking system that no one cares about.. Harris is boring. Sanders is not even a Democrat. Buttigieg is just a mayor of a small town. Biden might not look like the best candidate but because of his competition he might win the nomination.
1
@randall
And may be the general. He has a better chance of getting independents and moderate voters in the Midwest again, in the states we lost. The others are too left.
Another Biden bashing editorial. The focus of this election should be to get moderate and white men to vote for dems again. An ideological candidate or a candidate breaking barriers would be great, but in 2020 we have too much to lose. If there was a decent republican running, we dems could risk more, but not at a time like this. We need to unite all sides and chose a candidate who is most likely to get those votes back!
9
A lot of Biden's success or failure will be determined by his running mate. The more I watch the Candidate imbroglio, the more I hope for a prompt thinning of the numbers. Our upcoming public airings will be very important and I hope America realizes it.
Biden may be easy to pick apart, but he is still a viable candidate. While he may spent too much time on the past, the future is beyond important and I think everyone, including Biden realizes that.
5
The writer typed her hand early when she said that she didn't want Biden as the nominee for ideological reasons. Would she then prefer Warren who has "plans," a great many of them have no chance in this world of getting enacted into legislation, and couldn't hold up against Trump's attacks on claiming to be of American Indian ancestry earlier in the year. By the time Trump gets through ripping her as a crazy socialist she won't have the 1 point lead in the polls she does now. Trump won't expand his base but he will try to drive down any opponents favorable number. Trump has less chance to do that with Biden than the other candidates.
4
A lot of South Carolina's maternal deaths were related to drugs and alcohol. A big
contributor in all states are illegal abortions. State by state, while everyone was obsessed with Roe v. Wade, the access to safe abortions has significantly declined. That's going to continue as the number of clinics to disappear. The court may overturn oppressive state laws but that takes time and clinics close. Abortions return to back rooms and basements. That's not necessarily the case for all women. Those with money will travel to locals where access is still available either here or out of the country. Others with money will go to a hospital with the diagnosis of incomplete miscarriage or missed miscarriage. While we are on the track, there are states where if the woman decides to keep the pregnancy, convicted rapists are not prevented from going to court and obtaining visitation rights. That means the woman may have to face years of repeated court appearances and legal cost to fight access. We have a law in Virginia to prevent that, but at least seven states don't. Joe's stands on issues is based on votes. He was for the Hyde amendment for decades before about a week ago and his announced quest for the nomination when he proclaimed, he is against it. It sounds like another Democratic nominee talking about Afghanistan. He will be shredded by the other candidates and then face Trump who prays all along for Joe.
@Ron
Please check both the CIA and NPR websites for info on maternal deaths. We are the highest in the developed world.
2016 was about voting according to 4 options:
1. Vote for Clinton
2. Vote for Trump
3. Vote for anyone other than Clinton
4. Vote for anyone but Trump
I don’t know about anyone else but I’m sick and tired of voting options 3 and 4.
Keep in mind Trump is the best Republicans have to offer. All in favor, say aye.
Biden is the best the Democrats can muster to oppose him? He’s the front runner because........
Really? Anyone in the Democrat leadership who thinks Biden will be enthusiastically supported by Democrats and move Republicans off their incumbent President needs to explain how that will occur.
Electability? Experience? Nice guy? Thanks but no thanks. I will not vote for Trump. I voted for Clinton, not because I was a supporter but because at least she was qualified. That’s no way to vote and no way to run a country.
The two party system is failing us. Voters have no ability to say no thank you, try again. Hopefully the debates will allow a candidate to emerge that voters can find inspiring, sensible and not leaning so far to the left they become unelectable. There’s a long distance from far right to far right. An electable Democrat must appeal to the majority (Electoral College people) or 4 more years of Trump is inevitable.
3
I don't hear pundits obsessing with the term "electable." Pundits and commentators are referencing early polling that puts Biden firmly in the lead among 23 or so presidential candidates for the Democratic nomination. If the word "electable" comes up in that context, it's more than understandable and need not refer to maleness or whiteness.
Still, I myself am questioning whether Joe's time has come and gone. Indeed, his apparent confusion and muddled speech in recent public appearances also generates concern; he won't grow younger in the job.
Warren is an excellent candidate, and her dogged insistence on real policy positions makes her the most grounded candidate for president (her motto might be: "Hey, I'm serious about this!") Mayor Pete is proving himself (or not) in an unintended real time crisis over in South Bend; could make or break. Inslee is my dark horse pick. Let's hear him in the debates.
As I survey the remainder, I find myself tired of Bernie, cooling to Amy and Kamala, not buying Beto, disappointed in Corey, and indifferent to the rest.
I'm a voter carefully exploring an excellent slate of candidates. It's important business.
2
@Victor
Inslee is my dark horse pick as well. Let's hope he gains traction ! Most voters have never heard of him. Yet.
Joe Biden is an assistant coach, not a head coach. There’s a good reason he’s never even been nominated for President.
And now, that he’s 76 years old, and we need someone with incredible energy and a modern viewpoint to combat the evil of Trump and the existential threat of combat change? No.
2
I guess that is why the latest poll Biden 38%. Sanders 19%, Warren 16% and don't forget Cory Booker skyrocketed to 4% proves your point. In another poll, Biden moved up to 43% from 40%. There are two qualifications the Democratic nominee must have 1. a positive favorability rating in the general population, which Clinton never had but Biden does. 2. electability as in a head to head matchup, Biden 43%-Trump 40%. Us common folk can tolerate a little "corniness" to get practicality and honesty.
5
Sorry, but it really doesn't matter which Democrat runs.
With more than 40% of the country comfortable with thousands of demonstrable Presidential falsehoods, with Fox News actively actively working to reinforce those lies, and with hundreds of millions of dollars in dark money available for campaign propaganda, a second Trump term is inevitable.
2
I saw a Joe speech last year in NJ. He seemed old and confused. I do not consider myself an ageist, but I do not think that a 70 something year old should be taking on what might be the most demanding job on earth.
We need a candidate with vigor and energy.
6
There are strong arguments against electing someone who is already in their 70s (Biden, Trump, Sanders). The presidency is an exhausting job and we need someone who is sharp, ready to take that 3:00AM phone call. The record with old Presidents in the past is a good example. And mental deterioration is all too common at that age. I don't think it needs to be legislated, but as a primary voter I will automatically not vote for anyone over 70.
2
@Guy Moore I know a lot of vibrant, clear-thinking people older than 70. Don't generalize or resort to stereotypes; rather judge each person as an individual.
1
@MJ
I know a LOT of brilliant marathon runners older than 99. I would gladly vote for any of these powerful individuals to be president or to babysit my young child or to paint my house. It's ageist to even mention or notice a person's age.
2
Joe Biden has no appeal and we have seen how appeal gets people elected. Another old white male running for president, and this one who is not electable; Joe Biden needs to get out of the race for the preservation of democracy. Otherwise Mr Biden will hand this election over to Trump.
3
This column fed directly to my concerns about Biden. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but to me he lacks the "juice" that the electorate is looking for.
Because of his military experience and youth, I see Mayor Pete as a great VP candidate who can be groomed for the top job. That opens the door for Elizabeth or Kamala to capture the top spot.
We'll see. It's gonna be fun.
3
I don't like the idea of considering age in the picture. I think that septuagenarians can certainly be good presidentz. But, I'm struck by the appearance of Biden looking frail to me.
I don't want Biden as president on political grounds, but don't take that to mean I wouldn't vote for him if he's the nominee. I just don't think that, individually, he has the stamina (on top of his approach to bipartisanship, which is misguided, or any of his positions on the issues).
Also, I think Trump will eat him in the general debates as Trump will finesse the art of optics while Biden is trying to actually address the issues. It doesn't matter if Biden is on the right side of the issues. Trump's bullying cruelty is his trump card. We need a nominee is dynamic on the personal level and who unites moderates, liberals, progressives and independents on the issues.
4
You are right. This is reminiscent of 2016, when another lackluster led the Dem field. And she coasted thinking a landslide over Trump is all but inevitable. Much like Dems are thinking now. I don't think the Dem establishment has learned a thing since then.
8
@TommyTuna
I wonder if the voters learned anything from 2016.
Complaining about every candidate not being good enough is the sure way to lose.
2
Thanks to this article I can make a confession: I liked Biden when Obama chose him because he appeared just the salt of the earth, American pie running mate needed to win. Now Mr. Biden feels more the archetype throwback than a pulsing reality, and much less so still than reality tv personalities. I don’t want to see Biden navigate Washington with the best, and it doesn’t seem he’s present enough to face walls needing bulldozing.
7
Everybody likes Joe, but he's a re-run, like an old Cheers episode.
And I mean that literally: he's run multiple times before. People are seeing now what they saw then; he's just not a very good campaigner. He missed his best shot when he let the party talk him out of running against Hillary, and I think that was it.
6
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Joe Biden is not only a good man, but will do much for the good of the people if president since much of what he did was good as a Senator. Let's get off the soapboxes and into reality.
6
Thanks to this article I can make a confession: I liked Biden when Obama chose him because he appeared just the salt of the earth, American pie running mate needed to win. Now Mr. Biden feels more the archetype throwback than a pulsing reality, sadly even more so than reality tv personalities. I don’t want to see Biden navigate Washington with the best, and it doesn’t seem he’s present enough to face walls needing bulldozing.
1
IF Biden had entered the race to stand up to Trump and lay out a progressive vision for the future, I would be supporting him. BUT, he's always had a bad sense of timing, tendency to make gaffes and is now 78 years old. I think we see a repeat here. Party establishment wants Biden, because they are as old and tired as he is. Just watching the "hearings" in the Senate and House gives me the distinct impression that the Democratic Party is a group of old, washed up passive people holding on to their jobs. We need young, passionate and strong leaders...not the over the hill gang..including Biden,.
9
Biden is a nice guy who represents the past, not the future. He should retire gracefully.
7
"Seeing Biden on the stump often feels like watching an actor who can’t quite remember his lines. Even if you don’t support him, it’s hard not to feel anxious on his behalf."
Such a perfect characterization. I feel bad saying it. I really don't have any hard lines on age for elected officials. It's like driving a car. If you're 75, aware and cognizant, we have no problems. If you're 60, doing half the speed limit and unaware of what's going on around you, society needs you to make other arrangements.
5
@DataCrusader
Biden has been like that as long as I can remember and i’m 75.
why the comment that he is a white man. is that now a disqualifier?
8
For the far left it seems to be...
Neither Joe Biden nor Bernie Sanders is in my top 3 for Democratic nominee (I’m a 76-year old white woman who thinks 65 is a maximum age for any nominee). However, whoever gets the nomination gets my vote.
11
If he were black, would you describe him as "a likable black man"?
8
Michelle, why do you constantly have to put people in these boxes? Likeable white man. What is the point of this? Likable black man. Likable gay woman. Likable millenial. Likeable green duck.
Why don't you just write that he may be a likable person?
17
Don’t you know? We can reduce everyone now to their race, gender identity, and sexual preferences and assume they all think alike. It’s called identity politics and you must bend the knee.
1
Biden is Bushlite, unpalatable, unmarketable.
4
He is still the safer choice to beat Trump.That is particularly true if Sanders or Warren are the other likely options. It’s still early and possibly most of the Democrats in the race could beat Trump,but at this point it seems to me Biden can get more of the moderates needed in the swing states to carry the electoral college.
7
This article is painfully low on facts
5
The problem with the Democratic party is that politics matters far too much to those closest to it. There are too many Democrats who view politics not as a means to the end of governing better, but a matter of life and death, or what seems to be the emotional equivalent of life and death. Goldberg often talks about her overwrought reactions to the daily give and take of politics; it's way over the top. When emotions are this high, it is hard to overcome differences. It is hard to take a step back and choose, somewhat cynically, the candidate most likely to win and push forward a Democratic agenda. What actually gets passed through Congress in 2021 will depend mostly on the makeup of Congress. Electing a Democratic president is necessary, but not sufficient, and the choice of which Democrat matters little as to what will become law.
.
Because we're all so emotionally invested in the process, we can't let go of our pet candidate. The result is that a mediocrity is leading the polls, put there by people who are not emotionally invested in politics, and are not even very interested. Democrats who care need to get past their self-righteousness and emotional ties and start encouraging their candidates to be popular, rather than constantly fine-tuning position papers to satisfy this or that group of activists. Otherwise we're going to get crazy old uncle Joe as the candidate, and he's going to be well past the sell-by date before November 2020.
3
'Donald Trump, of course, also speaks in gibberish, but with a bombastic unearned confidence; rather than flailing around for the right figure he makes one up. Biden, by contrast, was just shaky.'
And with a bang, journalists - at grave risk with Trump's crackdown on the free media - join the circular firing squad.
4
I would like passion, ideas etc. But democrats lost 2016 because of PA,WI,MI. Biden is beloved in some of those parts. And winning the White House is not a gamble I want to take. All the others excepting Sanders are still viable in 2024. Trump is a stain on our country. Sometimes stains respond only to bleach. Organic, environmentally friendly stain removers have a tendency to leave the stain behind. America cannot afford to leave this stain behind.
4
I think attempting to shuffle Joe Biden out the door at this point is a little premature. Why even write a negative piece about him at this point? You're just giving Trump ammunition to use against all of the Democrats in the race; he conflates whatever negative is said about any of them with all of them. I really don't think you're going to have to personally cull this one from the herd. Let the process play out. We will get the candidate we need.
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He needs to wipe off the attitude that it is ordained that he will be the Democratic candidate. it seems to me that Warren has the momentum.
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@sbanicki
I have no particular attachment to any of the candidates at this time, but please, no more of the "ordained" thing.
Didn't that bring enough grief in 2016?
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What annoys me is the Democratic Party establishment machine so quickly throwing millions and millions of dollars at him.
Is that not an illustration of what’s wrong with the party?
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@srwdm What seems to be the "problem" is the (very Liberal) Democratic primary base seems to have decided that the best person to beat Donald Trump isn't "their guy". Guess he's too likable and too white, huh?
Biden is the epitome of neoliberalism, whose long destructive wake on this country’s working class has left us with the election of Trump. No more, I say.
Once this campaign heats up, Biden will be toast. He never should have thrown his hat in the ring. It will not end well for him.
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Why is the media pushing Biden? He is NOT electable. For all the reasons you saw up close, we've all seen on the screen. Yikes. It's like nobody wants to say it out loud. Thank you for doing so!
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Could you, would you, please let us decide for ourselves the outcome of the next presidential elections.
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@James K
James, discussions like this are the way candidates are chosen and elected.
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@Phil thanks. I do understand the discussion aspect. But it seems increasingly the Times is pronouncing outcomes in their headers. What percentage of readers read beyond that? To read only the headers it would seem the Times doesn't think you should support Biden. That feels more like a verdict than a discussion.
...And the Democrats still can't figure out why they lost. Joe is a great man. but running on "same same, but different " is a loosing strategy. How about some energy and vision please....
@Gregory "How about some energy and vision please" Energy and vision are important, and Biden has none of either. But the vision matters: The vision Warren and Sanders have for the country will scare voters and be rejected by all but hardcore progressives.
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Out here in Trumpland we deplorables only fear Biden. Any other Dem will be utterly crushed by Trump. Anyone who can believe polls that show Bernie beating Trump is living in an alternate reality.
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@Mark Evans
Mark, I'm with you regarding the other candidates, but I disagree about Biden. He has NO passion, and he generates NO enthusiasm. Biden is a placeholder for Democrats who are desperate for someone who has at least a little appeal to blue-collar, union men in the Rust Belt. Trump said "Biden would be easier to beat than Hillary." That's 100% correct.
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Guess what Michelle? If Biden is the last Democrat standing.
I am voting for him even if you think he doesn't look electable.
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@Futbolistaviva
"If Biden is the last Democrat standing.
I am voting for him" Of course you will. And you'll watch your candidate go down in flames like Hillary.
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Whoever is truly electable is going to have to go out and prove it. A lot of sure bets couldn’t. The race is still evolving but if the Democrats practice their usual fratricide we get 4 more years of The Donald. Ponder that while you tout your ideological purity. It’s not worth a bucket of warm spit, with apologies to Cactus Jack Garner.
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I am 100% pro-choice. I'm also deeply sympathetic to victims of domestic abuse and fully support the idea of healthcare for all. So I know this will be an unpopular statement here on the NY Times, but given the absolute need for Democrats to win in 2020, I have to say this.... Standing up for women like Peshka Calloway who need the government to pay for THREE abortions is a guaranteed way to lose the White House again.
I currently live in a state with ONE abortion clinic, barely staying open amidst the ever-changing morass of hoops and regulations put forth by our Republican-controlled legislature. If the one compromise that allows abortion to remain legal in my state is to agree that it won't be federally funded, especially for THREE abortions on the same woman, so be it!
Please Dems, don't shoot yourselves in the foot over this.
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@shstl
"Standing up for women like Peshka Calloway who need the government to pay for THREE abortions is a guaranteed way to lose the White House again."
That jumped out like a sore thumb. Biden should have said "Please speak to me after the meeting, and I'll explain what birth control is."
Peshka Calloway is a poster child for arguments against federal funding for abortions.
2