Among faults too numerous to list is the fact that Trump, who was the oldest President ever elected to office, is now 4 years older than when he assumed that mantle. His age should have been a critical factor against him. Instead, the Democrats have decided to choose a candidate who is older than Trump will be at the end of his second term.
Is Putin now managing the Democrat's selection process?
We used to think the age of Politburo members was a hilarious indictment of a schlerotic Soviet system, Breznhev being the most obvious example. Breznhev died age 75 after being in power since his late 50s. It is an absolute disgrace that the Democratic party is incapable of finding anyone under the age of 70 within its ranks capable of beating Trump. Biden's performances on TV have been abysmal.
He is far too old. Trump will undoubtedly beat him, first at the hustings, then in the election. For goodness sake DNC. GET A GRIP!
Those of you want to keep harping on the Trump voters, over the Sanders supporters who don't vote, or when they do - when Bernie is not on the ticket - and they spite vote for a Green party (aka; wasted vote) candidate or write-ins.
There's no winning the Trumplodites. Its a waste of time to trying to win them over.
But there are really good chances in winning-over the Never Trumpers, the simply tired and sick of Trump Repubs, and Indie voters - who want Trump gone. But who need to form a personal excuse foundation to vote Dem. Who will not vote for a Sanders. Who deem Sanders as a near equal a risk as Trump. And taking another risk, like many did in 2016, is not an option for them.
However...Biden is capable of helping those voters form an agreeable excuse to vote Democrat. Its not that Biden is a safe vote, its that he's a stable vote. Its a vote for a known-known. Not one for an unstable, known-unknown. Sanders is an unstable, known-unknown. Unknown as to what crazy EO's he will sign. Or what crazy appointments he attempts.
Its wrong to view Biden as merely a safe vote. Its naive, and wholly example of those not paying attention to the behind the scenes devastation being wrought by Trump and the many unqualified and destructive cronies he appointed.
Nov '20 is not solely about getting rid of Trump...its more about pulling out by the roots all his deplorable appointments and their personally picked staffs. Trump is the distraction, the flower on the invasive weeds.
For the first time in my life, I'll likely not vote and with that earn the distinction of forfeiting my right to complain. As I grow older (i'm 50) I vote not with party but by conscious. I'm not in a swing state so my vote essentially is always in step with party vote or dissenting party vote.
The disappointing aspect of the Democratic party is a deeply veined hysteria in the post Trump election became dangerously obsessive. Everything shot fringe left. The very accusations about Trump started to feel unstable and paranoid. A refusal to see how Trump won led me to see the pure bubble the far left exists in. They distort everything and one can't have a conversation based on facts to point out where they are veering into propaganda. I'm sorry and no disrespect to women in general, but the party has been hijacked by feminism and the promotion of victimhood. The issues they advocate are a recipe for losing and steeped in illogic. Trans rights, gender and race, while most people simply want to earn a living. Now the tantrum editorials about misogyny because a horrible candidate Warren lost. Memo: It's called equal losing, men do it all the time. I voted for Clinton for anything she ran for, but honestly Trump makes sense lately. The media lies a lot, as much as he does perhaps. Biden is a liar far worse than Trump. So who is wrong?
There are substantial reasons that Biden was unelectable in his previous presidential campaigns, more serous than his frequent gaffes.In 1987 Biden dropped out following revelations that he had plagiarized a speech by British Labour Leader Neil Kinnock at a debate in Iowa, and from Robert F. Kennedy during his address to the convention in California. He was accused of plagiarism in law school. His views on abortion rights also deserve scrutiny. He told a reporter in 1974 that he disliked Roe v. Wade because “I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body,” he backed measures barring federal money from being used “directly or indirectly to pay for or encourage” abortions, prohibiting poor women from using Medicaid to pay for abortions, and forbidding federal workers from using government health benefits to obtain one, something he voted for five times before it finally became law. Biden’s support for1976 Hyde Amendment secured a landmark anti-abortion ruling barring federal funding of abortions. He helped defeat a 1977 amendment to remove all restrictions on federal funding of abortions and voted instead for one that extended that ban to cases of incest and rape. He voted repeatedly to ban funding for abortion research and training. he was one of 2 Democrats to send out of committee the Hatch amendment, which would have overturned Roe v. Wade by letting states or Congress decide the question of abortion — whichever was “more restrictive.”
2
"... more than enough for me." Really?
Consider taking some more time to consider. To weigh.
Before concluding that...
Whoever wins, in a flawed democratic process,
historically-rooted policymaker personal unaccountability
will likely remain.Depending upon who. Perhaps even empowered.
Whoever wins, an historically-rooted WE-THEY violating culture will continue to operate. Daily. All around.
Whoever wins, toxic choices to BE willfully blind to what IS,
and should never exist- THEN, NOW, Tomorrow?- will likely continue, daily, by all too many.
By the complacents and the complcits. Ordinary folk.
Whoever wins, toxic choices to BE willfully deaf to the many types of experienced existential pains, all around, will not be heard. Listened to. Attended to.
Whoever wins, toxic choices to BE willfully indifferent to ongoing discrimination, exclusion, marginalization, dehumanization, stigmatization, delegitimization, disempowering, and other forms of ummenschlichkeit are likely to harm lives, limbs, psyches and souls of all too many by all too many. By ordinary folk. All around US. In a divided, challenged, American-democracy.
Whoever wins, toxic choices to BE willfully ignorant of available, accessible, documentable, generalzable FACTS and TRUTHS will continue.By many. "Satiated" by goulashed, unnutritious , cooked up fiction, fantasies and "alt-facts." Prepared, served, swallowed and digested by all too many. All around US.
"... more than enough...?"
2
Ah yes, Bret, the things you do have to worry about. Overreach. Let's see, shall we. Where were we , exactly, when Trump took over? Your 'savings' from 2008-2016 had done what exactly, Bret? Lost value? Or regained the value lost because of financial institutions running roughshod, with impunity, over the American people? And that health care system you hold dear, you know the one where you hate the idea of losing your insurance. Until you reach 65 , of course. Then government health insurance won't be so bad after all. Can't have government overreach protecting the planet. Protecting the consumer. Protecting the poor. Can't have that. Because, at the end of the day, with the tax structure in America under Obama, the rich were doing so poorly they were trading in their BMW's for a Ford Focus. Having to survive with a 'simple' yacht. Only belonging to two country clubs, not the three or four they so richly deserve. Yes, Bret, the middle class under Trump is just roaring back to life. No longer a problem paying healthcare, education, or child care bills and save for retirement. Safety nets never needed again. Except for farmers , of course. No your big fear is a Democrat could ruin this country because America simply cannot afford to make sure it's citizens have a snowball's chance in hell making a go of it. But one man, one billionaire can spend $500 million to run for president like it's stopping at Starbucks for a cup of Joe. That America?
2
Why are people picking on Biden's misspeaks?? Bush's were worse and we survived! Need help down memory lane?
**"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."— Aug. 5, 2004
**I want to thank my friend, Sen. Bill Frist. … Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me."—May 27, 2004
**"I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein."—May 25, 2004
**"One of the most meaningful things that's happened to me since I've been the governor—the president—governor—president. Oops. Ex-governor. ."— Jan. 9, 2004
**Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country."—Sept. 6, 2004,
**"It's very interesting when you think about it, the slaves who left here to go to America, because of their steadfast and their religion and their belief in freedom, helped change America."— July 8, 2003
**"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."—, May 19, 2003
**"You see, the Senate wants to take away some of the powers of the administrative branch."—Sept. 19, 2002
More at http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/bushisms/2000/03/the_complete_bushisms.html
1
I'm sure this won't show up, as Biden is now the anointed one...just a few negatives to consider...
bragging about willingness to work with Republicans
sniffing women's hair
calling a girl a "lying, dog-faced pony soldier"
incoherent statements on the campaign trail and debates
Anita Hill Supreme Court hearing debacle
defending the 1994 crime bill
support of credit card companies
plagiarism and made-up stories he had to recant
voting to gut welfare
voting for NAFTA
voting to overturn Glass-Steagall (how did that turn out?)
praising racist Strom Thurmond
opposing school integration in the 1970s along with Jesse Helms
voting for the 2005 Republican bill to strip student debt from the bankruptcy code
voting for the Iraq war
supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Hunter Biden hired as a lobbyist for a Delaware credit card co.
Biden’s brother hired by a mid-size construction firm before it got a $1.5 billion govmt contract
Hunter joining the board of a corruption-tainted Ukrainian gas producer while Biden spearheaded US policy on Ukraine…and the Senate will soon hold investigations into the Biden/Burisma mess to keep that alive in the media (compare to Hillary and emails)
66
Anything you forgot to worry about there, Bret?
24
You want Trump out of the Oval Office?
Get out and vote!!!
I will.
54
If (God willing) Biden wins, I will not have to listen to my rabid Trump voter tell me, his mother, that I am too mired in "liberal claptrap" (he used another word NYT won't permit).
I won't have to listen to how Trump was making America first in the world AGAIN, as if it had slipped to 4th place.
(which it was heading with Trump)
And I won't have to watch or see Trump and know he is being a braggart, a bully, a man without honor or integrity or even a set of morals.
Thank heavens for all that.
360
Was it decent for Biden to turn a blind eye while his son stuffed his pockets with foreign money?
38
If Biden wins you won't have to worry about having extra money in your bank. If Biden wins you won't have to worry about retirement as you'll be working until you die. If Biden wins you won't have to leave your house as the criminal element will own the streets.
26
Well said.
5
I will take Sleepy Joe, any day. I think Biden should do an AOC move like she did with that dance and own the Sleepy Joe thing. That will frustrate the Bully in Chief.
19
Well argued and compellingly true!!!!!!
11
So are you going to vote for him, Bret?
15
This is satire, right?
26
RETURN TO DECENCY: Vote Joe Biden
37
Hear, hear!
6
Now I respect your opinion, but I feel I must counter because the NYTimes is a respected establishment read by millions and you are sharing some extremely potent and misguiding statements. The NYTimes should be very careful about publishing such unsubstantiated rhetoric. This Infowars.
First, "Cramped views of religion and speech?"Are you joking? Equality is the cornerstone of modern progressive ideals. Of course maybe you are referring to the right wing version where only YOUR version of religion and speech should be protected.
Second, you won't have your healthcare taken away. You don't have healthcare, you have insurance that you use to pay the cartel-like rates in the US. On this note, want to know the most effective policy against a flu pandemic? Being able to afford to go to the doctor.
Third, no one is taking away your savings. Not unless it is being held in a shady tax shelter.
Fourth, businesses in the US are under regulated or at least mis-regulated. Remember that whole great recession thing? How about all those people with poisoned drink water? Or Boeing?
Last, the ultra wealthy have been enjoying a free ride for too long. There's been downward effective tax rate once people reach exit velocity beyond our antiquated brackets. Not to mention tax shelters in the Caribbean or ya boy Biden's state of Delaware.
You my friend are a republican. Perhaps not the latest neo-fascist flavor we have in the Whitehouse, but a good old fashioned Reagan era Republican.
84
and of course their is this from the GOP opposition research files...
"The chances of Sanders actually becoming president, however, are also close to nil. I say this because in 2016 I got a glimpse of the Republican party’s opposition research book on Sanders, which was so massive it had to be transported on a cart.
The Newsweek reporter Kurt Eichenwald, who got to see some of its contents, declared that “it was brutal. The Republicans would have torn [Sanders] apart.”
According to Eichenwald, the book includes damning material such as the fact that Sanders was on unemployment until his mid-30s, that he co-sponsored a bill to ship Vermont’s nuclear waste to Texas where it would be dumped in a poor Hispanic community, that he honeymooned in the Soviet Union, and that he appeared at a 1985 rally in Nicaragua at which Sandinista supporters chanted “Here, there / the Yankee will die.” And then there’s Sanders’ fictitious essay in which he described a woman enjoying being raped by three men…"
and that Sandinista chant wasn't the one you heard in the bleachers
at Fenway.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/16/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-donald-trump
5
Right next to this headline is another titled “How Working-Class Life Is Killing Americans”.
Mr. Stephens, you are egregiously out of touch. Joe Biden proposes no changes to the system.
34
If Biden wins it means I’ll be able to sleep at night.
35
You speak for me, Mr. Stephens. Two thoughts come to mind:
(1) No president can simply wave a wand and--presto chango!--everything happens the way he wants it.
Not to mention that, with presidents we don't like, we invariably fear the worst.
I am thinking of Jefferson (our third)--who was by no means an evangelical Christian. He was elected in 1800--and ministers all over this fair land were advising their flocks to "bury their Bible in their garden." The Anti-Christ was coming. The Anti-Christ was HERE.
But none of that was necessary.
TO SAY NOTHING OF THE FACT--
--that we may well have a GOP-dominated Senate--and House too if all goes ill--
--that'll set themselves to thwart, stymie, obviate anything a Joe Biden might propose. Ideas? No. Today's GOP has precious few ideas. What they have are--
--monkey wrenches. These to be flung at need into the machinery of any federal government--
--headed by a Democrat.
(2) Decency. Oh how I long for decency, Mr. Stephens. And here I am with you one hundred percent. Not to BLUSH or grimace--or break into volleys of unholy laughter--
--when the President of the United States--
--does or says something so monstrous, so ridiculous, to outrageous--
--that the only reasonable response--
--is laughter.
God help our poor country--
--if THIS is what we've come down to.
And maybe He will.
Maybe.
7
Yup, old Joe the Gaffe machine. Remember 2012 when he blurted out gay marriage should be legal? Boy, that was a whopper!
7
Bret, your mar 3 editorial: golly, I needed that. Thanks.
1
And all of that is enough for me. Whew.
7
If Biden wins the nomination, Democrats will be putting their faith in a man who can barely fill a school gym to beat a man who can fill a stadium.
I thought Republicans were the more religious of the two parties, but Democrats seem to be hoping for a miracle. I suppose, when the New York Times is your Bible and MSNBC hosts are your priests, you can be forgiven for believing in the impossible.
19
What you can worry about if Biden is elected: a return to trade appeasement to China and Europe; a re-bloating of the federal bureaucracy in places like Foggy Bottom as Clinton & Obama returnees and their children are handed jobs; a judiciary stacked with progressive judges determined to legislate from the bench; a criminalization of gun owners and abortion opponents; and restrictions on free speech unseen since the civil war.
10
After the first paragraph just replace Biden’s name with Bernie.
As for your take on Bernie’s “wild ideas”?
The poor are punished for being poor.
The more money you have the better healthcare you get.
The more money you have the longer you will live
Anyone with any sense can see how Trump is putting our whole democratic institutions at risk. Bernie or Biden will not do that. Bernie or Biden will work to heal this institutions and try to heal the country. Outside of that with Biden it will be more of the same.
But it’s not about me, it about our country and our government. Rich people should not get preference in healthcare or in the justice systems. Government is for ALL people not people with money. It’s not “We the wealthy”, it is “We the PEOPLE”. Bernie understands that and so did Elizibeth Warren. Not too sure if Joe Biden does.
I’m going to briefly touch on the one paragraph about Bernie. If your savings is going to “shrink” you need lessons on diversifying your portfolio. I would expect savings “growth” rate would shrink but not your savings. As your your “choice” in healthcare? That’s Bernie’s point! All people should have access the healthcare.
What you are really saying is you are greedy. The republican party should change their name to the “Gordon Gecko Party” with their motto “Greed is Good”. Because that is what all of this is about. Money.
When it should be about the people.
21
Sort of “damning with faint praise” kind of column. Stephens lets his Republican nostalgia get in the way much of the time. He conveniently ignores that the same Democratic policies he condemns brought wonderful prosperity after the Bush/Reagan debacles. I guess Bret would rather mortgage the future like Bush and Trump have done with their soaring deficits.
13
Here here
1
The Guy is mentally deteriorating how can he be president?
21
Blue no matter who, man.
20
All this blah, blah, blah is just something to fill air until it’s time to vote. Sanders wants to do this...Biden is in favor of... It’s Trump! Trump is the issue...the only issue! And if you need more, then consider McConnell and the Senate. With Jesus in the White House and McConnell in the senate, we get squat! So, if it has a pulse, it’s breathing on it’s own, and it’s a Democrat...vote for it!
30
What is with all the worry in the first paragraphs? This is like the reflexive behavior where you have to make believe that you think we could "do better". What is wrong with you and all these other people. Trump is a danger to our very existence. Just review his spectacular management of the COVID19 predemic! This is not about worrying how much of a loaf you are getting. Seriously! Pretty much anyone is so much better than Trump that you just look stupid if you can't start with that. Why not just be happy that Biden is in front?
16
I think that most of us have a great deal of respect for the Founding Fathers and the exhilarating American political experiment. Right now, Trump and the Republicans have zero respect for anything because they have destroyed respect in themselves. If the Trump regime were a band, they might call themselves... Donnie and the Bootlickers.
8
Biden’s campaign slogan should be “Let’s Return to Normal”.
16
“I won’t have to worry about getting my health insurance taken from me”. Clearly the author knows nothing about Medicare for all. The entire premise is that everyone gets health insurance. What a ridiculous, fear-mongering thing to publish.
21
So you'll be voting for Biden, then?
6
What was omitted from Stephens'column is that a Biden election will bring the USA the least intelligent person ever to be president. Could only have been surpassed by a McCain presidency, as he was by far the least intelligent person in the Senate. Just look at Biden's academic records from his undergraduate days at the U. of Delaware and his law school experience. Add to that resume the fact that he has never accomplished anything of note in his many years as a politician. He's a pleasant glad-hander who has survived via the largess of major donors. And this is the best we can offer up to oppose despicable Trump? Democrats appear to have become the "party of stupid.
16
The chattering classes underestimated Harry Truman, too. And they thought Dwight Eisenhower was a bumbling old fool because he lacked FDR's fluency. And they thought Ronald Reagan was stupid, and also too old, probably senile.
Joe Biden may still speak haltingly now and then -- a vestige of his childhood stutter. But Joe Biden will be more than decent. He will be a great President!
16
If Biden wins, count yourself as lucky.
18
Why does Joe Biden get the decency label? Because he says 'folks?' Because he exudes an avuncular geniality? Because he supports union workers? If Joe Biden were truly decent, he would have told his son in no uncertain terms that working for Burisma was terrible optics, and possibly unethical. That was an easy one, and he flunked it. He also plagiarized, treated Anita Hill with arrogance, and made some highly questionable votes in the Senate. But now he's enjoying the decent spin because centrist Dems are afraid of change.
You want decent? Bernie Sanders is decent. But the attack dogs are going to take him down as the spin meisters turn him into an angry old man.
It's all so predictable, I can't even summon outrage anymore.
588
It is so sad that Joe Biden, with all of his verbal fumbles and outlandish statements is the man for the job. He seems so mentally feeble. That this is the man that the democrats put forth as their best hope is an indication of how far this country has fallen. That Trump is labelled as corrupt, and Biden's positioning of his son and family gets a pass is a testament to the skewered nature of "truth" in the press. At the very best, Biden will be an empty puppet for all of those behind him. The ones with their hands in the cookie jar, smiling and reassuring the American people.
316
If Biden wins, Trump wins.
See you on Election Day for the Re-Election.
199
Reminds me of 2016, and the same exact thing will happen if Joe Biden is the nominee. Only Bernie can beat Trump.. please look at the data, and stop believing what you want to believe.
491
@Mike, "The data" is that the majority of voters do not vote for Sanders. Why is that so hard to accept? The only "data" that matters is the vote, Mike from Bangkok.
185
Yeah right. Bernie would lose before the general election truly begins. Bernie is of the same ilk as trump. It’s a sad state of our body politic that he could even be in the running for the party nomination.
133
@Mike Pollsters generally survey all eligible voters, as opposed to just likely voters. Those numbers are far less encouraging. Sanders has already failed to whip up voter turnout, so counting on a surge of new voters isn't a great strategy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/opinion/bernie-sanders-2020-election.html
128
One more times article that completely misses the point about where trumpism came from. And why when he is gone we will never return to the good old days of neoliberal fantasies about open markets, free trade and the slide over the past 30 years into a sham democracy run by a benevolent plutocracy.
People who have not benefitted from globalization will still be here after trump. And look at the demographics. California is the future of the US and they overwhelmingly supported a platform of economic readjustment, better health care options for all and environmental stewardship. California went for Bernie. Because no one seems to be thinking about future generations. We need to adjust capitalism to look like the version that benefitted the baby boomers. Less expensive education, higher wages and less social inequality than we live with today.
They may be sanders’ talking points, but we are never going back. And Biden has nothing to offer except that he is not trump. Trumpism is here to say and I’m not happy about it. But Biden is an umbrella in a hurricane.
Good luck with not worrying
1062
@Martin Frobisher
Did California go for Bernie? Do we know how many votes went to moderate candidates other than Joe Biden? How many votes were cast before the South Carolina primary?
My husband and I voted by mail before the SC primary, not for either Biden or Sanders. Although I voted for Elizabeth Warren, I would certainly have voted for Joe Biden if I had waited until Super Tuesday. So would my husband, who voted for a candidate who dropped out.
My problem with Bernie is not his general political position, but his "my way or the highway" attitude, including running for office as a Democrat while describing himself as a Socialist. My fear is that, even if he were elected, he would be too busy trying to get everyone else on board with his doctrinal purity to get anything accomplished at all.
212
Very well put, Martin.
Bret Stephens and most of the NYT are still stuck emotionally in November 2016.
A few of them in the shocking aftermath of the time vowed to change and start to listen to voices outside the elite bubble, but this did not last long.
Once they’d heard a few of those voices they decided that there was nothing to hear after all and they have spent the time since obsessing about the more grotesque elements of the current President.
Like Frankenstein’s monster, Trump is the creation of the neoliberal nightmare that Stephens identifies as American Normalcy.
Change will come, maybe not this time, not now, but until it does US politics will continue its run as a horror show.
85
@Martin Frobisher , the time you want ended in 1980 with Reagan. There have been crushing losses for workers for 40 years now. The boomers were called that because of a boom in babies; the economic prosperity of their parents was dashed as pensions and benefits were destroyed nationwide. Things are worse now, yes, the slide goes on for all but a relative few. The stereotyped white rich boomer is a small minority of the many millions of people who actually were born over a decade. It has been and is a struggle for many. Of all kinds of people.
136
You can stop worrying. Tout e s t pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes, which is French for... Maybe the best thing would be for Trump to win the election. In the meantime the New York Times needs to devote a little bit less attention to the Coronavirus and a little bit more to Tulsi Gabbard.
5
It’s ironic that a retro president (MAGA) has us dreaming of a retro state of liberalism and “normalcy”.
I like how everyone describes Bernie as radical. He’s really not. Do a little research and quit watching Fox News
15
The decent thing to do would be to name Liz Warren as his VP and resign after a year or two in office.
8
Not a ringing endorsement for Biden in normal times but these are not normal times. Meanwhile quite predictably at the NYT, America's foremost feminist blog, elsewhere in the Op Eds with Warren's departure we have rage and anger because feminists didn't get what they want. I'll take what I can get in Biden over what we have and what angry feminists want to take for themselves.
1
Another hit piece on Sanders. Sleepy Joe has gotta go....
17
The only relevant question is: will Biden stand up to AIPAC like President Obama did or will he let them hijack our country like trump and Bush did?
7
Now, if you can, write something about what you will no longer have Trump wins.
2
You have to ask yourself if the financial rewards of having Trump as President are worth the psychological damage of having a leader that's a narcissistic, uneducated bigot. Comedians are already noticing Biden's slipping which I think is more than just old age and Trump is going to seize on Biden's weakness, how ironic and how tragic for us all. Bloomberg would've been a better compromise and could've taken the Trump votes but Democrats cut off their noses to spite their face.
7
Great verbiage. Failing large. Biden?
3
It's foolish to nominate a boring and crooked careerist hack like Biden in the interest of "electability", when those like me will vote Green instead of voting for an Iraq warmonger.
9
a presidency is more then just the president. it's the cabinet members, advisors,, and heads of agencies. if biden is elected we will once more have people of intellect and experience leading our nation instead of the sycophantic knownothings currently serving our idiot president.
20
Biden is more of the Democrats screwing the working class. The Party pays lip-service to caring about workers like Republicans pay lip-service to the religious right. But it was a Democratic Senate with a Democratic President who signed NAFTA and also weakened financial regulations. The recovery under Obama helped Wall St., but not workers. And Obama recenrly cited trickle down economics to justify avoiding rent relief to people projected to be impacted by his Presidental Library in Chicago.
13
If Joe Biden wins he will help his buddies in big pharma charge $3500 for Corona Virus testing and $3k -$6k for the flue shot.
You probably have a better shot at getting it cheaper with Trump in the Whitehouse.
43
Bret: Start talking to us without your erstwhile prejudices. Joe Biden cannot complete full sentences. We need a leader, rather than a safe haven. Use your imagination! Let's talk "vision" rather than "safety". Who is left with "vision"? Only Bernie. Hilary Tann
38
Well said, thank you.
9
Bret, if Biden Wins, I won’t have to worry about COVID-19, and its’ abysmally incompetent Facilitator: ProQuid-45.
Seriously.
20
A lot of worries you have... In Belgium we would call you a very, very right wing opinion maker, worrying about evident realizations of a civilized society.
51
I only care about 'winning' by preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of our divided limited different power of united states republic against all enemies domestic and foreign including their useful assets and idiots.
Not worrying can arise from ignorance and/or indifference. That is not a kind of 'winning' that really lasts and matters.
6
I am a staunch supporter of President Trump; however, I agree with Stephens. I could live with a Biden presidency. Biden should have run for president in 2016, but he was told by the Democrat Establishment not to run to the presidency was reserved for Clinton. As it turned out, it was her's to lose and boy did she lose it. I am a Trump supporter because of my disgust for Clinton; I don't have disgust for Biden. Thank you.
14
Remember, Biden will not attempt to do government on his own. He will hire a very competent cabinet. His seeming "feebleness" is a result of stuttering, that he is attempting to deal with. Not to see him as competent because of his age, is to engage in ageism. I doubt that he would run for a competitive office, if he did not have enough energy. Yes, maybe he will take more naps, delegate more to others, but he will recover our nation from the edge of tyrannical ramblings and decisions, and will restore the Democrat party to its role as champion of the working class.
29
thank you - we can only hope our political arena reverts back to a sane, intelligent environment
12
If Biden wins, you'll also see a far better chance of down-ballot votes going Blue.
Never mind Trump; can you handle the re-election of Mitch McConnell, who vows to do to Biden or Bernie, what he did to Obama?
27
This just reeks of the same detachment and selfishness that people on the right and left are both fed up of. Just all about what’s important to me and not the the rest of the country. Plus, it’s this constant demonizing of the “progressive left” is the more likely reason many won’t vote for Biden instead of just to
stick it to the Democratic Party. We’re all watching NYT, MSNBC, CNN etc having the same meltdown over Bernie that they did over Trump because it doesn’t fit within the Centrist narrow status quo view, and that’s what’s pushing both parties to become “unrecognizable”.
28
If we are fortunate enough to remove the current stain on the White House, I hope and pray that none of us, including myself, will ever take our democracy for granted.
35
Bret, a correction. You would not lose your healthcare. You would lose your fancy NYTimes columnist health insurance but you would gain by knowing that all of your fellow Americans were also now going to have access to health care and you would too.
May I direct you attention to this article from 3/5 in Newsweek magazine, hardly a left wing rag:https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-medicare-all-would-likely-increase-wages-create-jobs-new-economic-analysis-shows-1490800
27
From your mouth to God's ear, Amen.
7
Also not have to worry about hearing those stupid words ”trump” and “tweet” every minute of every day.
God, I hate those two words more than you can know.
25
I want a president who is not yelling, waving his hands, hiding his medical problems, slurring his words, constantly lying, and who is not a laughing stock buffoon of the world. I want a president who not only has read history but has respect for it, who can recognize alliees from enemies and who is not being blackmailed by our enemies who are holding the purse strings to his family's wealth. I'm for a president who is not trying to kill us by taking away health care. I'm for Biden, but will vote blue no matter who.
26
So , Bernie has you worried if he wins? The Times has done, as it often does a horrible job of presenting the kind of Socialism that Bernie represents or those that are voting for him want. How about Mr. Stephens you listen to Nate Robinson on Ezra Klien's podcast to understand the kind of socialism that bring voters to Bernie? And while your at it read about the socialist movement of the 20's,30's & 40's who worked with Unions to change the workplace? BTW Oklahoma had 375 socialist chapters at one point. Nobody wants to take your healthcare, we just want healthcare for all. Stop Crying Wolf, The wolf is already in the house, the whitehouse.
29
“If Biden wins, it will not mean a great American presidency. It will mean a decent one. That will be more than enough for me.”
Actually that also means Trump wins again because he has set the bar so abysmally low. This is one big reason why Biden looks so attractive to some — he’s a decent person with a heart. Sorry, but that’s not nearly enough for me when I’m evaluating a person’s qualifications for the presidency.
Joe is a classic Clintonion Democrat. Or as Chomsky once said, there is only one political party in the US, the Business party, and to has two wings, the Republican wing and the Democratic wing.
I’m ambivalent about the viability of a Sanders presidency and I’ll vote for Biden if need be, but dear God, how many times in the last 4 decades have I (as have SO many of the people I know) held my nose while unenthusiastically voting for yet another centrist Democrat?
24
If Biden wins we won’t have to worry about the working poor, the homeless, the price of college, middle class wage stagnation, illegal immigration, income inequality, the African American wealth gap, etc. We can just forget about all that stuff, pretend that none of it exists anymore and go back to the good old DLC normal that gave rise to Trump in the first place. And most of all we won’t have to be afraid that a socialist president will have us all running around in black pajamas. It’ll be a relief!
15
“Europe’s universal health care systems, for example, help bolster the economy by supporting consumer spending in the midst of a serious outbreak, because people aren’t worried about getting a big bill if they get sick.” NYT Vote for Sanders2020
15
I agree with many of the sentiments in this article. A vote for Biden is a a vote for decency! Extreme pendulum swings achieves more chaos than progress. The most important first step that Biden can make is choosing an excellent protégée for Vice President that can easily take over and provide confidence to the public that the ship is stable and appropriately moving forward. All of the leaders in this campaign are old men in their mid to late 70s. The VP choice matters more than ever!
14
What we need, is a Biden/Sanders ticket.
Biden handles international; Sanders handles domestic. I'd vote for that.
164
Bret, the problem is this:
With Joe, the lights are on, but no one is home.
23
“WASHINGTON — Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former American and British spies for secretive intelligence-gathering operations that included infiltrating Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations and other groups considered hostile to the Trump agenda, according to interviews and documents.
One of the former spies, an ex-MI6 officer named Richard Seddon, helped run a 2017 operation to copy files and record conversations in a Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers’ unions in the nation. Mr. Seddon directed an undercover operative to secretly tape the union’s local leaders and try to gather information that could be made public to damage the organization, documents show.” NYT
BERNIE BEATS TRUMP Please defeat Trump
13
Touche Bret. The sense of relief that there might be an antidote to the Trump conflagration of a presidency has given many of us the hope that we so desperately crave.
History will not be kind to this corrupt and malicious man, his cohorts and his family.
At the very least a decent and stabilizing presidency will enable us to begin to erase the stain wrought upon the office and the nation.
7
Four years later and the Democrats apparently nothing learned.
Biden 2020 = Hillary 2016
A match across almost all data points.
A history of favoring special interest over working class Americans, voted for the Iraq war, tough on crime 2M imprisoned, ethically challenged.
43% of American fall in the low income category. Meaning should they miss one or two paychecks then disiater is at their door.
Republican and traditional centrist (Clinton/Biden) Democrats has created this world.
22
“If, despite this, Biden wins the presidency, I’ll worry that, as a potential one-termer, he’ll bend too far to appease his party’s progressive wing. “
Throughout Biden’s entire career he has bent too far to appease Republicans. That’s what scares me Brett.
13
Does Biden even have a platform?
24
I certainly hope your worst fears about Joe Biden being doomed as far as winning the next election come true.
5
"A few things we’ll no longer have to worry about."
Progress.
14
Bret Stephens silently praying that Donald Trumps wins in 2020?
10
You lost me at "overregulate business"...what, exactly, do you think is the source of the worst economic and social problems we face today?
Capitalism, in case you wish to maintain the fiction that's what we're doing here, demands regulation; regular, substantial, toothy. Ask Adam Smith, he'll tell you.
But you're right, Biden will never do such a thing.
19
For all the people saying they will vote for the democrat no matter who it is: thanks for telling the DNC that they have you right smack in their hip pocket. Congratulations! You have given away the only power you have.
All the democrat candidates signed a loyalty pledge. Look at it. That pledge authorizes the DNC to determine the nominee. Voting in a democrat primary, as we learned 4 years ago, is window-dressing. And you just told the DNC that you will do whatever they want no matter who.
Nice going...
Panic-stricken people simply cannot think.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
17
It doesn’t matter who wins. We’ll still have an ancient white man who acts as if he knows better than us — particularly women — what we need.
8
The fact that someone like Bret Stephens won't worry about Joe Biden is what worries me about Joe Biden.
26
If Biden wins, I won't wake up every morning and run to my computer hoping to read of some "deus ex machina while I was asleep" that freed our country from the criminal clutches of his immediate predecessor.
8
Amen, Bret. Amen.
4
It's too bad that a dedicated Republican like Stephens didn't put and isn't putting his energies into supporting a Republican to challenge Trump in the primaries. There is one out there, Bill Weld. Stephens would rather try turning the Democratic Party into a wing of the Republican.
But maybe Stephens is in fact supporting a Republican in supporting Biden. Biden is all about making sure big money triumphs.
9
"That he’ll appoint judges with cramped views of religious liberty and free speech." I believe that are the judges Trump put on the bench.
18
If Joe Biden wins . . . . we'll no longer have to worry about that petty immoral, unethical despot being in the White House. And that's all that matters right now.
20
While Warren was my first choice, I will happily vote for Biden and look forward to the end of our current FAKE presidency.
If Biden could get Warren to run as VP, I think there is a chance that Bernie's mob might not sit out the election as they did last time. And there is no doubt her debating skills and intelligence would add hugely to both the election and the administration.
15
Does anyone actually seriously think if Bernie is elected president, that any of his policies would become law of the land? Does Bret Stephens really believe that?
11
Remember that the election this fall, like all Presidential elections, is about the Electoral College. The way I see if from vice-president Biden is the only one who might carry fly over country in the EC. And thats if he stays away everything is free for everyone because the rich are going to pay for it. Especially universal health care and advanced education.
Of course all we have to do is look at 2016 to see what value "conventional" wisdom has. I've always said that if the Democrats didn't have their corrupt super delegate system the Senator Sanders might well have won the nomination.
4
On the one hand there's David Brooks arguing that, if Biden becomes president, he may represent the last chance the establishment has to get it right for the middle class and everyone falling behind in our winner-take-all economy. On the other hand here's Bret Stephens hoping a Biden presidency basically preserves the status quo.
I'd say it's Brooks who has it right, and all Stephens has to do is glance at the daily stories and headlines in his newspaper and others about the struggles of the middle class in covering housing, healthcare, college and retirement costs.
6
In nominating Biden, the Democratic Party is essentially doubling down on the existing establishment (what Trump derisively calls Deep State) whose interests do not line up with a vast swath of the population. This population includes both Republicans and Democrats.
To go back to the "good old" days of Obama is the same siren song that is a Trump bumper sticker: MAGA.
If Sanders does not get the nomination, I sincerely hope Biden will embrace the aspirations of the people, who the establishment called "deplorable" in the past, with his VP pick and cabinet.
10
So you hope that if Biden wins that he will turn the party into a moderate Republican party and won't address the root of the threat to our democracy: the highest rate of income inequality among industrialized countries, the lack of access (and it's growing) to affordable health care, and climate change? Well that's a Democrat's greatest fear of a Biden administration. Fortunately I think Biden will be responsive to the needs and desires of the electorate.
3
Well Bret, “good enough” (for you) is not what is going to win this election. Elections are about the future, not a nostalgic rehash of an administration that was in power a decade ago, which is why Joe won’t win. His vision is 20/20 hindsight, which is way short on any foresight for a vision of America in the 21st Century. “I’m not Trump” as a campaign issue failed with Hillary and will fail even more with Biden!
10
What on earth is wrong with "appeasing" the progressive wing. They are Democrats. They deserve a voice and representation in the party. And please get over describing Sanders' supporters like petulant middle schoolers. Every campaign has their share of die-hards.
14
It's a pretty low bar when decency is good enough at this point to support a Presidential Candidate. What I am worried about is the fact that one major political Party - the Republicans-have subverted themselves to someone who has shown himself to be a serial liar, incompetent, and probably engaged in criminal activities because they want to appoint conservative judges and preserve their economic status. Mitt Romney is really the only elected official that has shown himself to be marginally willing to stand up to the Trumpist cult that has emerged. We can debate conservative vs. liberal economic and social policies until the cows come home - but none of that is justification for supporting unethical and illegal conduct that will repercussions for years to come. I'm glad you would be relived if Biden is the nominee and defeats Trump - but it's a little too late in my mind.
5
Bret...
Trump wins. It is over.
5
If Joe Biden wins, I will be writing in Elizabeth Warren's name on the ballot during the general election. The choice between a egomaniac and a man that lacks the mental capacity for the Presidential office is unfathomable. I must vote for the person that is most qualified for the position, which I believe is to be Elizabeth Warren.
4
@Ilya I suppose you don’t care then about the Supreme Court nominations that will surely come in the next 4 years. Please look at the long game. To have any hope for liberal and progressive laws that will stand up to Supreme Court scrutiny we must at least maintain the balance of power that presently exists- IOC course increasing to liberal side would be better. If a Trump wins we can kiss goodbye ANY hope of progressive policies for a generation.
9
No vote helps Trump win that’s why EW got out of the race.
5
It is more than enough for me too. Thank you for this. America is tired and needs relief from the Trump incompetent, corrupt drama.
6
Anyone will do as long they are a democrat, have ethics, political experience and respect Americans and our democracy. I want justice to prevail. I still want justice to work in our favor when it comes to Trump. I hope he gets what is coming to him, you know "Karma", and "justice will prevail."
And I hope child like politicians like Gaetz, Jordan, Meadows, Kennedy, Collins etc to be elected out of office. This mob is laughable, a sad and very unprofessional, belligerent group. Couldn't resolve a problem with tactfulness if it stared them in their face.
6
I cannot say it better so I won't so anything.
When Biden wins the nomination he will humbly and honestly announce to all Americans that he alone cannot fix it, that he does not know more than the generals. So forth and so on. When he wins the Presidency I hope he tells Gail Collins she is not a stone cold loser.
4
Four years of "decent" sounds like a dream to me right now. America needs to spend some time simply recovering after years of watching corruption erode everything we believed in.
10
CJV
Thank you for writing this Mr. Stephens.
4
Will Biden move us towards universal healthcare, address climate change, address income inequality and college debt? Barely, if at all. Is he an improvement over Trump? Yes, definitely. He's not what we need, but he's better than what we got. (This tells you something about how low the bar has been set...) Too bad the people who would benefit most from a Sanders presidency couldn't be bothered to vote for him in the primaries, but at least now we can safely presume they can't be counted on to vote in November, either. That makes Biden the guy, much to my reality-facing chagrin.
4
@Peter he will make much better Supreme Court nominations for ourselves and future generations.
5
I read recently that Joe Biden has shared his personal phone number with total strangers who are grieving the loss of a family member, telling them to call him if they have no one else to talk to.
Compare that to Donald Trump, totally void of empathy, having zero emotion for 3500 people stuck on a disease-filled cruise ship....all because "the numbers" would make him look bad.
If Biden wins, we will finally have a person of integrity back in the White House, a man who actually has the capacity to care for someone other than himself. And for the election, that is more than enough for me.
17
"If Biden wins only the nomination, I won’t have to worry that there’s a fair chance that, in Bernie Sanders, a man could be elected president who, without nuance or discrimination, demonizes entire sectors of American industry. I won’t have to worry about getting my health insurance taken from me, or watch my savings shrink to nothing thanks to monetary policy on the Weimar Republic model. I won’t have to worry that the self-described “dirtbag left” will become to the Democratic Party what the Hannity-Carlson-Ingraham right is to the Republican Party." REALLY? Stephens must be a Republican.......Does he really believe himself? What nonsense..........
7
I'm in my 60s and this may be the first time in my life I don't vote for president. Joe Biden is the best we can do? Makes me want to puke. Bernie or bust at this point. Win or lose, politics is broken. Burn it down and rebuild the party. The only salvation is Biden might pick someone maybe 20 years younger than he is. One needs a thread to pull.
9
@Rich Sohanchyk please look at the long game. Do you want to forfeit the Supreme Court for a generation or more? We can not afford any more conservative judges. The next four years will be critical in terms of Supreme Court nominations and I want Biden, not a Trump, making those appointments.
7
No Bernie cannot beat Trump - Biden can. 2020 is NOT for revolution, it's for repair.
Any mature Tom Dick Harry can defeat an infantile Trump.
8
The NYT campaign of anti-Sanders anti-DSA propaganda has become a perfect analog to foxnews. The NYT is employing the exact same tactics of bias, repetition, fear mongering. We are truly in a disgraceful era for journalism as another once respectable institution gives in to their corporate backers and one sided editorial board.
12
Joe Biden is a decent man. He also has funded his political career on corporate donations, and has continued to do their bidding while in the US Senate. We need a president like Bernie Sanders who will not have to answer to his corporate donors. We need health care for all. Joe Biden is not going to substantively change our health care 'system'.
Americans are struggling right now. Many that read the NYTimes may not realize that, but it's a fact.
10
@MC but he Will make liberal appointments for the a Supreme Court vacancies that are surely to occur in the next 4 years. These appointments will have far reaching impact on our lives for a generation or more.
1
Amen.
1
If Sanders loses the nomination the honorable thing for him to do is announce his full support for Biden, ask his supporters to stop their bull headedness and support Biden. In a massive collective effort ... we must all support Biden.
As for infirmity.....the man we have now is certifiably infirm. He was from day one. In fact, he’s plain nuts.
As for rumors of Biden.....his campaign must play up the fact that in the past he stuttered and worked hard to deal with it. If he appears to fall over or search for words he is applying his learned anti stuttering techniques.
I believe Biden is sharp witted and will beat off this gutter life bully.
7
The appeal of a return to decency, civility, reason and collegiality appears to be growing by the hour. Biden was never my first choice, but he now represents all these things to me and many voters, who are sick to death of the eternal chaos, anger and divisiveness. I'm guessing it has worn out its welcome with the American people. I can live fine with a 4-year Biden interim, knowing he will build an administration of competent people and be a steady hand at the helm. We need healing and stability now, not more angry rhetoric from either side
14
Just to be clear when you say Bernie Sanders "demonizes entire sectors of American industry" you mean pharmaceutical companies and CEOs who overcharge on medicines developed using public funds, oil and gas executives who deny climate change and steal land by eminent domain for pipelines to export fracked gas, and baled out bankers while people lost their homes?
19
Stephen's, your last paragraph.
You don't "root" for President Trump's, or, any President's "success"? Why not? Partisan.
1
@RLF
That's not what 'partisan' actually means.
"What Me Worry?" said Mayor Pete if Joe Biden wins?
2
This is both side-ism at its worst.
4
Folks, the cow left the barn. We can't go back to the Neoliberal heyday by pushing a cognitively impaired candidate with no policy agenda.
11
If the least inspiring candidate since John McCain wins then I expect I will not only tune out all his boring ramblings.
Maybe the only silver linings will be the V.P. or S.C. picks?
3
So basically you hope he'll be a Republican in all but name.
12
“If Joe wins...” is a terrible frame for an article.
It should be “Trump should lose because...”. Joe’s just a placeholder.
5
Ain't that the truth.
2
Mr. Trump will crush Mr. Biden. So, you can stop wondering now.
11
If Biden wins, Trump declares election “fraud” and, as President for 2 1/2 months, declares a 4 year investigation (backed by martial law, as necessary) because of “the attack on our democracy by Left Wing enemies of The People”. All supported by Barr, McConnell’s Senate and — when it gets to the Supreme Court a year or so later —by the “conservative” majority.
Impossible to imagine?
4
Joe Biden is non campus mentis. His rapid mental decline is stark and startling. It should be of great concern to everyone. To use this husk of a man to ride to the White House is a cruel and cynical joke.
12
If Biden wins the nomination I fear we will see a rerun of the 2016 election and dread the notion of a 2nd term for Trump. If my fear in that regard is unfounded & Biden beats Trump & Trump actually leaves office (the latter a big if, never mentioned by the pundits), I fear Biden will be a wholly ineffective placeholder, & nothing more, leading to the return of Trump or a Trump stand in, Pompeo perhaps or Ivanka.
3
Biden was not my first choice. But I ask of every democrat to back Biden even if he was not their choice!
I really do not believe that Sanders would make it against Trump. I can understand the disenfranchised wanting to hang onto the valiant promises made by Sanders, but it is simply not going to happen with him. Yet I am also a European who can have access to universal coverage in my country of origin and I feel for the people who have no health coverage at all here! There is much to correct. But making a 180 degree turn is not the way to do it. Not with him.
5
Biden will win if he can attract enough independents and moderate Republicans to make up for pouting adolescent Bernie-acs who will try to repeat 2016. He will appeal to more of the few adult progressives if he humbly states that his past decisions were his best efforts given the circumstances and information he had, and he might decide differently today, but he can't change the past. He could well make it as president if he makes Amy Klobuchar his VP and listens to her.
2
It's disingenuous for people who say that Sanders's ideas cannot work or cannot win over Americans when it is THEY who are the ones preventing it from happening.
This is the same mentality when I observe GOP politicians who say that "Hey, your ideas cannot work" but they are also the same ones that have been throwing a wrenches in the machine since the 1980s.
8
Mr. Stevens, allow me to complement one of your sentences:
"I won’t have to worry about getting my health insurance taken from me,..." [and continue not to worry about the folks with no insurance, some of which die from trivial, treatable diseases].
Isn't that what you meant?
11
And they wonder why Sanders can be a bit impatient after wanting nothing more than a basic cornerstone of civilization.
9
My favorite recent Trump quote: Feb 25, 2020:
If the Democrats win:
"Trump told business leaders stocks will jump higher if he is re-elected, but “if I don’t win you’re going to see a crash like you’ve never seen before."
I will vote for a tree stump ( even if it isn't related to Mike Pence, the dullard of the Trump administration, charged with pandemic response.....) if it's blue. I don't care who it is, it will stem the tide of ineptitude and bungling like we've never seen....
On to our regularly scheduled Pence update ( today 5pm)..
"Currently there are 10 known cases of Comey-19 in the United States, and since the virus has been contained, we no longer have to worry....Florida is ending all testing....here's out expect Kelly Conway to give details...."
5
Stop worrying over the small stuff.
The big stuff to worry about is the American Democratic system itself. It is fundamentally flawed, unworkable, dysfunctional, broken, wasteful, unfair, just all around bad.
How is it possible to ignore the facts & evidence? Congress is a swamp of incompetent blowhards. Nothing got done. Infrastructures are old and crumbling. Any outbreak of diseases will bankrupt and cripple families. Gun violence is a given. Prisons are filled to the brim with blacks and other minorities. Middle class is vanishing. Income disparity gap is getting wider. Student test scores are miserable compared to kids from other nations. Ecological protection is laughable. The list goes on & on. These are the big stuff. Start worrying.
324
@Observer
Great points but the under Trump residency attempting to address most of the problems you mention are not even on the radar, so getting a new administration elected is big stuff
28
We are hysterical with worry. The only way to find hope to go in is to fight for a Sanders administration.
18
@Observer
And it is worth mentioning that these problems are mostly caused or exacerbated by republicans.
53
Here is an interesting historical parallel:
"Is Joe Biden the American Brezhnev?"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/06/biden-soviet-russia-status-quo-democratic-ussr
"This election cycle the Democratic party has been presented with not one but two compelling campaigns for structural reform in the shape of Elizabeth Warren (who dropped out on Thursday) and Bernie Sanders. Both candidates have offered a sustained critique of the country’s economic model and argued that it is to blame for the rise of Donald Trump at home and has fuelled authoritarian kleptocracy abroad. Their campaigns consistently highlighted the unsustainable nature of the current trajectory when it comes to not just the financialisation of the US economy, but the failed approaches to healthcare, college debt, climate breakdown and defence. And, issue by issue, the progressive diagnoses and treatments for these ills have shown themselves to be highly popular.
Biden has effectively been the campaigner against structural reform: rather than articulating where he thinks the left flank’s analysis fails, he chooses to criticise their solutions as unworkable or unelectable. He was being honest when he told rich donors “nothing would fundamentally change” if he were elected president...what kind of presidency this will be – a kind of caretaker government that will ...ignore the immense structural problems hollowing out the nation’s strength from within because they are too hard."
7
"they won't take my health insurance from me".........what a pusillanimous self absorbed comment. Whilst there 87MM uninsured & underinsured amongst us with covid 19, who are likely to to forego the testing as 60% of Americans cannot cover a $600.00 unplanned expense.
19
It seems a shame the Democrats couldn't pick a better candidate. I thought Klobuchar would be a better choice, but that's the way the votes went. If they are to get enough progressives to vote Biden I imagine they'll have to offer Warren a VP oppt'y, although Klobuchar would be a better bet to win over moderate Republicans who had enough of Trump, but wont go Biden Warren. I'm guessing Trump will want to counter with Haley as his choice, since Pence won't bring in any new voters to make up for the ones he'll lose to Biden. I'm already counting Bernie out which may be a mistake since Biden may revert to old form or worse between now and the nomination.
2
We should be grateful that your comfort level is restored, Bret, but I fear this country and beyond will regret the choices we made to follow those who claim to know better and stay within the known and “safe” lane.
There was a chance until a few days ago to take a leap of faith on someone to lead us who seemed to be secure enough in herself to genuinely care about making things better and is secure enough to quit gracefully and be ok about it when people like you scared enough of us to reject sanity.
4
And in retort, I say to you Mr. Stephens that under a Biden presidency I will have to worry about:
- immorally priced higher education costs
- immorally priced health care cost/coverage
- unpunished predatory Wall St. shenanigans
- useless and impotent regulatory agencies
- business-as-usual foreign policy objectives, particularly with Iran and the Middle East
- oligopolies allowed across all industries (media, tech, finance in particular)
- no real progress on the systemic devastation white supremacy and institutional racism have wrought (see median African-American wealth and income levels)
- trade agreements that destroy manufacturing and middle-class lifestyles, particularly for non-coastal residents
But I do concede that, yes, with a Biden presidency we can go back to sleep as usual.
16
for most electorates, it's all about electability against a backdrop of fear of 4 more years of trumpism.
1
What? You won't have to worry about your health insurance taken from you?
This is dishonest and disingenuous at the same time. It is elitist. It is selfish.
First, insurance will be given to everyone. And for the average American, what we pay out of pocket and in taxes will be less than we are paying now. We will not be slave to our employer for our insurance. We will be able to go to any doctor or hospital. We will not have to take the day off to fight for coverage (that we are paying for) with our insurance company.
What's wrong with you? Quit doing Trump's job for him.
You may pay a bit more if you make $500k a year. What about the common good?
9
Knowing the choice of a Vice-President is equally important.
3
Biden will lose. So, keep on worrying about Trump.
7
The most important “if” not mentioned is if Trump gives up power.
1
Do you really think it would have mattered who the President was in our current situation with the coronavirus? It wouldn't matter if it was Trump, Biden, Sanders, or 'Roosevelt' in charge. Unfortunately, people don't understand that much of our medical 'response' supplies come from CHINA. That makes it difficult, and slows our response, when China is the source of the virus & they literally shut production down on virtually everything for months. I'm not talking just the production of chemicals/pharmaceuticals here. I'm talking parts for things like centrifuges, parts for machining things like syringes, etc. Even if the final product was made here, components for almost all things are made there. It makes it difficult for us to mass-produce things like test kits. We all know about the shortage of masks which are all made in China. The stock market is reflecting our companies' problems in making their products (e.g. I-Phones) without their Chinese components. We were/are WAY too reliant on China. The China reliancy issue is one thing you'd DEFINITELY have to worry about with a Biden presidency.
1
Good column. The comments are always a bit disturbing. I will vote for Biden. Not because I want to, but I have to.
6
I very rarely agree with you, but on this I agree completely. All I want right now is a chance to breath and to heal. Biden offers me that. Sanders offers me another 4 years of feeling left out. Sanders may not come close to trump, but there are times he does conjure up some version of trumpism in my mind. Biden never gives me that feeling.
Since I cannot convince enough people to vote for Hillary, I will put my faith in Biden.
First things first Brett. Let’s concentrate on getting rid of the poor excuse for a human being calling himself President. Worrying about anything else is nonsense.
7
Although any Democrat would be preferable to Trump, the reality is that, unless the Democrats control the Senate, the country will remain in gridlock indefinitely.
12
And maybe, if Democrats are able to take back the Senate with Biden at the top of the ticket, we will no longer have to worry about judicial candidates with destructive political agendas being given life time appointments on the Federal bench.
7
Republican philosophy has brought us to this point.
It’s Reagan’s dream.
It’s greed and selfishness.
It never seems to be about how the country is doing, but about how they personally are doing.
They don’t seem to care, but if the country as a whole is doing well, chances are they will be doing ok as well.
5
That's a huge "IF."
80% of Bernie supporters voted for Hillary yet were continually excoriated as Bernie Bros. Why would they vote status quo ever again?
Doubt even half will vote Biden this time, as Biden is less than half the person Hillary was.
Looks like a Trump landslide - and that's assuming the anti-status quo Bernie Bros do not vote for anti-establishment Trump.
12% voted Trump in 2016, maybe half will this time.
4
I often describe my job as that guy in the circus who balances plates at the end of a long stick. Usually, the highlight of the stunt is getting several plates going at the same time on multiple sticks. The performer runs back and forth spinning the wobbly ones keeping them from slowing down too much and stabilizing them for a few extra moments.
America is a bunch of wobbly plates right now. We don’t need a new act. What we need is some sense of stability. Someone who might not excite but will keep the plates from falling until we can move on in a neat and orderly way.
Another term by the current occupant of the White House will surely lead to a crash. Joe Biden isn’t exactly exciting, but I think he can guide us to a successful end to this sad act in American history. Brett, I think you are right on cue and can’t wait to disagree (and occasionally agree) with you on your critiques of Joe.
2
It's hard to consider someone a serious thinker when their writing is as choppy and confused as a third grader's, but with less sense of direction:
"If Biden wins only the nomination, I won’t have to worry that there’s a fair chance that, in Bernie Sanders, a man could be elected president who, without nuance or discrimination, demonizes entire sectors of American industry."
I think you meant "If Biden wins the nomination, I won't have to worry about a President Bernie Sanders indiscriminately demonizing entire sectors of American industry."
4
Why on Earth would Democrats listen to a lifelong Republican who puts his own financial well being above the interests of Democrats?
14
Back in Watergate time John Dean warned President Nixon there was a cancer growing on the presidency. I would like to warn all of us that there is a cancer in the current White House and it is rapidly growing throughout our entire country. Whether one picks Bernie or Biden to lead the chase it is imperative to excise this voracious disease.
5
So now we have to listen to how terrible the moderate candidate is after everyone listened to the huge landslide of "but the socialist will ruin everything" talk and started voting for said moderate?
2
"that nowhere in American politics do centrists have sway"
How is it that a senior writer for the New York Times does not seem to understand that "centrism" is a completely meaningless term? What does it mean, Bret, to be a centrist in a country that has swung so far to the right that it is knocking on the doors of fascism? The left IS the center. Or rather, the left is what the center used to be: reasonable, science-based, compassionate. In our current political climate, a centrist is, by definition, extremely conservative. But then, I can see why you would prefer such a thing.
9
I stopped reading when I got to the part where he is worried about Bernie taking “his” healthcare away.
That is SO Republican - “I’ve got mine, too bad about you”. No sense of anyone but self. No concern for those who can’t get health care. And with Coronavirus, he has no concern whether the people that prepare his food, and clean his office, have healthcare access.
Where do theses people get their values?
20
Lucky you, you can worry about getting your health insurance removed unlike many american who cannot afford it. Lucky you, you can write your ideas in a newspaper like The New York Times and bashed Senator Sanders in the meantime.
As you ask about unity in your article because some Sanders's supporters will sitout in this election if he is not the democratic nominee, you should take a look in the mirror. Wonder why there is so much division in this country just ask yourself why do you bother about writing a bias article about choosing a "decent"president. It's time to think about others and choose a candidate that has the best interests of most people and not just a "decent" one.
11
Do you want a president who mocks 16 year old girls and disabled people? Yes or no? I have to believe the majority of Americans will say no.
7
Decency, kindness, intelligence, considered response, cooperation, inclusion, strength, courage, patriotism.
Just a few reasons to vote for True Blue Joe
6
If Biden wins, we won't have to worry that a career criminal occupies the Oval Office or that his Soprano-like family and associates are hard at work destroying the American system of constitutional democracy. Whether Biden ever gives another speech or even opens his mouth during four years in office, we won't have to worry that a science-denying religious nutcase is put in charge of dealing with an epidemic. And we won't have to worry that the attorney general of the United States is engaged in an active criminal conspiracy to protect the criminal who appointed him to office.
7
If Sanders wins, I'd be worrying a lot less about people like the author of this opinion having their way withthe USA. I'd like that a lot.
12
Your fingers would fall off if you listed the dangers if Trump wins again.
5
Trump has been to lying like Babe Ruth was to hitting home runs, like Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay were to Mt. Everest and Albert Einstein was to The Theory of Relativity.
The greatest practitioner of the art and science of political lying the world has ever seen.
Hook the man up at the upcoming debates to a reliable lie detector machine and the machine will begin making strange noises, sending off sparks, wobbling on its axis and smoking within seconds.
If Biden does nothing more in his four years than begin telling the truth to the American people, he will have been a huge success.
3
When the Republicans throw Hunter Biden or Burisma at Biden, Democrats need to have a script ready to throw back at Trump. This should include all the corrupt self-dealing engaged in by Trump and his children. For example Ivanka using her White House platform to sell her jewelry and beauty products, the oldest son doing big real estate deals in countries he flies to on Air Force One, etc. Jared has been pulling off big real estate business.
Biden's son never did any of his Burisma dealings from inside the White House!
6
If Biden wins the nomination, you can go back to worrying because he won't beat Trump. And not because we Bernie supporters won't vote for Biden--most of us will vote for whoever the Democratic candidate is--but because Trump will make Biden look foolish and shady during the campaign.
If Biden couldn't do well in debates with fellow Democrats, how do you think he'll fare against Trump?
Bernie, who is grumpy but honest and devoted to what he believes in, will build a wall that Trump can only bang his head against. I believe he'll bring out the voters who have much more to lose--younger voters, the non-college-educated working & middle class folks profiled in yesterday’s Leonhardt & Thompson article in this newspaper—than do you, Bret Stephens—and to gain from a Bernie Sanders presidency.
7
Bret is truly one of Job’s “comforters.”
1
Wealthy and pampered people prefer Joe. Who would have guessed that?
7
“If Biden wins, it will not mean a great American presidency. It will mean a decent one. That will be more than enough for me.”
Dear Bret, I think you mean a “ great American President “ not “presidency” . Can you name a great presidency in our life time? We have had great Presidents, for me , Obama, but he made mistakes in Syria and Afghanistan. Clinton? He was masterful, but his presidency? Bush 1? Descent . W? Reagan? Awful but loved by the like of you. Yet, they begat the Teaparty and trump.
Biden is the one because trump is the end.
The choice is not about decency
I left out Bernie, because he is neither decent nor can beat trump
1
If there has ever been a moment when the need for Sen. Sanders’ main policy proposal of Medicare for All has been more self evident, it is now.
And yet what we get from the NYT is this utter nonsense.
8
I just wonder if Trump will order a military helicopter to come to the White House to pick him and his brood up, to haul them away when the new president takes over next year, January, 2021.
Why do I picture Donald Trump throwing out a combination of paper towels and red hats onto the White House lawn right before that helicopter takes off? That will be comparable to the Nixon farewell of holding up his “peace/victory” sign with his fingers...maybe farewell to a couple of Melania’s high, high heels, flung onto the ground, too.
Imagination.
2
Epic irony fail:
“I won’t have to worry about the president trying to criminalize his political opponent”
Did you mean with special counsel investigations, fake dossiers evidence, false leaks about alleged criminal conspiracies that never pan out, fraudulent FISA warrants and novel impeachment theories?
3
This column has a 'bless his heart' feel to it.
4
Right on the mark. Bret for President !
" ...won’t have to worry about getting my health insurance taken from me"
Where did that come from?!!
2
Should Biden win, I don’t have to worry about my President tweeting at 3:00 in the morning.
4
Biden may not be my first choice as nominee or candidate for the Presidency but he is better than all the others combined. Your ode to Biden says is more than enough for me to vote for him. I think so would you. Your last sentence sums it all. We need " decency ". Well put Mr. Stephens.
3
So far, Biden is all about being electable. There is no evidence that he has a program and, if that doesn't change, many young people on the left will not bother to vote.
The obvious solution to this problem is for Biden to invite Senator Warren to be his running mate. She will make sure he articulates a program, and my mouth waters at the prospect of a Warren-Pence vice presidential debate.
3
If Biden wins brace yourself for another recession as his priorities will be dictated by Bloomberg and Wall Street. If Biden is elected China will further damage our economy by selling off their horde of US bonds, which will drive the Fed Fund’s rate into negative territory and wipe out bond returns for retired Americans. If Biden wins the presidency two hundred thousand “asylum seekers” a month will cross our borders illegally believing that Democrats will let them stay. If Biden gets elected he will end The embargo against Iran and ISIS will resurrect their caliphate. If Biden is elected climate change will fade as an issue but nothing will get done. If Biden get elected Bernie Sanders supporters will start a third party movement. If Biden gets elected his public gaffs will make people forget how bad Trump’s Tweets were. If Biden gets elected America will not be so great—again.
2
@Raul Campos
and thanks for furthering the GOP's efforts to put Trump in the oval office for another four years.
2
Biden was never my first choice, not even my second or third.
Despite all his baggage, gaffes and memory lapses, he is overall more positive than negative - and also a human being that suffered great sadness losing his first wife, daughter and not long ago his adult son.
Biden will bring back a functioning government. He will surround himself with competent civil servants and Cabinet members.
He will talk to the press without a helicopter buzzing in the background and most probably have a press secretary with brains.
All he has to do now is win the Presidency in November.
4
"It will mean no great presidency, but a decent one."
Not so fast in dismissing the possibilities of a Biden Presidency.
I've experienced the like before.
In 1958, when I was ten-years of age, a very old Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was elected by the College of Cardinals, and he assumed the name, John XXIII.
John XXIII, as I clearly remember, was dismissed as a mere interim figure.
John XXIII, as he envisioned it, "opened wide the windows of the Vatican," making the open, beautiful Catholic Church I so love today.
I have always been so thankful for, loved and venerated St John XXIII.
Biden has dreamed of the Presidency for scores of years. Maybe, just maybe a one-term Presidency of Biden could too be transformative.
1
This piece speaks to all the ways that an upper-middle class, professional, white, male life is incredibly insulated from the repercussions of this election. Many of us wish we could be "worried" in the way that Stephens appears to be.
7
Everybody wants something. Universal health care, free college tuition, etc., but then we all complain about having to pay for any of it.
We can't have it both ways people.
2
We needed a uniting candidate in 2016.
We got Clinton, who up until today maintains her toxic attitude towards the progressive wing.
We need a uniting candidate in 2020.
Bloomberg took that position leaning in from the right, Warren from the left, but both are now out of the race.
Biden hasn't made any efforts to adapt to a more uniting agenda, or any agenda at all for that matter. We should all be concerned.
4
We can start having the painful and delicate political conversations about the root cause of the political division and talk about how to peaceful reform or move on from this construct. Or we can pretend that somehow one person can make it all go away.
Absolutely agree. With a Sanders presidency, I would worry about an economic meltdown not out of any reality, but rampant fears that will be stoked by the right wing. Another Trump term, however, would mean the end of all sanity and attachment to reality.
Yep, Biden is slow on the uptake and gaffe-ridden. He needs a younger running mate--Klobuchar?--who could step in at a moment's notice. But he has another asset as well--our last sane president, who surely will be on hand to exude calm and grace, and instill confidence, yet again.
1
Even if Biden wins, I worry that things will never be the same again. The federal judiciary is now being populated with young right wing Federalist society members who will shape things for years. Abortion and gay rights will still be attacked. Immigration will be an enormous issue. The executive branch, and specifically the presidency, has taken and been given enormous powers, and this leaves space for any other autocrat. There is no congressional oversight anymore.
But at least I won't fear the morning tweet.
1
Don't worry. Trump will eat Biden alive. Biden is exactly the kind of candidate Trump knows how to destroy. Now most incumbent presidents win a second term but I am one who thinks Sanders has a better chance of winning. Any Democrat will have a hard time unless the economy collapses, which looks likely due to coronavirus
4
@Tom Cuddy I fear that you're right. Biden is the self-serving (Hunter Biden, insurance company ties, ...), establishment candidate the heartland will vote against after Trump's campaign is done.
Bernie might lose too, but it's a new scenario and a lot more votes would be liable to shift than the locked up situation we have now, where a few hudred thousands votes in swing states determine the outcome.
1
what a surprise! i actually agree with stephens on much of this op-ed piece--except that he tends to demonize what bernie would do if elected and overlooks what needs to be done with our health care policy, student loan debt, minimum wage, etc. etc.
but of course, stephens is an old fashioned conservative.
i will circulate this editorial to friends. maybe biden (if he wins) will ask stephens to appear in a campaign ad.
1
Most importantly, we will have a President who believes in science and takes climate change seriously. The entire world will have a leader who wants to save it, not destroy it to line his own pockets.
3
Brett - how can you share this sensible endorsement of decency with the Trumpsters? I still hope they can hear reality. We are so far beyond policy disagreements in this country. Let's argue about policy differences when someone who understands those differences lives a 1660. Let's abandon the venality that is a day-to-day feature of Trump - who, incidentally sees all policy as self promotion. How can his supporters justify this when it is obvious he doesn't really care about them. Remember Melania's jacket anyone?
1
I would not be in the least surprised if conservative dollars are swelling the coffers of Our Revolution, Sanders’ dark-money Super Pac which doesn’t have to disclose its donors.
1
What a ridicules character assassination of Sanders. Biden represents the wreckage of the Democratic establishment's hopes. A status quo conservative corporatist neo con. But even that is far better than the despicable man in the office now. Stephens writes as if he is a person of tremendous insight and urbanity. He deceives himself. He gives full rein to his prejudices and packages them in a way to make them obvious to everybody. Stephens wants his readers to believe that Sanders will bring down the free enterprise system. That he will do crazy big gov't things that will ruin the USs economy. What he will do is work to give everyone in the country health insurance. He will fight to stop the unfettered growth of income mal distribution that dangerously benefits the wealthiest which is reaching dangerous proportions. He will work to end the preponderance of political influence that goes along with this concentration of wealth. His grass roots mov't strives to make the benefits of democracy challenge the power of big money.
9
If Biden chooses his running mate well, and addresses the very real problems with healthcare and student loans and foreign policy, then all your fears will disappear.
The country can’t take 4 more years of Trump’s venal incompetence and stupidity. It is mortifying to get incredulous calls from overseas colleagues: Trump won’t let passengers disembark from the cruise ship because...he doesn’t want the numbers to go up?
And it can’t take four years of Bernie’s inflexibility and division, either.
Choose a young, smart, transformative running mate, and do it now, Joe.
3
Stephens: "I won’t have to worry that...both...parties have become unrecognizable from what they were just five years ago;..."
This is the myth that the GOP suddenly changed from the days of Buckley, Reagan and self-respecting republicans who knew how to speak, sort of, and didn't desire to repulse everybody but their base. That is, before trump.
But the GOP was cruel and hypocritical long before trump came out of his sewer. It was xenophobic, anti labor, anti social programs, women's rights and equal pay. It allowed the racism that permitted Reagan's welfare queens and trump's lunatic birther nonsense.
We have seen through republicans for years. What they lack in intellectual rigor, they compensate with lying, cheating and stealing. What they lack in legitimate support from solid constituencies, they gerrymander and suppress the vote. Frump and the GOP were made for each other.
I won't rest until the GOP goes away and alters itself to resemble human beings with beating hearts and a desire to serve the country. Or at least refrain from destroying it.
6
If Hillary won you wouldn't be writing this column.
I am still filled with rage at Bernie supporters who cost her the win thinking she would be just as bad as Trump.
In what world?
One name - Neil Gorsuch. There's one huge difference that NEVER would have happened under Hillary.
We are living the horrible reality of the false equivalencies in some minds.
5
While you're seething at Bernie supporters, save some of your ire for Bloomberg who subsidized enough republican senatorial campaigns to produce the GOP senate majority we now enjoy.
4
I for one hope that if Biden wins, he follows the Trump playbook of lying, going after his Republican opponents, starts investigations on Trump’s crimes. In short: lets give the Republicans a taste of their own medicine.
2
Bret doesn't have to worry because he never was keen on any of the progressive ideas our country desperately needs.
I think Warren would have gotten more done.... I'm not crazy about Biden but it's far better than keeping the conmam Trump.
I still don't get why so many vote against their own interests.
2
Most people don’t share the same worries as a grown man who still lists his boarding school on his list of educational achievements.
5
The key words were “I won’t have to worry about getting my health insurance taken from me, or watch my savings shrink to nothing thanks to monetary policy on the Weimar Republic model.” White male with health insurance and savings is not going to be worried when we get more of the same, which is millions of mostly people of color without health insurance or savings. Truly privilege in action.
7
Don't doubt for a moment that Bret Stephens is anything other than a 'stalking horse' for Trump and all things Republican.
4
I'm a former journalist. I expect a spin from op-eds and editorials, such as this one. But I never expected a spin on news stories, which are supposed to be politically neutral. Most of this has to do with story selection itself: which stories are assigned, and which are deemed worthier at the news budget meeting that determines "play" (does the story go on the front page or inside pages?). Even there, the big-city newspapers--the only ones that are financially viable these days--seem slanted.
I wrote a comment on this column, produced by the editorial department, but this one has to do with the short shrift that the progressive movement is getting--the newsroom's handling, e.g., of the fears of establishment Democrats over Sanders' popularity. Why no stories about the progressive wing's fears of the party establishment? Why are these less legitimate, given that the progressive movement is growing by the day? (I appreciate the story about Virginia's progressives getting panicked on Super Tuesday, but it's not enough.)
For once, I'd like to see an op-ed titled "How Can We Stop Joe Biden?" or a news story that reminds us that opinion polls found Sanders deemed most electable. This focus on "electability" was, after all, created and stoked by the news media. But after that, it's good enough to simply quote the party brass opining that Biden is the one? Well of course they say that.
Is editorial bleeding into news? I always found that separation inviolable. What gives?
8
Hedging your bets by preemptively blaming Sander's supporters if Biden were to lose - just so you can't be wrong and accountable, is really lame. If you support Biden, then own it.
3
My favorite bumper sticker: “Any sane person in 2020.”
1
My ex wife and I were not partners in very much. Fortunately we were partners in parenting our two children, now in their forties.We constantly preached to them one big rule:”You must be DECENT “. Along with everything else that he is or isn’t, this president has not one shred of decency.Reason enough to “fire him”!
4
And so it has always, been, Bret....since politics went awry.
1
If Biden wins, I hope he will cancel all of Trump's executive orders on his first day. Fire all of his cabinet and have Miller thrown over the WH fence. Start the wheels rolling for Barr's investigation. Investigate Kavanaugh's past. Cooperate with Lettia Jame's campaign fraud investigation. Release Trump's tax returns. Replace Trump's Manhattan, and Palm Beach U.S. Justices. Subpoena Trump's personal accountant. etc.etc.etc.
2
If Biden wins I won't have to worry that the President is enriching his businesses by staying at his own resorts and charging us to house the Secret Service.
If Biden wins I won't have to worry that he is out playing golf when there is important work to do.
If Biden wins I won't have to worry the President is making up "facts" to hide his lack of knowledge of the situation.
If Biden wins I won't have to worry that his incompetent children will be given high level White House jobs which require security that his children could not get without Daddy over-riding the Secret Service.
4
No one knows what Sanders followers will do. But they will have some reasons to be discouraged about the Democrat's party. One thing the leaked emails uncovered was the active actions by the DNC and the party's establishment to stop Sanders surge in 2016. This time we don't need leaked emails. Article after article in editorials and Op-Eds such as in the NYT, talked about how to stop Sanders. Super delegates, brokered convention, and calls for candidates to drop out so that Biden, or until the debate Bloomberg , could prevail, were all ideas touted of how to stop Sanders. Sanders' supporters are zealots and he did well until he hit the south But they may not see that his policies sunk him, but as orchestrated by the party's establishment and their allies in the editorials an "Opinion" by Democrat leaning news agencies, undermining him. But Biden, if nominated, won't be running against a group of weak candidates or those with extreme left platforms. He will run against over 7 million new jobs, the unemployment the lowest in 50 years and for minorities, the lowest ever. For African Americans a poverty rate the lowest ever. He will also run against newly signed trade agreements and a peace agreement signed by the Taliban. Most important is he will run against a platform of "Promises Kept." He might also be running against a charge that his party tried to get rid of Trump by impeachment, but also impeachment of all of Trump's supporters. Biden has problems.
1
Well done, Brett.
Every day I pray that the trump nightmare will end in the 2020 election. Go Biden!
1
Decency is Joe Biden's primary holding card. That one word could NEVER be used to describe the current office holder, who is as indecent and crass a man as I have seen in 60 years of watching politics.
It took our country 2 years to figure out what a lying slandering scoundrel Joe McCarthy was. Let's hope and pray that by the time the next election rolls around Trump suffers the same faith as his twin.
2
Why not just get a job as Trump's speechwriter, or host a FOX News show. This is the sick talk that will get Trump elected.
4
You can have your decent Biden presidency. I'll take a great Trump second term.
2
The good news: Trump is most likely to win.
1
Trump has been a blight on, and a threat to, our democracy and our standing globally as a reliable ally. He is a liar and a cheat. He is a bully and a con artist. He is a sexist and a racist. He is a deplorable person with no redeeming values that I've seen. Who could be worse?
Could someone elaborate so called "weimar republic style of monetary policy" because last I checked the US didn't lose a war and was forced to pay draconian reparations to another nation. To me it seems a farcical attempt to tie modern social democratic policies that are based in science to something that will lead to the rise of something as gruesome as the NSDAP. So basically Fox News in "smart".
2
People are talking about Biden’s age, his occasional verbal gaffes, etc. I’ll take honest aging over narcissistic venality any day of the week. This election is primarily about elevating the soul of our nation to a higher level of honesty, decency, and integrity. Without that, we are lost. Almost on a daily basis, the presidential/GOP performance reminds me of the shortest verse in the Bible....”Jesus wept”.
1
Lord Bret.
Your kind of commentary is exactly why we got Trump. All the editorialists hen pecked the 2016 election so much so, that the NYTIMES and others missed the very hacking to their media/news online by the external to our nation malevolent nationalists whose identity is somewhat known.
I'm not reading the article.
Moving out and away from everything trump is critical and dire.
4
Biden is a decent man , Trump is the Ugly American, a Biden Presidency will restore America’s global reputation and credibility , both currently at all time lows .
"he’ll bend too far to appease his party’s progressive wing."
What Mr. Stephens is afraid of is that greedy, Wall St. oligarchs will finally have to start paying their fair share in taxes. NY Times: This is what you get when you hire someone who worked for the Wall St. Journal. There should be a litmus test: No former Wall St. Journalists need apply!
The US is a viciously-extreme capitalist country. That is the root cause of Trump, Trumpism, division, unfairness, racism and all the evil you can easily trip over all across America. Because capitalism is the most evil economic system possible. Capitalism DESTROYS democracy, it is anti-Christian and it destroys people replacing all positive human emotions and structures (including families) with greed, fear, hate, racism and authoritarianism. Need an example? Just look at the White House... this is what capitalism inevitable brings: fear mongering, hate, racism, bigotry and division. Capitalism is evil, so please stop wallowing in it Mr. Stephens!
5
If Biden wins..the nomination, I won’t have to worry that... Bernie Sanders...without nuance or discrimination, demonizes entire sectors of American industry.
I can see the bumper stickers now. "Help fight industrial demonization.Vote for Joe."
Everything you say after "if Biden wins the White House..." applies just as well if Sanders does. Admit it, because its an absolute fact, not an opinion.
2
Bret you wield an ax. Clearly you haven't suffered enough yet. Clearly you haven't suffered enough yet to revolt. You're far from ready to drop that ax and take up a pen, or grab a pot and ladle and join the millions upon millions of non-existent protestors not decending on Washington and other centers of power not marching in the streets. But you know you're not alone in your self-serving intrangience. The black community with its own internal power structure was unwilling to drop its ax. It turned its nose up at Pete and Amy and Elizabeth, obvious resources at their disposal who would advance Black's quality of life could their administrations have won the presidency. Would you even have a platform were you to write a thorough, honest explication of the power dynamics that govern our daily lives? I can't think of one given who controls print, broadcast, and electronic media now. Those whose quality of life was forever profoundly diminished by the IT revolution that destroyed work for them forever will never drop their ax. Will you ever explicate the effects of corporate advertising that flogs us incessently to buy, to consume, to want stuff, to want lifestyles that make what we can afford never good enough? Bernie, Biden, Trump, the failure of Pete - are symptoms. Their ineffectiveness are determined and determinative. The world's elite boils the cauldron of a pandemic out of control, a broken supply chain, and all of our societal illness. I dare you to write about that.
2
With Biden the unknown is who is manning his strings.
Biden was chosen by the DNC because he is not smart enough to think for himself. He is pliable.
The problem is that he may be so far down the dementia path that it will be impossible to hide.
The puppet is what the DNC wants, so you know that is obviously detrimental to the interests of US citizens.
4
Joe is a decent human being. He's in good health for a person of his age, and takes very good care of himself. He may misspeak or forget, but no more than your typical, healthy 77 year old.
Joe will assemble the greatest team in modern American history. He will select a woman for his Vice President.
On every issue -- health care, child care, climate, affordable housing, guns -- he will advance the Democratic Party agenda.
Plans, not pipe dreams.
Well. happy day! A re-run of the last presidential election! But this time instead of running a woman candidate with baggage, the Democratic establishment is putting forth Joe, a candidate whose best days are obviously in the distant past, thereby pushing aside Bernie, a stronger potential choice who self-identifies as a -- horrors! -- democratic socialist. What could go wrong?!
We've seen this movie before. Permit me to pass on this one.
6
@Lawrence Rogers A pass is a vote for Trump.
The smartest thing Biden could do to win would be to have Stacey Abrams as his vice running mate. She is a star and would make all black and white dems Americans vote.
2
You said it, Bret. In a word, Decency.
All the right wingers cannot get enough of advocating for this Dinosaur of the Lieberman era, a Democrat of the Reagan Era accomplished in accommodating Republican policy. That this right wing columnist is suddenly weighing in, should be a clue to sober Democrats not to not to fall for this.
Thank you
Stefan Brün
Chicago
3
If Biden wins we will have a possibly demented (arrested while visiting Mandela, really?), dull normal of questionable integrity as President. I was hoping for an Elizabeth Warren Presidency-now that would have been a real step up!
2
And Bret won't have to worry that we'll have a president like Bernie Sanders who has the crazy idea that Israel should grant everyone in Judea and Samaria equal rights, regardless of race. That's why Bret wrote a column titled "Why Bernie Scares Me" that, strangely, never even mentioned Israel.
4
Joe Biden has become the blank face we project all our faces on, and that's "the village" it will take to end the Trump nightmare. If Biden wins, we'll be free again to roll our communal dice,
Not one mention of climate change. I hope our "safe" vote for Biden means we can all swim and/or drink our own sweat.
1
If Biden is to win, he will need effective slogans. May I suggest "Bigly for Biden"?
1
If Biden wns, you'll have your precious status quo back and continue not really doing anything about America's many problems -- except, of course, getting paid to talk about them all the time.
4
97% of all death from Covid-19 in Italy occurred in people 60 and older. When the Corporate Democrats get done laughing and snubbing their noses at progressives who do you think will come out and vote?
3
"But I’ll never feel ashamed to think of him as my president"
Bingo.
1
Biden vs. Sanders, a battle of attrition between two boring Donkeys. Let the games begin.
2
Decent will be having a president who doesn’t treat more than half of America as his enemy.
1
Bret you want the lazy easy way out. Your real work is rebuilding your moral sewer of a party and ideology. Instead you spend all your time occupying the Democratic Party and contest. Usually I welcome anyone who wants to work against Trump but in your case I’ll make an exception. Go away. Fix your own house. No one in the Democratic family cares at all what concerns you about *our* party. You’re a guest here. So be polite and quiet or get out.
8
When Biden gets the Dems predetermined nod to run for President against Trump, President Apathy again will win, and Trump will remain in office. In 2016, Hillary got 27% of the vote, Lying-Cheatin’ Donny got 26%, 90 million citizens stayed home and didn’t vote so that President Apathy got 43% of the vote. The Biden pick will ensure that the apathetic couch potatoes can sit at home on their brains. Biden doesn’t seem have the same fire that Donald Trump has to force people out of their homes to vote.
2
We can only hope. And pray.
Thank you Bret for creating a power point of truth for the excusers of a failed presidency.
1
I find it literally insane that there is no mention of climate change in this article. Literally insane. That's all that needs saying about it.
3
Reading this column I was reminded of a quote I was struck by from John Le Carre’s “Russia House.”
“You have to think like a hero merely to behave like a decent human being.”
Still looking for some decent politicians.
1
Biden's campaign slogan should be "Make America Good Again'. If our current situation is 'Great', I've had enough.
1
Given his age, Biden's choice for vice president is vital.
And if Joe Biden is president, we will know that there's a great Democratic farm team that he will help mentor. So when the time comes, the torch will be passed to Abrams, Bennet, Booker, Bullock, Buttigieg, Demings, Jeffries, Klobuchar, O'Rourke, Porter, Schiff, Yang, and dozens of other men/women of all races, colors, creeds, religions and sexual orientations who will have their turn to lead the drive to the just society we all have worked our lives to achieve.
Bret, it seems rather ingenue that you will be rooting for Biden's success while already planning to "write column after column opposing him on policy grounds." Perhaps after the damage of the current administration, more good will is in order. We're going to need some superglue to bring things back to order.
Yes. How we need decency, calmness and kindness from the White House. And how we need to be free from crudity. Criminality and insanity.
Hit the ball, Joe, make it a homer.
If Biden is elected, Leonard Leo might have to find a hobby other than ensuring that unqualified right wing sycophants are appointed to every federal judgeship and DOJ position.
If Joe WINS, Donald Trump goes to jail with Michael Cohen, if he does not resign soon after 2020 Election and secures a PARDON by MIKE PENCE before JANUARY 20, 2021.
You know what, what is Biden's greatest strength?
LOW EXPECTATIONS!
Anyone would love to be in that position....
Joe, keep it up and keep working in baby steps to help ALL Americans.
1
Wow, Bret,
You really need to read this article elsewhere in your paper:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/us/bernie-sanders-voters.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
Too many people, and especially people like you, just think Sanders supporters are foolishly ill informed and think they should get a lot of "free stuff". Please read about this young man who I'm sure you would think should be a young Republican, 'up by his bootstraps' and all that. It just doesn't work.
Please read about all this guy and his wife e will STILL have to worry about even if Joe Biden manages to win.
7
For now, let's just focus on beating Trump, shall we?
1
The one thing, Brett, that I have seen you write is "I will vote for Biden", or whoever.
You boys nibble around the edges, campaigning for the most Republican Democrats, threatening us with prissy politics that lead to you to imply a Bernie candidacy would force you back into Trump's welcoming if saggy arms.
Cowboy up, dude. Say something plain, simple, direct. Say, for once, you will neot vote for Trump, regardless of the alternative.
1
Bret. In other words he Will Make America Great Again. Fulfilling our destiny. Your greatest nightmare. Evangelicals will rejoice in having a true champion and not a charlatan in office. I guess you will go to sleep for four years.
Bernie has it right. You have a job, probably no student debt and good health insurance.
I am OK so you are OK. I am not worried so you should not worry.
Great philosophy, Brett. You can go now.
6
I am burning with fury and grief over Joe Biden. And I am not alone.
2
You know, Joe Biden struggled with stutturing as a kid. Captain Sully wrote an op-ed here, becauase he too struggled with it during his life. How hard is that, kids making fun of you. And then adults.
It is a very hard stumble in life to overcome. I admire those who have done so.
Go my Joe!
1
You will still need to worry about the Republican Party's endless muckraking of fictional scandals (again) to hamstring a democratic administration with lies, falsehoods, unconstitutional blockages, and win AT ALL COSTS politicking. There is no limit to their iniquity.
1
"That he’ll appoint judges with cramped views of religious liberty and free speech."
.. Brett's dog whistle for a judge who believes in a woman's right to choose.
1
If Trump remains in power the country needs a revolution to stabilize our Democracy.
Sorry but I have served the country for many years and at my age and health I will have to watch on television if I do not leave the world by the virus.
In my city there are no test kits for the coronavirus. Trump, Pence are all liars.
Trump supporters what are you thinking?
2
Why am I beginning to think that "decent" is a euphemism for "not very bright"?
6
The real virus started with Trump. He infected this country with hatred and bigotry. A house divided cannot stand. ANYONE running under the Democratic banner for President is preferable.
1
Awww, I don't want wittle Bret Stephens to lose a wink of sleep over the *gasp* horror of a Bernie Sanders win (clutches pearls). Guess we'll go with the "safe" candidate who can't string a sentence together and his utterly loathed by half the party. Just so Bret and his ilk can sleep at night clutching on to their dollars!
7
Be original, tell us what you like about his health insurance, Mr Stephens.
3
Bret, couldn’t read past the first several sentences! Once again, you are criticizing the Democrats, attempting e us advice, etc.! Let me say, that I am a former Republican. I would rather vote for a 78 year old, Joe Biden with an occasional gaffe, than the current Republican president!
1
Trump is accused of draft dodging, does this apply to Biden as well?
Biden is almost 80 and he can barely complete a coherent sentence, and doesn't know which US state he is in a lot of the time. That is scary!! This doesn't worry you? Why is the mainstream media covering this up?
2
And what if Bernie is the nominee? As a never Trumper, would you support him just as whole heartedly? Can we count on you to “Vote (and publicly support) blue no matter who?” Because judging from your past columns, I’m legitimately not sure.
4
Who cares what you think Bret Stephens. Your party left you far behind and you have only the Democrats to rely on. Your concerns about whoever comes out of the Democratic Party primary process and hopefully the presidency are irrelevant.
4
And you won’t have to worry about a First Lady that is a clueless embarrassment. Jill Biden is accomplished and amazing and will uplift the role to what it should be.
1
Well said Bret Stephens and I will not have nausea after reading the Times in the morning
If Biden wins, your money will be safe, Bret. You still will go to elite restaurants and parties. Little will change for the problems of the lower SES and stagnated middle SES folks. However, you can peruse the restaurant reviews in the Times and feel comforted that all is well. You will have your beloved private insurance and not have to worry about co-pays and medical bankruptcy.
The world will be good. Latte and little less racism to make the white world feel guilty about overt racism. Implicit racism will still ravage it's victims. Enjoy your soy milk.
4
You forgot that you won’t have to worry about America’s diminishing reputation abroad or about flipping your passport over while waiting in the immigration line for sheer embarrassment for what our leader represents.
1
The big worry for most long term thinkers is that Trump is just like Kaiser Wilhelm. He does not want wars, but may through his foolishness, get into one. Then he will say, as the Kaiser did, "I did not want this".
1
Here is a Biden story for you- Joe told it at a political gathering to support Bob Edgar when he was running for Congress from DELCO in the Philly suburbs. It happened in a log cabin restaurant long since demolished. Joe gets up and says he was campaigning in Delaware where the southern part of the state is very rural and pretty red. He is driving around trying to find the local fire company where he was giving a speech and he pulls into a gas station to ask directions. He tells the guy he is going to the fire company to hear Biden speak.And the guy replies " Me and Joe are just like this." holding his hands to show how close they are.
I hope “cramped views of religious liberty and speech” don’t mean what I think it does?
Getting Trump out of office is crucial to the future of the United States. Biden will be a thousand percent better alternative, along with just about every other Democrat who who threw their hat in the ring. Desperate times result in desperate measures.
It's kind of what country comedian Minnie Pearl -- playing the lovelorn woman -- used to say:
"I met a feller the other day. He was just my type -- he was breathin'."
We would all breathe easier with Biden as president.
Well spoken.
Yet not enough emphasis was placed on the abject immorality and lack of ethics rampant in this current administration.
Objective truth will once again (hopefully) take a prominent position in our considerations, and our institutions can take a collective sigh of relief.
I am tired of hearing about how Bernie supporters will not vote for Biden, if he is nominated. It's like people are already setting the narrative if Biden loses the general election. The only people I have actually seen voicing their opposition to voting for a candidate are the democratic elite; and they won't vote for Bernie period. Even 80 some out of 90 delegates stated this according to the NY Times. I am a Bernie voter, but I will vote for Biden if he is the nominated even though he is a terrible candidate and will do nothing to help people below the top ten percent if elected. I believe, however that he will lose and it won't be because of Bernie voters.
5
@drhominidae Joe Biden draws votes from all demographics, whereas Bernie does not. If Bernie had moderated his positions over the last 10 years he could have easily won the nomination and the presidency. That he did not shows that he doesn't quite get it.
Not that he should diverge from what he truly believes, but that he needs to accept the reality that most people do not want him as the preferred antidote to Trump.
1
@dmckj
I think Bernie's win in Nevada negates what you said. I also want to point out that you did not address anything I stated previously.
3
I like Joe Biden but worry that he might be in the early stages of dementia. Some of the things he says make no sense and at times he seems detached from the world around him. But, then again, so does the guy currently sitting in the White House.
2
That you express a great concern should former VP Biden win the Presidency regarding possible policy decision is at the very least mis-founded and possibly down right delusional. The possibility of the damage Trump would do in a second term is far larger and with long term consequences to our governance far greater than any of your concerns. For once try to live in the real world and stop speculating what may happen. We have already seen the disaster which is the Trump Presidency.
2
If Biden wins, Trumpism isn't going away. I haven't heard Biden talk about how he's going to make things better for Americans who are working furiously to get their piece of the American Dream. How will Biden help those struggling to get out of poverty? How will Biden help our young people crushed with college debt? How will Biden help Americans with no health insurance or inadequate insurance? If he doesn't explain how he's going to lift up the average American, he will not attract Trumpers, young people or progressives to his side. Biden needs to stop running on the platform that he was Obama's VP, that he's a nice decent guy. Personality is not enough. We need a visionary not someone living in the past. We need Bernie Sanders.
5
You had me right up to the last sentence...
Beautifully, elegantly and wisely stated.
1
The last thing I’ll worry about is losing my Heath insurance to Medicare for all.
Every raise we have gotten over the last decade has been eaten up by increases in health insurance.
Our deductibles are ridiculous and copays so high that you think twice about seeing the doctor. My portion of a test I had done in January was $400. I have a $700 bill from last year that’s been put in review limbo (no yes, no no, no payment and I fear I’m going to have to pay for it to keep it from getting sent to collections). The drug plans not covering all of my meds, so I’m forced to pay out of pocket.
Worried should losing my ‘great plan’. I think not.
8
@Mich
It’s even worse when you realize that the only goal of a health insurance company is to drain money out of healthcare for profit.
They offer NOTHING of value.
6
Biden’s certainly a better alternative than the current occupant of the White House, but that’s a laughably low bar.
Biden appeals to voters who:
- Are more or less well off.
- Don’t interact with people on the margins and thus know nothing of their struggles.
- Have zero idea of the scope and corrosive effects of the wealth inequality that exists in the US.
- Have some kind of healthcare and can’t imagine changing to a better system that might help someone less fortunate than themselves.
- Claim that they want change but don’t want to have to actually do anything differently.
- Spend zero time thinking about and participating in government.
Biden is the preferred candidate for people who want a government that takes no effort on their part - government of the lazy, by the comfortable, and for the clueless.
7
@Mark Proulx Lots of misstatements in this.
Medicaid has been greatly expanded under the ACA, unless Trump succeeds in ending it.
The US is under a staggering debt load largely because of a combination of Reagan, Bush II, and now Trump. A huge expansion of Medicare and pie-in-the sky 'day care for all' is unaffordable unless we wish to become a democratic socialist state with tax rates of 50% plus, which is, of course, what Bernie would like to see. My liberal summer neighbors in Maine recently sold their house house in Vermont (Bernie's home culture) because everything, everywhere had become too regulated and PC. Is that really what we want in the U.S.? Not for me.
Bret Stephens reasonably outlines the choices, and makes a case for even moderate Republicans (the few left) to vote for Biden.
1
But isn't there so much that we would continue to worry about? The Democratic establishment failed with Obama's promise of change that never came as he hunkered down on the same civil liberty busting, corporate deregulating (and an extraordinary bailout) and empire building that Bush brought. Obama's win was marketing more image than substance. Biden is no savior, he 's a systems manager of all the neoliberal policies that minimize the needs of working people over the demands of corporatism. We're not fooled in how little difference there is between Democrats and Republicans. Pushing Biden is pushing the stars quo that has seen stagnant wages and surges in profits for those who needed it the least. Do better than this. Oh I forgot NYT is a part of the Establishment that would benefit if Biden wins.
4
Thank you. I took your remarks about what you will continue to worry about as your centrist bonafides and needn't argue details about health care, etc. The task at hand, now that we put ourselves in this queasy spot in history (thanks to Russia, Hillary's overconfidence and the Feel the Bern boycott of the election) is to restore some dependability and credibility to our democracy and institutions. I hate to think my (our) legacy is to have allowed this great democratic experiment to fail in less than half a millennia. Democracy is a messy form of government, filled with these (hopefully) temporary swings into insanity. But, it beats every other option out there and we have to tenaciously protect its credibility in the eyes of the public and the world.
1
Don't you think it would be a good idea to install Universal Healthcare now? Then at least we'd be in the mid 20th century instead of the early 1900s.
4
"If, despite this, Biden wins the presidency, I’ll worry that, as a potential one-termer, he’ll bend too far to appease his party’s progressive wing. That he’ll do so in order to cut a figure for history. That he’ll over-empower federal agencies, overregulate business and overtax individuals. That he’ll appoint judges with cramped views of religious liberty and free speech. That he’ll resume a policy of appeasement toward Iran."
You need to worry about making sense. If Joe Biden wins and we keep the House and win the Senate SS, Medicare, and Medicaid will be protected. Education will be enhanced and there will be infrastructure and climate regulations.
1
Bret. Thank you. You make a lot of sense to assume the good we can all see under a Biden presidency.
Biden has a lot of homework to do between now and the time of nomination. So far, Biden has succeeded in capturing a number of States and Delegates. It is not what Biden expected. There are some States he won, and did not even visit. If he won in those States, it is all because of the initial endorsement in SC, and those that followed.
Biden does not have new policy ideas, and has not explained what clear policies he has. What we are not saying here, are those progressive policy ideas of Sanders and Warren. There is a sizeable vote base who have supported these two candidates. Will Biden take into account the voices of Sanders and Warren? Biden should not ignore them as Socialist ideas. To do so, he may be deprived of the needed votes in November, 2020. That will only make this Opinion, a wishful thinking.
1
I think the idea that Biden beats Trump is a fallacy. Biden is a candidate that is almost identical to Hillary , in order to beat the fake populism of Trump we need a real populist a progressive and we all know that's Bernie.... when I say Biden is like Hillary I mean the planks of his platform are nearly identical and it wasn't enough to sway union and working people particularly in the rust belt... Bernie's medicare for all, universal childcare, free education through university, guaranteed living wage all resonate with those folks wining their votes back from Trump.. Biden is not offering any such policy....
5
If Biden wins it actually could be a great and inspiring presidency because of the decency, successful experience, proven leaderships skills, continuity, and a lot of help from his friends and advisors, young and old. Biden is likely to bring the country together under the most esteemed patriarch. That would be a great and wonderful thing. I find Biden an inspirational leader!
3
Bret Stephens writes a column I agree with 100%. I’m gonna mark this day on my calendar because it’s a weird day. A wormhole of some kind has opened. We all must prepare. Biden will be a good President for all of us.
2
So many people who have commented have already given away the election to Trump. The first lesson from Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny is “Do not obey in advance”. If you want to keep what democracy we have, you do not want to be thinking about what authoritarian leaders want and giving it to them. Authoritarian leaders want to keep us divided because if we are united, they have no power. The sniping at each other because we want one leader or another doesn’t do us any good, especially if we actually share similar values and wishes. See if there are ways we can connect with each other. And above all, resist the urge to despair.
3
@Jan Warfield
and of course Snyder's words are lost on Sanders' supporters...but then a large segment of those supporters were never going to vote anyway.
1
I’ve put my words down. Maybe they will have a positive effect on someone. I refuse to give up.
If Biden wins, the Democrats will be in power, and the Left side as well as the Moderate side can work together to fix problems that many commentators wrote about. If Sanders wins, there will be acrimony instead of compromise.
3
If Republicans control the House Or Senate and Biden wins we can look forward to ENDLESS Burisma and Hunter Biden hearings and investigations as character, nepotism and corruption are suddenly rediscovered as legitimate concerns by Senator Mitch McConnell.
5
It fills me with such a great sense of inner contentment when I consider how Bret Stephens and Jennifer Rubin (wapo) and I have come together in a warm intellectual embrace at least until Trump is banished to the outer darkness forever and then the more or less good-natured squabbling can resume. May it be so.
2
With Biden (or Sanders) I won't worry about the next Supreme Court nominee.
9
@John G
Unless the Dems fail to take the senate, and if Mitch McConnell is still there , he will block appointments like he did Merrick Garland.
1
A few thoughts: Before Stephens and others “write off” progressives: In the Blue states ( the ones Democrats might actually win ) the progressive combination of Warren and Sanders may have won over Biden and Bloomberg ( Stephens 1st choice ) in votes and delegates.
IF Stephens, and other neo-cons, had not promoted a 6-7 Trillion dollar war.....with continuing increased Military spending, we might have had the capital or borrowing power to give U.S citizens benefits most culture take for granted. The ones he clearly believes we do not deserve.
And finally, for his blatant selfishness, especially with out current health crisis, stating that healthcare for all will cost him in some way. Sad.
8
If Biden wins, I will no longer be ashamed to be an American. Biden will not take up too much real estate in my brain......he will not suck the life out of our country ((and me). There will no longer be a daily outrage of sheer incompetence. The gross meanest and self dealing will end. Yeah, Biden will have my vote!
6
It is well publicized that Sanders' base consists of first time and young voters with significant density in and around liberal university campuses.
That base is a mirage when vote counting is done.
2
Ah -- but what if Biden choose Elizabeth Warren as his running mate? That will keep some number of Sanders diehards voting Democratic, hold onto suburban well educated women turned off by the sexism of the American public, and might mean that the Dems will do what must be done to fix ACA, to re-regulate the banks and financial institutions so that we don't see a repeat of 2008, and protect women's reproductive rights. Then we can expect Bret to start screaming again that the Dems have capitulated to "socialism."
4
This article is about how the worst of one candidate is better than that the other two. For all the talk of inclusion and diversity, the choice is now between three old, white men. Two of them have destructive ideas and the third one shows signs of cognitive limitations. How about if the choice is between Nikki Haley, Tulsi Gabbard and even Ivanka Trump? Listen to them - they are far more impressive. They radiate confidence, energy and thoughtfulness. Imagine a parallel debate - why imagine, why not do it? Then we will know how badly broken our political system that makes mediocrity rise to the top.
@KS You had me until you put Ivanka on your list. I simply can not STAND the thought of another entitled, uber-rich person who only has position because of her father. I can just go to work for that...
All of Mr. Stephens' recent work seems underwritten by a yearning for the prelapserian times before digital media and platforms. These by nature bifurcate and polarize their content. They can transform the modest proposals of moderates into polemic. Democrats can well be grateful for the moderating impulse and drift to Joe Biden's renewed viability. This is again one of their primary options. But Stephens' skepticism, at the beginning of this essay, toward Biden's more progressive initiatives, is dismissive. Nor is Bernie the Prince of Evil, even if binary digital logic can paint him as such. A bit more media=awareness will moderate Mr. Stephens' otherwise discerning commentaries.
1
Brett Stevens has many good points. I am very nervous that Biden may not bring the Sanders voters over without coopting his views. Like many people who supported Trump, they are of the belief that government is not responsive to their concerns. And that is a real concern for the electorate, as many believed Trump was their only choice. Now that Biden is in the delegate lead, he must reach out to Sanders' voters concerns--like Warren did. I will vote for Biden if he is the nominee. He is not a privileged elite like some have labeled him; he doesn't know how to be like that, as he has a humble life story from Scranton, not dissimilar from Elizabeth Warren, the smartest living person I have ever witnessed. Let's give Biden a chance, doing so in a respectful way to Senator Sanders and his allies.
4
Bret.
Your premises are biased ergo your assumptions are flawed.
Your extrapolations reveal your own projections of tribal stereotypes, and therefore further, "the other side" is evil agenda.
The only thing that I agree with is your conclusion ,not because of your rationales, but because the vast majority Americans are decent people just like Biden.
His "infirmity" towards misquotes, wrong details, and general gaffes are built in. His flaws are there for everyone to see, including him, at the age of 77, still fighting his life long struggle with a stutter.
I am telling that he will win by at least 20million votes not because of or in spite anything he says or has done but because this is a referendum on Trump and it will be a repudiation of everything he is, which plainly put, is a horrible person.
Joe Biden will win because he embodies what most Americans see themselves as, which are good, hard working, honest people with heart and empathy and a sense of fair play, and yes, good old common decency.
4
"If Biden wins, it will not mean a great American presidency. It will mean a decent one. That will be more than enough for me."
Well Bret, it's not enough for progressives. Why? Because here in Texas, minimum wage is still $7.25/hour. Let that sink in for a minute. That's not enough to buy a fast food meal. So when we want change quickly, we are bashed and attacked for it. It's not enough for us to want change in 10 or 20 years because we have bills to pay now. I work in ophthalmology and the last three interviews I had, the companies told me they no longer offered health insurance to their employees. Doctors' offices did not offer health insurance! Americans can't even afford to have children anymore because childcare is so expensive.
And now moderates are telling us to vote blue no matter who, our values mean nothing, we must wait another 10, 20, or 30 years for them to be addressed, and we must vote for a demented 77 year old guy who is guaranteed to offer us none of those things we need right away to improve our quality of life? But that's because Trump is worse. No one in would ever hire Biden in the private sector. He couldn't perform the job duties consistently. How is he an acceptable choice for president?
4
@Kristin You won't get what you want in any reasonable time just because you vote for Sanders or if he were president. Your state and local government is responsible for that, organize to push them out. THAT will improve your fates sooner than ANY president will. Truth.
I had it with the intellectual dishonesty of so called conservatives always raging about the Iranian regime (which, by the way, only came to existence to compete with Saudi Arabia's anti-modernity franchise, and its depravities only defensive and a reaction to the Saudi's monopolistic aggressions) while giving the Saudi's a free pass.
Or is it about giving Israel a free pass?
I love Israel, too, I just like the fight against enemies of modernity to be honest and balanced.
If Senator Sanders' supporters do not think enough of our country to get out and vote for Vice-President Biden, then they are fraudsters.
President Trump stands for everything Senator Sanders and his supporters revile.
If his supporters don't come out and vote for Vice-President Biden, then they have the credibility of President Trump and his minions.
Senator Sanders' contribution to the political dialogue of this country is invaluable, but it isn't enough to talk the talk.
He and his supporters, if Vice-President Biden is the nominee, need to walk the walk straight to the polls and vote against President Trump.
5
I'm not surprised that Brett, in voicing concern about Bernie, equates the reach of a few podcasts with the reach of Fox News network. Nice try, Brett, but these podcasts not only don't have the reach, they don't reflect Bernie in the way that Fox commentators reflect Trump.
2
The election is 8 months away. It's not worth further discussion. Every voter is in one camp or another in this battle. There is no demilitarized zone, no middle ground, no excuse to cover up one's character shown in their voting behavior. We don't need further information to decide who should be president. Policies and platforms and messages have never mattered less. We just need to survive till election day.
We have never before faced the very real possibility that our process to nominate and elect leaders will fail because the individuals we select will all be killed off by a virus at some stage during the election cycle. We have succession rules for those in office. What do we do when our nominees die before being sworn in? Pick any date between now and November for catastrophe to sweep up the country. Say the death toll affects one party more than another. Say it affects everyone since they're all so old. What? Do it all over again?
2
And of course you are correct that I, as a progressive Sanders Democrat person, "might sit it out" if Biden is nominated by the Democrats.
It would be my message, that after watching the Democrats in this country for about 6 decades, that the dems left the working person, the disadvantaged person behind years ago.
Clinton really cut them off with a laugh and started the cosying up to the elite/wealthy -- a corruption that continues to this day. There is no difference between the parties now. Now it is simply who can get the most cash from the wealthy, and just as important, a determination to keep the candidate who supports the working class from being nominated and elected. The wealthy, corporate class needs that for their life-style and existence. And it can so easily be seen these days that the leaders of both parties collude with the media and the corporations to do this. Just look at the attacks on Sanders and where they come from. Sanders is an "outsider" in that sense and the leaders, the media and the corporations lose if Bernie wins. So guess who will be nominated. The Joe Biden's of the county; fake, mediocre, lying, and corrupt -- fighting against the working class and the disadvantaged in order to raise themselves up high on the economic and security scale. Greed we call it sometimes.Greed and corruption.
So If Biden is nominated I certainly will not vote and this will be the lesson to the dems. Your party is dying and is a horrid corruption.
2
Sander's supporters know that with Biden there won't be much change.
Biden, Clinton, Obama, all of them, they all want to get back at the trough.
Sander's supporters will want Biden to lose so they have another chance in 2024.
2
@True Observer
Falsehood.
10% of Bernie '16 primary voters defected to Trump
25% of Clinton '08 primary voters defected to McCain
Bernie's supporters are more loyal to the Democrats than centrist voters.
(https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/545812242/1-in-10-sanders-primary-voters-ended-up-supporting-trump-survey-finds and https://sites.duke.edu/hillygus/files/2014/06/hendersonhillygustompsonPOQ.pdf)
1
"If Biden wins, it will not mean a great American presidency. It will mean a decent one. That will be more than enough for me."
Well it's not enough for progressives. Why? Because here in Texas, minimum wage is still $7.25/hour. Let that sink in for a minute. That's not enough to buy a fast food meal. So when we want major change, we are bashed and attacked for it. It's not enough for us to want change in 10 or 20 years because we have bills to pay now. I work in ophthalmology and in my last 3 interviews, the companies told me they no longer offered health insurance to employees. Doctors' offices did not offer health insurance! Americans can't even afford to have children anymore because childcare is so expensive.
Now moderates are telling us to vote blue no matter who, our values mean nothing, we must wait another 10, 20, or 30 years for them to be addressed, and we must vote for a demented 77 year old guy who is guaranteed to offer us none of those things we need right away to improve our quality of life because Trump is worse. But few policy changes will occur under Biden's administration.
No one would ever hire Biden in the private sector. He couldn't perform the job duties consistently due to his mental status. How is he an acceptable choice for president? I refuse to vote for either Biden or Trump. It's not childnessness or petulance; I will not vote for someone mentally incompetent to do the most important job in the world.
4
Look, there's no doubt in my mind that a Biden presidency would be an ENORMOUS RELIEF! I like Biden - doesn't everyone? - but I'm not going to claim that he'd be my first and ideal choice. I was for Buttigieg because he represents the future that I'd like to be part of, but I was never under any delusions that he'd have an almost impossible chance of getting the nomination. Biden, at the same time, has been sleepwalking these past 6 months, and that caused me more than a little anxiety, especially since I don't believe Sanders could ever win and in addition I don't like him either. Then, this past week, Biden suddenly came alive. Part of it is that he's not comfortable on the debate stage, and frankly debates are NOT a touchstone for me. Biden has a record that he can run on. Once he scored his tremendous victories on Tuesday, he seemed unleashed from the burden of being tagged a permanent loser. He came alive and I like what I saw. So let's stop the nitpicking, pundits, and be grateful that a very good man is going to be our next president and send the gangster-president packing off to Florida where he belongs.
557
@ManhattanWilliam No, not everyone likes Biden.
24
@ManhattanWilliam Well said! Apathy from the Bernie sector is the only concern if Biden wins the nomination.
34
@Andre Let the chips fall where they may. Biden will gain more Independents and disillusioned Republicans than he'll lose Bernie Bros. We don't need the support of turncoats among us anyway, let them go into the darkness alone.
45
Neither Sanders nor Biden can beat Trump. He will be re-elected. Sanders will not get the nomination -- he is a lunatic, too extreme, and Biden has cognitive/communication problems. They are both too old. The cut-off age for running for the presidency should be 75 and the same goes for the Supreme Court. Justices should retire at age 75.
Yep. It's pathetic how far we've sunk. But yes, I'll take decency and mediocrity over all of the miserable aspects of this presidency . . .
60 Billionaires are giving money to Biden. They will get a return on their investment.
3
To anyone who is buying into the fallacies in this piece, I highly recommend you immediately purchase the definitive biography of Biden called Yesterday's Man by Branko Marcetic. Bret, you act as if Biden isn't the pinnacle of corporatist, oligarchic neoliberalism. Biden is and will continue to be. Does that make you feel better? Here is an excerpt from Yesterday's Man from kobo.
Begin excerpt:
Over nearly fifty years in politics, the man called “Middle-Class Joe” served as a key architect of the Democratic Party’s rightward turn, ushering in the end of the liberal New Deal order and enabling the political takeover of the radical right.
Far from being a liberal stalwart, Biden often outdid even Reagan, Gingrich, and Bush, assisting the right-wing war against the working class, and ultimately paving the way for Trump.
The most comprehensive political biography of someone who has tried for decades to be president, Yesterday’s Man is an essential read for anyone interested in knowing the real Joe Biden and what he might do in office.
End excerpt:
Clearly, you either don't admit to knowing or actually don't know who Joe Biden is or what his record indicates. Joe won't bend to the will of progressives whatsoever. He has always been a neoliberal, working for the TBTF Wall Street financial interests, and the Southern political machine. The neoliberals killed the promise of the New Deal. Biden, Clinton and to a degree Obama is all neoliberals. The sold-out.
6
Facts please.
@Kevin Meehan
There are too many facts to post in a NY Times comments section but I'll give you a few. The recommend you get the Kindle Edition of "Yesterday's Man" as mentioned above.
If you want something immediately Google
"Joe Biden’s Legislative Record Anything but Progressive" you'll find a pretty deep set of interconnected facts.
In a nutshell here is why Biden is part of the march to the Right by a Democratic party that sold out the values of the New Deal FDR and Eleanor Democrats to align with the same big money interests as the Republicans.
Signed the repeal the Glass Steagall Act on behalf of the Wall Street TBTF banks that wanted to allow commercial banks to get into the speculative business of brokers and insurance.
Voted for the so called "tough on crime bills" that put millions of young African Americans in jail for decades, and were backed with New Jim Crow like racial discrimination like the difference in mandatory minimums between powder and crack cocain, and all sorts of other horrific drug "war" policies that were heavy on incarceration and very light on rehabilitation.
Joe signed the TBTF, credit card company bonanza that has also helped all those behind the massive for-profit student loan business, those in the medical industry and those who suffered the mass injustices of the TBTF induced 2008 financial melt down. By the way that was caused in large part because of the repeal of Glass Steagall Act and other attacks on anti-trust. Joe = TBTF
4
I want a president I don’t have to hear from and about every minute of every day. I want a president who will do his job quietly and only be seen and heard from on important occasions. I want a president I don’t fear is in bed with the enemy. I think Biden is our best ticket out of the Trump nightmare.
760
@DB I want a president that hires experts and let’s them do their jobs. I want a president that doesn’t make me sick with worry and anxiety every single day!
85
Which would we rather be living with for the next 4 ½ years?
Trump or the coronavirus?
Just saying.
1
Thanks Mr. Stephens for telling us why Joe Biden is better than Trump. Boy am I excited now...not.
3
I wish this column had actually been what the headline said it would be instead of a spiteful attack on progressives. Paragraphs of Fox news hate speech followed by his actual (?) thoughts? Mr. Stephens needs to acknowledge just how much this country has been destroyed by the last three years and what it will take to fix it. And Gail Collins needs to stop sitting with him at lunch and on the playground.
3
When Joe wins, Trump is going on trial for so many things it will be dizzying--all the Trump lawyers and all the Trump men won't be able to put Trump back together again! Pretty please, God.
1
Decency is one of your virtues, Bret,
and a major reason why I continue to
read your columns ,in spite of disagreeing with
many of your political beliefs.
Snark and snide are absent from your writing.
Thank you for this latest with which I mostly agree.
I try to be openminded and read Stephen's columns every once in a while. I find his opinions to be very pedestrian, which explains why he supports Biden.
Democrats continue to shoot themselves in the foot. They have allowed the controlling forces within the party to oust Sanders with propaganda that makes him seem unelectable. The big wigs may get their wish, and saddle us with four more years of Trump.
1
Ah, back to normal and making sure this country is neither social, nor a democracy! The dream! You're safe, Bret! "If, despite this, Biden wins the presidency, I’ll worry that...he’ll bend too far to appease his party’s progressive wing." Many of us are aware of Biden's record showing he has always tended to not make waves and please his regressive colleagues on both sides of the aisle! As usual, he will owe favors to his influential and wealthy contributors, as is customary, and nothing progressive will ever be legislated! What I believe you should worry about is the US political elite, right and center, opposing socio-economic progress in order to maintain its privileges and those of their financial contributors. This oligarchy disguised as a democracy is no longer fooling a lot of people. The danger lies in its leading to extremes, left or right! Also do not have to worry about a would be Sanders Weimar Republic monetary policy. They would have nothing in common. The Weimar Republic had no choice but to print money to pay for the outrageous reparations imposed by the allies. The result was hyperinflation. I think this was a less than a subtle insinuation that Keynesian monetary policy is irresponsible when practiced by liberal governments. Actually, the "new" Republicans now say deficits don't matter and favor it! Finally, we have been in the sleepy state you favor for decades. Thousands see it for what it is; an oligarchy, and they don't care to vote. That is worrisome!
2
Just to be clear, Bret Stephens is a Republican right? because if he isn't then he ought to be. The reason the GOP have gotten so extreme is because lazy individuals like Bret keep deserting their party and taking up residence under the 'big tent' of the Democratic party. That big tent now operates more like a permanent refugee camp for republicans who are undermining the principal and goals of the party with their imported ideology
2
If Joe Biden wins...
Mr. Stephens, you and the people you spend each day defending and apologizing for will continue to NOT pay your fair share of taxes.
4
Bret I like to read your views I can see your statements are set up statements knowing you will get a ear full so here we go. You are correct that there is a lot to worry about and for sure Biden would be better than Trump. Let us start with the have's and have not's, have's = power, a voice, comfort, have not's = we want what you have. The D's and R's both have both types and both parties need the have and have not's, Trump = crazy, Biden = sleep at night so the problem lies with the have's of both parties are fine wile have not's not so much! At this time Sanders is the only one fighting for have not's get the picture.
DON'T WORRY, Biden will not win the presidency, instead ,rest assured, we will have 4 years more of D. Trump .
In any events the party of Hillary Clinton is like the other one.
1
'If Biden wins". He won't. Not against trump.
2
Your fear of Bernie seems quite understandable. Well, not so much your fear of Bernie as your fear of some caricature in your own mind of Bernie.
4
In that Socialist Democratic den of inequity—Denmark—the mortality rate of the everyday-plain-vanilla seasonal flu ranges from 0.017 to 0.008.
Here in the land of the free from the tyranny of adequate healthcare and the home of the bravely and willfully ignorant the mortality rate is 0.1.
"Influenza-associated mortality determined from all-cause mortality, Denmark 2010/11-2016/17: The FluMOMO model."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29660769
3
If Joe Biden Wins
Bret Stephens won't have to worry about having Bernie Sanders re-making US foreign policy respectful of international law, UN resolutions, and basic human rights. The threat to Israeli colonization and subjugation procedures will have been removed.
1
Will Biden hold prayer breakfasts? That’s the key issue. There’s no problem that can’t be addressed with a prayer breakfast.
It is so simple Bret.
He's not going to win.
Picture him in a debate with the junkyard dog named Trump. DJT will eat him for lunch and use his bones as a toothpick. And Joe won't even remember who he was debating.
The lights are on in the Biden household, but no one is home.
3
Let's see-the empire known as the Democratic establishment strikes back-and there are always super delegates if Bernie happens to gum up the works. Biden is older than Trump will be if he completes a second term. He doesn't look that great, fumbles, bumbles, and misspeaks, and lives in the past. it is amazing that all the Dem party could come up with is this very aging retread-a dynamic younger moderate could have been a sure thing.
Will he easily beat Trump? Trump derangement syndrome didn't, the Muller investigation didn't, impeachment didn't, -maybe the virus will, but really questionable if Biden will.
3
Nice. Agreed.
3
Perfectly said.
3
You've just written compelling talking points for Biden's campaign -- the second half that is -- which I trust Biden has your permissions to appropriate.
3
The liberal mind is an amazing thing to watch in action.
1
These Bernie went down gloating columns don't change anything to the fact that the progressive wing is still very much needed to win, unless nothing was learned from 2016. If Biden chooses a centrist running mate and continues to dismiss all of Bernie's ideas, he'll repeat Clinton's mistake.
For completeness: Bernie fans did NOT disproportionately vote for Trump (i.e. 10% according to NPR), knowing that 25% of Clinton primary voters voted for McCain in 2008 (Duke study).
Many of them did stay home disappointed as they did not feel represented in the race. That's on Clinton, who refuses to take a uniting position in the party even up until today.
5
Very well written. spot on
2
If Biden wins, we won’t even have to worry about SDNY executing warrants with zip-ties.
When I was a child and became frightened, I ran and hid behind my favorite, great chair. Maybe you have one in your home. Try it Bret.
6
Moderates always settle for moderates, never understanding why it feels like settling.
2
If Biden or Sanders wins,....
I'm not used to agreeing with you so much Bret.
Well spotted!
If Biden wins he will inherit a recession caused by this autocratic plutocrat; if Biden wins he will have to spend the first year or so undoing the messes Trump has created internationally and domestically, including the wreckage of our once "great" infectious disease apparatus. If Biden wins, he will be faced with devastating tragedies caused by global warming and ignored for four years as though there is nothing we can do about it. And if Biden wins, he might but might not be able to help save our democracy in the face of forces who want to destroy it, including those in the judiciary and now seeded throughout the bureaucracy and possibly the military. Unlike you, who has set up a straw men that Biden will be too progressive (sounds like a Republican talking point), I am really worried that he will be in the same mode of appeasement toward the GOP who erased the word compromise from their vocabulary ages ago.
4
It’s cute that you think we will actually have an Election in November, and/or the Votes will be accurately tabulated and recorded. Have you NOT been paying attention to Trump and all his Collaborators ?????
Sad.
6
We won't need to worry about:
Hey, what does this red button do?
1
Most of what you say you won't worry about would apply to a Sanders presidency as well. He is a decent man who won't cage children, enrich himself and his family with public funds, throw poor families out of the SNAP program, have love affairs with foreign dictators, bring back air pollution, etc, etc. If he is elected, we will finally have a chance to examine systems that have excluded too many for too long. This, to me, is far more desirable than the probably false worry about trading that "great" health care some have currently for a public system that covers us all.
7
If Joe Biden wins the nomination and then the election in November, I will once again be proud to be an American. Right now, and since January 2017, I have been embarrassed to be an American.
5
I've learned not to waste my time worrying about Trump. Humans, after all, got past Hitler and Mussolini and Stalin. So, I prefer to think of Trump as just a Bump on the way to our glorious end where the Bugs will inherit what's left of the planet.
1
a dangerous "bump"
When George W. was president, I felt this need to check the news several times a day, to see if W. was war-mongering his way into another conflict. I prayed that the international community would be able to rein him in.
When 2009 rolled around, I found myself able to relax. For the next 8 years, I watched the news a lot less. I felt confident that President Obama had things under control. He might not always be perfect, but I knew him to be intelligent, thoughtful, judicious. I trusted Obama. I did not fear him.
Needless to say, I'm back to my constant checking of the news feed in the Trump era. In the W. years, I never imagined that things could be worse. But, of course, they've been much worse for the past 3 years. This time, it seems like no one with power has the ability or willingness to rein in our reckless president.
I dream of January 2021, when I can again stop worrying and trust that our President is a decent and competent person.
6
Are you kidding me? After months of your crying that you and your wealthy friends absolutely have to have a Republican as the Democrat nominee now he better not sound to Democrat like. Im a Bernie or bust person so if its Biden he can say whatever he wants because hes not going to do it. He is a liar and owned by Wall Street.
6
Unfortunately, ‘decency’ isn’t a strong enough reason to vote for a candidate. The ability to achieve actionable results are what our country’s leaders should be evaluated on. Keeping platform promises is strong currency in today’s political world. A government focused on growth at the expense of its citizens isn’t sustainable as a policy. Ignoring the last 40 years of history hasn’t worked out very well for ‘We the People’, most of who are living day to day with insurmountable obstacles that can only be changed at the Federal government level. Real change needs to happen immediately. The same forces that propelled the 2016 election are still active, and growing. Now that America has sampled the ‘non establishment’ candidate and everything has crumbled, the time is before us to elect a new leader with similar disruptive properties, but who possesses a little more moral and ethical behavior as well.
2
The disconnect between Sanders supporters and political understanding remains astounding.
They actually believe Sanders can do what he says, that he can wipe away their student loans, enact "Medicare for all" and the like.
He can't. Only Congress can do those things and even with Democrats in control of both houses they would not.
When FDR was looking at the ideas that became the 1935 Social Security Act his labor secretary, Frances Perkins, who had been with him as one of the architects of his social policies since his time as governor of New York, urged him to include a plan for national health insurance.
FDR, despite enjoying nearly 3-to-1 majorities in both houses and a man with an acutely accurate vote counter built into his political being, knew that was a step too far. He told Perkins he could not risk the bill for the unattainable.
Sanders has no capacity to persuade even a Democratic House and Senate to adopt his notions. Adapt some with sensible legislation? Perhaps. Enact them? Never. Not a chance.
Sanders denounces and denounces the Democcratic "establishment", the one that would have to pass his bills.
7
@Carl Zeitz -- A President cannot do it alone.
Without a President trying, it generally does not get done.
2
More than anything else, I will not miss trumps nasty, nasty mouth every day.
5
I’m certainly not excited about four years of incoherent rambling from a POTUS with diminished mental capabilities. Just telling the truth!
5
@Charlie Biden will not win. He has cognitive problems, probably dementia. And he will be the nominee! I wanted to vote for Bloomberg but he's out so now I will have to vote for Trump. I watched Trump on a recent Town Hall and he is not at a loss for words and seems to be "on the ball" so Biden would be a horror in a debate with Trump. I feel sorry for Biden but he needs to retire. He is just too old and cognitively impaired.
Bret Stephens - 'Abhor the man, but celebrate the golden toilet.'
4
I will no longer have to worry about how to pay for my many donations to the Sanders campaign. I will no longer have to worry about hoping that the Democratic Party will get back to its original mission of carrying out The War on Poverty and The New Deal.
I will no longer have to hope that we could be a better country for all. What a relief! Is it finally time to immigrate?
1
Exactly right—the priority is to get the criminal out of the White House, and possibly turn the enabling Senate, too. That will benefit every American, particularly core Trump supporters who don’t have health insurance or stock portfolios or great jobs.
When Biden wins, I can't wait to wake up every morning not feeling like I was living in Nazi Germany before Hitler declared himself dictator for life. I will be able to recognize my beloved country again.
6
Heaven forbid that the robber barons of our age will get taxed, so that tens of millions of other Americans will no longer continually be relegated to an excrement-hole existence.
Keep taxes low so that the rich won't be offended and move more of their "hard-earned" assets into tax havens outside the U.S.
5
Judges with "cramped views of religious liberty?" The only view of religious liberty that matters is you exercise your religion, I exercise mine, and when we are out in society or the marketplace, we tolerate and serve each other. If the sight of a gay couple or someone with a bhurka or yarmulke coming into a bakery gives the owners the willies, so be it. It's not like they are shirtless or shoeless.
8
That’s all it matters Mr. Stephens, that they don’t take away your health insurance and that your portfolio keeps growing. Who cares that half of the country has no health insurance or are underinsured, and live paycheck to paycheck so they can’t invest in the market. What is important is that you and your family can sleep well at night
12
To Bernie’s supporters, the best advice to eliminate your emotional attachment is the oldest: make a list of all the Pros and Cons of Biden, and all the Pros and Cons of another Trump term in office.
2
I’m not willing to die and watch my children never be able to have a home or afford children or have a future for any children, even if they could afford them. Even though they are Ivy League graduates. This country is unconscionably brutal. No. We will never even survive more of the same policies. Never Biden or Trump
I agree that Biden is the only option for Republican voters like Stephens. Trump is a threat to democracy itself. Although, Sanders is equally safe, I can't imagine any of these Republicans voting for him. They'll be writing in other names.
2
What a great read, thanks.
If only you had left the demonizing of the caring intellectual Bernie Sanders out of this (not to be confused with Sarah H-S) I would share this article. Sadly, you went ballistic on one of the two without the need to. Tell the people without health care or the ones overpaying or theirs and/or disappointed with theirs about "keeping" it. I helped my partner pick her 2020 plan (not employer covered) and thus voted for Warren in WA even knowing she's out. You are SO blind my dear friend. Wise and blind does not wear well, but you are unaware of your blindness.
Keep your demonizing eye on the villain (trump) and off the good guys.
11
This Is a good Op-Ed, or the beginning of one. I’m personally not a fan of any of our 3 options so want to remind people that getting rid of Trump is something everyone but the Trump cult agrees on. Let’s stick to the plan and get rid of trump. The right will have a senate bulwark if Bernie wins, the left may come out without a power base for now, if Bernie loses. But we all win whether it’s Biden or Bernie by getting rid of a dangerous president. Coronavirus once again proved how dangerous trump is. How many warnings do we need?
4
In its most refreshing iteration, a Joe Biden presidency, to reiterate Stephens, "will mean a decent one." The White House's transition from being a nasty, ignorant, roguish institution of towering offensiveness to being reascendent as an international flagship of light over darkness will require a good deal of psychopolitical readjustment on our part. But the sometime disorienting reshuffling of minds will be worth every minute — and not only to Democrats.
3
It will be over Tuesday when Bernie loses here in Michigan.
@Almighty Dollar
If so, it is far more over than you think.
Two years after Roe v Wade was decided, Senator Biden said I quote, "I don't like the Supreme Court Decision on abortion. I think it went too far. I don't think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body."
6
Forty six years ago! Back then I too, was against abortion! Now I have evolved into a pro-choice woman, who sees the error of my original narrow mind! Joe Biden, too, has changed!
1
Not convincing against Sanders. The way the health care sector is run is not good and needs improving, and he would do that. Too much greed and too much inequality, where the working class face an anti-progressive system. With a 2% wealth tax a year and no investment income, a billionaire would end up with 500 million after 34 years, 3 months, and 3 weeks (0.98 to the n power equals 50%, solve for n: n = log(0.5) / log(0.98).
2
If Biden wins, we will have our second president in a row selling the good ole days. IIf Biden wins, let the hate and violence from the right begin again. If Biden wins, we will have the next version of Ford, unable to get out a coherent sentence or explain a policy. If Biden wins the country will not move left, but stay right where it is. If Biden wins, the GOP moderates win. If Biden wins, no one will be inspired. If Biden wins, the banks and finance will do incredibly well. If Biden wins, it is entirely possible we will have another bailout of the banks. If Biden wins, the author will treat him with kid gloves.
Biden is not up to the task of being president. He has been running for President for a year and has had one average debate. He is rewarded for getting out a complete sentence. He could not explain one of his plans. He is a potential disaster for the Democratic party long term.
9
I. Me. Mine. Read it, and went back and read this piece again. Not a paragraph without a self-reference and focus on the writer’s preferences. No mention of the preferences of those with less wealth, connections and power. Illustrative of major fault lines of our times and not hopeful for finding common ground.
23
Amen to that. Trump is exhaustingly bad. It will be great to have a President that considers the expertise and opinions of others before rattling off a Twitter decision. I don't care that the man stutters and prattles on - he has a good heart and genuine interest in moving America forward for all Americans - in contrast to Trump or possibly Bernie that have a narrowly defined constituency he (they) feel obligated to accommodate.
2
At this time in history, "good enough" is simply not good enough! Trump won in 2016 because of this mindset. We have to do better for each other, and Bernie is the only candidate who has a chance of doing that for the people. What makes you think Bernie is going to "take away" your healthcare? His call to arms is healthcare as a human right? Whether he can achieve it with House and Senate approval is another thing, but working Americans would be better off under a Sanders administration, whether they know it or not.
13
You're right, Mr. Stephens, Bernie Sanders is dangerous to our country. This is also the reason that Putin supported him in 2016, and is supporting him now: to divide and weaken our great nation.
8
Most importantly, Biden will appoint competent people in key positions, listen to his advisers (those competent ones), and allow career diplomats and civil service personnel to do their jobs without harassment or fear.
20
If the world goes into recession this year, the economic backlash from the coronavirus is felt by all and sundry, and the national debt continues to go through the roof, then I suspect there will be more questions about the expense of rolling out national health coverage anytime soon. 2020 has been rocky so far. A stable hand is needed, and that would appear to be Biden + whoever his running mate is.
10
@pealass Biden's choosing a strong VP is key. We don't need another robot e-van like Pence.
1
If Biden wins the nomination maybe some of my Republican friends will vote for him. If Biden wins the election maybe some of my Republican friends and I will be on speaking terms again and can debate policy not personality.
7
Quote from Joe Biden interview in 2006.
“I do not view abortion as a choice and a right. ... We should focus on how to limit the number of abortions, and there ought to be common ground and consensus about how to do that.”
Why do you think the Republicans say they would vote for him? Because he is one of them not us.
17
It's remarkable that Stephens seems to think his savings won't sink to nothing on Weimer Republic economics if Trump is re=elected. Just what does he think trillion-dollar deficits in a growing economy are?
12
I agree with the person who said neither Sanders or Biden will beat Trump. We needed the support of a stronger centrist candidate who could unite the Democratic party better, or maybe even Elizabeth Warrren. Sure, Americans believe Biden was the safe choice, but without inspiring voters on the fence to vote for him, many voters might stay home. Without amazing turnout, we will have a second term of Trump.
2
Yes it's time for the Democratic Party to move on from Sanders and to really make it clear his toxicity is not wanted.
It's a real fear that Bernie and his supporters will be responsible for two-straight Trump victories.
6
Biden is corrupt. Biden helped create the levels of despair and destruction that lead to Trump. He’s no different than Trump in that he doesn’t care about you or me. Sanders 2020
1
Biden is preferable to Trump? Do we want someone who made their $millions as a elected official or someone whose wealth came from the private sector?
Some Democrats do very well doing 'good'.
8
One would hope that the administrations feckless response to the coronavirus clearly showed they were ill prepared to deal with the virus due to the lack of expertise and partisan fealty that inhabits this administration. Though they now have decent people in place, Trump clearly shows through his statements that he is not on board.
While Biden is older than we probably should have in the job, I would expect he will bring expertise back into government and proper preparations and actions in place to keep the American people safe.
A smart person, or even one of relative intelligence can clearly now see an administration made of sound bites and marketing schemes does not keep Americans safe. One would hope that is enough to motivate the American people, Democratic and Republican alike to go to the ballot box in November to bring decency, intelligence and safety back into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That would include all Democrats, Independents and smart Republicans....including Bernies Bros and Sis's.
5
You said it! In an amazing irony, it is “Sleepy Joe” who mobilizes the masses and brings diverse coalitions together. Let’s take the Senate, too!
7
If Biden wins, two wrongs do not make a right. You'll have a man who escaped scrutiny over why he did not intervene before Hunter Biden became involved in the Ukraine, a man associated with the Washington political establishment for many years, and an elderly man who might not make it through four years in the presidency. If the Democratic convention does not become deadlocked and forced to find another nominee, whoever will become the vice-presidential running mate will be crucial to the country.
3
My 90 year old mother-in-law just read your column and wanted me to let you know she thanks you for your comments. She was very moved by today's column. I also agree that it would be nice to say "Make America Decent Again!"
7
The only good thing I can say about the GOP is that it's honest, or reasonably so. I cannot, in reason, say that of the the faction controlling the Democratic Party. The 'establishment' as is referred to in the media has been in power since the Clinton years and continued up until the present when its policies helped bring Trump to power. During its reign this faction has aided and abetted in the negative incrementalism taking place in this country. A negative change especially affecting the lower middle class.
No wonder the 'dirt bag left' has erupted in outrage. A blinding rage causing them to not vote or vote third party in the general election that resulted in Trump's victory and our republic's defeat.
Now we're offered the possibility of Biden, the alternate but lesser evil.
5
I have never heard anyone call the republicans honest. Not even republicans.
3
Mr. Stephens you are worried about your healthcare being disrupted by healthcare for all because, Republicans can't figure out how to pay it. Let me set you at ease, most people trained in budgeting or public administration could figure out how to pay for healthcare for all; I know I could. That's not a Tumpian boast, healthcare for all is not difficult if you take self-interest, price gouging and the profits out of not-for-profit providers.
When people say how do you pay for healthcare for all what they really mean is how do you pay for healthcare without disrupting my tax cuts, my corporate healthcare, my dividends, my high paying job, etc. For example, I would gladly trade my military healthcare insurance, TriCare, to be served by a VA not crippled by the politics of profits. However, Republicans took that option away in 2003 when they took away VA health benefits from veterans and military retirees to cut the cost of the war in Iraq.
Congress likes buying expensive private health insurance for military retirees, because the industry kickbacks money for campaigns. In addition, Republicans are working to privatize the VA to increase profits for healthcare bandits, and you guessed it, even more political kickbacks.
Paying for healthcare for all is not rocket science if predatory capitalism and political kickbacks are taken out of the American healthcare system.
31
The two parties of five years ago is exactly why we have Trump.
I fear the GOP which is gearing up to investigate and delegitimize Biden in the election cycle for Burisma corruption. Maybe because he’s a white man the charges will slip right off him, unlike Clinton. I sure hope so.
The fact is, Sanders has no such corruption or quasi-corruption to unearth. His supposed love affair with Russia turns out to be peace building and stopping nuclear war.
We need healthcare for all. We need debt relief. We need serious climate action. Working towards these goals bears no resemblance to a terrifying lurch into the abyss of extreme leftism Bret is afraid of. These are pragmatic, decent choices for a healthy nation and stronger economy.
17
it is time for bret Stephens and dvid brooks for that matter to stop waving the fear flag about Bernie and, it seems, Biden. They are the ones who need to convince and pressure their fellow republicans that this country will be ALOT better off with either dem. nominee than 4 more years of Trump. Get out there and talk to THOSE people.
8
All of the articles here recently regarding Joe Biden do a huge mistake in what they leave out.
And that is: What does Joe Biden Stand for? How does he want to improve the lives of American? And we all know the answer should be good paying jobs, good health care insurance, affordable child care and job security. To name the few top items. But that is exactly what both parties do not want to talk about.
And we know why. Their direct and indirect donations come from wealthy people and corporations who do not want talk of helping the working class and the disadvantaged. Candidates in both parties, who dare talk of such progressive things are shoved aside as fast as possible. Sanders is getting destroyed at this point with that curse and the dem party will not elect him. Joe Biden fights medicare for all and the other progressive items mentioned above and he will behave himself and nothing will change under Joe Biden. The Democratic Party is dying and has been for decades. Greed, money, lack of character, lack of values and corruption wins in the end. New parties are needed. Nothing will change under Joe Biden but in fact will get worse. More living paycheck to paycheck, more suicides, more drug deaths, more deaths from no affordable health insurance, low wages and insecurity in general. Incompetent government, etc.
America in decline.
10
What proof is available to think that Sanders supporters, who must hate Trump with a passion, will sit out the election if their man is not nominated?
2
No one I know will vote for the corruption that is Biden. No one.
2
As a Sanders supporter, I am prepared to throw my full support behind Biden when he wins the nomination.
I am not an American. But I won't have to worry either; I won't have to worry about the United States' democratic institutions being torn apart from within, and the implications this would have for the rest of the world. Under Biden as president, they will no longer be under grave threat. Proving that democratic institutions in general, even if imperfect, an still recover and move on, despite the nightmare of a Manchurian candidate having come true. The world will take heart from this.
1225
@TC
I am not a Filipino. But the fact that Presidential Duterte has an >80% approval rating should worry you.
It worries me that the Republicans approve of Trump in similar percentages.
58
@TC
Yes we get it. The rest of the world will be a lot better off if Trump is no longer President. We can go back to the status quo, and America sending billions of dollars all over the world so you don’t have to. America will be the worlds policemen so you don’t have to. America will keep its borders open, and provide access to our social safety nets to the worlds poor - so you do t have to.
Sorry. Those days are long gone.
Time for you folks to pull your own weight.
America, and it’s hard working taxpayers, aren’t going to be the worlds piggy bank anymore.
12
@Sports Medicine
Thank you sir. You nailed it perfectly.
Long past time for other countries to step up to the plate and pay their own way. Our billions and trillions need to be used for our own citizens.
5
Whoever who will win the Democratic Party nomination could potentially beat Trump if we were truly living in a democracy, where we could expect a fair assessment of candidates and not constantly told what to think by elitist opinion writers who can't imagine worse than a Ukraine investigation or U.S. standing in the world.
The rest of us live and imagine far worse, the worst of which is The Climate Crisis. It will continue regardless of who is president. Under Sanders, we have the chance to address it and other true crises most Americans face: growing inequality and poverty, no safety net for the average citizen, runaway Corporate Profits and a Health System that will soon crash under the weight of its own bloated expenses.
Under Biden, we will have pundits extolling the virtues of a "normalcy" that was actually the path by which Trump won in the first place.
2
Sleepy Joe! In a Biden presidency, we will be able to sleep at night without wondering what crazy tweets we will wake up to in the morning. We will sleep well knowing the President is not scheming to break laws or circumvent the Constitution. Sleepy Joe! We can go to sleep at night and argue about liberal/conservative issues in the morning. We can sleep well with Sleepy Joe and know the government is not going to crumble into chaos while we are dreaming. Sounds good to me!
3179
Oh how wonderful it will be to not have to stop, think, and examine our values anymore! What a relief it will be to go back to not worrying about the rights of others. I can't wait to pretend half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and have no health insurance. A conscience is such a burden, how nice it will be to not carry one anymore.
83
No one said we couldn't address those issues too. It's easier to move the needle left from center than it is from the right corner.
115
@Steve W: Thank you for the chuckle! I love your comments...they sound so good to me, too! Now, I can start my day with a smile on my face (and the sun is shining here in Michigan).
60
I'm a progressive who supported Warren and I hope many of her proposals move forward under a Biden (or Sanders; it's not too late) presidency. Which means I'm in a very different place than Stephens, politically. That said, I appreciate Stephens' recognition that the current White House is corrupt and vile, and that kicking Trump and his people out is job number 1. We'll argue about policy, but under much changed circumstances. I look forward to it.
846
@Sandra
Biden is corrupt, status quo and Warren represented change.
Two completely different ideals.
If Biden wants to bring factions of the party together, he needs to put Warren on his ticket and let her work on change as VP.
However, Biden won't. The Dems do not want change. The Dems have zero interest in listening to millions of Warren, Bernie, Castro, Booker, Bloomberg, Yang, Steyer supporters who have been demanding change.
24
@Sandra -- No surprise, Biden has already dismissed Warren as a running mate, saying that she is much more needed in the Senate.
12
@Sandra and Hunter flying with his dad to China and securing a 1.5 billion dollar private equity fund that pays 2% management fee to Hunter is his partner is what? It’s 30 million a year for a team that has no experience.
5
I feel your desperation. Lighten up! I already see some silver linings throughout these challenging times. Mr. Trump doesn't seem to have the same firepower as he is used - at least it feels like it. Moreover, it won't be Hillary Troubled Clinton running for president, we now know Russia will try anything to elect Trump, we now know way more than 2016. We can get better prepared. America will have its day of reckoning and it is going to be on November 3, 2020, when we all realize by then that there is no place for a Trump administration anymore, regardless of who the Democratic candidate will be.
Biden will bring us together. I think maybe the folks who equate misstatements from Joe Biden should consider his disability. He has overcome it to a great extent but it still surfaces in ways that should be forgiven. Check with someone who struggles with finding the right word only to realize that word cannot be said without a stutter and the next word in that split second is not right but rolls off the tongue.
Don't fall into the trap of trump who will no doubt make fun of Biden at some point as he did the reporter with CP. I doubt you want to be in that company.
2
One specific comment: comparing MMT to the monetary policy of the Weimar Republic is really daft. MMT is a flawed monetary concept, granted. But the monetary policy of the Weimar Republic was born out of necessity, not because anyone followed "MMT".
The Republic had to shoulder reparations of unknown magnitude (the allies couldn't agree how much to charge Weimar Germany) plus massive social and economic burdens from the war, including the need to reintegrate millions of soldiers into civilian life. The tax system that it had inherited from the Empire was ill-equipped for this, there was not even a federal income tax. As a result, Republican governments struggled to raise revenues needed to shoulder these burdens, those who tried were assassinated (Erzzberger) for doing the allies' business.
Outright monetary financing though became the norm only when France occupied the Ruhr area in 1922, as the government paid workers' wages who gone on general strike. It was clear to anyone, including the Reichsbank, that this would end in hyperinflation.
As Stephens I am odds with the Bernie Bros over many things, including MMT. But mis-characterizing MMT the way Stephens does (and the article he quotes) is intellectually even more deficient than MMT. It reflects this superficial pseudo-intellectualism on the right that has created so much damage in the past 30 years, but lives on in flat and simply wrong commentaries as this one.
3
I agree even though style-wise I sometimes find the word “mischaracterize” unnecessarily hostile.
This is not Bernie's time. We are in turmoil. We can't have another disruptor. The country, nay the world needs a break from the absolute hideous Trump presidency and his sycophants . We need to know an adult is in charge. A decent, empathetic and highly experienced adult is in charge. Yes Biden will have his gaffes, his record player references. His Bernie brothers comments. But he will be surrounded by some of the best people in government service. People who put country first. We'll sleep at night under a blanket of security that hasn't been provided since President Obama left office. The presidency isn't about the debater-in-chief. Presidents don't debate. They listen. They read. They ask questions. They scrutinize. They confer. They make us feel good about ourselves. They give us hope.
2
I'm a Democrat through and through, but I don't think either Sanders or Biden will beat Trump. Not that I'll vote for him, but millions and millions will. None of the candidates could have beaten Trump. I'm afraid that the US is in the midst of a cult of personality and that too many have sipped on the Kool-aid. I will cast my vote for whoever is the Democrat, but I am convinced that Trump will win in a landslide. Trump has remade America in his own image -- mean-spirited, ignorant, rude, paranoid and self-centered -- and millions want it to stay that way.
5
Not enough millions. Good will prevail.
If Joe wins the primaries, I hope that Sanders and his supporters will have the bigger picture in mind, which is to beat Trump and possibly get senate back! Siting out would be a betrayal to all our liberal values. Childish as well. Let’s hope Stephens is one of these worst scenario guys.
1
If Joe Biden wins:
-It will mean that the Democratic Party learned absolutely nothing from 2016.
-It will mean that the status quo will continue for who knows how long—but it doesn't matter because it has continued for far too long already and our chances of moderately long-term survival in the face of an unprecedented ecological crisis (whether you are willing to admit and confront it) are dwindling daily.
-It will mean that cynicism has won once again, while imagination has lost once again.
-It will mean that the idea of America—a government of the people, by the people, for the people—is lost and gone forever. It will mean that corporate, big money interests definitively own the government.
-It will mean that, really, seriously, this Republic cannot stand—has, in fact, already fallen.
6
No, we'll only have to worry about the things that folks worried about when they voted for Trump: predatory health care, predatory education loans, endless wars. That's the status quo.
I'm amazed how the narrative, propped up the the pundits, worked against Sanders. "He has no coat tails." Start by publishing an opinion. Next, quote someone who repeats what they heard or read. Suddenly that opinion becomes a forgone conclusion.
Forgone conclusions, like: how Trump was going to lose in a landslide. Lose the House. Lose the Senate. How no Republican would ever work with him. Nope, nope, and nope!
5
It will mean the president is a man who confuses his own family members, who couldn’t always remember what office he was running for.
But don’t worry, Biden will lose massively to Trump; it will be a repeat of Hillary’s loss. But you won’t care. You will have “stopped” Bernie. Utter foolishness. Go with Biden and get 4 more years of Trump.
8
@JK Hillary won the popular vote by 3 million and lost the electoral college by 77000, hardly a massive Trump victory. Thanks to Jill Stein and Bernie bots.
Let's presume the Democrat Party is foolish enough to run Joe Biden against our President and - horrors! - Biden wins the White House.
Joe will have only a single term in which to bamboozle and muddle his way through an escalating series of gaffes. He'll get angry not at his substantial opposition, but rather at his handlers, in whom even he will detect insults to what integrity he has left. The chaos will be deafening.
The follow-up will be the second - and third - Trump terms. If you really hate our President and you really can't wait to run him out of DC, why keep inviting him back?
5
"I’ll never feel ashamed to think of him as my president". That is more important than you might think. It has been hard explaining the last few years to my kids. One more from my perspective: If Biden wins, I'll never have to think of him as a traitorous Russian asset bent on destroying the country.
1
So Bret, if Biden wins you won't have to worry about having your health insurance taken away.
You are a centrist that is for sure. A self-centrist.
What about the millions of Americans without any health care?
It seems you don't like to share. Is that the Democratic Party for you?
Then you throw out pithy little barbs at people who want Bernie.
You may not be as crass as Trump but you accomplish the same effect.
8
Everyone needs to watch election results, next Tuesday, March 10 when 6 States have their Primaries: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington State --
Biden swept the south and Minnesota on Super Tuesday.
Bernie has to win big - especially Michigan on March 10 - or he is in trouble.
Watch what the American people are voting for:
Change: Bernie - or - Healing: Biden.
I plan on voting for whoever wins the Democratic nomination. Trump has to go.
Saying this as a fervent Elizabeth Warren supporter.
3
How can anyone think hiring the man who dents our sons to kill and die in a fake war means healing? How are more neoliberal policies that created these problems healing anything?
1
Wow. You know us. God Bless Joe Biden. God Bless America. Thank heaven for decency and decorum and civility.
Decency will ensure Biden wins the election, and competence—picking the best and brightest to help him govern the country—will be the hallmark of his presidency.
1
If GOP-lite DINO Joe Biden wins, "Nothing will fundamentally change." to quote the aging equivocator himself.
4
Oh, things will change. Think of how many more deaths of despair there will be.
3
"If Biden wins only the nomination, I won’t have to worry that there’s a fair chance that, in Bernie Sanders, a man could be elected president who, without nuance or discrimination, demonizes entire sectors of American industry. "
Mr. Stephens, you wrote such a sentence? A sentence that trips over itself every five words? You can do better.
1
With a solid younger VP and quality cabinet I would very much look forward to a Biden Presidency. He would not make it a personality cult - he is not of t he opinion that only he can lead the nation - that is worth its weight in gold.
1
Talk about burying the lede: "I won’t have to worry about the president trying to criminalize his political opponent" didn't hit until paragraph 7.
Wake Up Clever Centrists! Replacing private insurance with public insurance is nothing compared to the remorseless authoritarianism that is currently in the White House. Let's treat it with the seriousness that it deserves.
2
To me it is important that the NOT win. If he wins we will lose all the great work done to stop immigrants and refugees from arriving in this country. We will start spending billions to prop up our worthless allies. We will get more involved in wars etc. Biden will be a disaster.
4
As an older, financially secure, white male with in demand skills. nothing much is going to change for me whoever the president is. With Bernie, millions of my fellow Americans lives will be changed for the better. With Biden or Trump, nothing is going to change so why bother to vote? Bernie 2020.
7
Trump has been to lying what Babe Ruth was to hitting home runs, what Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay were to climbing Mt. Everest and what Albert Einstein was to The Theory of Relativity.
The greatest practitioner of the art and science of political lying the world has ever seen.
Hook the man up at the upcoming debates to a reliable lie detector machine and the machine will be making strange noises, sending off sparks, wobbling on its axis and spitting fire within seconds.
If Biden does nothing more in his four years than begin telling the truth to the American people, he will have been a huge success.
2
Bret, your predictions and opinions--and recent ones at that, just look at your last twenty, including "Run, Mike, Run"--have been absolute demonstrable garbagio.
7
Bret, if Biden wins the nomination I hope we can rely on you and like-minded republicans to vote for him.
3
What a joy it would be to wake up each morning without having to see Twitter taunts sent from an immature 70 year old schoolboy.
1
The NYT reporters and columnists need to stop pointing out that a Republican appointed judge reprimanded the attorney general. As the Chief Justice stated, we don’t have Bush judges or Obama judges. Our media needs to recognize that and no better way than to do than to refer to judges simply by their titles.
2
If GOP-lite DINO Joe Biden wins, "Nothing will fundamentally change." to quote the aging equivocator himself.
I hope this means that if Biden wins, you will then write columns trying to convince Republicans to vote for him rather than DJT.
4
And if Bernie Sanders wins the nomination, you've just doomed us to four more years of Trump. Nice going.
3
I didn't get very far in the latest Bernie/progressive bashing column by Mr. Stephens. Only this time he threw in the moderate Biden for good measure.
Why do I think this never-Trumper is actually a Trumper in disguise? I guess because he got his wish, Bernie is probably done, but then he took aim at Biden, who promises a welcome return to normalcy.
Perhaps Mr. Stephens redeems himself before the end of this piece. I don't know. It's not worth my time finding out.
1
You are all a lost generation. Without vision or courage. Suffused with denial. The Biden honeymoon, if the addled corporate water bearer can even get elected, will dissipate quickly. The kind hearts and coronets of an establishment restoration will look up from its teacups and realize there's an entire herd of 800-pound gorillas, which were there all along, still demanding their due, and getting more cantankerous by the hour. What will Biden's decency do then? His lack of any coherent vision for confronting the whirlwind of challenges is actually the greatest indecency of all.
6
I am among the high risk and I will go about business as usual. The worst case scenario is a Joe Biden Presidency.
If you are believer or an nonbeliever the pandemic is a clear reminder that in 2020 expanding healthcare is the worst response to the question of whether healthcare for all is right or a privilege. Expansion punts the football down the road till the next pandemic is the last whimper.
This pandemic is natural and how it is handled will not change much except an economy that doesn't work for so many will be seen to not work for anybody. The next pandemic may destroy civilization.
Donald Trump is a clear and present danger but a failure to make healthcare a right isn't a clear and present danger it is a failure to understand that if healthcare isn't a right it sets the stage for the next pandemic where we may all sing the Tom Lehrere song We Will All Go together When We Go.
I remember when the bomb was the existential threat today it may be the next virus.
We will all go together when we go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs
3
If Joe Biden wins in November, we are out of the fire and back in the frying pan.
4
Decent would be Bret shutting up for a couple of minutes.
1
"I won't have to worry about my healthcare taken away."
Brett- what is so precious about your health care? I pay about $250/month for my medicare and a supplemental, and I don't ever shell out a dime for all my high-end (Duke Medical) specialists or my PCP. Yes, I have a deductible on my drugs that bites me each January, but with the right Dem in the office and a Dem controlled Senate, that would be easily addressed. You and your rich Republican friends have no clue. (And yes, you make well over 100k /year, right?)
3
Thanks for the great fantasy piece. Trump will show no mercy in exposing Biden's mental decline and crush him in November. But you will probably benefit from another tax cut and see Trump appoint another conservative judge following the retirement or death of Ginsberg. So keep your chin up.
5
You fret over your savings (which most Americans do not have) and the potential loss of your excellent health insurance (which most Americans do not have). So you should be acknowledging your enormous privilege to be wealthy enough to have both of these assets. In the UK everyone has access to National Health Service. Wealthy people are able to buy supplemental insurance which would doubtless happen here as well, even under a President Sanders. Your piece therefore is just a whole lot of rich white man whining. As it happens, I will vote for Biden. While I am personally ready for some Democratic Socialism (having traveled to many countries that have this, including politically conservative Austria), I recognize that most Americans are confused and afraid of these words as a result of pundits like you who wield fear as a weapon. Biden’s milquetoasty vibe will hopefully convince enough suburban voters to elect some Democratic senators. When that happens, ACA can be expanded to include the public option which I will sign up for gladly. Once Americans get used to this, it will be like Social Security, which we all rely on.
Given the craven pandering to the fanatical religious right in the Trump era, we could use a return to the separation of church and state, per the Constitution.
My private joy would be Stacey Abrams as Biden’s running mate. If he picks Amy Klobuchar I will be glad.
J Metz
New York
2
A back handed compliment if I’ve ever heard one.
Ok Biden is going to lose, as not enough progressives will vote for him. Biden will win the Corporate “Red” Democrat vote, but will not get enough “Blue” Democrat votes. So who will the Democrats run in 2024, who we don’t have to worry about? Hopefully someone who is a real “Blue” Democrat and has fire in their belly to excite the American electorate.
2
If Biden wins?
I wouldn't put money on it. Voting against Trump isn't the same thing as giving people something TO vote FOR.
...and when oil and gas lobbyists start writing planks for the DNC's platform...again....it won't inspire anyone to heroic efforts of turnout.
After all, I've been told over and over how Bernie is no Democrat. Better hope he is. You need him for your Biden dreams to come true.
1
If Joe Biden wins, we don't have to worry about anything changing. The same insurance companies will suck our health care system and make it cost twice what health care costs in other democracies. The same Wall Street banks will dictate our tax structure.
Bill Clinton slashed taxes on the wealthy (capital gains and dividends), and eliminated Glass-Steagall protections against bank malfeasance. Biden is the same. Is this the type of Dem we want to elect?
Joe Biden, like Hillary, voted for the Iraq War, supporting George W. Bush's lies that led us to kill hundreds of thousands of people, and waste trillions of dollars. Is this the type of President we want to elect?
Bernie Sanders, like Obama, was against the Iraq War. Bernie Sanders has fought against our current system of "socialism for the rich," and believes that we can ensure all Americans have access to health care.
Mr. Stephens is obviously scared to death that health insurance companies ("entire sectors of American industry") like Anthem will miss out on their current massive profits. After Biden did well on Super Tuesday, the stocks of our multibillion dollar insurance companies (who provide what value?) skyrocketed.
If, like Mr Stephens, you really like your current health insurance company, and really wish nothing would change and we could go back to the great days of Bill Clinton, then certainly, vote for Biden. I guess Republican Lite is better than Trump.
4
Besides Obama choosing Joe Biden for political optics to encourage white Independent voters and Representative Jim Clyburn’s endorsement, what is the actual history of Joe Biden’s actions that significantly benefited African-Americans?
Mass incarceration and the Iraq War seem like major negatives. Joe Biden’s “inept” speech should give anyone pause. Maybe they just want someone other than Trump who has been described as “safely electable”? Hillary Clinton’s loss was a shocker. Trust has been weakened. I really don’t get what specifically makes Joe Biden so acceptable as President to Black people?!
4
Oh the glee, Fox will not be state TV. The president really will not golf a third of his time. And the leader's vocabulary will not be limited to one hundred words.
1
Firstly, Bernie is not dead and not after his brand new stents inserted, thanks to the world's best and most affordable health care system for a famous millionaire. He is still viable and that fear of a socialist tax and spend Dem. is still causing a panic on the stock market in certain circles, even after a glimmer of hope the day after Biden was woken up and propped by the est. and especially by Beto who surfaced from oblivion to help Biden win Texas, one of the 5 largest states. Bernie could still win PA and MI and that will tell us what USA really fears, the nano sized Corona virus which has been almost decimated, in its country of origin, China or the septuagenarian who still has passionate support among the young Turks of the Dem. party if elected president of US. Sen. Warren may have dropped out of the race but she has endorsed neither of the 2 male front runners who have defeated all the women running in the primary except Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.
Thankfully, I am a fierce independent but if I was a die hard Democrat with a passion to replace the current incumbent of the white house, I would be petrified that a splintered Dem. party will stand zero chance of uniting behind the next democratic nominee. After a string of disasters in failed attempts to get a desired effect of someone, anyone or any fictional character like Donald Duck be the next president shattered; the impending pandemic of derangement will far exceed the panic pandemic fear due to Corona vurus
2
Great article Brett, please go on Fox News and say these things. There really are some (I hope) decent people who only listen to Hannity, Ingram and Carlson. that actually think that Hunter Biden/Burisma and Hillary/Benghazi are way worse than Trump extorting allies, Trump conspiring with Russia and Trump destroying our institutions.
2
As long as you are not among the many low income Americans,
as long as you aren't among the many who will be flooded or burned out of their homes due to climate change and as long as you work for a wealthy institution that will find a way to provide you with first class medical care, you'll be fine!
3
Take your article and make it Joe Biden’s stump speech. All the things we won’t worry about anymore if you elect Joe Biden to the presidency.
1
It’s been said that the Americans elect a president who is the opposite of his predecessor. Obama, Trump, ?Biden?
1
Biden already tried to criminalize his opponents. That's what all of the FISC abuses were about, what the FBI #resistance was about, and, finally, what all of the trips to Ukraine by Democrats was about. So the author is selectively blind to what Biden did and what Biden was about.
In November, just so everything is clear, the East and West Coasts will vote for Biden, because he isn't Trump. And the rest of America will be voting for Trump.
1
If Biden wins the nomination and everyone who would have voted for Bernie and claims to care about healthcare, humanity, and the future of the planet also votes for Biden: hate crimes against everyone but white straight people will stop rising dramatically. Children will stop being separated from their parents and put in cages at the border. ICE agents will stop stalking and raiding the businesses and homes of people suspected to be from Latin America. Immigrants will not be vilified. but appreciated and respected as humans. Federal agencies will be led by people who believe in, rather than undermine, their missions. Science will stop disappearing from our discourse. The EPA will be allowed to consider how science plays a role in environmental regulation. Toxins will not be 'allowed' to be poured into our waterways. Public land will be protected instead of drilled and fracked from. Healthcare may not be perfect, but the government's goal will not be to take it away from more and more people. The president will likely not fly to and play golf every weekend on the taxpayers dime and then create a narrative about how it's all somehow the democrats fault. People who rely on necessary government programs such as food stamps will not have them stripped from them. If a pandemic arises, the president will act instead of blaming it on the last guy in power. The president will believe women have power over their own bodies. Less people will die.
1
And what If Joe Biden loses?
I hope the day after Election Day Biden boosters such as yourself will be ready to answer why an alternative candidate who simply wanted to provide healthcare to all US citizens, a feat easily achieved by other industrialized nations, was “unelectable” in your eyes.
2
With Biden innocent gaffes will finally claim their rightful place instead of the larceny unleashed on us by Trump.
1
I worry if Biden wins, the Democratic party will once again be overconfident as they were in 2016.
1
I'm voting for Bernie, not confused Joe.
5
You forget one thing ..
If Biden gets the nomination, your party .. your guy .. will be re-elected. And, from what I gather, that's a far better prospect than a Bernie Sanders presidency.
2
"demonizes entire sectors of American industry"
Please provide one, just one, legitimate example of this.
2
STOP, just STOP
When did the media apply this magnifying glass to Donald Trump? It was and to some extent remains hands off with criticizing him at the level he deserves. Years ago Bill Clinton was labeled the Teflon President, but Trump really deserves that title. Between the press and his rabid party cohorts protecting him, he actually could get away with killing someone on 5th Avenue.
2
As a Warren supporter I’ll be sitting out if Biden becomes the rigged candidate. To Biden supporters: what’s the point of winning if nothing actually changes.
-
29, Male, New York, African American
1
I just understood, you can use « establishment » instead of « deep state » in a comment and it will pass.
1
Biden or Sanders...it will be so great to turn on the TV, flip to any channel (including the Food Net) and not hear the name “Trump” 24-7.
Well, enjoy your sleep Bret. But what about the young people, and the minimum wage earners, and the sick, and all the vulnerable? Let them eat cake. Your comfort in dreaming of a Biden presidency is the cluelessness of the privileged. And your constant throwing out of nasty name calling (Bernie Bros) and lies (Bernie is a "throwback messenger with no particularly stirring message") is intellectually weak and tendentious. Decency is not what I feel from you, nor clear thinking what I read. Please practice what you preach.
5
Yes, I can’t wait to return to sluggish economic growth, unemployment at around 5%, the Dow stuck at 19k; as a physician wondering what ridiculous “whack-a-mole” games the government will make me play to “improve” healthcare while it takes time away from me actually spending time talking to my patient, and listening to my colleagues talk of leaving medicine or worse yet, commit suicide (since ObamaCare became law the physician suicide rate has hit an all time high, double the national average). Sure sounds like the good ole days....
3
If Joe Biden wins he can try to fix all they thing he voted for that ruined our county.
2
Odd that the Paris agreement and climate change does not figure in your calculus.
1
Bret Stephens missed the most important "win" of all. If Joe Biden wins America will have four years where we aren't a totalitarian state.
2
That list of "worries" about Biden is also a long list of things you wouldn't have to worry about in a Sanders presidency.
Just sayin' . . .
4
If Biden wins... He won’t. And contrary to the preemptive narrative that it will be the fault of the “dirtbag left”, he will lose on his own merits. Magical thinking glosses over the controversial votes and actions of his long political career, while no one mentions the upcoming Burisma investigation. Wait for the chants of lock him up if he manages to become the nominee. This vision that Joe will lead the United States back in time to a more rational place is just a pipe dream. We can’t go back. Life doesn’t work that way. By all means, moderate democrats and unhappy republicans, dream away! Just don’t blame those who didn’t share your dream when, upon waking, you realize the reality turns out to be less than rosy.
3
So, all things considered, your electorate had better try and ensure that Biden wins.
If Biden wins, you won't have to worry that Alex Jones will get the Congressional Medal of Honor.
There’s one thing missing from this article that trumps everything else the author mentioned. Why is it missing? Why is it not the first and last thing mentioned here?
CLIMATE CHANGE
It tells me everything I need to know about the author and then some.
1
If Biden wins he won't be cussing soon after he left a bible breakfast. And he sure won't be using profanity at what seems like endless, ubiquitous rallies where people adorn themselves with the color red. And he sure won't be tweeting on the graveyard shift.
1
Mr Stephens, you must have always led a well protected, affluent life, never having to worry about health insurance, surprise health costs and fear of bankruptcy.
As thw only developed nation, where universal coverage does not exist, there is no songle payer sysyem, where hospitals and pharma companies charge exorbitant prices and where millions are uninsured or under-insured, you should tey learn a little about why vast majority of Americans consider healthcare a main worry.
Biden, as you correctly mentioned, is directionless, has age-related dementia, has views which are sadly outdated and is propped up by corporate money and media support. He is like a male version of Hillary, minus the appeal to women voters. He will lose to Trump in the debates and in the general election. Its not a matter of argument, just a matter of time.
Once relelcted Trump will continue to undermine the constitution and destroy our democratic institutions at a faster pace.
But, at least your precious large companies and industries will be safe, right??
4
If Biden wins, there will be immediate calls for the 25th Amendment removal
1
Yes, decency is required in a President of the United States.
1
Oh I see, a typical cheap Republican trick, title an article about Biden, but then use it to criticize Bernie. Also Mr. Stephens could have mentioned if Biden wins we won't have to worry about a president that is intent on trashing the environment, appointing extreme rightwing judges, giving away my hard-earned money to the rich, gutting our healthcare community, combating science, a president and his party cavorting with Putin and other despots, and bragging about grabbing women's crotches. Excuse me for the brevity of these items but I know most readers are probably already fully aware of the Republican practice of denigrating working people.
1
Wow, and you are the epitome of what is wrong with this country. The people you rail against are victims, victims of one, two, and three virulent forms of capitalism. You’re like Amy Klobachar calling her father an alcoholic in the Kavanaugh hearing, but never faulting the alcohol industry. Sorry, but I remember when we finally went after the tobacco industry for what they did to men, you’d complain about the smoker. Our whole world is like this now, people who can’t identify or recognize the cause, but they’re right in there to destroy those who bear the effects.
3
I'm glad you won't have to worry about doing-something about income inequality. Good for you.
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If “sleepy Joe” wins America will finally get a good night’s sleep!
I wouldn’t worry too much about anything else. We need a break from this crazy, frenetic, chaotic and incompetent President.
BTW Mulvaney is out. Meadows is in.
Need I say more?!
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