16th April 2019, 7:58 PM
(This post was last modified: 16th April 2019, 9:19 PM by A Black Falcon.)
Obama ran to Hillary's right on domestic policy, and to her left on foreign policy. Her health care plan was far better than his, and had she won in '08 we'd have a better health law today, I'm sure. He was never actually a progressive, not in policy. Sure, sort of like a Beto or Buttigieg this year but probably a bigger success from early on he was a good and charismatic speaker who attracted a lot of attention, and got a lot of progressive support, but in policy I don't think he was ever that far left.
And similarly, regardless of how she was 20 or 30 years earlier or how her husband governed, in both '08 and '16 Hillary ran as an unquestionably liberal candidate, particularly on domestic issues.
I agree that Biden isn't nearly as charismatic as Obama, though; there are a lot of reasons that Biden's own previous runs for President ended quickly and with very low polling numbers, he's a mostly quite centrist Democrat, not the most enthusiasm-evoking speaker, and constantly creates gaffes to an infamous degree. And as for this year, he's already talking about how he's an "Obama-Biden Democrat", and from a policy standpoint that's good, but we can do better. How about a President who'd start with actual liberal policies, instead of centrist ones that then get pushed to the right before they become law?
On the other hand though we need to win, and Biden is still polling best, not just in the primaries but against Trump. I'll be interesting to see how that changes as people come to know the other Dems more.
On the other hand, our other top candidate is... the other guy over 75 years old, Bernie. Blah. I'm not definitely opposed to someone that old as President, but it's kind of too bad that both of our top candidates are old men... and that's not even getting into that I still think Bernie would definitely lose.
And similarly, regardless of how she was 20 or 30 years earlier or how her husband governed, in both '08 and '16 Hillary ran as an unquestionably liberal candidate, particularly on domestic issues.
Quote:And he was charismatic. Biden is not charismatic. Not at all. He's got all the charm of a tepid glass of water left by the sink overnight, if that glass of water also groped women. There's the other thing. Why in god's green HELL are you supporting someone who's that much of a creep? Are you really willing to let that go to tow the party line? Do you honestly think THAT is what is going to get the women's vote?I do not entirely defend his behavior, but "groped women" isn't accurate as far as we know, nobody has accused Biden of doing anything sexual to them. It was all done in front of the camera because he (wrongly) thought that what he was doing was fine. "Paternalistic sexism" is the best term I've seen to describe it. And, yes, creepy. But so far no one has accused him of anything beyond what we see in the pictures: being a person who's too touchy-feely with both sexes, but women more often, and doesn't ask before doing so. That's not okay behavior, but it's not assault or something.
I agree that Biden isn't nearly as charismatic as Obama, though; there are a lot of reasons that Biden's own previous runs for President ended quickly and with very low polling numbers, he's a mostly quite centrist Democrat, not the most enthusiasm-evoking speaker, and constantly creates gaffes to an infamous degree. And as for this year, he's already talking about how he's an "Obama-Biden Democrat", and from a policy standpoint that's good, but we can do better. How about a President who'd start with actual liberal policies, instead of centrist ones that then get pushed to the right before they become law?
On the other hand though we need to win, and Biden is still polling best, not just in the primaries but against Trump. I'll be interesting to see how that changes as people come to know the other Dems more.
On the other hand, our other top candidate is... the other guy over 75 years old, Bernie. Blah. I'm not definitely opposed to someone that old as President, but it's kind of too bad that both of our top candidates are old men... and that's not even getting into that I still think Bernie would definitely lose.
Quote:However, isn't it hilarious that in Trump's attempt to "teach us a lesson", he's just given us everything we could want regarding illegals? He's turning the southern border into ellis island! It's great! Oh yes, his motivations are evil, and there's an extra step involved, but the practical reality is we now have an open southern border legally granting access by express shuttling immigrants to major cities throughout the US. A few hundred per city, easily absorbed without notice.Heh, yeah, good point... Trump is very good at "winning", no question!
The democrats need to take the win the bumbling manchild just gave to them.