# Hee-haw, y'all. The 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415 "2018-11-12T17:52:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 145
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2881 "2019-12-09T00:57:01Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Joe Biden isn’t “straight talking.” Straight talking means you can articulate points clearly. Biden absolutely blows at making it clear what he’s trying to say. He mumbles, stumbles, trips over his tongue constantly. It’s not just that he’s a “gaffe machine” in terms of saying really stupid things that are memorable in how stupid they are, he also just has a tendency to make word salad out of whatever it is that he’s talking about at any given time. During the last debate, I had heavy deja-vu to the George W. Bush years _every_ time it was Biden’s turn to talk. Eventually I came to the conclusion that Bush was actually BETTER at public speaking than Biden. THIS GUY ABSOLUTELY SUCKS AT TALKING. I’m sorry. There’s no getting around it. > > If we’re in a situation where one candidate has the black vote sewn up but is hated by white progressives and is a shitty communicator, and then the other candidates are liked by progressives and/or younger people but weak with minorities…then all I can say is we’re in deep trouble. Again. First of all it’s well known he overcame a serious stutter to get to where he ended up. > [@](#): > > Before his rise in politics, though, Biden dealt with stuttering throughout his childhood and into his twenties. According to a February 2015 article from CNN, the issue of stuttering came up recently during a stop at a coffee shop in Des Moines, when Biden spoke with a mother about her daughter’s experience in Head Start, the government program to provide early education and nutrition services for low-income Americans. > > “She has a speech problem… she likes to leave off the beginning part of words…Through Head Start she’s been able to learn how to talk to us, how to communicate, how to be civil,” the mother said, noting that her daughter received speech therapy at Drake. At that point, Biden acknowledged his own childhood struggle with stuttering, as he has done publicly many times. > > Vice President Biden spoke about how difficult it was to overcome his stutter in a 2010 appearance on ABC’s The View. In 2011, he wrote an essay for People Magazine on his experience: > > “I never had professional therapy, but a couple of nuns taught me to put a cadence to my speaking, and that’s why I spent so much time reading poetry – Emerson and Yeats,” Biden wrote. “But even in my small, boys’ prep school, I got nailed in Latin class with the nickname Joe Impedimenta. You get so desperate, you’re so embarrassed.” > > Vice President Biden is an inspiration to those who stutter, proving that struggling with stuttering does not have to hinder your personal success. > **[President Joe Biden](https://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/president-joe-biden)** > > During a CNN town hall, President Joe Biden discussed stuttering. Here are some of his remarks from the event: "It has nothing to do with your intelligence quotient. It has nothing to do with your intellectual makeup," Biden said. "You know,... I see so-called progressives on social media cut clips of him stuttering "\*I i i i i i\* feel embarrassed for Lindsey Graham" was the seven second clip they took from a lengthy interview with CNN recently. If these guys are progressives I don't want to be on their side. Secondly when Biden appears at Town Hall events he speaks a lot more clearly and confidently than he does in the debate. Probably because you get longer than 60 seconds to make a point, counter a point, explain your rationale and cram it all in before the moderator cuts you off. I believe once the debate stage shrinks then a more obvious judgement can be made on all the remaining feasible candidates. Of course it might be too late because the next half of debates in 2020 coincide with voting. And thirdly it was Biden’s performance in the 2012 Vice Presidential debate which was generally considered to have tilt the tide back into Obama’s favour. Obama had a lousy first debate against Romney which he acknowledged could have got better. Paul Ryan went into his debate with Biden as a GOP wonderkid ready to take down the old timer and ended up with his tail between his legs. That stopped the bleeding of the re-election campaign and then Obama regained his usual dynamic self in the following debates with Romney. I have my problems with a Biden nomination. I have an issue with a president seeking re-election in 2024 who is over eighty years old. I predict a President Biden will be primaried from his left in 2024 which is no good for any incumbent president and if he decides to hand over the rein to his Vice President, he or she will probably be made to earn the right to be at the top of the ticket in a contested primary too. For that reason I want a candidate who immediately after being sworn in I have no doubt has another campaign in him/her. I also have a worry that the never-Trump republicans who are behind Biden now will use his presidency to cleanse their party of Trumpism so in 2024 they can throw their weight behind someone palatable like Nikki Haley. And my third problem with a Biden presidency is the members of the GOP congress who want to investigate his son now aren’t going to overnight put it behind them should Biden become president. Even if they are decimated at the polls these people, Fox News, Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh and Donald Trump himself will be calling for retribution one way or another. I support in the main Biden’s platform. I’d prefer somebody else ran on it and wins. In the last page I stated my preference is for Amy Klobuchar but I’d be happy for Pete Buttigieg or even Cory Booker to take that mantle as the candidate who is ambitious in their vision but pragmatic enough to know there are some harsh realities. But if it is Biden all the way then I’ll be voting for him. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2882 "2019-12-09T01:25:57Z")
The fact that he overcame a stutter doesn’t change anything. He’s awful at speaking and awful at debating. That exchange with the guy where he challenged him to a push-up contest also reveals another problem with him, he’s thin-skinned and hot-tempered - which would not in itself be a problem if his response to being provoked was to say something cutting and intelligent. Instead it’s to say something STUPID and AWKWARD. He’s going to do terribly in the debates against Trump if he’s the nominee. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2883 "2019-12-09T01:32:07Z")
the biggest reason Biden is #1 now is Sanders and Warren are splitting the very liberal voters. And other than mayor Pete the other candidates are way down in the polls. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2884 "2019-12-09T01:39:13Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > the biggest reason Biden is #1 now is Sanders and Warren are splitting the very liberal voters. And other than mayor Pete the other candidates are way down in the polls. I wonder if it has occurred to many people that they are well aware of this and are doing it on purpose to help ol’ Joe Biden in the General. Just a thought. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2885 "2019-12-09T03:11:22Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > polls now mean very little . If Trump and the GOP go after Biden full bore then you look at polls and see how he holds up. Going after him implies there’s something to go after. Some candidates are more vulnerable than others and Biden is one of the least vulnerable candidates you could find. He’s ideologically in the mainstream and if not for his idiot kid he’d be scandal free. All that’s left is attacks on Joe’s quirks, which might amuse Donald but won’t move the polls. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2886 "2019-12-09T03:14:41Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Inspiring though he is not. You know, so much of the “inspiration factor” is tied up into youth. I don’t know if you remember 1988 but his brand back then was that he was inspiring, exciting, and charismatic. Then he got older. But it’s interesting to speculate what might have been had he not shot himself in the foot. That field was WIDE open. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2887 "2019-12-09T11:26:18Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You know, so much of the “inspiration factor” is tied up into youth. That’s because youth is the Democrats’ brand. Not counting incumbents, the Dems haven’t elected a President over 60 in more than a century. So naturally, they’re about to nominate an octogenarian (rounded up). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2888 "2019-12-09T16:26:06Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Biden’s authentic, he’s a straight talker, we know what he believes, we know what kind of guy he is. He hasn’t been a chameleon throughout his career, just shifting with the political winds, being all things to all people. OK, but that’s true of most of the Dem field. Certainly true of Warren and Sanders as well as Biden. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2889 "2019-12-09T16:29:54Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It’s a relatively easy field to beat. Good thing for him, because he’s still the first choice of only about 27% of Dem primary voters. This despite ~100% name recognition, and eight years as Obama’s VP. That’s just incredibly weak for someone coming into the race with those advantages. He may well win the nomination anyway, but it’s got to make one worry about how effective a candidate he’d be as the nominee. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2890 "2019-12-09T16:35:30Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Good thing for him, because he’s still the first choice of only about 27% of Dem primary voters. > > This despite ~100% name recognition, and eight years as Obama’s VP. > > That’s just incredibly weak for someone coming into the race with those advantages. He may well win the nomination anyway, but it’s got to make one worry about how effective a candidate he’d be as the nominee. Yes! And especially in light of the fact that Republicans have conducted relentless smear campaigns, including attempts to involve foreign assistance, against Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg… oh. Wait. I think it’s pretty impressive that Biden maintains his lead _despite_ all the efforts to dislodge him. Trump Republicans know who the heavy is in this race. So do the Russians. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2891 "2019-12-09T18:04:01Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > OK, but that’s true of most of the Dem field. Certainly true of Warren and Sanders as well as Biden. Sanders yes but third rail on some issues for many primary voters and many more of the swingables in swing states. Warren went off brand trying to position herself in front on M4A and then realizing that she had to flip back some. But several others yes. Just not as much so. Biden can only be punctured by disaster in both Iowa and New Hampshire. If he at least medals in both then he will be very hard to beat. His flubs don’t hurt him much. They do stop him from growing support maybe. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2892 "2019-12-10T11:12:02Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > OK, but that’s true of most of the Dem field. Certainly true of Warren and Sanders as well as Biden. It’s true of the ones who are actually doing well, which is very interesting. Democratic voters are rewarding authenticity and punishing politician-type behaviors. Warren’s current fall seems to be based in her losing some of her authenticity cred with her release of her funding plan for M4A. No one actually believes her numbers. Her smiling, “So as my plan shows, we can do this without raising middle class taxes a dime”, sounded an awful lot like, “So as this test shows, I am part native American.” We’ve found her weakness: when she really wants to believe something, she’ll look at data clearly showing her belief false and say it confirms her belief. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2893 "2019-12-10T11:15:54Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > the biggest reason Biden is #1 now is Sanders and Warren are splitting the very liberal voters. And other than mayor Pete the other candidates are way down in the polls. The dynamic in that race isn’t 100% ideological though. A lot of Sanders voters aren’t interested in voting in a Democratic primary that Sanders isn’t in. Given WHO Biden’s voters are, it seems unlikely that a lefty candidate would be able to command enough votes, even if only one was in the race. Plus you have polls showing that for Bernie Sanders voters, Joe Biden is their second choice(and vice versa). ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2894 "2019-12-10T11:18:24Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Biden can only be punctured by disaster in both Iowa and New Hampshire. If he at least medals in both then he will be very hard to beat. His flubs don’t hurt him much. They do stop him from growing support maybe. I actually think that finished 3rd or worse in either state can shift some of his support to Buttigieg. Especially if Buttigieg pulls off wins in both states. I don’t think anyone has ever won both IA and NH and then failed to win the nomination. I think if Buttigieg wins those states, he gets a very long look from voters. And historically SC isn’t much of a firewall if you lose the first two contests. Biden really could use a win in one of the first two contests, or at least no worse than 2nd. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2895 "2019-12-11T00:24:50Z")
Yang has qualified for the debate next week. He’s #7. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2896 "2019-12-11T02:09:22Z")
Big poll rated A- by 538: > **[Who Will Win The 2020 Democratic Primary?](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primary-forecast/)** > > FiveThirtyEight's polls and forecast for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary election. Klobuchar is finally surging and mainly at the expense of Buttigieg. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2019, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2897 "2019-12-11T02:18:03Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Big poll rated A- by 538: > > [Who Will Win The 2020 Democratic Primary? | FiveThirtyEight](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primaries/democratic/iowa/) > > Klobuchar is finally surging and mainly at the expense of Buttigieg. Cool! She’s my favorite of the “moderates”. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2019, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2898 "2019-12-11T02:21:36Z")
The problem there is that historically IA winners often fail due to lack of ability to raise money. Buttigieg has plenty of money already and would see even more if he won Iowa. Klobuchar might win and not be able to follow up, although I’d like to be proved wrong. Even if it does mean White House staff will be longing for the day of the kindly old orange guy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2899 "2019-12-11T04:49:00Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Big poll rated A- by 538: > > [Who Will Win The 2020 Democratic Primary? | FiveThirtyEight](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primaries/democratic/iowa/) > > Klobuchar is finally surging and mainly at the expense of Buttigieg. I’d say the big news from that poll is that Biden is at #1. Considering how many recent Iowa polls have put him in 4th place, this has to be causing some sighs of relief in Biden’s campaign HQ. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2019, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2900 "2019-12-11T04:52:38Z")
That said one poll that is quite different than those before it should be viewed with caution until and unless more polling confirms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415.md?page=144) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415.md?page=146)