No, it wouldn’t be as easy as Biden walking to the Senate and calling up bills and forcing votes.
I’m on record saying that Biden may not be the candidate we want, but he is the candidate we need. I said this around the time he announced he was running. I’ve since wavered as I watched the Dem candidate field be whittled down to the top 5 most likely primary winners. I like almost everybody in the top 5 better than Biden. Even as I’m starting to think Bernie is about as unattractive as Biden at this point (not because of his policies, mind you). My ideal ticket would be Warren/Buttigieg. But if Biden comes out on top of the primary, then Biden for President it is.
I guess I am supporting Biden. Although living in New York mostly makes that a moot point.
I try to figure out who I think will do the most effective job as President. And while I’m not crazy about Biden, I think he’s the best choice by that standard. He had a good record in the Senate of getting bills passed. Because having great ideas and making big promises on the campaign trail doesn’t matter if you can’t turn them into reality once you’re in office.
This is a narrower thread than the general Biden thread. If anyone is interested in general Biden discussion, please take it to that thread.
The topic of this is specific - the procedural moves that Biden could or could not have done as Vice President. See the following:
Please constrain discussion to this topic in this thread.
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I for one admit to great confusion about how the Senate “works.” If the President of the Senate says, with no basis, “I rule that your motion is out of order” what is Moscow Mitch going to do? Call the police?
Is there any power that the majority leader holds that isn’t a manifestation of being the presiding officer? Alternately, is there any basis consistent with the Constitution on which anyone can refuse to allow the President of the Senate to preside?
Biden only has about a. 20-25% level of support in the primaries, and it keeps dropping. So you and about 75-80% of democratic primary voters agree on this.
I’m personally drawn between Warren and sanders. I like sanders moral consistency and how he was a dark horse in 2016, but I feel Warren understands liberal voters like technocrats and she has fleshed out ideas for everything. I’m fine with either one.
In the general I will support any Democrat who runs. But I think they all have some drawbacks. Maybe sanders or Warren would alienate some swing voters and moderate republican never trumpers, but Biden will alienate liberals and young voters. Each candidate has a risk of alienating someone in the democratic coalition.
All of them, because he’s not the presiding officer. The current one is Grassley, iirc. McConnell’s power is derived from his status as majority leader. The president of the Senate only enforces parliamentary rules of order. The majority leader sets the agenda.
You got that from that op? Youse da mod. I’d suggest you rename the thread then at least. And then this is not really an Elections thread but a GQ one on the possible powers a VP has over the majority leader of the Senate.
Spoken as a confused reader only.
The DNC has argued in court that it has no obligation to heed the will of its primary voters, and the very notion of “super delegates” is so that the proper folk can decide who is annointed.
You must color within the lines, makes others nervous if ya don’t. Are you herdable?
I take your question.
I think the VP has the right to preside, call on Senators to speak and enforce the rules. He has no power, AFAIK, to influence the agenda and certainly not to call a vote. Also he breaks ties. That is why the election will lead to total gridlock unless the Dems win the presidency and pick up at least three senate seats. Hopefully including McConnell who has weaponized his position. The senate sets its own rules that don’t leave much space for the VP.
I do believe Biden if nominated stands best to beat Trump purely because he’s smart enough (pragmatic) to have not chased the Sanders-left. Independents and swing state voters just by looking at the data we have are more likely to go to Biden.
He has the moderate wing of the party locked up to now because other realistic alternatives like Harris or Beto instead of holding the middle at the start thought going left was the way to go but later pivoted to the middle. That’s bad optics as it seems flip-flopping. Buttigieg actually has been consistent but he’s got the question of inexperience and rightly or wrongly whether America is ready for a gay president. Klobuchar was someone I had optimism for but it’s fair to say she’s yet to get going.
My worry about a Biden presidency is in 2024 he runs for re-election as a weak incumbent. In 2020 the goal is to beat Trump and he can build the coalition to do that but in 2024 whoever is the democratic incumbent president has to run on their record. In four years he probably will be too liberal for the Never Trump voters who will jump back to the GOP to rally behind Nikki Haley and too conservative for the younger, louder voices of his own party. I don’t think “The Squad” will be happy with President Biden.
Bone @25: Moderators moderating moderators?
In MY day, moderators just wandered into other moderators’ houses (we all had keys, it was a simpler time), sat down at the kitchen table and drank all their beer, and said “cut that shit OUT” as we walked out the door.
Manhattan and Alphagene were the only ones who followed me and tackled me to the ground…Alphagene because he was 6’3” and 230 pounds; Manhattan because he kept a rather exclusive cellar.
Agreed on all counts. Unfortunately, PredictIt currently puts Warren at a 47% probability of winning the Dem nomination and Biden at 21%. She’s going to win the primary. Everything is moving in her favor. Like you, I’d prefer Warren, but in the general, Trump will destroy her on her policy of abolishing private insurance. No policy position is more ripe for a Republican campaign that utterly terrifies the electorate. Healthcare may be important to voters, but they’d rather have a sub-par policy with certainty than wonder what they’re gonna have. That’s why the Republicans aren’t nearly as afraid of her. They haven’t even begun taking her apart yet - mischaracterizing her policies, demonizing her as a socialist, etc… Right now it looks like, on average, Biden has +5%-ish lead on Warren against Trump. That could change in either direction. Ukraine could end up helping or hurting Biden - that remains to be seen. At this point, I’m not willing to roll a D20 and risk a critical hit.
To the idealists who think we should vote our preference and be damned the outcome I say (as I’ve said before on this board): Remodel the kitchen however you like, just don’t do it when the house is burning down.
Reparations?
Guys, please see the note in post #25.
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Whoops missed that. My apologies.