# Is the campaign trail getting to Biden? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 29, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181 "2020-01-29T19:21:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/41 "2020-01-31T17:45:13Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Congress thinks this? I have no idea why I wrote that - lol Wow, I knew I was suffering from a cold but I didn’t think it was that bad. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/42 "2020-01-31T17:45:32Z")
Joe Biden is losing it, doing very strange things, has a bad record, does a lot of mean shit to people, even those who are sincere, even those who support him. And I haven’t even got to all the touching and sniffing ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/43 "2020-01-31T18:33:53Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Maybe Sanders’ status as an outsider was why he was willing to challenge the establishment Democrat in 2016. What did he care about the Democratic establishment - he wasn’t a Democrat until he entered the race. > > You can see “no compromise!” as standing on principle, certainly, but it doesn’t bode well for getting your agenda enacted if you ever get elected. In 2016 _or_ 2020. > > If Sanders is elected, his only chance of any of his ideas into legislation is if Congress not only flips Democrat, both houses, but flips to democratic socialist. Chances are pretty slim that Democrats can get a majority in the Senate. Getting 51 AOC clones in there? Not gonna happen. > > Regards, > Shodan I can see some of Sanders’ appeal in 2016, the bull in the china shop approach also worked for Trump. And, as much as I liked Hillary, there’s no doubt all her speeches and debates were done through a filter of a lifetime in the public eye. And yes, rose Twitter doesn’t have a response when I point out that a President Sanders, even with a Democratic senate majority will wake up to a Senate controlled by Schumer and Durbin who aren’t exactly going to destroy the financial industry in New York and Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/44 "2020-01-31T19:21:41Z")
[Apparently staffers don’t trust Biden to respond to questions re Social Security so they printed up talking points for him and he’s just handing them out to reporters instead of actually, y’know, answering questions. Dang.](https://twitter.com/nashville_brook/status/1223054617564581888?s=09) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/45 "2020-01-31T19:30:19Z")
The campaign trail would be getting to me, too, if I [gave a speech in Iowa just four days before the caucuses, and only 50 people showed up](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bidens-quiet-closing-argument-is-putting-voters-to-sleep). ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/46 "2020-01-31T19:59:41Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > The campaign trail would be getting to me, too, if I [gave a speech in Iowa just four days before the caucuses, and only 50 people showed up](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bidens-quiet-closing-argument-is-putting-voters-to-sleep). I constantly remind myself to look at my bubble. Social media skews younger and more liberal. Most people don’t live in a 85% LGBT very urban neighborhood. Almost everyone I know is college educated. I’ve seen the polls with Biden staying consistent, but damn I’ve never met a Biden supporter. Didn’t run across a single Biden petitioner while out getting signatures for Pete. I don’t think any campaign is putting resources into SC as it’s too close to Super Tuesday so Biden should have that as at least one first four win. And, in the Super Tuesday states, Buttigieg and Warren are going to be selective while there’s certain states Bernie doesn’t have a prayer in. So the next month will definitely be a test to see if Biden’s support is a mile wide/inch deep and dries up quickly or if he really does have breadth of support out there among those who aren’t on social media, don’t post to message boards or blogs and don’t watch cable news non stop. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/47 "2020-01-31T20:10:18Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’ve seen the polls with Biden staying consistent, but damn I’ve never met a Biden supporter. Didn’t run across a single Biden petitioner while out getting signatures for Pete. ^ This. I honestly can’t say I’ve seen much support for him either. I don’t see a lot of energy behind his campaign, nor do I see any energy from the candidate himself. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/48 "2020-01-31T20:53:12Z")
I know of a number of people who have Biden as their 2nd choice. Also the vast majority of the African-Americans I follow on Twitter and Facebook are SUPER into Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/49 "2020-01-31T21:26:26Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Also the vast majority of the African-Americans I follow on Twitter and Facebook are SUPER into Biden. I don’t think that will help him in Iowa very much. I don’t know how much of it is people support him because he’s the front-runner, and he’s the front-runner because people support him. The good news - Monday starts the campaign season for real. The bad news - it won’t end until November. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/50 "2020-01-31T21:41:53Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I constantly remind myself to look at my bubble. Social media skews younger and more liberal. Most people don’t live in a 85% LGBT very urban neighborhood. Almost everyone I know is college educated. > > I’ve seen the polls with Biden staying consistent, but damn I’ve never met a Biden supporter. Didn’t run across a single Biden petitioner while out getting signatures for Pete. My bubble skews older and more moderate, and Biden has far more support than Bernie. In my bubble, the more progressive lean toward Warren, the more mainline lean toward Biden. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/51 "2020-01-31T22:23:42Z")
I’m glad we can take a look at our bubbles and realize that they are bubbles and almost all of us realize we live in one. I’ve hated the ‘fake news’ ‘rigged polls’ mentality. And it’s been going on for years. There were really people shocked that McGovern lost because everyone in their college dorm voted for him, but of course it’s gotten much worse. I’m glad at least I can look outside my bubble. I know that a blah vote for Biden counts just as much as the most fervent Bernie vote. I’m glad we will get actual votes starting Monday. While I can’t say I like the compressed schedule, we’ve had a year to evaluate these candidates. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2020, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/52 "2020-02-10T11:34:28Z")
He calls a woman dog faced > **[Joe Biden Just Called a Woman at One of His Events a “Lying, Dog-Faced Pony...](https://slate.com/culture/2020/02/joe-biden-dog-faced-pony-soldier-john-wayne-tyrone-power.html)** > > He says the line came from a John Wayne movie. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/53 "2020-02-10T11:56:09Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > He calls a woman dog faced > [Joe Biden calls a woman at one of his events a “lying, dog-faced pony soldier.” Is this what he was talking about?](https://slate.com/culture/2020/02/joe-biden-dog-faced-pony-soldier-john-wayne-tyrone-power.html) You can’t leave out the rest. The partial quote makes him look bad. The full quote makes him look insane. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/54 "2020-02-10T12:50:30Z")
hopefully he crashes and burns on Super tuesday and quits then. He may win SC and a few other states but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/55 "2020-02-10T13:45:05Z")
> [@](#): > > "[It’s a good question," Biden responded. “Number one: Iowa’s a democratic caucus. You ever been to a caucus? No you haven’t. You’re a lying, dog-faced pony soldier. You said you were; but now you got to be honest. I’m gonna be honest with you. It was a little bit confusing in Iowa.”](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-new-hampshire-lying-dog-faced-pony-soldier) What is he even talking about? I understand politicians not giving direct answers to hard questions, but it should sound at least superficially like they are talking about the same thing. This was [authentic frontier gibberish](https://www.uberquotes.net/moviequotes/blazing-saddles/mvbs00a3cy). Regards, Shodan, Simple Farmer, Common Clay of the New West ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/56 "2020-02-10T14:10:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I wasn’t a Biden fan when he first ran 30 years ago, and I’m definitely not now. He needs to drop out for the same reason Bernie does - he’s just plain old too old for the job (so is Bloomberg) and IMNSHO he’s just not presidential material in the first place. I agree. He’s not going to survive the Ukraine rat-fucking, which is just getting started. Yelling at anyone that mentions it is not a viable strategy. And, even putting that aside, he’s a third rate candidate on his third presidential run. He stinks of desperation. I think the Dem candidates need a better strategy to combat the pervasive smear campaigns, pivoting to policy isn’t going to work. My “bubble” is pretty moderate. I just moved to North Carolina from New York and I’ve been constantly surprised at how liberal and diverse my new neighbors are. I don’t think I’ve encountered a Trump supporter yet - at least not one that talks about. But I know they’re out there. The other thing I’ve found is that most of my real life friends, all reliable Democratic voters - are really low information. They just don’t follow politics. I was at a party this fall, with other liberal leaning, educated people. I was trying to discuss the Mueller investigation. The basic information level was that they knew about the Mueller probe and the Trump Tower meeting but none of them knew who Paul Manafort was. That’s why I hang out here, I don’t have anyone to discuss this with in real life. I know voters in NC that don’t know who Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar is. Everyone here seems to think the debates are so important, but only about 10% of Democratic voters watch any given debate and most of them will never watch one. Early voting starts next week and no one is running advertising here yet except Bloomberg. This is why the smears work, especially when the situation is as complicated as Ukraine. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/57 "2020-02-10T14:30:01Z")
Well, it sounded like he was going for “caucuses are messed up”. I assume the kid answered sort of automatically “yes” to his question of “have you ever been to a caucus”, which is almost certainly not true. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/58 "2020-02-10T14:42:50Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I agree. He’s not going to survive the Ukraine rat-fucking, which is just getting started. Yelling at anyone that mentions it is not a viable strategy. And, even putting that aside, he’s a third rate candidate on his third presidential run. He stinks of desperation. > > I think the Dem candidates need a better strategy to combat the pervasive smear campaigns, pivoting to policy isn’t going to work. > > My “bubble” is pretty moderate. I just moved to North Carolina from New York and I’ve been constantly surprised at how liberal and diverse my new neighbors are. I don’t think I’ve encountered a Trump supporter yet - at least not one that talks about. But I know they’re out there. > > The other thing I’ve found is that most of my real life friends, all reliable Democratic voters - are really low information. They just don’t follow politics. I was at a party this fall, with other liberal leaning, educated people. I was trying to discuss the Mueller investigation. The basic information level was that they knew about the Mueller probe and the Trump Tower meeting but none of them knew who Paul Manafort was. > That’s why I hang out here, I don’t have anyone to discuss this with in real life. I know voters in NC that don’t know who Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar is. Everyone here seems to think the debates are so important, but only about 10% of Democratic voters watch any given debate and most of them will never watch one. Early voting starts next week and no one is running advertising here yet except Bloomberg. > > This is why the smears work, especially when the situation is as complicated as Ukraine. Do you live in Charlotte, Asheville, Triad or Triangle? I’m in the Triangle. Those 4 areas are full of transplants, many are from the NE. And they tend to be much more liberal than NC natives. Go out to rural NC areas and it’s 60% or more Trump fans. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/59 "2020-02-10T14:46:41Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Do you live in Charlotte, Asheville, Triad or Triangle? I’m in the Triangle. Those 4 areas are full of transplants, many are from the NE. And they tend to be much more liberal than NC natives. Go out to rural NC areas and it’s 60% or more Trump fans. Triad. And I’m in a new neighborhood, one that didn’t exist until about 15 years ago. Which explains the diversity I’ve noticed, I think. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181/60 "2020-02-10T15:20:34Z")
new areas in NC are at least 50% transplants. Where I live the next town over is around 50% Indians and about 90% of them have tech jobs. Some are citizens or have green cards. The young Indians are mostly on H1B visas. We have 4 Hindu temples nearby and 2 Catholic churches. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-campaign-trail-getting-to-biden/847181.md?page=4)