# Is there anything about Biden that you actually admire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 11, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047 "2020-07-11T19:41:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/61 "2020-07-12T15:35:08Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > No thanks. I want them both to go down. Not a choice that we’ve got. > [@Reply](#): > > Write someone in. [. . .]. Let the system collapse – hell, HELP it to collapse by siphoning power away from the shitty two legacy parties Writing somebody in for POTUS won’t do that. Try running for office. Start with your local town board or equivalent, and work your way up from there. Or support people who are doing that. At the local level, write ins sometimes actually work; but you have to set up an actual write in campaign, random votes won’t do it. > [@Reply](#): > > hope we can build something better from its ashes. Mind if the rest of us don’t join you in the preliminary fire? > [@Reply](#): > > the symbolism of it all is far worthwhile than placing your faith in generic old white guy #46. The symbolism of it will be entirely ignored by whoever gets elected. So it’s worth something only inside your own individual head. Start or work on a full scale campaign to get “none of the above” made a valid vote, that can actually win an election and force a new one? That might be worth doing. Throwing your vote away on a random write-in and trying to talk as many other people as possible into doing likewise on a whole batch of different random write-ins? Not gonna accomplish a damn thing that’s of any use. (This, by the way, is one of the things I’ve changed my mind on since 1977.) > [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > I don’t understand the “more boring than Hillary” accusation. Hillary Clinton is not boring. She has many flaws, but mundanity isn’t one of them. She’s a policy wonk. Some people find that boring. I find it a job qualification. > [@Reply](#): > > I don’t see how a Biden victory over Trump would be meaningfully different from this outcome. The Democrats have been hamstrung for decades. Even when they had power, they had no vision and no desire to upset the status quo, unlike the GOP, who’s fighting tooth and nail to destroy America The Democrats would not be fighting tooth and nail to destroy America. That sure as hell looks meaningfully different to me. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/62 "2020-07-12T15:49:47Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > You think Biden is going to save us? It’s a funny, desperate thought I guess when you rephrase what I say until it fits your argument, that makes _perfect_ sense. 🙄 I thought it would be clear by now that what I am advocating is taking steps in the right direction, not “Here is the perfect solution to all those problems that haunt mankind!” When I look at the nonsensical “I am going to sit here and hold my breath until you give me what I want!” solutions you propose that would, at best, mean absolutely nothing in the short or long run, and at worst(and most likely) hand over this country to the Republicans, the phrase that comes to mind is “Perfect is the enemy of Good”. edited to add: BTW, writing in someone would only work if 1. That person is Constitutionally qualified 2. That person gets more votes than the other candidates, and most importantly 3. _Everybody agrees on who that person is._ Good luck on that third qualification. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/63 "2020-07-12T16:00:17Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > You think Biden is going to save us? It’s a funny, desperate thought. If there were someone else who had a meaningful chance of beating Trump, _at this time_, I’d happily consider them. But we don’t; Trump is the current emergency, and Biden, like it or not, is the closest we’ve got to an emergency response. End of story. ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/64 "2020-07-12T16:25:47Z")
You’re whining about Biden on July 12? It’s a little late. There’s nothing about Ring Dings I admire, but I eat 'em anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/65 "2020-07-12T16:31:28Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > If more people stopped having stupid debates like this and measuring a person’s worthiness based how much they’d enjoy a beer with said person maybe we’d get somewhere Are you saying we should elect candidates based on likability? Admiration isn’t limited to TV appearances, you know? You can admire someone’s platform or experience or voting record or specific acts, etc. Hell, I’d sit down with a beer with Bush despite hating his administration. Not exactly a good metric for the most powerful position in the world. He was a terrible president but seemingly a laid back enough guy to have a sit down chat with. Trump, on the other hand, I’d just throw the beer in his face along with the glass, the table, the chairs, the rest of the bar, and any of patrons I could lift. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/66 "2020-07-12T16:39:49Z")
But Bush isn’t running. Bush doesn’t have the support of Democrats, and Bush isn’t the best chance we have of getting that evil fucktard out of the White House. BTW, who is the Wonder Candidate that you would have people write in to defeat both Biden and Trump? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/67 "2020-07-12T16:43:04Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Are you saying we should elect candidates based on likability? Apparently you are: > [@Reply](#): > > How were they able to find a candidate even MORE boring than Hillary? I don’t know what your intent is for this thread, but the effect of it is to strengthen Trumpists. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/68 "2020-07-12T16:47:14Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > This is something really noteworthy about Biden that people (especially his supporters) seem to gloss over - there are not a lot of white men in their 70s who have wealth, power, and influence who would choose to spend eight years saying ‘what do you want me to do, boss?’ to a younger black man. If you’re saying he’s a yes-man, that doesn’t seem a useful trait against a GOP that’s hell bent on destroying the world. I don’t want a reconciliation and hugs, I want them all locked up for crimes against the country and humanity. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > That’s not how any of this works. None of “this” is really working, is it? “This” is the entrenched corruption of the two parties. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m confused. You want a President who will come in and make sweeping changes, but you also want a President who has no power or influence? I want a president who would come into office with the explicit goal of weakening their own power in favor of redistributing it to the American people, but one who also won’t shy away from prosecuting his or her predecessors for treason. > [@Hampshire](#): > > For those who think we need to “Drain the swamp!”, “Fire them all!”, “Burn the whole system down and start from scratch!” I think you might be pretty terrified of what rises from the ashes. Isn’t that how every society got to where they are, ours included, twice over? > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Not gonna accomplish a damn thing that’s of any use. The Biden presidency in a nutshell. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The Democrats would not be fighting tooth and nail to destroy America. That sure as hell looks meaningfully different to me. They’re just going to step aside and let the GOP do it for them. They’d offer no meaningful resistance. > [@ThisIsTheEnd](#): > > You’re whining about Biden on July 12? It’s a little late. Is it? I’ve been whining about the two party gang rape since I was first able to vote (two decades ago?) and I’ll keep whining until the damned problem is actually addressed. Biden is part of the problem, not the solution. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/69 "2020-07-12T16:48:58Z")
_Who is your candidate?_ ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/70 "2020-07-12T16:55:14Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > None of “this” is really working, is it? “This” is the entrenched corruption of the two parties. You said that you want Trump and Biden both to go down. You know that’s not going to happen, and you can’t make a difference by pretending that you can get both outcomes. The primaries are over. Shitting on Biden means lifting up Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/71 "2020-07-12T16:55:15Z")
To be clearer about something that’s been expressed a few times, I’d like to see a candidate actually use the bully pulpit as effectively as Bush and Trump, but for policies that actually benefit Americans and not hurt them. Biden seems utterly incapable of that. What is there to “listen” to anymore? Voices aren’t exactly quiet these days. If he can’t find it in himself to pick a side and fight for it, he’s already lost. 🤷‍♂️ It’s a bizarre delusion to imagine reunification when the other side is still busy fighting a cold civil war. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Who is your candidate? I already said it doesn’t really matter. The candidate isn’t the problem, the structure is, and Biden is every bit a puppet of that establishment. If you must know, I’m undecided between Howie (whose last name I can’t remember, the Green candidate who just recently announced), Kanye, and writing someone in. All of those would be throwing away a vote, same as voting for Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/72 "2020-07-12T16:57:19Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > You said that you want Trump and Biden both to go down. You know that’s not going to happen, and you can’t make a difference by pretending that you can get both outcomes. The primaries are over. Shitting on Biden means lifting up Trump. I disagree, actually. I think structural collapse is inevitable and any thing we can do to hasten it along helps us get to rebuilding faster, while there is still hope for the climate and the other 8 billion peeps on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/73 "2020-07-12T16:58:26Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > If you’re saying he’s a yes-man, that doesn’t seem a useful trait against a GOP that’s hell bent on destroying the world. I don’t want a reconciliation and hugs, I want them all locked up for crimes against the country and humanity. Apparently you believe that if a old, powerful white man is willing to work with a black man, then he’s just a spineless yes-man who’s only good at ‘reconciliation and hugs’. That says a lot about your opinion on race, but not much good. It’s really a good thing that you’re not in charge of trying to win the black vote. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/74 "2020-07-12T17:00:21Z")
I don’t mind that Biden was subservient to Obama. I mind that he’s always subservient. When has he ever fought for something? He’s certainly not doing it on the campaign trail, with careful moderation and a thoughtfulness and inaction bordering on cowardice. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/75 "2020-07-12T17:02:07Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I don’t mind that Biden was subservient to Obama. You don’t mind that you’re missing the point and arguing a strawman, either. Have fun with that. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/76 "2020-07-12T17:04:39Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > You don’t mind that you’re missing the point and arguing a strawman, either. Have fun with that. A white man willing to listen to a black superior, or a woman, or a Muslim, or anyone else, should be the least of the qualifications in any position. The presidency needs a higher bar than that. That THAT comes across as a qualification to you is indicative of how far the presidency has fallen and how hopeless the candidates are, not that Biden is strong on race relations. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/77 "2020-07-12T17:26:42Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I disagree, actually. I think structural collapse is inevitable and any thing we can do to hasten it along helps us get to rebuilding faster, while there is still hope for the climate and the other 8 billion peeps on the planet. See? That wasn’t hard. You’re an accelerationist. You want the system to fail. As the most chaotic, destructive candidate, Trump is your guy. Just own that. At least it passes for something like logic, as opposed to a nonsensical statement like “I want both Biden and Trump to lose”. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/78 "2020-07-12T17:31:07Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > See? That wasn’t hard. You’re an accelerationist Absolutely. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > You want the system to fail. I didn’t want it to fail. That it did plenty well on its own. What I want is for it to _fall_. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Trump is your guy. Hell no 🤮 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/79 "2020-07-12T17:39:24Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > If you must know, I’m undecided between Howie (whose last name I can’t remember, the Green candidate who just recently announced), Kanye, and writing someone in. All of those would be throwing away a vote, same as voting for Biden The Green Party candidate isn’t “Howie” anything, it is Dario Hunter, and the totality of his political experience is member of the Youngstown Board of Education. Kanye West is anti-choice and wants religion to be the rule of law. Your position seems to be, “I don’t like the way this building looks, so I’m going to burn it down, and screw everybody currently in it”. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047/80 "2020-07-12T17:40:58Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Hell no 🤮 Fuck yeah, apparently, since your position will give him exactly what he wants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-about-biden-that-you-actually-admire/915047.md?page=5)