# Will/could/should the democrats draft Joe Biden? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 4, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451 "2016-06-04T01:20:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/21 "2016-06-04T23:01:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The Democratic Party would have to be in a mess of epic proportions before it came to that, so it’s possible. The thing is, just about anybody could beat Trump as things look right now. Things are going to change, but Trump as he is perceived now is not going to increase the number of people who vote for him between now and November. As long as his Democratic opponent doesn’t screw up badly they’ll win. This [doesn’t appear to be the case](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gop-voters-are-rallying-behind-trump-as-if-he-were-any-other-candidate/). Republicans appear to believe that any Republican in the White House is more important than the worry of a bad Republican in the White House. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/22 "2016-06-04T23:09:50Z")
The RNC and DNC can do anything they want so they should just make it Romney v Biden. Both of their bases would be pissed so it’d be a wash backlash-wise. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/23 "2016-06-04T23:54:45Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > This [doesn’t appear to be the case](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gop-voters-are-rallying-behind-trump-as-if-he-were-any-other-candidate/). Republicans appear to believe that any Republican in the White House is more important than the worry of a bad Republican in the White House. I don’t see the contradiction. The Republicans already rallied. The winner of this election will be the candidate who gets the independent voters, and I don’t see any indication Trump is turning those who haven’t already decided to go his way. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/24 "2016-06-05T11:04:40Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > She IMHO will be convinced to claim “health issues” have forced her to resign from her campaign and Joe and Elizabeth will be brought in at the convention. > . Well now that you mention it, Hillary has been consistently coughing alot lately. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/25 "2016-06-05T14:52:55Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > The OP is presumably working on the assumption that Hillary would sensibly realise her position is untenable and voluntarily withdraw her candidature for president. Yes. If she withdraws (due to health or whatever) _before_ the Convention, the nomination will probably go to Sanders — anything else would cause huge anger. But what if she withdraws _after_ being nominated? The Democratic National Committee presumably gets to pick a replacement, right? Who would they pick? Who _should_ they pick? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/26 "2016-06-05T14:57:28Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Yes. If she withdraws (due to health or whatever) _before_ the Convention, the nomination will probably go to Sanders — anything else would cause huge anger. But what if she withdraws _after_ being nominated? The Democratic National Committee presumably gets to pick a replacement, right? Who would they pick? Who _should_ they pick? It still has to be Sanders, unless the party already fell apart at the convention, or for some reason Bernie wants Biden to run. Realistically Hillary will be the candidate and she won’t step down as long as she’s breathing. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/27 "2016-06-05T15:07:41Z")
Is there a reason she \*should \*step down other than “But she’s just slime and Bernie is (whatever), and the voters and the delegates will eventually come to their senses!” ? It’s a bit sad that the topic is still being taken seriously, by _anybody_. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/28 "2016-06-05T17:04:19Z")
The only people I’ve seen suggesting that we throw out the primaries and nominate someone who didn’t even participate - are not democrats. I like Biden but he took himself out of contention. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/29 "2016-06-05T17:44:02Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Note: Biden said that he personally believes abortion was wrong. That does not mean he feels he has the right to restrict access to it. There are plenty of people who are anti-abortion and pro-choice. Also, in what context did he use the term “shylock”? > > There’s also the fact that Biden himself has repeatedly stated he has no interest in running. Here’s a link. He was talking I believe about payday lenders and similar types taking advantage of returning servicemen. I should add I don’t think he was thinking of Shakespeare or even implying the people doing so were Jewish. For a lot of working class people of his generation the phrase “Shylock” was another term for “loan shark”. If you ever read the book Wiseguy, which the movie Goodfellas was based on, Henry Hill, who whatever his many sins was not an anti-Semite, uses the term repeatedly and none of the people he was talking about were Jewish. I would it was similar to using the term “paddy wagon”, “gyp”, or “hooligan”. An unfortunate and dumb choice in terms but I don’t think showed anti-semitism. You’ll notice that Abraham Foxman defends him against such charges in the article. [http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/17/politics/joe-biden-jewish-term/](http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/17/politics/joe-biden-jewish-term/) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/30 "2016-06-05T17:44:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Ulf the Unwashed** , and echoing **Smapti** : > > It’s weird. I like Biden very much and would be happy with him as president…but I don’t get this “Of course he’d win!” stuff. As you say, he didn’t win the two times he tried. The last two times he ran, he hadn’t just finished two terms as Vice President to a popular President, and he was up against stronger opponents. And it’s not like it’s unprecedented for a politician to lose one year, and then come back in a later year and win. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/31 "2016-06-05T17:48:32Z")
Anyway, why would she need to step down? Yes, she’s not a particularly strong candidate against Trump but she’s certainly stronger than Bernie and frankly if she stepped and someone other than Bernie was given the nomination, that would be utterly disastrous. That being said, I really wish he’d run in hindsight. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/32 "2016-06-05T18:13:19Z")
No, no and no. Biden looks better when he doesn’t have intense scrutiny. He was walloped during the 1988 campaign. Biden is a serious guy and studies his briefings hard. But he lacks the mental heft of Hillary Clinton. (So did GWBush and Reagan.) And his foot resides in his mouth too often. There is a hack gap between the 2 ideological sides: liberals won’t automatically rally around when one of their members embarrasses themselves. In contrast, 85% of Republicans said they approved of GWBush’s performance… immediately after the Katrina hurricane, when Bush’s emergency management team was shown to be incompetent _and unqualified_. An unforced error due to cronism that the GOP rank and file simply didn’t care about. [Even in Louisiana](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/obama-hurricane-katrina_n_3790612.html). Look, Obama is an instinctive conciliator and a pretty likable guy. The conservative swamps went nuts anyway. They would go nuts over any candidate. The difference with Biden is that they could deal with 1/6th truths, rather than the nonsense they spewed at Obama and the Clintons. (With Sanders, they would have had rather more actual material to work with.) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/33 "2016-06-05T18:44:49Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Here’s a link. He was talking I believe about payday lenders and similar types taking advantage of returning servicemen. I should add I don’t think he was thinking of Shakespeare or even implying the people doing so were Jewish. For a lot of working class people of his generation the phrase “Shylock” was another term for “loan shark”. If you ever read the book Wiseguy, which the movie Goodfellas was based on, Henry Hill, who whatever his many sins was not an anti-Semite, uses the term repeatedly and none of the people he was talking about were Jewish. > > I would it was similar to using the term “paddy wagon”, “gyp”, or “hooligan”. An unfortunate and dumb choice in terms but I don’t think showed anti-semitism. You’ll notice that Abraham Foxman defends him against such charges in the article. > > [http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/17/politics/joe-biden-jewish-term/](http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/17/politics/joe-biden-jewish-term/) Thanks. More of a “foot in mouth”, as usual. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/34 "2016-06-05T19:14:32Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Yes, she’s not a particularly strong candidate against Trump but she’s certainly stronger than Bernie Obama almost never led Romney by more than 3. She’s up by double digits. > [@](#): > > That being said, I really wish he’d run in hindsight. I don’t think he ever really had the psychotic ambition it takes. He’s a fine person, apparently liked and trusted by all his Dem colleagues, and I hope and trust Clinton will use his counsel as well as Obama has. But he’s just not cut out for the top job, never was, and never got anywhere when he did try. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/35 "2016-06-05T19:40:44Z")
The term “Shylock” is no more inherently anti-Semitic than the term “Quisling” is anti-Norwegian. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/36 "2016-06-05T22:09:51Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Considering you are the fellow who is more transphobic then Donald TRUMP and constantly talking of how Obama is a crypto moslem But other than that, he’s totally a Liberal! ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/37 "2016-06-05T23:23:25Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > The term “Shylock” is no more inherently anti-Semitic than the term “Quisling” is anti-Norwegian. Welllll – maybe on paper. The history of the word is such that it makes modern usage pretty dubious. Shakespeare’s intentions for the character are debatable (which is a reflection on the depth of his characterization) but the image of Shylock has been promulgated to promote anti-semitic ideas for centuries. It was a common Nazi usage. The word was also used casually among mobsters to mean a loan shark, but that usages is not exactly divorced from anti-semitism, either. I think it’s a word like “gypped”, which used to be pretty common but is now understood to be a racially charged slur against the gypsies. Shylock was a common term when Biden was young, and sometimes words creep up on you, but to modern ears it’s rather jarring. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/38 "2016-06-06T12:12:15Z")
The smart thing to do would be to nominate Biden at the convention. That will be their only shot. No backsies after the convention. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/39 "2016-06-06T12:19:18Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The smart thing to do would be to nominate Biden at the convention. That will be their only shot. No backsies after the convention. Why the fuck should they do that? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451/40 "2016-06-06T12:49:55Z")
To win. Biden’s as close to a sure thing as you can get. Clinton is a great way to make a slam dunk election into a contest. The real question is why would any party nominate someone with a -15 approval spread on purpose? Republicans have gone nuts, but Democrats still at least aspire to sanity. Nominating such a deeply unpopular candidate is not a very good way to demonstrate sanity. Most importantly for voters like me, when the GOP nominates an insanely unelectable candidate, why can’t you just make it easy for us? This race has shades of that LA gubernatorial election, Duke vs. Edwards. Racist vs. crook. Many of you keep on saying that Republicans will fall in line behind Trump anyway eventually, but if so, that’s only because they don’t exactly have a viable alternative. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-could-should-the-democrats-draft-joe-biden/756451.md?page=3)