# Will war in Ukraine torpedo Biden's presidency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** ukraine-invasion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822 "2022-02-20T16:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/61 "2022-02-25T00:02:49Z")
That’s not it. China is a huge strategic competitor in every realm and Chinese manufacturing capability is directly impacting ours as we off shore more and more capability. Russia is a regional military competitor with nuclear weapons. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/62 "2022-02-25T01:47:04Z")
That doesn’t explain why Tucker Carlson is pro-Russia at all. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/63 "2022-02-25T01:51:09Z")
Is there really an “explanation” of Tucker? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/64 "2022-02-25T02:11:09Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > The common thread is that they’ll tolerate white dictators, because that’s what they really hope to achieve in the US. That would only be plausible if they couldn’t stand Clarence Thomas and [wouldn’t give money to these guys.](https://nypost.com/2022/01/29/black-gop-candidates-raking-in-big-money/) As for why they prefer Putin over Xi, I’d first say it’s because Russia can’t remotely plausibly be seen as having taken away American jobs. Their homes are filled with made in China. That’s the obvious one. Another, I believe smaller, factor is that Putin is openly anti-gay while Xi is disinterested in LGBT. Putin being a grifter like their idol, as previously mentioned, could be another factor. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/65 "2022-02-25T02:18:31Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Of course, I live in Texas And we all know war would mean a prohibitive increase in our Texas… ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/66 "2022-02-25T03:14:37Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Tucker Carlson is pro-Russia at all. Tucker Carlson is a fucking traitor who is doing whatever the fuck he’s doing for money. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/67 "2022-02-25T03:45:08Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Tucker Carlson is a fucking traitor who is doing whatever the fuck he’s doing for money.   It’s all about the benjamins, baby! ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/68 "2022-02-25T04:39:26Z")
In one of Tuckers books, he said Larry King once came up to him and said, The secret in this business is to care, but not too much. Give a fuck, but not really. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2022, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/69 "2022-02-25T05:51:54Z")
Looking at the conservatives on my Facebook feed, they seem to be pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia right now. Stuff about how Russia is attacking because Christ has led Ukraine to democracy. How Russia is targeting churches in Ukraine because they’re centers of resistance. Basically the old “Godless Commies coming to take our guns and religion” tropes. It’ll be interesting to see if they switch to a more Trumpist line, or if Trump adjusts his rhetoric. There’s definitely not a consensus among Republicans yet, which is a good sign for Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/71 "2022-02-27T21:56:58Z")
> [@Jaswalt](#): > > Only if Biden continues to do nothing, as he is doing. This is the strangest thing I have read this week. Have you been reading a variety of news sites? Or just ones that conform to your pre-conceived notions. Nothing? Really? Your “argument” boils down to: Biden did not make new oil, or stop world trade in oil Inflation is up, like it is in every other country in the world. Biden’s fault. Sanctions that have been put in place two days ago are not effective. Argle bargle press conferences. Bingle Bangle, nobody likes Kamala In short, your argument is a load of fetid dingo’s kidneys. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/72 "2022-02-27T23:26:29Z")
> [@Jaswalt](#): > > Biden has already said he will no use combat troops, so he won’t be a wartime president. I don’t think US combat troops in Ukraine is a winning idea. Am I wrong? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/73 "2022-02-27T23:37:34Z")
I think Biden and his administration have actually done a masterful job during this cluster fuck, about as well as a US president could do considering the circumstance. Biden and the US have been at the heart in trying to get Europe and the other NATO powers to hit the Russians with heavy sanctions and to give aid to the Ukrainians. They have walked the minefield of US involvement and put us in a position to do as much as we can, short of war, against the Russians and to position the west to hammer Russia regardless of how this turns out. And US and other allies aid has been instrumental in helping the Ukrainians to fight as effectively as they can. Ukrainians of course get a ton of credit FOR fighting as hard and well as they have, but US and allies aid has really helped them to do so effectively. I don’t know how that translates into the next election cycle. I see a lot of folks on this board convinced that somehow Trump is going to come back and swipe the presidency back, or that the Republicans will sweep back into power in the house and senate. I think the later has more to do with simple US politics and nothing to do with Ukraine, and the former is, to me, just fantasy, but I’m not in touch with this boards paranoia about Trump so grain of salt. As to how much the sanctions will hurt the US…I think it will be fairly minimal, as far as it goes. Right now, there are a lot of things impacting our economy, and these sanctions are certainly going to factor in negatively. But most of the things impacting the economy were either already happening or already in motion…these sanctions will simply be another impact. Certainly, that’s going to hurt Biden and the Democrats, because they are in charge, but I don’t think it will be because of the US response to Russia. Maybe in some quarters that will have an impact, but overall I think US citizens are going to be fairly happy with how Biden has handled this…assuming it continues to go well for the Ukrainians and assuming the Europeans stay the course with increasing and impactful sanctions. As to the second question, I don’t know if there will be a red wave. IMHO, if there is, it will have little to do with Biden’s handling of this situation. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/75 "2022-02-27T23:48:18Z")
> [@Jaswalt](#): > > While the end off 2020 saw the US still producing 75% of our own oil, today, under Biden, we are lucky to produce 40%. Where do you get this nonsense? US oil production _dropped 20% in 2020_, the final year of the Trump presidency. US oil production _has risen 10% since then_ during Biden’s presidency. [Cite](https://www.macrotrends.net/2562/us-crude-oil-production-historical-chart) I mean, I googled that up in like 10 seconds while you were writing your second Wall Of Text above. Make an effort please. (P.S., US oil production went up around 80% under Obama) ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/76 "2022-02-28T00:00:20Z")
> [@XT](#): > > As to the second question, I don’t know if there will be a red wave. IMHO, if there is, it will have little to do with Biden’s handling of this situation. YMMV. My guess is that if anything the current situation will help Biden and the Democrats. There probably won’t be a red wave. Of course, the Republicans don’t need a red wave (either in 2022 or 2024), all they need is a red trickle. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/77 "2022-02-28T00:03:12Z")
Thankfully most of this can’t be proven and is just your reaction and feelings about Biden and Harris so no cite is needed! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/78 "2022-02-28T00:07:31Z")
Agreed on the first part…like I said, I think Biden and his administration have done masterfully on this so far. I’ve really been impressed by the coherence of the US strategy on all of this, and by how well we’ve worked with our allies to get a unified position and stance. To me, this whole horrible situation has put NATO into a really good light, and while I understand those who are complaining we should have been more militarily assertive (i.e. put our military into Ukraine to help them), I think that would have been a horrible mistake, not just from our perspective but from Ukraine’s as well. Plus, the whole WWIII thingy isn’t…optimal. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/79 "2022-02-28T00:23:01Z")
Yep. And it’s much better than the [cite](https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCRFPUS2&f=M) I was getting ready to use, as a graph is much easier to view at a glance to see the trend. There is a graph at the top of course, but it’s smaller. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/80 "2022-02-28T00:47:11Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Agreed on the first part…like I said, I think Biden and his administration have done masterfully on this so far. I’ve really been impressed by the coherence of the US strategy on all of this, and by how well we’ve worked with our allies to get a unified position and stance. I don’t know enough to say what is masterful and coherent. Maybe after Bob Woodward comes out with his next book, we’ll know more about that. I think the Biden team is competent, but the word masterful doesn’t usually fit with the actual sausage-making process. This, which Putin couldn’t have expected, is unlikely to have much to do with Biden: [Germany to increase defense spending](https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/germany-hike-defense-spending-scholz-says-further-policy-shift-2022-02-27/) > [@](#): > > Scholz said the government had decided to supply 100 billion euros for military investments from its 2022 budget. Germany’s entire defence budget by comparison was 47 billion euros in 2021. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/81 "2022-02-28T00:51:02Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > This, which Putin couldn’t have expected, is unlikely to have much to do with Biden: > [Germany to increase defense spending](https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/germany-hike-defense-spending-scholz-says-further-policy-shift-2022-02-27/) I’m skeptical that Biden et al had nothing to do with that, but it’s a good sign that Germany is seeing that increasing its budget and getting its forces back into some semblance of effective is a good thing. I definitely agree that this is yet another thing Putin didn’t expect. There seems to be a lot of that going around lately. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822/82 "2022-02-28T01:03:48Z")
> [@XT](#): > > I’m skeptical that Biden et al had nothing to do with that . . . Purest speculation, but I can’t believe Biden asked for anything like a 200 percent German spending increase. A lot of Europeans are now just plain scared of Putin (and not the way they were scared of Trump). This invasion seems to me to be having the emotional impact, in much of Europe, that 9/11 had in the United States. Example: > **[German news translator bursts into tears while reporting Ukrainian...](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/german-news-translator-bursts-tears-161817969.html)** > > In an emotional video, a translator can be heard struggling to translate Zelensky’s message I like Biden, but his importance here is easily overestimated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-war-in-ukraine-torpedo-bidens-presidency/959822.md?page=5)