I’m sure he would have been a better electoral candidate, and undoubtedly taken the popular along with that if successful. There wouldn’t have been the kind of anti-Joe contingency equivalent to either the anti-Trump or anti-Hillary counterparts. That’s no guarantee of victory, but another factor that would have changed the flavor or the election.
He wouldn’t have even need to get those trump voters. Assuming everything else stays the same, an extra 78K votes in MI, WI, and PA gets the election. There were over 700 thousand 3rd party votes in those states. Pull in some of those, get a little bit more from non-voters, and there you.
I think everyone is forgetting how close the election really was.
Since the plagiarism thing in the 80s, I’m not sure if Biden has made any “major blunders”. Tons of minor blunders, sure. But I can’t think of any major ones – certainly nothing close to Trump’s bragging on tape about sexual assault.
“A three-letter word: jobs, J-O-B-S” has got to be up there at least on par with “potatoe”, but perhaps you’re right. They’re typically in the realm of verbal gaffs, not major scandals (aside from the plagiarism thing you already mentioned).
People like Joe, even those with differing political opinions. Charm matters, unfortunately.
A democrat could never survive a major blunder like a chickenhawk disrespecting John McCain’s military service. They would never survive the primary. I don’t know how Trump got the nomination after that. Republicans are unknowable. When the “family values” party embraces a serial adulterer, what does it all mean?
Had Beau Biden lived, we would probably be talking about President Biden now.
It means that they don’t really give a fuck about all those things they give lip service to as long as they get power at the end of it.
Which is exactly how Trump got elected.
Biden would still have been “establishment” and if that was a deal breaker in this last election, then he would’ve lost. But I don’t think it was a deal breaker. I think it came down to Hillary just not being relatable. And Joe is relatable. Some might say despite his flaws and some might say because of his flaws. He’s just an overall positive guy who seems like he’d be cool to hang with.
I think the real question is…would Biden have gotten the votes for Romney or Obama got in the election before? Because Trump won with fewer votes than either of them had.
My WAG on this is, yes, he would have gotten at least as many votes as either of them and would have won in the key states the Dems really needed to have in order to secure a victory. I wasn’t terribly excited about Biden when the election started and was happy he chose to stay out, but that was mostly because I was planning to vote for Hillary and thought she’d be the best of a bad lot. But if it had come down to Biden verse Trump (or just about anyone who wasn’t Sanders), I’d have voted for him with a smile on my face and a song in my heart over Trump. I knew Trump would be a disaster, though even I didn’t think it would be this epic after less than a year. Hell, in hindsight I’d vote, today, for Sanders over Trump…or the locally appointed dog catcher for that matter.
I would be curious about how Joe would have handled Trump as a person, especially in a debate setting.
In response to Trump’s MO of insults and razzle dazzle, Hillary tried to be a traditional candidate and speak from the script. I can imagine Biden would have been coached to do the same - “appear presidential”, “don’t get flustered”, etc. But, I’m suspecting Joe would have eventually gone off script and taken the opportunity to hit at Trump head on in some more testosterone driven street level ways.
It would have been interesting to see that happen, and how it would have played to the media and electorate. McCain was accused of being a hot-head, but I can certainly see that some portion of the electorate would see that as a positive quality if it were Joe against Trump.
I feel like if Biden is the nominee, he picks a much more exciting & appealing running mate than HRC did. Moderate whitebread Kaine was a a dumb choice, especially when you have a left-wing flank increasingly suspicious of you & a huge non-white contingent in your party.
Biden, alongside someone like Tammy Duckworth or Kamala Harris, maybe ekes out a few more EC votes than Clinton+Kaine, sure.
Sent from my R1 HD using Tapatalk
Vice Presidential picks usually don’t matter much, but they matter SOME… and that’s not insignificant in a close election like 2016 was.
Sent from my R1 HD using Tapatalk
What’s wrong with you guys???
I thought Hilary lost because of sexism, whitelash and for being Hilary.
Are you kidding?? Biden wins easily. A Yugo would win if it wernt made in a foreign country.
“whitelash”, one of the funniest phrases from an election full of them.
Surely nothing was as funny as some of the gems coming out of Donny Dumbshit’s mouth. For example:
LMFAO
I’m skeptical that Stein and Johnson voters, or disaffected Obama voters would have budged for Biden of all people, but ya never know.
Biden on Trump:
“He’s even showered praise on Saddam Hussein, one of the vilest dictators of the 20th century, a man who repeatedly backed terrorist attacks against Israel because he was supposedly, the reason he admires him is because he’s a “killer of terrorists” – that’s why he likes Saddam. He would have loved Stalin. He would have loved Stalin.”
“The press always asks me: Don’t I wish I were debating him? No, I wish we were in high school — I could take him behind the gym. That’s what I wish.”
“Grow up, Donald.”
Sure. A potted plant wearing fake sunglasses and a moustache could’ve beaten Trump. Unfortunately, the DNC went with “fuck you, it’s my turn.”
Watch it. You’ll hurt your eyes doing that.
The idea that the person who got the most votes should win the election is not some bizarre exotic variant of democracy that nobody’s ever tried. It’s actually considered the normal form of democracy.
But you can’t argue with the results. Any system that gave us George W. Bush and Donald Trump is obviously beyond reproach.
Truth is Hillary had the DNC in her corner so it was Hillary or nobody and democrats better be good little donkeys and get in line even if they hate her.
Thing is Biden actually took Trump seriously and would have actually campaigned himself instead of sending celebrities. Hillary ran a poor campaign and underestimated her appeal and that of Trumps.
I think Biden would have won. The gaffes etc. were ignored on Trump’s side and would have been ignored on Biden’s as well. Yes, Biden would have had the taint of Obama on him, but so did Hillary, so that’s a draw. Biden would have been a much more “my kinda guy” candidate for a lot of voters, compared to the “stiff” Hillary. And - the main thing - there was a visceral, palpable, decades-nurtured hatred of Hillary out there. There wasn’t for Biden.
Truth is, the DNC would have been just as willing to support Biden as Clinton. Sanders was the outsider they opposed.