Friday, July 31, 2015

Why Would Anyone Think Career-Long Corporate Shill Joe Biden Would Be Any Better Than Hillary?

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Corporate goofball almost makes Hillary look good

Inevitably, there's been some speculation that, with Hillary stumbling a bit, Biden might be more electable. Few people remember what a corporate shill Biden was for his entire, long senatorial career. He may be a lovably goofy vice president but he's not even remotely part of the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party. He's always been a DLC hack and an outrageous corporate shill and, first and foremost, a Beltway careerist.

Josh Kraushaar posits that Hillary's strength was her inevitability and electability. First woman president inspires a lot of people. "As an older white man," he wrote, Biden "would probably face challenges exciting the core of nonwhite voters who make up the base of Obama's support."
But a funny thing happened on the way to the coronation. Throughout the summer, Clinton has been hammered over using a secret, personal email server as secretary of State-- one that government officials believe may have compromised the country's national security and allowed her to conceal (and delete) email correspondence. Meanwhile, as she faces energetic opposition from her party's progressive base, she's decided to tack to the left, offering little to disaffected swing voters dissatisfied with Obama. Her campaign operatives believe it's worth mobilizing the Democratic Party's ascendant constituencies without offering much to the (shrinking) number of voters in the middle.

In the process, however, her favorable ratings have hit all-time lows, with clear majorities of Americans saying they don't like her and have trouble believing she's trustworthy. In the critical swing states of New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, and Virginia, reputable new polls show her favorability ratings not much better than Donald Trump's-- with unfavorable ratings nearing 60 percent. Quinnipiac's swing-state polling found her losing in Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia to all three leading GOP candidates (Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker), while NBC News/Marist polling found her favorability ratings to be just as dismal in Iowa and New Hampshire. National polling doesn't put her in much better shape, with her favorability still upside-down in CNN/ORC's new poll (45/48, among all adults). Gallup found her overall favorability at 43/46, her worst net showing since their November 2007 survey. Her numbers aren't any better than Obama's, and many polls are finding them in worse shape.

Suddenly, if you're Joe Biden, running for president makes a lot more political sense.

...[A]t a time when authenticity is a highly valued asset-- for better or worse--Biden boasts the natural political skill set that Clinton clearly lacks. He's a happy warrior who enjoys campaigning and isn't constrained by talking points or rope lines. He's able to ham it up with union rank-and-file, while also giving a stem-winding speech blasting Republicans in Congress. His all-too-frequent malapropisms are endearing at a time when voters are cynical about scripted politicians.
Sounds like President Hubert Humphrey-- exactly like so, in fact. Except Humphrey, unlike Biden, was a genuine liberal. Biden has a long record as a corporate phony, who knows how to make the right noises for a base he often betrayed. Policy-wise, he's probably as bad as Clinton, nothing whatsoever like Bernie Sanders. More like his old ally, Joe Lieberman. From a post I did in 2007:
When one thinks of "Senator Joe Biden" and "bankruptcy," the first thing that comes to mind is his slavish support for corporate contributors like the big banking and credit card industries. Biden took the Republican position that has destroyed American families and he did it for his big campaign contributors. (Interestingly, Biden is also the only Democrat who is getting the kind of relative support between corrupt insiders and the grassroots that Republicans get.)

That said, Joe Biden is not a serious candidate for president. He's a quintessential Inside-the-Beltway windbag who is auditioning to be Hillary's Secretary of State. Like Richardson, that's why he's running for president and wasting people's time and money. Would he make a good Secretary of State. No, he'd be as terrible as Condoleeza Rice. Early in tonight's debate Biden was asked which Republican he would consider for VP if he had to. He picked Chuck Hagel-- and then he gratuitously threw in that he thought Dick Lugar would be a good Secretary of State, presumably whether he had to appoint a Republican or not.
Meanwhile, if you want to help the one candidate running for president who both can win and can make a substantive difference for the country, here's the page for you.

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4 Comments:

At 9:18 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Why Would Anyone Think Career-Long Corporate Shill Joe Biden Would Be Any Better Than Hillary?"

The answer to your question is that no one would think that, but corporate Dems didn't have any Plan B for 2016 because, as in 2008, everyone knew Hillary would receive the coronation. So they're scrambling to find someone - anyone - from within their ranks and Joe is - well, he's Joe and he's available.

Having worked with him some, I will say Joe is a nice guy, and a Happy Warrior as described. And Joe is more of a loyal Democrat than the Clintons or Obamas, who think the Democratic Party exists to serve them and they owe it and its candidates nothing. But that's about the only thing I can think of where he's better than the current crop of self-serving, triangulating dipshits.

And Uncle Joe gives a good speech. But then he gabbles on for another 20 minutes because he can't help himself. And he is a corporatist through and through.

O'Malley is an obvious phony. Chafee is a nice, sensible guy, but he is a member of a party - Abe's Original Republican Party - which no longer exists.

So that leaves Bernie. Oh dear. What's a neo-liberal Establishment to do?

 
At 9:22 AM, Blogger ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Agree with 9:18 AM nonny. Joe is more loyal to the party.

But the vote for the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" among other things is unforgivable.

I'll vote for Bernie. And then Jill Stein again, if it comes to that.
~

 
At 12:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In July 2008, candidate Obama rushed to Wash DC to violate his promise to NOT vote for telecomm immunity.

In about a month he chose Biden as running mate.

These were the most obvious signs of what was to follow.

John Puma

 
At 12:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is something really shady or one should say almost abominable going in American politics.....

 

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