Status Quo Joe Gets Another Meaningless Endorsement

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The Status Quo Joe campaign intends on rolling out every endorsement it can from status quo establishment politicians. His endorsers tend to be uninspiring centrist, play-it-safe careerists who no one cares about one way or the other. In other words, turgid, vision-free political hacks like himself. For example, he's been endorsed by 5 current U.S. senators (and 10 former senators). They are all conservatives, basically from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. With the exception of Bob Casey, all of them have "F" ratings from ProgressivePunch:

• Doug Jones (AL)- 2nd worst voting record among Senate Dems
• Dianne Feinstein (CA)- 14th worst voting record among Senate Dems
• Tom Carper (DE)- 7th worst voting record among Senate Dems
• Chris Coons (DE)- 11th worst voting record among Senate Dems
• Bob Casey (PA)- 17th worst voting record among Senate Dems

The biggest name among the ex-senators is Tom Daschle, the now disgraced former majority leader from South Dakota who is currently a corrupt anti-Medicare-for-All lobbyist-- a Biden kind of guy.

Among Biden's 20 endorsements from House incumbents, 13 are either Blue Dogs or New Dems and all but one has a putrid voting record. The 20th came in yesterday, Dina Titus of Nevada. Biden's p.r. machine is playing it up as a big deal. It isn't. Titus is another incumbent with an "F" rating from ProgressivePunch, another inconsequential backbencher.

“I’ve seen him up close. I’ve worked with him in Congress. I’ve known him for a long time,” Titus said announcing her endorsement on CNN.

“I think he’s the best qualified to be president of all the good Democratic candidates.”

Titus’s endorsement comes one day after former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who served as agriculture secretary under President Barack Obama, endorsed the former vice president in the first caucus state.

Titus is the first sitting Democratic member of Congress to endorse a 2020 candidate in the four early voting states, according to the Biden campaign.

She joins 56 local leaders across Nevada who have endorsed Biden for president.

“I know Joe Biden is the candidate best prepared to defeat Donald Trump,” Titus said.

“I told my constituents that I would speak up about this race once I reached a decision about who will be our strongest nominee. Now I am making good on that promise. I’m excited to campaign for Joe Biden in Nevada and across the country.”

Nevada will hold its caucus, the third presidential nominating contest, on Feb. 22, following Iowa and the New Hampshire primary.

...The Titus endorsement is the first from a member of the state’s congressional delegation, who have been lobbied heavily by the candidates for their support in the first state with demographics that mirror a national makeup of gender, racial and religious populations.

Titus, a progressive with growing seniority in the U.S House, is an early boost to a Democratic candidate in a swing state that has trended Democratic in the past two election cycles. She endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 over the more liberal Sanders.

Titus represents Las Vegas, a solid Democratic bastion and home to the politically powerful Culinary Union Local 226 that is critical to Democratic primary and general election victories in Nevada.

The powerful union opposes “Medicare for All” plans proposed by candidates such as Warren and Sanders that don’t allow for people to keep private insurance. The Culinary has negotiated for good health care benefits for members and their families.

Biden, for his part, supports expanding on the Affordable Care Act that was passed under Obama. Perhaps ironically, Titus was the first member of the delegation to support Medicare for All, a possible point of disagreement between the two.

But Titus applauded Biden for shepparding through Obamacare and being out front in gun violence and is well respected by foreign leaders.

I asked a friend of mine, a member of the Culinary Union, how meaningful her endorsement is. She told me it doesn't mean a think. "Most people couldn't even name her if you asked them who their member of Congress is. She's no good; she's no bad. She's nothing... People who do know her, would expect her to endorse a neo-lib like Biden. This is a very blue district; we have the right to expect someone who stands tall on progressive agenda. She doesn't."

Her district, NV-01, basically Las Vegas-- from MCarran to North Las Vegas (West Lake Mead Blvd)-- has a PVI of D+15. Although Hillary didn't do as well as Obama, she still beat Trump handily-- 61.6% to 32.6%. No need for a tepid centrist in this district.

Besides, this report by Marc Caputo in yesterday's Politico-- Biden’s senior Latina adviser quits in frustration-- is likely to be far more consequential in Nevada than the Titus endorsement. Vanessa Cárdenas is not just the most senior Latina Biden staffer, she's also in charge of out-reach to Latino, African-American and women’s groups. She quit last week and told friends that "she felt the campaign wasn’t heeding her advice on immigration as she tried to reach out to Latino groups that have had longstanding concerns with the former vice president’s rhetoric and record stemming from the Obama administration. One of them told Politico that "The campaign is just hyper-focused on whites in Iowa and African-Americans and it placed less value on Latino outreach. Vanessa kept banging her head against the wall trying to get them to take the community more seriously. And Biden just really won’t change when it comes to the way he talks about immigration. It became too much."