In hindsight, was Biden the right candidate to handle this election chaos with Trump

[Nothing Loud]

All the key demographics are falling into line, women, seniors, and of course minorities are all favoring Biden. Voter turnout is record-breaking, at 3 million votes already submitted. Biden picked a wise VP of color that can handle any debate. He's formed committees with Bernie and AOC and other left-wing stars to make compromises on ideas. At his debate last week, he famously noted "I AM the Democratic Party"

I think in hindsight I've warmed up to Biden. I don't agree with him idealogically on everything but he's handled this election and the COVID optics and messaging pretty well.

I voted for Bernie in the primaries and I hate how the nomination was basically couped from him by the rest of the candidates, but he may not have been the right person for this election. He's too belligerent and "angry" and the center/undecided/moderates would clearly have rejected his policies. Biden is boring but palatable and easy for the majority of Americans to digest.

Now that we're a month away, how do you feel about Biden being the right candidate to take on Trump? All he has to do is not fumble at the finish line.

 

[Davilmar]

For me personally? No. I just want someone that could plausibly unite enough people to defeat Trump. That has yet to be seen, but all metrics point to him being successful in that regard. For now, that is enough for me.

 

[Betty]

Yes, there's just so little to attack him on.

 

[Patryn]

Biden was the perfect weapon to counter Trump: He's an old white guy, so he's unobjectionable and bland to a lot of the voting public. He's seen as more moderate, so all the attacks about how he's radical left are falling flat. And he already had the name recognition and likeability so he didn't really have to do much for people to feel that they know him and what he stands for.

 

[signal]

In terms of 'taking on Trump', Trump himself is doing such a terrible job that I imagine anyone would be doing pretty well against him at this point. Policies and etc. are another story, but yeah.

I actually would have liked to see Klobuchar debate him.

 

[Prophet Five]

Biden and Harris are doing a great job teaching these kindergarteners how the adults handle the real world.

Biden wasn't my top choice but I'm happy with how things are turning out and I'm voting for him.

 

[MJForum Poster]

Yes, people couldn't even turn out to win Bernie the nomination, how were they going to turn out in the general?

 

[LProtagonist]

He can certainly do it, but I feel like Bernie could have too, for different reasons.

 

[m_shortpants]

I can see it. He's unoffensive. No real scandals, no strong opinions. He's a down the line straight shooter. People will want a return to normalcy at this time. I voted for and donated to Bernie, but people in the bubble need to realize no one showed up to vote for him when push came to shove.

 

[rpm]

He isn't who I voted for in the primaries but yeah, I think he was always the best choice to beat Trump. People on the fence want a return to "normalcy" more than anything else, I think Biden represents that best

 

[Check it out]

Yea, I'm a Bernie supporter through and through but it's so imperative to get this fascist bullshit out of power. If their numbers showed that Biden was the safe pick, so be it. Next stop is cleaning up the rest of the GOP. We are on the verge of a collapse of any semblance of a fair and open democracy and these ghouls have been tearing up every safety net while we are all too occupied being horrified of the man in charge.

 

[El Bombastico]

I just wished Biden had run in 2016. He would have slaughtered Trump.

 

[KadeYuy]

Biden was the perfect weapon to counter Trump: He's an old white guy, so he's unobjectionable and bland to a lot of the voting public. He's seen as more moderate, so all the attacks about how he's radical left are falling flat. And he already had the name recognition and likeability so he didn't really have to do much for people to feel that they know him and what he stands for.

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Yea. I think Pete also would have done very well for basically the same reasons. He wouldn't have the old guy attacks but I think he did really poorly with black voters so maybe Biden overall was the best way to go.

 

[Lotus]

The minute I saw the turnout he was producing in the primaries, the answer was yes. Since then, it's just been even more apparent that he was the best choice for this specific election, even if he wasn't personally my #1 choice.

 

[Deleted member 14377]

I more or less see it as a way to course correct. We can go further left soon, our best chance was after Obama but we've seen how that played out... At least we have someone who will feasibly listen to the American people and be held accountable for shit.

From Biden, we can adjust and get a candidate like Bernie, be it in 4 or 8 years.

 

[Wrapped in Black]

Biden isn't "handling" anything. Trump is self-destructing.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

Biden was the perfect weapon to counter Trump: He's an old white guy, so he's unobjectionable and bland to a lot of the voting public. He's seen as more moderate, so all the attacks about how he's radical left are falling flat. And he already had the name recognition and likeability so he didn't really have to do much for people to feel that they know him and what he stands for.

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Yep, I was an early Harris supporter but when she dropped I more or less switched to Biden for precisely the above reasons. He's the practical choice for this very dangerous moment

 

[Deleted member 4346]

Biden is the worst Democratic candidate of my lifetime so I'd say literally anyone else on your poll except maybe Buttigieg would have been preferred from my perspective. Trump was always going to bungle the COVID-19 response and crash the economy with his stupidity no matter who the Democrats nominated. I don't think Biden has some special sauce that has positioned him better than the other Dems. Trump is just a fuckup.

 

[Deleted member 75819]

I've always hated the "Bernie people don't vote" line but I'm starting to believe it. This country is full of conservatives and neolibs who can't get down with a "socialist." As much as I wish it were Bernie, I have a feeling his odds of winning wouldn't be as high as Biden's.

 

[Slayven]

Nothing can coast easier through stormy american waters then a inoffensive white man

 

[Zombegoast]

Not really, Trump still calling Biden a radical left Socialist wanting to expand M4A and GND. Even polls shows people are in favor of both

 

[Yerffej]

Overall, yes. Unfortunate as that is, because I would have taken Sanders or Warren over him in a heartbeat every time otherwise. The whole Burisma thing, their fixation on him long before he felt like a lock for the nomination almost seems like the Trump campaign hade actual foresight and knew just how hard Biden would make re-election a possibility. Glad their nightmares are coming true at least. It really does feel like a reckoning is about to happen.

 

[Wamapoke]

You are kidding yourself if you think Sanders would have been this far ahead in relevant states with a month to go.

 

[cloudy]

Bernie would have been tagged as far left and Trump's socialist attacks that seem ridiculous against Biden would be landing hard. Moderate Republicans would not have been able to support a Bernie candidacy and Trump would be cruising to reelection now.

 

[Orb]

He still wouldn't be my first choice, and I wish his platform was better. But I think he's turning out to be a win in the demeanor department. I appreciate the times he has been willing to get passionate and punch back at Trump. I think most of the candidates would be lackluster in this regard.

(Bernie still would have been better, though.)

 

[Shokunin]

Voted for Bernie in the primary but Biden is ABSOLUTELY the best for this current climate.

He has very little political weaknesses and I just see him as a vessel to push progressive agenda behind for as long as we can.

Biden is most certainly not my weapon of choice, but I won't let perfect be the enemy of good.

 

[Deleted member 11637]

Nothing can coast easier through stormy american waters then a inoffensive white man

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Sad but true.

 

[Deleted member 17092]

Given the field, yes.

I want to answer the poll with someone else, but I don't know who that someone else is, so Biden it is.

 

[TrueSloth]

He isn't who I voted for in the primaries but yeah, I think he was always the best choice to beat Trump. People on the fence want a return to "normalcy" more than anything else, I think Biden represents that best

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But is that a reasonable response to court?

 

[Taka]

Ask me on November 4th

 

[mikhailguy]

He's doing a lot better than I thought he would. His campaign seems super disciplined in messaging to more of the center, even if it leaves me feeling frustrated.

 

[Border]

Yep. A great candidate for all the people that enjoyed the Obama years, and just want to return to that rather than having a drunk behind the wheel.

 

[The Albatross]

Yes, it's the reason he won the Democratic primary.

Amidst the chaos of this Trump administration, a center-left institutionalist like Biden is the person that the American people want to steer us back onto the road. He's not going to push some radical progressive agenda, but he's going to get the wheels back onto the road so that we can start moving in that direction.

You can see in Pence and Trump's debate strategy that they're desperate to tie Biden to Sanders or the progressive wing, but it just doesn't work. It doesn't stick. People know that Biden is not a progressive insurgent candidate. He's Joe Biden. The "Biden is a puppet of the left" plays well with this tiny, slim minority of Republicans, and then the majority of Americans are like "Yeah....... I don't think so."

Of course, it'll be best to say this when the election is over, on January 21, than right now. There's still work to do.

I've always hated the "Bernie people don't vote" line but I'm starting to believe it. This country is full of conservatives and neolibs who can't get down with a "socialist." As much as I wish it were Bernie, I have a feeling his odds of winning wouldn't be as high as Biden's.

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Yeah I think it's an unfair characterization to say that Sanders' supporters don't vote or something. THey do vote and they're very passionate, there's just relatively fewer of them.

Sanders' strategy to win the Democratic nomination was generally a divide and conquer strategy, the same that Trump used in 2016 successfully. That there were a half dozen moderates on the primary ballot -- Biden, Klobuchar, Buttigieg, Bloomberg, and the others -- that if you can get their votes to split while having the progressive vote rally behind you (like how Trump did with the populist, nativist vote), then you can win a dozen early primaries without winning a majority. It was a solid calculation, but tough to pull off in a Democratic field that is ultimately willing to cooperate with each other, rather than take it deep into the primary like how Jeb, Cruz, Kasich, and the others did in the 2016 GOP primary splitting votes until Trump had an insurmountable lead.

I think that Sanders supporters still turn out to vote, but that there's just fewer of them than you have of a large more center-left to center bloc, and that winning a primary without getting a majority of votes is difficult.

 

[Midnight Jon]

he's been doing about as well as I thought he would be in this environment even prior to Trump lighting himself on fire and apparently turning the whole thing into Reverse 1980, so this is a pretty emphatic yes provided everyone younger than 45 and older than 65 doesn't suddenly get killed in the next 4 weeks

 

[Meg Cherry]

He was always the safest candidate for the moment - and I feel like it's paying off appropriately. People want a return to boring politics, and goddamn is Biden boring.

Is he going to be able to withstand an actively fascist GOP violently rallying against his presidency? Time will tell. But for this specific election, he feels perfectly suited.

 

[boxter432]

this year, more and more has turned into "anybody but Trump" for like 55% of the country, so I wish we were making even a bigger change to a younger progressive it that was possible. It wasn't until covid blew up so its working with Biden basically just letting trump implode on himself, but "the right" candidate is a big stretch.

 

[meowdi gras]

Biden appeals to the popular wish for a "return to normalcy" after four years of continual daily crisis and norms obliteration. I'm not high on him as a candidate (for various reasons), but there's no doubt his traditionally civil/placating manner strikes a chord with worn out voters. He's Jimmy Carter, geriatric edition.

Thanks to Trump, 2020 is not the election cycle for "fiery" candidates. (Even if perhaps that's what we need to achieve real progress.) Most American voters want fucking peace at almost any cost.

 

[ErichWK]

I have friends that once Biden won the nominee they were so ANTI voting and ANTI Biden that it fucking infuriated me. But as time passed, and wounds healed.. and Biden has been nothing but a straight arrow in his campaign, they actually got over their temper tantrums and have slowly been coming on to him and getting excited to vote again.

 

[Enduin]

In that he's seen as inoffensive to a large portion of the electorate and a return to "norm" kind of. But really I think a lot of it just has to do with how toxic Trump is and just how fucked this Covid situation is. Because of that I think any of the candidates would be leading over Trump right now. Hard to really say who among them would have the greatest lead which is what I think it really comes down to.

 

[jelly]

Yeah, right choice, there is just nothing the Republicans can get him on and he is basically a safe pair of hands which is appealing to mostly everyone against Trump. Kamala is a great pick too and will be very good in the short and long term.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I wanted Bernie, but it's pretty telling that Trump this morning was ranting and raving on Fox Business about why hasn't Hillary been indicted. He's frustrated as all hell that he can't get anything to stick to Biden.

 

[Rag]

I think Biden is the perfect storm for this moment and that he'll bring the senate along with him. I wanted Warren, and I think she would have done well enough because she has empathy and the ability to really connect with voters when she's out campaigning combined with really deep policy knowledge. I think Bernie would have led to a 'see both sides have gone too far to the extreme' bunch of arguments from moderates, independents and embarrassed republicans. I wanted someone more progressive, but I don't think they'd have fared well with the people we needed to win over to turn this election into a GOP bloodbath.

 

[ClickyCal']

Yes. He has no ammo on Biden(Or Kamala).

 

[Malleymal]

Was not my first choice, but I can't deny that he is frustrating the hell out of Trump and his team. Nothing sticks. I just wish that we had Biden right at the end of the Obama years when he was a bit sharper.

 

[LGHT_TRSN]

I wanted Warren or Sanders but there's no way in hell either of them would be getting the support with seniors that we're seeing with Biden.

 

[samoyed]

He has both a recession and a worldwide pandemic behind him, the situation could not be more favorable.

 

[Br3wnor]

I just wished Biden had run in 2016. He would have slaughtered Trump.

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He never would have gotten the nomination, outside of the Bernie enthusiasm, 2016 primary was all about the coronation of Hillary by establishment Dems, Biden would have floundered to get enough support especially with Bernie in the race, Clinton sucked up all the establishment D vote

But yeah, 2020 I'm super happy with Biden. Any other candidate would not have the broad support he has right now, he's good Ol Uncle Joe who's here to calm everyone's nerves, there would be more vitriol for Bernie or Warren, though I still think they could win, it would be a lot closer IMO

 

[Noog]

Biden is grandfatherly and boring in the best ways possible. A lot of people want to feel safe, which is where the grandfather aspect comes in, and they want politics to be boring again, which is where the boring comes in. People don't want to be obsessively checking the news to see what scary/dumb thing Trump did.

 

[SchrodingerC]

Yes, there's just so little to attack him on.

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.

He's the picture of a mild old white guy. He's not a 'scary' socialist, a woman/POC, attached to some huge scandal, or anti-religious. The trump admin can only really call him old, sleepy, or a radical leftist(lmaooooo).

 

[Dark Knight]

I've been a long time Bernie supporter, and in retrospect I say absolutely. There's no better contrast between Trump and Biden. One represents abject chaos, dangerous ineptitude, callousness, and life-diluting exhaustion and the other represents order, calm, safety, and empathy.

Bernie would be an amazing president but sadly this was not the right time for him.