Biden's rise in 2020 race catches Trump's eye, unnerves his allies

[webfact]

Biden's rise in 2020 race catches Trump's eye, unnerves his allies

By Steve Holland

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) greets former Vice President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama after being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on the West front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Joe Biden's rapid emergence as front-runner in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination has caught the attention of President Donald Trump and unnerved some of his allies, who believe Biden is a potentially dangerous rival.

 

Biden soared from "will-he-or-won't-he-run?" status to the head of the crowded Democratic field just days after announcing his candidacy last week, pulling away from Senator Bernie Sanders and a host of other rivals in opinion polls.

 

A CNN poll gave Biden a 15-point lead in a field of 20 Democratic candidates.

 

Some Trump advisers see the former vice president, with his mainstream blue-collar appeal, as a tough opponent in the three states that carried Trump to his improbable victory in 2016 - Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

 

Losing any of those states in 2020 would make Trump's path to re-election more problematic.

 

"They think they're in trouble there and they think he's a real threat," said one outside Trump adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

Trump's initial response to Biden's entry into the race was to use a well-worn playbook - give him a mocking nickname - "Sleepy Joe Biden" - and insult his intelligence.

 

"I have known Joe over the years," Trump said on Fox News. "He is not the brightest light bulb in the group, I don't think, but he has a name that they know."

 

Trump later went on a Twitter tirade after the largest U.S. firefighters union endorsed Biden, including posting dozens of retweets on Wednesday from purported firefighters and their friends and families professing support for the Republican president or criticizing Biden.

 

Despite his focus on Biden, some of Trump's friends said he did not seem particularly concerned about him, at least at this stage, given that the first votes in the nominating process will not be cast until early next year.

 

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway played down the idea that Trump saw Biden as his biggest threat.

 

"No, I think it's just fun to remind everybody about him. ... Maybe he's an easy mark, and he just announced for president of the United States," she told reporters.

 

Trump allies said Biden, who was vice president under Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, could still get chewed up by a large, diverse field of Democratic rivals, many leaning to the left of Biden and discussing policies such as tax hikes for wealthier Americans and government-run healthcare.

 

As long as Democrats are moving left, said David Urban, a political consultant and Trump campaign aide in 2016, "I like our chances whoever is at the top of the ticket for the Democrats."

 

WARNING SIGNS

The Trump re-election campaign said it believed that whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee would have adopted policy stances out of tune with most Americans.

 

"There is no centrist lane in the Democrat primary," said Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh. "We view them as one big liberal organism right now with 28 heads."

 

Still, there are warning signs for Trump.

 

He won narrow victories in 2016 over Democrat Hillary Clinton in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania with the help of blue-collar voters who once voted Democratic but switched to Trump. Trump's advisers said repeating his victories in those crucial states next year might be a tall order.

 

Biden, a longtime U.S. senator from Delaware, held his first campaign rally in Pennsylvania and has quickly sought to make the campaign into a battle against Trump rather than against his rivals for the Democratic nomination.

 

One Trump confidant said poll numbers indicated Biden stood to do well at this point at least in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and potentially in two other Trump states, Florida and North Carolina.

 

If that were to happen, the confidant said, it would be hard for Trump to make up the losses with wins in other states in order to get to the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory.

 

"There’s not really a lot of room to expand the (electoral) map over the previous results," the confidant said.

 

In a response to Biden, Trump has touted strong economic indicators in Pennsylvania, where unemployment is at a historic low.

 

But some allies said Trump had not been disciplined about selling his record on the economy and that his lack of a healthcare overhaul plan was hurting him along with his preoccupation with migrants at the U.S. southern border.

 

They added that Trump had time to straighten out his message for the long slog to the November 2020 election.

 

"We've got a long way to go," said one Trump confidant.

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Makini Brice; Editing by Kieran Murray and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-03

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[twocatsmac]

Have the democrats really nobody better than this creep? 

 Biden is such an embarrassing person and the whole world knows what he’s about. 

Truely a party in disarray.

Edited May 2, 2019 by twocatsmac

[Tug]

Yea I know all that experience just terrible well known to world leaders and used to working with them oh the horrors knows how to work within the system oh dear knows and respects the constitution and rule of law my o my a marine core vet yup I think Donald is worryed and rightfully so and keep in mind mr Biden is a man so Donald won’t be running against a woman unfortunately misogyny is a strong factor in donalds win along with his hero putin

[quandow]

Those "polls" recently released showing Biden ahead of Bernie neglected to say that only folks 50 or older were included. The DNC is going to try the same thing  that they did with Hillary. They even admitted in court that they rigged the 2016 primary election because there were no laws against it. Majority of Independents want Bernie for name recognition and progressive platform. Dem's and Rep's are already set in their ways, no changing minds at this point. Independents will decide 2020, either by voting for someone who generates enthusiasm or staying home rather than wasting time voting for Uncle Joe.

[pegman]

30 minutes ago, Tug said:

Yea I know all that experience just terrible well known to world leaders and used to working with them oh the horrors knows how to work within the system oh dear knows and respects the constitution and rule of law my o my a marine core vet yup I think Donald is worryed and rightfully so and keep in mind mr Biden is a man so Donald won’t be running against a woman unfortunately misogyny is a strong factor in donalds win along with his hero putin

I think voting for the Bush Iraq War should disqualify him or anyone else that did.

[scottiejohn]

2 hours ago, twocatsmac said:

the whole world knows what he’s about. 

I think I am part of the "whole world" and I don't know "what he's about"!

Would you care to elucidate.

[DoctorG]

The extreme Left have already begun attacking him. All lesser candidates will continuously attack him because they must, if they are to make up ground. The front runner always gets attacked by everyone. 

[Becker]

2 hours ago, pegman said:

I think voting for the Bush Iraq War should disqualify him or anyone else that did.

And I think dodging the draft should disqualify anyone from becoming C-in-C. Don't you agree? 

[Becker]

53 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

I think I am part of the "whole world" and I don't know "what he's about"!

Would you care to elucidate.

He should have said "whole alternative world".

[pegman]

35 minutes ago, Becker said:

And I think dodging the draft should disqualify anyone from becoming C-in-C. Don't you agree? 

In the manner Trump and his grandfather did I absolutely agree. 

[mogandave]

Have the democrats really nobody better than this creep? 
 Biden is such an embarrassing person and the whole world knows what he’s about. 
Truely a party in disarray.

It will be a classic “bait & switch”...

[mogandave]

And I think dodging the draft should disqualify anyone from becoming C-in-C. Don't you agree? 

It didn’t disqualify President Clinton.

[mikebike]

57 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

The extreme Left have already begun attacking him.

555555.

 

There is no such thing as “extreme left” in US politics. Check your Overton window, then reflect on global and historical precedents.

[Jonnapat]

5 hours ago, twocatsmac said:

Have the democrats really nobody better than this creep? 

 Biden is such an embarrassing person and the whole world knows what he’s about. 

Truely a party in disarray.

That makes 2 then

[Jonnapat]

4 hours ago, quandow said:

Those "polls" recently released showing Biden ahead of Bernie neglected to say that only folks 50 or older were included. The DNC is going to try the same thing  that they did with Hillary. They even admitted in court that they rigged the 2016 primary election because there were no laws against it. Majority of Independents want Bernie for name recognition and progressive platform. Dem's and Rep's are already set in their ways, no changing minds at this point. Independents will decide 2020, either by voting for someone who generates enthusiasm or staying home rather than wasting time voting for Uncle Joe.

Anyone likely to beat Tromp would be A ok with me

[Jonnapat]

You can bet that there's already a big team of ""muckrakers"" going through every minute of Biden's life in order to discredit him. 

Politics everywhere stinks today. 

 

[donnacha]

34 minutes ago, mikebike said:

555555.

 

There is no such thing as “extreme left” in US politics. Check your Overton window, then reflect on global and historical precedents.

You misunderstand what the Overton window actually is, but I give you full marks for spelling it correctly.

The range of political discourse in any country has a center, a left, a right, an extreme right, an extreme left etc. The is true of the Overton window in any country, regardless of whether the extreme left in another country (with its own, different Overton window) would consider America's extreme left to be truly extreme left.

For example, a fan of Jeremy Corbyn in the UK might laugh at the idea that Bernie Sanders is a Leftist, but in the context of U.S. politics he absolutely is, while Alexandria Ocasia Cortez is about as far left as any elected official in the U.S, placing her on the extreme left within the range of that country's discourse.

 

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by donnacha

[JMSIII]

Just wait for Creepy Joe Biden's women and child videos to start coming out, but what should really nail good Ol' Joe will be his corruption in the Ukraine with his son Hunter.

 

Time to retire Joe...

[mikebike]

2 minutes ago, Jonnapat said:

Anyone likely to beat Tromp would be A ok with me

Yes, but...

 

Repeating the same mistakes and ignoring the systemic issues which led to voters rebuffing beltway business-as-usual candidates and paving the way for the ascendency of 45 does not seem to be a long-term solution for voters or the country as a whole.

 

45 is but a symptom... there is a reason why most national representatives have poled below 20% for decades.

[donnacha]

6 minutes ago, Jonnapat said:

You can bet that there's already a big team of ""muckrakers"" going through every minute of Biden's life in order to discredit him. 

Politics everywhere stinks today. 

 

His Democratic rivals have already hustled up a couple of #metoo accusers, he is in for a very bumpy ride. His best week was always going to be his first week after finally announcing.

Note that Trump did not tag him with the most obvious nickname, "creepy Joe", precisely because he does not want to do anything that will discourage the leftists from ripping Biden apart.

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by donnacha

[Jingthing]

Anyone likely to beat Tromp would be A ok with me

That is incorrect. Polls are not age restricted as long as the person is of voting age.

 

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

[mikebike]

4 minutes ago, donnacha said:

You misunderstand what the Overton window actually is, but I give you full marks for spelling it correctly.

The range of political discourse in any country has a center, a left, a right, an extreme right, an extreme left etc. The is true of the Overton window in any country, regardless of whether the extreme left in another country (with its own, different Overton window) would consider America's extreme left to be truly extreme left.

For example, a fan of Jeremy Corbyn in the UK might laugh at the idea that Bernie Sanders is a Leftist, but in the context of U.S. politics he absolutely is, while Alexandria Ocasia Cortez is about as far left as any elected official in the U.S, placing her on the extreme left within the range of that country's discourse.

 

 

Apparently you misunderstood my post.

 

The positioning of the USA’s Overton window currently DOES NOT affect its position globally nor historically. The fact remains that current US “left wingers” are far from “extremists” in a global or historical context.

 

My reference to Overton window in my reply was an effort to introduce national “framing” into the conversation.

[mikebike]

7 minutes ago, donnacha said:

His Democratic rivals have already hustled up a couple of #metoo accusers, he is in for a very bumpy ride.

Don’t worry... Joe and the DNC have already allotted the cash necessary for more “oppo research”... plus c’est la change, plus c’est la meme chose.

[donnacha]

17 minutes ago, mikebike said:

Apparently you misunderstood my post.

 

The positioning of the USA’s Overton window currently DOES NOT affect its position globally nor historically. The fact remains that current US “left wingers” are far from “extremists” in a global or historical context.

 

My reference to Overton window in my reply was an effort to introduce national “framing” into the conversation.

By definition, each country having its own Overton window means that each country has its own range of acceptable discourse and, within any range, there is a center, a left, a right, and we use the term "extreme" left or right to denote the left-most and right-most positions within that range. It is relative only to itself.

This is basic math. It does not matter how that particular range compares with other ranges. It does not matter how it happens to compare with other ranges that may exist in a global or historical context. It does not matter that you, personally, do not consider their extreme left to be truly extreme left.

Again, within the context of their own range, they have all the relative positions that any range has. Even if all their entire political discourse jumped massively to the right, relative to itself American politics would still have an extreme left i.e. the most left-wing people operating in that sphere, regardless of what may be happening elsewhere in time and space.

I understand that you were trying to say that the American left is not all that left-wing compared to other countries, which is a valid point, but it was a mistake to try dazzling us with your use of the Overton window concept.

Very specifically, the Overton window can only be used to describe the range of acceptable discourse in ONE country. It makes no sense to posit an international Overton window. That particular phrase is precisely the opposite of what you were fumbling for.

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by donnacha

[utalkin2me]

Biden will probably win the nomination. Good for him, bad for the American people. The best thing he would have done is replace the current president. But he is just another puppet like the rest of them. Almost all of them prove this with their words and actions.

[spidermike007]

 

"I have known Joe over the years," Trump said on Fox News. "He is not the brightest light bulb in the group, I don't think, but he has a name that they know."

 

So says a man who could not complete his MBA program at Wharton. He settled for a bachelor's degree, as that is all he could get. Biden could end up kicking his butt. Let us hope. Four more years of Trump and America is finished as a nation with any influence. Why do you think Cohen sent those letters to all of his schools, threatening retaliation if they released any of his records? 

 

Trump Lied About Graduating “First In His Class”

Trump has repeatedly claimed (and allowed media outlets to report on his behalf) that he graduated ‘first in his class’ from the Wharton School at Penn. In fact, he wasn’t close—Trump graduated without honors. Some schools base honors on GPA percentile, but Wharton bases them simply on GPA, which means that in order to graduate without honors, his GPA had to have been less than a 3.40—or else that he was sanctioned for academic integrity or student conduct violations. What’s interesting about this is that it’s not the GPA itself, but the lie, that Trump may have been concerned about. Trump’s college GPA wasn’t a big deal until he made it a big deal by speculating about Obama’s GPA, lying about his own records and threatening his schools if they released them.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/christopherrim/2019/02/28/heres-why-donald-trump-doesnt-want-anyone-to-know-his-grades-or-sat-scores/amp/

Edited May 3, 2019 by spidermike007

[mogandave]

Biden will probably win the nomination. Good for him, bad for the American people. The best thing he would have done is replace the current president. But he is just another puppet like the rest of them. Almost all of them prove this with their words and actions.

Biden will not win the primary.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, twocatsmac said:

Have the democrats really nobody better than this creep? 

 Biden is such an embarrassing person and the whole world knows what he’s about. 

Truely a party in disarray.

You beat me to it.

He was decidedly unimpressive as VP, so the only reason I can see for him being front runner is lack of anyone better.

I'm not surprised though. The position of president is now a poisoned chalice with all the personal attacks against the candidate and their family, friends and associates. Anyone running knows that they are going to get the same as Trump does. I'm sure good potential candidates are told by their families to shut up and forgedaboudit.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, mikebike said:

Yes, but...

 

Repeating the same mistakes and ignoring the systemic issues which led to voters rebuffing beltway business-as-usual candidates and paving the way for the ascendency of 45 does not seem to be a long-term solution for voters or the country as a whole.

 

45 is but a symptom... there is a reason why most national representatives have poled below 20% for decades.

Well said. People that hate Trump overlook the very reason an unpopular candidate beat the candidate that should have won by a landslide.

[Hank Gunn]

1 hour ago, mikebike said:

Yes, but...

 

Repeating the same mistakes and ignoring the systemic issues which led to voters rebuffing beltway business-as-usual candidates and paving the way for the ascendency of 45 does not seem to be a long-term solution for voters or the country as a whole.

 

45 is but a symptom... there is a reason why most national representatives have poled below 20% for decades.

+1

I just don't understand the lack of analysis of so many people who refer to those who voted for Trump 2016 (I didn't) as far-right "Trumpsters/"Trumptards", etc. (forgetting the fact that ad hominem attacks are a sign of a lack of credible arguments). I read a great article by a Yahoo contributor, Mat Bai who really nailed that election. In rough summary, people have been looking for a change in the business as usual in DC since voting for B. Clinton, who was seen as a real change and DC outsider (in fact many people used to refer to him as the real "first black president"). Unfortunately, Obama's "Hope and Change" turned out to be not much more than a catchy campaign slogan with the inclusion of an old-party stalwart like Biden as his VP, rather than a complete, new change/restart. It's worth searching for that article as it really nails the sentiment in mikebike's post quoted by me, i.e. "voters rebuffing beltway business-as-usual candidates". To repeat, Trump is merely a symptom of people's discontent and the general malaise/dysfunction in the US's government at this point in time.