From "Sanders keeps quiet on Biden sexual assault allegation despite uproar from supporters, ex-aides" (Fox News).
Also in the news this morning: "Biden reaches deal to let Sanders keep hundreds of delegates" (AP).
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has agreed to let former primary rival Bernie Sanders keep hundreds of delegates he would otherwise forfeit by dropping out of the presidential race in a deal designed to avoid the bitter feelings that marred the party in 2016 and helped lead to Hillary Clinton’s defeat. Under party rules, Sanders should lose about one-third of the delegates he’s won in primaries and caucuses as the process moves ahead... The rules say those delegates should be Biden supporters, as he is the only candidate still actively seeking the party’s nomination....Is it a moot point? At any moment, Joe Biden could have a genuine or faked health crisis and become unavailable. Isn't that what plenty of Democrats want? If that happens, who gets to be the nominee? Maybe some people think it should be whoever Biden picks as his VP, even if that is a person who hasn't participated in any of the primaries and caucuses, who never had to debate. But there's good reason to think that if Biden becomes unavailable, the candidate should be the person who clearly came in second — in 2020 and in 2016 — Bernie Sanders.
In some ways, the delegate count is a moot point....
Sanders is keeping himself clean on the Tara Reade allegations, and he's continuing to acquire delegates. Is he not thinking of somehow getting the nomination? I assume there are other Democrats who are looking for a path to the nomination and not conceding that Joe Biden owns it. So it's right for Sanders to plot a win.
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Jim Clyburn is the head cigar smoker in that room.
I can totally see Bernie delegates chanting "Tara, Tara, Tara" during Joe's acceptance speech. That should keep Joe awake.
The average Democrat is a fucking sheep. They'll do anything their Fuhrers say. Any talk of the "Bernie Bros" protesting anything the D Establishment does, or staying home is just nonsense. All the average Democrats does is talk about those "goddamn Right Wingers" and follow the party line.
Bernie is waiting to grab the Dem nomination by the pussy.......
"Is it a moot point? At any moment, Joe Biden could have a genuine or faked health crisis and become unavailable. Isn't that what plenty of Democrats want? If that happens, who gets to be the nominee?"
Extending this further, by Cuomo canceling his primary, sure to be followed by others, NO delegates have been awarded from that state and it appears we are headed to a dem convention where NO candidate has a first ballot majority which throws wide open the entire process and allows anyone to step right in at the last moment with only a 2 month sprint to the general election....
...which is the perfect scenario for Michelle...
Did you know Netflix is releasing another hagiography of Michelle's life this summer with her never-ending book tour as the backdrop...as if she were doing campaign stops?
All on top of her constant presence on magazine covers and friendly talk shows...and "random" appearances in commercials for others and public events.
Almost as if there were a coordinated campaign to keep her in the public eye in the most glowing way.......
Delegates are not a moot point when it comes to party platform debates, party rules & the other non-nomination stuff that goes on at conventions. Of course the DNC politburo may decide it doesn’t need to have no stinkin’ convention.
Pelosi's plans for Newsom could move up to VP now.
With a wig if the woman-thing is a thing.
If Biden drops out I’m OK with the nomination going to Sanders but he needs to commit to choosing a female VP.
Bernie was in the tank for Hillary in 2016. He refused to hit her hard on anything or even mention her Emails except once in a soft/reluctant manner. He got a house out of it, and will probably get another one after Joe Biden is officially nominated. Does anyone believe that if Biden drops out, and D establishment passes over Bernie, that he will protest or do anything? Of course not. At this point, his keeping his delegates is nothing more than a bargaining chip for more $$$ down the road, not a POTUS nod.
Bay Area Guy: "Bernie is waiting to grab the Dem nomination by the pussy......."
Bernie is an all bark and no bite sideshow artist who is engaged in political performance art that in the end, always adheres to the wishes of the dem establishment.
And he does it as a grift.
He will get a nice beach or mountain house out of this latest fake campaign where spent more time defending Biden than attacking him.
Precisely as Bernie did in 2016 with Hillary.
The D establishment is NEVER going to pick Bernie if the Biden drops out. They will probably pick someone like Cuomo or Newsome. Or perhaps Harris or Klobachur with the excuse that the D Voters are demanding a healthy, more diverse candidate.
I see rcocean beat me to it.
As a young man, Bernie stuck his hand under the skirt of Communism and he's been sniffing his fingers ever since.
It would be ironic if all the arm-twisting that went in to steering the nomination to Biden as the not-Sanders candidate became a key plot point in the nomination ultimately going to Sanders.
"The D establishment is NEVER going to pick Bernie if the Biden drops out."
Well, but that's my point.
Bernie knows they activated themselves to crush him TWICE, but he has every reason to think if Biden doesn't get the nomination, it should be his. And he knows he will have to fight hard to get it.
What I'm talking about is the evidence that he is currently engaging in that hard fight! And I assume others are already fighting. Bernie has a great argument to put to the voters, and he will have to get his support from the people, not the party.
"Bernie is an all bark and no bite sideshow artist who is engaged in political performance art that in the end, always adheres to the wishes of the dem establishment."
yeah, that's true. He, himself, is a poseur.
However, he has spurred a lotta dumbass young college kids towards socialism. Add aging hippies, govt workers, and illegal immigrants, and you got the makings of a disorganized, but potential socialist army out there. That's kinda sorta how they took over California.
“The average Democrat is a fucking sheep. They'll do anything their Fuhrers say. Any talk of the "Bernie Bros" protesting anything the D Establishment does, or staying home is just nonsense. All the average Democrats does is talk about those "goddamn Right Wingers" and follow the party line.”
Heated but spot on. The thing that makes the Donks so scary is their absolute party discipline. Preset to goose-step. Which is another reason to fight them tooth and nail.
Funny how they simply canceled the NY primary.
Biden campaign announces Chris Dodd (he of “waitress sandwich” fame) will be one of 4 co-chairs of committee to vet potential VP candidates.
"The walls are closing in"
No one can count the number of times over the last 3 years that that phrase was applied against Trump. Even though the walls never moved.
But, today, walls are in fact closing in on Plugs. And if another female comes forward with a story . . .
But there's good reason to think that if Biden becomes unavailable, the candidate should be the person who clearly came in second — in 2020 and in 2016 — Bernie Sanders.
What is that good reason, I wonder? Not obvious to me. The party picks the candidate. There's 'rules' but they are rigged for party control and the leaders feel entitled to change them on the fly. The voting is a bit of farce designed to activate the base and make them feel included.
Biden's stall tactic on the Reade allegations appears to be working.
Have to say that Bernie Sanders is quite a bit more energized and lucid than good ole' slow and rapidly ageing Joe Biden. Though also will note that Bernie lacks the usually requisite political killer instinct.
Predictit has Hillary in second at .06 cents.
I suspect if Bernie makes a fuss, the money funneling to him for his support for Biden is history.
As if the Convention is going to happen this Summer in Milwaukee, although I'm curious how much pressure is being brought to bear on Evers to open things up. (I hope the Convention happens -- the economy of Milwaukee could use it)
with the nomination going to Sanders but he needs to commit to choosing a female VP
Mom and Dad? America's first parents, equal and complementary. Perhaps the VP should be the President's spouse.
A lot depends on whether or not the cancelled primaries are held in June/July. If they are held, then Biden will win a majority of the delegates- the DNC will not allow any other outcome in that event. In other words, Biden won't be dropped until he secures that majority of the delegates- those delegates will also affirm the VP choice. After the convention, is when Biden will be replaced if it happens at all.
If the primaries aren't held, and no one has a majority, then the DNC may well push Biden out before the convention. That is messy, but Sanders won't be able to complain that he got shafted- he will be free to contest the first and subsequent votes with the delegates he has. If Biden is going to be replaced, this is the way to do.
So, keep an eye out for when and if the cancelled primaries for the Democratic nomination get rescheduled. Primaries do have to held at some point just to select the candidates for other offices, but they don't have to be held before the convention.
The thing that makes the Donks so scary is their absolute party discipline. Preset to goose-step. Which is another reason to fight them tooth and nail.
That's why it's hilarious when they keep bleating that other people are "authoritarian" while "the science is settled".
Every day they log on to get the latest talking points to make sure they're nowhere near the periphery of the flock.
Bernie is observing the Reagan Rule in not speaking ill of the presumptive nominee, which also has the tactical advantage highlighted in the blogpost. But the larger lesson from both 2016 and this cycle is that spinning out hypos about how Sanders might get the nomination is useless unless someone is going to do what it takes to turn the hypo from an entertaining fantasy into a political reality. So far, Sanders has shown himself unwilling to do that, both in 2016 and 2020 -- just think back to his dismissal of all the noise about Hillary!'s emails and his refusal to engage with the palpable sense that she was an entitled fake (a mistake Trump did not make). This go-around, Sanders has refused to address the palpable sense the Biden is a washed-up has-been who stands for nothing, assuming he can remember what the issues under discussion are at any moment.
If Biden is to be knocked off, someone will have to do it. Not seeing that someone on the Dem side willing to do it.
"Jim Clyburn is the head cigar smoker in that room."
"Head" and "Cigar" in the same sentence?
C'Mon Man! -- we're not talking about Monica Lewinsky.....
This will be a silent cancer eating away Biden support just like Hillary's scummy behavior regarding her secret bathroom server. Just because the legacy press refuses to report about it doesn't mean people won't on a day to day basis with our friends, family etc. All the RNC has to do is run a loop of Slow Joe sniffing hair and trying to give shoulder rubs to women clearly trying to pull away. There is no way he will be the party leader after August. It will be criminally negligent of any political party to do so.
As above, Sanders was always fake opposition. He was hired to play a ritual role in that stylized Noh production that was supposed to be the 2016 Democratic primaries. But I think no-one was more surprised than he was by his unexpected level of support in 2016. It put the chorus off and almost spoiled the play. Sanders was quite embarassed.
For the next two months, watch the Times and the Post for stories that begin, "So-and-so has been mentioned as a possible presidential nominee should Joe Biden decide not to run", followed by that person's talking points. I think the technical term is "trial balloon".
Maybe Joe Biden is innocent because Tara Reade hallucinated the assault? Are these accusations a product of the extreme social isolation that were experiencing right now? Isolation causes serious behavioral issues. Consider the following study conducted at McGill University Medical Center in Montreal:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-pathology-of-boredom/
The McGill researchers paid volunteers to spend weeks by themselves in sound-proof cubicles, deprived of meaningful human contact. (Sound familiar?) The McGill researchers minimized what the study participants could feel, see, hear and touch. The volunteers were fitted with visors and cotton gloves. (Sound familiar?) The McGill team even set up air-conditioning units to mask small sounds. (So far it sounds a bit like the quarantine in New York City.)
After a few hours (imagine two months), the volunteers became restless and they began talking to themselves to relieve the boredom. Many of these people became highly emotional and their mental performance suffered too. (Consider the quality of journalism these past few weeks!) But what was most disturbing were the hallucinations. One volunteer described squirrels marching with sacks over their shoulders. Some saw dogs. Some saw babies. Maybe some imagined rapes? Who knows?
Ann Althouse said, "and he will have to get his support from the people, not the party."
This assumes the Democrat Party cares about the people. It's a false premise. It was evident in 2016, and again on the Super Tuesday stacking of the deck. But I do agree with the professor's statement in the post that Dems are wishing for a Biden health crisis. More than likely it will happen. Whether or not it is organic, like the Chinese Laboratory Virus, will be debated.
A stroke would be pretty believable. It would also render Joe more speechless than he already is. He looks like he's on the verge of one. I'm thinking stroke.
Can someone check on Spiros? Will be wearing a visor and cotton gloves. I think he is hallucinating while being held by some Canadians. It's always the Canadians, isn't it?
"At any moment, Joe Biden could have a genuine or faked health crisis and become unavailable. Isn't that what plenty of Democrats want? If that happens, who gets to be the nominee?"
How could anybody make the above statement and still be looking for a way to cast a vote for the Democrats eventual nominee? "faked health crisis".... I can't imagine having voted for Hillary in 2016, and realizing a fake health crisis is a real possibility within the Democrat party. Rooting for it as a solution, after a corrupt primary. Just....wow....
Only in Madison, WI....
Dem honchos view Bernie with the same mixture of horror and revulsion that the GOP honchos viewed then-candidate Trump 4 years ago. The difference is that the GOP honchos would have been happy to lose with Mr Trump while the Dem honchos rightfully fear that Bernie will lose in a landslide, taking the House with him.
Traditional leaders of both parties would be happier with someone like Amy or Andrew or any of the nobodies who were running in the Dem primary until a couple of months ago.
Grandpa Gulag is more interested in raping the taxpayer, anyway.
the last escape hatch before they go full Biden-Hillary.
Yeah - some people are panicking.
Spiros said... Maybe Joe Biden is innocent because Tara Reade hallucinated the assault? Are these accusations a product of the extreme social isolation that were experiencing right now?
At the very least, you deserve a participation medal, Spiros.
But there's good reason to think that if Biden becomes unavailable, the candidate should be the person who clearly came in second — in 2020 and in 2016 — Bernie Sanders.
Better reason to think that Hillary, who beat Sanders in 2016 and was "robbed" in 2020 should be the candidate. Cruella De Ville is going to step in to "save the party and the nation".
Who is going to give the “Friends, Romans, countrymen…” speech at the DNC? Who’s the Democrat Marc Antony? I’m thinkin’ Beto O’Rourke. He’ll do anything for exposure.
Cruella De Ville is going to step in to "save the party and the nation".
That might have been the plan all along. Biden is only there to keep the seat warm.
Bernie has a great argument to put to the voters, and he will have to get his support from the people, not the party.
Not if he wants to be the nominee. The party has the perfect excuse to ignore the nominating process (instead of subverting it as they usually do) and nominate who they want. They have made it very clear that they don't want sanders. The only way sanders runs in Nov is as a third party candidate. (Socialist Party candidate?)
The Democrats will not allow a botched 10 ballot convention, it must be a unified march to victory. The deadline for the convention is August, so Biden has three months for his worth to be weighed by the factions. His future is pre convention replacement by candidate Michelle, or post inauguration replacement with VP Michelle. Candidate Michelle would make a star studded Oprah fueled two month passion play of a campaign never mentioning Trump or having any debates.
"I’m thinkin’ Beto O’Rourke. He’ll do anything for exposure."
No kidding! Pornhub has an entire category of videos dedicated to Beto porn.
Ok, I made that up...... I hope.
If for some reason Biden drops out, I think the Democrat establishment would be smart to nominate Sanders. I think Sanders doesn't have a good chance of winning the general, but I think that he would actually have the greatest, positive, down-ballot effect in the race for the Democrats. Sanders in this race and in 2016 had the greatest enthusiasm from supporters of any Democratic candidate. I don't think this is enough overcome moderates who will think he is too far left to vote for, but it will drive lots of lefty supporters to the polls who will reliably vote democrat down the ticket. Also, lots of those moderates, while thinking Sanders is too far left, could very well still think Trump needs a check and split their ticket, giving the nod to Dems in the house and maybe Senate.
And I don't think that Democrats are sacrificing much of anything by not putting someone else in there, because honestly there are no good candidates to parachute in there. The Democrats had a huge field to chose from and they settled on Joe Biden, who no one really seems excited about. If the Democrats are going to put up a sacrificial lamb, they might as well get the most they can from their sacrifice.
Plus after Sanders loses, (assuming he does) the Democrat establishment can tell their voters, "Look, we tried your guy but we can't just do this nationally we need to now focus on more centrist and practical candidates in the future." Much of what the establishment has been doing seems to me as trying to mollify the far left portion of their base. I'm still convinced that Nancy Pelosi did not want to try an impeachment, and only did it to assuage her left. Speaking of which for a political neophyte Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is pretty effective at messaging and driving the party in a direction. She was one of the first Democrat members of congress to talk about the allegations against Joe Biden and she was at least nominally supportive of Tara Reade being able to come forward and tell her story.
Josephbleau has the most interesting suggestion: a campaign where they never debate and never seriously engage Trump. Sadly plausible.
I find it interesting that Bernie Sanders is being held out there as consistent and some sort of true believer who deserves respect.
Bernie Sanders is clearly a fraud. Just like Mitt Romney is a fraud.
Bernie Sanders has one job: Keep the marxists in the democrat party.
He doesn't believe a single thing he says.
Ann Althouse said...
"The D establishment is NEVER going to pick Bernie if the Biden drops out."
Well, but that's my point.
Bernie knows they activated themselves to crush him TWICE, but he has every reason to think if Biden doesn't get the nomination, it should be his. And he knows he will have to fight hard to get it.
What I'm talking about is the evidence that he is currently engaging in that hard fight! And I assume others are already fighting. Bernie has a great argument to put to the voters, and he will have to get his support from the people, not the party.
Sometimes you are so gullible.
Josephbleau said...
The Democrats will not allow a botched 10 ballot convention, it must be a unified march to victory. The deadline for the convention is August, so Biden has three months for his worth to be weighed by the factions. His future is pre convention replacement by candidate Michelle, or post inauguration replacement with VP Michelle. Candidate Michelle would make a star studded Oprah fueled two month passion play of a campaign never mentioning Trump or having any debates.
Barry was caught golfing today after Michelle told African Americans to stay inside.
They either put a lot of faith in the media to cover for them and stupid people to vote for them or they are not planning on 2020.
I know there are a lot of stupid people who would vote for Michelle. But it is too soon.
I think they are looking at 2024.
Bernie has a great argument to put to the voters, and he will have to get his support from the people, not the party.
That is, if you’d like the U.S. to become the next Venezuela.
And, I gather prof, you do.
I have kind of been avoiding this story, as I guess I do with most news surrounding politics, and was really only reading headlines about this. Funny enough, I thought this had something to do with the actress Tara Reid.
Anyway, before Biden got the nomination, I was considering casting my vote for him in general election, as more of a funny joke than anything else. I’ve since changed my mind about voting for him, and this scandal is only part of the long list of reasons why.
Spiros: "Maybe Joe Biden is innocent because Tara Reade hallucinated the assault?"
Please God, please, let the democrats run with that one.
Please.
Berno: The American people don't care about your damn digital penetration.
Michelle or Hillary, but maybe neither one has the cachet they think she does. Two women who are only thought of because their husbands were President (and are still around). I don't think Friend Of Oprah is enough; they'll convince themselves she "really" won last time and go with Hillary. Go down the drain, I'm guessing.
Or maybe they'll nominate Justin Amash to lock up the NeverTrump vote.
I just don't know enough about it to comment further....
serious Question?
Did ANY Democrat, EVER, say that about ANY Republican, EVER?
Or, was it:
"The seriousness of the charge mandates that we investigate this."
"Even though there is no evidence,"
"the seriousness of the charge is what matters."
Pelosi is bringing back the Burisma hearing defense of "Because Biden is Biden.."
But there's good reason to think that if Biden becomes unavailable, the candidate should be the person who clearly came in second — in 2020 and in 2016 — Bernie Sanders.
The party has to satisfy the Bernie Bros, so does Sanders. How to do that without giving him anything real? Not so easy.
Plus you have factor in what people think of the Dems being associated with keeping the country closed and with having the most deaths in the cities they run - which I think is an issue that will come up after May 1.
It's all been made new (SMOW - Sweet Meteor of Wuhan) but it's hard to see how.
Obama and Hillary gearing up to screw wannabe General Secretary Bernardo again.
About even odds that Hillary 'reluctantly' announces she is available 'if the party wishes' in the case of Sleepy Joe nodding off the race.
"The only time Sanders mentioned the allegation against Biden was"...one more time than Biden.
"All the RNC has to do is run a loop of Slow Joe sniffing hair and trying to give shoulder rubs to women clearly trying to pull away. "
Background sound track of Pelosi saying she's sure he's innocent because, "It's Joe Biden".
rasmussen reports that
34% polled believe Tara Reade
33% polled believed CBF
be interesting, to see a Venn Diagram of those two groups
is it safe for me to say, that they'd be mutually incongruent ?
Josephbleau has the most interesting suggestion: a campaign where they never debate and never seriously engage Trump. Sadly plausible.
I posted here months ago that Biden would refuse to debate Trump, and use the excuse that he "doesn't want to legitimize Trump" as the reason.
This is now moot, because Biden won't be the candidate.
Bernie probably is hedging his bets but Uncle Joe it's a done deal. Both Hillary and Obama have endorsed so no one's going back on that if they know what's good for them if you know what I mean ;-)
Bernie be bedden his time...
Who will be Biden's female butt buddy?
Abrams poses little temptation.
Heated but spot on. The thing that makes the Donks so scary is their absolute party discipline. Preset to goose-step. Which is another reason to fight them tooth and nail.
Well said, sir!
walter said...
Who will be Biden's female butt buddy?
Abrams poses little temptation.
isnt "Adolpha" Whitmer vying for that um... position?
Whitmer now embraces the moniker "That woman".
That would be helpful to Biden.
" Blogger Howard said...
Bernie probably is hedging his bets but Uncle Joe it's a done deal. Both Hillary and Obama have endorsed so no one's going back on that if they know what's good for them if you know what I mean ;-)"
No, they will drop him in one heartbeat once the demofactions come to agreement.
Mark Cuban
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