Biden/Gabbard 2020?

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HomeschoolDad

HomeschoolDad

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Joe Biden and Tulsi Gabbard. There could be far worse tickets.

Biden: somewhat conservative, Catholic of a certain age, genial personality, working-class appeal, demonstrated great care and concern for his family under tragic circumstances (commuted daily to and from Wilmington by train), widowed father.

Gabbard: has taken some conservative stances in the past, at least has some Catholicism in her upbringing (father is Catholic), female, person of color, war veteran, young, homeschooled, attractive (and lest I be pilloried for appearing sexist, Biden is an attractive man as well). In short, she checks a lot of boxes.

I’m not suggesting that I would favor him over the demonstrably pro-life Trump (I am more concerned with what he actually does, not what he believes), but something just tells me that Biden, if elected, could possibly be “reached” on the issue of abortion — not necessarily pro-life “all the way”, but better than many other potential candidates.
 
Yes, Joe is so concerned with his Catholicism that he has married not one but two gay couples personally as well as being denied the sacraments up in Scranton for his pro-choice positions.
How Wilmington and Philadelphia or wherever he is now let him skate on this stuff, IDK.

I will grant that he doesn’t seem to be as bad as Cuomo, but he’s not getting my vote for Catholic of the Year any time soon.

A summary of some Catholic bishops’ reactions to Joe over the years is in this article.

 
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HomeschoolDad said:
something just tells me that Biden, if elected, could possibly be “reached” on the issue of abortion
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I would be very reticent of holding on to such a hope. I don’t think any Democrat candidate is going to get the presidential nomination anytime soon if they are not 100% committed to pro-choice policies. That’s just where the upper echelons of the party is at.
HomeschoolDad said:
not necessarily pro-life “all the way”, but better than many other potential candidates.
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That’s certainly possible, but I wouldn’t really bank on it.
 
I didn’t mean to suggest that Biden was especially concerned with his Catholicism. I find his marrying of two gay couples to be as horrendous as anyone else. How he receives the sacraments in Wilmington is a matter for that diocese. Maybe he doesn’t.

I just meant that he may be, on many levels, the least of several evils among those candidates who can actually win the Democratic nomination, and who might end up winning the general election in 2020. Sadly, much of our electoral process in this country is just that — the least of several evils — as well as, sometimes, damage control.

I will just say that on election night 2020, if Biden is the Democratic candidate, I will not go to bed fearful for the future of the Republic, at least not on the same level as I did in 2016 (and I thought that, regrettably, Hillary had it in the bag). When I woke in the middle of the night and checked my smartphone for news alerts, the words “President-elect Trump” were not what I was expecting to see.
 
He received them in Wilmington. I have been to his church there a bunch of times with the same priest who was reported in the papers as giving him Communion. It’s the Biden family’s long time parish, there are other Bidens around there too.

I try not to judge and I personally would not be bothered if Biden had simply gone to the wedding of his gay staffers, sent them a gift, even made a toast at the reception. I myself would go to a reception and send a gift (despite people on here telling me I’d be going to hell just for that). Even his voting record could be looked at as, well, maybe he was horse trading for something else, maybe he voted pro-life in other ways, etc.

But when he is performing actual gay marriage, something he does not have to do because there are a bazillion other judges and ministers that will step in and do it, and he’s doing it in the public eye, getting written up in the national news for it, that to me is a pretty flagrant violation. And when he gets called out by bishops for doing it the first time and then does it again, I have to wonder about his judgment. I sometimes think these guys get old and just think they can do anything they want. Or maybe he really doesn’t believe in Catholicism any more and just trots it out to get votes from Catholics.

I’m also very leery of how the whole story about him inappropriately touching women suddenly seems to have vanished into thin air. Was somebody paid off? I have some other reasons I am a little nervous of backing him as the candidate, that I will keep to myself because I don’t want to commit any sins.

Edited to add, I am also sorry to find myself making this type of post about Joe. My father really liked him, wrote to him personally and backed him for President back in the 80s when he had to drop out because of illness. My father died some decades ago and I am rather happy he is not around to have to see Joe doing these things.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
I’m also very leery of how the whole story about him inappropriately touching women suddenly seems to have vanished into thin air. Was somebody paid off?
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It’s probably because he is perceived as a fairly liberal Democrat, and after the initial hullabaloo over it, he gets a free pass at the end of the day (especially after his noting that “times have changed” and promising not to do it anymore). If it had been a conservative Republican (a fortiori a pro-life one), he would have been lynched in the establishment media. (But then again Trump made some pretty salty remarks about women, and those ended up not amounting to much.)
 
Is anyone worried about Joe Biden’s age? If elected and, shall we say, if God is willing, he will be 78 years old when inaugurated.

And Bernie Sanders, not that he has a chance to be elected, will be 79.

Elizabeth Warren is a mere babe in comparison. She will be 71.

Can’t we find someone a bit younger?
 
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I try not to be ageist, but I tend to think that the young hopefuls do not want to waste their shot on an incumbent with a good chance of being re-elected. They’d rather wait for 2024 and have a better chance. Or perhaps get lucky enough to sign on as Biden’s or Warren’s veep and then they’re in a good position for the nom next election, win or lose. (in the “win” case the elderly President could decide to stop at one term or even die in office.)

It was easier back in the day when a candidate losing didn’t necessarily mean that the party would never run him again.
 
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I had no idea Elizabeth Warren was 71. She, to me, looks about 10 years younger.
 
Pete Buttigieg is a young fellow. He’s only in his thirties.
 
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F_Marturana said:
Pete Buttigieg is a young fellow. He’s onky in his thirties.
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Pete Buttigieg is extremely bright and has the most impressive resume you will probably ever see for someone his age. If he were pro-life and not a practicing “married” gay man, I would seriously consider him. (Non-practicing with simply having SSA would be perfectly all right. But that would be none of anybody’s business unless he chose to reveal it.)

I assume you meant to say “only” in his thirties, but if you meant to say “wonky”, that’s OK, quite frankly… he’s that too. 😬 But in a good way…

And he would positively slaughter Trump in a debate.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
I try not to judge and I personally would not be bothered if Biden had simply gone to the wedding of his gay staffers, sent them a gift, even made a toast at the reception. I myself would go to a reception and send a gift (despite people on here telling me I’d be going to hell just for that).
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If I were ever in that situation, I would do as I do in the case of people invalidly attempting marriage — give a gift if I were forced to (as I was once in a workplace situation) and say “I wish you much happiness always and I hope it all goes well for the two of you”. That does not “congratulate” them for their sinful act, nor does it recognize as valid and moral what they have done. (It also implies, if you read it that way, that I am concerned for their happiness both now and in eternity. And I mean to imply precisely that.)

I have already told my son, now 12, that if he ever marries outside the Church, I will not attend the wedding, but I will love him no less for it, and that aside from the sinful act, it will change nothing between us. Just tonight he was asking me, once again, whether marriage outside the Church is sinful, and I explained, as I always do, that indeed it is.
 
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Beryllos said:
Can’t we find someone a bit younger?
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It does strike me as odd as I recall the media making a huge deal of McCain’s age as he was 72 on election day 2008 (with many outlets positing it as almost a sure thing that Sarah Palin was “a heartbeat away from the presidency”). Now, some of the most popular hopefuls for 2020 will be significantly older than that.

I guess 78 is the new 65. Or something like that. 🙂
 
Biden will be the Democratic nominee although I think Kamala Harris will give him a heck of a run.

I doubt Tulsi would be his VP. Either way, Biden is a surefire lame duck who will lose to Trump.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I’m also very leery of how the whole story about him inappropriately touching women suddenly seems to have vanished into thin air. Was somebody paid off?
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I think the story was just never ripe for use.

First of all, the story was less breaking news and more opening up a discussion over Biden’s well-known behavior. This wasn’t like Crosby, Weinstein, or Louis C.K. where they hid behind closed doors and had a general behavior of abuse. This was someone who was open and generally assumed to be doing things consensually, but someone finally accused him of going too far. It was less gossip and more exploring if people had been too lenient on Biden’s behavior.

Second, keeping it going was hard. Early on, a picture of an alleged “abuse” began circulating…only for the woman to come to Biden’s defense. Not only did this basically mean the media would have to wait for women to come forward, but it continued shifting the narrative to how we should think about behavior like Biden’s.

Third, Biden didn’t really fight. Yeah, he didn’t say “I’m sorry” (though would people have accepted it if he did?), but he did indicate that he intended to change his behavior. He entered the conversation, not as someone fighting against everyone but as someone who was listening and setting a standard to be held up to going forward.

Ultimately, I just don’t think it made for good gossip. There was no big story to break. It was also too easy to come across as bullying an old man whose behavior had been taken differently by different people and who had already apologized.
 
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Yet if it had happened to a Republican, the media and fellow left wingers would have been rabid. It’s the double standard that is sickening.
 
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