No. of Recommendations: 4
Well, here you go you progressive doubting Thomases: writing in the New York Times today, senator Sanders writes that the president's supporters
"can speak proudly about a good and decent Democratic president with a record of real accomplishment. The Biden administration, as a result of the American Rescue Plan, helped rebuild the economy during the pandemic far faster than economists thought possible. At a time when people were terrified about the future, the president and those of us who supported him in Congress put Americans back to work, provided cash benefits to desperate parents and protected small businesses, hospitals, schools and child care centers.
After decades of talk about our crumbling roads, bridges and water systems, we put more money into rebuilding America’s infrastructure than ever before — which is projected to create millions of well-paying jobs. And we did not stop there. We made the largest-ever investment in climate action to save the planet. We canceled student debt for nearly five million financially strapped Americans. We cut prices for insulin and asthma inhalers, capped out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs and got free vaccines to the American people. We battled to defend women’s rights in the face of moves by Trump-appointed jurists to roll back reproductive freedom and deny women the right to control their own bodies."Senator Sanders writes that Joe Biden respects democracy while Donald Trump attacks it and Sanders will do all that he can to see that president Biden is re-elected and asks you to do so, too.
Sanders' complete op-ed:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/opinion/joe-bid...
No. of Recommendations: 0
I saw that article. And noted what he didn't say. He didn't say that he had spoken with Biden and feels that concerns about his capabilities are unfounded. He didn't vouch that Biden will be able to meet the basic job requirements of a Presidential candidate. He didn't say that Biden's still got the skills needed by a Presidential nominee.
Instead, he assumed away the problem:
And with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr. Trump but beat him badly.
Yes! No one disagrees with that! What they disagree about is whether Biden can run an effective campaign, given his age. If you assume the effective campaign, then of course he can win! But he hasn't been winning, and faces a very high probability of not being able to win, in part because he might not have the communication skills necessary any more to reliably execute an effective campaign.^^
This wasn't an op-ed that defended Biden against the criticism being levied against him, but one that tried to change the subject. And that's bad! It means that Biden's team couldn't convince Bernie to stick his neck out and defend Biden's current capabilities, and instead could only get him to support his record and his policies (along with a few shots at Trump). Which, again, is not the issue that's currently dividing the party.
^^Some of the reason he's losing is due to things unrelated to his age - the same sort of stuff that's led voters to toss incumbents in lots of Western democracies, as well as voter unhappiness with some of his past job performance.
No. of Recommendations: 0
*** What they disagree about is whether Biden can run an effective campaign, given his age. ***
We need to trust in the self-interest of our elected politicians and convention delegates. A lot of nice, no-show jobs go away if the top guy doesn't win. Nobody is making a suicide pact with Joe Biden if the polls say he's a loser.
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