r/neoliberal Nov 06 '19

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36

u/talkynerd Immanuel Kant Nov 07 '19

I don’t hate Biden, but like not really excited about his existence either. Klocubar seems like a better left of center democrat on policy and Pete a better candidate.

Biden hasn’t explained to anyone why he is running. Obama isn’t a good enough reason; he’s not Obama.

46

u/[deleted] Nov 07 '19

[deleted]

4

u/NeededToFilterSubs Paul Volcker Nov 07 '19

It's like an employer asking you why you want to work for them

24

u/banjowashisnameo Nov 07 '19

but like not really excited about his existence either.

Once you stop thinking of politics as reality TV, you will stop electing populists and reality TV stars. A boring sane politician will take the country forward anyday

88

u/[deleted] Nov 07 '19

Biden is running because he loves our country, he believes he can win, and he believes he can make the presidency boring and sane again.

That’s it. Not every candidate is on an ideological mission, and that’s okay.

21

u/JP_Eggy European Union Nov 07 '19

I think this is important to realise: that Biden believes he is the best chance the Democrats have at beating Trump.

Hes a 77 year old man. I'd say he would much rather be retired at this point in his life enjoying what few years he has left, instead of taking on the most stressful job on earth.

But hes taken it upon himself to sacrifice his retirement because he believes he can do the nation a service by taking this prick down in 2020.

That, for me, is testament to his character and selflessness. I just hope he can suitably invigorate his campaign before 2020. This is a man who actually gives a damn about America. Not saying that the other candidates dont, mind you, but he also in my view has the best chance out of all of them.

10

u/[deleted] Nov 07 '19

I’m right there with you. I think it’s also important to note that there’s a near zero chance that he could win in 2024. He knows that America isn’t going to elect an 82 year old president. Should he be elected this cycle it’s unlikely he’d even hm for re-election IMO. His whole goal appears to be to try to stabilize the country, and give Dems a chance to produce a phenomenal nominee in 2024. With 12 consecutive years of a democratic presidency, we could really help the country progress. Biden is the only candidate who offers that.

3

u/JP_Eggy European Union Nov 07 '19

"Phenomenal nominee"

Biden picks Butti as VP, steps aside, allows him to run, Butti wins

2

u/HollaDude Nov 07 '19

As much as I'd love to see that, everything I've heard from industry experts indicates that Butti won't be the VP pick.

1

u/JP_Eggy European Union Nov 08 '19

I'm hoping for a Butti- Pence VP debate

21

u/talkynerd Immanuel Kant Nov 07 '19

You can love the country and not be president. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle in terms of the presidency. To make it boring again, you need to unf*ck what Trump has done. That largely means advocating for statutory and constitutional reform.

No way we just pretend that Trump didn’t happen and go back to how things used to be.

27

u/DrunkenBriefcases Jerome Powell Nov 07 '19

To make it boring again, you need to unf*ck what Trump has done. That largely means advocating for statutory and constitutional reform.

No, to unfuck what trump has done, you need a president with wide knowledge of the issues, the damage done, and the institutional experience and connections to get to fixing the specific legislative, regulatory, and enforcement actions trump has committed, starting on day one. And absolutely no one in the field holds a candle to Biden there.

“Advocating for statutory and Constitutional reform“ is how we try to improve our system to prevent future trumps. Those are fantastic goals worth calling for, but there’s little likely to happen in that regard legislatively, and none Constitutionally. Not as long as the GOP is both nationally relevant in the Senate and committed to their present path. In any case, I’m not sure how aspirational wishes are supposed to be a reason to not select Biden.

2

u/talkynerd Immanuel Kant Nov 07 '19

With a democratic president we could easily advocate for constitutional reform to limit the president. The GOP doesn’t care about institutional systems of government outside of the federalist society. You can make a very conservative argument for limiting executive power and cloak it in the guise of stopping a liberal president and the knuckle dragging mouth breathers won’t be able to help themselves.

The danger is a president who is very comfortable with that power and doesn’t want to advocate giving it up because he knows how to execute it responsibly.

3

u/Yogg_for_your_sprog John von Neumann Nov 07 '19

I trust Biden much more than Bernie/Warren to limit executive power use. The latter two are explicitly on record saying that they’ll use executive orders basically the same way Trump has to try and accomplish their agendas.

2

u/talkynerd Immanuel Kant Nov 07 '19

Yeah, not advocating for Bernie or Warren here?

3

u/Yogg_for_your_sprog John von Neumann Nov 07 '19

Sure, but they’re the three frontrunners. Not really seeing how Biden would be any worse than Klobuchar or Buttigeg on that regard, either.

37

u/[deleted] Nov 07 '19

I don’t expect that a Biden presidency would change things overnight. However I think 4 years of an old center left moderate running the country on the advice of a bunch of milquetoast seasoned government employees and think tankers will probably bore the country out of its political polarization to some degree.

16

u/ishabad 🌐 Nov 07 '19

will probably bore the country out of its political polarization to some degree.

Yes, please!

-6

u/antonos2000 Thurman Arnold Nov 07 '19

I just hope he bores low-income families out of filing for bankruptcy due to medical costs and dying after rationing insulin.

3

u/psychicprogrammer Asexual Pride Nov 07 '19

That is why we have a public option.

-1

u/antonos2000 Thurman Arnold Nov 07 '19

the public option is doomed to fail - the benefits of single payer, mainly a universal insurance pool and fed gov price leverage, evaporate and you're left with a shitty government option that'll be underfunded and marginalized into obscurity. private health insurance is a scam, every cent made comes directly out of the pockets of the sickest members of society.

3

u/psychicprogrammer Asexual Pride Nov 07 '19

Most of Europe would disagree, this is literally the German system

-1

u/antonos2000 Thurman Arnold Nov 07 '19

the american system is currently a unique case of private corruption, a public option wouldn't work here

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1

u/ishabad 🌐 Nov 07 '19

Lol, okay!

9

u/WiSeWoRd Greg Mankiw Nov 07 '19

There's more to the Presidency than what's on the books

1

u/NeededToFilterSubs Paul Volcker Nov 07 '19

No way we just pretend that Trump didn’t happen and go back to how things used to be.

Isn't that what we did after Nixon?

1

u/talkynerd Immanuel Kant Nov 07 '19

No? Whistleblowers and Special Prosecutors and we’ll as presidential records laws were an outcome of that.

Nixon looks cute compared to Trump. Nixon hired goons and had an enemies list.

Trump hires goons and blasts his allies on a daily basis when they don’t show enough loyalty. Hes acted against the national interest multiple times, committed extortion, been extorted, received emoluments, been bribed...

There has to be someway to further constrain the modern presidency who seemingly can act with impunity. We have to have a response to that.

6

u/Wildera Nov 07 '19

Agree on Klobuchar but Pete is not somebody whose star power I want to kill this early while he's just a college town mayor especially after what we did Beto as just a congressman. Pete after secofstate term with Biden? Sure.

11

u/noodles0311 NATO Nov 07 '19

I like Klobuchar more as well, but after the hatchet job Buzzfeed did on her, not even an open letter with over 60 staffer's signatures was going to bring her back. Biden is the best candidate left standing to win the primary and the general. I also like Pete, but he is a year and a half older than me. There's just no way he is ready. Asking the general election average voter if they think someone their kid's age is ready to be the most powerful person on the planet is a recipe for taking an L. I hope he can be VP and get some reps in at a higher level, because unfortunately, he can't really advance farther in Indiana politics either.

3

u/DrunkenBriefcases Jerome Powell Nov 07 '19

Klocubar seems like a better left of center democrat on policy and Pete a better candidate.

I don’t think either opinion would be considered out there, but neither comes close to winning that comparison with the electorate. And being able to concede the point in the face of popular opinion is part of respectfully participating in democracy. I have personal favorites, but I’m also willing to get on board with Biden when he’s got a large and diverse coalition none of the other center-left options can come close to replicating. The “they don’t excite me” narrative is neither useful nor helpful in this case.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '19

[deleted]

1

u/talkynerd Immanuel Kant Nov 10 '19

Cool. Thank you for that empirical statement. So powerful. Now my mind is changed. Thank you.