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Tag: Joe Biden (Page 1 of 2)

Joy and Relief – Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump

Biden twitter page

The networks finally called the election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Donald Trump has been defeated.

Like many other Americans, I was worried four years ago when Trump managed to win the electoral college despite losing the popular vote. My prediction was simple – expect chaos. And that’s exactly what he delivered. We’ve watched for four years as one of the worst people this country has produced took over the presidency. It’s been a tough four years as Trump created a “stress test” for our republic. Fortunately, our institutions appear to have survived (assuming we make it to January 20th), despite the cowardly behavior of way too many people who enabled Trump’s worst impulses, starting with GOP Senators. More on that later . . .

For now, we can celebrate that Trump will be gone, along with Stephen Miller, William Barr and the countless others who disgraced our government over the past four years.

Notes save Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin avoided a debate meltdown, and in that respect tonight was a positive evening for her. Biden, however, also avoided making gaffes, and he consistently made the case against John McCain.

That said, she lost the debate on points. It was obvious she was constantly referring to note cards for her talking points, and she blatantly avoided answering numerous questions. She landed some good punches, but she was unable to counter Biden’s most effective attacks against McCain, while Biden always had a response when she tried to attack Obama.

Her folksy manner seemed contrived, while Biden had the most compelling and authentic moment of the evening when he spoke about raising his two sons following the death of his wife and daughter. In that moment he took away her only potential advantage – her connection to average Americans.

Overall, this debate does not look like the game-changer that McCain needed given Obama’s current lead. Palin stopped the bleeding, but the initial polls have Biden winning the debate. She also made it clear that we shouldn’t hold our breath regarding future media interviews or news conferences for Sarah Palin.

Joe Biden – Asset or Liability?

Joe Biden has been a gaffe machine over the past several days. He said he didn’t approve of one of Obama’s ads about John McCain, and he jumped the gun saying that the government shouldn’t bail out AIG.

Fortunately, Biden has rebounded impressively this morning, with a powerful speech on foreign policy. He delivered a blistering attack on John McCain’s foreign policy positions while providing a very persuasive argument for a new approach under a Barack Obama administration. More importantly, he attacked McCain’s judgement, explaining how McCain’s bluster is counterproductive. He also ripped Bush and McCain for ignoring al Qaeda and Afghanistan. We must find and kill Bin Laden, and Biden made that absolutely clear.

The themes in this speech were clear and powerful. I suspect Obama will be repeating all these themes on Friday in the first presidential debate.

Is Florida back in play for Obama?

The Obama campaign has been aggressively targeting Florida, but many have been skeptical as to whether Obama has a legitimate shot at that state.

I was surprised when I heard over the weekend that Hillary’s first appearance after the convention would be in Florida. After looking at the issue more closely, the campaign’s optimism regarding Florida makes much more sense.

First, the Joe Biden selection was as much about Florida as any other state, including Pennsylvania. Biden has huge support in the Jewish community, particularly with older Jewish voters, due to his long history as a supporter of Israel in the Senate. I always knew Biden was popular with older voters, but I didn’t realize how much support he had in the Jewish community. The fact the the Obama campaign immediately sent Biden to Florida after he was selected as Obama’s running mate underscores the point.

Today, Ben Smith reported that Ed Koch has decided to endorse Obama. In 2004, the former mayor of New York endorsed Bush and campaigned for him. This time, the selection of Sarah Palin pushed Koch into Obama’s camp.

Koch is a member of a set of secular, swing-voting Jewish Democrats who may have been pushed away by the selection of Palin, and his endorsement may be a marker of an opportunity for Obama to strengthen his campaign among older Jewish voters in Florida.

Koch is still very influential in the Jewish community, and he indicated a willingness to campaign for Obama in Florida.

The stories about the Jews for Jesus speaker at Palin’s church will not help McCain’s campaign with Jewish voters. The speaker suggested that attacks on Israel represented punishment from God.

Voter registration numbers also favor Obama in Florida.

Democrats also have done a better job of registering voters. In the first seven months of the year, Democrats increased their numbers by nearly 253,000, compared with slightly more than 98,000 more Republicans. Overall, Florida has about 4.4 million Democrats, 3.9 million Republicans and 2.3 million voters who aren’t registered with either party.

The Democrats estimates about 600,000 registered black voters stayed home in 2004, more than Bush’s margin of victory in the state. And nearly 600,000 black Floridians aren’t registered to vote.

Finally, the issue of social security will be huge. John McCain supported Bush’s efforts to privatize the program, and the Obama campaign will likely hammer McCain on this issue in the state as well.

For all these reasons, it’s not surprising to see Rasmussen’s poll yesterday that showed a dead heat in Florida.

With 27 electoral votes, a win by Obama in Florida would practically seal the election for Obama. McCain has not spent much at all in the state, so perhaps things will change once McCain starts running ads, but the Obama campaign has reason for optimism.

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