I've always liked Biden

March 4

I’ve always liked Joe Biden, maybe not always always but close enough as the general election looms nearer. Last night Biden performed in a way no one has ever seen before and no one really expected. Sanders did take California, but Biden showed well and won delegates here and Texas as well as 9 other Southern states. It looks like he will be our nominee for President in the Fall.

I’d rather a younger and stronger and less vulnerable candidate than Joe Biden but if Joe Biden is going to be the candidate, then I’m going to get behind Joe Biden period.

I’ve started reading his biography more closely. It turns out he did grow up in uncertain family economics. His family was below mine on the scale. We went through a few hard times. Joe went through some hard times too.  Most of my time growing up we were solidly middle class. Biden’s father was a car salesman not a dealer, so that’s better. He has a good voting record considering the times. His heart is obviously in the right place. I would like less dwelling on his hardships, which are quite real, and more on holding the plutocracy accountable.

I’m not an Obama Democrat, I’m more a Warren Democrat, not so in favor of protecting the financial status quo, but Biden was a good vice president, served the president well. Obama was a good president just frustrating that we made so little progress. Sure McConnell stalled it, but Obama was soft on the banks and hard on immigration, not positions I liked. Obama care is half way there but not all the way. Insurance Companies and Pharma still do very well and in my opinion they are responsible for high health care costs with lowered results.

But Biden versus Trump, a good man versus an evil man. It’s not even a contest. I’ve always liked Joe. And I’ll like him more if he chooses the right Vice President.

March 6

I keep hearing the good pundits and Elizabeth Warren say vote your heart and your beliefs not who you think is going to win.  I still like Sanders better than Biden, Booker better than all of them and Warren a lot.  So I'm not in the Biden camp yet.  I'm very interested in how well he does going forward.  Can he sustain the effort it will take to be the candidate?  

I still think there is a good chance that the country will overwhelming reject a second term for Donald Trump, whether the candidate is Biden, Sanders or my dog.  I think normal people are disgusted with Trump and the first real crisis that will personally affect all of us will only illustrate his incompetence and inability to run an organization.  Bankrupt as a businessman, bankrupt as a politician.  But I'm not sure and that scares the hell out of me. 

Sanders or Biden and all of us who care need to work hard to save American democracy and the credibility of our government supporting whoever runs against Trump.  .  

Undecided Voter

I am an undecided voter. Not undecided for the national election. My dog runs against Donald Trump, I’d vote for Bella.

In the California Primary tomorrow I will vote for Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Do I vote for the candidate that I was originally leaning toward, Elizabeth Warrrn, or the candidate who can win the nomination and could well beat Donald Trump?

Buttigieg dropped out of the race yesterday and this morning Amy Klobuchar dropped out, both victims of the South Carolina primary. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign is barely alive and even in California she is polling more than 16 points behind Sanders.

I’m not considering Joe Biden. Joe is a good guy. I like Uncle Joe. But for all of his talk of being a man of the people, he is not a left wing Democrat. He has been an establishment Democrat all along. He voted for Clarence Thomas. He voted for George Bush’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He voted for Clinton’s Crime Bill. He has been around a long time and people change but Biden is the Establishment and the Democratic Establishment is why we are still in the Reagan Revolution. Enough small government and pro-Wall Street legislation.

And all this bullshit talk about knowing how working people feel, his father owned a car dealership. That’s like John Edwards whose father worked in a mill, yeah his father was the manager. It’s just disingenuous.

I like Bernie Sanders. I like what he stands for. Ideally I am a left wing Democrat and a Democratic Socialist. So if it’s a contest between Joe Biden I vote for Bernie.

Another problem I have is with old white guys, even Elizabeth Warren is over 70. Isn’t there anybody younger out there we can vote for? By the way I’m a 73 year old white guy and a retired banker.

So do I vote for Elizabeth Warren because I think her policies are very similar to mine?  And she would make a better President than Bernie Sanders, though the bankers and the establishment will fight her tooth and nail for that very reason in a general election, not to mention it is still a misogynist electorate, some women included.

Bloomberg ---of course not.  Bloomberg another good guy is a billionaire former Republican who has spent his way into contending for the presidency.  I vote Democratic.  

I really think Bernie has a good chance of winning in the general election. Ross Perot voters will vote for Bernie along with young people, genuine populists and people who want change Democratic or Republican. Hell I think some Trump voters, ones who wanted a change but have had enough of his blatant incompetence and self serving egomania, will vote for Bernie. Though it is amazing to me how few Republicans are disgusted with this worst President ever, but that’s a problem for the Republican Party not me. I don’t think we need Republican votes and while I enjoy listening to Joe Scarborough I don’t need him or David Brooks to tell me which Democrat to choose.

Bernie is the 77 year old white guy who is honest and authentic.  I worry he is a rabble rouser not a team player. I think the President needs to know how to govern not stir the pot.

Do I vote my heart or do I vote with an eye to November?

As I finish this I think I'm going to vote for Bernie because it’s come down to him or Biden and Bernie is certainly the better of the two and Bernie has a better chance of winning than Elizabeth Warren or Joe Biden.

And in November I’ll vote Democratic because I think it’s time and because Donald Trump is the worst President in the history of the United States.

Update March 3.  I voted for Bernie.  I guess by the time I finished these notes I had made up my mind.  But even as I filled in the bubble on my ballot I still had second thoughts.  And by the way, I'm thinking a Bernie Sanders/Stacy Abrams ticket.