Bernie is Biden’s non-opponent
Bernie Sanders made an announcement today, and it wasn’t that he would drop out. It was that he would soldier on for a while, and in the meantime he gave Biden the questions for a take-home exam:
Despite the fact that once again, Sanders has been unable to amass the delegates needed to clinch the nomination, he vowed Wednesday to continue fighting (at least until Sunday), providing anecdotal evidence of support across the country who really likes him, but will vote for Biden anyway…
Sanders says he has a lock on the youth vote…and that he looks forward to debating Biden Sunday night. He also went down a laundry list of things he plans to ask Biden, which seems an odd strategy. Unless of course this is all calculated as a means to bring Sanders supporters into Biden’s camp when he inevitably drops out (they won’t) by allowing Biden the chance to tell them exactly what they want to hear — my money’s on that.
With his list of questions, Bernie is implicitly conceding he's staying in the race to push Biden a bit farther to the left before dropping out.
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) March 11, 2020
This basic outcome has been clear ever since Klobuchar and Buttigieg dropped out in extreme haste prior to Super Tuesday. On March 7, I wrote this:
…I don’t really think Bernie wants the presidency or wants to run against Trump. He’d rather talk. He knows his chances of winning the whole thing are less than Biden’s. He also is a true believer, and he knows that Biden as president and the Democrats in control will move the country far to the left anyway, so if Biden gets elected it’s good enough for Bernie.
Bernie’s job of moving the Overton Window has been accomplished. The Democrats embrace the left, and Biden just does a much better job than Bernie of hiding what the ultimate goal is. The future of the party belongs (they believe) to the AOCs…And so Bernie will be content.
Bernie is content, and he will do his part. Now that they’ve eliminated anyone who really intends to seriously challenge Biden, Bernie’s part is to do exactly what he’s doing now. He presents the pretense of opposition without actual opposition. He gives Biden the questions in advance, so that the people who prep him for these appearances can make sure he has answers ready.
But then Biden (and/or his advisors/) gets to decide which of two possible approaches to take.The first is the one described in that earlier quote: “bring Sanders supporters into Biden’s camp when [Sanders] inevitably drops out…by allowing Biden the chance to tell them exactly what they want to hear.” That would be one way to do it, but that might give the right more ammunition to call Biden Bernie-lite during the general.
An alternative approach would be for Biden to move to the right during his encounter with Sanders’ questions. The goal would be to solidify his pose as a moderate, which he and the DNC see as their path to the presidency and to resuming power after the little four-year detour known as Trump.
And by “power,” they mean permanent power.
It’s a perfect storm, the clearly durable recession we see before us due to the massive supply-chain disruptions from China, the stock market crash with trillions gone poof, plus the soon-to-blossom domestic corona epidemic.
If the country is stupid enough to elect Dopey Joe, the Senate will likely go Democratic also, and then the US is done. All Trump’s Ex. Orders will be instantly revoked. We’ll have illegals with corona on respirators in ICU beds, and to hell with elderly Joe and Jane Citizen, who will simply die at home (10% mortality if age >70). There are apparently not enough ICU beds/respirators to care for Americans with the anticipated numbers of corona pneumonia, it turns out.
Sanders’ speech was the nastiest, most vile collection of slanders I have ever heard. He is a nasty, hate-filled, evil one.
Not to mention seriously deluded. Crazy.
Cicero:
The market is still significantly higher than when Trump took office.
When H1N1 hit in 2009 and caused an extra 12,469 deaths in the US and and an extra 265,000 hospitalizations, how were there enough ICU es and respirators to cope then? In 2009, when all was said and done, 59 million Americans are estimated to have contracted H1N1.
stan:
In a quick look, I can’t find the text of his speech. Do you have some quotes of what you mean?
In the midst of all of the politics, one question: who counts the votes? Answer: not a disinterested or honest body of people, just the usual partisan Democrat Party hacks who would steal the pennies from their dead mother’s eyes to accomplish whatever the Party leadership wants. And this is only the primary … wait for the national election.
James Clyburn is urging senile Quid Pro Joe to choose a black woman as his VP in order to reward black women for their loyalty to the Democratic Party, suggesting both Kamala Harris (whom Biden would probably prefer as AG) and the truly dreadful nonentity Stacey Abrams. Biden, should he win, will be easily manipulated into doing the bidding of those powerful interests who will have complete control over a doddering old fool.
It’s a perfect storm, the clearly durable recession we see before us due to the massive supply-chain disruptions from China, the stock market crash with trillions gone poof, plus the soon-to-blossom domestic corona epidemic.
No trillions have gone ‘poof’. The market’s been over-valued for some time.
Both you and two other commenters have an affection for the term ‘massive supply chain disruption’ but never seem to get around to quantifying it, or identifying the industries disrupted, or asking why there might be such a thing when (1) 80% of the cases of coronavirus were in a Chinese province where lives 5% of China’s population and (2) why American companies cannot defer replacements for their computers (given that 1/3 of our imports from China by volume consist of computers).
So Bernie here’s how it’s going to go, you’re going to fight like hell for the nomination but gallantly fail in the end—all “fair & square”. In the process you will deliver your supporters to the Biden campaign. Of course, you’ll be well taken care of—assuming you play your part.
the stock market crash with trillions gone poof
The Russians and Saudis will have to reconcile their differences, and follow, rather than force, the supply and demand curves of the market economy.
j e
Many Democrats would encourage Biden to choose a black woman for the VP slot. It’s would be smart because it could bring out more African-American voters and potentially more women voters. And since all demographics other than white males will likely vote more for Biden than Trump it makes sense to choose a VP to insure that all the voters who fit the other demographics come out to vote as they did in 2012 when Obama won handily even though he lost the white male vote.
The ‘powerful interests’ want to win. To do that you have to go to the party strengths. Kamala supports single-payer healthcare, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a ban on assault rifles, and raising taxes on corporations and the wealthiest one percent of Americans. She would be a good fit. It would only be manipulation if Biden didn’t want those things.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/487039-clyburn-urges-biden-to-pick-black-female-vp-african-american-women-need-to
The only one Clyburn mentioned with much in the way of executive experience is the current Mayor of Atlanta. Of course, a series of dames have punched that ticket in Baltimore. Better keep quiet or Clyburn might persuade Biden to pick one of them (when they’re out of the slammer).
“Both you and two other commenters have an affection for the term ‘massive supply chain disruption’ but never seem to get around to quantifying it”
Dude, 90% of the ingredients for American drugs are made outside the country. 90 PERCENT. That’s what you call “quantifying it.”
Having written that, I’m far from freaking out about any recession or China-centered supply chain collapse. I just have to look at the last 3+ years of Donald Trump accomplishing things economically that were considered impossible by all the smart folks. And not just impossible for Trump. No one was predicting this stuff would happen if Hillary had been elected.
And I’m not relatively calm because I think Trump is some sort of wizard. I just know how spectacularly wrong all the current Chicken Littles have been in the past.
Mike
There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.
Maybe there’s something to this after all. Surely nothing either Bernie or Joe would credit for our escape from themselves; and Warren; and Buttigieg; and Bloomberg; and Klobuchar; and Harris; and Steyer; and Gabbard; and impeachment; and soon, Providence willing, Covid19. All these in one year? Mahvelous.
It’s would be smart because it could bring out more African-American voters and potentially more women voters.
See Wm. Schneider on VP candidates. Public opinion research indicates that your single best guess is that your selection will net you 2% of the ballots in the selection’s home state, and that’s it. You don’t need a black woman. You benefit from those electoral votes you can cadge (which would explain why the nondescript Tim Kaine was Hellary’s preferred VP). Schneider also notes that there is down-side risk in picking an running mate; you don’t want someone who proves to be an embarrassment or distraction (e.g. Thos. Eagleton or Geraldine Ferraro; also Dan Quayle, though his problems did not prove to be decisive). Stacey Abrams waddling across America might prove amusing.
Dude, 90% of the ingredients for American drugs are made outside the country. 90 PERCENT. That’s what you call “quantifying it.”
No clue where you pulled this datum, or what your units of measure are. Or why in your mind ‘outside the country’ means ‘the province of Hubei in China’
And since all demographics other than white males will likely vote more for Biden than Trump
Okey doke
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/clinton-couldnt-win-over-white-women/
MBunge, give your wrong numbers a break…
Percentage of API manufacturing facilities for all drugs by region
USA 28 percent
European Union 26 percent
India 18 percent
China 13 percent
Canada 2 percent
Rest of world 13 percent
on top of it, the USA companies buy months of supplies in advance..
this is well known… my numbers are from FDA..
he may be getting his information from Rosemary Gibson, who wrote a bombastic book on it that ignores a lot..
so there you go where he gets his number..
every other source i can find says 13% from china.. (FDA, CFR, etc)
she is plugging her book: China Rx
what we are talking about is API manufacturing..
China dominates the global API industry
US dominates US$160 billion API industry
The global API market is mainly driven by the US followed by China and India. The US has the larger share in the pie as most US based APIs are earmarked for patented products in the US. However, in volume terms, China and India are the largest manufacturers and suppliers of APIs across the world due to a favourable eco-system such as lower cost of production and presence of a large number of players due to legacy manufacturing capability. China has an added advantage of better logistics, fermentation capability and availability of intermediates and chemicals.
As of August 2019, 28% of the manufacturing facilities making APIs for US markets were based in the US. The remaining 72% of the API manufacturers supplying the US market were outside the US, which includes 13% in China
for the record… unless they are different people, rosemary has written on med issues (China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine / Wall of Silence: The Untold Story of the Medical Mistakes That Kill and Injure Millions of Americans / The Truth about Big Medicine: Righting the Wrongs for Better Health Care: Righting the Wrongs for Better Health Care), and harlequin romances as well..
Art Deco
Note I used the word likely….
Hillary had a high unfavorably among most voters and especially among the one demographic she should have had in the bag – white woman. I am speculating that Biden will do better, which might be optimistic. But I think a Biden / Harris ticket would do better with white women voters. But maybe not?
That link has some strong contrasts.
White women college graduates – 51% Clinton to 45% Trump
White women non-college graduates – 34% Clinton to 62% Trump.
Absent mental collapse, it’s clear that Biden will be the dem nominee, making his VP pick extraordinarily important. At first glance, I don’t see a pick that is a net positive for Biden. Is there a democrat with name recognition who isn’t a fatally flawed pick for the VP slot? Hell, the best the dems can offer for a Presidential pick is a choice between a thoroughly corrupt, senile old man and an angry Communist who apologizes for murderous dictators and refuses to fire those supporters who want to bring gulags to America.
But regardless, Trump must focus on the democrat party’s extreme platform. And treat Biden as a sad example of what old age brings to so many; diminished mental capacity that simply disqualifies that candidate/nominee from serious consideration.
Trump supporting PAC’s must show Biden continually stumbling. Then ask two questions; “how lacking in common sense has the Democratic Party become that it would try to foist upon the American public a nominee now clearly unable to lead America?” Followed by, “who should we believe about Biden’s mental state? the democrat party or your lying eyes?”
Hit them hard Mr. President for they have repeatedly and consistently declared the rules of engagement by which they operate;” NO QUARTER WILL BE GIVEN”…
They’ve called the tune… make them pay the piper… in full.
Here you go folks, someone’s already put together a compilation of Biden’s mental lapses.
https://youtu.be/L4VH2JjWDnk
Best of all, it’s not an American firm so no domestic bias can be claimed. And, does anyone doubt that there won’t be more to come? Joe Biden, the democrat’s gift to Trump and one that keeps on giving…
That’s a great compilation
Neo,
Here is the NYTimes transcript of the Sanders diatribe today, I think. I don’t want to give them any clicks will avoid the free account option in order to view it. I couldn’t find it elsewhere. I did want to read it, after having witnessed it live.
I was not genuinely surprised by the speech, but was amazed by the pure hatred and vitriol of it. In the first couple paragraphs he launched into a epithet rant, calling Trump a xenophobe, racist, sexist, … Near the finish of the opening diatribe he said Trump was a religious bigot who will eliminate religious freedoms. Yeah, Comrade Sanders will protect your religious freedoms. There may have been a reference to protecting the constitution in there (cough).
Art Deco practices Schadenfreude: “No trillions have gone ‘poof’. The market’s been over-valued for some time.”
Hey, Art, over 5 trillion dollars have indeed gone poof in two weeks in the US markets. Your notion of market’s being overvalued is no consolation, though you seem not to appreciate that observation is inconsistent with your “No poof” denial.
The US economy was $20.58 trillion in 2018. $5 trillion is not pocket change.
Cicero:
I want to interject something about whether those dollars have gone “poof” or not. It depends on when a person originally bought the stocks, because in a market that’s been going up-up-up, the cost of the stock could frequently still be significantly lower than its current value even when the market takes a downturn. Therefore it’s not money that’s gone “poof” in the sense of putting your money under the mattress and having it stolen, or putting it in the bank and then having the bank fold (in the days before insurance), or buying the stock hoping it will go up from your purchase price and having it go down. Even in that latter case, if you wait, it will often go up again. So, did the money go “poof,” or was it a temporary “poof”? It depends when you bought it, when you sell it, whether you need it quickly, and whether you consider the market going up to be real money in the same way you consider the money in your wallet to be real money.
Of course, even the money in your wallet is subject to the forces of inflation, etc. (as people in Germany during the 1920s discovered). But gains in the stock market are especially hard to see as real until they are realized.
I was in the Army in the 1960’s, never saw combat, however I went through a nasty jungle warfare school where we were taught that most combat fatalities occur early on before soldiers learn to keep their heads and butts down. This is another situation where people need to use common sense and keep their heads and butts down. Treat your clothes when you go out as scrubs in a hospital, shed them and clean up when you come home and wash your damn hands.
Neo: My point on ‘poof’ is that there is a reasonable expectation these ‘paper losses’ will not be recovered in 2020, and probably longer than that. Gains that could have been realized have gone ‘poof’, hammered by the black swan of corona.
And who was it that said of long-term holdings: “In the long run we are all dead”? Keynes!
So — Hillary as the party savor?
https://babylonbee.com/news/hillary-clinton-says-epstein-assassination-was-to-manage-anxiety
March 7th, 2020
When two themes come together —
https://babylonbee.com/news/virus-that-has-killed-many-people-overseas-now-spreading-in-the-us
From the 1619 post – something to keep in mind.
Banned Lizard on March 11, 2020 at 6:27 pm said:
The 1619 Project will be indirectly on the ballot in November. Needless to say, a vote for any Democrat will be in favor.
MBunge: “And I’m not relatively calm because I think Trump is some sort of wizard.”
Actually, MBunge, of course you’re right, Trump is not a wizard. But Obama was wrong, Trump probably does have a magic wand. After all, Trump IS the Apprentice’s Sorcerer.
“Hey, Art, over 5 trillion dollars have indeed gone poof in two weeks in the US markets.”
If 5 trillion can go poof in two weeks, it never existed in the first place. That’s little comfort to people who’ve seen their market holdings get hammered but they’re just paying a bill now that was going to come due for somebody someday because that money was never based on anything real.
No, I’m not one of those “fiat currency” guys but it is very hard to look at the financial markets over the last couple of decades and NOT understand how dramatically disconnected they are from the underlying economic realities.
Mike
“I was not genuinely surprised by the speech, but was amazed by the pure hatred and vitriol of it.” – TommyJay
Dropping out means he no longer has to pretend to appeal to the center / independents, and can let it all hang out.
I guess we should at least be grateful that the Democrats know Sanders is not electable, and be grateful that the voters are still rejecting him, but we are getting much to close to going over the precipice of full-bore socialism.
“After all, Trump IS the Apprentice’s Sorcerer.” – Minta
Ca-CHING!
“There may have been a reference to protecting the constitution in there (cough).” – TommyJay
https://babylonbee.com/news/senate-democrats-demand-supreme-court-nominee-not-be-unduly-influenced-by-u-s-constitution
About that dip in the economy —
https://babylonbee.com/news/obama-walks-back-comments-about-being-responsible-for-the-stock-market
Campaign strategy of the Democrats – old, but never stale.
https://babylonbee.com/news/conservatives-accused-of-making-liberals-look-bad-by-simply-reading-list-of-things-liberals-believe
Speaking of non-opponents…old news now (last week, wasn’t it?) but everyone should know the facts.
https://babylonbee.com/news/msnbc-claimed-bloomberg-could-have-given-every-american-1-million-fact-check-true-but-not-all-at-the-same-time
Now that Sanders is out, here’s a good analysis of how that happened.
Lots of charts and graphs, for the non-innumerate so don’t look for them on MSNBC or CNN.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/03/how-bernie-sanders-lost-white-working-class/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=blog-post&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=more-in&utm_term=second
Worth considering – Bernie puts up a good fight, just not quite good enough – for reasons: he gets to keep any campaign donations. I’m not sure what restrictions are on expenditures after the election, but he certainly doesn’t have to give it back (GoFundMe gives investors a better deal).
https://spectator.org/is-bernie-a-wimp-or-just-a-grifter-or-both/
* Reminds me of John McCain’s brush-off of Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers: “Nobody wants to hear about some old washe-up terrorist.” Well, some of us did.
I used to say McCain did everything to support Obama but vote for him, and I wasn’t too sure about that; however, I think his ego was too big to deliberately throw the game – he just ran a lousy campaign.
** Well, since I live in Denver Metro, I did a little research on this high-flying campaign auxiliary. All results courtesy of Google’s first page, which makes it public knowledge and not private information, and you get what you pay for — BUT (1) The boss has a LinkedIn profile and that’s it. (2) On her profile, she has a link to her Alma Mater, Drake U, in Iowa. (3) She gives the name of her company, which she founded, but no link. (4) A search for BlueWest Media turns up 3 “yellow pages” type listings, but NO company website. (5) The data at Buzzfile shows “Bluewest Media is estimated to generate $78,680 in annual revenues, employs approximately 1 people at this location.”
So, Ms. Mary went from under $100K to $14 million – with no employees and no public presence. She must have a very select list of clients.
*** I definitely think that was sarcastic.
Biden is the perfect creature for the Administrative State, which has been growing since Wilson.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/03/11/confirmed-with-biden-permanent-state-seeks-to-be-vladimir-putin/
From last year, but still topical, at least until the next round of primaries.
https://babylonbee.com/news/sanders-if-you-like-your-means-of-production-you-can-keep-your-means-of-production
A good product that may go to waste if the Democrats cancel their debates.
https://babylonbee.com/news/podiums-at-next-debate-to-be-equipped-with-life-alert-buttons
Waiting for Snopes to fact-check this one after the MSM talking heads go ballistic about TrumpHitler.
https://babylonbee.com/news/pence-cancels-general-election-to-stymie-coronavirus
Looks like the headline was changed after the URL, or else someone thinks Pence really is in charge of the anti-coronavirus effort.
Read the whole thing for the punchline