Alex Thompson of Politico wrote a fascinating article about the tensions between Obama and Biden.
During his eight years as Vice-President, Biden was loyal to Obama. Biden thought he was the inevitable successor to Obama. But Obama preferred Hillary to Joe. Hillary and Barack were both Ivy League, both cerebral, both cut from the same cloth.
Biden is an old school politician. He’s not Ivy League. He counts on personal relationships and works with anyone to get things done. He looks for the good in people and connects on a human level.
As the story explains, Obama did not encourage Biden to run. As Biden’s star faded, key members of his staff left him and joined Hillary’s team.
Biden was not an academic star, like Obama and Hillary. He was a solid C student.
His candidacy was not favored by the Democratic establishment. He rose from political ostracism by grit, based on old-fashioned values like empathy, kindness, friendship, and personal warmth. He is not a nerd. He is not a technocrat. He is a good man.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I post positive things about Joe Biden because I want him to win. I won’t post your attacks on Biden because you are helping Trump. Yes, I do think that Trump is an existential threat to the future of democracy and the world.
This is my decision because this is my blog, and I want Biden–not Trump–to win. If you want to post hostile things about Biden, there are many blogs that would welcome your comments. I don’t.
Comparing Biden to LBJ or FDR places Biden in good company. These were people the got things done despite hardships. America does not need heartless technocrats at this time. After four years Donny disaster, this country needs to heal, and Biden seems uniquely qualified in that area. This country does not need a leader with super IQ, we need someone with a big heart, a conscience and the stamina to get the job done. As long as a leader has these qualities and enough sense to bring qualified advisers, he should be just fine. As Diane has stated, perhaps having someone that can get sense of what people want and need is better than an ideologue that insists on his way or the highway.
There is nothing wrong with the working class. Perhaps Clinton’s elitism was part of her undoing. She could not connect with people no matter how hard she tried. Biden did not select any of Obama’s people as potential candidates for vice-president. Maybe Biden wants to forge his own path. Maybe a guy from Scranton that stutters has more to offer than we realize. My grandmother was born in Scranton. We haven’t had a president from Pennsylvania since Eisenhower, and he was a good one.
It wasn’t just her elitism that turned people off….it was also her marriage to corporate interests and capitalism that turned off so many. It also didn’t help that the military and FSO’s had little faith in her after the Benghazi incident.
Do I believe that she would be better than what we have now….YES I DO! BUT…we would still be fighting the same battles about M4A, wealth gap, corporate interests, charter schools, racial inequality etc etc etc. Let’s just hope that Biden wins and this country can start to heal. Democracy will need to be rebuilt from the ground up and lets hope that it will be a better and more fair system for the people it was designed to serve.
i am encouraged by Biden’s platform as it is the most progressive one in the past four decades. I hope Biden can lead us out of the neo-liberal corporatocracy which has widened income inequality. In order for him to accomplish any of it, we also need more democrats in Congress.
I don’t agree with Barack and Hillary implying Joe shouldn’t run. I could say more, but kinda feel it’s pointless now 🤔
I think Biden winning South Carolina helped him seal the deal with DNC. They saw that Biden could carry the black vote. Shortly after that win, all the other contenders dropped out except for Bernie. Unfortunately, Bernie’s youth vote did not show up to the degree expected, and the rest is history.
Bernie didn’t seal the deal with the DNC in SC. His big win in SC prompted the other campaigns to fold. Biden was never the choice of the DNC until the others dropped out and endorsed him
I think Biden became the heir apparent when he took South Carolina. It seems like too much of a coincidence that the others dropped out right after Biden’s win. I wondered if the DNC was pulling strings to make happen so quickly.
I’m fond of nerds. Many of my best friends are nerds. I’m a bit of a nerd myself.
But I will take a person who actually cares about others any day.
The choice between Joe and Jabba the Trump could not be clearer.
I am fond of nerds too, but I am not a supporter of government by data mongers. Information counts, but people count more.
Obama is not a nerd.
He’s a lawyer.
Ha!
What is the difference between a nerd, a lawyer, and a nerdy lawyer?
Well, since yo asked
The fundamental approach of real nerds (eg, scientists and engineers) could not be more different from that of lawyers.
The former generally look at all the facts BEFORE drawing conclusions, while the latter generally adopt a premise (eg, guilt or innocence) at the very beginning and then go hunting for “facts” that support that premise , ignoring or attempting to dismiss any actual fact that conflicts with their adopted position
The fact that we have so many lawyers in Congress and the executive and so few scientists is one of the primary reasons that we have policies that are so out of synch with science and reality.
Let’s all drop these silly labels and look at the content of their character. Remember that?
I do not like Biden; I like Bernie. But we MUST get Biden into office and get TRUMP OUT! Diane is right about getting rid of Trump. She just is. I don’t find Dienne’s postings offensive. But Diane makes an excellent point about 4 more years of this monster we have now .
Meantime, if you want to know anything about character and the motivation to govern a certain way with big later-on payoffs, consider:
https://www.insider.com/inside-michelle-obama-mansion-rental-in-hollywood-2019-7
https://www.thelist.com/146336/inside-barack-and-michelle-obamas-gorgeous-d-c-home/
And despite having started a computer software company and claiming to be “data driven”, Bill Gates is much closer to a lawyer than a nerd because Gates takes the “adopt a premise and then hunt for proof — and invent if it you can’t find it” approach to pretty much everything he acts on.
Robert, I said nothing about Biden, but I certainly agree we need to elect him.
But I would disagree . Labels — eg, scientist and lawyer — do mean something.
I agree with you. Scientist . . . Lawyer . . . Yes.
Nerdy, Nerds . . . . No. Not really.
Obama also allegedly said that if it looked like Sanders was going to win the nomination, he would speak up to stop it.
As good a reason as any to ignore Obama.
Yes, SDP. & then search “Obamas’ Martha’s Vineyard Mansion” for pictures (reportedly purchased for $12 million). & then, here’s the icing on the cake:
https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/2020082395878/michelle-obama-reveals-daughters-unique-living-situation/
Only $12 million?
I bet Bill Gates spends more on On Demand movies (about himself) every week.
I don’t begrudge the Obama family the wealth they have. Every former president collects big bucks. I recall George W Bush getting paid $200,000 for a speech in Japan. Big names get big speaking fees, also multimillion dollar advances. Michelle Obama’s book was a best seller.
There was never a scandal in the White House when the Obama’s were there.
I only begrudge people getting money for crappy speeches and books
But hey, that’s what makes America great, right?
You can get lots of money for garbage..
& that’s because he’s one of the 1% who doesn’t want Bernie’s incredibly socialist ideology.
Not president anymore, so how dare he speak for us.
Agree w/you 1005, SDP.
That’s 100 %! Oy!
Obama won most of his elections with luck.
Hillary won with her husband’s surname.
Biden won elections in his own.
😊
On his own.
Being an IL resident, Eddie, your first statement is totally correct.
Sheer luck, being in the right place at the right time. For example, in his Congressional run, 2 candidates were forced to drop out–a one opponent who really had it going for him (for example, he was a teacher), but had been married to a tv star who claimed that he had forced her to go to some sex places (in another country, I think)–not that she was publicizing this–somehow (wonder where, how?), the press got hold of this. So–he was toast. Then another opponent had some domestic problems, so he, too, dropped out. (I don’t think there was anyone left.) & there are other examples of this, as well.
& about the Obamas’ newest real estate: why did people make such a huge fuss about Bernie’s purchase of a VT lake house? 3 bdrm, 2 bath, w/a small guesthouse (1 bdrm, 1 bath), bought w/money from selling Jane’s parents’ home in Maine. A 1-bdrm. pied-a-terre in D.C.
(not a huge house; a place for Sen. Sanders & his wife to live while he has to be in D.C.). Full disclosure: he has another VT house–one they’ve lived in for years.
But nothing like this mansion–biggest yet (still owns Chicago huge home & another biggie in/near D.C.). It’s not called begrudging.
It’s called entitlement.
Where’s the philanthropy? (&, BTW, when campaigning*, after promising to put on his “marching shoes” for the working people {w/rolled-up shirtsleeves, no less}, he never.once.did. Not w.the teachers in Madison. Not w/strikers in other states Oh–yes–in Selma, on the Edmund Pettis Bridge. But–otherwise–zip.)
Sent kids to private schools & served our kids’ heads on a platter–first to Arne, then to John King, & gave all our funding to…Pear$on.
No–sorry–a disgrace. &, of course, I could go on & on….
A leader of the USA who suffered the death of his wife, daughter and later his adult son knows how much more suffering our families, citizens, children and people of color endure under Trump. Joe Biden will rebuild our nation, our respect in the world by living the values that sustain our democracy: all people should be equal before the law, and all people deserve the support of government to pursue life, liberty and happiness. The One Percent Wealthy will pay their fair share under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
&, of course, agree w/you, Robert Rendo, up there at 4:25 PM. I will vote for Biden at my polling place: I’m lucky enough to live in an extremely small ‘burb w/1 precinct & it’s in the immense fire station–lots of room between. (My sister took her application for V.b.M. ballot–which is a cut-off–like a postcard {postage paid}, so anyone can see your information & signature. She took it to her local post office, & the postal worker didn’t put it in the mail-to-go-out bin, she put it under the counter. So, now, sister thinks she threw it out.) I will help her look into this.
Finally (I promise) to retired teacher at 3:29: “I wondered if the DNC was pulling strings to make it happen so quickly.” You bet! The DNC was “pulling strings” in Iowa. The DNC “was pulling strings” everywhere, every chance they could get.” A redux of the 2016 Dem Primaries in just about every state. The DNC **NEVER wanted Bernie, the DNC did not want Keith Ellison. (Are any of you impressed in the least w/Tom Perez?)
The Debbie Wasserman Schultz debacle? (& then the Donna Brazile–her appointed successor–debacle?)
Voting for Biden despite this, but, the DNC is a well-oiled machine that masterfully
“pulls strings.”
&, no, not comparing them w/GOP–inhumane monster party (well, not those who endorsed Biden, but certainly those who–even if they did–voted against stimulus bills, ACA, Medicaid expansion, etc. (list of egregious behavior too long).
Biden has a high emotional intelligence. EQ. Whatever his frailties, we need to have #45
LEAVE the office. He is lethal to humanity and our democracy.