Recent tweets from Biden HQ:
Across the country, middle and working class families are being squeezed by debt. This is a massive problem, and one that we need all of the best ideas to solve. That’s why today, I’m adopting two plans from @BernieSanders and @ewarren to achieve this.
First: Bernie has put forward a plan that would make public colleges and universities free for families whose income is below $125,000. It’s a good idea, and after consideration, I am proud to add it to my platform.
Second: Few people in the country understand how bankruptcy hurts working families more than Elizabeth Warren. Today, I am fully endorsing and adopting her bankruptcy plan, which she called “Fixing Our Bankruptcy System to Give People a Second Chance.”
This primary has brought out our party’s best ideas, and our nation is better for it. If I’m President, I’ll continue to bring the best ideas from all corners of the country and fight to make them reality.
Wicked smart, IMO. In my particular Twitter bubble, there’s a lot of “crush the Sandernistas, drive them before you, and hear the lamentations of the Bernie Bros” energy. There’s unwarranted (IMO) skepticism of the notion that Democrats need to make any effort to bring Sanders’ supporters into the fold for the election. So for me, at least, it’s comforting to see that Biden isn’t buying into that premature triumphalism.
Good for him.
JMG
Driving his enemies before him has never exactly been Biden’s style. He likes making friends.
WereBear
This is exactly why I cheered up about Biden’s surge — he’s adapting. He is open to change. He learns. It’s all I ask!
Baud
I is confused. I thought Bernie’s plan was free college regardless of income. Up
ETA: Income thresholds are supposed to be the devil.
Baud
Good. Because we need to be prepared when they say whatever Biden does isn’t good enough.
MattF
There is a Democratic debate tonight, after all.
Chyron HR
Sen. Sanders’ “supporters” have explicitly said they will not ever vote for a Democrat under any circumstances. It would be disrespectful to assume they would give up their deeply held convictions.
Cheryl Rofer
Preparing for the debate tonight. Smart move.
There’s nothing I’d like to see more tonight than for Biden and Bernie to stand shoulder to shoulder (6 feet apart, of course) against the moderators and against Trump.
Mnemosyne
I think this is a great idea. I doubt that the toxic core of Bernie’s fans will agree, but I hope it will win over at least some of Bernie’s voters who are interested in policy.
I am fully expecting the squeals of Joe STOLE Bernie’s idea! No fair! to overwhelm Twitter for a while, but fortunately Twitter is not real life no matter how much the MSM pretends it is.
SiubhanDuinne
Will there be a dedicated debate thread this evening? Hope so. It should have a very different kind of energy than the previous debates: (a) only two candidates, (b) no live audience, and (c) global pandemic and Trumpian missteps shaping the entire conversation. I’ve watched them all, but this one feels unique.
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer:
I’m curious to see what approach Bernie thinks is in his best interest.
Ohio Mom
I am hoping that Joe’s and Bernie’s teams have negotiated something of a cease-fire for tonight, that it will be more of a friendly brainstorming session about America’s future, and not a cat fight.
Because I don’t think two old guys snarling at each other will be good for our side. It want to see Dems in Array!
Krope, the Formerly Dope
Fucking righteous move. He could dig deeper into Warren’s policy repertoire going forward too. Laws to fight corruption, anti-monopoly/trust, being fabulous. She provided any Dem running a set of tools they can pick and choose from to show that they will work for a fair deal for the American people.
Brachiator
@Baud:
Interesting political move on Biden’s part.
Bernie can either praise Biden for adopting even part of his proposal, or spend time correcting the record and emphasizing his “college for all, yeah I mean all, goddamit” approach.
Cheryl Rofer
@Baud: That is the big question.
dm
@MattF: yes, and Wednesday Bernie told us what he’d ask Joe about, as though he was prepping Joe for the test. We’ll see his demeanor tonight, but Wednesday he sounded almost conciliatory to me. I hope so, it’s what we need.
Meanwhile, for your amusement:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/03/15/guide-to-bernie-gestures/
Kylroy
I think it’s a great move by Joe. I don’t think it will win over any appreciable number of Sanders supporters.
I will believe Bernie being genuinely conciliatory when I see it.
Morzer
The NBC/WSJ poll has Biden above 50% nationally and beating Trump by 9 points. Early days, yes, but you can see why Trump is terrified. I’d say that Biden staying above 50% is the key thing here, rather than the margin. Hopefully Sanders will quit once he’s crushed again on Tuesday, although the cranks, grifters and fanatics around him will no doubt scream for one last lucrative suicide mission.
Martin
@SiubhanDuinne: If Biden/Bernie are smart, they’ll pivot largely off of policy and onto the role of the President to pull the levers of government appropriately, and then use policy ideas to supplement that.
A far more relevant discussion right now would be how to guide the public through this rather. Don’t go overboard on what Trump should have done, focus instead on what government should be doing now, and what they would be doing now if they were president.
Jeffro
Super smart move for the primaries that will help him win the general, too.
Me likey!
Go Diamond Joe!!
Eolirin
@Mnemosyne: I think it’s a good idea regardless of the electoral politics of it, and it’s why I’m more able to get behind Biden as a candidate.
A good president should fight for good solutions to problems without being concerned with where the ideas came from. Whether you win over another candidates supporters or not, if they had good ideas you should champion them.
Biden seems to get this. He doesn’t have such a powerful ego that everything has to come from him. That’s rare in an old white guy politician I think. And it’s so important.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
He also adopted a beautiful shelter dog. Doggie is gonna so much fun in Joe’s vintage TransAm
JanieM
At the moment when I am typing this, there are 24 instances in this thread of “Bernie” and “Sanders” and six of “Warren.”
Just sayin.’
Martin
@dm: I think we’re looking at a transition. Bernie knows how this is likely to go, and he can still stay in this but he knows he needs to not do damage. Biden should be the same – he gains nothing by attacking Bernie at this point. Finding points of agreement helps against Trump, finding respectful points of disagreement and a debate on the merits of those helps everyone.
Baud
@JanieM:
Makes sense, given who’s in the debate tonight and who we’re more concerned about.
Eolirin
@Martin: He knew how it was likely to go in 2016 too and that didn’t stop him then. That he actually seems to like Biden maybe makes this different, but that just makes me even more angry about 2016.
Mnemosyne
@Eolirin:
Joe was, like, my 6th-choice candidate, but he’s starting to grow on me. One of the things I most appreciate about him is that he’s willing to learn and grow from his mistakes. If he had not been willing to listen to feminists about why he fucked up the Anita Hill hearings, he wouldn’t have written VAWA. And there are additional examples beyond that. So, yeah, I think it’s great that Biden is willing to listen to other people’s ideas and use them if he thinks they’re good ideas.
dm
My major concern with Biden is that he’ll waste too much time on hoping for Senatorial collegiality from the Republicans.
Maybe he’ll have a Democratic Senate to work with (then I worry that they’ll not ditch the filibuster, back to depending on the kindness of strange Republicans).
I think Biden could disarm a lot of Bernie’s bluster by replying, “If I’m the nominee, I’m glad you’ll be in the Senate pushing for that, Bernie. And when you pass it, I’ve learned what levers to pull to make it work.”
Eolirin
@Mnemosyne: Yeah, I think he was a little higher on my list, like maybe 4th. But pretty much feel the same way about it.
kindness
It shows good form for Uncle Joe to give credit to Bernie & Warren when announcing his notions. Class is something we haven’t seen coming out of the Oval office in a few years.
Jay Noble
When I see all the poopooing that Biden will backslide and go all “reach across the aisle” I look at what has happened this primary season and my feeling is nobody is going to let him. I’m assuming we’ll still have the House with Nancy and AOC and another class of ready to work freshman. The Senate? It’s gonna be close but even if we don’t take it we should still have Liz, Kamala, Bernie to keep Joe in line. The world has shifted and it’s gonna be different come January 2021.
Kinda on that, do we have plans in place to minmize the carnage the GOP will try to implement in tose 2 months?
Mnemosyne
@JanieM:
I think that’s partly because most people assume that Warren’s supporters will be thrilled at this announcement and Sanders’s supporters will throw a hissy fit. Warren’s supporters will see it as a compliment to their candidate while Sanders’s supporters will see it as somehow stealing from him.
JaneE
I think there are a lot of ideas in Warren’s plans that need to be incorporated into the Democratic platform. Biden should look closely at her ideas, and get behind more of them. Some of them may not fit his position in the political establishment, but they are very much what this country needs.
Betty Cracker
@Chyron HR: That’s bullshit. SOME minority of Sanders supporters say that, and it’s stupid and wrong. But most are willing to vote for whomever the Democrats nominate, and we need those folks as motivated and enthusiastic as possible. I’m glad Biden isn’t listening to people like you.
Kathleen
Bernie is running a negative ad against Biden in Ohio. Basically clips of Joe supposedly saying he supported cutting Social Security and Medicare. I thought that was debunked already. I don’t see a Come To Biden moment myself but hey I have Bernie Derangement Syndrome
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne:
Based on the past half hour, I’d say there’s a good chance that there will be 5-7 at the same time. :-)
Chyron HR
@Betty Cracker:
Okay, sure, they’ll definitely come around THIS time.
Mnemosyne
@Chyron HR:
Meh. I think the hardcore Bros and Broettes are more vocal than they are numerous. And, judging by Twitter, many of the hardest-core ones aren’t even Americans and seem pretty clueless about how our system actually works.
Eolirin
@dm: I’ve come to the conclusion that Biden won’t be able to waste time banking on Republicans playing nice. If they’re still in control of the Senate they’ll burn everything to the ground in a way he won’t be able to stop.
If they’re not, a Democratically controlled Senate will decide how it wants to proceed on things like the filibuster without concern for the White House. And if they give a minority leader McConnell a veto point, he will burn everything to the ground that he can. A lot will depend on how big the margin is there and whether Sienma and/or Manchin are needed to get the 50th vote.
The only real question is how hard Biden’s willing to pursue going after the criminality in the Republican party and former Trump administration, and corruption and white collar crime in general, and his AG pick will make that clear.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Jay Noble: Let’s not get to heady and forget about the filibuster. Even if you win both houses, you still have the fucking filibuster to deal with, which means the dreaded “reaching across the aisle”.
WereBear
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Everything with a Confederate taint must go.
different-church-lady
So, it turns out we get to have all the candidates as president!
Baud
@kindness:
Biden 2020: More class, less ass.
Jinchi
There was an interview a few weeks back (pre-Super Tuesday) where Warren was asked what she would think if someone else became president and then adopted her agenda.
It sounded like she’d be fine with it.
Steal away Joe.
johnnybuck
So, the fed just dropped the interest rate to zero. Apparently bullying works.
mrmoshpotato
@Cheryl Rofer:
It’s truly sad that the candidates have to fight the moderators and their desire for sound bites.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
/fixed
Eolirin
@johnnybuck: To be fair, dropping the interest rate to zero probably is the right call right now. The economic damage from the coronavirus is going to be pretty huge. To the point where that’s literally the least that has to happen.
Betty Cracker
@JaneE: Agreed. We’re running against the most corrupt admin in history. A robust anti-corruption platform is a must, and all the more so since Trump’s strategy will be to lie about Biden on the same issue. Warren wrote a thoughtful and potentially transformative anti-corruption plan. Use it!
Jinchi
This really is the zombie that will never die at Balloon Juice, but for the 100th time, the overwhelming majority of Bernie’s voters ended up voting for Hillary last time and they’ll vote for the nominee this time as well.
mrmoshpotato
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m looking forward to no audience. No stupid zingers then.
Hopefully there’s no studio audience for the Presidential debates.
johnnybuck
@Eolirin: Biden was there for all eight years of the Obama administration. I feel certain he is fully aware of Republican mendacity. He is telling people that he will be President for everybody, not just his party, There actually are a majority of voters out there that want the parties to work TOGETHER, quaint as that sounds.
Just One More Canuck
CTV’s Comedy channel up here in Canada is showing Zombieland
West of the Cascades
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Doggie is gonna so much fun in Joe’s vintage TransAm White House.
FTFY
Current occupant has no pets (unless one counts the reptiles dressed up in human suits).
Betty Cracker
@different-church-lady: Biden isn’t really ideological, so it makes sense.
GeoWHayduke
Good job, Joe!
I hope Sanders isn’t a prick about it
Another Scott
@Mnemosyne: Are they by chance talking about how the Democratic Party closed hundreds of voting locations and prevented St. Bernard from winning?? How dare the Democratic Party do that!!!11
A little bird told me that that might be a topic of conversation among Bernie people recently.
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
Brachiator
@Betty Cracker:
You are absolutely correct. But there is a strong attempt at a “NeverBiden ” campaign on social media.
A horrid, but instructive example, popped up in YouTube this morning. I was going to try to find it again and provide a link, but the video is stupid, boring and obvious.
Omnes Omnibus
@Betty Cracker: I think you are right about the sheer numbers of BernieBros as a percentage of Sanders supporters, but they are loud, very online, and given more of a media platform than their number should warrant. I also think that some people are equating criticisms of the Bros with criticisms of rational supporters; if you aren’t insane, they aren’t talking about you.
Lum’s Better Half
So now we get special credit for proposing a solution to a problem we created?
MisterForkbeard
@Lum’s Better Half: You get credit for realizing you were wrong and trying to fix it, yeah.
Chyron HR
@Jinchi:
“ONLY ten percent of us voted for the deranged nazi who probably raped his own daughter!” really, really, really is not the ironclad defense of Sandersism you seem to think it is.
bucachon
That is great! The best thing sanders can do is drop out gracefully now. And it will be hard for many of his supporters, that’s okay. As a Warren supporter my heart is still broken, I get it. Be kind. Be patient. Take down the motherfucker in November. Eyes on the prize
Miss Bianca
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
: )
Amir Khalid
Biden endorsing and adopting Warren’s plans might encourage her to formally endorse him, maybe not now but when he becomes the prohibitive frontrunner in the delegate count.
J R in WV
@Martin:
This would be good for the Democratic candidate, Joe I hope! But if they are great ideas, necessary ideas for the nation in this critical moment, Trump will absolutely reject anything mentioned by a Democrat in tonight’s debate.
Because any thought by a Democrat is automatically wrong to Trump !! No one can have an idea that didn’t occur to Trump first!
ETA to fix the dammed quote block, which quit behaving not long ago!!! Grrr!!!
El Cruzado
I don’t think anyone has noted in this thread that Biden endorsing Warren’s bankruptcy plan is as clear a signal as he could ever send that he’s cool with her ideas. I dunno if she’ll be into consideration for any major post were Biden to be elected president but I’ll be surprised if this is the only one of her plans he adopts.
Warren first got into the political arena to fight against the bankruptcy bill that Biden (at the time Senator of Delaware) was pushing. Her bankruptcy plan would unwind that and then some.