Backward-looking Biden is firmly in the lead, there’s no doubt of this.
When critics say that Joe Biden isn’t progressive enough, they’re mostly referring to his record and positions on policy. But the former vice president’s messaging is literally backward-looking. Biden is running a campaign of restoration—returning the United States to its rightful place before (as he sees it) the current president came onto the scene and trashed the joint.
Most attribute his leading the polls to his electability, which is strange because all our top-tier candidates poll well ahead of Trump, or in Warren’s case, a statistical tie.
Maybe it’s because he’s from Scranton PA, and can win back those white working class voters who voted for Obama but stayed home or voted for Trump in 2016. The media and Biden’s campaign are pushing this narrative. But he may struggle with these voters as much as Hillary Clinton did. He doesn’t have a great record with labor:
Biden is also a longtime champion of NAFTA, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and China’s admission into the World Trade Organization. The Democratic Party pursued all three of those trade policies over the near-unanimous opposition of organized labor — a point that Donald Trump took pains to emphasize when campaigning against Clintonism in 2016.
There’s also his cozy relationship with the Credit Card Industry and his strong support of the 2005 Bankruptcy Law. Here’s an excerpt from Ted Kennedy’s speech on C-span.
“This legislation that we have before us cracks down unfairly on large numbers of hard-working families that are in dire financial straits because of a sudden serious illness…Yet, this bill blatantly ignores the real abuses in our bankruptcy laws: the corporate abuses that have become epidemic in recent years…Current law on corporate bankruptcy is grossly inadequate in dealing with these problems. Often, the very insiders whose misconduct brought the company down do very well in bankruptcy. The people who suffer the most are the innocent victims, the employees, the retirees.” -Ted Kennedy
So what is it about Biden that has him so far ahead in the polls? I’m guessing it’s nostalgia for Obama. That makes sense. Obama is a great guy and was a great President. But that nostalgia will wear off over time as Biden emerges from that glow and paints his own vision of the future, which so far, has been looking to the past. His record and penchant for gaffes should also erode his numbers.
We need to move forward, not move backwards to the Obama years. Things were better but weren’t great during that time. Occupy Wall Street started 2011 after all. They were protesting against a rigged economy which is still in place today.
This is a progressive site. Progressive as in looking forward. We can do better than Joe Biden as our nominee. We need change. We need Medicare for All, Green New Deal, jailing of CEO’s for corporate malfeasance, breaking up monopolies, and increased taxes on the rich. That kind of a platform will energize our base and lead us to victory.