Given the current state of partisan polarization, it’s unlikely Biden can get majority job approval next year even with the most fortunate set of circumstances. But the good news for him is that he probably doesn’t have to. Job-approval ratings are crucial indicators in a normal presidential reelection cycle that is basically a referendum on the incumbent’s record. Assuming Trump is the Republican nominee, 2024 will not be a normal reelection cycle for three reasons.

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[–] 131 points 2 years ago (66 children)

Don't take it for granted. Hilary lost because of this. Get out and vote.

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  • [–] 58 points 2 years ago (28 children)

    Hillary lost because she couldn't read the writing on the wall and told everyone she deserved to win because it was her time. She was the worst person on the planet to go against Trump. The GOP spent 30 years demonizing her and she played right into their hands. Biden should have been the candidate then but that is hindsight.

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  • [–] 56 points 2 years ago (11 children)

    And even with all of her mistakes and her total lack of charisma, she still only lost because of an archaic system that lets the winner of the popular vote lose.

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  • [–] 38 points 2 years ago*

    And even with all of her mistakes and her total lack of charisma, she still only lost because of an archaic system that lets the winner of the popular vote lose.

    It's not like this system was sprung on her at the last second. She didn't take it into account. She pretty much ignored key swing states that wound up going to Trump.

    She was carried in a palanquin across the finish line in the primaries and didn't understand that she had to run the rest of the way.

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  • [–] 21 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    Bruh. She ignored a lot of close call battleground states and instead spent the end of the campaign doing "victory laps" in solid blue states like Cali because she was obsessed with beating Obama's popular vote total...

    You could argue her and her campaign should have known better, I just don't know where you'd find someone who disagreed to have that argument with.

    And that's not even getting into how with population growth, popular vote totals will be record breaking damn near every election.

    She was supposed to have the best campaign team in modern history, and either they were too stupid to know what the electoral college is, or they were unable to talk sense into Hillary and get her to actually win the election instead of her fucking self esteem tour to make her feel good about herself after losing to Obama.

    I'm just tired of people making excuses for her one second like it's her first day in politics, then trying to claim she's the greatest political mind of her generation the next.

    It can't be both.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    "Shattered" is a book which goes into a bit more detail about what went wrong with the Clinton campaign. Also, this particular review represents a rare moment of lucidity from Matt Taibbi, back when he hadn't quite completed his devolution from whip-smart political correspondent into a Trump apologist for some fucking reason.

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  • [–] 25 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Biden had just lost his son and didn't want the job. He later said he regretted that decision.

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  • [–] 24 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    It's not just that, also remember that Biden had made a minor career out of losing the Democratic Presidential Nomination before Obama asked him to be VP. Much of the reason for that is that he had the tendency to say dumb shit. Remember all those "Gaffes"?

    I don't think Biden could have ever become President before Trump, because we used to have higher standards for what was "Presidential". But once Trump became President, now all the dumb gaffes Biden makes are no longer a liability.

    I admit I have been more impressed with Biden then I thought I would. I think a big issue is he is a much better President than he is a candidate for President.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    All those "dumb gaffes" are because he has a stutter. It's actually way more impressive how well he's trained himself out of doing it constantly.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    They're not all due to his stutter. He didn't stutter when he said this about Obama:

    I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.

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  • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    She was the worst person on the planet to go against Trump.

    She absolutely was. And with the pied piper strategy, she basically said who she thought the worst candidate was in the opposition's field, then lost to him.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago* (5 children)

    biden would have easily won, being the outgoing vp of a well-liked (by most) two-term president. him not running in 2016 is, i think, ultimately what enabled the hateful, incoherent, diaper-wearing buffoon to even have a chance--which was only enhanced by the dnc playing favorites and essentially handing the nomination to clinton.

    i get the 'why' he didn't run; but man, it sure fucked-up this country (and beyond).

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    him not running in 2016 is, i think, ultimately what enabled the hateful, incoherent, diaper-wearing buffoon to even have a chance

    Nope.

    What gave trump a chance was Hillary boosting him because she thought she had a chance against him, but no chance against even Jeb Bush.

    https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/hillary-clinton-2016-donald-trump-214428/

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago

    Also, the structure of the Republican primary meant that the person with a plurality of votes got all the delegates. And because there was such a split field and Trump was a celebrity, he got a lead in delegates which gave him more press.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    That year was probably when we would've gotten "peak" or near-peak Biden, but that was around the time when his other son Beau Biden had died, which I thought was the reason he sat out the Primaries, which might've made them a bit more interesting, but would've had the same effect of shutting Sanders out. The way I remembered it, Biden essentially saved the 2012 Obama campaign against Romney, as Obama had been having a shitty campaign and debate performance up until Biden went up against Paul Ryan and dominated. After that debate, things seemed to turn around and I thought he was a shoe-in for 2016.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    If your state has mail-in voting, just use that. I like to vote while not wearing pants.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    Moderates are really really motivated to only be just slightly better than Republicans.

    They want to be as corporation/billionaire friendly as possible, so they get as many donations as possible.

    It's why Hillary spent money, time, and effort boosting trump and Ben Carson in 2016. There wasn't much difference between her and Jeb Bush, so she didn't think she had a chance at beating him.

    The obvious risk was Hillary was/is a horrible candidate and might not have even been able to win against them, which she wasn't.

    It's like if the pitcher in a MLB game bet for his team to win, but by less than the spread. He still wants to win, but he keeps throwing softballs over the plate if he starts to win too much.

    But that's just a game, this is literally playing with people's lives.

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