The weirdest thing about this story is how are we just now finding out about it? Did this story break back last October and it just got lost in all the election craziness three weeks before the midterms?
Anyway, the New York Times reports that former Vice President Joe Biden “swept into Benton Harbor, Mich., three weeks before the November elections, in the midst of his quest to reclaim the Midwest for Democrats. He took the stage at Lake Michigan College as Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) faced the toughest race of his career,” the New York Times reports.
“But Mr. Biden was not there to denounce Mr. Upton. Instead, he was collecting $200,000 from the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan to address a Republican-leaning audience… The group, a business-minded civic organization, is supported in part by an Upton family foundation.”
“Mr. Biden stunned Democrats and elated Republicans by praising Mr. Upton while the lawmaker looked on from the audience… The remarks quickly appeared in Republican advertising. The local Democratic Party pleaded with Mr. Biden to repair what it saw as a damaging error, to no avail. On Nov. 6, Mr. Upton defeated his Democratic challenger by four and a half percentage points.”
This is worse than Hillary giving talks to Goldman Sachs. He collected $200k from a Republican friendly group and essentially campaigned for a Republican Congressman three fucking weeks before the midterm election? I am a diehard Democrat. I expect in all election campaigns, that all Democrats campaign for Democrats and not Republicans. If Joe Biden and Chris Coons and Tom Carper want to friends with Republicans after the election, fine. I think it dulls their sense that Republicans in fact have no soul, but whatever. To actively campaign for a Republican during an election and accept Republican money in payment for that endorsement is crossing the line. And I am crossing Joe Biden’s name off my list of candidates to support. He joins Tulsi Gabbard and Bernie Sanders and the only candidates I will not support in the primary.
Hopefully he declines a third campaign.
Politicians=MONEY. It’s all about the MONEY!!
I have found it’s all about the money for most people, politicians or not. With you, it’s all about the GRIPING!!
So you are not gonna vote blue no matter who?
In the general, against Trump or any Republican, of course I am blue no matter who, even if that who is Biden, Sanders or Gabbard. In the primary, those three are out for me.
Why not Bernie?
I don’t like him, personally or politically. I like many of his ideas, but feel he would be a disaster as a President trying to get his policies passed. He would be like Trump and just demand things get passed without working up legislators or compromising to get what he wants. Bernie is good at what he is doing now, being in the Senate and moving the party (that he is not a member of, yes that irks me) left.
“He would be like Trump and just demand things get passed without working up legislators or compromising to get what he wants.” – DD
You don’t know that.
If I were elected to any office, I’d leave the party too and just caucus with them. There’s too much political connivery in party politics. I’d probably go ape if I were censured or removed from a committee because i didn’t vote for the party sponsored corporate handout or hypermilitaristic budget.
I voted for Dems my whole life, even when I’ve had a bad taste in my mouth because of it. Regardless of whether or not Bernie calls himself a Democrat, I do today because of his work.
That being said I’ve long thought little of Biden, but if he runs and wins primary. I’ll vote for him in a heartbeat.
The story came from America First, the conservative political organization founded by Nick Ayers, which filed a FOIA request for the details. Obviously leaked from them to NYTimes for maximum damage, considering that Biden is one of the candidates Trump is scared of.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Policies
Yes. The problem is that it was leaked and by/to whom. Not that it happened.
That’s not what I’m saying, just responding to DD’s question about why now.
The point about this coming out now is … all politics is local. And at the time nobody outside of Fred Upton’s district gives a rat’s ass about Biden saying nice things about a guy who happens to support his initiatives to fight cancer. While it’s admirable that Joe is trying to take the lead in finding a cure (at least by raising money), he’s been around long enough that he should know that there’s a price attached to every six-figure speaking engagement, and it’s not the kind of thing that goes over well with the working-class peeps that Joe tries to identify with on the stump. Joe has become a corporate D who can still talk the blue-collar game. Let’s hope he takes these reports as a suggestion that the best place for him to spend the summer of 2020 is on the sand in Rehoboth.