A 'Never Biden' Movement Takes Root

AP Photo/Chris Carlson

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, speaks at a primary election night campaign rally Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Politico reports that a “Never Biden” has taken root among Bernie supporters.

On Tuesday night, Joe Biden’s campaign was celebrating his latest primary night triumph.

By Wednesday morning, #NeverBiden, #WriteinBernie and #DemExit2020 hashtags began trending on Twitter.

It looks like ‘the most impressive 72 hours Donna Brazile has ever seen in American politics’ may be facing some headwinds.

Exit polls in the state of Michigan indicate that only two out of five Bernie supporters would vote for Biden and four out of five said “they’d be dissatisfied with Biden as the Democratic standard-bearer.”

Some bitter Bernie devotees may have voted for Trump in 2016, but many simply stayed home. This group may actually have handed the presidency to Trump. In 2016, there were six states in which the margin of victory was less than 2% and Trump won four of them.

(Data Source: US News)

1. Michigan: 0.3 percent

Trump 47.6 percent, Clinton 47.3 percent

Difference: 13,080 votes

2. New Hampshire: 0.4 percent

Clinton 47.6 percent, Trump 47.2 percent

Difference: 2,701 votes

3. Wisconsin: 1 percent

Trump 47.9 percent, Clinton 46.9 percent

Difference: 27,257 votes

4. Pennsylvania 1.2 percent

Trump 48.8 percent, Clinton 47.6 percent

Difference: 68,236 votes (99 percent reporting)

5. Florida 1.2 percent

Trump 49 percent, Clinton 47.8 percent

Difference: 114,455 votes

6. Minnesota 1.5 percent

Clinton 46.4 percent, Trump 44.9 percent

Difference: 44,470 votes

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Regarding Biden’s ability to bring Sanders’ supporters on board in November, pollster Paul Maslin, a veteran of the Jimmy Carter and Howard Dean campaigns, said, “Democrats have “time, Trump and hopefully Bernie himself on our side.” But, “it’s a huge challenge.”

The Politico piece points out that, “unlike in 2016, Sanders’ supporters don’t have the hard feelings of superdelegates — the party bigwigs who clinched the nomination for Hillary Clinton — to overcome. This year, Sanders’ momentum was blunted not by those insiders but by black voters in the South and, following his victory in South Carolina, by the broader electorate.”

Boyd Brown, a former South Carolina lawmaker and former Democratic National Committee member told Politico, “At the end of the day, it’s Biden or Trump. They’ll turn out.”

Given the 72 hours that changed everything going into Super Tuesday, I wouldn’t be so sure. Some voters may see that as equally egregious as the DNC’s efforts to sabotage Sanders in 2016. I do.

So does Bernie supporter Alyson Metzger, a 54-year-old writer and progressive activist in New York City. She said, “The rationale for us is that our votes need to be earned and that we’ve been taken for granted, and the party never moves to us. If they install Joe Biden, I will not vote for Biden…This is not democratic what’s happening in the Democratic primary.”

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Politico writes that, “for Metzger, not voting for Biden is a matter of conscience. For others, it is also strategy. On “Never Biden” Facebook pages and in Twitter threads, some activists argue that if Trump is reelected, Democrats will fare better in the next midterms and that the party will be more likely to nominate a progressive in 2024. If Biden is elected, they see eight years of centrist governance.”

In his Wednesday press conference,  Sanders said, “You cannot simply be satisfied by winning the votes of people who are older.”

Young voters overwhelmingly favor Sanders over Biden, and the opposite is true as well. Older voters prefer Biden to Sanders. Politico reports:

Exit polls from this year’s primaries have found a stark age divide between Sanders and Biden supporters. In Michigan, almost two-thirds of voters under 45 backed Sanders, while Biden captured a third of them. It was even more lopsided among voters under 30: 4 in 5 voted for Sanders.

Among those over 45, Biden won two-thirds and Sanders 1 in 4.

The problem for Sanders is that they have failed to show up in sufficient number to give him the edge during this primary season.

Young or old, it’s not hard to understand why Democrats would hesitate to vote for Biden. As much as party leaders insist he is okay, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that he is unfit for office.

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I spoke to my cousin on Friday. He is a 64-year-old Texan who has voted for John Kerry, for Barack Obama (twice), and for Hillary Clinton. He will be voting for Trump this year. He is stunned that the Democrats would promote a candidate who is so clearly in cognitive decline.

Even in his prime, Biden was not a strong presidential candidate. He has few accomplishments. His record on foreign policy is dismal. In his 2014 memoir, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wrote: “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”

Among other problems, Biden has hair sniffing and touching issues and potential legal woes stemming from forcing the Ukrainian President to fire the prosecutor who was about to question his son, Hunter Biden.

A “Never Biden” movement seems only natural.

Here are some comments floating around the Twittersphere from #NeverBideners:

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