That’s also not a particularly high bar.
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Oh for fucking out loud, he’s not even bothering to try is he?
An explanation of the scandal for those like me who were unfamiliar with it (linked instead of OneBox’d from Twitter because CW sexual assault right in the attached image).
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It’s like he’s seen all the people saying that they’ll hold their noses and vote for them, and decided to stink things up even more.
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Yeah…
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It’s just more public, recently, with social media, but that is exactly what has happened in every election in my adult life. (Except for 2008, when Obama was convincing enough to get people to vote for him without holding their noses, and proceeded to install the same cabinet, and pursue the same policies, that Clinton would have.)
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Here’s some fresh new polling from 538:
Basically, Biden’s looking good and leads Trump in several important swing states, but it’s still early and things could change. Still, it’s reason enough to drop the doom and despair, and give yourself a moment to relax. 
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From 2015:
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Ever since 1980, if the Dem nominee doesn’t have an extremely high Charisma score (e.g. Obama, Bill Clinton), there’s a strong chance that the DNC will blow it. A cold-fish candidate (e.g. Mondale, Gore, Kerry, HRC) combined with the same old neoliberal-lite/pro-MIC policies isn’t going to get people inspired and out to the polls in November, and neither is a blustering and bumbling candidate with the same platform.
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Is that you Joe?
Ugh, no I don’t want a back rub!
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About those records that Biden and his operatives have had sealed:
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To be quite honest, the more I find out about Reade’s allegations, the less and less I believe her. Which is unfortunate, if she’s actually telling the truth, because she’s managed to make herself look extremely unreliable what with her changing stories, witnesses who required direct prompting from her to remember anything, and the lack of actual records she claims to exist.
Believe or not, there needs to be a credible, impartial investigation. I just don’t see it happening before the election. Meanwhile the right wing and their Russian trill allies and people still fantasizing about flying saucers swooping down and giving Sanders the nomination will be hammering away at this relentlessly, Benghazi-style, until they manage to deliver a victory to Trump.
My own fantasy continues to be that Biden names a really good VP running mate, wins the election, and then – having achieved his lifelong dream of being POTUS – steps down, say nominally for health reasons, in January.
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Which is why he should answer questions or make a statement under oath before then. If he’s telling the truth, so be it. If he lies under oath, there’s a formal mechanism for removing him. At this point, dodging it makes him look like Trump.
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I don’t think he’s “dodging” making a statement under oath, it hasn’t yet been an option. In what setting does he make a statement under oath? The DC police are not interested in prosecuting, and an FBI or DoJ investigation in the current environment is not trustworthy. Congress is only meeting as much as they have to to keep Trump from dissolving them, and even if they were meeting a hearing in the Senate or even the House at this stage would just be a political zoo. Trump-appointed special prosecutor? No thanks. Would anyone be happy if he invited a judge down to his basement and gave a statement under oath to them? If nothing else, who picks the judge, and who writes the questions?
The oath and removal can both come after the election, when rule of law is restored. At that point even the Democrats don’t have a vested interested in not doing a good job, as if he is forced out his replacement will be another Democrat.
I think that applies to Bill Clinton, but Obama actually ran on different policies the first time, like government transparency and opposition to war, before turning around and stabbing his supporters in the back the instant he gained power.
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Huh? Who said anything about a judge in Biden’s basement? He could go into the DC police and make a sworn statement or answer questions from prosecutors. He doesn’t have to be arrested or charged to arrange that. He could do it under oath in order to clear his own name.
Because with this hanging over him, he’s a less viable candidate. The pressure will ramp up over the course of the campaign and the Trump reality-distortion field will make it all about the allegations (even though Trump has more allegations against him) and the appearance of hypocrisy among Democrats will harm down-ballot candidates.
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Given the response we’ve seen from Dem politicians so far, it’s a lot more than the appearance of hypocrisy.
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Not that saying
‘Fourteen? You’re very well endowed for 14!’
Is a crime, but it’s not a great look.
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