2020 Democratic Primary Thread: Focus on House & Senate races
- Thread starter mc_brew
- Start date
she's not just a political effing journalist. Thats literally her beat.
nytimes.com
Joe Biden Said He Did Not View Abortion ‘As a Choice and a Right’ in 2006
By Stephanie Saul
4-5 minutes
Politics|Joe Biden Said He Did Not View Abortion ‘As a Choice and a Right’ in 2006
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Joseph R. Biden Jr., describing his stance on abortion in 2006, described himself as a “little bit of an odd man out in my party.”CreditCreditAudra Melton for The New York Times
In a newly unearthed video from 2006, Joseph R. Biden Jr. said he supported Roe v. Wade but did not view abortion as “a choice and a right” — remarks that raise further questions about how he views abortion rights as he runs for the Democratic presidential nomination and faces pressure over his position on the issue.
“I do not view abortion as a choice and a right. I think it’s always a tragedy,” Mr. Biden said in a videotaped interview with Texas Monthly, resurfaced on Thursday by CNN. “I think it should be rare and safe,” he added. “I think we should be focusing on how to limit the number of abortions.”
Mr. Biden referred to himself as a “little bit of an odd man out in my party” because he wouldn’t vote for federal financing of abortions, had voted to limit late-term abortions, but supported Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the legal right to the procedure.
Texas Monthly Talks: Joe BidenCreditCreditVideo by texasmonthly
The video added a new dimension to Mr. Biden’s vacillating record on abortion. Citing his Roman Catholic faith, Mr. Biden has in the past tried to stake out a middle ground on the issue, asserting his support for individual abortion rights while insisting that taxpayers should not fund abortions.
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Last Wednesday Mr. Biden’s staff said he maintained his longstanding position in support of the Hyde Amendment. The provision bans federal funding for abortion in most cases, meaning the procedure is available only to women with private insurance and those who can afford it.
The next day, faced with mounting backlash from the Democratic base and his primary opponents, Mr. Biden announced he had reversed that position.
“If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone’s ZIP code,” he said at a dinner in Atlanta hosted by the Democratic National Committee.
The reversal came during a time of heightened concern among abortion rights activists, as numerous states, primarily in the South, have passed laws sharply limiting the procedure.
Responding to the newly unearthed video, Stephanie Schriock, the president of Emily’s List, which is devoted to electing pro-choice women to political office, said, “Abortion is absolutely a right and one that we believe all Democratic presidential candidates should support. We hope that Vice President Biden’s recent remarks on choice mean that he has abandoned this kind of thinking.”
Asked Thursday for a comment on the video, Mr. Biden’s campaign declined to provide a statement to The Times but referred a reporter to the campaign’s statement to CNN.
“Vice President Biden supports a woman’s right to choose and he believes that we are in a moment of unprecedented assault on choice in this country,” said the statement by a campaign spokesman, Andrew Bates. “Vice President Biden would nominate judges who would stand firm on upholding all of our constitutional rights, including a woman’s right to choose.”
John Reena
Superstar
He back to spamming da thread again.
Reality Check
Keepin' it 100
JoogJoint
In my own league.
So, I have a question to fellow Bernie supporters. If you were say the advisor or campaign manager to Bernie Sanders, what would you say or do to remedy him declining in the polls? Would you ignore it and keep doing what you're doing or acknowledge it and do something better?
Berniewood Hogan
IT'S BERNIE SANDERS WITH A STEEL CHAIR!
i would be laser focused on winning votes rather than being worried in the least about the lies, damned lies, and statistics the capitalist media will never stop throwing at bernie
Jhoon
Spontaneous Mishaps and Hijinks
You pull a beto and reintroduce yourself to less fanfare.
JoogJoint
In my own league.
Sheeeeiiiit, I'm not. Her pro-illegal immigrant stance isn't sitting right even with Black voters and you know damn well it's not sitting well with White voters and on top of that reports of California going broke trying to support who they already have and then on top of that them giving billions of dollars to support illegal immigrants. She needs to help clean up her state first before trying to run for president of a whole country. If you can't get your sh_t together in your own state, how can you handle a whole country?!
Also, social Media age completely BODIED her back in January and February too. She hasn't come back full force since then. She thought she could just show up being a female Obama and everything would've been gucci, but it didn't work out like that. The demographic of voters are getting younger and more well informed.
I'm 99.9% Gillibrand is going to do abysmal in NY. She needs to drop out anyways.
mastermind
Rest In Power Kobe
This is exactly where I am. I’m at the point that I’m not interested in any other candidate but those two. I’m with Warren over Bernie but I’d love for Bernie to win if Warren can’t.
This beefing between the two is stupid and we need to be going at Biden, Buttigieg, and those types.
Piff Perkins
Veteran
Nothing you can do. I called this years ago. Bernie's 2016 performance was largely due to him being the only anti-Hillary candidate. It became a two person race, the favorite and the underdog. People gravitate to an underdog, especially when the favorite is so unlikable.
2020 was always going to be a packed field with multiple candidates managing to carve out voter support. There are multiple people in this race with clear, measurable support bases. Pete and Beto are fighting for more moderate white voters, with some young people thrown in. Harris is winning the black vote and garnering a lot of traditional dem voters+young people. Warren is clearly winning the war for the most liberal, young voters. Biden has broad support among all groups (for now). Sanders is left with a portion of the young liberal voter bloc, whereas last time he had the majority. Handicapping that base was always going to result in Sanders being left struggling for 3rd or 4th place in a diverse field.
The only candidates who matter are Biden, Warren, Harris, Pete, Beto, and Sanders. They have the money to last. I'm sticking to my general predictions: Biden will fall, a white guy will rise (and I don't believe it'll be Pete...so it has to be Beto), and Sanders won't win one primary outside of Vermont.