Discussion: Obama Tosses Biden A Bone, Stops Short Of A Full Endorsement

who the hell wrote this headline “obama tosses biden a bone”? come on josh.

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Don’t expect Obama to show up at this event later today; https://www.cbsnews.com/news/comcast-executive-to-host-joe-biden-fundraiser/

I was going to say the same thing. Surprised the editor just didn’t write: “Obama tosses Biden a bone, rolls eyes”, it’s just as much.

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There was a time when my brain could handle the Daily Kos’s version of “serious people”. Those days are gone. Now I stick to TPM and a few other sites, and try to change the world that is around me every day. Thanks for the reminder.

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Sure, but political endorsements aren’t usually aimed at the people who’ll evaluate the reasons. They’re aimed at the ‘that guy I like said this dude’s cool, so this dude’s cool’ people. Otherwise, you could just lay out the ‘here’s what I think, look for which candidate lines up with that’, just like issues-PACs are supposed to do.

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Apparently you have problems reading or comprehending that which you quote. What part of the phrase “part of our evaluation” don’t you understand? An endorsement is not determinative in forming our opinions. It is part of the entire process of evaluating all information at our disposal.

To think that an accomplished individual such as President Obama would make an endorsement for a political candidate without a substantive discussion of the reasons for doing so is erecting a straw man.

And it is the height of ego to believe that those of us who may find value in such an endorsement do not use other information as part of that evaluative process; that only you and those select few you don’t consider “sheep” engage in a review of other information in forming our opinions, aside from any endorsements we may observe.

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Looking Back (something I am want to do a little too often) Biden is lucky he didn’t get the Elizabeth Warren treatment when she was disendorsed by the then President to head the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. Writing for ABC Adam Levin astutely observed:

"It’s no secret that President Obama and certain high-ranking administration officials—particularly Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner—were never truly sold on Warren as the right first director of the agency she conceived. They had real questions about her ability to get things done in 21st century Washington. Frankly, she was too bold in her defense of the American consumer. For her, it was never about the sound bite, it was a crusade. Unfortunately for Professor Warren and the rest of us, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association and their legislative minions equate “pro-consumer” with being “anti-business.” https://preview.abcnews.go.com/Business/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-launches-elizabeth-warren/story?id=14117955

Obama patted her on the back and encouraged her to run for the Senate. Perhaps this is what he should have said to his buddie of eight years.

This statement is simply bizarre as a disagreement with what I have been saying. Why not have the person making the endorsement be a source for putting some of that information at your disposal? That seems like the most obvious point to collect information (even if it turns out that the audience might already have some of it). I am accused of egotism for wanting the information, but you are not egotistical for presuming that you already have it or can find it all on your own.

You are welcome to use whatever you like in making your choice. I have expressed my preference, and defended it to a degree that I am happy to let it stand as it is. (I have not suggested than an endorsement is a negative, merely that it’s value is to be measured by what it is part of. In an extreme example, Trump’s endorsement would make me suspicious, but might also just be a discouraging trick.)

I’ll agree with you on “Alec Baldwin endorses (Blank)” or “You’ll never guess who Beyoncé is voting for!” Type endorsements.

But seriously, when it comes to “(Senator/Representative/Former POTUS) endorses (Blank)” type articles. They are for people whose eyes don’t immediately glaze over until they get to the comics page.

Hell, this site, in and of itself, is for people who follow politics rather than just skim for “does the celebrity I like think like me?!”

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You continued to argue that those who see the value of such endorsements are, to a large degree, “sheep” who form their own opinions merely on the basis of those endorsements, rather than informed individuals who evaluate candidates and issues through a whole spectrum of information. You were dismissive of those who used such endorsements as part of a rigorous evaluation process.

I’m certain that whomever your candidate of choice, she/he will be ecstatic to be the recipient of President Obama’s endorsement. Most of us will have probably already formed our opinions on the basis of the vast wealth of information that we have available to us. Such information should include what distinguished individuals offer their endorsements and the reasons for doing so.

Enjoy your day.

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This just in: Obama does normal ex-president thing normally. Overanalysis ensues.

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Take a deep breath.

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You and me both.

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At this point, I’d prefer a literal sheep to Trump.

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Only the one in the bunch who’s so wholly unacceptable she’s capable of making me try to immigrate to Australia or vote for the CEO Dunning-Krueger guy. But god knows there’s a good half a dozen who’d really challenge my vomit reflex.

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But you’ll notice: none of those are literal sheep.

Literal Sheep 2020™!

It’s Time For a Bleating-Heart Liberal!

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Guess I was woolgathering. Ewe are really milking this one. Ramming it home.

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