It took him 48 hours to give up his support of the law that bans federal healthcare money for abortions….
He does not want to fight with the pro-choice part of his party for the nomination…
It has been pointed out that several of those running against him for the Democratic Presidential nomination had indirectly voted for the amendment in the past…
Biden had recently said he STILL supported the amendment….
THAT has changed….
After two days of intense criticism, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden reversed course Thursday and declared that he no longer supports a long-standing congressional ban on using federal health care money to pay for abortions.
Biden’s reversal came after rivals and women’s rights groups blastedhim for affirming through his campaign aides that he still supported the Hyde Amendment.
With the shift, Biden could limit any damage from women’s groups and progressives who already are skeptical about whether a 76-year-old, more centrist white man can be the party standard-bearer in 2020. Yet it also marks a change from years spent trying to hold what he described as a “middle ground” on abortion.
Speaking at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Atlanta, Biden didn’t mention the attacks he’s endured this week but tacitly agreed with his critics who frame the Hyde Amendment as another abortion barrier that disproportionately affects poor women and women of color.
“I’ve been struggling with the problems that Hyde now presents,” Biden said, opening a speech dedicated mostly to voting rights and issues important to the black community with an explanation of a significant policy shift.
“I want to be clear: I make no apologies for my last position. I make no apologies for what I’m about to say,” he explained, arguing that “circumstances have changed.”….
image…John Bazemore / AP
Told you.
Spine of a jellyfish
and Trump is licking his chops
You think he’s happy to run against a guy who has him BEAT just about EVERYWHERE right now?
REALLY?
He’s SO confident that he’s ALREADY going after Biden?
Biden puts another issue behind himself and keep the nomination in his pocket?
It remains to be seen if Biden can win the nomination. This shows that he will fold under the slightest bit of pressure. The activists in the party will continue to push him to the left. Eventually, he will apologize for and denounce his crime bill. He will come out in favor of Medicaid for All, slavery reparations, etc, Maybe that will be enough to clamp down opposition and let him be nominated. Maybe it won’t. If he survives, he will be seen as further to the left than he has ever been and likely the farthest left national candidate ever. There will be almost nothing to differentiate him from Bernie Sanders besides being a couple years younger.
I really want to see Trump lose but I find it repulsive that taxpayers should be responsible to pay for abortions. The good news is that I do not see such a repeal ever getting through Congress. Elections for the House and Senate will matter.
So while I remain firmly convinced that Donald Trump is unworthy of any vote at any time, I will have to hope that as many Republicans as possible (except in the most extreme conditions) continue to win election to Congress, even if they may not be great people either.
CG?
Politics 101….
You run to outside for the primaries then you float back to the middle for the election….
James’ version of Politics 101 may once have been nearly-universally true, but wasn’t always true in 2018.
Insofat as I know, Alexandria Ocasio-Córtez (who defeated Joe Crowley in NY) and Ayanna Pressley (who unseated Michael Capuano in Boston-Cambridge) did not move their general election campaigns from the left to the centre, although I have to concede that they faced no significant Republican opposition in their deep-blue districts.
By moving too far too fast to the centre, a candidate can lose the enthusiasm of the base, while appearing to everyone else like a flip-flopper with no fixed position (certainly not one that will be followed once in offiec).
Actually?
Crowley was old school in a district that got gentrified….
He lost lost his base that marched to the left on him….
I was actually referring to the presidential nomination/general election level..
My mistake for not being clearer….
Back in the past here I have defended the concept of changing ones mind and view on a issue….
To stick to something doggily when the situation or times changes is stupid and nonproductive…
To not accept a person changing is short sighted and assine…
For Biden, this is just an open invitation for other candidates and interest groups to apply pressure to move him further and further to the left.
As that occurs, there will be no distinction between Biden and the others and nothing that makes him have the perception of being more of a unifying figure or more electable. He will simply be older, whiter, more Christian, and more male than anyone else.
Well CG?
Lets see if the media puts up ALL the OTHERS that voted for Hyde…
I’d bet they don’t…
Would spoil their story lines
Every single Democrat who is running for President is opposed to it now, at least.
That’s the necessary position in a primary I suppose these days, but something that will be used against them in a general election.
Correct on the primary…. which was my point.…
Where did Obama stand on the Hyde Amendment? Does anyone know or care?
Obama supported the idea that ACA would cover abortions, but Obama needed every vote he could get and a Democratic Congressman Stupak objected, so Obama issued an executive order saying that the ACA would not cover abortions.
I think we can agree that the axiom refers to Presidential politics, not what might occur in a solidly partisan district.
totally agree with DSD
Trump won without doing that. Times may have changed. This make Biden look very, very weak.
Adding to that, doing the opposite was also the winning formula for Obama, especially in 2012.
No ….
Biden just did what a LOT of us do…
ReThought things….
Happens ALL the time…
He didn’t “re-think” anything. He caved to pressure and his donors.
But by this standard, he will be “re-thinking” many more things before Iowa. Of course, you james will literally defend him on anything, no different than what the Trump sycophants do for their guy on all his flip-flops.
Your choice off words….
His was he rethought things…
He’s got 45 years of a public record to “re-think.”
He is going to wind up to admitting to being “wrong” on a whole host of things which of course will not speak well about his “experience” or “judgment.”
At least he can….
Trump is hopless…
How come it’s ok for you when Biden does it but you offer no understanding whatsoever when Gillibrand has changed her mind on issues? She has done it for exactly the same reasons Biden is doing it.
Sexist much?
Biden WILL BE the nominee…
and to continue your post….. “or I stay home.”
The number of wrong predictions/declarations you have made on here in past years could of course fill a book.
I have no reason to believe James is against Gillebrand for sexist reasons, but I would put the odds of s Biden Nomination at less than 1 in 2.
And of course James is not consistent with anything.
I have nothing against my state’s junior US Senator except she’s a knucklehead,..
From her polling numbers I see I have a LOT of company ….
We all know here I voted for Hillary…
There are still many countries in the world where abortions are illegal under most or all circumstances, and not all are African and/or Muslim. They include Mexico and Poland, but the biggest surprise to me was Israel.
http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/countries-where-abortion-is-illegal/
Some of my family members still oppose abortions on moral grounds – as Corey does- but all of my Siblings have increasingly become staunch Democrats over the years.
As it relates to Israel, that is simply not the case, although I wish there were far fewer abortions all across the world. Zreebs often cites sources that have agendas.
Abortion is widely available in Israel and the vast majority of women who wish to have one do so.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/As-abortion-fight-heats-up-in-US-termination-in-Israel-easily-accessible-589923
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Israel
I am not aware of any agenda or bias with regard to the World Population Review, but I am sure you will enlighten me. I simply searched online out of curiosity for a list of countries where abortions are not allowed, and that site came up. The site did mention that abortions in Israel are allowed under some circumstances. This is just another example of you imagining wrongdoing on the part of liberals, and then blowing things out of proportion to fit your distorted world view. I do understand your need to do that though.
And by the way, the Wikipedia site you provided also confirms that Israel does have restrictions on abortion that are more extensive than in most developed countries. But of course, your mind will convince you otherwise, and so you will respond in a predicable manner.
The sources that 98% of abortions in Israel are approved. The government usually pays for them.
If you ever come across something that “surprises” you, I would suggest that maybe checking Wikipedia would be a good thing to do as well.
The majority of Americans support Roe vs Wade….
It’s gonna be around….
The Hyde Amendment has been there for a while…
While the Democrats all say they want it gone….
With a GOP majority Senate and some Democrats in the house on shaky ground?
I don’t think the amendment is gonna be chucked either….
I know of a student who was writing a paper and couldn’t find a source for what he wanted to document, so he entered it in Wikipedia and then used Wikipedia as his source!
We aren’t writing papers here, but I provided two sources and more are available.
While I wish it were not the case, subsidized abortions are nearly universal in Israel for anyone who wants one.
I suppose to some a quibble between 98% and 100% is worth having.
Ha, ha, ha…..
That IS funny Z!!!!!!
Abortions also are sometimes legal in Mexico, but as in Israel, the restrictions are greater than in most countries.
I am not sure what agenda Corey has imagined that I am trying promote, but I’m sure he will tell us.
I am sure you aren’t too worried about it Zreebs.
The “moral crisis” that our friend seems to be so worried about pales in comparison to the moral crisis of having a sociopath in the White House and an entire political party simply waiting to enable his insanity.
That crisis can be corrected in approximately 15 months by voting for his Democratic opponent no matter who he or she might be.
I agree with Keith and Pelosi who are looking at the long game…
How can you agree with them when there are at least two Democrat candidates you say you will not vote for if they face Trump?
Despite all his handwringing we know CG is not going to vote for the Democratic nominee no matter where he or she stands on tbe Hyde Amendment.
He’ll write in The Ghost of Poppy Bush or I Wish it Were 2004 Again or some other such silliness.
I would vote for a Democrat against Trump who did not wish to repeal the anti-Hyde Amendment, provided they also took a few other mainstream positions. I mentioned them yesterday.
But with the crowd running this time and the political jackals that run your party, it is a moot point.
Now, go be good Democrats and convince james to support the eventual nominee, whomever he or she is, as well as the hundreds of delegates from California who booed multiple candidates last weekend.
He,he,he…
I DO support ole’ Joe CG
but if Biden is not nominated, you seem prepared to take your leash and go home.
No. You’d find some other reason not to vote for the Democratic nominee no matter who he or she is.
My list of demands would be relatively small, but it’s not like you would ever vote for a Republican for President, no matter whom the Democrat opponent would be.
I said many times starting in 2016 that hypothetically I would have voted for Ben Cardin or even Chuck Schumer over Trump, since they were at least correct on Iran.
But not if times have changed now they would be forced to cave to the mantle of forcing people to pay for others abortions.
Well I’ve actually cast a vote for a Republican for President twice. Once in a general election and once in a primary.
The Iran deal is just another cover for you. I don’t know you just couldn’t say you’d never vote for a Democrat for President.
This is the exchange about this question (any Democrat acceptable?) that I had with Corey on his prognostication page in early May.
Of course he is entitled to change his views, as the candidates’ identities and ideas become clearer.
As John Maynard Keynes is thought to have said (without any positive citation), “When facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”
[ For a more-than-exhaustive discussion of this bon mot’s origins, see:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/07/22/keynes-change-mind/ ]
Democratic Socialist Dave said…
This is not to bait, challenge or tease you, Corey, but supposing that Trump wins renomination from the Retrumplican Party, are there any current or potential Democratic candidates for President that you could support ? (I’m including independent Bernie Sanders but not Joe Lieberman, whom I no longer consider to be a Democrat.)
1:42 PM
Blogger Corey said…
Thanks for reading and commenting Dave. It’s a very good question.
The most simple answer is that I cannot envision the Democrats nominating anyone that I could vote for. I wish that were not the case, as I would vote for an acceptable Democrat, against Trump, even as a protest.
I suppose I would have at least been willing to consider Bloomberg, but he is not running as a Democrat. I don’t know otherwise. Maybe Governor Bullock of Montana? A litmus test for me would be someone who did not support Obama’s Iran Nuclear deal. So, that would even make Chuck Schumer, Ben Cardin, and Bob Menendez acceptable on that alone.
Of course my sole vote in Illinois will not matter. The Democrat will easily win my state, whomever it is.
http://cgpolitics.blogspot.com/2019/05/race-for-white-house-2020-18.html
CHANGE HIS VIEWS??????🙄