Biden news: Former VP says polls can’t be ‘taken for granted’ as he blasts Ivy League snobbery

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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, speaking on Thursday (REUTERS)

In dueling campaign stops with the president in Minnesota, Joe Biden mocked Donald Trump for repeatedly saying he will reveal an infrastructure plan that never seems to materialize.  

Mr Trump took particular exception to his opponent's continued reference of a Columbia University study showing implementation of coronavirus guidelines a week earlier would have saved 36,000 lives.

It was the second campaign event in as many days for Mr Biden after his CNN town hall appearance on Thursday night, in which he was mocked for breaking social distancing rules with host Anderson Cooper.

During the event, Mr Biden said he had benefited from white privilege and knew how it felt to be looked down upon because he was from working class Scranton and didn't go to an Ivy League university.

New polls showed Mr Biden well ahead of Mr Trump in Arizona and Maine. But in a call with Senate Democrats on Friday, the party's November contender said he takes nothing for granted and that he plans on appearing in key battleground states as the election enters the final bend.

Despite the continued advantage in the polling and only 46 days left before the public democratically elects the next occupant of the White House, Biden again called on the president to step down from his position in the Oval Office before his first term has expired.

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[18 September 2020 18:11 · Justin Vallejo]

Catholic Biden won’t forgive Trump

Looks like Biden has already forgiven Trump at least 490 times, because he’s now no longer forgiving the president for his sins.

All the practicing or lapsed Church goers should understand that reference.

[18 September 2020 17:31 · Justin Vallejo]

Most Trump voters to cast in-person ballot while Biden voters more likely to cast by mail, new poll shows

A majority of President Donald Trump’s supporters plan to cast their ballot on Election Day, while about half of Joe Biden’s backers plan to vote by mail, a sign of a growing partisan divide over how best to conduct elections in the United States.

Overall, 39 per cent of registered voters say they will vote by mail, well above the 21 per cent who say they normally do so, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The rise is skewed toward backers of the former vice president, 53 per cent of whom plan to vote by mail. Fifty-seven percent of Trump’s supporters say they’ll vote in person on 3 November.

Fifty-four percent of voters say they will vote before polls open on Election Day. In 2016, roughly 42 per cent of voters did so.

Trump for months has denigrated mail voting, and Democrats have expressed concern about postal delays that could keep such ballots from being counted. The poll finds ebbing enthusiasm for mail voting: Only 28 per cent of Americans say they would favour their state holding elections exclusively by mail, down from the 40 per cent who said so in April as the coronavirus pandemic was first spreading in the U.S. and before Trump launched his anti-mail campaign. - AP

[18 September 2020 16:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

Mary Trump gives Biden advice on how to get under president’s skin

Trump’s rebel niece, author of Too Much and Never Enough, has been talking MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell through what Biden should do to upset her uncle at their upcoming debates - the first of which takes place on 29 September, moderated by Fox’s Chris Wallace.

“First of all, and I mean this sincerely, I hope Vice President Biden refers to Donald as Donald just because that’s an easy way to get under his skin and nobody’s disrespected the office as much as Donald has, so he doesn’t deserve the cover of the respect of the office of the presidency,” she offers.

[18 September 2020 15:55 · Joe Sommerlad]

What Joe Biden needs to do to win over climate activists

As we’ve seen, the candidate was questioned on his attitude to hydraulic fracturing during last night’s town hall from Pennsylvania and answered that his opposition to the practice was long-term and that he had no intention of jeopardising American jobs.

Here’s Louise Boyle on what he needs to do to reassure environmentalists concerned for the planet’s future, with the recent California wildfires driving the issue back to the centre of the national debate.

[18 September 2020 15:25 · Joe Sommerlad]

Republicans attack Biden and Anderson Cooper for breaking social distancing rules during town hall broadcast

While the candidate and host both made an effort to stand far apart during last night’s Q&A and were at pains to explain they had both tested negative for coronavirus before starting, eagle-eyed ex-CNN producer Steve Krakauer caused a minor furore by tweeting that they were coming together in commercial breaks to talk privately.

The likes of The Daily Caller and GOP spokeswoman Elizabeth Harrington leapt on this to cry hypocrisy, which is outrageous given Trump and Pence repeatedly refusing to wear a mask and holding rallies with no social distancing whatsoever.

[18 September 2020 14:55 · Joe Sommerlad]

Biden reassures Democratic senators he takes 'nothing for granted' in caucus call

The presidential nominee called into the Senate Democrats’ daily caucus yesterday lunchtime and reassured its members that he plans to appear in person in key battleground states as the election race enters its home straight in October, according to NBC.

During the 20-minute call with members of the upper chamber of Congress, Biden said he takes “nothing for granted” and thanked them for their help and support.

“Overall uplifting and engaging call. Took a series of questions, he spoke about the theme of the campaign, fighting for the soul of the country. What were the things that made him decide to run, how optimistic he is about the election,” Biden’s fellow Delaware man Chris Coons told reporters afterwards.

“He must have said this three times, ‘I take nothing for granted’ — he said, ‘I know the polls look okay right now but I’m working tirelessly... I was just in Florida, I'm about to go to Scranton, I'm heading to Duluth.’ That kind of stuff."-

The candidate also heard requests from senators up for re-election this year to join them on the campaign trail to safeguard vulnerable seats.

Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Doug Jones of Alabama and Gary Peters of Michigan were said to be among their number.

“You can tell he’s real fired up, he’s working hard, he’s going to be out there and be everywhere as much as he possibly can,” Senator Peters commented. “I’ve certainly encouraged him and Kamala to be in Michigan as much as they can.

[18 September 2020 14:24 · Joe Sommerlad]

‘Who the hell thinks you need an Ivy League degree to be president?’

One of the most interesting aspects of Biden’s CNN town hall last night was his willingness to talk about white privilege - a subject Donald Trump would be unlikely to address (and probably unwise to dwell in).

Biden also used his own life story to hit out Ivy League elitism and champion his working-class Scranton roots.

 “Who the hell thinks you need an Ivy League degree to be president?” he responded to a question on his higher education recorded, which has not stopped him serving as a Delaware senator for 36 years and as vice president.

"Guys like me, the first people in their family to go to college," Biden continued. "We are as good as anybody else. 

"And guys like Trump, who inherited everything and squandered what they inherited, are the people that I've always found a problem with."

[18 September 2020 13:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

Biden well ahead of Trump in Arizona and Maine in new poll

More favourable polling news from the Democratic challenger courtesy of the latest NYT/Siena survey today, although North Carolina still looks tight.

[18 September 2020 13:20 · Joe Sommerlad]

‘I converted a Trump supporter - my 87-year-old mom’

For Indy Voices, here’s Barbara Field on how she finally convinced her elderly mother to break with Trumpism after this year of unbridled horror, convincing her his self-made image is all bluster and his negligence, incompetence and cronyism in office has by no means made America great again.

[18 September 2020 12:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump’s most-watched campaign ad on YouTube is overloaded with misinformation attacking Biden over China

Here’s Chris Riotta on some outrageously dishonest advertising for the president’s re-election campaign, again seeking to tie his rival to Beijing on scant evidence while glorying in his own botched trade war.

I’d post the offending video here for your perusal but why help him?