Last week Jonathan Martin wrote a column criticizing Joe Biden for not trying harder to get support from never-Trump Republicans:
I reached out to every current Republican lawmaker who has refused to commit to Trump in the general election. Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) Mitt Romney (Utah), Todd Young (Indiana), Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) all said the same: they’ve not heard from Biden. “It is surprising,” Collins told me. “It’s especially surprising because President Biden does understand the Senate, he has personal relationships with some of us.”
Martin was both widely praised and widely mocked for this. But today brings news that Biden is starting to run a new campaign ad:
The 30-second ad, entitled Save America. Join Us, targets Haley voters in predominantly suburban battleground state postal districts where she performed well against Trump in Republican primary contests.... It [] signals how Biden, a longtime champion of bipartisanship, is seeking to reach across the aisle one last time, courting moderate Republicans who cannot stomach their own party’s nominee.
The Biden campaign sees an opening in continued Republican opposition to Trump even after he clinched the party nomination last month. Haley dropped out of the primary race after Super Tuesday on 5 March but pointedly did not endorse the former president.
This is not the same thing that Martin was talking about, but it's in the same ballpark. And it may be that Biden feels like he needs to till the soil a bit before asking prominent Republicans for their support. They're most likely to say no, after all, and once you've gotten a no it's hard to turn that around. Sometimes it's better to wait.
"Republicans for Biden" is an obvious strategy for the Biden campaign. And maybe he should be setting it up now rather than later. But he'll get there.
What Biden really needs is to line up folks who worked in the Trump administration to say publicly that Trump is a lunatic who has no business holding any office, let alone the presidency.
I can imagine a great ad where former cabinet members and others prominent in the Trump administration state that Trump is clueless, ignorant, incompetent, and so on. And other ads could feature current and former GOP members of Congress saying the same.
Kevin already posted all the documentation needed for such an ad just a few weeks ago:
unhinged, idiot, off the rails (John Kelly); has the understanding of a fifth grader (Jim Mattis); racist, misogynist and bigot (Omarosa Manigault Newman); dumb as shit (Gary Cohn); dope, intelligence of a kindergartner (H.R. McMaster); wholly unfit to be in office, the most divisive president in history (Cassidy Hutchinson); idiot (Steve Mnuchin and Reince Priebus); like an 11-year-old-child (Steve Bannon); moron (Rex Tillerson); detached from reality, shouldn't be anywhere near the Oval Office (Bill Barr); fucking liar (John Dowd); threatens our democracy (Mark Esper); laughing fool (John Bolton); failed at being the president (Mitch Mulvaney); utter disgrace (Tom Bossert); racist, conman, cheat (Michael Cohen); wholly unfit to hold office ever again (Sarah Matthews); has never cared about America, its citizens, its future or anything but himself (Ty Cobb); shown time and time again that he's willing to put his political ambitions ahead of what's best for the country (Alyssa Farah Griffin); doing great and irreparable harm to my country (Gen. Mark Milley); undermine[d] a peaceful transition in accordance with our Constitution (Gen. Joseph Dunford); threat to democracy (Miles Taylor); very little understanding of what it means to be in the military (Richard Spencer); off the rails, crazy, nihilistic (Anthony Scaramucci); cares about no one but himself (Stephanie Grisham); absolutely failed (Elizabeth Neumann); flat-out disregard for human life (Olivia Troye); has no principles. None. None. (Maryanne Berry Trump); fucking maniac (Mary Trump).
i believe the exact quote from tillerson was "f*****g moron."
Why not both/and?
Gosar's entire family didn't sway the voters enough though. Or even watching and listening to him for ten seconds.
How about this: if these Republicans are so weak willed they have to be courted away from the "party," maybe they should stay there - because they are part of the problem.
This! But as we must remember, only Democrats have agency, and therefore only Democrats bear responsibility. And that goes double for compromising and Reaching Across The Aisle.
Very true! The pundits can't be wrong, can they?
"...they are part of the problem."
Yup. And by becoming part of "Republicans for Biden", they can become part of the solution, no?
We need all hands on deck. Welcome Stalin to the fold, fight him after we defeat Hitler.
No urgency. Let the Trump poison continue to sour the GOP voters who aren't MAGAts. Just getting them to stay home or not pull the lever for Trump in numbers is huge. Convincing lifelong Republicans to actually vote *for* Biden is a big lift.
concur. Not voting for Trump has only half the value electorally, but it takes much less than half the effort. Far more bang for the buck getting Dem-leaning non-voters to the polls. (Although in the case of high-profile Republican politicians, it certainly would be worth at least some effort, IF there's any real possibility of success.)
Exactly. My best friend is a very conservative Evangelical Christian. We don't talk about politics much, but he did volunteer to me that in 2016 and again in 2020 he and his wife both voted for 3rd party presidential candidates.
Otherwise known as throwing away their vote. But don't tell them that.
My friends understand that perfectly well. Their reasoning was "No Republican can vote for Hillary/Biden, and no Christian can vote for Trump." So they took the only remaining option.
I'm pretty sure they are going to do it again this fall, but this time they will probably have a lot more company.
Sure, it's a "big lift". But isn't there also a potentially big payoff?
If by summer or fall there's a group of prominent Republicans (members of Congress, governors, former Cabinet officers, etc.) who are publicly and actively "Republicans for Biden", doesn't that make it easier for centrist Republican voters to vote for Biden?
Enlighten me, who mocked Jonathan Martin's column?
The Bulwark people have been saying the same thing as Martin: Has Kamala Harris reached out to Mike Pence? Love or hate them they are former Republican campaign people. They know politics and how to appeal to Republicans.
This is a really tight race, the Democrats should be doing everything they can to get as many prominent R names on board as they can, especially people who served under Trump.
The message: I disagree with Joe Biden on almost everything, but I agree on the biggest thing. If Trump is elected he will do all he can to end our democracy, and he might succeed. I have never voted for a Democrat, I never want to again. But his time is different, this time I have to. And by the way Trump won in 2020.
The main counter argument is that it will turn off the left, they hate these guys. Emphasizing they cannot stand Biden policy mitigates that risk.
Glad to hear you recognize, belatedly, the menace that Trump represents. But, wait...you think Trump *won* in 2020?? Are you privy to *any* evidence that the rest of the world lacks, or do you just like asserting nonsense to provoke others?. (Fair enough, it seems to have worked)
Sorry, no edits now. I blitzed out, of course Biden won. I am a long-time Democrat who welcomes anti-Trump Republicans.
"And by the way Trump won in 2020."
Roseanne, that you?
I glitched. Of course Biden won. Can I edit?
It allows you to edit within 5 minutes after posting. It shows "click to edit" underneath the post. After 5 minutes you cannot edit anymore.
I'm so embarrassed.
Don't be, between a keyboard too small for comfort, an agressive autocomplete, and, admitedly because I walk away and come back minutes later, having lost the thread of a sentence but a spiffier, pithier way to say what I thougt I meant instead of really meant. My worst offenses tend to be with articles.
ON EDIT: See what I mean? The next-to-last sentence.
Thanks for the kind words
The five minutes thing is absurd, along with most of how WordPress works.
And by the way, Trump is guilty.
Hey all, I failed to proofread my comment. I know Biden won, unfortunately no edit or delete is allowed.
"And by the way Trump won in 2020."
This ^^^ is why this article is way more about the reckless fecklessness of these so-called Republican "leaders" than anything about Joe Biden. What self-centered prima donnas that need someone to come to them. Susan "Trump Learned His Lesson" Collins is the worst of the batch, a senator who has never held to her supposed convictions when things got real. Cowards down to the last, except for Romney, who has been on his way out for 4 years. Only when the GOP cowards are leaving do they do anything remotely of moral substance, and barely that.
But here's the thing that the article doesn't address: These feckless cowards will NEVER advocate for Biden: it will the literal end of their political careers because even the "reasonable" members of the GOP still think the man who got smoked in the election actually won, despite lacking even an atom of evidence. The same party that thinks the economy got worse, not because of data but because Orange Jesus lost is not the party to speak reason to. How are you going to explain a logical argument to people who don't employ logic? How are you going to exhort democracy to people who think losing elections means you won?
Biden is doing exactly what he should: ignoring the attention-seeking prima donnas who couldn't give a whit about moral rectitude and focusing on the sliver of the electorate that, for whatever crazy reason, hasn't yet made up its mind.
Yup - this and some of the other comments. Along the lines of the Green Lantern theory of politics. Like everyone knows so much more than Joe. Jeebus.
This 1000 times.
My mistake, I meant to write Biden won. How can I live this down?
Sadly, the Internet is forever. Everyone will have forgotten by the time this post drops off the front page. Cross your fingers that Kevin is feeling prolific this weekend.
"How are you going to explain a logical argument to people who don't employ logic?"
We all employ logic. If what's logical from one group's perspective is illogical from another group's perspective, then it's also illogical from a shared interest perspective. What's logical in the long term from a shared interest perspective is illogical in the short term from a narrow perspective.
The MAGA Republican Party is perfectly logical from a "what's in our short-term interest and who cares about anything else" perspective.
Translation: start by establishing what interest is being served, and then decide what is and what is not logical.
If that's not what you're doing consciously, then you're unconscious mind is doing it for you.
The most important word in "heart and mind" is the one in the middle.
That's simply wrong. Logical reasoning consists of arriving at conclusions based on the best available evidence. "God is punishing New York with earthquakes" is not logical reasoning.
There's a dictionary issue here. You're using "logical" where I would use "reasonable". There are lots of things you can do that are reasonable but which cannot be logically proven to be correct.
That's simply wrong. Logical reasoning includes verifying the premises and proceeding from the primitives by (human-expressed) Boolean reasoning and predicate logic.
Have the never-Trump Republicans considered just doing the right thing in this case? Because they don't actually need Joe Biden to beg them. They can just do it.
This.
+1. What does Susan Collins expect the president to do? Explain why a second Trump term would be bad for America?
The Republicans against Trump folks are self-organizing. People shouldn't panic.
An aside: Biden raised $90M in March, compared to Trump's $66M. We'll see if Trump's numbers are real or an illusion from money moving around when they file their FEC forms.
We should also assume that much of what the Defendant raises will go (probably illegally) for his legal bills, fines and penalties, and further filings. Whereas what Biden raises can be used (legally) for campaigning.
So the differential is much greater than it seems.
> “It is surprising,” Collins told me. “It’s especially surprising because President Biden does understand the Senate, he has personal relationships with some of us.”
Yeah, Biden knows the Senate in general and you specifically. He was VP during the ACA negotiations, and knows that you reaching out to Democrats is like Lucy offering you the football. You can announce your support for Biden without him reaching out, what exactly do you need him to talk to you about?
Well but you see she is concerned. Perhaps even second-degree-forehead-furrow concerned. And her concern needs to be respected. What ever happened to comity? Tut tut, and tsk, even!
This is a little trickier than it might look.
Point 1: if Collins et al have really decided that trump is a solid no, then why do they have to "hear" directly from Biden? How narcissistic is to that they know the country would be in peril under trump, but they have to have their egos massaged by the president in order to effectuate what they know is right?
Point 2: if it ever got out that Biden was personally calling any of these Republicans (and it would), he would be blasted to smithereens by Cornel West, Jill Stein, and RFK Jr -- and those messages would be embraced by many on the left.
I think this nudging should come, not from Biden himself, but from the conservative influencers who can speak to those elected Republicans. Look at George Conway, who not only said he will vote for Biden, but donated ALMOST A MILLION DOLLARS to Biden's campaign!
"How narcissistic is to that they know the country would be in peril under trump, but they have to have their egos massaged by the president in order to effectuate what they know is right?"
Are you really asking that question about *politicians*?
"Republicans for Biden" needs to be a REPUBLICAN initiative, not part of the Democratic Biden campaign. If these guys are so hot to defeat Trump, they'd speak up for Biden on their own. Maybe Joe can suggest it to them, but have him pay? No way.
I was wondering why these senators could expect the president to contact them when an obvious explanation popped into my head: They expect him to bribe them to publicly support him! Not with anything crass like money, but by throwing his weight behind some of their pet projects and causes. A Collins tunnel for Susan! Silence on the abortion issue, for Bill! No Democratic candidate to oppose Lisa next time!
Unworthy thoughts, I know.
"unworthy" ... and thus most likely accurate. We note in passing that the Lincoln Project has never begged or demanded Democratic support...
They don't want to cut off their ties to what's left of the sane GOP.
They also want to avoid any taint from milquetoast/high-minded Democratic campaign methods. The enemy of my enemy . . .
https://youtu.be/LnWzSU5-5YY?si=HkXgUZc2-BDUR5V2
“the sane GOP”
Can you cite an example?
i've gotten solicitations from the lincoln project. begged or demanded support, no. asked for, yes. and why not? no different than asking your allies for help.
I think it was Jack Anderson who used to say about politicians that most people would be astounded if they knew just how thin-skinned they are, how tender their egos are. Seems to be quite a bit of that on display here from the likes of Susan Collins.
But also, Martin knows better than this. Joe doesn't just call his pal Susan out of the blue and tell her he needs her to jilt the only party she's ever run with in 30 years of public life, or whatever it is. Low-level feelers go out, staffers confab with staffers, gifts are exchanged, like a diplomatic negotiation. The principals don't talk until the deals are done. So I'm not sure what Martin is up to here.
I interned with Jack Anderson in 1976, when his column appeared daily in something like 600 newspapers and EVERYBODY knew who he was. These days, it's my experience that almost nobody knows who he was, which is a shame because he was a pretty great guy. Thank you so much, Altoid, for quoting him!
You're very welcome. It was at a public talk of one kind or another; I couldn't tell you when or where exactly, but I have the feeling it wasn't long after Watergate when politicians' ethics and habits were a topic. As I remember, he wasn't willing to be starry-eyed about them but didn't show the kind of contempt that some had then and that's especially current these days, and that statement-- or maybe it was an aside-- has always stuck with me. Getting in to see him then was a big deal.
That's simply wrong. Logical reasoning includes verifying the sentence and proceeding from there by (human-expressed) Boolean reasoning and predicate logic.
“It is surprising,” Collins told me. “It’s especially surprising because President Biden does understand the Senate, he has personal relationships with some of us.”
Oh, he's reaching out all right. just not to you because in fact he does knows the senate. That means that after working alongside you for decades he knows exactly what your word is worth.
I agree with you regarding how annoying Susan Collins is, furrowing her brow, so deeply concerned, yet voting R every time. Except the time it mattered most, the 2nd impeachment. Collins voted to convict.
That tells me a Biden endorsement is not impossible, and a loud and proud never-Trump statement a possible get.
I pretty much buy the Sarah Longwell idea that Republicans need a permission structure to not vote Trump, and even better, to vote Biden. Every Republican senator counts. Collins' vote on impeachment mattered.
None of this is to imply I have any fondness for Susan Collins. I don't. But she did the right thing once and I want her to do the right thing again.
The only things that matter are the endorsements. Actual voting takes place in private and a person can say they're going to vote one way but may actually end up voting another way. It doesn't make any difference how Collins or Murkowski or any of the other "moderate" Rs vote; it matters what they say in public before voting takes place.
Martin is a fucking hack and his garbage articles like this one is a result. Let's get that out of the way first and foremost.
I don't doubt the Biden-Harris campaign will reach out to anti-Trump Republicans in some fashion, probably through paid media.
And the point is to reach out to anti-Trump GOP voters not just politicians.
Because it seems like Martin and his ilk want to see Christie and maybe even Pence endorse Biden at the DNC Convention. Sounds like he even jerks-off to such a notion.
Sorry Jonathan, not going to happen. Neither Christie or Pence is going to stand in front of an audience of teachers and securalists and be booed ceaselessly no matter if they endorse Biden.