While it's true Biden doesn't poll very well with video game message board posters, he does do extremely well with the demographics that actually f'n vote in elections. Those people are coming out in record numbers for him and downplaying it only shows ignorance.
Let me preface this by saying I voted Bernie in Michigan. Warren was my first choice until she dropped out. Sanders was an easy #2 for me. Saying that, Bernie vote was mostly symbolic as the writing is on the wall and Biden will likely win MI pretty handily and FL next week will almost assuredly end it.
Anyways, posting drive-by 20-second clips of Biden literally doing "Biden" things means almost zero to the people that have known him for decades+. Biden is not some unknown commodity. And also, most people find "Biden-isms" endearing rather than disqualifying and his charisma is a big plus. Posting out context or edited clips is also a very Trumpian thing to do. I don't agree with Biden on much, but I fully feel he is a "decent" person and his heart is in the right place. Unlike the risk of Clinton, people "like" Biden the person exponentially more than most politicians.
Yesterday, Sanders went after something Biden said in 1974 regarding abortion. That ain't the way forward either. Like I said, people KNOW who Joe Biden is and what he stands for. He was the extremely popular Vice President of perhaps the most popular person living on this planet today. Passing some purity tests from decades ago just doesn't play well to the general public. Where he stands on things isn't some great mystery. Sure, it's changed over the decades, but it's just highlighting your own ignorance by acting like he's something that he is very much not.
Railing against his "cognitive" abilities or worse is also a terrible look. It shows no awareness when the alternatives are Bernie Sanders and half-man/half-Big Mac Donald Trump. it's also gross.
I know what I'm saying next is anecdotal, but good god, I have seen so much ugliness on Facebook from Sanders people that actively turns people away. For instance, my mom, a retired teacher and Warren supporter who never said a bad word about any other candidate, posted Warren's post on Medium about dropping out. My mom was devastated that day. On that thread, a few of her former students posted snake emojis, said she was screwing Sanders and other ugliness. It sucked. I've also seen GOOD people who supporter Pete, Amy or Biden be bombarded with "rat," "dementia" or other crass comments en masse almost always from Sanders supporters. What I'm saying is that Sanders people (and other candidates) need to treat Amy, Pete, Warren or other candidates that people support as FUTURE allies rather than combatants that risk alienating their support. Everyone of those people have their own unique life experiences and reasons for supporting them. Their flavor of candidate isn't all that much different than Sanders, and you should be hellbent on building bridges rather than putting up walls. Telling them they support you "dying" or whatever is an easy way to not have a productive conversation and convince them to come over. Moderates rallying around one candidate as the election goes on isn't some great "conspiracy" or ploy by the "establishment." It mostly just shows how poor Sanders/Progressives have been in expanding their coalition. When another candidate drops out and doesn't endorse Sanders or endorses another candidate, the attitude shouldn't be "fuck that person," but rather, what could we have done to "win" their support.
Also, for all of Biden's "gaffes," it's looking likely to me that the biggest gaffe of all was Sanders going on the Democratic stage and saying nice things about Castro. It doesn't matter if it's true or not, the presumptive favorite at the time who DESPERATELY needed to appeal to a broader audience literally said nice things about the boogeyman that scares so many moderates.
I guess what I hope Progressives learn from this disappointing cycle is to have a more welcoming and understanding message going forward. Fight like hell FOR your candidate rather than AGAINST other potential allies.
