Kamala being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel tonight is enlightening but also frustrating

[live love laugh]

The frustrating part comes from her saying that the Epstein files weren’t released by Biden becausethey took an absolute hands-off approach to politically interfering with the justice department. Also, Kimmel asks her if she thought Biden did enough to help her in her campaign. She said something to the effect of some in the administration didn’t do enough.

I take issue with both answers. Finger pointing even indirectly at Biden angers me because he extended an Olive branch to Harris selecting her her as VP even as she was critical of him during their campaign.

No one seems like to take Biden‘s feelings into account. He was blindsided by the swift momentum that led him to step down. I cannot imagine he was in any shape to lend support. He needed support. And I find Harris to be ungrateful.

I also take issue because of the purity stance with not interfering with the justice department. That’s just pure bullshit and it’s why we are here today.

Still watching…

[Silent Type]

1. Might have been better for Harris to wait awhile, but I can see her being "ungrateful." It was just a bad situation

that hit the fan on June 27th (debate).

[Intractable]

2. Biden's feelings ???

He left us all with the impression that he'd voluntarily leave after one term. But, his feelings?

Biden *felt* he was up for the job of campaigning for a second term when he clearly wasn't.

I called him the best "president of my lifetime" up until that disastrous debate. I knew then we'd lose the presidency and both houses of congress.

Even then, he didn't get out. It took weeks of convincing him, with Nancy Pelosi giving the final push, which came far too late. It gave Kamala little time to ramp up a campaign.

Also, IMHO, his choice of her as VP was weird. She was the very bottom of the primary picks in 2020.

Kamala should have been the AG, instead of Garland. She'd have made a fine president, but so would so many other Dem candidates.

Biden saved us from Trump in 2020, only to deliver him to us in 2024.

Those are my "feelings."

[misanthrope]

4. Well, I knew Biden's one-term promise wouldn't hold

Last edited Fri Dec 19, 2025, 11:40 AM - Edit history (1)

Anyone who had seen him in action since the 1980s and caught a whiff of his ambition knew that once he got in office, he was going to run for re-election. Most politicians have pretty big egos and they can't resist the pull to power. I expected as much and sure enough, he did so.

[W_HAMILTON]

15. He never made a one-term promise.

From reading the comments of those that think otherwise, they seem to not have been Biden's biggest supporters to begin with, so I'm wondering if they wanted to read too much into what was never there.

The closest thing he ever said was that he wanted to be a transitional president, but that doesn't mean you can only serve one term to be one...

[misanthrope]

22. You're right

I shouldn’t have used the term “promise” when “allusion” would be more apt.

[mr715]

24. Well, he got his wish.

He was certainly a transitional president.

[W_HAMILTON]

25. And, unfortunately, we now got the government we deserve.

[PatSeg]

27. Yes, that's how I remember it

Yet I've heard too many people this past year claim that he said he would only serve one term. First of all, running for president on the promise to only serve one term is a political loser. Second, he set a lot of things in motion that he wanted to complete.

There are a lot of people who never liked Biden and in spite of his accomplishments in the White House, we see them criticizing him and blaming him for Kamala Harris's loss in 2024. That's rather low.

[mr715]

28. Why?

SIGNIFICANT EDIT RE: 1 TERM GOALS: His 1st and only goal should've been to prevent Trump from ever holding office again. He should have loosed dogs of war on him, scorched the Earth and salted it after. That he assumed the wheels of justice would move slowly but inevitably was unbecomingly naive of a man with his experience.

If he "set a lot of things in motion that he wanted to complete," they should have been implemented in 1 term. I agree that running on 1 term is objectively poor tactics from a political capital standpoint, but only if you are concerned about your own political future, not the existential fate of the Republic.

I liked Biden just fine until he showed me, on TV, that he was incapable of *running* for President. My opinion of him nosedived when he took a month following the debate to accept that he had been played by his campaign staff / pollsters and it took Nancy Pelosi to "do things the easy way or the hard way".

The fact that he still harbors a resentment towards Speaker Emerita Pelosi for her entirely clear-eyed evaluation of what happened and what would certain happen if he continued to run speaks to his personal hubris. There is no way around it.

And with the benefit of hindsight let us be similarly reflective. The man has stage 4 cancer. It is an objective fact that he was in poor health.

[PatSeg]

31. Sorry you feel that way

Different people view the world differently and I can accept that.

[mr715]

33. And I appreciate both your perspective

and your grace.

You are a good person.

[PatSeg]

36. Thank you

[live love laugh]

48. "Should've" ... Monday morning QBs always win.

[stopdiggin]

52. and boy - did we get plenty of "howa' shoulda' been done" in that dose.

the level of expertise is stunning!

I'm doing a plus 1 - - - and see ya 1 - -

[Intractable]

56. You're real late with this response. Too late to be a QB for anything.

[live love laugh]

60. lol ... being latER and wrong is worse.

[Intractable]

61. I'm going to put you on my ignore list.

Because responses like this are what it's for.

[live love laugh]

95. Thanks

[beaglelover]

41. He definitely alluded in the 2020 campaign to being a transitional POTUS.

[Mysterian]

19. Biden never promised to be a one-term president

Why are you lying about President Biden?

[misanthrope]

21. It is my inference of the word "transitional."

It isn’t deliberate dishonesty but interpretation.

[mr715]

26. It sure is dishonest adjacent. nt

[Jack Valentino]

50. For about the fiftieth time, Biden NEVER 'promised' to be a one-term president!

There is absolutely no truth to that whatsoever. Others may have made that inference,
but he never said it.

[Solomon]

6. Thank you. He got in there in the first

place by saying he would serve only one term.

[ITAL]

16. He never once said that

He implied at times that he'd serve four years, but he never came out and said it in so many words.

[mr715]

23. And if he were truly honest about serving 2 terms,

he'd have never won the primary.

[misanthrope]

34. I beg to differ

Last edited Fri Dec 19, 2025, 10:04 PM - Edit history (1)

I think just enough people were so burned on Trump at that point they wanted some relief. I also think part of what secured the election for him is that he was an old, white guy in a nation eaten up with sexism and racism.

[mr715]

37. I meant the primary

You are correct that Trump was dead in the water.

[Skittles]

7. good post

I agree except I didn't care for Biden as the initial pick - I did not think he was the only one who could have beaten Trump, and I knew he would only be able to handle one term. Sucks.

[Intractable]

9. Ironically, in 2000, both Biden and Harris were near the bottom for me.

But, Biden rose to be "the best president in my lifetime." (I was born to LBJ.)

Biden had balls, and was good at manipulating Republicans. (Obama was never so good in this regard.)

But, Biden didn't know when to quit.

Kamala ran a fine campaign. She was light-years ahead of her 2000 self.

>> Sucks.

No matter how eloquent I wish to be, you sure said it all, here.

[Skittles]

10. you don't need THE most delicate body part for courage

and to each his own, he isn't even in my top three

but I do agree Kamala did the best she could for her campaign.

[mr715]

14. During the campaign, I thought it was flawless.

I remember the DNC crackling with energy that I'd never experienced. It eclipsed Obama. It was good TV.

I couldn't stand that Cheney was on the campaign trail and that Kitzinger was being considered for cabinet/executive offices. But I thought maybe there'd be a coalition forming -- call it, idk, antifa. Some sort of anti-fascist coalition...

[mr715]

13. He was good until he wasn't.

Former President Biden was potentially a great president, had he achieved his goal, which was to fight back fascism.

But he lost, and as a consequence is reduced to an interregnum. President Inter-Trump. Every fight he had, and every victory has been pyrrhic. Except perhaps judicial appointments.

[live love laugh]

53. Biden's goal was to fight fascism? This is more revisionist than factual.

[mr715]

63. "Fight for the soul of the nation"

His words. His campaign.

[live love laugh]

78. Once again your revisionist disinformation is not provable,

[mr715]

88. Revisionist disinformation is rarely provable.

I will own where I am wrong. What exactly is your intent here?

[live love laugh]

89. Stop posting lies or adding to them.

[mr715]

90. Not posting lies nor adding to them.

I am presenting my perspective. You challenged a claim, I did a quick google search and could not validate, so conceded a specific point.

You are welcome to challenge my claims and educate me.

[live love laugh]

91. Your perspective is lies.

[Doodley]

77. Don't you think that any good president should have that goal, if faced with the threat of a Trump-like creature?

[live love laugh]

80. The OP claims failure because BIDEN didn't stop fascism. Neither did his predecessors.

Are all of them failures too?

[mr715]

83. Yes - all the way back to Jefferson, Hamilton, and Washington.

[Doodley]

84. Biden was the president who lost to a fascist, a fascist who is destroying the America we knew.

[mr715]

86. And facilitated his ascent

by remaining steadfastly tied to "norms" and "protocol" while the house was on fire.

By not being visible enough, either because of choice or health, doesn't matter.

By making it politics-as-usual me or thee.

By making a fool of every Democratic supporter of his because of that damn debate.

[live love laugh]

93. More revisionistic drivel and lies ...

[mr715]

85. To put a finer point on it,

any good President, on the heels of January 6th.

[MichMan]

11. Typically VP candidates are not primary contenders

Joe Biden stated he would only select a Black woman as VP, and Harris got the call. Not sure who else was on his list, but I was surprised given that during the primary, she had implied he was racist.

[Intractable]

18. And by stating in advance, that "he would only select a Black woman as VP," he reduced her to it.

It would have been so much better for him to have picked her without announcing the demographics in advance.

She was somewhat invisible as VP.

[live love laugh]

54. Huh? When did Biden ever say he would ONLY pick a black female VP?

[Intractable]

55. Are you serious here?

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/politics/joe-biden-four-black-women-vice-president

Maybe not, eh?

[live love laugh]

66. Bullshit link. Take your revisionist disinformation elsewhere.

Joe Biden did not pledge to only pick a Black woman as his vice president. He explicitly pledged to pick a woman to be his running mate and to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

[mr715]

68. Woman VP, Black woman Justice.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/15/biden-woman-vice-president-131309

[live love laugh]

71. He did not PLEDGE to pick a BLACK WOMAN VP.

[mr715]

72. He did "vow" to have a woman nt

[live love laugh]

74. The lie is BLACK woman. Don't back out now ....

[mr715]

76. You are apparently correct / I was wrong

based on the sources I am finding, that he did not vow to have black woman VP. Just a female VP.

[Doodley]

79. Your original point is still relevant. It was used against Kamala by MAGA, with Trump calling her a "DEI hire."

[mr715]

87. I'm fairly sure I remember a debate

where Biden said he'd have a black woman VP, but I cannot source it so I will assume the appropriate logical position since I am making the extraordinary claim.

Still, though, I am troubled that some are more concerned about Biden than they are themselves.

Biden, had resigned from office or decided not to run after the midterms, would be a lion of the party. No loss for him, just adulation and love. Can go to all the same parties, get treated as a party elder.

Instead he went out with a whimper, clinging with his nails to the office in a way that made it questionable whether humble ol' uncle Joe was ever all that humble to begin with.

[live love laugh]

92. Another load of drivel...

[mr715]

65. It happened when he did it. nt

[live love laugh]

67. IOW you've got nothing ....

[mr715]

70. You are under no obligation

to google it, but you can. It happened. He vowed to have a female VP, not necessarily black but he was painted into a corner during an early debate by then Senator Harris.

[live love laugh]

73. But you backed the allegation that he did pledge to pick a black female VP.

So you’re squirming out of the lie now?

[mr715]

75. I was wrong about the race part.

No squirming. I admit I thought it was a black woman VP, but it turns out no - he only promised a black woman Justice and a woman VP.

Wouldn't call it a lie.

Did Joe Biden promise he'd have a female VP?

[PatSeg]

29. I was so burned when she did that during a primary debate

She was a friend of the family and her busing comments were very hurtful to Joe. When Joe displayed forgiveness, I was able to do the same a bit reluctantly. She turned out to be an excellent candidate, but I sense a slight lack of loyalty to one who treated her so magnanimously.

[mr715]

32. I truly don't understand

Why we should care about "hurtful" attacks or "forgiveness". Number one, we don't know if these are truly felt emotions or if they are performative. Consequently, they should not enter political calculus. I.E. I don't care if Joe Biden was crying every night over his perceived betrayal. His job is to serve us, so he should (excuse me) man up and get over it.

Incidentally, I am not so sure that appointment to VP demonstrates forgiveness as it is a political graveyard. If you recall, the early days of the Biden administration, Kamala Harris was the preferred bulwark against any attacks re: immigration. He didn't exactly set her up in a strong position.

Compare, for example, former President Obama who gave then Senator Clinton the docket at State - the most prestigious and independent of the cabinet agencies.

[MichMan]

38. When Obama picked Biden as VP, you believe it was a political graveyard appointment?

Compared to Hillary being chosen as SOS ?

[mr715]

40. Yes.

I do not believe Joe Biden was selected as VP because of his political aspirations. I think it common knowledge that President Obama was passing the torch to Sec. Clinton, not Vice President Biden. I think that was true in 2008.

[EdmondDantes_]

42. Sometimes two people can have different views of the same thing

Biden's a grown adult. If he couldn't handle someone disagreeing with him over the value of desegregating schools because Harris among others benefitted from it, that's not on Harris.

One isn't owed absolute fealty, president or not. A strong president should have people in their administration who can tell them they are wrong or present a different opinion. We currently have an administration where the president needs to be told he's the best and it sucks.

[PatSeg]

44. The instance I'm referring to wasn't quite like that

It was an accusation that implied Biden was racist. He took it personally and quite frankly I would as well. Later she brushed it off with a laugh and said it was just a political tactic, which actually made it worse.

I remember years ago when Bush said something similar to John McCain about the awful false story his campaign spread regarding his adopted Bangladeshi daughter. McCain told Bush how hurt he was by it and Bush just touched his hand and dismissively said, "It was just politics John", as if somehow, that made it okay.

Of course, it wasn't okay. That was Lee Atwater dirty tricks politics and that is why so many people don't believe a word politicians say and end up disgusted with politics in general.

[madibella]

58. And this is why I am no fan of Kamala.

She’s got snake like tendencies.

[live love laugh]

69. Seriously?

[live love laugh]

94. Kamala's "snake like tendencies"...what's that mean?

[beaglelover]

39. He completely screwed us in respect to the 2024 election. Love this line in your post:

Biden saved us from Trump in 2020, only to deliver him to us in 2024.

[Midwestern Democrat]

62. I now sometimes think Biden's victory in 2020 was a case of "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it"

I'm not kidding - I sometimes think it would have been better if Trump had won in 2020 - he would have lost the popular vote and his victory could have been somewhat waived away as due to the advantages of incumbency and the electoral college; January 6th wouldn't have happened; his second term cabinet and staff probably would have looked much more like the first term than what we're seeing now; and of course, we'd now be done with the son-of-a-bitch. Even if the debate disaster had not happened, Biden's term did not help the Democratic Party - the disastrous handling of the border, the blatantly heavy-handed (and alienating) pandering to certain demographic groups, the indifference to addressing economic concerns, the overall ineptitude at politics/communication - no Democrat is going to be running for the 2028 nomination promising to be Biden II.

[ITAL]

17. Closest was Franklin Pierce or William H. Taft

Pierce served as US Attorney for the District of New Hampshire and Taft had been Solicitor General.

[live love laugh]

20. Trump's "skill set" qualifies him?

[stopdiggin]

5. the statement concerning the 'hands off stance' is just fundamentally factual

This was absolutely the baseline administration stance. Really don't understand why Harris would be under criticism for stating what in fact was basic truth.

( are certain posters imagining that Harris should have/could have countermanded that Biden position? )

( I end up being reinforced in the position that the Democrats really dare not nominate a female ... Much as it turns my stomach to have to say so. )

[nilram]

35. Every good administration has kept that "purity stance".

The fact that it's been broken by selfish, lawless, oafish miscreants is why we're here today.

[stopdiggin]

51. and - while I desperately fear that it may not be possible to put the genie back

in the bottle - I am also wildly uneasy with the (countering) cries of 'new normal' and 'unleash the demons'. (down that road leads madness .. )

[betsuni]

8. Harris is correct: Justice dept. should be independent, no political or personal influence.

She's an expert.

[mr715]

12. I'm sorry but

why should I care about "Biden's feelings"?

Politics is about outcomes. Our political leaders are not our friends. They are not our family. They sign up for a job that requires they be under the microscope 24 hours a day, every day, for as long as they serve and then some. They get perks for making this choice. They get to be in history books. They get to be the center of attention. Don't pretend like they don't want it, too. Every politician has some political instincts.

[PatSeg]

30. I care about his feelings

He was a good man who served our country well for decades and rarely got the respect he deserved.

[Intractable]

57. Don't worry. Biden will be okay. He's much better off than the most of us under Trump.

Trump isn't taking Biden's healthcare. He's taking mine.

In the context of the disappointments and hardships faced by many millions who voted for Kamala, Biden's feelings aren't even a drop in the bucket.

[PatSeg]

59. And that is the sort of thing

Joe Biden would say, which is why I care about his feelings. Such empathy is rare, especially from someone in his position.

[mr715]

64. Empathy can be performative

We do not know the man behind the mask, all we know are outcomes.

I will agree with you that in 2020, I thought Biden would be a "healer" given that what, 10,000,000 people died.

But if his empathy were authentic, he should've felt the anxiety we had when Trump decided to run again. He should have treated it with the same urgency that he treated his NATO meetings and never subjected us to that debate.

Do I theoretically care about a generic person? Yeah. But as stated, Biden is wealthy, famous, has the best healthcare in the world, has an army of admirers. That he possesses a basic human emotion that Trump does not doesn't elevate him beyond criticism.

Do we care about Nancy Pelosi's feelings now that Biden won't return her calls? Do we care about the feelings of the families torn apart by ICE despite Biden "Trump proofing" their citizenship status?

[Doodley]

81. You are right. The feelings of millions who lose their healthcare because of Trump, lose benefits to feed their

children, their right to decide what to do with their bodies, their right to be trans without governmental intimidation, to walk down the street without fear of ICE. The list goes on and on. These are the people whose feeling I care about. Joe Biden is just one in a whole nation.

[karynnj]

43. Agree 100 percent with your comments

I think it fair when Harris speaks of the very short time she had to put together a general election campaign.In However the timing was not as different as many imply. Both Obama and Bill Clinton won the nomination in June of their election years. Every campaign needs to greatly increase from the primary campaign. While she did not have her own primary team, she had the team Biden built to which she added her long term operatives.

As to Biden personally helping her, a genuine question is whether her closest advisors WANTED him to do more. Were there things they asked for that he refused? I could be very wrong, but I kind of think he got his speech at the convention and then they wanted him gone. Not even campaign appearances in Pennsylvania where he had always been popular.

What I wonder is what would have happened had Biden picked Klobuchar rather than Harris. Less Hollywood, but a great story herself and Midwestern. Obviously it would also have changed the VP pick.

[MichMan]

45. Klobuchar as VP in 2020 or as the presidential candidate in 2024?

Klobuchar did not fit his criteria for VP in 2020, and it would have been very problematic to pass over a Black woman VP for president in 2024.

[karynnj]

47. You are right. I thought the promise was a woman.

[JI7]

46. Biden and Harris are adults and friends.

Biden isn't hurting over any criticism.

[lostnfound]

49. Place blame where it belongs - the voters who didn't vote for her

whether deluded, racist, sexist, greedy or dumb, they failed the assignment.
She would have been a very good president.

Every expects Dems to leap tall buildings gracefully, while Republicans are praised for not drooling on themselves.

[Doodley]

82. Beautiful said. Sadly true.