This aspect involving the regret or embarrassment of the statement’s originator is what I had in mind when I cited the article where Biden commented that he “shouldn’t have said what [he] said”.

Now I ask:
In your opinion, was the “I’d take him behind the gym.. [etc.]” comment a gaffe? If not, why not?
Does Biden make gaffes?
Does Biden make gaffes more regularly than other Democratic politicians?
If Biden does not make gaffes, what weaknesses(or potential weaknesses) does he have as a candidate? And what are his strengths?

I have made specific claims that can be supported or discredited. While your comments seem to imply that you take a different view, I have no way of knowing what that view actually is: what you actually think about Biden. Perhaps we actually agree(or agree to a large extent), and you mostly take issue with my choice of words. Perhaps you think that Biden does say unfortunate or embarrassing things on occasion, but he’s really no worse than any other Democratic politician, and his reputation as “gaffe-prone” is just a media narrative(and you would probably have a decent chance of convincing me of this, if you wanted to). Or for all I know, you think that Biden is perfect, and that he has never, in his entire political career said something he later regretted, or made a mistake of any kind. This would be a pretty easy position for me to argue against(for starters, it is prima facie implausible). But I am deprived of the ability to argue against it, or any other position because you haven’t stated a position, except your earlier assertion that Biden didn’t challenge Trump to a fight. And this is no longer a point in contention.

It should go without saying that you are under no obligation to stake out a position, or to defend it with arguments. But I am not going to continue debating if you don’t. And not debating you would be fine with me. I didn’t initially comment on this post looking for a debate(it was a casual comment agreeing with something you said).

Define gaffe.

From CNN: “Now, the idea that I would actually physically get in a contest with a President of the United States or anybody else now is not what I said," Biden told the podcast. "It is not what this was about, but I should have just left it alone.”

Here’s the source:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/03/28/politics/biden-trump-fight/index.html

So I don’t think Biden would disagree that this was a gaffe.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/10/21/joe-biden-pennsylvania-hillary-clinton-rally-take-trump-behind-gym-sot.cnn

I think this was a regrettable thing to say. In the clip I linked, Biden starts out fine, with a very well delivered condemnation of Trump(over the Billy Bush tape). But saying he would(hypothetically) beat Trump up if they were(hypothetically) in high school together... it distracts from the overall point that Trump was shitty to say what he said on the Billy Bush tape. It invites Trump to turn this into a dick measuring contest about who is the tougher guy(and if I weren’t trying to be charitable to Biden, I might say Biden himself made this a dick measuring contest by implication when he said “I’d beat the hell out of him” and “I’m a pretty damn good athlete”). Ultimately Trump is wrong and shitty whether or not Biden could have(hypothetically) beat him up behind a(hypothetical) high school gym. And as much as we like to make fun of Trump’s appearance(or at least late night comedians do, and I laugh. I won’t speak for anyone else), it doesn’t really matter if he is fat and ugly. His behavior would still be shit if he was handsome.

If Trump had made the comment Biden made, there is no way I would give him a pass. Suggesting one would commit(hypothetical) violence against another political leader adds little of value(as noted, it is irrelevant to the subject at hand, in this case Trump’s shitty behavior). And it gives one’s opponent an excuse to complain about threats of violence and claim victim status. It made it very easy for Trump to deflect the actual substantive criticism Biden was trying to make(I think he was trying to say that the Billy Bush tape is *not* how decent men talk to each other in locker rooms, and that decent men do not tolerate such behavior let alone participate in it. I think that’s what “I’ve been in a lot of locker rooms” is meant to imply).

I'm not EM, but I'd say you nailed a perfect example. Good form. :)

When a guy who ended up becoming our national leader said, "I can grab a woman anywhere and she likes it," and then said, "I made a mistatement." They asked me would I like to debate this gentleman, and I said, "No. If we were in highschool, I'd take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him. I've been in a lot of locker rooms my whole life, and I'm a pretty damn good athlete. Any guy that talked that way was usually the fattest, ugliest S.O.B. in the room."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B60zjj3LapM

Elizabeth frequently says that you can't beat Trump acting like Trump so by her own standards, that would definitely have to qualify as a huge gaffe. :)

But, that is the kind of mistake the asinine media storyline on Biden often makes.

2. If not, what do you think Biden’s weaknesses(or potential weaknesses) are as a candidate? And, for good measure, what in your opinion are his strengths?

My favorite Biden gaffe? Well, there was that time he challenged Donald Trump to a physical fight. I suppose you could challenge me on whether it was technically a “gaffe”, but I do believe it was ill advised(not that I wouldn’t pay money to see it happen though. And if it makes you feel better, I would definitely favor Biden to win that fight ;)

If memory serves, there was also the time he used the term “Shylock” derogatorily. That was quite a while ago now. I don’t recall who he was referring to(as you requested, I did not use Google).

And, try not to use the google.

I agree. Biden and Sanders’ position at the top of the heap is unlikely to be merely name recognition. Sure they are the most famous candidates. But Bernie is(ironically) the Hilary Clinton of this race in the sense that Democrats mostly already know exactly how they feel about him -either very strong support or very strong dislike. I suspect a sizable amount of his support in the polls is fairly ironclad. He also has all that orginizational structure(and donor email list) he’s been building up for years.

Biden probably evokes warm feelings for a lot of Democrats as the former VP of a popular(and fondly missed) administration. Among the candidates of a more centrist persuasion(though I don’t think it is particularly accurate or helpful to draw a hard distinction between “centrist” and “progressive” *voters* ), Biden is easily the most experienced. Though gaff-prone, he has an easy charm. None of the other more center-leaning candidates seem to have his charisma. And like Bernie, he is established enough to have an excellent organization and good contacts.

Brave wins? Isn't that sweet? Whatever happened to Kirsten "Two Rifles Under the Bed"? I would wager the NRA will have something to say about this "brave" stuff. :)

Liz,

I don’t know if you watch the Canadian TV show “Letterkenny”, but I have become obsessed with it! The writing is brilliant and pegs “really small-town life” spot on. Yes, it can be crude, but so can life when you live in a place with less than 5000 folks. Just wanted to thank Canada for this gem, and since you are the only Canuck around, I offer my thanks to you.

Isn't this selling the voters a little short?

I find it very hard to believe Sanders and Biden are floating on mere name recognition. Perhaps, these early polls are defining the parameters of the race.

Beto has enough money to get some high quality media training - expect things to get slicker. He is going to be a very interesting character in this race - it was easy against Ted Cruz - he just didn't have to be a right wing nutcase - now he has to run against other Democrats and so will have to be a lot more granular in his positions, which might not suit him well.

Well, he does have the biggest hand movement. Is he crazy?