'No daylight’: Biden refused to let Harris break with him on policy issues during campaign, new book alleges

Let's blame Joe so Kamala can run again.

Not fooling me, DNC. I smell what you're cooking.

To be honest, this is just a signal that she probably wouldn't have been a good leader. Better than Trump, sure, but that bar is so low it's a tripping hazard.

She should have told Biden to pound sand after locking up the nomination.

But we should verify the claim before passing judgement.

It's ridiculous to think that Harris couldn't have done what she wanted. Once you're named the nominee, that's it. They're not going to back out.

Honestly this behavior is going to keep getting highlighted from Biden because he was an absolute stubborn idiot. He had polling showing him losing to Trump with over 400 electoral votes for MONTHS before dropping out. He blamed his family for staying in as long as he did, obviously it was him or what was left of him.

I can believe this. She seemed frustrated when she spoke about the Palestine situation, and I picked up a strong subject that she wanted to say more about her objections over Israel's actions than she did.

Sounds like an excuse. She could've had a different stance but didn't. Because she's the same thing. She was asked point blank how she's any different than Biden and she couldn't answer.

“Didn’t allow her” what does that even mean, in the context of the campaign? What the actual fuck was she doing listening to ANYTHING from Biden at that point? He was a clear looser. He stepped back from the campaign (after he was forced to, but he did nonetheless). That was an incredibly obvious opportunity for Harris to openly and cleanly split from policies she thought were wrongheaded - but nope, can’t have that. Jesus tapdancing christ.

Biden’s hubris put us here, I guess. What an unmitigated fucking tool. He sold us down the river and expects to be remembered fondly by history? Fuck that. The title of his subsection in history books will be “The President who Couldn’t Keep the Republic” (a pointed reference to Ben Franklin’s quip at the original constitutional convention).

Oh? Pulling a “Republican”? My wife made me do it? Wasn’t my fault? Attempting to distance herself so she can make a run for office again.

Honestly, I kinda don't buy the idea Biden controlled Harris. Biden could have in 2008, but not in 2024. We all saw his term. He could be great, but when he slowed and floundered, it hampered his goals.

I'm torn between:

"I don't think an adult woman would instantly bind herself to an old man, she can have bad ideas on her own."

"I don't think she had everything planned out, she took advice from those around her, and the advice was shit but it's hard to get anything from outside this POV without getting even worse feedback."

But either way, I'm kind of glad that parts of the DNC is admitting fault after royally fucking up a second time and giving us Trump again. But I was also told they learned mistakes from 2016, and clearly they didn't, and must have fired everyone who did.

I wish Harris won merely as a stop-gap who is younger and more coherent, maybe could have gotten someone better next primary. Would have been messy and I would prefer anyone else, but not as bad. But it wouldn't have stopped the fascist uprising we're having, just keeping the cyst growing until it popped. If Biden didn't get Trump arrested, I doubt Harris would have, despite her history.

She was elected, not appointed. She could say and do what she wanted and theres not much Biden could have done about it.

I am wondering if the mods of news@lemmy.world and politics@lemmy.world regret censoring the people who rightfully said these things and it would cost us the election. Like there's mods in here who go "yeah that sucks, I knew it." but also just defended Biden/Harris and removed good faith users who posted citations that even their beloved Media Bias Bot said was a good source.

They did it, banned the people who said it, and then people went "where are all those critics now? i guess putin turned them off! hurr hurr haw haw!"

Genuinely wonder if they question their choices of just doing this for free with literally zero benefit to their website and the country as a whole.

His legacy is in the toilet so congratulations advisors.

I'm calling bullshit on this.

There's no possible way that Biden or any of his people could let or not let Harris do anything. They had no actual control over her campaign.

The only outsiders who had any control over her campaign were the DNC and the party establishment - the same pieces of shit who torpedoed Sanders in 2016 and 2020,.

I'm 100% certain that this narrative is coming from them, trying to dodge the blame they so richly deserve by pinning it on the senile guy.

If anyone wants some good rage material, watch the Pod Save America interview with Harris staffers

This is hilarious, because of Biden's "I'd have won if I was the candidate" bullshit. More like "Harris might have won if I wasn't hamstringing her", but okay, sure, Joe. Let's get you to bed, now.

Wow, so if true this implies that in the Democratic party even the women running for president has to do what the big man says. Hope this is false.

Her position regarding Palestine and Israel cost her the election. Many Dems could not vote for her, so they didn't vote.

Just another example of how the Democratic party is only slightly less fucked than the Republicans.

horseshit

she had multiple chances like at the DNC convention

Harris was the candidate, not Biden. Being his VP should have been a boon to her, but instead she turned it into her own biggest obstacle. It was ultimately her decision to follow Biden’s directions on this.

It’s not like the sitting president can order a party’s candidate to take certain policy positions, even if that candidate is the sitting VP. Biden deserves a ton of the blame for our current situation, but Harris was the candidate and she decided to follow Biden’s terrible advice. He’s just the stubborn geriatric who cared more about his legacy than the peoples’ future.

Color me surprised that the Democrats have as much blame for our current situation as the Republicans. Nobody, NOBODY, wanted to return to normal; they wanted real change and the best they got was state-sponsored financing for tech companies and unequal economic policies

Hillary was going to continue Obamas policies, more or less. its purely sexism why both female candidates never won, sprinkled a little racism.

I am pretty sick of the Democrats bullshit, but I’m even more sick of the Republicans bullshit.

I hate it here.

Libs be libbing

When do I get to collect my payment for being right the entire time?

I don’t buy that. Harris has made her choice.

As usual the democratic party fails because it's trying to be both progressive AND cater to wealthy donors. Those two things just don't go together. Either abandon the upper class, or resign yourself to diametrically opposed rhetoric that will NEVER win an election for the Dems.

So if Biden had allowed Kamala Harris to have her own narrative, would she have won the presidency?

Yikes! This is a shit argument IMO. Biden wouldn't have broken from her if she stood strong on her own stances. This is a terrible look for her. More feckless establishment Dems acting like the controlled opposition they are.

I won't be voting for people like this in the future. I know many others that think like me too. That's going to be a huge problem for the Dem establishment. They're pushing progressive folks out and replacing them with no one.