JOE BIDEN IN IOWA: UNCIVIL OR READY FOR A FIGHT?

Last week, former Vice President Joe

Biden confronted an Iowa voter, telling him, “You’re a damn liar, man.” The incident generated heat on cable news and the political websites and an intense disagreement among the three of us. We concluded airing our disagreement illuminates our differing world views on politics in general and on how Democrats best respond in the face of President Trump’s bare-knuckled, take-no-prisoners style.

At a town hall meeting, a voter claimed Biden “sent” his son, Hunter, to Ukraine for service on the board of a gas company, an industry the man said Hunter Biden knew nothing about, so he could improperly influence U.S. – Ukrainian policy. The man also claimed Biden was “too old” to run for President.

The former vice president reminded him no evidence exists Hunter Biden improperly engaged in influence peddling. Biden also challenged the man to a pushups contest as a fitness check.

Woodson and Henry think Biden overreacted, while Rob offers a full-throated defense of the former vice president:

Woodson: Calm in the Face of Insult Signals Strength, not Weakness

I want a candidate who won’t wilt under President Trump’s inevitable personal attacks. But I oppose the idea the challenger should respond in kind. I also oppose the idea that primary candidates should hone their skills on primary voters.

The Iowa voter questioned Hunter Biden’s involvement with the Ukrainian company Burisma. He was entitled to a thoughtful answer. When did we start holding voters to standards of eloquence in political speech? Biden’s response was disappointing when he called the voter a “damn liar” and challenged him to a pushups contest. Both responses were beneath the dignity of the office of President of the United States. It was bullying. Will Biden call Trump a “damn liar” when he raises questions about Burisma or challenge Trump to a pushups contest should he question Biden’s physical fitness? Bullying is bullying, whether done by Trump, Biden, Republican, or Democrat.

We need a return to the quiet strength Barack Obama displayed  while President.  When Mitch McConnell declared, soon after Obama’s election, that the number one objective for Republicans was making Obama a one-term president; when repeatedly accused of not being a U.S. citizen; when during a joint address to Congress South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson shouted, “You lie,” Obama remained calm. That’s the kind of quiet strength we need in a President, not more bombast. If Biden wants to be President, he should take lessons from the man under whom he served for eight years and elevate the discourse.

Henry: A Preference for Civility

Much of the initial commentary about

Biden calls man "damn liar" in Iowa

what happened in Iowa centered on how it might affect voter behavior. Some thought it might help Biden and others saw it hurting him. I’m possibly the worst person on earth at making a political calculus. I own an awful impact prediction record. My reaction to Biden, therefore, rests not on potential voter impact, but on my views about how I should respond to other human beings.

I prefer a reasoned, respectful, logical response in almost any human endeavor. I believe we may be called on to conduct ourselves in accordance with

our values. I can’t, at this point, think of important values Biden’s response reflects. I realize, ironically enough, Biden may have responded in a way that reflects values I don’t now recognize. My view may only spring from how I see personal conduct obligations. 

Though I make no predictions about short term voter reaction, in the long run, I believe civility, calm, logic, and empathy win.  

                           

         

Rob: “Damn Right”

I appreciate and respect the desire of my esteemed colleagues for civil discourse in political dialogue, but they

remind me of the old adage about the folly of bringing a knife to a gunfight. I always want peace, but I don’t want it at any price. I fear their approach offers just that in the age of Trump.

Joe Biden’s response to the Iowa voter’s misinformed charges warmed my heart. It said that if Biden wins the

Democratic nomination, stands on the debate stage with Trump, and absorbs his insults, he’ll give as much as he gets. Joe Biden defended his son and his own integrity in straightforward terms leaving no doubt about the strength of

his convictions or his determination to stand up for his own interests and the people he represents. If Biden wins the Democratic nomination, he’ll represent me as someone who desperately wants Trump gone so I can reclaim my country from lawlessness and insanity.

Too often Democrats, in seeking “reasoned discourse,” come off as cowards or wimps in the face of brutal, unfair attacks from Republican hate mongers and disinformation specialists. Joe Biden showed me he won’t fit in that category if he wins the nomination. If he was a little impolitic, if he could have been more “civil,” more “reasoned,” I forgive that as the price of letting Trump and his henchmen know unilateral disarmament won’t happen in this campaign.

And you think?