Joe Biden

Subterms

    More stories

    • 200 Shares129 Views

      in US Politics

      US Senate releases draft bill to toughen border measures while securing aid to Ukraine and Israel

      by

      US senators on Sunday evening released the details of a highly anticipated $118bn package that pairs federal enforcement policy on the US-Mexico border with wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and others, launching a long-shot effort to push the bill past sceptical, hard right House Republicans – whom Democrats accuse of politicizing immigration while being in thrall to Donald Trump.The proposal is the best chance for Joe Biden to bolster dwindling US wartime aid for Ukraine – a major foreign policy goal that is shared by both the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, and top Republican, Mitch McConnell. The Senate was expected this week to hold a key test vote on the legislation, but it faces a wall of opposition from conservatives.Joe Biden urged the US Congress to pass the legislation, for the sake of immigration reform and aid for US allies.The bill “includes the toughest and fairest set of border reforms in decades,” he said in a statement issued by the White House.He added: “Now, House Republicans have to decide. Do they want to solve the problem? Or do they want to keep playing politics with the border? I’ve made my decision. I’m ready to solve the problem.”Crucially, with Congress stalled on approving $60bn in Ukraine aid, the US has halted shipments of ammunition and missiles to Kyiv, leaving Ukrainian soldiers outgunned as they try to come out on top of a grinding stalemate with Russian troops.“The United States and our allies are facing multiple, complex and, in places, coordinated challenges from adversaries who seek to disrupt democracy and expand authoritarian influence around the globe,” Schumer said in a statement.In a bid to overcome opposition from House Republicans, McConnell had insisted last year that border policy changes be included in the national security funding package.The bill would overhaul the asylum system at the border with faster and tougher enforcement, as well as give presidents new powers to immediately expel migrants if authorities deemed themselves overwhelmed with the number of undocumented people requesting asylum at the international boundary.The tough new measures discussed among select senators for months include a new federal requirement to “shut down” the US-Mexico border if more than 5,000 undocumented people cross into the US daily and plans to swiftly throw out economic migrants.Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who broke from the Democratic party in 2022 to become an independent, told CBS’s Face the Nation earlier on Sunday some of what she and other Senate negotiators have been working on.When the number of migrants crossing without an appointment with the US authorities approaches 4,000 people a day, the US government would be granted the power to voluntarily turn away all people presenting at border stations, to give time for the asylum application processing to catch up, she said.At other times, migrants would be taken into short-term detention as their claims for asylum were rapidly assessed. Anyone failing to meet the standards for a claim would be “swiftly returned to their home country”, Sinema said.“We believe that by quickly implementing this system, individuals who come for economic reasons will learn very quickly that this is not a path to enter our country and will not take the sometimes dangerous or treacherous trek to our border,” she told the Sunday morning TV show.Alongside the faster deportation provisions, the draft bill would also speed up the time needed to process successful asylum applications. “Folks who do qualify for asylum will be on a rapid path, six months or less, to start a new life in America,” Sinema said.The draft Senate bill meets several of the demands that have been raised by Republicans who have accused the Biden administration of failing to secure the US border. In particular, it proposes an end to the system of allowing people to remain in the US while their asylum applications are processed – a procedure Republicans dismissively call “catch and release”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionAs many as 10,000 migrants a day have been encountered crossing the US-Mexico border without necessary immigration papers or an appointment with the US authorities.But the Senate bill is likely to be blocked by Republican leaders in the US House who are following Donald Trump’s lead and opposing the deal. The former president, who is running for re-election, has made it clear that he does not want to see Biden presented with a legislative win on the border crisis.Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, has said the Senate bill would be “dead on arrival” were it to reach his chamber. On Saturday he also made a pre-emptive move that could further imperil the chances of the Senate bill ever becoming law by announcing that he would bring to a vote on the House floor a separate $17.6bn military aid package for Israel.Johnson was asked by NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday whether his aid for Israel plan was a ruse to kill the Senate compromise deal on the border. He was also asked whether he was merely doing Trump’s bidding, with Trump “calling the shots”.“Of course not,” the speaker said. “He’s not calling the shots, I am calling the shots for the House – that’s our responsibility.”Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the House, derided House Republicans, in interview on the ABC US network’s This Week Sunday show, as “wholly owned subsidiaries of Donald Trump”.With the numbers of migrants turning up at the border remaining high, and with the presidential election year getting under way, immigration is set to continue to cause ructions on both sides of the political aisle.On Sunday Nikki Haley, Trump’s only remaining rival in the race to secure the Republican nomination, accused Trump in a CNN interview of “playing politics” with the border with his attempt to scupper the Senate deal.The Associated Press and Reuters contributed reporting More

    • 188 Shares189 Views

      in US Politics

      ‘The weirdest campaign’: South Carolina delivers a win, but Biden still faces an uphill path

      by

      Surprise! Joe Biden won the Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina with a high-90s percentage that would make even Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un blush.But despite the low energy and low turnout, there was a wider narrative on Saturday about representation, the changing face of the US and a rebuke to the white identity politics of Donald Trump.Biden, 81, may be a stick-in-the-mud but it was he who last year tore up the tradition, which took hold in earnest with Jimmy Carter in 1976, of Iowa and New Hampshire going first in picking the Democratic candidate for president.At his behest, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rearranged the electoral calendar so that South Carolina would have first say in shaping the race this time. That South Carolina is also that state that revived Biden’s ailing 2020 campaign probably didn’t do its cause any harm.Still, anyone who spent parts of last month freezing in Iowa and New Hampshire after the Republican primary was reminded how demographically unrepresentative those states are. Both are about 90% white. At Trump’s campaign rallies, unsurprisingly, the whiteness appeared even more monolithic.In South Carolina, however, one in four residents is Black. The state is more in keeping with a rainbow nation where Republicans appear to be in denial that white Christians are no longer the majority. Biden’s decision to put it first was more important than any worries about enthusiasm or turnout on Saturday.“For South Carolina to go first is now a badge of honour and pride for so many folks,” Jaime Harrison, chair of the DNC and himself a Black South Carolinian, told reporters in Columbia on Saturday night. “I had one woman who was just teary-eyed with me when I was on the trail and just talking about the importance and the significance of going first.“Hearing the stories about people who could not vote and having those memories yourself and now hearing us talk about ‘the hands that picked cotton are now the hands that are picking presidents’ – that is impactful, it’s powerful, and that is the imagery that is important for the nation to see and understand.”Still, the final days before the historic vote felt somewhat anticlimactic thanks to a combination of Biden’s dominance as incumbent, feeble opposition from Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson, and the lack of a Republican primary on the same day (which will take place later in the month).It was all a far cry from the blockbuster 2016 primary season, when Trump was knocking out Republican stiffs while Bernie Sanders was giving Hillary Clinton a run for her money. On Friday Kamala Harris, the vice-president, drew only a modest crowd at a university in Orangeburg.On Saturday, Democrats threw a watch party at the South Carolina state fairgrounds in Columbia, serving a buffet of meatballs, chicken, pasta, deviled eggs, fruit and vegetables. Red, white and blue flags were hung from the roof, tall blue curtains lined the walls, and the floor was carpeted blue and red. Two TV screens proclaimed “F1rst in the nati♥n”, the heart doubling as a map of South Carolina. There was a giant American flag behind the stage.The president was not present but Congressman James Clyburn, whose endorsement transformed Biden’s fortunes here four years ago, did get him on the phone and put him on loudspeaker, prompting whoops and cheers from the crowd.Biden said: “I hope you can hear me. So what happened?” Everyone laughed but then there was feedback on the mic.Harrison replied: “I think a lot of stuff happened here in South Carolina today for you, sir.” Biden asked: “What kind of turnout you got?”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionHarrison said: “Mr President, we’re waiting to get the final numbers but from what I’m told by some folks. I think you got it.” More laughter in the room.None of it said much about Biden’s chances in November. He has already moved into general election mode, unleashing on Trump in a series of speeches. A common sentiment among his supporters in South Carolina was puzzlement – and frustration – that his booming economy is not getting the credit it deserves. Polls show that many voters, including some Black voters, agree with his likely opponent’s slogan: “Better off under Trump.”There are other headaches too. As record numbers of migrants arrive at the southern border, Biden is criticised as too soft by the right and, as he now threatens draconian measures, too Trumpian by the left. Republicans say Biden botched the withdrawal from Afghanistan and displayed a weakness that emboldened Russia, Iran and Hamas, but progressives and Arab Americans are dismayed by his apparent lack of compassion for thousands of Palestinian dead.Finally, of course, there is the age question. At 81, Biden is the oldest president in American history. Would-be rivals such as Phillips and Nikki Haley are pushing the cause of a new generation. All these variables could matter in an election likely to be decided by gossamer-thin margins in a handful of swing states.Visiting his campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday, Biden acknowledged: “It’s the weirdest campaign I’ve ever been engaged in.”But interviews with voters during primary season in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have offered a reminder of an undeniable fact: Trump remains toxic to huge swaths of the American population. They will do anything to stop him. A criminal conviction between now and November may make them redouble their efforts.America’s racial divisions will be at the heart of it again. Christale Spain, the first Black woman elected as chair of South Carolina’s Democratic party, recalled in an interview that her state’s primary following the Iowa and New Hampshire contests in past cycles meant “we were correcting the course, correcting the ship every time”.And in a speech to supporters, Harrison suggested that part of Biden’s legacy is that future Democratic candidates will have to earn, not take for granted, African American support. “We proved that the days of folks parachuting in on election day asking for our votes – those days are over,” he said. “We have an electorate that looks like today’s Democratic party and tomorrow’s America.” More

    • 113 Shares119 Views

      in US Politics

      Biden wins South Carolina Democratic primary for presidential nomination

      by

      President Joe Biden has again won the South Carolina presidential primary, his first formal primary win of the election season.Amid low voter turnout, the Associated Press projected that Biden also won all 55 of the state’s Democratic delegates. Another seven delegates are pledged by party leaders and elected officials, such as South Carolina’s lone Democratic congressman, Jim Clyburn. Neither Dean Phillips, the congressman from Minnesota, nor author Marianne Williamson received at least 15% of the statewide vote or 15% of the vote in any congressional district, the threshold necessary to win delegates.The president sent out a statement shortly after the results were called in his favor, specifically highlighting Black voters, who comprise 26% of state residents and a significant portion of the Democratic voting base in South Carolina.“As I said four years ago, this campaign is for everyone who has been knocked down, counted out and left behind. That is still true today. With more than 14m new jobs and a record 24 straight months – two years – of the unemployment rate under 4%, including a record low unemployment rate for Black Americans, we are leaving no one behind,” he said.“In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the pundits wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and set us on the path to winning the Presidency.“Now in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that you have set us on the path to winning the Presidency again – and making Donald Trump a loser – again.Biden continued: “When I was elected president, I said the days of the backbone of the Democratic party being at the back of the line were over. That was a promise made and a promise kept. Now, you are first in the nation.”The Democratic National Committee changed the national election calendar last year to designate South Carolina as the first official contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, taking the privilege away from the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Biden did not participate in the New Hampshire primary, which state Democratic officials held over the objections of the national committee.Marvin Pendarvis, a Democratic state representative from North Charleston, said the primary was important, regardless of turnout.“Everyone probably wondered why was it so important that we got turnout, even when we knew that Joe Biden was going to win South Carolina. It’s because we are first in the nation. It’s because we want to maintain that status going into 2028. And it is big for our party to be able to showcase why South Carolina was chosen to be first: because we are representative of the Democratic party, not only in our diversity of values, but also how we look and how we come together as Democrats.“We’re the ones that spearheaded Joe Biden to get into office in 2020,” Pendarvis added. “We’ll do it again in 2024.”South Carolina’s primaries are open, allowing any registered voter to participate, though voters much choose only one primary – Democratic or Republican – to vote in. Of South Carolina’s 3.3 million registered voters, about 13% participated in the 2016 Democratic primary, which was won overwhelmingly by Hillary Clinton, while 16% voted in the 2020 primary that separated Biden from the pack.South Carolina’s Republicans go to the polls on 24 February, when former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley faces former president Donald Trump.Biden’s statement ended on a warning about the upcoming contest: “The stakes in this election could not be higher. There are extreme and dangerous voices at work in the country – led by Donald Trump – who are determined to divide our nation and take us backward. We cannot let that happen. We’ve come a long way these past four years – with America now having the strongest economy in the world and among the lowest inflation of any major economy. Let’s keep pushing forward. Let’s finish what we started – together.” More

    • 100 Shares189 Views

      in US Politics

      South Carolina Democratic primary 2024: track live results

      by

      The South Carolina Democratic primary took place on 3 February, and was chosen by the Democratic National Committee as the first election contest in the 2024 election year. Joe Biden is the clear frontrunner in the primary and hopes to recapture the enthusiasm that launched his campaign in 2020.The polls closed at 7pm.Who’s runningJoe BidenBiden is the likely Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential election. He announced his campaign for re-election on 25 April 2023, exactly four years after he announced his previous, successful presidential campaign. While approval for the president remains low, hovering just above 40%, political experts say he is the most likely candidate to defeat Donald Trump, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Biden has served in politics for over five decades and is running on a platform that includes abortion rights, gun reform and healthcare. At 81, he is the oldest president in US history.Dean PhillipsDean Phillips, a three-term Democratic congressman from Minnesota, is challenging Biden, saying the next generation should have the opportunity to lead the country. Phillips is the heir to a distilling company and once co-owned a gelato company. He entered public office spurred by fighting back against Trump.Marianne WilliamsonFailed 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, who also unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2014, became the first Democratic candidate to announce she was running for president as a challenge to Biden. Williamson, an author of self-help books, launched her long-shot bid with campaign promises to address climate change and student loan debt. She previously worked as “spiritual leader” of a Michigan Unity church. More

    • 225 Shares99 Views

      in US Politics

      ‘Being mean will only rally her fans’: Taylor Swift is winning whether she backs Biden or thumps Trump

      by

      The 2024 US presidential election campaign, lacking any defining story to tell and with a prevailing lack of enthusiasm in a rematch of candidates in their eighth and ninth decades, last week settled on Taylor Swift – and an endorsement she may or may not make – as its defining obsession.On one side, expectations emanating from the Biden re-election camp were that the 34-year-old superstar would cast her influence over tens of thousands of Swifties their way; on the other, furious Republicans who at first sought to denigrate and wrap her in conspiracy theories, and later thought better of the strategy.Rolling Stone reported that allies of Donald Trump were pledging a “holy war” against Swift if she sides with the Democrats in November. Some theorised that the National Football League is rigging games for Swift’s Kansas City Chiefs boyfriend, Travis Kelce, to sweeten the Democrats endorsement hopes.Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed that the Shake It Off hitmaker had been converted into a psychological operations asset four years ago. The Pentagon hit back, saying: “As for this conspiracy theory, we are going to shake it off.”However, not all Republicans are on board with the attacks on Swift. “I don’t know what the obsession is,” presidential candidate Nikki Haley told CNN. “Taylor Swift is allowed to have a boyfriend. Taylor Swift is a good artist. I have taken my daughter to Taylor Swift concerts. To have a conspiracy theory of all of this is bizarre. Nobody knows who she’s going to endorse, but I can’t believe that’s overtaken our national politics.”While many are preoccupied with whether Swift can cross nine time zones to make it back from an Eras Tour concert in Tokyo to see her boyfriend play in next weekend’s Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl in Las Vegas (she can), the intensity of political questions surrounding Swift mirrors the febrile nature of the election 10 months away.View image in fullscreenDoubtless, Swift could offer politicos lessons in values-based messaging, audience understanding and building genuine connections with fans or voters. Last week, Trump argued that he is more popular than her, even if the values-based narratives he presents are often more aligned with self-victimisation than self-empowerment.A survey last year by Morning Consult found 53% of American adults are Swift fans. There are almost as many men as women, almost as many Republicans as Democrats, including baby boomers, millennials, Gen Xers and young adults from Gen Z. In other words, a constituency that could make or break a national political campaign.The recent Republican primary in New Hampshire indicated Trump’s weaknesses with women, who make up much of Swift’s fanbase. But recent polling, too, has shown that Biden’s ratings and support among young voters has dropped and he’s now closely tied in the 18-34 demographic with Trump.“They’re not crazy about Biden,” says Democratic party consultant Hank Sheinkopf. “If they turn out at all, it may be to oppose Trump and with no intensity at all. But if you’re having trouble with younger people, and you need to do something, what better way to cure the problem, or at least show that you are sensitive to it, than to get Taylor Swift out?”David Allan, professor of marketing at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, who teaches a Swift-focused course, says the Republicans will have to navigate the singer.“Republicans need to be careful with Taylor because she’s extremely popular with all-demographic women and some men. You don’t want to appear to be mean because it will only rally her fans,” he says. Conversely, attacking Swift could bring its own counter-intuitive, culture/class war rewards.“You know she’s having some effect if Fox News is attacking her,” Allan says. “For Trump, having Taylor Swift against him gives him something to talk about.” A salient lesson comes from the Dixie Chicks – now the Chicks – who wrecked their careers before the Iraq war when singer Natalie Maines said from a London stage they were ashamed to be that President George Bush was from Texas.In Swift’s documentary,Miss Americana, her father fretted that an overt political position could put her in the same position as the Chicks. But Swift is now believed to be too big to be commercially vulnerable.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionAs the music industry newsletter Hits Daily Double put it: “Her domination of the marketplace from every conceivable angle is next-level. But she just seems to get bigger, and to rule every area she enters – the rerecorded albums, the massive tour, the blockbuster movie of the tour, the NFL games where her mere presence changes the center of gravity.”Whether or not Swift goes two-feet in with Biden, Allan adds: “It’s getting to that point in the 60s that if Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell didn’t speak out about the Vietnam war it would hurt them with their fans. If she doesn’t do something, even if just to help to get out the vote, it will hurt her authenticity.” In September, Vote.org reported more than 35,000 new political registrations, a 23% jump over last year, after Swift urged her 280 million Instagram followers to sign up.Swift, who was politically cautious until she endorsed Tennessee Democratic senate candidate Phil Bredesen in 2018 (he lost) and then Biden in 2020, has not shown any interest in being adopted by political factions. A 5,000-word New York Times essay that claimed her as more than just queer-friendly was criticised for making overreaching assumptions.View image in fullscreenBut US candidates often seek show business endorsements. “The tradition goes back at least 60 years when [John F] Kennedy brought out Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Judy Garland and others to go stump for them, and country music stars, who have come out mostly for Republicans,” Sheinkopf notes.Other musical endorsements include the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd for Jimmy Carter. But musicians including Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga couldn’t push Hillary Clinton over the line in 2016, and it hasn’t hurt Trump to use Village People’s gay paradise anthem YMCA as a walk-off song, which crowds greatly appreciate.Swift might not even need to formally endorse Biden, Sheinkopf adds. “Even to put it out as rumour makes Biden look less like he’s 81 years old and more like he’s listening to younger people, their subcultural desires and what they feel about things.”For Swift, he says: “She gets to become a decision-maker, and an even larger figure in American and international life. Her public persona becomes as important as her music and that means she’ll make a lot more money.” More

    • 200 Shares149 Views

      in US Politics

      ‘She’s part of the plan’: Kamala Harris makes critical pitch as South Carolina primary kicks off

      by

      Joe Biden’s closing argument on Friday to South Carolina, the state that rescued his White House dreams four years ago, was not made by Joe Biden. Instead it was Kamala Harris who strode out under a brilliant blue sky to the thunderous cadence of South Carolina State University’s drumline.It was because South Carolina’s voters showed up in the middle of a historic pandemic that Biden became president, she told a modest but enthusiastic crowd in Orangeburg, “and I am the first woman and first Black woman to be vice-president of the United States”.Harris was making her final pitch on the eve of the official kick-off of the Democratic presidential primary. At Biden’s behest, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) altered the electoral calendar so that racially diverse South Carolina holds the first nominating contest instead of Iowa and New Hampshire, which are about 90% white.It could not be described as a cliffhanger. Biden is assured of victory in the state that revived his seemingly doomed campaign in 2020. That formality was underlined by his write-in win in last month’s unsanctioned New Hampshire primary when his name did not even appear on the ballot. But Democrats are still working for a strong turnout to validate both Biden and South Carolina’s elevated status.Biden did visit the Palmetto state last weekend but it was Harris who came to Orangeburg on Friday, meeting faith leaders to discuss issues such as gun violence, prescription drug prices, student debt forgiveness and national unity. She then spoke in a balmy open-air courtyard at South Carolina’s only public historically black college and university (HBCU).The trip signalled that, despite a tenure clouded by negative headlines and approval rating that often lags behind Biden’s, Harris remains critical to the president’s re-election campaign because of her ability to galvanise Black voters and her sharp messaging on abortion rights, a potentially decisive issue. Many Democrats regard her as an asset rather than a liability.View image in fullscreenThe 59-year-old can also expect closer scrutiny than past vice-presidents because her boss is 81, the oldest commander-in-chief in American history. On Friday Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor battling Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, set up a mobile billboard at the edge of the university campus that said: “We’re going to have a woman president. It will either be Nikki Haley, or it will be Kamala Harris. Trump can’t beat Biden, and Biden won’t finish his term.”Harris spoke against the backdrop of a giant blue banner that said “First in the nation”, and checked off administration accomplishments such as job creation, increasing access to high-speed internet in rural areas, cancelling billions in student loan debt and capping insulin costs.But she became most animated when discussing reproductive freedom in the aftermath of the supreme court’s decision to end the constitutional right to abortion. And just as Biden has begun using the name “Trump” frequently as he increasingly draws a contrast, Harris did not shy away from attacking the likely Republican nominee as a profound threat to democracy.“He openly says that he is ‘proud’ that he overturned Roe v Wade,” Harris said. “‘Proud’ that he took the freedom of choice from millions of American women. For years the former president has stoked the fires of hate and bigotry and racism and xenophobia for his own power and political gain.”There were cries of “Yes!” from the audience. Harris went on: “He accused immigrants of ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ and, after neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, he said there were ‘very fine people on both sides’. The former president openly talks about his admiration for dictators and has vowed that he will be a dictator on day one.”Harris went on to summarise the threat of Trump’s authoritarianism in stark terms: “Understand what dictators do. Dictators put journalists in jail. Dictators suspend elections. Dictators take your rights and, as the great Maya Angelou once said, ‘When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time.’”The speech, lasting only 14 minutes, struck a chord with Black women young and old. Morgan Mack, 22, a student at the university, said: “She was amazing and she hit on some good points that are going to affect my generation the most, so we just need to go out there and vote.”Mack added: “She’s definitely an asset to Joe Biden and an asset to not just Black women, but women everywhere and HBCU students like myself.”Laura Keith, a teacher who gave her age only as “old”, said Harris has done an “excellent job” as vice-president. “Very intelligent, expresses herself well, stepping out there among the people, speaking to people and giving them a vision of this administration.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionOther spectators were similarly positive about Harris’s contribution. Shane McCravy, 23, a screenwriter, said: “She helps keep him in touch with just the minorities. She offers a voice, especially as a Black woman, not just for minority groups but she’s an inspiration for the next generation.“She’s inspiring people, the boys, the girls, whatever colour, that you can choose to do what you want to do and this helps get through that message America is for everyone, no matter who you are.”Pastor William Johnson, 64, added: “She’s part of the plan. We started out three years ago and this is just a continuation of not just making America great but bringing America back. Saving the soul of America.”Harris, herself a graduate of an HBCU – Howard University in Washington – served as the junior senator from California from 2017 to 2021. Her own campaign for president collapsed two months before the first contest but she was chosen by Biden as running mate. Critics mock her speeches as “word salads” and question her management style; defenders say she has been the victims of racism, sexism and the thanklessness of the vice-presidency.Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist based in South Carolina, insisted: “She brings the experience of being a Black woman in America who knows what it’s like to be counted out and knows what it’s like to be at the bottom when you know you have the ability to lead at the top.”Biden and Harris are also boosted by a strong economy including news that the US added 353,000 jobs in January, smashing expectations. A Quinnipiac University national poll this week found Biden with 50% support among registered voters, ahead of Trump on 44%. Yet the president faces discontent over inflation, a border crisis and his handling of the war in Gaza.View image in fullscreenSaturday’s turnout may offer some clues, although it is bound to lower in a year when an incumbent president is running without serious challengers (in 2012, President Barack Obama gained 866,000 votes in the primary here). Biden’s challengers Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson are not expected to make much impact.Seawright, a Democratic strategist based in South Carolina, said: “People feel proud to be a South Carolinian, the fact that we’re first in a nation. People feel grateful and thankful to President Biden for having the steel spine and the political will and courage to recommend South Carolina going first.“People understand the need and the urgency to display their support and unity around President Biden and Vice-President Harris, because we know that this fight ahead will be a lot different than the fight behind.”Elaine Kamarck, who as a member of the DNC voted for South Carolina to go first, thinks this year’s result will have little meaning but that will not be the case next time around. She said: “They are the most loyal base in the party and they ought to have the first say. It’s not going to be a big deal this time but in 2028 it’ll be a very big deal.” More

    • 138 Shares99 Views

      in US Politics

      Biden poised for boost as Democratic primaries begin in South Carolina

      by

      Joe Biden aims to build on recent momentum on Saturday, when South Carolina officially launches the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.The US president received a boost last month when he won an unsanctioned primary election in New Hampshire without even appearing on the ballot. A grassroots write-in campaign ensured that he brushed aside his challengers Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson.Biden also enters South Carolina buoyed by positive economic news. The economy added 353,000 jobs in January while average hourly earnings rose 0.6%. The unemployment rate stands at 3.7%.It was Biden’s victory here in the 2020 Democratic primary that rescued his broke and flailing campaign, convincing rivals that he was best positioned to win with Black voters and defeat the incumbent, Donald Trump.“In 2020, it was South Carolina that put President Biden and me on the path to the White House,” Vice-President Kamala Harris told an audience in Orangeburg on Friday.But buzz and turnout is sure to be lower this time, as is typical when an incumbent president is running without serious competition. Republicans do not hold their primary in South Carolina until 24 February, after nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.An Emerson College poll last month found that three in 10 South Carolina voters intend to take part in the Democratic primary. Nearly seven in 10 said they plan to vote for Biden compared with 5% for Phillips and 3% for Williamson, while 22% were undecided.Even so, with polls open from 7am to 7pm, it could be a momentous day for Democratic voters in South Carolina, as the state takes on a new role as host of the party’s first official primary election.Last year, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) – encouraged by Biden – rewrote the presidential primary process and put South Carolina first on the calendar, arguing that the state’s racial and economic diversity was more representative of the Democratic party than Iowa or New Hampshire, which are about 90% white.Speaking before a “First in the nation” banner in Orangeburg on Friday, Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, told supporters: “All eyes – not only in America but all over the world – all eyes are on South Carolina right now and I hope you are fired up!”Harrison, who hails from South Carolina himself, noted the state’s long association with slavery and that, for all 48 years of his life, Iowa and New Hampshire had always gone first in picking presidents. “But this president came to this state and he saw us, he heard us, and he said: ‘You know what, you matter.’”He added: “For too long we’ve been relegated to the back of the bus, but now we’re driving the damn bus!”Come November, however, Biden is unlikely to compete hard in South Carolina. the state last voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 1976. In 2020, it went to Trump, a Republican, by nearly 12 percentage points. More

    • 188 Shares189 Views

      in US Politics

      US launches airstrikes on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria, say officials – live

      by

      US Central Command has said its forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.The airstrikes were carried out at 4pm eastern time on Friday, it said.It said US military forces struck more than 85 targets including “command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities” belonging to militia groups and their IRGC sponsors.The US had warned it will carry out a series of reprisal strikes launched over more than one day in response to the drone strike over the weekend.The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, did not specify the timing or precise location of strikes during Pentagon press conference on Thursday, but said:
      We will have a multi-tier response and we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on the situation … We look to hold the people responsible for this accountable and we also seek to take away capability as we go forward.
      Austin insisted that a lot of thought in Washington had gone into ensuring that the US response did not trigger a major escalation.The secretary of defense stressed the US was not at war with Iran and Washington did not know if Tehran was aware of the specific drone strikes on Sunday mounted by what he described as the axis of resistance.Three rounds of airstrikes targeted Iranian militia positions in parts of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.There have been casualties as a result, NBC reported that the organisation said.The US launched an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias, in an opening salvo of retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US service members in Jordan last weekend, officials have told Associated Press.The initial strikes by manned and unmanned aircraft were hitting command and control headquarters, ammunition storage and other facilities, according to AP.US officials have told Reuters that the strikes targeted facilities linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the militias it backs.The US has begun a wave of retaliatory airstrikes targeting militants in Iraq and Syria, according to reports, in response to a drone attack in northern Jordan which killed three American service personnel and wounded dozens more.The strikes, reported by Associated Press and Reuters, come as Joe Biden joined grieving families at Dover air force base in Delaware on Friday as they honored the three US military personnel killed in the drone attack in Jordan last weekend.The attack on Tower 22 was the first deadly strike against US troops since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.Responsibility was claimed by the Iranian-backed umbrella group Islamic Resistance, and the US has made no attempt to disguise its belief that Iran was ultimately responsible. Tehran has insisted it had nothing to do with the attack.Biden told reporters earlier this week that he held Iran responsible “in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons” to Kataib Hezbollah, the most powerful member of the Islamic Resistance group. However, the president added:
      I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for. More