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PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS •THE HUTCHINSON REPORT• BY EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON NOT SO FAST, JOE BIDEN FORMER VP WOULD BRING A LOT OF BAGGAGE TO THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL RACE Former Vice President Joe Biden is having the time of his life teasing us with his apparent willingness to go toe-to-toe with President Trump in 2020. The prospect of a Biden presidential run has been an idea fed by lot of bigname Democrats who are absolutely convinced Biden is the only one who can beat Trump. Talk of another Biden presidential run started during the 2016 campaign. The target then wasn’t Trump, but Hillary Clinton. A lot of Democrats simply didn’t like Clinton and didn’t believe she could beat Trump. More than a handful of nervous Democrats back then relentlessly implored Biden to jump into the Democratic presidential primary race. But Biden said nothing, and for good reason. By then, it was way too late in the game for him to jump in. Clinton was going to be the Democratic nominee, no matter what. Clinton had months to build a strong support base among Democratic Party leaders. She corralled endorsements from labor and education unions, and won the support of a slew of top Democratic members, as well as local and state elected officials around the country. She secured a massive campaign war chest and locked down support among many black, Hispanic, LGBT and women’s groups and leaders. Now fast forward to 2020. It’s true that much of Clinton’s Democratic Party base would rally around a Biden candidacy. Anyone who publicly boasts that he’d beat the hell out of Trump, as Biden quipped in March 2018, would find support among Democrats, many independents and legions of Trump loathers. Though he later apologized for getting in the street with Trump, Biden said it, and many would give him high marks for that. Yet, beating Trump in a head-to-head matchup is another matter. Though some polls show Biden as the Democrat’s favorite, the former vice president has more than a little questionable baggage. First, he is too strongly identified with former President Barack Obama. Trump would Obama-bait him to death. Another thing is he would also be competing for the same voters in the four or five must-win states that put Trump over the top — white, blue collar and rural males without a college education. There’s also a lot of collective amnesia about Biden’s past forays into the presidential arena, which were utter disasters. His earthy appeal did not translate into any substantial support in either 1988 or 2008. In 1988 he was dogged by accusations of plagiarism and fabrication in his speeches, as well as self-aggrandizing references to his past. He soon dropped out of the race. In 2008, Biden did even worse, failing to get a single percentage point in votes in the Democratic presidential Iowa caucus balloting. Again, he quickly dropped out of the race. Another question relates to his age. Biden will turn 78 two weeks after Election Day 2020. This would make him the oldest incoming president in US history. Then there’s Anita Hill. During his recent book tour, Biden himself made mention of how much of a minefield that could be for him. During the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, there were times it seemed Biden was as much on the spot as Kavanaugh for pillorying Hill when he sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings in 1991. There’s little evidence that Biden, if he chooses to run, could deflect assaults from the GOP over his gaffes, his close relationship with Obama, and his abysmal failures to mount any kind of credible campaign during the times he was an actual candidate. And finally, Biden would not be jumping into the presidential race to rescue the party from a supposed pack of languid, uninspiring and flawed contenders. There’s Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, three or four Democratic senators, and Clinton. They all have name recognition, a lot of party cheerleaders and, in a few cases, fresh faces. Biden would just add another name to the list — one that will carry its own set of baggage that could wear him down and maybe even out in a head-to-head battle with Trump. ■ Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of “Who Can Beat Trump?” (Amazon ebook), a frequent MSNBC contributor and an associate editor with New America Media. He is also a weekly co-host of “The AlSharpton Show” on Radio One, and host of the weekly “Hutchinson Report” on KPFK, 90.7 FM, Los Angeles, and the Pacifi ca Network. 6 PASADENA WEEKLY | <strong>12.13.18</strong>
• NEWS • PASADENA | ALHAMBRA | ALTADENA | ARCADIA | EAGLE ROCK | GLENDALE | LA CAÑADA | MONTROSE | SAN MARINO | SIERRA MADRE | SOUTH PASADENA ‘VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL NORMS’ FORMER CALTECH PRESIDENT OUTRAGED BY CHINESE SCIENTIST EDITING DNA P. 8 THE BIG WIN AMGEN TOUR WILL ONCE AGAIN FINISH IN PASADENA P. 8 TERRORISM FATALITIES DOWN IRAQ, SYRIA AND THE US REPORT FEW TERRORISM FATALITIES P. 8 WEB EXCLUSIVE GOING TO COMMITTEE AD HOC GROUP WILL FIGURE OUT HOW MEASURE I FUNDS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED TO PASADENA SCHOOL DISTRICT WEEKLY WEATHER GOING GREEN PASADENA OFFICIALS WILL SOON BE ACCEPTING PERMIT APPLICATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL CANNABIS BUSINESSES BY JUSTIN CHAPMAN Following the statewide legalization of recreational cannabis by California voters in 2016, Pasadena officials are finally ready to accept applications for permits for those who wish to operate legal commercial cannabis dispensaries in the city. In June, Pasadena voters approved Measure CC, which lifted the city’s self-imposed ban on cannabis dispensaries, with nearly 60 percent of the vote. City officials put that measure on the ballot because they would have been preempted by a citizenled ballot measure in November that proposed to allow current illegal operators to get legal permits. “The Pasadena residents voted on rules and regulations to allow limited commercial cannabis in the city and approved THU 72° a taxation process and percentage,” David Reyes, Pasadena’s director of planning and community development, wrote in an email to the Pasadena Weekly. “It took over a year to get the regulations established based on an evaluation of various other cities to establish best practices for our city. The whole process is a great story in terms of where we started and where we are.” Selective, Regulated & Costly The city’s final regulations, based on public input at several community meetings over the past year, will allow a total of six permits for retail cannabis dispensaries within city limits, with only one allowed in any given council district. The regulations FRI 69° SAT 70° SUN 71° CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 MON 64° The Pasadena City Council unanimously voted on Monday to form an ad hoc committee that will develop a revenue-sharing plan to dole out tax funds to the struggling Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD). The committee, which will consist of three council members and three members from the school board, will return with a plan in 60 days. No members of the committee were named on Monday. “We will try to make this happen quickly,” said Mayor Terry Tornek. Voters overwhelmingly passed Measure I, a three-quarter cent sales tax increase in November, and Measure J, an advisory measure, allocating one-third of that money — $7 million annually — be used to help the beleaguered school district. The two sides had no plan or revenue-sharing agreement in place prior to the election. Some council members have called for accountability measures to be placed in that agreement. The district has been losing money due to rising pension funds and declining enrollment. Many families have left the area due to rising housing costs. School funding by the state is based on student average daily attendance, or ADA, and the ongoing reductions in the district’s student population have been impacting the district for more than a decade. Due to declining attendance, the board closed four schools in 2006 and two more in 2011. This year, the district closed Cleveland Elementary School and laid off more than 100 employees. The financial crisis has left the district close to takeover by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). District officials claim they have staved off the takeover by cutting $10 million from its budget. The board plans to approve the final cuts today, Dec. 13. The deadline set by the county is Monday, Dec. 17. The school board must submit a fiscal stabilization plan to LACOE on that date proving that it can meet its fiduciary responsibility and maintain a 3 percent emergency reserve fund. In October, LACOE officials told the district they could not include funds from the tax increase in budget projections because school officials do not control the money. Although the city won’t have access to the funds from the sales tax measure until June, district officials almost immediately requested the council approve a document promising money would be turned over to the district. “This is a watershed moment in our relationship,” said Council member Margaret McAustin. TUE 68° WED 76° — André Coleman THU 76° <strong>12.13.18</strong> | PASADENA WEEKLY 7
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