Realistic goals 101: Biden vows to ‘cure cancer’ if elected US president

Not content with the usual impossible campaign promises, Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden has promised to cure cancer if he’s elected, raising eyebrows on social media.

“I’ve worked so hard in my career, that I promise you, if I’m elected president you’re gonna see the single most important thing that changes America, we’re gonna cure cancer,” Biden told a crowd in Ottumwa, Iowa on Tuesday.

While the fight against cancer is personal for Biden – his son Beau died of glioblastoma in 2015 – the out-of-left-field promise did little to shore up confidence in the candidate, who appears to be self-destructing in the face of a seemingly-endless parade of skeletons from his political closet.

While vice president under Barack Obama, Biden worked on the administration’s “Cancer Moonshot,” which was supposed to fit 10 years of “advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment” into five. While such a goal is conveniently impossible to evaluate, he would at least have learned how cancer research works, especially since he founded the Biden Cancer Initiative after leaving the White House. That he’d make such a bizarre promise despite his experience confused many on social media.

Others pointed out the irony of Biden – whom the media has pushed as the “pragmatic” candidate, and voices as diverse as Ralph Nader, Donald Trump and the New York Times have referred to as Hillary Clinton 2.0 – promising the impossible.

“If Joe Biden actually does cure cancer, it’ll only mean rich people don’t have to die of cancer anymore,” one Twitter user pointed out, referring to Biden’s lack of support for universal Medicare. Others made excuses for the former VP, insisting his promise was clearly “aspirational.”

The three-time candidate’s past lies about his civil rights record and inexplicably creepy behavior around women and children, along with his role in crafting the infamous 1994 Crime Bill and the Patriot Act, backing NAFTA and voting for George W. Bush’s Middle Eastern wars, would seem to disqualify him from the nomination in a party that is supposedly galloping to the left. Even devoted Clinton fanboy Peter Daou appeared to be cautiously backing away from Biden, embracing “unapologetic progressivism” on Twitter a few hours after Biden’s cancer call-out.

Most recently, Biden’s sudden about-faces on the Hyde Amendment, which blocks the use of federal funds for abortions, and the US’ relationship with China have confused voters who aren’t sure what (if anything) he stands for, spawning a new nickname from President Donald Trump: “Floppy Joe.”

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