Tonight's press conference was plainly not the catastrophe the CNN debate was. That said, it's unlikely that Joe Biden quieted fears about his mental capacity. Earlier in the day he introduced President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as President Putin before catching himself. A minute into the press conference he talked about how he wouldn't have selected Vice President Trump as his running mate unless she was qualified. Later on, talking about foreign policy in the Pacific, he referred to "Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Australia—I already mentioned Australia." He had some trouble calling on reporters, clearly not trusting himself to say their full names sometimes. He was halting at times and had trouble pulling words from memory.
But he basically had his facts straight and showed a good understanding of the issues—certainly better than Donald Trump ever does. It was a competent but not barn burning performance, and it probably won't change any minds one way or the other.
can't wait for the next debate in september
He also took credit for creating "2000 jobs last week". But he also made the case that Kamala Harris would be a good president and that he wasn't the only Democrat who was qualified. The campaign must have been scolded by many about their back-handed dissing of Harris.
The "it is what it is" crowd is satisfied.
There has never, ever been any back-handed dissing of harris. And can anyone really be concerned about someone saying 2000 jobs rather than 200,000 jobs compared to a narcissist who is completely delusional and has not connection to reality whatsoever.
But Trump is so confident and lucid with his lies!
Notably, does our esteemed pundit still believe Biden should not only drop-out of the race but also resign from office?
I would certainly hope Kevin still believes this. Joe's behind in the polling. He needs to change minds. Also his fundraising has dropped dramatically. Status quo means Trump wins.
The case for Joe dropping out was never that his administration isn't competent—or hugely preferable in every imaginable way to Trump.
The case has always been: he's headed to defeat (even well before the debate debacle if we're paying attention). The debate wasn't really even a debacle in the larger sense. Rather, it's an opportunity...for Democrats to secure a ticket capable of defeating Trump. Biden very plainly is unlikely to prevail.
No candidate has ever withdrawn from the race and yet 100% of the time, one candidate has always been behind in the polls. No democrat is going to do better than Biden. And Biden can still win. If winning is important, than get behind Biden. If you don't care about wining, continue to sabotage the campaign.
No democrat is going to do better than Biden.
The polling strongly suggests you're wrong about this.
Polls? We don't need no stinkin' polls. We don't have to look at no stinkin' polls!
Not this polling: https://emersoncollegepolling.com/july-2024-national-poll-trump-46-biden-43/
It's less about being behind and more about the direction of the polling. They're all trending away from Biden, per KD's prior post, -2 to -3 percentage points. That's despite down ballot Democrats polling in the opposite direction of Biden.
I had hoped that you'd come to your senses after last night but apparently no. Your mindset will hand victory to Donald Trump and to dis Democracy in the process as you watch it wither up and die because you refuse to back down off the hill you are apparently willing to die on.
The problem I see is that Biden needs to change minds, by pointing out how bad Dobbs has been for women, by reminding people that Trump wants to get rid of the ACA, preventing people with pre-existing conditions from getting insurance, even some employer-provided insurance, and pointing out that unlike his predecessor, he's actually done something to bring more manufacturing back to the US. He could remind people how well accommodating land hungry dictators goes.
And Biden is clearly unable to do this interactively, at a debate or a news conference. He can read a canned speech, but his canned speeches aren't nearly as compelling as someone who can talk without getting confused all the time.
And pro-Biden people need to stop saying he had a bad moment. He's cognitively damaged. He can't talk off the cuff, even to friendly audiences. Maybe he not damaged in a way that prevents him from governing with a good staff. But clearly in a way that prevents him from running a strong campaign. He can't even say the word 'abortion' much less explain why it's so important to women's lives.
Again folks...Biden had detailed facts and responses in the debate...except for a cherry-picked comment or two...over all the debate the CONTENT of what Biden said was excellent really. It's shocking to me the resistance to media reading/discussing the content of the debate. Really, it was coherent, responsive, detailed and EXCELLENT...if we're interested in cognitive decline we should look at the content... transient micro movements and stylistic aspects are not indicative of cognitive decline ...why can't commentators get this maybe because they don't want to??? (motivated reasoning and ageism (and this is normal aging given all reports) are powerful things).
My phone keeps beeping with texts like "President Putin! Vice President Trump!"
One text brought up looking more into RFK, and this from a person I'd never expect.
A lot of people have decided that Biden is simply inadequate for the job. I don't think there is any way to fix this. Damage control can only help so much. And Biden is too stubborn to step aside.
The people who think this and were going to vote for him anyway, well, 'nuff said. The people who think this and weren't going to vote for him anyway, well, 'nuff said. And I don't think this little exercise is going to depress turnout one tiny particle. A lot of ink wasted on nothing.
Because any replacement would be far weaker than Biden.
Kevin needs to admit that he was wrong. His call for President Biden to resign was clearly the foolish kind of behavior that someone engages in when they're caught up in the hysteria of a mob. It was a shockingly insulting and ridiculously hasty thing for Kevin to say. He should come clean, and this is not enough:
"But he basically had his facts straight and showed a good understanding of the issues—certainly better than Donald Trump ever does. It wasn't a barn burning performance, but it probably won't change any minds."
Nope. Kevin called for Biden to resign. One of the most outrageous things I've ever heard. Seriously. Asking the most successful President of my lifetime to just pack it in and go away (with absolutely no plan for addressing the utter election chaos that would follow) was a profound screw-up. And it's just not enough to say, "OK, so maybe he's not so bad." No. Kevin needs to own how badly he called this one. Otherwise he has no business expecting anyone to take him seriously.
Exactly, thanks.
I’m sure mr drum will admit that he is wrong when he is wrong ( like not having Catblogging more frequently). But we’re not there yet. The only people who might need to apologize at the moment are the Dem Party and everyone else who hid that Biden was falling apart for …. how long??? Months? Years? This sure has the stench of something that needed to be dealt with long ago but was hidden. Luckily I already don’t take the Party seriously so no loss of respect there.
Why publicly document you are a completely dishonorable lying sack of excrement. You can't hide what doesn't exist.
Do not ask folks to agree with your foolish lies. Nope. We're riding with Biden/Harris. Either jump aboard and help us or get the heck outta our way, we're busy trying to save the USA.
Nope. Kevin called for Biden to resign.
Rightly so. If he merely drops out of the race, Trump will continue to run against Biden's now-very-much-tainted incumbency brand. Far better to make a clean break. I could be persuaded that maybe he should wait until after the convention: In the off chance Harris doesn't get the nod, it would be an awkward situation to have a brand new caretaker president and a fresh-faced (mostly likely Caucasian) nominee occupying much the same political space.
But if, as is overwhelmingly likely, Kamala Harris is the nominee, yes, Biden should then retire from politics so as to allow the party to maximize the clean break advantage.
By the way, is this what you Biden bitter-enders are down to: seizing on a single presser where he doesn't fall flat on his face but nonetheless made multiple, widely reported on gaffes? SMH.
If anything, the media's reaction to his speech underscores the highly damaging, negative public perceptions about Joe Biden (85% of Americans think he's too old for the presidency), and the utter insanity of retaining him as our nominee. There'd be next to no reaction if a President Obama or a President Harris or a President Whitmer misspoke once or twice during a long press conference. They're not perceived to be suffering from dementia.
This dynamic also explains whey the rebellion is just getting started. You may not be able to read polls. But Democrats who do politics for a living sure as hell can. And their effort to secure a winning ticket is gaining converts by the hour.
You have to be the stupidest person on the planet to believe there could possibly be a clean break advantage. Especially if you're going to nominate the vice-president who would be tainted by participating in the completely non-existent cover up.
They seem to do little else. The possibility they might be able to influence the polls with determined, imaginative political action seems never to have occurred to them.
Kamala Harris didn't even make it to the start of the primary in 2020. The idea she'd somehow become a terrific campaigner if she were to become the nominee lacks any evidentiary support. Her gender and color would probably be even bigger electoral liabilities than Biden's age.
" ....determined, imaginative political action..." And what actions that the Biden campaign has taken so far would indicate that they're capable of that? They've been saturating the airwaves with ads in the battlefield states, and what little poll movement there is has been downward for Biden. What magic tricks do you think the campaign has up its sleeve?
God god man that will piss off over half the party voters AND the new guy ('cause I'm sure you just want a new White Guy) will be savaged by something else to damage him too.
The folks reading the polls are reading the wrong ones and drawing the wrong conclusions.
What makes you think Kevin is backing off his position? He said the conference "probably won't change any minds," which implies it has not changed *his* mind.
Nor would I expect it to. The claim against Biden is that he has good days and bad days, that he is sometimes sharp and cogent and other times lost and confused, and that the balance has been shifting for the worse in recent months. There has been a lot of circumstantial evidence for this, and the debate was direct evidence too clear to ignore.
At the very least, and giving Biden all benefit of the doubt, we now know days exist when Biden *looks* lost and confused, garbling his words far beyond his usual malapropisms, and this can happen to him on the debate stage with Donald Trump. That by itself is enough to make him a horribly dangerous choice for the Democratic nominee. And if you *don't* give him all benefit of the doubt, then it was Biden having a "bad day" in front of fifty million people. Showing us that the "good days" are also real doesn't change anything. We already knew that.
You can't disprove what people have seen with their own eyes.
I won't go as far as Kevin to say that Biden should resign as President. But I will absolutely say that he should step down as the Democratic nominee. He's losing (Nate Silver, who is no longer at FiveThirtyEight and took the IP for his predictive model with him when he left, has Trump up 72-28) and his bid to turn things around was a disaster that put him in a worse spot.
Wow! I must say I'm really impressed by your recent output. You're hittin' em outta the park!
+1
I’m afraid that performance convinced no one. He has to be lots lots more than just “not as bad as during the debate.” One more time: He won’t get better (at least not better enough for Dems to stop shaking); he won’t get younger.
I'm shocked that a press conference during which Biden confused his vice president with Donald Trump and Zelenskyy with Putin didn't win back the nation's confidence. Shocked!
As opposed to Trump confusing Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi. And he corrected the Zelinsky and Putin less than a second after it happened.
Trump has been spouting gibberish for years. It's baked in; anyone who's supporting him has made their peace with that.
And for those who consider it disqualifying, those are votes that are on the table for Democrats to pick up. But we're not going to pick them up if our candidate is doing the same thing.
You're going to loose a ton more than you pickup. The focus groups were clear after the press conference, ordinary Democratic leaning voters want to go with Biden/Harris. They are angry that the elites are trying to sabotage their choice.
All you cocksure too smart White Guys can't see the forest for the trees.
They have all the wit and intellect of one of the juicebox mafia kids, that is, practically none.
Yep!
I'm starting to develop an hypothesis here (let me know if you think it has merit; if so, I'll try to figure out if it can be tested). My experience is as a white woman over 70 who went into academia when there were very few of us and enormous discrimination and biases against us at every turn; basically, you had to dig in and be twice as creative and talented to be taken seriously; everything you did was seen through the lens of "not bad for a girl"...Survival meant digging-in in the face of adversity. I'm wondering if that's part of the difference -- persons who have a history of discrimination (including here age discrimination) don't expect "easy" and we know how to dig in when the odds seem against us...it just makes us mad and "energized": In short, we've earned our grit.
Is that you, Jill?
is that you, eva braun?
Is that you Nikki Haley?
Is that you, Leni?
As opposed to Trump confusing Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi. And he corrected the Zelinsky and Putin less than a second after it happened.
The issue isn't whether Biden is better or more competent than Trump. No reasonable person doubts this. The issue is whether Biden can beat Trump.
If you're confusing something so basic, it doesn't speak highly of your analysis of the current moment.
He didn't confuse them, he misspoke, kind of like when I'm trying to tell one of my kids something and I call them by the other kid's name. But, unfortunately, given the situation we're in here, those kind of flubs stand out and it's not a good look. Wish the press would reserve more of their "concern" for Trump's mix-ups, which actually appear to be grounded in genuine ignorance and lack of mental dexterity.
Using the wrong name is not the same thing as confusing the two people. Biden doesn’t think Zelensky is Putin, and he doesn’t think Harris is Trump. But you’re right that misspeaking repeatedly is a liability when one of the president’s key tasks is communicating clearly to the nation and the world.
But you’re right that misspeaking repeatedly is a liability when one of the president’s key tasks is communicating clearly to the nation and the world.
Especially when the press conference was universally viewed—coming as it did so soon after the debate debacle—as a test of the president's acuity.
He failed that test.
He communicated very effectively on this day.
You designated this as a critical test, he aced it and now youre throwing a silly fit.
Literally everyone misspeaks at times. Literally everyone.
Youve gone off the deep end. Dumb post after dumb post after dumb post.
Hot flash for you, bebopman: I won't get better than I am now and I won't get younger than I am now. You won't get any better or younger than you are now. In fact, nobody ever gets younger and nobody over fifty gets better.
So what's your point and why do you think this is news?
The only question that matters is does a clearly significantly diminshed Joe Biden represent the best chance for the Democrats to defeat the horrific alternative, Donald Trump. Those who see that Donald Trump would be a catastrophe for our country will still vote for whomever the Democrats put up. The MAGAnauts will vote for Trump no matter what. So it's those who fall in between who matter and as best I can tell some of them will not vote for Biden as a resujlt of his recent faltering performances - and that's kind - before the public. Biden thinks he can rest easy if he knows he's done his goodest but loses. We cannot.
All paths forward have risk. A little more courage from the Democratic leadership is needed to convince Biden that his vanity ahd ego must be pushed aside in the interest of the country he so far has served honorably and well.
If they push aside Biden because of his non-existent mental infirmity and instead try to nominate Harris, she will be crucified for participating in the cover up. The only person who has a chance of winning is Biden, unless you can also convince Harris to preemptively renounce the nomination and get unanimity on a replacement. And even then, Biden would have a higher chance of winning.
????????????????????
A little more courage to push Biden off the cliff will do grave damage to the coalition that is the modern Democratic party. Don't you guys get it? You'll lose more voters than you will gain if you pull this crap.
If Biden were to come out and say that he felt the best thing he could do was step aside and let Kamala Harris take the baton, would you vote for Harris ? Are there any Democrats you know who would not vote for Harris out of pique ? The question I have is will Biden's age hurt turnout and will he lose some of those folks in the middle who he won last time ?
The question that has been asked for months now is why isn't Biden polling better against a monster like Trump ? It's not his record. It's his age and the clear signs that most people see that he is just getting worse.
Sad to say, there are many people 'in the middle' who are embarrassed by the overt racism displayed by the current Republican party, but who are at least a little of both. Of course, if you asked them they would deny it, and some of them would even genuinely believe it. Nevertheless, these people 'in the middle' are precisely the voters who couldn't bring themselves to pull the lever for a black woman. For excellent reasons, of course.
_That's_ the whole point of this tawdry, tawdry exercise in 'journalism'. Why do you not get this?
It's not about me, it's about the millions of other voters out there who aren't white guys and will be so dispirited and convinced that Democracy is already dead and it's pointless to vote. Letme tell you the coup against Biden isn't to get VP Harris installed, it's to get a compliant White Guy in the Oval Office plus a compliant white VP.
Letme tell you the coup against Biden isn't to get VP Harris installed, it's to get a compliant White Guy in the Oval Office
You're just making shit up. It is Kamala Harris who is overwhelmingly likely to get the nomination if Joe Biden bows out. "Overwhelmingly likely" isn't the same as "certain"—but it's hard to imagine her falling short.
But who cares what the race of the candidate is if that person defeats Trump?
That Chiron on the CNN screen pretty much sums up the problem with this election
Biden indeed is the most qualified candidate. And, good man as he is and good president as he’s been he may no longer be qualified even though he’s far preferable to any of the alternatives
That is, tragically, the paradoxical situation America finds itself in: the only alternative to extinction is voting for someone who, all things being equal, would never have been considered fit for office given his age, physical condition and glitchy communication skills. The question is, will non-MAGA voters have the courage to make that choice, or will they throw their hands up in disgust and just stay home? People just don't get what's at stake.
It's looking more and more like our only hope is a lightning bolt or something taking out Trump.
These things are like the scene in "Hope and Glory" where the family is sitting around the radio during the King's speech willing him to get through without a stutter. The King had no problems with intellect or character, but the superficial flaw of a stutter made him sound uncertain.
Can you imagine FDR or Lincoln in today's media landscape?
Biden’s stutter never hurt him. What we have now is not a superficial flaw.
Biden has been a gaffe machine even when Vice-President. Even then I could barely bear to listen to him talk. Unexpectedly, at least by me, he has been an excellent President. I’m not ready to dump the guy yet.
Unexpectedly, at least by me, he has been an excellent President.
Excellent president. Agreed. Pretty bad nominee. New Hampshire and Nevada wouldn't be in danger of flipping to the convicted felon if he were an excellent candidate for this cycle.
The King had no problems with intellect...
Biden does have problems with intellect—or more properly, brain function—and an excessively large number of persuadable voters in 7 or 8 battleground states knows this.
His handlers, if they really did know his condition was this bad, really fucked up. They should never have scheduled that debate. Oh well.
Good days and bad days. Not enough energy at his age to be sure he's always on top of things. The inevitable slowdown with age. And even Jake Tapper was overheard to say that he didn't think Biden could last another term, by the end of which he would be 86.
This is what "ordinary" persuadable voters think and realize, which many Democratic partisans do not.
And three new Dem congresspeople who have come out since the news conference, and asked Biden to drop out. Now up to 20. Do you think these people don't know what they are talking about? Do you think these people don't want the Democratic Party to win in November?
STOP just STOP, just because you are ignorant enough to think stuttering is connected to his intellect, the rest of us who know folks who have overcome stuttering and related conditions know better.
Don't let your ignorance cost us our Democracy Jasper.
Annie,
It's not about the stutter. And it's also not about what Biden has accomplished in just 4 years, which has been remarkable. He may be the best President of my lifetime and I was born when Eisenhower was in office.
But the only thing that matters is that Trump loses. If Biden stays in, I will support him wholeheartedly but I just think that Biden will not win. The main reasoin his polling has not been better all along is because people are afraid that he can no longer do the job because he is old and looking frail and sounding more and more like someone who is no longer up to the job. It is my best guess - and that's all any of us has - that if Biden were to gracefully step down and the Democrats went with someone else, most likely Harris, they would be able to run on Joe's record and not be held back by Joe's increasiong signs of infirmity.
Polls these days are ... unreliable. For a number of statistically valid reasons. And yes, it's not your memory, polls were actually reliably better back in the day. Samples were better, both because the population was more homogenous and easily achievable statistically valid sample sizes (people were more inclined to answer the phone and agree to answer questions.) Think about the time when Gallup was mighty.
Yeah with cell phones and too many spam calls and texts the gold age of polling is long gone.
You guys are being conned to think that Biden speech that IS because of the stutter is signed of dementia. You are being conned to think the people don't want Biden.
Letme tell you the polling is showing Biden with a slight lead in a bunch of polls taken AFTER the debate, and he's stable or improved in the few swing state polls done AFTER the debate. Moreover polling now shows that a majority of Democrats want Biden/Harris not someone else. Polling also shows folks are LESS concerned about Biden's age than they are concerned about candidate dishonesty aka Trump's crap.
STOP just STOP, just because you are ignorant enough to think stuttering is connected to his intellect,
Unlike you or me, George Clooney has actually spent time in person with Joe Biden. Here's what he had to say:
It goes way beyond a stutter. Do you think Pelosi and Obama would want a change of ticket over a stutter?
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/11/politics/obama-pelosi-biden-democrats-2024/index.html
You know his performance during the debate wasn't a "stutter". He was unable to form a concrete sentence explaining why Dobbs was bad. Or why getting rid of the ACA would be bad. He had the opportunity to explain why he was better than Trump and why Trump was so dangerous, and he simply couldn't do it.
And from what I've read, he can't do it in front of friendly fundraiser audiences either.
Sorry, what is the evidence that Biden has significant cognitive decline? Read the transcript (content) of the debate...you'll be surprised by its coherence, detail, logic and responsiveness. Dopaminergic indicators (e.g., slower speech, slower movements, softer speech -- amplitude, other prosody indicators) yes...but that varies and can be transient (related to fatigue/illness) and declines can be consistent with normal aging (AND these, by themselves -- which we had in a debate -- are NOT indicative of cognitive functioning).
The King’s stutter didn’t prevent him from having annything scheduled after 8pm.
Reagan famously took a 1-2 hr nap each afternoon. George W. Bush was usually in bed by 9 each day. Trump spent most daytime hours during his term lounging around the WH residence doing fuck-all, watching Fox and Friends, slupring Diet Cokes and shitposting on Twitter (I think they called it "executive time", lol).
I'm not averse to a debate about Biden's fitness, it's just the double standards that drive me insane. Trump is a mentally delapidated, deluded crackpot and here we are talking about whether it's a scandal that Biden won't hold major rallies after 8pm.
reagan had alzheimer's, gwb was the second worst president in american history and a moron, trump was the worst president in history and an even bigger moron.
+1
Yeah, Lincoln probably wouldn't have gotten too far in an age of mass communication. He was physically awkward and was said to have had a rather halting, nasally Kentucky drawl. FDR had a kind of stentorian, mid-Atlantic speaking voice that actually worked well for him. We all know now that he had mobility issues that weren't talked about at the time, but I don't think anyone ever suggested that he didn't give good speech, either now or then.
It was very from OK, Kevin. This is utterly cringe:
https://x.com/cspan/status/1811522378280894803
the people's liberation army has checked in.
I thought it was the Judea People's Front.
Realistically, there are only two ways Democrats might defeat Trump. One is to unite enthusiastically behind Biden. The other is to unite enthusiastically behind Harris. At the moment they are doing neither. They are heading for a humiliating defeat born out of nothing but cowardice and indecision.
Kamala Harris is the only person who could break the increasingly acrimonious stasis, either by withdrawing support for Biden or by declaring that under no circumstances would she accept the nomination from a party of gormless backstabbers. By allowing everyone to argue on the assumption she's ready, willing and able to step up if Joe's forced out, she ensures the instability will continue. I wonder if she will rise to the occasion.
Showing disloyalty to the person who elevated you is no way to start a campaign. Someone else has to clear the way for her. Also, she has to show she's able to step up if the president is no longer there. It's her most important function as veep. She's handling thngs correctly.
damn.
those french doctors must have adjusted your meds.
I agree with ruralhobo -- Harris would never do that. It would be a horrible look. The only way she gets the spot is if Biden resigns, she becomes President and accepts the Democratic nomination. And it looks that, absent some other catastrophic incident with Biden, that's not gonna happen.
Yeppers. "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."
And Biden and Trump are both slouching towards Bethlehem.
I've said and thought Biden was too old from the start, but fair is fair. In the same way media (incl. social) neglected his age problems, especially his excruciating slowness which has been apparent for at least a year, while ordinary people saw it immediately, so I think now they are making a big deal of name mixups which ordinary people will find, well, ordinary. Lots of people mix up names once in a while. Some do it often, like my late father starting when he was young, and he had positions of responsibility until he was 80.
That being said, I continue to think he should step aside asap. That his name mixups aren't a real problem doesn't mean there isn't another one.
It may be that the only people who might get Biden to change his mind is the family. They might be the only ones who could convince him that if he leaves the stage now, he leaves it as a hero. A man who beat Trump and then left it to a new generation to finish the job of keeping trump and his mob at bay for years to come. (Remember that if trump loses, he still owns the gop and will run again until he’s dead.)
…. If he stays and wins, of course he’s a hero. … But if he stays and loses, he won’t be remembered as a guy who “tried his best”, gosh darn it, but there was nothing we could do. He’ll be remembered as a tragic pathetic figure who plunged his country into a dark age, just because he refused to admit that he became old, wiping out everything he accomplished. It’s not for nothing that Bill Maher (I think) referred to Biden as Ruth Bader Biden. (If his expertise is so valuable, he could be the top adviser to the pres, announced after the election, of course. This is about winning the election, not who runs the country better.)
If Biden wins you'll be saying that of course any Democrat could have beat Trump. And you'll ponder out loud, judiciously, with your lips pursed about your hopes for a good four years, given the Presidents obvious failings.
Yeah, I know your type, inside and out.
You've addressed three of four possible outcomes:
Biden drops and becomes hero (implied that the dem replacement wins).
Biden stays and loses, becomes pariah.
Biden stays and wins, becomes hero.
You're missing an important part of the analysis: Biden drops and the dems' replacement loses anyway.
And this outcome is certain to happen if it comes to pass. Like I said it will piss off a lot of voter of color who already feel like they are on the margins of society.
OR maybe you guys need to back down off the stupid hill you're willing to let Democracy die on and realize your best bet reading the current polling, knowing game theory and knowing that the average primary voter wants Biden to stay - a poll just released YESTERDAY shows 85% of self identified Democrats want Biden to stay in the race.
What poll? Sure sounds like a huge leap from the minority of a week ago. Are you sure you're not confusing it with the 85% of Americans who say he's too old?
Did you confuse 85% of Democrats with 85% of Americans? Hmm, I wonder about the state of you mind; maybe you shouldn't be so opinionated. Another bad sign is the way you keep repeating the same thing over and over. Maybe you should get tested.
I have arrived at the conclusion that no matter who our next president is, democracy in this country has been crippled by the ongoing efforts and flaws of the political press.
There is no longer a meaningful distinction between Reality TV and politics as shown through the eyes and mouths and cameras of the political press.
If the candidates are to be compared, it is in "energy" (Joe's sleepy/too old, Donald is aggressive and ignorant, so he looks "better"). Trump gave a speech yesterday where, according to the report I read, he just stood silently for a full 10 seconds. The press isn't interested in doing a series on "how likely is it the candidates for president have dementia" despite evidence on both sides. The story is about only one candidate, and that's because everyone knows Trump will never exit the race even if he's unable to do anything but stand and drool, and Republicans will vote for him anyway (well, 33% of them at least and turnout might plummet but the political press doesn't care about details), so there can never be a story about how "Republican party might change candidate after disastrous performance."
Meanwhile, the political press shows not just disinterest, but open contempt for things like understanding how government works; knowing the difference between things the president can change through executive order and what things require Congress to pass laws; scrutinizing the actual positions of presidential candidates and considering what they might mean for Americans. During these Biden years I've seen actual, non-Fox political reporters openly dismissive when officials or press secretaries start explaining how Biden would need Congress to do something or why a certain action can't be taken except by following a specific procedure. If the press reporting on politics and politicians doesn't care about processes of government, that inherently supports an autocratic dictator who, as in Trump's fantasies, can simply say "let this be so" and it will be done. By dismissing the very systems that protect us from a bad, insane, or yes, elderly president suffering some form of dementia, the press weakens any popular support for those systems: how can you support checks on presidential power when you don't even know they exist?
Reporters don't care about policy, either. When was the last story you saw about Biden and Trump's respective positions on abortion access? Why is Biden's incoherence in a debate a bigger story than Trump's complete incoherence on such an important policy question? He's said at various times that women should be locked up for having abortions, that the decision should be purely left to the states, that he'd consider a national abortion ban, that he wouldn't consider one; he's even openly stated that he'd be stupid to take a position because it would hurt him politically. So far as I can tell, this incoherence has in fact HELPED him politically; if you're a rabid supporter you "know" he's strongly anti-abortion but just can't admit it, and if you're a low-information voter, you don't have a good sense of his position at all, but if you've heard anything it's likely left the impression that he has no strong position and certainly that he isn't an extremist on the topic.
So we end up with "America Casts its next President," the show.
Scenario 1: Biden wins a second term, is in mid-stage dementia. There's a Supreme Court opening. Does he formally nominate Scalia or Trump: another "slip of the tongue"? Or do we end up with one of the same five or six candidates we'd likely get from any Democrat in the White House at that moment? Does dementia Joe not insist on another woman, and would there be any women on the short-list anyway?
Trump wins a second term. There's a Supreme Court opening. Trump nominates Judge Cannon instead of someone on the short list of the Federalist Society. Do they stop him? Does a Republican majority in the Senate reject her?
Scenario 2: Biden gets confused, orders that we bomb Iran. What happens?
Same situation, but it's Trump. What happens?
Maybe the decision looks a bit different if you care more about policy and checks on presidential power? I do think Biden is too old; I don't see the hallmarks of dementia (he went back and corrected himself? Does anyone in the thread know someone with dementia? That never happens!). I do care more about policy than the single person running. Biden represents a team; so does Trump. What is wrong with the Biden team?
Kevin wants Biden to resign as he's proven he's unfit for duty. What actual policy, regulation, or action taken by the Biden Administration in the past six months demonstrates Biden's unfitness for the position? It is fair to be concerned that in the end, the decisions are being made by unelected officials (but Biden picked them when he was younger), or that in a moment of crisis, Biden can't respond properly (but Trump didn't during COVID and we ended up with vaccines and a massive infusion of funds into the economy anyway). Why is Biden's fitness for office tied to any of the things he did in the debate and not to other things, things he may indeed be unable to do? Why does a public Q and A prove something while nobody's interested in getting a televised meeting or policy discussion to see what role he's playing in those?
It's because the election is Reality TV. Who will America choose, Don or Joe? Or are we getting a surprise switch and suddenly last year's Bachelor is back and Joe is out of the house?
I've read dozens of stories and seen more on why Biden must drop out. I have read multiple comments on this site that Harris can just use all his campaign money. But the convention hasn't happened and Biden could pick Bernie Sanders as his VP against the will of the party. There are rules. What are the rules? Why have none of the Op Ed writers or political reporters whose work I've read spent any time finding out how elections ACTUALLY WORK? Biden says it isn't easy to start a campaign from scratch this late in the day. That seems likely. But nobody cares because this is a question like a question about policy. Nobody asks who decides how much alcohol is served to Reality TV stars on a given show, because the point of the show is how they behave, not the process leading to that behavior, and certainly not paying any scrutiny to its appropriateness.
Our so-called political press are about as useless as rollerskates on a snake, if not outright mischievous/malicious.
Of course, that's what they were carefully selected for, sigh.
Joe Biden is the person primarily responsible for this disaster. When he should have handed off to a younger Dem (even Kamala), he insisted that HE ALONE could do the job.
Now, how is this different than Trump? Trump often says that he alone can save America. Trump has threatened the destruction of the Republican Party if they didn't fall into lockstep with him. And they have, big time.
Now Biden effectively has done the same thing. If Democrats take him off the ballot against his will, that will likely destroy Democratic chances. The only solution would be for Biden to agree to go, and help choose the Democrat to replace him. And it sure doesn't look like he's capable of doing that.
Biden is driven by ego and resentment. He still nurses a grudge against Obama for endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016. Can you imagine? He has achieved his lifetime goal, and is still resentful? What the hell kind of person is that?
Biden is so cute when he says that 'there are other candidates who could defeat Trump, but now they would have to "start from scratch". Thanks to you Joe, Thanks to you.
Biden and his family and inner circle I think misjudged how badly the age factor would blow up on them, particularly if he started showing any signs of mental difficulties. But Biden didn't run in 2016 because he was grieving the recent death of his son, Beau, not because Obama sidelined him for Hillary or something. There was definitely no love lost between Obama and Hillary for that matter.
Not only Biden/family misjudged this. The Democratic Party as as whole (those who control the Party, that is). The problem was there for a long time (at least a year), but the Party chose to be blind to it. Thank goodness that early debate was scheduled. Hopefully Biden will be out in time for any future debates.
On the topic of Joe's resentfulness.
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4766019-morning-joe-scarborough-mika-brzezinski-biden-obama-trump-msnbc/
"“One thing that we do have to underline here — just so viewers can follow what’s going on behind the scenes — is the Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,” Scarborough said on “Morning Joe.”
Scarborough added during Thursday’s broadcast that Biden is “deeply resentful of his treatment under not only the Obama staff but also the way he was pushed aside for Hillary Clinton” in 2016.
Not true. Beau Biden urged his father to run before he died in May 2015. Biden was clearly shoved out of the way because Hillary and the DNC decided it was "her turn."
Biden would have beat Trump in 2016 and in 2020. As a two time loser, Trump probably wouldn't be running in that version of 2024.
This is dumb. Really dumb.
BIDEN IS THE SAME AS TRUMP BECAUSE BOTH ARE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!!! BOTH THINK THEY ARE GOOD CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT!!!!
THEY ARE THE SAME!!!
I HATE JOEBIDEN!!!
Thank you for your incisive(?) comment. The all-caps treatment is certainly reminiscent of Donald Trump, so there is that.
I'm afraid that Trump and his "my way or the highway" attitude has rubbed off more than a little on Biden, and his sycophants such as you.
Didn't you get that he was talking about you? Instead, it flew clean over your head. Maybe you should schedule a neurological exam.
Lovely victim blaming. Biden isn't being compliant with the status quo so the rich White Guys are freaking out.
Get your facts straight Biden DID NOT WANT TO RUN IN 2016. Beau had passed away and his heart wasn't in it.
A ray of hope?
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/10/dems-fear-biden-fundraising-cratering-00167496
"The drop in fundraising reflects a decline in Democratic base support but also poses a new problem for Biden: If he stays in the race, he would need more dollars to make up for the damage done by the debate and the criticism from Democrats who want him to step aside.
“They’re hoping they can be bailed out by grassroots donors,” said a Democratic donor adviser. “I don’t see any evidence of that working.”
Money talks. There is a small chance that even Biden listens.
These kind of unsourced, fact and context -free messaging campaigns should be recognized as marketing, not news. These types of narrative building campaigns can be effective and have made up nearly all the 'Joe Biden is too old' 'news' coverage lately.
The only thing we actually know from the article is that some person or people want you to be really worried about the Biden campaign.
Hey, zaphod, I'm sorry to tell you that your bank account has been hacked. Please give me your routing and account numbers so we can fix this.
That's a fucking Dercho wreaking havoc. Shame on you all for buying into the rich white man's coup.
"It may be that the only people who might get Biden to change his mind is the family. They might be the only ones who could convince him that if he leaves the stage now, he leaves it as a hero."
You're right but since they have no interest in leaving the White House any time soon they're not going to try and convince him to step down. And with the press conference basically wash (like the ABC interview) nothing's changed and the situation may well stay that way through November: Functional but still gaffe prone. Still better than the felon.
Oh by the way, the latest NPR/Marist poll shows Biden leading Trump. Everyone said, including myself, watch the polling to see if Biden is so far behind he would have to conclude he needed to step down. Didn't happen. Again what incentive now is there for Biden to step down? Hmm? Thank God for Donald Trump because any other normal Republican would be ahead by a lot. Not Trump. Shouldn't that be a cause of some concern to Republicans? Maybe he should consider stepping down.
Without bad poll numbers and any family intervention any calls from Obama, Pelosi or other Democrats in Congress for Joe to step down are going to fall on deaf ears so they might as well just shut up or publicly have the guts to say they're not backing the President (and some have) and worry about Congressional races. But at least leave the Biden campaign alone. They've made their decision and Pelosi (and who I didn't think was such a fool to get herself involved in this mess and yet, sadly, there she is) or Obama can't handle it, then tough. At least move on rather than continue to agitate or continue to have meetings that leak to the press as soon as they start. Enough is a enough!
One thing also to keep in mind: History. I'm old to remember back in 1987 Joe Biden was basically hounded out of his Presidential campaign by the press for accusations of plagerism and using quotes from speeches without attribution. He's not going to let the same thing happen again. He is of a generation of politicians that basically believes it's up to the voters to render their verdict and no one else, not the press, other politicians or even, God forbid, celebrities!
Biden's press conference undermined his capabilities to perform as president like Captain Queeg's testimony did to command a ship at the court martial of the USS Caine's mutineers. Biden even rambled on like Bogart in an astonishing resemblance to Bogart's performance. The toddler steps as Biden walked off the stage verified the impression.
Did you watch the real footage or some cheapfake? Or are you so lacking in knowledge that you mistook a masterful command of the issues of the day for gibberish?
Regarding his physical movement irregularities, Biden has had (in the past) a broken foot (for which he did not use a boot) and he does have neuropathy. As someone who had a broken foot (and did use a boot) I still have to be careful going down stairs...with increasing age I have to be even more careful with that foot. Peripheral Neuropathy is something else. As Biden's doctors reported (and as reported in the press in February (2024)) Biden has damage to the nerves in his feet that can cause weakness, numbness, and pain. What that means is that one might not get the right signals back from the ground rapidly enough (compared to people without neuropathy) as one walks... so someone with this disorder is always second guessing where their feet are...obviously that slows one down and one's movements are shorter. He has some other physical disorders related to his gait also reported. But, is any of this related to cognitive functioning or any sign of "cerebellar or other central neurological conditions" that could be related to a brain disorder? As indicated in his doctors' recent reports (including in February, 2024 released to the public and more recently), there are no findings from these tests/exams that are consistent with any one of a large range of neurological disorders.,,this was reported then in the news. The more recent medical reports are consistent with those in February reported this year. Biden has not, however, taken an extensive cognitive test (neurocognitive testing): These are usually recommended by physicians when the doctor suspects cognitive impairment or dementia. But, say a doctor does not have reason to suspect that, then it is not recommended. That's where we are with Biden -- if his doctor ordered them he'd take them (Dr. hasn't ordered them since one presumes his doctors see no indication from any of his tests or behavior that there is even the possibility of potentially mild cognitive decline). As I said above there are MOTOR issues here. But, Biden retains general intellectual command of detailed information, abstract reasoning and pulling together information, reasoning, logic, planning, problem solving skills, and so forth and he illustrates that repeatedly (if people would look at the plentiful written evidence). A fair perusal of the debate transcript also illustrates his general command of detailed information, reasoning/logic, responsiveness... Really, what's the evidence for cognitive impairment? When Biden says he is tested everyday, he's talking about the fact that what his job requires and how he performs in real time is way more complex and difficult than the kinds of items one would find in these relatively simple cognitive tests (and he has consistently performed well at intellectual/cognitive tasks on the world stage) ... ok what we see are things like mixing up names, not always being able to extract quickly a word one is looking for...slow physical movements, low amplitude of movement (low micro indicators of energy) BUT these are not signs of cognitive decline.