Here are ten short excerpts from answers Joe Biden gave during last Thursday's debate. Reading them on the screen allows you to judge his performance solely by its content without getting distracted by his hoarseness or his facial expressions or any other bits of theater criticism. We're not electing someone to star in Hamlet, after all.
Unfortunately, this does not improve things. It might make them worse.
1. Raising taxes on billionaires:
We’d be able to write — wipe out his debt. We’d be able to help make sure that — all those things we need to do, childcare, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our healthcare system, making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the COVID — excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with—
LONG PAUSE AND BLANK STARE
Look, if—
PAUSE
We finally beat Medicare.
2. Abortion:
Look, there’s so many young women who have been — including a young woman who just was murdered and he went to the funeral. The idea that she was murdered by — by — by an immigrant coming in and (inaudible) talk about that.
But here’s the deal, there’s a lot of young women who are being raped by their — by their in-laws, by their — by their spouses, brothers and sisters, by — just — it’s just — it’s just ridiculous. And they can do nothing about it. And they try to arrest them when they cross state lines.
3. Abortion again:
I supported Roe v. Wade, which had three trimesters. First time is between a woman and a doctor. Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. A third time is between the doctor — I mean, it’d be between the woman and the state.
4. Illegal immigration:
Since I’ve changed the law, what’s happened? I’ve changed it in a way that now you’re in a situation where there are 40 percent fewer people coming across the border illegally. It’s better than when he left office. And I’m going to continue to move until we get the total ban on the — the total initiative relative to what we’re going to do with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers.
5. Ukraine:
We found ourselves in a situation where, if you take a look at what Trump did in Ukraine, he’s — this guy told Ukraine — told Trump, do whatever you want. Do whatever you want. And that’s exactly what Trump did to Putin, encouraged him, do whatever you want. And he went in.
6. Black progress:
The facts of the matter is more small black businesses that have been started in any time in history. Number two, the wages of black — black unemployment is the lowest level it has been in a long, long time. Number three, we find them — they’re trying to provide housing for black Americans and dealing with segregation that exists among these corporate — these corporate operations that collude to keep people out of their houses.
7. The economy:
We have covered with — the ACA has increased. I made sure that they’re $8,000 per person in the family to get written off in health care, but this guy wants to eliminate that. They tried 50 times. He wants to get rid of the ACA again, and they’re going to try again if they win.
You find ourselves in a position where the idea that we’re not doing it. I put more — we put more police on the street than any administration has. He wants to cut the cops. We’re providing for equity, equity, and making sure people have a shot to make it. There is a lot going on. But, on inflation, he caused it by his tremendous malfeasance in the way he handled the pandemic.
8. Climate change:
I’ve passed the most extensive, it was the most extensive climate change legislation in history, in history. We find ourselves — and by the way, black colleges, I came up with $50 billion for HBCUs, historic black universities and colleges, because they don’t have the kind of contributors that they have to build these laboratories and the like. Any black student is capable in college in doing what any white student can do. They just have the money. But now, they’ll be able to get those jobs in high tech.
9. Social Security:
The idea that they’re going to — I’m not — I’ve been proposing that everybody, they pay — millionaires pay 1 percent — 1 percent. So no one after — I would not raise the cost of Social Security for anybody under $400,000. After that, I begin to make the wealthy begin to pay their fair share, by increasing from 1 percent beyond, to be able to guarantee the program for life.
10. Golf:
BIDEN: You’re going to see he’s six-foot-five and only 225 pounds — or 235 pounds.
TRUMP: (inaudible).
BIDEN: Well, you said six-four, 200.
TRUMP: (inaudible).
BIDEN: Well, anyway, that’s — anyway, just take a look at what he says he is and take a look at what he is. Look, I’d be happy to have a driving contest with him. I got my handicap, which, when I was vice president, down to a 6. And by the way, I told you before I’m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it?
TRUMP: That’s the biggest lie that he’s a 6 handicap, of all.
BIDEN: I was 8 handicap.
TRUMP: Yeah.
BIDEN: Eight, but I have — you know how many…
I didn't read your excerpts because it is too depressing.
Then why are you posting this?
Because this isn’t a liberal version of a Fox News echo chamber.
I’d like to think most readers of this site are realists, and the reality is Biden has avoided answering questions from the press in a non-controlled manner for years….now we know why. Pretending to sweep bad news under the rug isn’t going to work.
But he's never been a performer. He's always been uncomfortable in that kind of setting, in part because of his stutter. This was a particularly bad choke at about the worst possible moment, but it was only that -- a bad performance. He's still a really really good President, even without considering whom we're comparing him with.
You really want Trump as President just because he knows how to Gish gallop on stage? (Which btw is what he does at his rallies all the time anyway.) Seriously?
"But he's never been a performer. He's always been uncomfortable in that kind of setting, in part because of his stutter."
Look back at the 2020 debates. He was no great showman then but he clearly won. This was so, so, so bad.
"This was a particularly bad choke at about the worst possible moment"
That's underselling it. This was *the* moment the campaign had been pointing to as the moment he would turn things around. Trump would be his rambling crazy self and Biden wouldn't be nearly as bad as Fox News made him out to be, and people would remember why Biden won the first time. Instead, he was exactly as bad as Fox News has made him out to be. Maybe worse! So even though Trump was a raving lunatic, no one noticed, because Biden was so bad.
"You really want Trump as President just because he knows how to Gish gallop on stage? (Which btw is what he does at his rallies all the time anyway.) Seriously?"
People encouraging Biden to drop out don't want Trump as President - that's why they want Biden to drop out. He was losing before Thursday and he's likely to be losing even more badly now, with no clear path to turning things around.
This was Biden’s chance to clearly state that Trump was lying and dodging. “You didn’t make Iran broke. You made them rich by ripping up the treaty Obama and I negotiated. You ripped up the treaty, and then they started taking in the cash. And when your friend Putin caused oil prices to skyrocket, Iran raked in even more. You were a one-man disaster that we’ve spent three years cleaning up after, just as we had to spend eight years cleaning up the catastrophes of the Republican president before you.”
Biden fucked up.
A large part of being President is standing up to bullies, and Biden fell down—badly—on the job.
There is no sugarcoating this.
If you were a realist you'd realized that that ship sailed long ago. Publicly abandoning Biden now makes Trump the incumbent and basically guarantees his victory.
For a bunch of realists, it's stunning how little it seems anyone thought through how any of this will play out in reality.
If you believe as I do that Biden has disqualified himself in the eyes of the voters that will decide this election, and therefore cannot win, then any alternative plan cannot hurt matters.
And might help. The degree of learned helplessness in these comments is just stunning.
Probably by authors who figure 'I'll be OK whatever happens', so let's just "stay the course".
Focus groups of undecideds and Latino voters during and after the "debate" actually leaned TOWARD Biden. So I think a little evidence is required for the premise.
zaphod says "Even though I have absolutely no reason to believe this, If we simply assume that anything else will work out better and ignore the possibility that it will make things worse, then we should definitely do anything else. Because, MAYBE IT WILL HELP!"
Oh goodness, the ignorance is impressive.
Biden cultists like you are no smarter than MAGA cultists. You have demonstrated that you are their mirror image
I know you are, but what am I?
No, some of us are just waiting to see the actual data. Debates historically haven’t tended to drive large changes in candidates’ prospects, and the hard polarization that dominates today’s politics makes me think that we will see even smaller effects.
Thank you, Lehew. I love [read: hate] the panic, judgement, and certainty of so many Dems.
For all the "Biden can't be elected" folk, I have two words:
Access Hollywood
Get off your high horse and get to work.
It was only Dems who weren’t going to vote for Trump anyway that were really bothered by the Access Hollywood tape. Biden’s performance scared away a
lot of moderates or republicans who don’t want Trump. (Or at least made them think twice about voting for Biden.)
Citation needed.
Access Hollywood? It just confirmed that Trump was a misogynist asshole. But everyone knew that. (Trump wasn’t an idiot like Gary Hart, taunting the press to uncover his lies. Instead, he just said, “So fucking what?” Which a remarkable number of people find refreshing in a politician, as Clarence Thomas and Kegs Kavanaugh have discovered.)
Biden spent months claiming that he’s sharp as a tack and agreed to an early debate to prove it. He staked his claim and lost.
I would like to see honest comments from Biden and surrogates / dem leaders. Dems must do what ever it takes to beat Trump. Biden needs to decide if he is the best candidate or would someone else have a better chance. I would rather go with someone else, as the debate made me question Biden's ability to do the job for 4 more years. Once this decison is made and communicated I will support Biden or whomever,however I can. The age issue cannot be ignored.
Of course not. How about Trump's age issue? Or his increasingly evident progressive dementia? (Remember his father died of AD, and there is a strong genetic component to AD risk.) Or his stunning lack of concern for the truth? Or his blatant misogyny and racism? Or his overtly anti-democratic and repeatedly expressed intentions to use the power of the state to go after his "enemies" and settle grudges? Or -- maybe worst of all -- the people he would put in office under him?
Joe Biden is not Joe Perfect. He's old, but so far there's no indication it's impairing his physical or mental faculties so severely that he'd be anywhere close to incompetent. And he's the alternative to Trump.
You would prefer Trump because Biden isn't perfect? Really?
No, of course not. But Trump does not verbally display the cognitive decline that Biden does. In the sense of effective rhetoric which advocates for crazy and harmful ideas, Trump hasn't lost a step.
The debate made this obvious, except maybe to Biden cultists.
Wait what? Trump can barely get a coherent sentence out, much less one that has some connection to reality or even to the topic at hand. His "debate" answers were streams of disconnected and unresponsive lies and vague evocations. He froze in place for, what, close to 30 seconds at one rally. Have you listened to him? Have you looked at any of the videos of his rally speeches? Have you seen or watched or listened to ANYTHING other than this one TV show?
This is panicky nonsense. Fortunately, the groups who ARE going to decide the election (eg Latino voters, undecided voters) are so far trending TOWARD Biden, so the campaign is unlikely to be similarly afflicted.
Go take a cool shower.
I'm talking about his debate performance, the one with 50 million Americans watching.
Rhetorically, Trump ran rings around Biden. I detest his lies, but he delivered them articulately. That matters to an audience. Emotional appeals made fluently "trump" rational arguments made inarticulately. Especially to those who have little time to pay attention. And the contrast with the Biden of 4 years ago and today's Biden is stark.
But I afraid for you to realize this will take something a bit stronger than a cool shower.
I would vote for anyone over Trump (that's is literally millions of people) I just think Biden is currently losing and may not have the best realistic chance of winning. I don't understand Trump's support, but he has it and I think he is going to win.
Btw, I think Biden has been an excellent president, maybe even top 10.
Who would be a better nominee at this point? Seriously. If you'd rather go with someone else, who is it, and why is s/he better?
As Kevin said it is most likely Kamala. Maybe there is a process to pick someone else, I am not smart enough to know that. I would rather take my chances with someone other than Biden. Biden needs to decide if he is the best candidate or not. I'd like to see him comment on that sometime soon. The age issue is no secret and needs to be addressed head on.
And of course he DID address it at his rally, where by the way he was as energetic and focused and coherent as ever, and that has barely been reported because it doesn't fit The Narrative.
As noted below, there is no One Weird Trick that will make him young, or lose his stutter, or make him the kind of glib (if incoherent, unfocused and truthless) performer Trump is. However, that neither disqualifies him nor makes Trump more qualified.
There is no magic. There is a choice between two. Pick one.
the narrative matters; just ask hillary
The middle course between taking a chance on Biden and a contentious open convention is for Biden to resign and Harris become president. She'd be the incumbent on election day, and that's worth a lot.
i'd feel sorry for her though, having to take on the role of potus while running the Big Campaign, being attacked on fox, no honeymoon period, etc
like strapping into the rocket sled
"He's old, but so far there's no indication it's impairing his physical or mental faculties so severely that he'd be anywhere close to incompetent."
Did you *watch* the debate?
"The age issue can't be ignored" - when has anyone NOT talked about it?
From April 25, when President Joe Biden officially announced his reelection bid, through September 30, the top five U.S. newspapers by circulation — the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post — published a total of 378 articles that mentioned either Biden’s or former President Donald Trump’s age anywhere within the article. Of those, 88% mentioned Biden’s age while only 42% mentioned Trump’s. If the papers believe that Biden’s age is so newsworthy, then they should treat the nearly as advanced age of Trump equally.
https://www.mediamatters.org/los-angeles-times/top-newspapers-mention-bidens-age-more-twice-often-trumps
They can't shut up about it; meanwhile Trump spreads more lies and everyone just sort of "yeah whatever, we know he's awful." Where's that outrage? Funny how there's so very few "Trump needs to step down" and I have yet to hear of a "they BOTH need to step down" take anywhere.
I honestly don’t care if Biden can go four more years, because I think Harris would be a perfectly fine President.
I just want Biden to win. The debate shows that he’s not up to winning. That’s a problem.
This isn’t picking oneself up and dusting off. It is picking at a scab.
It’s much better to have someone just confidently make up bullshit in the face of questions and/or totally ignore what was asked to ramble on about whatever stream of consciousness they’re in right now, rather than have someone freeze up and/or stumble over their response.
We will get the preznit we deserve.
Because Dems are so stressed out about the prospect of losing a tie race that we've decided very publicly to commit electoral suicide.
WTF? Are you under the impression Kevin is employed by the Democratic Party?
Not in the slightest. I also believe that he is definitely against Donald Trump, which leads me to wonder why he would do anything which would assist Trump.
And, as he is no longer blogging for a non-profit, he may support or oppose a candidate as he sees fit without jeopardizing status.
Before coming here I processed the transcript and came up with essentially the same list of problematical statements, which anybody and any media organization can do. It's not as if Kevin is releasing internal communications. If your side is going to be attacked, you'd better be aware of the vulnerabilities in order to decide how to defend, or if a different approach might be preferable.
(sigh) Look, he was incompletely prepared -- full of facts, but no practice in performance -- and when he got under the lights and got hit with the Gish gallop, he choked. Literally choked. And the result has been a media firestorm (which will mostly die down) and a treasure-trove of clips for Republican ads (which will not).
And?
There is no One Weird Trick that's gonna make this go away. And his behavior immediately after the show, and subsequent comments by Dr. Jill and Obama, make it clear he's not gonna quit. (Quitting would be almost objectively, provably worse).
So either get back to work -- donate! volunteer! both! -- or at a minimum shuddup please.
Trump did the Gish Gallop in his CNN Town Hall with Kaitlan Collins, and subsequently with Kristen Welker of NBC. So it was well known in advance how Trump would behave and the responsibility of the Biden debate-prep team was to have a strategy to counter it - which they did not do.
Instead of hounding Biden, where is the fury towards his campaign team for this mess?
Now do Trump's answers, but be sure to show the question he is responding to. Something was obviously wrong with him. He didn't answer a single one of the asked questions.
Yes, and it’s a lot easier to sound ‘confident’ when you’re just spewing your usual lies. Biden tried too often to counter the lies; there were just too many, and that got him jumping from one thought to another before getting to the point. Next time, he should just answer the interviewer’s question; then finish with ‘You better ask Donald again, since he didn’t answer at all’.
So your concern here is that, while he will support Ukraine rather than Putin, he may sound inarticulate while doing so? Is that your problem? Or do you think that he's so addled he'll accidentally betray Ukraine to the Russians?
Rather obviously, the concern is that he lost the election before it was even held. Of course you can deny it's so, and maybe time will prove you right, or maybe time won't prove you right and you'll say it's the fault of everybody who didn't fully back him, but the concern right now in all cases is that no knocking on doors or cheering can help him anymore.
Thats always the primary concern of every candidate in every election. And as you said, theres no way to know.
It's time to move on from this topic. Either we're going to line up behind Biden or we're going to find an alternative. Pick one and let's move on to more important stuff like the fact that religion crazed officials are mandating the teaching of one religion in public schools. SCOTUS is, of course, going to rule in their favor.
Which means that within two years half of the country will be the Christian Nation the right has been dreaming of. I said this last year, but the United States is no longer united. We've entered the "vote with your feet" portion of history. Republicans will chip away at every leg of federal power that they don't like now that they have a SCOTUS on their side.
To be fair, if the schools allegedly suck at teaching math or reading (which lots of people claim), then they’ll probably suck at teaching about God and Jesus too.
schools could 'teach the bible' in the context of a comparative religion course so the kids can choose based on an informed decision
imagine the howls of outrage in the pews on sunday morning
then follow that up with coursework on the failings of free-market capitalism vs a mixed economy
That's not the point. the point is that SCOTUS will pull the same lever they did on Dobbs and say "up to the states". Leaving states open decline anything relating to voting rights, decide they are a "Christian" state, and start running other religions out. Go back and read the rise of Nazi Germany - the seeds are all being sown and if the rest of the first world is paying attention, they'll start building up their military now.
And before anyone says "Oh stop, Trump is not Hitler". Of course he isn't, and he's only got 4 years. But his VP pick, that's the one to watch since he's being groomed to take the wheel.
Trump may very well claim that the two term limit only applies to consecutive terms, so he’s exempt. The Supreme Court, which might be 7-2 conservative at that point, isn’t going to stand in his way.
it'll be a 6-3 decision that no one has standing to bring a suit
Trump will terminate democracy in the US, and if he is still healthy enough in 4 years will just continue to be president, and just jail or actually kill anybody that deariouslt challange it.
C.f. Putin.
the dnc should implement the wapo debate proposal and biden should agree to step aside if a candidate emerges with a better chance of winning in the general
Who do you imagine that would be?
Kamala Harris? No chance. But not picking her would probably enrage the black Dem vote.
Gavin Newsom? Awesome guy, but Republicans would hang California politics around his neck. Def no guarantee.
Josh Shapiro? Awesome guy, but hardcore pro-Israel, would be a deal breaker to many Dems in this climate.
Anyone else with zero name recognition? Get real.
if the alternatives suck, the dems with concerns will have it demonstrated that biden is indeed the best candidate, then we all lock arms and march forward
not a bad outcome
and having dems on tv beating on trump for the next 6 weeks wouldn't be a bad thing either
Dems publicly questioning Biden's fitness (a.k.a. doing Republicans' work for them) guarantees that's ALL the press will talk about until election day, not what a psycho Trump is.
The time to pick an alternative was the 2020 Dem Primary. Now we have an incumbent. Lock arms and march forward now, or publicly concede defeat now. That's the only really choice being made by the NY Times Editorial board or whoever. They've chosen the latter, I guess so they can say I told you so.
conservative media will be pushing the 'confused biden' clip of the day until november, and with blood in the water the conservative money spigot will take over the airwaves
and the mainstream press has already decided that biden is the issue; staying the course guarantees that it remains front and center
debates would give the press a new shiny object and get them off that trajectory
I'm not voting for a debater and both choices suck in that category.
I'm voting for an administration and not an individual, since it's the administration which truly reveals the effectiveness of the President. Imagine picking the best sports team and you only care about the coach, while ignoring the players.
Unfortunately, Americans prefer celebrities than effective managers. Which at it's core is the role of a President.
+1
Being President of the United States is, perhaps, the hardest job in the world. Based on the debate, I would not hire Biden to be a middle level, white collar employee. Further, time is not going to improve Biden's communication skills or mental processing.
Biden, and Trump for different reasons, is not qualified to be President, in my book. Unfortunately, if Biden is the Democratic candidate, I think a Trump victory is very likely/near certain.
Also worth, I think, asking the question: who is it better to lose with?
My gut feeling is I'd rather lose with Kamala, because at least the Democratic Party is then, as it should be, the party of the future.
Being a good debater has as much to do with how a President will perform in office, as how a person golfs has to do with being a good surgeon.
Both have been President, so you and everyone else should be able to tell how they can actually do the job. If you think that based on his actual work as President to this day Biden can't do the job, then fine, but if you think he can't do the job as President because he performed bad at a debate... then you might as well be wearing a red MAGA hat because that's how smart you'd seem to be.
the hardest part of doing the job is first convincing swing voters that you deserve the job
Come on. Biden’s performance was beyond just not being a good debater. There’s a reason Van Jones and other democrats on the CNN panel were immediately saying he should consider stepping down. I’ve never seen the likes of that before just from a subpar debate performance.
"Both have been President…"
That phrase sure is doing a lot of work.
I have no idea what is going to happen, though if he is out, he needs to do it this week. With an ordinary opponent, the Democrats would be toast to switch horses in July, but Trump is so absolutely hated and feared by a whole lot of electorate, it is possible that any reasonable alternative may prevail.
At least a new horse race and a wide open Convention would gobble up all the media oxygen, which would certainly drive Trump nuts for a while.
Meanwhile, in France…
The National Rally party won a crushing victory in the first round of voting for the French National Assembly, according to early projections, bringing its long-taboo brand of nationalist and anti-immigrant politics to the threshold of power for the first time.
So let’s just all come to grips with the end of liberalism, tolerance, and diversity. Lots of people hate the immigrants and want them gone. It was a mistake to think people would accept it no matter how little you or I care about it. Most people are assholes all over the world. Soon, I guess, we’ll see them taking their frustrations out on… all kinds of people. Don’t be one of them.
The National Rally received roughly 34% of the vote in France. In previous elections they have bled a lot of support between the first and second round of voting.
They arent very close to the threshold of power.
Remember the 3am phone call commercial?
If this was during the cold war, we wouldn't have these candidates. Reagan only got in because he projected himself as being a stronger anti-communist.
Biden should have prepped Harris better to take over. Instead, they saddled her with fixing immigration--oh, and do that without any budget. She could have been going around the country on "listening" tours, leading conversations on how to adapt to climate change, e.g. visit Miami during clear day flooding and explain that this was not normal, etc. Biden would have to keep the pretense of running until Jan to keep from being a lame duck, but then end his candidacy.
But now we have to work with what we got. Trump has to be kept out of the White House. Don't know if Biden will step aside, or how smoothly that would go if he did, but time to keep a Democrat in the White House.
wapo:
The latest poll shows that a majority of all registered voters — 72 percent — do not believe Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president. Just 27 percent believe he does have sufficient health to serve, down from 35 percent a month ago. The poll found that 49 percent of voters believe that Trump does not have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president.
Donald Trump doesn't have the mental capacity to serve as a grade school crossing guard.
The fact that only 49% judged Trump unfit says quite a bit about registered voters’ abilities as amateur psychologists.
Well, looky here, we have a Constitutional Amendment (the 25th) that addresses exactly this problem. It empowers a group to determine whether a President is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his [sic] office”. If that is found to be so, the Vice President immediately assumes the office. The group that makes this determination is not the New York Times or Washington Post editorial board, or the respondents to a public opinion poll, but the Vice President and Cabinet. So let us deal with this situation Constitutionally. Suppose Biden were to convene a meeting of the Cabinet and VP Harris, then step out of the room. The Cabinet should name a chair, and deliberate as long as it takes, and either transmit the Amendment-specified letter, or release a public statement to the effect that the President is competent to carry out his duties. Done, one way or the other.
Biden cannot ignore the editorials and many columnists calling on him to drop out. He needs to respond that he has spent time reconsidering his campaign and if he is the best candidate to beat Trump. I think he needs to hold a press conference to address the amount ot attention being given to his age and fitness. I don't think he is capable of successfuly holding this press conference in a way that reassures people. I'll support him what ever he does.
There's a lot of party line posting going on here. Don't dare say anything bad about Biden, as if a bunch of the country hasn't already seen it and more will before the election is over. I appreciate that Kevin posted this because I didn't watch the debate and have just been reading opinions.
I don't know that there is a solution. I think the Insiders and movers and shakers are deciding the course of action right now. And at the top of that pyramid is likely Biden. If there are any smarts at all in the Democratic Party they'll be paying attention to the polls over the next few weeks.
It's a demonstration of the super weakness of the party that this could happen. It's not okay to have good days and bad days with that wide a swing.
what no one seems willing to openly discuss is the likelihood of a sleep-deprived biden having an episode of mental vapor-lock on camera during the last couple weeks of october
no amount of 'circle the wagons' and ground-game is gonna compensate for that and it'll be a blood-bath down ticket
It's the down-ticket part no one seems to talk about. Trump isn't the only one down the rabbit hole. The GOP has been purged of all who won't follow him there. With obedient majorities in both houses of Congress, what won't Trump do. But Biden's hubris will hand them to him. Since it's election day in France, let's say it in French: Après moi, le déluge.
first order of business will be ending the filibuster
There were definitely some terrible moments, but I stayed tuned to entire debate without distraction, and strongly believe Joe won the second half of it, after getting flubbed in first 20 minutes and causing panic throughout the donor base, so I'm not too worried about the 10 excerpts, I know what I saw, though it wasn't pretty or close to optimal.
Having said that, is best for people to be united as possible, because otherwise harder to look the other way about particular sensitive things. Joe should get a full (objective) medical workup to make sure he can make it through another 4 years, because if not he shouldn't be running (of course he doesn't have to publicize the medical findings per se).
If he is in fact healthy, then he's the candidate, as long as he can get out and barnstorm like he did the day after the debate. But if he requires special handling and isn't going be able to do a few dozen rallies, deep consideration should be taken into the stakes involved, and if there is a better candidate, with the understanding that any change at this point is introducing many unknowns (and likely legal challenges unless it's still Harris).
How about some fireside chats from ol Joe? It's all about the issues and contrast with the MAGA manbaby, start making it in earnest, The Donald has been campaigning for months and is likely mostly maxed out in terms of support, while Biden hasn't even really started.
To barnstorm with a teleprompter or without a teleprompter, that is the question. And that goes for fireside chats too. People don't want to know what his speechwriters can devise, I think. That's why "the morals of an alleycat" fell flat. As for a medical checkup, yes. For Trump too btw. But with full disclosure. It's the voters, not the candidate, who have the right to decide whether certain health or mental failings are compatible with the presidency.
If Biden stays in, yes the medical report should be released. But if by some chance he doesn't, no need for public disclosure, as it's then a private matter (promise nothing in advance).
The media has really set the terms of how we think about this election, much like they did the 2016 election. They are amped up for 4 more years of a Trump ratings bump and tax cuts for the execs and so we follow along with their preselected storyline.
The only plausible replacement for Biden would be Kamala Harris. I've yet to read a persuasive argument that Harris could do better against Trump than Biden would. Indeed the sketchy evidence we have suggests she wouldn't do as well.
That being the case, this continuing self-flagellation on the left is pathetic.
The entire Democratic field, Bernie Sanders excepted, bowed out of the 2020 primary after the South Carolina primary, to clear the path to the nomination for Biden, believed to be the best alternative to Trump.
Those candidates put the country ahead of their personal interest, a rare act among politicians.
Biden should look to their example.
Biden’s Family Tells Him to Keep Fighting as They Huddle at Camp David
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/30/us/politics/biden-debate-anxious-democrats.html
I wish Biden would listen to voters:
A new poll by CBS News found strong sentiment among Democratic voters for Mr. Biden, 81, to cede the way to a younger nominee. Forty-five percent of Democrats said they wanted a different candidate to take on the battle with Mr. Trump. Among voters overall, just 27 percent think Mr. Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, down from 35 percent before the debate.
anyone notice that conservative outlets aren't flooding the zone with clips from the debate?
obviously keeping their powder dry until biden is permanently locked into the race
They don't seem to care anymore about getting the audio tapes of Biden's sessions with Robert Hur. I guess they feel they've got enough with the debate (which includes video).
.At this point, all it takes is another age-related mishap by Biden (physical or verbal) and the walls will come tumbling down. Bet on it.
Another thing most people aren't considering is, how well will Biden perform 5 years from now? He will not improve, he'll only get worse.
IMHO (for what it's worth), the choice is between supporting authoritarian autocracy by default and supporting egalitarian democracy by exception, and supporting Biden is the exception.
Yes, Trump lied non stop in the debate and he is an evil, criminal. HOWEVER, in my opinion, the biggest lie of the night was the Democratic establishment false claim, that 'Biden is just fine.'
Sorry, but Joe Biden is of clear declining mental ability and impaired ability to communicate. Further, an 81 year old mental ability will not get better over the next four years.
The US President is, perhaps, the most important and difficult job in the world. How are we given the option of an evil criminal and a mentally impaired man?
"I've cherry-picked Biden's worst moments to allow you to judge his preformance solely by their content."
You should be ashamed of yourself.
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If you're using this to make your case that Biden is no longer competent enough to be President, I suggest that you're not soliciting advice from a very important group: people who stutter. Biden was clearly speaking too quickly in his opening statement. AFAIK, this is not a good thing if you stutter. And many of his "moments" could well have been his attempt to simply get the next word out. However, I don't have that problem, so I don't know. But I sure would like to hear from people who DO know what it's like. You'll note that Trump's brain just keeps on going, spitting out nonsense whenever he loses his place. He instinctively knows to just keep talking, that something will come to him.