I don’t think any liberal sees Biden’s age as a positive, but a major primary struggle could be disastrous. The internecine battle could alienate a vital 5 or 10 percent of voters.
And if a charismatic youngster thumped Joe in the primaries, and then was discovered to have major skeletons in the closet? Again, disastrous. Biden’s been vetted about as thoroughly as possible.
The consequences of another Trump ‘presidency’ are possibly Civil War Level bad. We’ve got a horse that’s won before, and has a deep understanding of the dangers Trump presents. Fuck any youth movement.
I’m a big fan of the governor. I voted for him and would again. But anyone who thinks replacing Biden with Shapiro (even as a “what if” daydream), a fine, decent, and Jewish fellow, is a net vote gain nationally over Biden—well, you might want to give it another think.
And for the avoidance of all confusion, I’m pointing out the realpolitik reality, not at all endorsing it.
Again, I’m not at all suggesting replacing Biden with anyone. I was just clarifying who I was talking about previously. I like Biden. He’s our guy, and should be supported fully. Agreed that Shapiro is too young politically, if nothing else, to take on Trump even hypothetically.
In the end, the choice is likely to be between a 30 year old Toyota and a 29 year old, fireballing Ford Maverick. And we all know how Trumpers feel about anything that’s not 'Murican, damnit!
Do you seriously think there are many thousands of individuals-- among the citizenship, let alone in either party-- who are qualified to be a competent, effective President of the United States? Many thousands?
Being mentally sharp is a necessary but nowhere near sufficient qualification for the office. Experience IMHO is the sine qua non of all qualifications for President. That means experience in high office, preferably Congress.
Then there’s maturity, good character, compassion, kindness, toughness, leadership ability, life experience, willingness to work with the Other Side, intelligence, literacy FFS, etc., etc.
And you think there are MANY THOUSANDS of individuals in the country who possess those characteristics?
What’s your number of individuals who could do the job well? This isn’t an argumentative question-I’m curious as to your answer. I’d say maybe 20-30 in my book, though I couldn’t name them all, and a couple aren’t technically viable for one reason or another.
Thank you, OP, for sharing this. I just posted the link on my Facebook page, with this comment:
“Joe Biden has a wonderful talk with Conan O’Brien. Use this as “ammo” if anyone tells you Biden is “losing it.” He’s fun, on-the-ball, articulate, thoughtful, compassionate, and has a strong memory for details. They spend much of the time talking about cars! Seriously, give it a listen.”
So, maybe there was a little post-production editing, but that’s true of any recorded conversation.
Thank you, for getting the word out, that’s great!
Not to mention, ‘Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend’ is just an excellent all-around podcast, probably my favorite podcast. Conan is a great long-form interviewer; serious when he needs to be, but also with the quickest wit and one of the funniest comic minds in the biz. He has great chemistry with his podcast partners Sona Movsesion and Matt Gourley, who make great comic foils.
Sidetrack- Matt Gourley is on it? Sold. I remember him from Nerdist, but I’ve subscribed to his podcast James Bonding with Matt Mira for years. It’s semi- active, but an awful lot of fun.
The job is now, and for some time has been, beyond any plausible human capacity. Even without a non-functional Congress.
Having said that: some people can come a lot closer than others; and somebody’s gonna have to do it. I think Biden’s been doing at least as well as could be expected.
