# Biden considering dropping out (Update: Biden drops out)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Tags:** trump
**Created:** [July 3, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690 "2024-07-03T16:50:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 95
### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1890 "2024-07-19T23:05:57Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> That’s a total fantasy. It really wasn’t nearly that big of a deal.
It gives Trump’s campaign a wonderful soundbite to use in attack ads.
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### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1891 "2024-07-19T23:09:23Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> It gives Trump’s campaign a wonderful soundbite to use in attack ads
It does. Which is a minor setback compared to the _dozens_ of soundbites that Democrats who are publically shitting on Biden are generating.
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1892 "2024-07-19T23:10:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> It gives Trump’s campaign a wonderful soundbite to use in attack ads.
Have they? As I said I can’t find anyone at my work who even knows about it.
And I don’t really think the Trump campaign wants to turn this election into a referendum on which candidate speaks more coherently when their guy keeps talking about a fictional cannibal as if he were real and calling him a “lovely man”.
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### Author:  [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1893 "2024-07-19T23:12:27Z")
Biden certainly has his supporters.
One of the women that signed that letter later hedged a bit when she tweeted out that letter and said **“nor would they “allow the elite Dems” to “step over” Vice President Kamala Harris.“**
That’s just one person (out of 1,400). But I think enough get behind Harris. This is a day to day, even hour to hour situation.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1894 "2024-07-19T23:18:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#):
>
> > [@kenobi\_65](#):
> >
> > It gives Trump’s campaign a wonderful soundbite to use in attack ads.
>
> Have they? As I said I can’t find anyone at my work who even knows about it.
I think the idea is, they’ll start using it around the clock if Biden stays in — like an October surprise, only, y’know, _not at all surprising_ — but they don’t want to blanket the airwaves with it _yet,_ for fear of making Biden’s numbers plummet now such that it’d increase the odds of Biden dropping out in time for Harris to swap in and get talked up.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1895 "2024-07-19T23:37:30Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> That’s a total fantasy. It really wasn’t nearly that big of a deal.
Like I said, we are apparently living in different realities.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1896 "2024-07-19T23:45:19Z")
[nevermind]
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1897 "2024-07-19T23:55:28Z")
The _Raw Story_ article I cited earlier was quoting CBS News. Here’s the original story on CBS:
> **[2 senior House Democrats believe Biden could leave 2024 race in days](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-could-leave-2024-race-2-senior-house-democrats-believe/)**
>
> Two senior House Democrats believe Biden could leave the 2024 presidential race within days after a pressure campaign from top Democratic lawmakers.
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### Author:  [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1898 "2024-07-20T00:07:22Z")
It wasn’t just the verbal nonsense it was also his blank, gaping mouth stare into the shadows as if he’s paralyzed by the apparition of Death itself gliding towards him held at bay by the presidential necromancer for a few days more.
The fact that anyone is seriously denying his condition when he was looking frail years ago appears to be purely partisan wishfulness.
Every NYT columnist is either neutral or slammed his performance at the debate and I’ve never seen this much press either in terms of volume or across the spectrum commentators in this much agreement about a political candidate stepping down.
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1899 "2024-07-20T00:15:46Z")
Now I’m pretty sure he should stay in the race.
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### Author:  [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1900 "2024-07-20T00:26:21Z")
> [@Aeschines](#):
>
> It was not the words that were childish–they were just a simple phrase–but the attitude in the particular context.
To me it feels like Biden is an idealist working for a big corporation. He’s been there long enough to have become really good at doing one or two things and now he thinks the company is going to fail shortly after they lay him off. And I know how this feels because I have been this guy myself. I have been a part of a department where I was one of two people who knew how to deal with a very complicated and involved process that could not even be _explained_ to anyone in the time we had left when we heard the layoffs were coming. The company got rid of my department anyhow and as for the fallout from that? Well, I guess they figured something out. Or they didn’t. I could have said “but the customers will suffer” for all the good that would have done. _Customers suffer every day_.
So when Biden is out there saying “who the hell can do that? Name someone else who can do what I have done!” my argument is you’re not special, Joe. You can be replaced. Reminding people what you have done isn’t going to overcome the inherent bias that comes with your age. Others may not have the same experience or wisdom as you have but they can and will figure it out.
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### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1901 "2024-07-20T00:33:54Z")
> [@octopus](#):
>
> It wasn’t just the verbal nonsense it was also his blank, gaping mouth stare into the shadows as if he’s paralyzed by the apparition of Death itself gliding towards him held at bay by the presidential necromancer for a few days more.
>
> The fact that anyone is seriously denying his condition when he was looking frail years ago appears to be purely partisan wishfulness.
I’m certainly not denying that he didn’t do well at the debate. He did horrible. But that was a limited amount of damage, and minor compared to the damage that all of the current infighting is causing.
At this point, it’s possible that the infighting has made Biden nonviable, but if so, it has likely torpedoed the odds of any other candidate succeeding either.
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### Author:  [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1902 "2024-07-20T00:37:55Z")
He is still somewhat proud, though not the alpha male. He will demand to serve to the end of his term. And he will also demand a role in the election. Have him cover the Carolinas, Georgia.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1903 "2024-07-20T00:39:14Z")
> [@DWMarch](#):
>
> So when Biden is out there saying “who the hell can do that? Name someone else who can do what I have done!” my argument is you’re not special, Joe. You can be replaced.
To quote de Gaulle, the graveyards are full of indispensable men.
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### Author:  [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1904 "2024-07-20T00:39:19Z")
Just a thought - if Biden does step down due to age, given how close Trump is to his age, does it also hurt Trump?
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1905 "2024-07-20T00:42:17Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> At this point, it’s possible that the infighting has made Biden nonviable, but if so, it has likely torpedoed the odds of any other candidate succeeding either.
Switching candidates at this late stage is definitely a Very Bad Thing. But it’s the lesser of the two evils. The point that’s being made by so many so often is that Biden is just that bad at this point in his decline, and I agree with that. What makes me angry is that Biden alone is to blame for this situation. Was the man not aware of his age and condition when he decided to run again?
> [@bengangmo](#):
>
> Just a thought - if Biden does step down due to age, given how close Trump is to his age, does it also hurt Trump?
IMHO, no. Because it’s not the numerical age that’s important, it’s the perception of physical condition. And Trump presents as loud and energetic compared to Biden’s death-warmed-over whispers.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1906 "2024-07-20T00:43:39Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> But that was a limited amount of damage, and minor compared to the damage that all of the current infighting is causing.
I acknowledge I am wasting my time here but you are not comprehending what the concern is.
The concern is not how much damage the debate did in and of itself. Neither the debate, nor for that matter, all the drama responding to it, have moved the needle much.
The concern is hard it is to move the needle this cycle, a needle that is solidly stuck at a modest but significant deficit. The Biden we saw (yeah you didn’t) is not the Biden who we see as likely to unstick it. He’s a very different Biden than the one at the State of the Union let alone last election. And we feel that information was unfairly kept hidden from us.
You think he is still the same Biden or at least the same enough? Okay. We will disagree.
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### Author:  [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1907 "2024-07-20T00:47:22Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> I’m certainly not denying that he didn’t do well at the debate. He did horrible.
Glad we agree on this.
> [@](#):
>
> But that was a limited amount of damage, and minor compared to the damage that all of the current infighting is causing.
A bad debate is OK. Obama had one. But no one doubted his mental or physical condition. He just didn’t debate well _in terms of content and the presentation thereof._
If Biden were genuinely mentally and physically fine, and if there had been no rightwing narrative of frailty and senility, and if he were back to being fine after the debate, then I don’t think there would be a problem at all.
But that’s not the case, _and_ his polling was anemic even before the debate.
The party was handed a shit sandwich _by_ Biden and his team. It’s not arbitrary or irrational “infighting.”
Yes, there was a calculation to make:
1. Ignore it and hope for the best. Not saying anything about it makes the best of the current situation. But if things don’t improve, much less get worse, things don’t look good. Fingers crossed.
2. Get him out and go with another candidate. We have accept that we will take a hit in terms of optics in doing so and there is no going back once we take this course. Even so, it gives us a significantly better chance of winning.
I don’t think the Dems went with #2 lightly. It’s a dangerous choice to make and completely upends the status quo.
> [@](#):
>
> At this point, it’s possible that the infighting has made Biden nonviable, but if so, it has likely torpedoed the odds of any other candidate succeeding either.
I think as well it makes him nonviable. You don’t have the data to back up the latter conjecture, however.
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### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1908 "2024-07-20T00:57:41Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> I acknowledge I am wasting my time here but you are not comprehending what the concern is.
Right back atcha.
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> The concern is not how much damage the debate did in and of itself. Neither the debate, nor for that matter, all the drama responding to it, have moved the needle much.
No, the ongoing drama IS having an impact on Biden, as has been shown in the polls that have been posted here.
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> You think he is still the same Biden or at least the same enough? Okay. We will disagree.
Wow, this is exceedingly frustrating. No, I don’t think it’s the same Biden, or close enough. I think he did horribly, in the sense that he really showed his age which at this point was the one thing he couldn’t do.
My point is that what matters is beating Trump, and the way to do that isn’t a mudslinging contest months before the election. Can you imagine what will happen if Biden ends up being the nominee anyways?
If Democrats wanted to replace Biden, the way to do that was to quietly rally behind his potential replacements, not **this**.
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### Author:  [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2024, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/1909 "2024-07-20T00:58:20Z")
> [@Smapti](#):
>
> their guy keeps talking about a fictional cannibal as if he were real and calling him a “lovely man”.
A pop-culture reference that makes the audience laugh. Imagine if Biden were capable of doing such a thing.
Seriously - and I _hate_ Donald Trump - but let’s give him his due, he can actually connect with audiences.
Maybe Biden had the ability to do this at one point, but he is certainly well past that point now. Not only was the debate a disaster, but his interview with Stephanopolous was absolutely abysmal, his interview with Lester Holt was excruciatingly awful, and most recently his interview on BET with Ed Gordon made me want to smash my head through the TV. He croaks out his canned talking points and mumbling tangents with all the energy of a reanimated cadaver, and _enough people are appalled by it_ that it _cannot simply be called a subjective opinion_ that his lack of communication skills make him an ever weaker candidate.
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