And to believe, as some of us do, that he would be capable of serving out another 4 1/2 years, but not up to the physical rigors of campaigning at the same time.
IF he steps down he will stand by his position that he still is strong enough but he is recognizing that he is not the BEST chance to beat Trump this time. And then he demonstrates some strength when not under the microscope by being an effective surrogate in key states.
That was eloquent and well said, @psychobunny .
Thank you! This is something that should be obvious to everyone but Biden. To say he “won” the nomination is like saying Kim Jong-Un won the North Korean presidency. It’s easy to win an election, when you’re unopposed.
Who are these voters who, while they might not want a second Trump Administration, are fine with it if the alternative is Biden? Are enough of them truly unreachable? There’s no way to convince them that their lives, and the lives of the people they love, will be drastically affected if that man takes the Oval Office again and no matter how old and slow Biden might be reelecting him cannot possibly be the worse alternative?
Take it for what it’s worth – the oft-cited Allan Lichtman is prepared to live or die by the result of this election cycle. He’s quadrupling down on “Biden’s staying in” by posting this late last night and citing Ron Klain:
If Biden could give a speech like that we wouldn’t be in this mess.
Many of us believe they are reachable. And we are not seeing current Biden as being able to campaign in the way to reach them.
It really depends on how far the Dems are willing to go. Biden resisted privately. He’s resisting nice public statements to withdraw (ie, time to pass the torch).
It could get worse. They can ramp it up and get mean and destroy him publicly.** Depends on how much they want him out and how bad Biden wants to stay in.
**I’m guessing, but the mean would be leaning into him being mentally unfit in some way. The idea being you make a Biden campaign untenable - assuming we haven’t gotten to that point now.
This isn’t important, but kid gloves are made of the hide of young goat (kid). Your usage suggests children’s gloves.
My newly adult kids are both voting for the first time in this election. I’ve done informal polls of them and their friends. This obviously has no scientific value and are merely anecdotes, but it gives some sense of why this is such a concern.
These are all very liberal kids. They all plan to vote D for Congress, Senate, and local races. But only one of them plans to vote for Biden. None of them plan to vote for Trump or Kennedy. The rest will leave it blank or choose some no-name candidate.
Of those non-voters, about half were lost because of Biden’s wishy-washiness on Gaza. The other half won’t vote for Biden because they think he is incompetent, out of touch, and befuddled. They all understand that a Trump presidency would be worse, but they feel change can only happen if the Dems see consequences for how this has been handled. They are pissed at what they see as manipulation of the process by a bunch of old people. They are being ignored and have had enough.
I get that you don’t agree with this, but this is a real sentiment among a population of the voters. It is not polling or a media creation.
They could do that, if, for example, they wanted Trump to win the election. Otherwise, that seems like a terrible idea.
I feel like Biden has the hardest job in the world (POTUS) and the second-hardest job in the world (campaigning for POTUS). If he drops one of these jobs he won’t need to drop the other.
As for the 25th Amendment, I can definitely see that being a question that Harris will be asked over and over again in the modern media spirit of “please talk some shit so we can run a soundbite for the next 24-48 hours”. She should respond to these questions with all the dignity they deserve.
They are doing it, it’s just unsaid. Right?
Trump now has dozens of public statements from Democrats saying Biden should not run for President.
Now Biden is defending against Trump and lots of Democrats at this point. An attack on two fronts. They are making it extremely impossible for him to win…which is the point.
Anything “mean” would just be about Biden now (which is bad) and nothing about his record (which is good). That’s the framing at least. I don’t think anyone wants this but it’s the logical next step. I’m sure there are still more public “pass the torch” statements queued up that will drip first though, although Friday felt like the big push (12 in one day?).
Shit, I’m in my 40s and it basically sums up my position.
Same. But I’ll still vote for Biden if he’s the choice. They are more idealistic and have a longer-term view than me.
This belief that voters will make the practical decision is another example of the old Dems being out of touch.
Absolutely, no question (not that my vote counts here in Wyoming). He’s been a great president- very much exceeded my expectations.
Consider them as a focus group … would they be more willing to vote Harris?
My kids, yes. I will have to poll some others when I see them next.
I 100% get that. I really do and I agree (and I think African Americans feel similarly).
I’d just say that this election, Trump is an existential threat to the country and democracy and probably the whole world.
I get wanting to make a point, I am not sure this it the right time to do it. This is cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Here’s another one today, a Congressman from CA (Mark Takano):
“President Biden’s greatest accomplishment remains saving democracy in 2020. He can and must do so again in 2024 — by passing the torch to Vice President Harris as the Democratic Party presidential nominee.” [This is a snippet, the full statement is longer]
Passing the torch is pretty consistent in most of these statements. However, I’ve now read most of them. Some are slightly more damning - e.g., we need someone who can “consistently and reliably” deliver the message / someone “fit to do the job”. Not mean, but certainly hitting at his mental fitness.
Here is a tally of the public statements from current/former* Democratic politicians (starting on June 30 through July 20) (NYT gift link):
42 - Biden should step aside
25 - Expressed Concern** (but did not go so far as to say he should step down)**
67 - total politicians that have publicly stated Biden should step aside or expressed concern about his ability to be President.
How is this not game over? 42 saying on the record that Biden should step down.
*examples of Express Concern are generally: I have concerns if he is our strongest candidate to win / ability to serve another term. So pretty strong concerns about his ability.
**Most are current Reps/Senators, a handful are not. Examples of former would be a Juan Castro, or other former D Reps or Senators or Governors…not lightweights.