My guess is that the anti-biden voices are people with enough clout to be “allowed” to publicly question him. The progressives get a lot of flack for dividing the party and they don’t need to get into this fight especially when they aren’t going to end up with an actual progressive candidate in any event.
The article is specifically discussing Representatives, not the general public.
The hypothesis proposed is that moderates “may fear that Biden will drag them down with him if he loses big” while the progressives are often “more at risk from a primary challenge than from losing a general election. (Indeed, the fear of facing a pro-Biden challenger may be part of what kept them in line.)”
The comedy shows (liberal ones) are still making fun of Biden staying in the race:
I’m an independent and I’m standing with Biden until or unless he changes his mind. Any other choice and Trump wins. This country cannot afford a Trump win. Full stop. There is no substitute for Biden that has been mentioned that has a remote chance of beating Trump. It’s just not going to happen so the choice is vote for Biden and hope for the best. Any other choice and Trump wins, IMO.
Having said that, the only other person that I think could beat Trump isn’t going to run, although I kinda wish she would. She’s the wife of a former President, and if she entered the race, Trump would probably have a stroke and save us all a lot of heartache.
I am not sure what that is meant to prove. I am willing to bet a similar list saying the opposite could be compiled from Twitter/X.
Already answered. The ABC interview, and every other appearance I’ve seen Biden make since the debate disaster. Every time I see Biden now the impression firmly entrenched in my mind is “death warmed over”. Again, it’s not his chronological age that’s the problem, it’s his physical and mental condition.
While it’s true that Republicans tend to be more dogmatic and less analytical than Dems, I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. If Biden had been consistently ahead of Trump and on track to be the clear winner, Dems would be united behind Biden and Repubs would be squabbling amongst themselves.
Or IOW, if you’re set to retire, it’s easy to be honest.
The idea that respected major media like the New York Times, the Atlantic, and the New Yorker are suddenly in the tank for Trump is obviously preposterous yet we keep seeing it come up. No, the writers and editors of these media are deeply concerned for their country and see Biden on a path to certain defeat, as do major pollsters like Nate Silver.
The writers and editors think they see a parade and want to grab the baton, in an effort to sell papers and please the stockholders.
Those aren’t “other words”-Those are words that do not agree at all with what @Dr.Strangelove just said.
Maybe?
Nate Silver, at least, has always seemed a guy that goes where the numbers take him.
Also, I can’t imagine the NYT shifting gears that much for a few months of clicks. I tend to be a cynic but that is a reach even for me.
What they are doing is getting people to take a look-see. It certainly isn’t hurting their stock prices.
You don’t think that top-tier publications believe in responsible journalism any more? Not even a little bit?
Not true at all. It’s exactly the subtext I was going for.
The meta-game we’re talking about is a preference cascade, which arises from preference falsification. Under what conditions are people able to state their thoughts honestly? In this case, it’s obvious that people in the Biden administration cannot speak honestly: they have to toe the pro-Biden line, regardless of the truth.
And of course people like George Clooney can speak their mind. They pay no cost to going against the grain. But a bit further along the line are people like Blumenauer. He’ll pay a small cost for this, but not much. He doesn’t have to worry about campaign funds being withheld. And any ostracization is time-limited.
The writers and editors serve at the pleasure of the executive class, who don’t care who the president is as long as Line Goes Up. Don’t take my word for it - here’s the CEO of CNN’s parent company saying the quiet part loud.
The employees might. The ownership sure doesn’t.
Clooney recently raised $28 million for Biden. I’d say he is in the game. What politician of any stripe ignores a donor who puts $28 million in their campaign chest? This is not some movie star random opinion.
The fundraiser that Clooney headlined raised $28 million for Biden’s reelection campaign, the most for the Democratic Party from a single event in history.
Of course he’s a huge Democrat supporter. I’m talking about statements to the effect that Biden should bow out. Clooney pays no cost to making statements like that. He can’t be primaried like a congressperson. He can’t have his campaign funds withheld. He can’t be excluded from important committees. Etc. Those are costs that politicians have to pay.
But some politicians pay higher costs than others. Blumenauer pays at most a small cost since he’s set to retire. Very little can be held over him. So he can afford to be honest.
Of course, those costs are not paid if the “coup” succeeds. But who is willing to bet their entire career on that? People with not much of a career left, to start with. And if there are enough of those–enough to dilute the effect of sticking their necks out–maybe people with a bit more to lose. And then people with a little bit more. Hence the cascade.
But preference cascades don’t always succeed. Sometimes they stall and the coup fails, and the traitors get executed. Hard to say in advance how it plays out.
That’s a deeply flawed attempt to refute what I said. First of all, the president of Warner Bros Discovery is pretty far removed from the CNN newsroom, although admittedly he could influence editorial policy if he wanted to. But CNN leadership itself has been troubled (consider, for instance the now-fired former president Chris Licht). Which is why CNN sucks at journalism and their news coverage is crap.
CNN isn’t as abysmal as Fox “News” which isn’t news at all, but it’s still crap. I’m not disputing that. But the same is not true for storied publications like the New York Times, the New Yorker, or the Atlantic, all of which have called for Biden to step down. If you think it’s just to sell ads or generate clicks you’re deluding yourself. It’s to try to save the country. Maybe you should listen to Steve Bannon’s first jailhouse interview, where he said that the future of the MAGA movement depends on Biden remaining the Democratic nominee.
So we’re taking campaign advice from Steve Bannon now?
Maybe you should. He may be a lunatic and a convict, but he got Trump elected in 2016 when everybody thought Trump was a joke.
Biden needs to tell Kamala, “I trust you. I selected you as my VP because I know you can take over. If you and the Cabinet think I’m not up to the task then for the good of the country you have to invoke the 25th Amendment. I will then resign and the country will see how good their future will be led by you. Do not take my feelings into account. This is too important.”