# President Joe Biden and the runup to the 2024 election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 15, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384 "2021-11-15T14:54:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 37
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/732 "2024-02-15T01:51:39Z")
It’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s beltway politics. Backroom dealings are part of the landscape. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/733 "2024-02-15T01:52:33Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Backroom dealings are part of the landscape. Please name the last election cycle in which “backroom dealings” determined the nominee. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/734 "2024-02-15T02:11:27Z")
The 1968 Democratic National Convention comes to mind. Hubert Humphrey entered the race after the primaries, and had no delegates. The two leaders were Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy. Kennedy was murdered, and McCarthy was considered unelectable. George McGovern and Humphrey then announced their bid for the leadership so the party voted for new leadership at the convention and Humphrey won. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/735 "2024-02-15T02:12:53Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “Too old” != “mentally compromised”. And mixing this up is a pretty disgusting insult, and I don’t just mean against Biden. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/736 "2024-02-15T02:14:25Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > But Biden isn’t going to get away with a basement campaign this time around. A debate would dispel rumors of his failing mind, and refusal to debate, like his refusal to take a cognitive test, looks suspicious and will only make things worse. I don’t know what you mean by basement campaign, and also “this time around” as though whatever a basement campaign is, that’s what Biden ran last time. And I disagree with the rest of it. What makes you think Trump wants to debate Biden? And what makes you think that Trump is capable of abiding the standards of a civil debate? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/737 "2024-02-15T02:15:50Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Because as things stand now, Trump is likely to beat him. Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/738 "2024-02-15T02:18:14Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > And if Biden IS starting to show signs of dementia or senility, it’s only going to get worse. And I think he definitely is. Can he make it to the election without doing or saying something that makes it clear he is unfit? Well, I’m glad you haven’t made up your mind yet one way or the other. /s And you feel like suddenly pulling another candidate out of their hat is a sure-fire plan to beat Trump, the guy who’s steamrolled all of the other candidates? What magic does Newsome have? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/739 "2024-02-15T02:19:53Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The 1968 Democratic National Convention comes to mind. So the last time it happened was 56 years ago, after which the entire primary system was overhauled to prevent the nominee from ever being picked at the convention again. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/740 "2024-02-15T02:26:13Z")
Al Gore tried for a brokered convention in 1980 as well, but couldn’t pull enough delegates. Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan had a nomination fight at the convention in 1976. There are a number of other conventions where various candidates wheeled and dealed for a nomination. And these are just the big public squabbles. There are more: > **[Contested presidential conventions, and why parties try to avoid them](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/02/04/contested-presidential-conventions-and-why-parties-try-to-avoid-them/)** > > There hasn't been a seriously contested convention in decades, and history helps explain why: Presidential candidates who needed multiple ballots to get nominated usually didn't win. It’s true that they haven’t happened in a long time. But then there’s never had an election like this before. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/741 "2024-02-15T02:29:09Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > It’s true that they haven’t happened in a long time. “A long time” being several generations and outside the living memory of most voters. You might as well suggest that King Charles could have Justin Trudeau executed for blasphemy for refusing to acknowledge the Crown’s authority over the Catholic church. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/742 "2024-02-15T02:29:42Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Well, I’m glad you haven’t made up your mind yet one way or the other. /s And you feel like suddenly pulling another candidate out of their hat is a sure-fire plan to beat Trump, the guy who’s steamrolled all of the other candidates? What magic does Newsome have? If a doctor examines Biden’s mental state and declares it fit, that’s good enough for me. As for whether it makes political sense to replace him at the convention, that will be determined by the events of the next few months. Maybe Trump will be so damaged by then that a trained monkey could beat him. Or maybe Biden’s decline will be so obvious that’s the people would vote for Trump in a jail cell before they’d vote for Biden. We’ll see. I was just offereing a prediction, not a statement of fact. And predictions are about as often wrong as right. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/743 "2024-02-15T02:30:39Z")
Brer Rabbit is offering us suggestions ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/744 "2024-02-15T02:31:09Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I don’t know what you mean by basement campaign Pretty common right wing bullshit from 2020. Biden couldn’t have beat Trump, _as he never left his basement to campaign_. No one voted for him. Trump won in a landslide. > Before his coronavirus diagnosis, Trump made the basement attack a routine part of his campaign speech. > > “I got a guy who stays in his damn basement all day long and I’m doing this,” Trump said at a Virginia rally Sept. 25. > > “Where’s Hunter? You know where he is? Yeah. He’s in the basement with his father,” Trump said, talking about Biden’s son Hunter on Sept. 21 in Ohio. > > “I’ve been in so many states the last few days. Yeah. Well you need a lot of energy to do this job properly. You can’t be sitting in your basement for four days and come out,” Trump said Sept. 14 in Arizona. > > “He’s in his basement right now, and he’s saying, ‘What do I do?’ He calls his handlers, ‘What do I do about this?’ He hasn’t left in two and a half days,” said Trump Sept. 13 in Las Vegas. > > “He’s in his damn basement again. No, he’s in his basement. He’s in his basement,” Trump said Sept. 12 in Nevada. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/745 "2024-02-15T02:32:05Z")
Good gawd. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/746 "2024-02-15T02:46:56Z")
I never said any of that. Don’t put words in my mouth. ‘Basement campaign’ just means he did minimal public campaign events and interviews and such compared to the norm. In Biden’s case he literally did a lot of his campaigning from the rec room in his basement. I wasn’t aware the Seattle Times was a MAGA publication. > **[Joe Biden spent much of the general election in his basement. Now, he and his...](https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/joe-biden-spent-much-of-the-general-election-in-his-basement-now-he-and-his-aides-ponder-a-very-public-inauguration/)** > > Joe Biden spent months of his presidential campaign safely ensconced in his basement, communicating to the country via a television camera. His convention speech was delivered to a near-empty room in Delaware. His remarks after being declared the... Also the Washington Post: > **[Biden campaigns from his basement. Harding ran for president from his porch.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/05/03/harding-porch-biden-basement/)** > > Both Joe Biden and President Trump are itching to get out on the campaign trail as soon as possible. In 1920, Warren Harding’s goal was exactly the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/747 "2024-02-15T02:49:24Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > ‘Basement campaign’ just means he did minimal public campaign events and interviews and such compared to the norm Hmm. I wonder if there might have been something that happened in 2020 that would have made big public campaign appearances inadvisable for some reason. I can’t think of anything. How’s about youse guys? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/748 "2024-02-15T02:58:08Z")
Moderating: Let’s get back to discussing the 2024 election and not relitigate the 2020 election. You’re all getting far off track. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Oh, I agree. But Biden isn’t going to get away with a basement campaign this time around. @Sam_Stone, leave off with the basement references. That’s what started this hijack back to 2020. I will also caution you to be sure you are making accurate representations of the cites you provide. Saying “mentally compromised” when the poll said “too old” is more than misleading. It’s trollish. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/749 "2024-02-15T03:04:34Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Bullshit Every recent presidential poll has Trump ahead anywhere from 1-3%, except for one where he and Biden are tied. The swing state polls are worse for Biden. Sputh Carolina has Trump +15. In Michigan Trump is +5. In North Carolina Trump is up +9 in one poll and +5 in the other. In Arizona, Trump is +4. In Georgia Trump is +8. If the election were held today, according to the polls Trump would win. This is not an endorsement of Trump. This is just the way things are at this moment. I will say, though, that after looking at a lot of polls over the last month, there seems to be a small trend towards Biden. And it’s very early days. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/750 "2024-02-15T03:05:51Z")
It seems too early to go by polls. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/751 "2024-02-15T03:12:17Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Sputh Carolina has Trump +15. In Michigan Trump is +5. In North Carolina Trump is up +9 in one poll and +5 in the other. In Arizona, Trump is +4. In Georgia Trump is +8. South Carolina isn’t a battlefield state. The others would all imply major swings for Trump despite Democrats consistently outperforming there in 2020 and 2022. I highly doubt the actual election is going to consist only of people who accept cold calls on landline phones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384.md?page=38)