# 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:** 67
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1332 "2024-05-14T14:19:27Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Conservaties and older voters tend to be more negative, but a solid 30% of liberals have very unfavorable views of China and view them as an enemy of the US. They are, for a given value of “enemy”. > [@Jas09](#): > > I wouldn’t say it’s a top priority for most voters, but for strongly conservative ones it is (I’ve had more than one MAGA type “inform” me that Biden is in Xi’s pocket and a stooge of the ChiComs). And yet it’s Trump who expanded his family businesses in China, bragged about bringing jobs to China, and continues to praise President Xi. Funny, that. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1333 "2024-05-14T14:24:43Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > True…but it’s amazing to me how _little_ they’ve changed since about 2015. (Ohio and Florida getting more out of reach for Dems; Georgia becoming a battleground; Virginia and Colorado getting more out of reach for Pubs…that’s about it, I think). 2015? Al Gore is calling from 2000 reminding us that this current map goes back further 😜. I’d say the only real changes since then are, as you said Florida and Ohio becoming redder, Virginia going blue, and Arizona and Georgia joining the purple Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. IMHO that means only 3 states (Virginia, Arizona, and Georgia) have flipped in the last quarter century. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1334 "2024-05-14T15:31:28Z")
True…though I’d add that Missouri, Iowa, and Indiana were considered swing states as recently as 2008, and are now firmly red (though some say there’s still hope for Iowa). I remember this because the 2008 Obama campaign sent me and my wife to a neighborhood in Missouri (an hour from our Kansas house) to knock on doors. Obama only lost Missouri by about a percentage point. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1335 "2024-05-14T15:37:22Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > … it’s amazing to me how _little_ they’ve changed since about 2015. (Ohio and **Florida getting more out of reach for Dem** s … One of the commenters to today’s Simon Rosenberg column, Daniel Solomon, is part of an organization called **[Field Team 6](https://www.fieldteam6.org/)**, actively working in Florida and other states to register Democratic voters. **[This morning, Solomon posted](https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/americas-start-up-boom-the-country/comments)**: > I’m having a tough time convincing some advocacy groups that Florida is now a swing state. > > Republicans did us a favor by enacting the six week abortion ban, putting abortion (and marijuana) on the ballot. 80% of all women oppose. 30 electoral votes. Trump won the state by 3.2% in 2020. If we flip 2% we win. IMHO there may be enough disgruntled Republicans to do it, but just in case, most of the unregistered, and the more than 3 million “no party” are women, trending at 80%. > > They turned us from a red to a purple state verging blue. Perhaps a million unregistered folks trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats, save the world. Crazy talk? Or onto something? Solomon’s math is slighly off. Trump won in 2020 by 3.36%. Accordingly, one vote north of 1.18% would’ve won Florida for Biden – 198,481 votes out of 10,965,776 cast (excluding third-parties). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1336 "2024-05-14T16:06:34Z")
Sounds a tad too optimistic, but I agree the abortion referendum should make it closer than recent elections have been. It’s just such an expensive media market…but the Dems should definitely do GOTV ground game in Florida. Not as much as in Michigan and Arizona (and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania), but some. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1337 "2024-05-15T14:09:15Z")
“… I hear you’re free on Wednesdays” > ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1338 "2024-05-15T14:16:03Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “… I hear you’re free on Wednesdays” 😅 🔥 ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1339 "2024-05-15T14:31:13Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “… I hear you’re free on Wednesdays” > > [https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1790713878248038478?t=wFZ674Bmg6aJ7A\_F3I0eVA&s=19](https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1790713878248038478?t=wFZ674Bmg6aJ7A_F3I0eVA&s=19) Bad news here. Those who will love that quip are already voting for Biden. If it is a choice between two unpresidential candidates, Trump will be the swing voter choice. The Commission on Presidential Debates wanted three presidential debates, and Biden is [now proposing just two](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/15/biden-proposes-2-debates-with-trump-ditching-bipartisan-commission-00158082). Trump’s people will notice and use. Polls show Joe won the 2020 debates. Negotiating new rules with Trump cannot help. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1340 "2024-05-15T14:34:12Z")
Lolol. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1341 "2024-05-15T14:41:34Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The Commission on Presidential Debates wanted three presidential debates, and Biden is now proposing just two. Trump’s people will notice and use. I have a really hard time imagining that people other than political junkies care about the number of debates, or that one missing debate is going to turn the tide of the election, or that any number Biden proposed would have been acceptable to “Trump’s people.” Judging by news clips, I don’t think Trump’s debate skills have improved since 2020. I would be surprised if the scheduled two don’t get cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1342 "2024-05-15T14:53:55Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Those who will love that quip are already voting for Biden. If it is a choice between two unpresidential candidates, Trump will be the swing voter choice. “Tough talk” quips like that are not to sway a swing voter that’s a reliable, every-election voter. It’s more a “get off the sideline” thing for don’t-often-vote types. The hit rate will be low, but could still be sufficient in the right areas. Honestly, in May 2024, if you (a) fully intend to vote for president, and (b) not right now committed to vote for Biden, you’re almost certainly not a gettable vote for Biden. Small numbers matter, so if 1% of the so-described cohort vote for Biden in the right areas, it could help. But I don’t see there’s really much that can feasibly be done to draw uncommitted likely voters to the Biden camp. Perhaps the calculus is that the hardly-vote people will be a richer vein to mine. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1343 "2024-05-15T15:05:26Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I have a really hard time imagining that people other than political junkies care about the number of debates, or that one missing debate is going to turn the tide of the election, or that any number Biden proposed would have been acceptable to “Trump’s people.” I agree with all three of your claims. But if an election is close, everything matters. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I would be surprised if the scheduled two don’t get cancelled. Until today, three were scheduled. Nothing is now scheduled, although two are proposed. If I was a Trump aide, I would advise him to set conditions for debating that Biden cannot agree to, such as the first debate being hosted by a right-wing network. That’s because Trump is bad at debates. Prediction: If Trump testifies at his Manhattan hush money trial, he will debate. That’s because, in both cases, logic says to be quiet while inclination says to talk. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1344 "2024-05-15T15:09:20Z")
I think Biden has proposed terms extremely unfavorable to Trump: > **[Biden proposes June and September debates with Trump, who accepts dates](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/15/biden-trump-presidential-debates/)** > > The president said he will not participate in the traditional televised showdowns organized by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. > [@](#): > > Biden proposed that the moderator should be selected by the broadcast host from its “regular personnel,” with firm time limits for answers, equal speaking time, alternative turns to speak and **microphones that are active only during each candidate’s turn.** (emphasis added) Not being able to ramble on after the time is done, or interrupt Biden, would drive Trump absolutely bugshit, and I can’t imagine he’ll agree to such conditions. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1345 "2024-05-15T15:12:57Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Until today, three were scheduled. This is strictly true, but neither candidate was committed to the Commission on Presidential Debates dates. It was more that the commission was holding three dates open and had venues arranged – they just needed the candidates to agree. That last part never happened. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1346 "2024-05-15T15:19:10Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Those who will love that quip are already voting for Biden. If it is a choice between two unpresidential candidates, Trump will be the swing voter choice. On the one hand you’ve got a guy who tried to overthrow the government and has explicitly stated his desire to rule like a dictator. On the other hand you’ve got a guy who told a funny joke in a tweet. Sure, “two unpresidential candidates.” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1347 "2024-05-15T15:22:50Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > > Those who will love that quip are already voting for Biden. If it is a choice between two unpresidential candidates, Trump will be the swing voter choice . > > On the one hand you’ve got a guy who tried to overthrow the government and has explicitly stated his desire to rule like a dictator. On the other hand you’ve got a guy who told a funny joke in a tweet . > > Sure, “two unpresidential candidates.” This kind of comparison illustrates why I don’t really believe in “the power of the swing vote” in the 2024 election. If a person is consistently taking hugely different things about both candidates, holding them up side by side, and treating them as equivalencies … than that person is almost certainly never going to come around to Biden. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1348 "2024-05-15T15:25:16Z")
“I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds - That’s only because he doesn’t get them,” Trump wrote. No surprise, he wants a studio audience. > **['Make my day pal': Biden challenges Trump to two debates under special...](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/15/biden-challenges-trump-to-two-debates-before-election.html)** > > President Joe Biden previously said he was open to debating his Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1349 "2024-05-15T15:28:27Z")
Another (potential) advantage of this for Biden is that it completely cuts RFK Jr. out of the debates. I know it’s up for debate whether RFK pulls more from potential Biden voters or potential Trump voters, but I tend to lean toward the former. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1350 "2024-05-15T15:29:29Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds - That’s only because he doesn’t get them,” Trump wrote. Neither does Trump anymore. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/1351 "2024-05-15T15:40:26Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Until today, three were scheduled. Nothing is now scheduled, although two are proposed Wrong. Nothing was _scheduled_, there were three proposed dates by a Commission which both candidates, for their own reasons, found unacceptable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384.md?page=66) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384.md?page=68)