Yes, because suppressing the truth on the SDMB in a thread in the politics forum specifically on the debates is likely to swing the vote. The people in the politics forum on this board have no idea what’s going on - if we didn’t tell them, they’d have no way of knowing Joe Biden slept through a debate.
But sure, let’s deny reality and shut up and always defend our guy no matter what and never say anything critical of our party because that’s what upstanding intellectually honest and responsible citizens do. Oh wait, no, that’s what blind partisans do.
I’m not going to eagerly be telling everyone I know how badly Joe Biden did, but ffs if we can’t discuss it on a politics forum on the SDMB, you’re just advocating blanket denial of reality on this one.
So people who are paid to have an opinion on TV? And the candidates are just part of the team. They’re the racehorses, not the trainers. If you want the facts, talk to the trainers.
Also, as has been mentioned numerous times, this stuff isn’t discussed openly until it’s discussed privately. You and I don’t really know what conversations are happening behind closed doors.
Anyone who has had family with early dementia knows that there are many days of clear lucidity and untroubling behavior. It doesn’t change the fact that the problematic affect is manifesting in other moments and is progressively getting worse.
There is more evidence coming out about Biden that is problematic. The long Wall Street Journal story about this very topic. The Hur report. And now this. And I’m starting to believe that this goes way past Biden not being fit to run. I believe he needs to resign immediately and if he doesn’t the Cabinet would be grossly negligent if they didn’t invoke the 25th Amendment.
This says everything about your motivation. You’d rather cheerlead for the president then actually discuss anything (or let anyone else do so without repeatedly comparing us to gullible wrestling marks).
This was very heartening to see. But the problem with politics today is that only Biden voters will see it. 50% of the electorate gets their news filtered, and never sees anything that reflects well for Biden or badly for Trump.
If Trump won the debate by gish galloping and evading the questions asked then maybe debates are a stupid way to determine a candidate’s fitness to be President.
I don’t know what is or isn’t wrong with Biden, but even if it IS just a cold, there are still serious and reasonable concerns because of his age and general frailty. Remove Trump from consideration for a second, remove the desire for Biden’s re-election and look at him as a person: we are asking a lot of an elder. He has to be president and campaign for president under abnormal circumstances and intense scrutiny. That’s going to be very hard on his body, and no matter what you want, he’s just a person.
I don’t think the debate performance was normal or typical for him, but I doubt if it’s a one-off, either.
I really recommend everyone spend some time with octogenarians to get a realistic assessment of what we’re asking of him.
I don’t know a lot but I do know no one will be elected president while wearing an ascot.
I’m listening to real people in the real world people like my in laws who are in their 70s and lifelong democrats. People like my wife’s aunt and uncle who are lifelong democrats and hooked into the NJ democrat machine. People my age who are never Trumpers and democrats. All are people who watched the debate and are sickened. They aren’t just questioning if Biden can win, they are questioning whether he should be president now. It’s not something that can easily be overcome even with a good showing in another debate.
It’s been typical around here to ignore any signs that there is a problem with Biden. It’s been going on for awhile but some don’t want to see it. This will be a very hard obstacle to overcome. Maybe impossible.
…I can’t help but think of the terrible way Dianne Feinstein was treated right up until death. I’m pretty sure they will “Weekend at Bernies” with Biden if they have too.
I don’t know why people keep saying this. I shared this in another thread, but bad colds make me a hot mess—spacey, airheaded, sometimes struggling to complete a sentence or find a word. Cold meds make that effect even worse.
Not so for my wife. Why? I don’t know. But I think the debate performance was a combination of his head being in a fog because of his cold, cold meds, difficulty breathing, the age-normal impact on cognition (i.e., NOT dementia), and his stutter. Do I know this for sure? No. But I know he looked much more clearheaded and articulate at the next-morning rally, though he was still clearly fighting the ass end of a cold. It is malpractice that they proceeded with the debate.
This is now the cue for “but that was a teleprompter in front of a friendly crowd.” Of course. It is a circumstance that does not exacerbate the symptoms. That’s my point.
There is no viable Plan B. We’ve got to dance with who brung us. And I am cautiously optimistic that this was just a shitty night, and the next four months, as Trump is sentenced and his criminal trials progress, and the Democratic machine launches a full court press of assault ads, surrogates stumping, and positive Uncle Joe appearances that the debate—which, yes, was really bad for the war effort—will diminish to trivial importance.
Man, for a doddering husk of a man, he sure got a lot done in his first term.
And that’s a problem. It means you are allowing fear to be in drivers’ seat, which inherently impairs judgement. It leads to rash decisions that don’t consider the consequences.
So people are much less likely to think you have a valid point if you are panicking. And they know it will be nearly impossible to convince you that you’re wrong, because that’s how panic works, so you’ll be ignored.
I say you have to try not to panic, to think rationally, and do what needs to be done. Use the panic energy to accomplish something that actually has a chance of happening.
