What the Democratic Party is doing to a sitting president and one of the most effective presidents in my lifetime will not be forgotten. Elected Democrats and “party elders” have been shooting themselves in the d–k, over and over, day after day, for the past four weeks. They look like morons. They look childish. They’re trying to bully President Biden – the sitting president – out of his reelection campaign and they literally have no plan for what happens if they succeed. This whole thing is a TRAP in a hundred different ways, not least of which is that the disloyalty and outright stupidity shown by senior Democrats will not be forgotten by the voters. If you’re capable of knifing President Biden in the back, you’re capable of knifing Kamala Harris or Random White Male Democrat in the back too.
Speaking of, it already spoke volumes to me that former president Barack Obama wasn’t clapping back at his former staffers, including those pod douches and David Axelrod. Obama has remained silent as a stream of his former staffers became the loudest voices braying incomprehensibly at President Biden. And now, instead of speaking on the record about how we, as a party, need to come together for Joe Biden, the Obama team put this out in WaPo:
Former president Barack Obama has told allies in recent days that President Biden’s path to victory has greatly diminished and he thinks the president needs to seriously consider the viability of his candidacy, according to multiple people briefed on his thinking.
Obama has spoken with Biden only once since the debate, and he has been clear in his conversations with others that the future of Biden’s candidacy is a decision for the president to make. He has emphasized that his concern is protecting Biden and his legacy, and has pushed back against the idea that he alone can influence Biden’s decision-making process.
Behind the scenes, Obama has been deeply engaged in conversations about the future of Biden’s campaign, taking calls from many anxious Democrats, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and has shared his views about the president’s challenges, according to people with knowledge of the calls, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Obama sees his role as a sounding board and counselor to his former vice president, telling allies that he feels protective of Biden. In these conversations, Obama has said he thinks Biden has been a great president and wants to protect his accomplishments, which could be in jeopardy if Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress next year.
In some conversations, Obama, who has long looked to data for political insights, has told people he is concerned that the polls are moving away from Biden, that former president Donald Trump’s electoral path is expanding and that donors are abandoning the president.
“Obama has said he thinks Biden has been a great president and wants to protect his accomplishments, which could be in jeopardy if Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress next year.” So in this scenario where the Democratic coup to overthrow President Biden’s candidacy works and someone else is on top of the ticket, if this scenario happens, then you think Democratic voters are suddenly going to be enthusiastically ready to support all of the congressional Democrats who just knifed Biden in the back? Or do you think there is going to be a sh-t ton of residual anger, rage and contempt at what the party elders have done to both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and that distrust and contempt will come through all the way down the ticket? I’ll be the one to say it: f–k Barack Obama. He’s an intelligent man, he’s capable of gaming out all of the scenarios. Instead of gaming it out and coming to the conclusion that we all need to come together and unify behind the Biden/Harris ticket, Obama is allowing his name to be included and used in this party coup.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
- President Barack Obama made remarks, with VP Joe Biden by his side, before signing the 21st Century Cures Act, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House in Washington, DC. on December 13, 2016. The legislation eases the development and approval of experimental treatments and reforms federal policy on mental health care. (Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto),Image: 512210319, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – No Third Parties- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Cheriss May / Avalon
- United States President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a tribute to US Vice President Joe Biden (L) during an event in the State Dinning room of the White House, January 12, 2017 in Washington, DC.,Image: 526451961, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Douliery / Avalon
- United States President Barack Obama speaks as US Vice President Joe Biden looks on while discussing the release of the Cancer Moonshot Report in the Oval Office of the White House on October 17, 2016 in Washington, DC.,Image: 534578467, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Douliery / Avalon
- President Barack Obama adresses drive-in rally on election eve to get out the vote for Joe Biden, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock on November 2, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia,Image: 567022217, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Sanjeev Singhal / Avalon
- Miami, FL – Former US President Barack Obama speaks in support of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during an election-eve drive-in campaign rally at the Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Pictured: Barack Obama BACKGRID USA 2 NOVEMBER 2020 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- Miami, FL – Former US President Barack Obama speaks in support of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during an election-eve drive-in campaign rally at the Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Pictured: Barack Obama BACKGRID USA 2 NOVEMBER 2020 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Or he’s right. As is Pelosi.
Sorry, Kaiser, I don’t agree with you on this and the Democrats I know IRL don’t either. Biden needs to step aside and should have a long time ago.
And when anyone starts crying “disloyalty,” you should pay extra attention because it means there is a bigger focus on the person than on the answer. It’s not disloyal to recognize that it’s time for Joe to go – he served his time and we are a grateful party. But it’s time to go.
I’m sorry, but no. There is no scenario where Biden drops out and Democrats win. Until there is the same level of outcry for the convicted FELON rapist (who also is incoherent and falls asleep constantly) to step aside then everyone needs to get behind the president. And it’s not about “the person” it’s about the policies he’s enacted and his plans for a second term. It’s about the polls that show if he leaves the race then the Dems are doomed. And it’s about what happens to us all if the convicted FELON rapist wins.
@SussexWatcher Exactly. I voted for him, and I am going to vote again for him. My party is making me sick! Obama had a horrible debate; did anyone ask him to step aside? They are banking on Dems imploding, and that’s exactly what’s happening.
Clove, Obama had a horrible debate in 2012 because he wasn’t prepared. The difference is Biden is prepared but he simply is not up to articulating his accomplishments or the party platform or to countering Trump’s incessant stream of lies. The simple fact is someone of Biden’s advanced age is not going to suddenly get better at doing these things when he’s demonstrated again and again that he cannot. It’s tragic and it’s scary but it’s reality.
This.
Thanks, Kaiser, for saying all of this. I am so disgusted, and yeah, furious. I never thought I would say this, but f*ck Obama. Whose legacy is being destroyed? Yours.
Spot on! If Biden drops out, loyal Dems will NOT get over this. It’s lunacy thinking of changing a functional, effective administration at this late date. Riding w Biden and if some white elite Dems force him out, chaos will rein & we are giving the presidency to Trump on a silver platter.
Sorry, @Mcmmom, but no.
I agreed with your sentiments 24 months ago, and was very upset that Biden wasn’t sharing his glow with Harris the same way Obama shared his with Biden, because we were promised a 1-term Biden presidency when he stepped back into the ring in 2020. He should have been hyping Harris to make way for her, and doing his best as a 1-term president to change the country (making DC a state, expanding the SC and limiting terms, etc), but it had become clear he was playing it safe for a 2nd term.
I agreed with your sentiments 12 months ago, and was very upset that no one was discussing viable alternatives to Biden as the real primary season should have begun last summer. Everyone was bending the knee to the incumbent, because he was the best shot.
So too f*ing late to change minds now. If he was good enough then, stop with the BS now.
We went through the primaries and millions of people voted for Biden. (Someone said below there were no primaries because the candidate was an incumbent? Not true! Even if that commenter didn’t vote, millions of us did. Every state held a primary or caucus or whatever they do for primaries.)
(Also important: Biden/Harris have more support from WOC, especially Black women, than any other name floated as a possible replacement. It’s striking that most of the folks calling for Biden to step down are white men – although Obama’s balking here is, indeed, troubling – not because he doesn’t believe in Biden’s ability, but because this ever-growing virus of anti-Biden crap is feeding itself. But let’s think about who benefits and who gets disenfranchised from all these calls to step aside)
If we throw those votes out and the DNC chooses someone else, we will have *already ended democracy.*
Setting aside who they could even choose who MIGHT have a chance of beating Trump now, is the question of WHO gets to decide? And why should they?
The delegates at the convention won’t have a unanimous choice, there will be prolonged infighting instead.
And even if the delegates do come together and all rally significantly behind someone, *why should they get to decide who runs, violating the hundreds of millions of primary votes already cast to decide this, and disenfranchising hundreds of millions of voters in the process?
How is that democracy?
There are all the other practical reasons as well: millions wasted in donated money, no other candidate poised to capture the nation, etc.
Instead of all this “drop out” BS, what needed to happen after the first debate was rallying around Biden, getting better and sharper on messaging about everything he’s accomplished as president, and getting really vocal about supporting Harris and publicizing her accomplishments as well [See this awesome video for why racism/sexism/pro-Maga-media are shaping concern about her abilities to lead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJeltMiTZXo ]
If Biden loses the election, it won’t be because he is unfit or unelectable.
It will be because Democrats started pulling this bullshit 5 months before a presidential election.
(And because the media amplified it, instead of amplifying what the Biden/Harris administration is actually out there doing, every single day.)
There is NO scenario in which a 2nd Biden term would be worse than a 2nd Trump term. None whatsoever.
So if you keep spouting this BS, a Biden loss will be on YOU, @Mcmmom, and every other late-stage defector like you. The time for these concerns passed at least a year ago.
This is exactly like Bernie Bros in 2016, and you know full well, right now, what the fruits of your actions will be. So please choose wisely, because either everyone gets behind Biden now, or Trump wins the election. There is NO other option.
I do wonder if the internal polling is even worse than suspected because this story has not dropped so dems in down ballot races must be terrified.
I think one very valid criticism of Biden is that his campaign reaction to this has been a mess. It’s ok to be older, even if he’s having more struggles now, it isn’t the first time an American president has had declining health but his campaign’s reaction to brand any discussion of this as traitorous instead of yeah it’s a concern but I can still do the job and my opponent is a felon whose policies will be terrible for your lives, is confusing. His campaign has gone so far into defensive mode that it is probably eroding further support from his supporters who may be on the fence.
Pulling for the Biden team though as I watch from abroad.
“Polling” in this day of cellphones immediately identifying political spam calls and landlines with no caller ID only being used by boomer MAGAts is no more accurate than auguries of sheep entrails. “Internal” poling is no more accurate than “external” polling. I really don’t understand WTF is going on with this “coup”, nor do most onlookers. How could people suddenly be shocked to find out Biden is OLD and has a speech impediment? I mean, duh. But Trump is OLD too, and deranged, and in the Kremlin’s pocket, and a total skeave who may have staged an assassination attempt that killed two people.
There is such a thing as disloyalty. Having Biden step aside NOW is handing the presidency to sh*t-turd. There really is NO way a brand new candidate can ramp up now for victory in November. Biden can run on his accomplishments, which have been many.
Exactly @Mimi! The time to encourage him to step aside was way before the primaries. If he does now, we will literally be handing the Oval Office to the FELON on a brassy, gold platter.
Biden is our guy. Dems need to STFU. Accept it and continue to remind everyone what is at stake if Trump wins.
People act like they just found out Biden is old. If the Democrats were so worried about his age and ability they would have asked him to step down 2 years ago and offered a viable candidate. Ever since his debate performance the democrats are losing their damn minds and STILL don’t have a viable candidate in mind. It’s too late. Biden is old but he is sharp on foreign policy and what he wants to accomplish in the next 4 years. He has more experience than his opponents and VP combined. That’s a fact. If you have him step down now you are handing the election over to Trump.
It’s not even about loyalty/disloyalty.
It’s about not letting Trump win, and he will if Dems pick someone else this late in the game, since there is no clear, unambiguous replacement who is already a fan favorite in every state. There’s just not enough time for another candidate to rally the votes needed.
And Trump will also win if Dems don’t rally behind Biden immediately – again, not because of loyalty but practicality. Independents and undecided voters will not pick Biden if his own team is expressing doubt in him.
And we don’t have room to lose any voters.
So, not for loyalty to Biden but for the sheer fact that if Trump wins, we will have voted in our last election and democracy will be over in the US, everyone needs to support Biden unequivocally!
The time to go is not 110 days before the election, without another viable candidate in sight other than Kamala Harris who would be subject to the most racist misogynistic teardown this country has ever seen, by the media and the GOP. That would just hand the election to Trump. You may want Trump to win, @mcmmom, but just go ahead and say so without dissing the most effective POTUS we’ve had in ages, who also happens to be well-aged. Tell us WHY you think Joe Biden should go. Because he’s old? He gets things done, and knows how to lead and work within a team. Trump does not, and the people undermining instead of bolstering Biden-Harris also do not.
It’s way too late for this second guessing crap. And yes, this country is way too misogynist and racist for Kamala to win. A friend and I actually had a discussion about whether the US is more racist or more misogynist. He’d suggested Gretchen W and I said uh, you forget she’s a woman? He thinks we’re more racist than misogynist, I said nah, I think it’s the other way around. Mostly based on Obama beating Hillary, though his point that Obama was more clean slate while Hillary had some baggage is not without its merits.
In any case, fully behind JOE here! I knew he was old when I voted for him in the primary. Duh.
Putin, Russian bot farms and the Trump supporting media are the ONLY ones who think Biden dropping out is a good thing, because that is the ONLY way Trump has a chance of winning.
I am not reading any more news until after the Democratic Convention is over on August 22.
We on this site have seen close up how the media can sway option by constantly printing outright lies and slander – what they did to Meghan was practice for what they are doing to American democracy
Agree 💯%, @PinnipedAndPoodle and @Agnes
My mental health cannot take much more of all of this, so like you I’m trying to step away from the news. However, I’m ridin’ with Biden.
@Emf999 After being off blood pressure meds for two years I had to go back on them this week. This is all beyond stressful and it seems there are so many forces working to get the felon back in the White House.
Sorry, Kaiser. I’m with Obama. The fact that he has said this (or allowed this to be leaked) speaks volumes. We’re not a cult. Unlike the GOP, we don’t have to be ride or die with someone who can’t do the job or isn’t up to it. We have to win. Period. We owe Biden the opportunity to make this his idea and frame it how he wants, but he needs to step off the ticket, endorse Harris, and get on with it.
You don’t know what Obama actually thinks, only what WaPo SAYS he thinks. Tell me how Biden is not doing his job??? Have you looked at the economy, the infrastructure, the loan forgiveness, the fact that people aren’t dying from COVID anymore despite it still being EVERYWHERE? This is a whisper campaign and NO ONE has said who SHOULD run if Biden-Harris don’t. As Gov. Whitmer said, quit playing fantasy football and get with the team on the field (paraphrased.)
Obama didn’t say Biden couldn’t do the job or isn’t up to it. This article is about how Obama is looking at the polls and getting nervous. Those are two very different things.
@SarahLee – you think you’re “with Obama” because you’ve read something generated by Brit-media helmed WaPo that cites zero sources? Go back and read the excerpt or original article to see how you’ve been swayed to believe something with zero evidence, e.g. ‘Obama talked to Pelosi’ (but nobody knows what they said). Do not be a fool for Brit-media style fauxjournalism.
I vote for who I think can do the job and will seek to enact or protect policies I support, not for whoever some pollster says is “electable” or “can win.” If we all vote for the person whose policies align with ours, that person has a shot at winning. We tried this ripping apart from within because of “electability” in 2016 and it was a self-fulling prophesy. We installed Trump. NOT AGAIN
I have been phone banking and not ONE person who is voting for President Biden wants that. Not. One. I advise you to get involved and phone bank, canvas, send postcards and even calls these corporate dems who have called the president to stand down. Do something even though you may be scared.
President Biden will be re-elected.
I’M VOTING BIDEN 😍😍 IT’S NOT A YOUTH OR BEAUTY COMPETITION 😍 BOTH PARTIES ARE OLD.
I emailed my current Rep, my former Rep (voted for him for years and years and then got redistricted, he said Biden should step aside, I said you should be ashamed of yourself) and both of my Senators. Need to email the local party leadership too, just haven’t gotten to it. Everyone should do the same, it only takes a few minutes and it’s nice to at least think your voice is making a difference.
BIDEN WAS VOTED IN BY 14 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE PRIMARIES.
The only difference between this bullshit and Trump trying to overturn the election in 2020 is there’s no violent riot at the Capitol.
These people are trying to overturn the DEMOCRATIC PROCESS and you think they’re right? GTFOH.
Remind us again, who else was running for the Democratic nomination then? No one serious, right? This is absolutely not the same and using ALL CAPS isn’t going to make your argument any more convincing.
Biden is a good person and has been a good president. But his cognitive ability has fallen and efforts by his campaign to try to hide that from the American people finally fell apart. And that is why all those “people who are trying to overturn the DEMOCRATIC PROCESS” are worried and doing what they are legally able to do, during a convention, to put forth a ticket that can win.
McmMom, This is my experience as well. Expat Democrats in my bubble are incredibly demoralized. You have people like me who are going to vote for whoever the D candidate is, but you also have people who either don’t believe they need to vote because they’re from a blue state anyway or as is the case of one person I know, they haven’t even signed up to vote. Obama, Jeffries, Schumer and Pelosi all seem to be on the same page and I don’t think it’s because they hate the president! President Biden has done an excellent job in difficult circumstances, but he’s now losing a step or two due to age. He should be honored for what he’s done and I personally feel that Vice President Harris should now take over the candidacy.
Biden won the primaries. Millions of Democrats have already chosen him.
Seriously, for everyone who wants him to step aside because they’re afraid he’ll lose in November – what happens next? Who goes on the ticket? Kamala Harris? I’m sure all the rich white men who have been calling for Biden to step down will happily support Harris the way they happily supported Hillary in 2016. Do Schumer and Pelosi get to pick the candidate once they’ve driven the candidate SUPPORTED BY THE VOTERS off the ticket?
How will this affect down ballot races? How will it affect donations, volunteering? The latter two will be decimated. People aren’t going to rally around a new candidate, its just not going to happen.
If everyone who is speaking out against Biden united FOR Biden, we would be in a much better place.
Why is no one talking about Trump’s cognitive abilities? His health? His age? He falls asleep sitting up during trial and its considered cute or funny or something. But the party isn’t calling for him to step aside.
There no democratic primaries in this election cycle – which is typical if the incumbent has stated they are going to run.
What on earth are you talking about?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries
Lemme guess what ethnicity you are🙄
I mean there were no real primaries in the sense that no serious contenders participated. The party had already gotten behind Biden and there was no chance any other outcome than him getting the delegates he needed early.
I agree and I think the moment that really shifted things was seeing two videos recently. One was Biden talking to an NBC reporter in an interview just 3 years ago and seeing how different he was, and then just yesterday seeing him get off the plane after the covid diagnosis and watching a secret service agent literally have to place him into a car. It appeared he couldn’t get his legs in. There’s something going on – maybe old age, maybe not. But he seems much changed/diminished and I’m grateful the debate was early enough to give time to salvage this, even if we just salvage the house and senate.
I agree with you. I think the reality behind the scenes is much more worrying than what we’re seeing on television. I’ll vote for Biden because he’s the Democratic candidate, but I want a younger, sharper, more dynamic candidate.
If Obama is worried about his viability, it’s because Joe is likely one more health crisis away from not being able to effectively do the job. He’s old and should enjoy these years outside of politics. Democrats have to stop believing that the show cannot go on w/o them and then inevitably they die and we have to scramble (RBG, Dianne Feinstein).
The saving grace is that Kamala is VP, and I don’t mind her taking over if Biden does not make it to the end of his presidency. And the fact that this even needs to be discussed is morbid.
And in case there’s any doubt, I’m a Black woman and my family is Black living in Georgia. The stakes are and always will be high.
We Democrats need to be careful about becoming the kind of personality cult the Republicans have devolved into. I agree that something is going on with Biden that is more than old age. I am amazed that his family is not attempting to spare him further humiliation.
It’s not a personality cult to want Democrats to win, and Trump to lose. That’s called choosing to back democracy, not corrupt oligarchic fascism. Biden-Harris are the incumbent ticket, and therefore the best bet by all historical markers to win. The media has focused on Biden’s “humiliations” to the exclusion of his competencies at NATO and on the campaign trail and in policy, almost as if they’re trying to steer the ship towards a Trump win.
I think we all want the same thing, Agnes. We all want Trump to be defeated. We just have very different ideas about how to accomplish this. This is not about you, Agnes, but I have noticed that some who want to keep Biden as the nominee are resorting to name calling such as traitors, back stabbers, bed-wetters, and even racists. There is no evidence that people who don’t think Biden can win are racists, and it’s unfortunate that this narrative has been introduced. And it’s weird that Biden managed to win in 2020 with the same media we have now.
Do some research on what would happen if Biden were withdrawn from the ticket post-primary, the legal and financial implications of that to the Democrats. AOC has a good though long-winded talk on that. The main take-away: GOP operatives like the Heritage Foundation would challenge the legality of any supplanter at this point, all the way up to SCOTUS with its pro-Trump majority. So while people may SAY they want to beat Trump by supplanting Biden, the practical reality is that chaos would ensue within the Democratic structure and the courts and that could only HELP the orange felon.
@MCMOM, thanks for being an outlier and the voice of reason. I used to work as a political researcher at CNN and there is little doubt in my mind that Biden will be defeated. And yes, I voted for him in 2020.
Tell me what Biden has done that will suddenly make him lose the millions and millions of votes he won by in 2020? Why is a good economy a worse indicator than a crazy felon who is endorsed by Putin and credibly accused of endangering classified national secrets? What do “political researchers” see that the rest of us don’t?
“ I used to work as a political researcher at CNN… “
Oh please! CNN is the main driver of this Bizzaro World anti-Biden BS.
Biden can absolutely win over an elderly Epstein ghoul with dementia and the NDA’s that kept back a lot of his BS in his Apprentice days finally expiring so people can talk about how he wasn’t even with it or mentally fit back then who can’t run on any of his achievements as president even if he hadn’t stolen documents and instigated a coup. Come TF on.
WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS. THE ELECTION IS IN NOVEMBER.
Thank you.
I 100% agree with this. People who are deep into polling and election prediction believe there are a number of alternatives that would do better against Trump. That should be the focus. Biden is great, but he has lost too many people’s confidence and the agenda is more important than the man. The democrats need to avoid also becoming a cult of personality and do whatever is needed to keep Trump out of office – which is looking more and more like someone else leading the ticket.
Mcmmom, Oh, so you’re saying the elites are correct and Biden and Harris need to step down? Really? The early voting stats end of September/early October. There is a law that the Republicans have already said they will sue under if the Dems change the candidates this close. If that law has had no previous cases, then the Supreme Court gets a case of first impression. Do you think they’ll throw out whomever the Dems voted in? I do.
The DNC starts and they have TWO days to get people on the ballot for Montana. If they decide in two days, tell me, please, what does that do for the Democrats and Montana?
Either we live in a democracy or we don’t. We don’t get to pick and choose which things to include in a democracy. Voting is one of the very foundations of democracy. Are the voters going to be shown that the rich can do anything they want? What about in future?
Yes. The reason we are in this mess is that his handlers/high-level Dems weren’t being honest about his health. Those who had expressed concern about it were shushed “because Trump!!” “because democracy!!” Now it is blindingly obvious, especially to those who don’t closely follow politics/current events and are just now tuning in. The Rs want him to stay in, that says it all. It’s not helpful when those who point out facts are called traitors! Trump supporters! etc. I’m not anti-Biden, I’m pro-winning.
And yes, the media is useless re: DJT’s insanity/decline. But they’ve been like this for years – trying to be “neutral” and treat the Rs with respect and courtesy as they’ve descended into John Birch territory for decades.
Agreed 100%. It’s not stabbing someone in the back (such a reductive and childish description) to acknowledge that the candidate is not resonating with voters. Democrats have always enjoyed support from the youth, and my personal observation is that they don’t relate to Biden and are not motivated to vote for him. Add to that the mixed reception from millennials and Gen X, and it seems the only people happy to vote for Biden are the boomers. I’d also add that the people behind the scenes, the ones that are expressing concern, have actual first hand knowledge of Biden’s current abilities. The fact that they think he should step aside is not necessarily disloyalty—it may well just be an acknowledgement that this man is not going to be able to do the job.
Agreed. Biden has done an amazing job as president. But there is absolutely no getting around the significant decline in his cognitive abilities in the last several months. It has been rapid and dramatic. Unfortunately, it is NOT going to improve, and likely to worsen.
Biden is damaging not only his legacy, but putting the country’s future at risk by letting this continue. And I don’t know who is enabling it, but it has to stop, immediately. If Trump is elected everything that Biden and Democrats have fought for is lost.
True for me and all the democrats I know too MCMOM. Of course I will vote for Biden if he is the nominee but there were real doubts he would win even before the debates. Back in April I was talking to two co-workers – both of whom loathe Trump – but said “of course he is going to win. Democrats have run a horrible campaign.” It was a wake-up call – I live in Seattle, one of the most liberal cities – and people were already mentally preparing for a Trump win. My 18-year old and her friends dislike Trump but also think they are both bad candidates and they are angry with Biden about Palestine. While she will vote Democrat, I doubt most of them will vote at all. I excitedly turned on the debate in the car on the way home from work, hoping Biden would kill it. The minute I heard him, I knew it was over. It was visceral – he sounded old, feeble and confused. If I, who am informed and know what a great job he has done, reacted that way – there is simply no way that the undecided or apathetic are going to vote for Biden now.
Why? Why? Why? It’s too close to election day to be doing this. Why are the Democrats so good at attacking each other, but insist on ‘taking the higher road’ against the Republicans?
It’s the Bernie Bros. all over again. Didn’t we learn ANYTHING from 2016?
No, no we did not.
The fact that rich donors are threatening to pull their money is really sickening.
What is happening?
Why is Biden a “problem” but Trump is ‘canny’ and ‘masterful’?
Why aren’t Trump’s negatives being reported on, why aren’t they saying he should drop out?
What do these media companies think they’re going to get by trying to kneecap Biden? Fascism 101 is controlling the press, do they think they’ll be unscathed in a Trump hellscape?
It’s really infuriating that the media are doing the most to get that turd elected again because it’s good for business.
“Trump’s rambling, incoherent, and racist RNC speech revealed he’s the same chaos agent he’s always been, except this time he’s even more diminished and beatable. … I expect to see numerous columns in the New York Times and the Washington Post tomorrow demanding Trump step down due to his obvious diminished capacity….” —Wajahat Ali, thelefthook.substack.com
via @wdlindsy@toad.social
The national media is antagonizing Biden and trying to oust him while continuing to normalize Trump and overlook all his FELONIES and ATTEMPTED CRIMES and cognitive decline.
It’s really horrifying to see.
It’s precisely because of Biden’s situation that the media doesn’t have to focus on Trump’s shortcomings.
What “situation”? His age. Trump is two years younger, that doesn’t seem to be an issue for the media. His supposed cognitive decline? Trump has been ranting and spouting nonsense and tweeting COVEFE at 2 am for years and that doesn’t seem to be an issue for the media.
And then we have the inciting an insurrection, the rapes, the 34 felonies, the fact that he wants to be a dictator – and yeah, the media should absolutely be focusing on his “shortcomings.”
If this is really Obama speaking (and not someone trying to put words into his mouth) then I am severely disappointed. Didn’t he already say himself that he knows what it’s like to have a bad debate performance? Why would he put something like this on record (if it’s really him)?!
That aside, the Democrats who are stabbing Biden and Harris in the back – and make no mistake, this is about Kamala Harris! – need to STFU and get in formation. I understand and appreciate the big tent theory but Dems are THE WORST at shutting the hell up and supporting the candidate.
I’m sickened by celebrities and politicians withdrawing support. At a time like this. Are they fcuking insane?! Can’t they see what we’ve already lost in this country and what else is at stake?! How can there be cries to replace Biden and not a rapist and CONVICTED FELON?!? People have lost their damn minds.
It’s so stupid that they think anyone else coming along at this point would have any chance of winning (and also somehow magically skipping over the literal VP, who should be the candidate if Biden were to step down (which he shouldn’t!)). The entire party would be thrown into disarray and us Black voters – the backbone of the party – would be furious. This would kill the chances of the presidency but also all the down ballot races. Bouzy has predicted the last several elections and is saying the Democrats win only if Biden stays.
Argh! This is so crazy-making. What are people doing?!?!
Obama did have a bad debate performance. A horrendously bad performance in the first debate against Romney in 2012. It was shocking. I trust Obama. If he’s saying this, then I’m with him.
ONE bad debate performance and no, it was not NEARLY as bad as Biden’s last debate–not by any stretch of the imagination. And Biden is NOT Obama –he’s not a young, charismatic, talented orator. He’s not going to just bounce back like Obama because time machines don’t exist and Biden can’t get younger.
Kitten, yes. Very well said. The two bad debates aren’t in any way comparable. And to those who say the timing is bad, I don’t think anyone anticipated just how badly Biden would do in that debate. People’s concern about Biden’s age, which is a main reason why the polls have been so close to begin with, skyrocketed with that performance. It’s unprecedented to ask him to step down from the ticket but we have been living in unprecedented times for a long time now. We cannot keep sleepwalking into the disaster of another Trump term.
Obama isn’t speaking through the Pod save America guys. He’s done two interviews in total with them (maybe one more) and I used to listen to them pretty consistently until this Biden mess. They are doing this on their own although even since then they are tempering anti Biden stuff because I think the real world outside of their bubble is telling them they don’t agree.
Axelrod has been going off tangents for a while now. I think it’s partly being a CNN pundit where they are pushing this as a story and him being in the DC pundit bubble.
So disappointed in this “party coup”…and Obama, frankly! I am with Biden. I am now writing get-out-the vote postcards for the Biden-Harris ticket, donating weekly…and I am definitely turning down/off the corrupt corporate media noise.
WaPo has been in the news lately for their CEO Will Lewis from GB. British Media certainly knows how to stir the pot for headlines. So until I hear the words coming straight out of Obama’s mouth, I’m not going to believe he would try to sabotage Biden-Harris this close to an election.
Agreed – I’m not believing squat from the mainstream media at this point. They’re just pot stirrers who are terribly short-sighted. I’m not sure how they think there will even be a free press if that jackass is elected. He’ll pick is Pravda and that will be it. (Yeah, showing my Gen X age there.)
Yes! I’ve got my cards and my list of names and addresses. We are Riding with Biden!
Whatever your perspective on the situation is: “We” as a people, a citizenry, do not owe Joe Biden anything. “We” do not need to “come together” for him. Quite the opposite: He is a public servant, and so is charged with doing what is best for the nation. (Now, people have different thoughts on what “doing best for the nation” is, but I’m not going to wade into that.)
It does grate on me, this logic that we, the public, need to do right by public figures. What is it with these ridiculous para-social relationships? It’s the same logic as the many times we were told that “we” owed Hilary our vote because she was a woman who “waited her turn.” If that’s how you feel, fine. But as a citizen I get to vote based on the facts I’ve gathered about a candidate and whether they accord with my goals/values for the country — not on some imaginary “debt” i have to a candidate who feels they personally deserve or are owed something.
For me it’s just an easier way of boiling it down. I wrote above that Dems need to ‘support the candidate’ (Biden/Harris, in this case), but what I really mean by that is supporting all of the policies he’s enacted and his plans for a second term. And also, at this time in the election cycle and this time in history, there’s no room to be fcuking around with trying to replace him when the other candidate and party are trying to send us back to the 1800s. This is not the time to be a fractured party. There is too much at stake.
So well-said and thank you. This bizarre loyalty to ONE singular candidate is shocking to me. What happened to beating Trump? What happened to maintaining some level of control in Congress? Biden is not more important than that and it’s insane to see Democrats act like Republicans, pledging fealty to their guy instead of caring about the country and its citizens.
if biden goes from the ticket mere months before the election, we won’t beat Trump. It guarantees another Trump term and Id on’t think this country will survive it.
With Biden on the ticket I think we have a chance.
Becks1, I feel the opposite, I feel like if Biden stays on the ticket people who already were nervous about his age will just stay home. Either scenario is a risk, unfortunately.
@orangeowl I can see that, but I think the risk is greater if he steps down. then we have a fight about who the nominee will be (I know people here are assuming it will be Harris, but I think it will be more complicated than that.) so that drags out. I think fundraising would go down. I think volunteers would stop turning up. a lot of people do NOT want Biden to step down and those people are going to be really really ticked if they feel he’s forced off the ticket.
I think if BIden had said in June – you know what, I just cant keep up with this, I’m going to step down – it would be different. But as it is now it looks like he’s being bullied by the party elite and I think that’s going to have a devastating effect on voter turnout.
@Kitten That’s the point – it is about beating not just Trump but the agenda of Project 2025 et. al. The contrast is clear – this is not a county fair pageant but the stakes are high. In my opinion it would be unwise to replace Biden (he may be older but he is perfectly coherent) and he has made significant accomplishments in his first term. It is most certainly not about fealty to “one guy”.
There are attorneys general and politicians that propose tracking down and prosecuting women who cross state lines to have an abortion. It has been floated to actually track the menstrual cycle of girls and women. In Project 2025 they propose to end head start, cutting off early education for thousands of children.
Unless it is a strategy to switch to a younger, charismatic, telegenic candidate is your aim because you have concluded that the bulk of the voters are unserious, basic simpletons, it just seem like panic and hysteria and not a strategy.
May I add that Trump’s VP choice Vance is bought and paid for by oligarchs-in-waiting Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Peter Thiel has expressed an opinion that women getting the vote has hurt the electoral process. An extreme? Yes. But they will always try to ‘soften’ before to get in office. Look at the deception by the last few conservative supreme court justices – then when they got in they overturned Roe v Wade.
This is not some beauty contest – in that case maybe we should just recruit George Clooney.
Becks, I completely agree. It would be different if he willingly stepped down but he is being bullied to do so and that will piss a lot of voters off and they won’t vote. It’s well known Biden is well liked by the union and if he is replaced they may not vote at all.
Naomi, what do you say to the voters who already said who they wanted for their nominee for President? Do you believe in democracy? Isn’t voting in the primaries part of democracy? IMO the elite Democrats and taking some of the lessons they learned from the Republicans and they’re running with it. I will never allow a wealthy elite to tell me what to do. You may choose to do what you want. THAT’S DEMOCRACY.
Trump did so poorly at the RNC that it turned a lot of heads. Even the pod bros were commenting that Trump looked very beatable.
I haven’t trusted any media about this race, they’ve been racing each other to the bottom. I don’t trust the polls, they’re wrong a lot.
When President Biden wins, I’m expecting one helluva speech. He better take no prisoners.
No prisoners.
I hate it. But I’ve thought it for six months. Loser and chaos will win. Sanity is NOWHERE. They’ve effectively discombobulated another party and not simply their own.
My cynical self will keep telling me he’ll win because I’m not getting sucker-punched on election day again. Oxygen is not getting purged from the room.
I think Trump will loose. He’s a lunatic and RNC didn’t turn out so well for him. But if Dems don’t rally up behind Joe, they will be upvoted.
On the other hand, Biden’s ‘right’ to sustain his candidacy for a second mandate it’s way second to whether the country is deserving of an unfit leader.
I’d kindly ask if he’s sought health proffessionals’ advice
Like many elders, Biden feels he’s strong and fully capable when in reality he’s not. Not his fault, but his team’s. Bc the timing and the way this is being addressed within DP is most unfortunate.
They should have pushed for Kamala’s bigger role long ago. They should have staged a loving, respectful intervention for Joe. They should have identified possible candidates. Hey, the should have pointed an hypotetical gun at Obama and asked him to run again.
Mind you, Trump is also unfit for president. He’s old, cr4zy, and an execrable human being. But Joe’s alarmingly recurrent gaffes are only making him look good in comparison.
Aurora, why is everyone worried about Biden’s health–which he’s posted his medical records on the Whitehouse website–but no one says a thing about Trump?
I’d like some honesty for everyone on this cite. The elites want both Biden and Harris gone. Is that what you want, too? Are you more bothered about Harris possibly stepping in to be President if Biden chooses not to serve the entire 4 years?
What’s really going on here?
Please focus on the fact that tRump is in it to save himself and take away our rights, as well as being a convicted felon. Thank you
Exactly this.
Who CAN replace him at this stage – this talk is insane as if he drops out he’s pretty much gifting the win to Dump.
All of this talk is going to scare voters and the GOP is gonna love that.
There will be a pissed off segment if they remove Biden at this point who won’t vote and that’s crucial in many states. And on top of that there is no consistent message of making Kamala the top of the bill, which also suggests they have an issue with a black woman stepping in if Joe doesn’t finish the term.
No one can replace him other than the person constitutionally set to do that. Anything else is political malpractice, going to piss off a huge contingent of the democratic base, and will ignore the will of everyone who knew exactly how old Joe Biden was in February March and April of this year and still voted for him. It’s not like the media’s been going easy on him for the past 3 years about his age.
I think Obama’s reported take is measured and realistic. I also don’t think that Biden can win, no matter how much he has accomplished.
And no, I don’t agree that people owe Biden another round or their vote. Voting is a massive privilege, right and responsibility. And sometimes the time is right for someone else. That being said: it’s high time for that someone to take position, but I understand why they are holding back (giving Biden time to step back from his second nomination).
For what it’s worth: I don’t see it being Kamala Harris.
Thanks Bernie Bro.
@Girl_Ninja: I really don’t get the need for the bite here. Yeesh. It’s good for a party to think and critically engage with a multitude of opinions. It’s called discourse.
No, it’s called sabotage this close to an election. And the Bernie Bros. definitely sabotaged Hillary Clinton. Where’s the anonymous Democrat discourse on how horrifying a Trump-Vance win would be?
LM, AOC has already let us know that the elites don’t want Biden or Harris. You know what? Biden/Harris WILL win. And, they will win big.
You evidently don’t know or don’t care that the Republicans have already said if they change the nominees the GOP will sue. Yes, this is murky. If there is no previous case on this subject, it means a case of first impression before SCOTUS. What do you do when SCOTUS throws out the election of whomever the elites choose and hands the win to the Republicans? Can you guarantee to the voters that this will not happen?
I don’t believe Obama would hide behind “sources say”
We have the best president in history in terms of the economy and getting money back to the working class.
The media highlights any error Biden makes while HIDING THE MULTITUDE OF PROBLEMS WITH TRUMP including that he is demonstrating actual cognitive decline at his rallies.
The Republicans and the Russians are the ones that want Biden to withdraw because they are the ones who would benefit.
I don’t believe anything with anonymous sources. Sounds too much like British tabloid crap. I’m not buying this version. They need to leave Biden alone. He’s been doing a great job! And if at some point he can’t continue that’s what his VP is for!
All I know is that a LOT of these statements have come out and they have been denied over and over again. So until President Obama releases a statement like the loser corporate senators and congressman saying as such I don’t believe it. That sexual harasser Mark Halpin said that the president was putting together a statement that he was leaving the ticket and it was immediately refuted by President Biden’s staff. Immediately!
And President Biden should not step down as the nominee. He should hold fast and rest up because he WILL be re-elected.
+1. Other candidates should have run in the primaries to show how they actually appeal to voters and show they can win. Biden was winning his primaries with better percentages than Trump.
Obama may be an intelligent man but his political instincts were always poor. That being said, I agree that Biden should step aside. Unlike Obama, Clooney and the rest of centrist crew, I want Kamala to be the candidate.
I’m sorry, what? Obama’s instincts have been and continue to be spot on. It’s why he was so successful, why he won when for a long time no one thought it was possible.
Obama was slow to accept same sex marriage. He won in part because he objected to the war in Iraq but continued “war on terror” when he got into office. He was very risk-adverse and didn’t go further with healthcare. He was very pro-big business and waited until his last years in office to do anything regarding mass incarcerations. But as I said, I agree with Obama regarding Biden.
Do you remember when Mitt Romney said that Russia was our greatest geostrategic threat during the 2012 debate and Obama retorted that “the 1980s are calling and they want their foreign policy back”? He was also caught on a hot mike assuring Sergey Lavrov (the same guy who’s been threatening to use nukes on Europe and the USA for the past couple years,) that he had to wait until after the 2012 election to cut the missile defense shield in Europe, which he did. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and interfered with our election in 2016.
THEN in December of 2016 Obama said: “There have been folks out there who suggest somehow if we went out there and made big announcements and thumped our chests about a bunch of stuff, that somehow it would potentially spook the Russians. I think it doesn’t read the thought process in Russia very well.”
That may be the most consequential issue that he got very very wrong, or maybe it was Syria. We’ll have to wait for the historians to duke it out.
He pushed Hillary over Biden in 2016 and advised Biden not to run in 2020. Beyond the fact that I like Hillary and enthusiastically voted for her, I believe that Biden would have had a better chance of winning in 2016. Obama has good instincts about his own political career (though not always the best), but he has a horrible track record when it comes to others.
Thank you President Biden… but you need to go. It’s about the country not about a person.
If it were about the country for you then you wouldn’t be saying “fuck you” to 14 million VOTERS right now.
Explain IN DETAIL without mentioning the stupid debate what makes Biden unable to be President.
Because this won’t bring forth another Dem president. This will guarantee Trump.
@mrsbanjo – exactly
All of what you say.
Thank you @MrsBanjo. I live in Detroit Michigan where in 2020 the Trump mafia tried to get all of the votes in our predominantly black, Democratic city thrown out for “reasons”. Oh there was a big hue and cry among the Democrats then about how undemocratic this was. But looky here at them trying to do the same thing. For that reason alone, I don’t see how any citizen, let alone a Democrat can go along with this. Meanwhile, the convicted felon and gangster goes merrily on his way.
I will add this. Most of what the NYT, WaPo and the media outlets have been going on rumors. A bunch of lies that have not come to fruition. Even that little monster Nate Silver has PJB winning.
Focus on the goal. President Biden is winning this.
Who did Trump win over last night that wasn’t already in the cult? But this behavior by these Democratic elites is going to turn a lot of folks off, maybe permanently. And maybe that is the plan. Don’t forget that when it comes to politics, a lot of these rich supporters contribute to both sides so they come out on top either way.
So I read the snippet, and then I went back and read the Washington Post headline and seems like it’s more editorializing in the headline than what is being reported in the article. So, President Obama wants President Biden to be realistic about his chances given the internal data that they’ve collected, he’s been listening to the concerns of other Democratic members, he’s told them that he does not control President Biden and that the decision will be his alone and that somehow has translated to he said he needs to drop out of the race? I personally don’t think he needs to drop out of the race and I still think that everything mentioned in the article is pretty reasonable. We do need to take seriously the concerns that people have because turnout is what’s going to win us this thing, we do need to take concerns of the democratic office holders because you will need their support campaigning for you and being vigorous in being a surrogate whether on TV or in person. And internal data and polling is much better than what we’re getting in the public so they do need to pay attention to that and if they see that there are battleground States or certain demographics that are having an enthusiasm gap that’s where those field offices and canvassers need to go. All of this is pretty reasonable, and while there are a ton of chicken littles right now and Democrats have a tendency to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory pretending that this won’t be a hard fought election is just overconfidence.
The lot of you who think it’s perfectly fine to throw out the democratic process – throw out 14 million primary votes – so long as it’s Democrats doing it are disgusting.
It’s also racist as hell because the main reason these donor dicks extorting Democrats are doing it because they don’t want to see Kamala, not because they’re concerned about Biden.
Biden was old when he was elected in 2020. Four years isn’t a long time, and in that time he’s been THE MOST EFFECTIVE POTUS IN MODERN HISTORY.
You all supporting this are beyond awful for it.
People are worried that if Biden dies in office, Kamala will be president. And that’s disgusting (that people are worried about that.)
I’m so angry with the Dems right now.
THANK YOU MRSBANJO!!! 👏👏🙏
Agree so hard my head is going to explode.
You seem quite passionate about this, as you’ve bombed every person in this thread who has disagreed with you, MrsBanjo.
People can respectively disagree. I think we agree that Trump needs to go. Party leaders who have access to the best internal polling are doing this now because his support among independents and others you need to win swing states is cratering. That’s it. It’s not about hard-core Democrats like you. Senior Democrats like Pelosi know you will vote for him. They need independents and others who don’t like Trump to actually come out and vote. There have been plenty of polls in the last 2 weeks that show support for Biden is anywhere from 5-10 points behind Senators who are running this fall. That’s a terrible terrible sign. He’s polling worse than candidates down ballot.
If we hadn’t spent the last month talking about how Biden needs to go, what would those polls look like? If we had spent the last month attacking Trump with as much energy as the party is attacking Biden, what would those polls look like?
Saying “the polls are bad” is kind of a circular argument because the polls are bad because of how we have handled the last month as a party.
We do not anoint leaders in this country, of course we don’t. But the time for someone to seriously challenge Biden was a year ago and during the primaries, not 3 months before the election. Someone said above that it is still early enough to salvage this – it is not. Removing Biden would be a death blow to the democratic party in November.
pelosi et al are betting on the party loyalists – the hardcore Democrats, including yes, Black women – to show up and vote no matter who is on the ticket. And some might actually sit this one out if they remove Biden.
This is not season 7 of the West Wing and Aaron Sorkin is not going to save us.
It’s also about big money donors telling people they’ll pull their funding if Biden isn’t replaced. Don’t leave out that part.
thank you Amy, Agnes is doing too much. The Democrats are not a cult. We can observe objectively and disagree. If Biden is unwell, and I think Trump support is growing.
amy, I’ve seen comments here that Biden should go along with Harris. Tell me people, who are you looking at for the nominees? Who will you and the elites want us to vote for? Early voting starts the end of September/early October. How far away is that? Count the days.
If you can’t tell me what’s going on with the nominees, then don’t suggest that Biden/Harris go away. You don’t even know who you’re arguing for. You don’t even know who you think we ought to vote for. You only know who you’re arguing against. I suspect it has to do with the fear that a black/brown woman could be President.
“the time for someone to seriously challenge Biden was a year ago and during the primaries“
💯
Twin Falls, you got that right.
First of all the ppl asking him to bow out probably didn’t want him to run in the first place. Since the debate they see an opening to go on the attack. 2nd Biden said he’s not stepping aside. 3rd from my understanding all the ppl mentioned as replacements have said they are not interested. So what’s the plan? There is no plan. As for Obama unless he comes out on the record this is here say. Hounding Biden to drop out makes the party look weak. If you’re not on board fine but keep your mouth shut we already know how you feel. Biden stepping aside at this point would create chaos. There might even be court challenges trying to put someone new on state ballots. It is what it is. I’m team Biden. The opposition is putting up a convicted felon, a lying dirt bag, someone who’s in incompetent and someone who does not respect me constitution. I could go on of course but my point is Biden should step aside? Absolutely not. Just my 50 cents.
This. This is a slap in the face of the democratic process and the people pushing for it are disgusting.
There’s no way in hell a viable alternative candidate could be brought forth in time and they fucking know it. There’s zero plan. It’s just pathetic all around.
I was watching a live YouTube webcast yesterday with Prof Allan Lichtman and he echoed much of the worry and rage we are expressing here about the insanity of pushing Biden out at this stage. But he feels that it’s gone so far now that Biden will probably step down, maybe this weekend (he gave it 60%) and thinks that in that case, the only Plan B that might retain a chance at the presidency is if he actually resigns, thereby making Harris president incumbent in the race, staving off a brokered convention, and preserving one of the ‘keys’ gauging the outcome
Tashiro, what it tells me is that there are a good many racist Democratic racists and they are trying to rally the other Democratic racists. There is no plan.
Congratulations to the wealthy elites. You’ve taught us all that you have to do is buy a politician. Well, I suggest you get off this bandwagon you started before it backfires to the Democratic candidates on the ticket that people are saying they won’t be voting for. Stop now, before you lose the House and Senate.
Once again, I worked campaigns in a previous life and still have friends in the “biz.” There is no scenario for this to happen without the base of the Democratic party imploding. None!
The people who do the every day work of campaigns and GOTV are furious and I mean FURIOUS! And they are siding with Biden, they see this as another “coup” attempt this time by the media and the so-called “elites”. The damage to the Democratic Party’s future has already been done. I’ve had more than one tell me that after November “no more”
The failure to stand by Biden/Harris and push back hard against the media has cost and will cost the Democrats the grass roots activism needed.
The Democratic Party will be lucky to win elections for a generation after this.
THANK YOU.
I think this is what so many people who are pushing for Biden to step back are missing. It would absolutely destroy the Democratic party at this point.
I don’t know what to say at this point. Many people here seem to think that President Biden is on track to win the election if we all just get behind him, whatever that means. He is not on track to win. The data these professionals are looking at says he is on track to lose by a landslide and take congressional Dems down with him. The concern is that he is no longer capable of expressing himself even semi-coherently. Thus, making it impossible to persuade people to change their minds about him. He cannot even make a persuasive case for himself.
Of course, Trump is worse. Unfortunately, he is still able to talk in such a way that millions of people understand what he is saying and consider him the lesser of two evils. As for Biden “winning” the primary, he was unopposed. Of course, instead of reassuring everyone that Biden was good to go for another term, which we now know is far from true, given not only his debate performance but recent interviews and even speeches on teleprompters (see his NAACP convention train wreck), the Biden team should not have bullied everyone out of the primary. But they did. So here we are in a last minute panic because the barbarian is at the gates and our candidate is losing massively. That’s all on the people around the president and no one else.
I wish we had done a real primary contest. But we didn’t so we are left with a befuddled candidate, probably suffering from some neurodegenerative disease, who is on track to lose badly to a monstrous fascist psychopath. I have no solution. But I know that people I trust are doing their best to avoid the coming catastrophe in November. The mess we see is not the fault of Obama or Pelosi. The responsibility lies with the few Biden staffers who went to great lengths to avoid a primary challenge to Biden earlier in the year.
The NAACP speech was widely praised. In fact, the most common thing I saw about it was “he did a great job so the media won’t cover it.”
The media certainly covered it. See my comment below about him losing his train of thought. The convention attendees love him, of course. They will overlook things unaffiliated voters won’t.
I saw the speech (televised) and it wasn’t what you saw Brassy Rebel. The audience certainly responded and were engaged. Biden communicated very effectively. Perhaps if one is ‘panicky’ and looking for the least little thing, one is sure to find it.
The Biden team were the ones who pushed for the debate, knowing that he wasn’t competent to debate anyone. It’s just misstep after misstep.
I’d like to know how you know all this.
The data also said the the GOP was going to sweep midterms in 2022. Didn’t happen.
“The concern is that he is no longer capable of expressing himself even semi-coherently.”
You lost me with this, because it tells me that you or the people who are “concerned” are listening to “vibes” and not actually following what Biden has been doing these past two weeks. His press conference demonstrated that he has a masterful command of foreign policy, among other issues, even if he doesn’t always talk smoothly.
I do not and never have understood a single thing Trump says or writes. The rapist can’t even write coherently. Just stop.
Brassy Rebel, tell me how often the polls have been correct in 2020 and 2022? Let’s be real. The polls are meaningless. They pretty much have always been. Don’t predicate your choices on the polls.
Read a Guest at #23 above. That says it all, right there.
@BrassyRebel yes x 100. This is exactly how I see it.
What NAACP trainwreck he mixed up one line in an hour long speech regarding lowering rent?I feel like people are expecting him to never mix up things or stumble which isn’t realistic for any public speaker but especially not one with a lifetime stutter. I saw him get huge cheers regarding many of the things he has done for the black community as President. And this thing with the primary just has to be let go. He wasn’t even on the primary in New Hampshire and won by write in votes. Lisa Murkowski won her Senate seat by write in votes. If people wanted to make a clear point they would have written in another candidate, the media absolutely made sure to highlight all of the people voting undecided in Michigan and other states if there was a widespread desire him not to be the candidate he would have gotten returns like Trump in the 60% range not 85 to 90 like he did.
The rent cap mix up was bad enough. Remember, he was reading from a teleprompter and couldn’t get it right. But there was more. He lost his train of thought several times and now tries to cover that by trailing off and saying, “Well, anyway…” I can no longer pretend that this man who has been such a good president is okay. He is not. There is also the word slurring which makes him difficult to understand even when coherent.
You still feel that way after that shit show that Trump put on last night. Praising dictators? Yeah ok.
As I said above to Agnes, I believe we all want the same thing, to defeat Trump. We do disagree about how to do that. The implication that I am somehow pro Trump because I can see with my own eyes that something is seriously wrong with President Biden and it will prevent him from defeating the fascist is deeply troubling. As I also said, I respect and trust both former President Obama and Speaker Emeritus Pelosi. They did not get as far as they got in politics by not knowing how to read and interpret political data. All the red lights are flashing. We ignore them at our peril. And Donald Trump has a personality cult which will never hold him accountable.
I will never look at Barak Obama the same after this. I never really understood what the progressives meant by “corporate democrats” until now.
I agree with you, Kaiser. History agrees with you, too. Switching candidates this late is disaster for a campaign. And it is appallingly undemocratic to pressure Biden after the people have voted.
The last thing I want to say before I ignore the news and try not to let the state of this election drive me to drink is this: if Obama has something to say, I would respect him a lot more if he said it with his whole chest.
All I’ll say is anything that results in another Trump presidency is dangerous to the entire planet. I’m surprised he didn’t pick Putin as his running mate.
So over Barack and Michelle Obama.
I was over him years ago with his foreign policy re Assad and the red line. Talk but no walk.
I don’t want to ever hear the word “electability” out of any Democrat’s mouth ever again except to acknowledge how worrying about “electability” has destroyed this nation. The GOP never once worried about Trump’s electability. They just tell their membership to VOTE for the rapey traitor and they do. They are running an adjudicated rapist and convicted con man, who damaged this nation immeasurably and killed hundreds of thousands of Americans with his stupidity, and they never once have questioned his electability. And the Democrats are shocked to realize in the last 2 days that OMG, he can be beaten? He was beaten 4 years ago by the current President who has accomplished more for this country in 1 term with an opposition Congress, than any President has in 2 full terms.
Really beyond annoyed.
I love you, Barack, but unless you want your daughters to go live in another country and everything you accomplished erased, knock it the hell off.
*standing ovation*
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💯💯💯💯
Can someone please explain to me (without sounding like a flipping moron) what the path forward is without Biden? Who is the replacement who wins….Bernie with the steel chair?
As a country we have had how many years to find someone and we did nothing so the last resort is to be childish and petty…in other words to act like Trump? Miss me with that BS and vote for Biden like your lives depend on it. Because they do.
There isn’t a path forward. There are lawsuits, angry Dem voters, loss of volunteers, loss of grassroot donations.
AOC laid out really well in her IG live – there is no plan and the Republicans are lining up to sue over it. ‘
so like you said, we need to vote for Biden like our lives depend on it.
I’m voting straight Democratic ticket no matter who is running, but I do think Biden is too old, he seems confused, brittle, and actively declining.
I really wish someone like Beto O’Rourke could nab the ticket, a nice, safe, progressive orator who is full of charm, we need another super star like Obama.
I’m terrified.
I love Biden. As a person and a president. He has done great things and unfortunately doesn’t get credit for it because of things outside of his control with inflation and people’s general feelings about the economy. Even when things are looking up, many people still have a negative view.
Even before Biden’s terrible debate, people were worried about his age, as some have pointed out. I don’t think it is fair to Biden, and the choice in my mind is clear as day between an older man that is a little slower over a disgusting felon that will turn what’s left of our democracy into an autocracy. But, unfortunately people that don’t pay attention to politics much only see two old white men that they’d rather not have to boots for and for some reason think Trump is the “lesser of two evils.” I don’t understand it, but it doesn’t make it less true.
There is of course still a chance for Biden to win. No one knows the future, but there are a lot of past experiences that lead those that understand campaigns and polling to believe that chance is very small. Can a new candidate do better? Some polling says yes, but again, no one knows. I think it’s a gamble either way. But has anyone considered the idea that a new candidate could excite people? Like, if it’s between two old white men, that some think the better of two excels is Trump (again I don’t understand why??)
Now there is a younger, energetic person, a vision of the future, independents or undecideds might look at that with new enthusiasm? I can actually see that happening. I don’t know. What I do know is that there isn’t an easy answer and I agree with others that no one is stabbing anyone in the back. This is a party, not a person and we’re all scared shitless about another 4 years of Trump. Especially if some of the new fears of losing the House and Senate were to come true…
Does someone else guarantee that won’t happen?? No. But for those that say he had 14 million votes in the primary, we didn’t see this side of Biden then… I think if they had, people may not have voted for him. But there also wasn’t another valid candidate.
TL;DR- I support Biden as long as he’s the candidate and if that changes I’ll support them. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable, when democracy is at stake, to have a real conversation about our options.
Here to agree with you.
As I said yesterday–as angry as it will make people, both internal polls (one of my close friends is a state leader for the DCCC) and external polls from every polling institution has:
– Biden losing against Trump
– the margin Biden is losing growing over the past month
– Biden doing especially poorly with younger, Latino, Black, Independents
– the margins in the House and Senate getting worse
Biden and his team have not been able to stem this; and if anything, they are dividing the Democratic party rather than unifying it. They are becoming accusatory, defensive; and the focus is on BIDEN instead of policies or Trump–this is NOT where we need to be.
Trump is utterly defeatable–and he needs to be defeated. But Biden hasn’t shown once (before or after the debate) that he or his campaign are able to do that. And the stakes are too too high now.
And there is also a chance Orange Monster can win. That’s politics. Don’t think for a minute the Republicans will not use this gift from the Democrats to their full advantage. Who is the candidate that can “win”? And whose record will they run on if not Joe Biden’s?
Amen Kaiser. The only reason why everyone wants Joe (and let’s face it, Kamala would be next) to go is the mega donors are refusing to give anymore money. The ageism in this country is revolting. The man has been the best president in my Gen X lifetime, which is why I think the donors are holding us hostage. It came out yesterday that these same donors are paying for polls that say a generic younger Dem can win (sure, Jan).
I really don’t know how the press live with themselves. I am beyond furious. It’s amazing how all of sudden they have lots of access to the campaign. Except funny these sources seem to spout the same “concerns” as $$$ donors. It’s a vicious circle.
President Obama – WOW. I thought he was a great man and a good president, but honestly I was never a convert. It says a whole lot that Bill and Hillary Clinton are calling donors to not give up on Joe. F Obama, indeed.
This disarray, confusion amongst Dems is the gift Trump needed. Rather than be united and work together, once again the Dems have shown weakness and how easily they can be divided and manipulated. Rather than unite and push back against the mainstream media’s agenda after the debate, the Dem party leaders buy into it. The focus should have solely been on Trump’s incompetence, Project 2025, policy, etc. At this point Dem party leaders are handing Trump the election by acting like PABs and not supporting the Biden/Harris ticket but will blame the two of them for losing the election. Why vote for someone that their own party has spent months trashing and under-minding? Dems shoot themselves in the foot every time.
On June 21, 2024, the Heritage Foundation said it would file lawsuits in Georgia, Nevada, and Wisconsin if Democrats nominated someone other than Biden.
They can and will file lawsuits to keep anyone other than Biden off of state ballots giving the final decision to the same SCOTUS that just gave Trump presidential immunity.
Sad to see so many well meaning people are doing the devil’s work. Might as well just sit on your hands now because many of you won’t have anyone other than Trump to vote for after kicking Biden off.
Tbh, as a non-American, I am just baffled that it seems Like USA doesn’t have any candidates for leaders, anyone competent enough, but a 78year old command and an 81 years old kind, but seriously out of shape good guy.
Like, that first debate was just….IT was difficult to watch.
Obama released that TRASH Rham Emmanuel onto my city of Chicago who DECIMATED my town in JUST 4 years😱…after Rham 🔥🔥🔥 down EVERY bridge in D.C. because he’s a MONSTER! That’s what Obama did for the city that took him in and supported him & nurtured him…and THAT’S the lens I view him through…oh & his new facility he’s building on the Southside of Chicago has displaced the VERY BLACK FOLKS who AGAIN…supported him…😪