I pessimistically expected that.
If he bowed out and the Dems nominated a halfway decent candidate (which they likely wouldn’t do, but that’s a different subject), they’d demolish Trump. He’d lose so badly he couldn’t even pretend it was fraudulent (though of course he’d claim that anyway, since he has the emotional maturity of a spoiled five-year-old). The race would instantly go from a terrifying risk to a complete rout.
But between Biden’s ego and the DNC’s determination to stick with a wholly-owned establishment neoliberal hack at all costs - even if it means losing - I expected that they wouldn’t take this golden opportunity.
But between Biden’s ego and the DNC’s determination to stick with a wholly-owned establishment neoliberal hack at all costs - even if it means losing - I expected that they wouldn’t take this golden opportunity.
Biden has objectively been the most progressive president since LBJ, and the most effective progressive president since FDR. And he did it with about the slimmest possible congressional margins, a situation which would have made it very easy for an actual “establishment neoliberal hack” to say “my hands are tied” and accomplish nothing of substance. Instead we got the biggest climate reform package ever, the biggest infrastructure package since the Interstate Highway system, a child tax credit that massively reduced child poverty, the most significant industrial policy in decades (CHIPS and Science), a veritable bulldog FTC chair with an aggressive anti-monopoly stance, and that’s just for starters.
He’s pro genocide. That automatically makes him not progressive.
Or maybe you’re just wrong about the calculus.
The discourse around Biden exiting the race is moot because the only one who decides if he continues is Biden. Biden is still running so nothing changes. Biden is who we need to vote for to keep our democracy.
Biden had a bad debate performance. It was a missed opportunity to pick up new voters. Biden demoralized his base. But we’re still stuck with him, because there is no external mechanism to stop him from running.
The most effective tool we have to prevent the christo-fascist takeover this November is voting. The debate did not change that.
The guy didn’t ace a debate with a sore throat and jet-lag so the media loses its shit. The orange liar has rape and 34 felony convictions- crickets. Nothing new here.
There are two standards. Everyone expects Republicans to be lying shitheads so when they are, no one is surprised.
We somehow just accept this.
I searched for an editorial board opinion in the New York Times which said Trump should withdraw from the Republican ticket because he lied throughout the debate, but I couldn’t find one. Why didn’t they write one?
Because the media is complicit and owned by the same oligarchs that have taken control of our country.
the only one who decides if he continues is Biden.
Got it.
Biden is who we need to vote for to keep our democracy.
Um, what? Vote Biden to save Democracy, and fuck you if you want a different candidate.
I’ll vote for Biden’s corpse in 2028 if it’s still the only way to keep Trump out of the Whitehouse, but give up the “save Democracy” schtick. That ship has sailed. Democracy is dead, and it’s not just the Republican’s fault.
Democracy is still alive for now. That’s why voting matters. Our flawed democracy is still our best chance at adverting fascism. Which is why the fascists want to take it away. Giving up early gets us nothing. So keep fighting.
I think his point is that, if our only alternative to fascism is to vote for a senile old man who was forced upon voters without a primary, then this system can’t credibly be called democracy.
It is still democracy. It doesn’t matter how old the candidate is.
If your choices are vote for A and democracy ends or vote for B, it isn’t really a choice. If it isn’t a choice, it’s not a democracy. It’s political theater. Not unlike mock elections in dictatorships.
You’re fucked either way, both choices are pathways to the same destination. Just at different speeds/ different routes.
By electing Biden democracy continues and we will have the opportunity for better choices. There are ways to fix our problems, but we have to be willing to fight for them. If we choose to keep fighting we can avert self-destruction. In this case it means voting for a neo-liberal. That’s a small price to pay for a shot at a better society and averting death camps.
Democracy’s already gone if you don’t have a choice. Little difference in the long term between either candidate. We’re on the way to an authoritarian capitalist state much like China either way.
Biden was tired from too many engagements, jet lag and a sore throat. You could see he was tried. On the other hand, the orange felon/rapist/liar had one job - to not be an asshole - he failed spectacularly.
He spent an entire week focusing on just this debate at Camp David.
Why would he be tired? What other engagements did he have?
the only one who decides if he continues is Biden … vote for to keep our democracy.
I … I don’t think that’s a democracy.
Biden won the Democratic Party’s primary election so he is going to be the Democratic Party’s candidate. That is democracy.
Ah yes. Demos is greek for the democratic party.
In a democracy, the person who wins an election gets the position they ran for.
I’m running on an independent ticket. My platform: Unlike the other two candidates no one wonders if I can physically handle the journey from back stage to the podium.
You’re the hero we needed and the hero we deserved.
I’m fucking serious, one of the talking heads on the news said Biden needed to “remain upright” to come off well in this debate. That was said of the currently serving commander-in-chief!
Unlike the actual President Of These United States of America, the 24 hour news cycle probably expects more out of me than “can stand up straight for 30 minutes without incident.”
Remember when Trump made a point to demonstrate his ability to lift and drink from a glass of water?
Seriously next time these two appear on stage I want them to step through a hoop to prove there are no wires.
sounds like the party is dysfunctional if we can’t replace a candidate with 120 days of leadup. that’s longer than any other country’s election season. the inability of the democratic party to do good things on purpose makes a strong argument against their leadership if what they think they offer is competence
I thought the 2016 Bernie debacle was enough of a learning moment for the Democrats, yet 8 years go so long for memory lane. Biden is barely functional, anyone with old grandparents know how fast things accelerate, how is he even going to last 5 more years with that mental capacity? Isn’t this at the end blind party loyalty, the same thing the republicans are criticized for? I guess rules for thee but not for me.
Yep - if you are for Biden after that debate you’re just Blue MAGA, he is unfit for office at this point. That’s not a “bad night” , that’s an old man. I cant even believe these news articles, its outrageous. I basically support the guy and after that debate I don’t know how I cam cast a vote of confidence that he can do the job. We’re fucked.
One does not need to vote for biden, one only needs to vote against trump. It is unfortunate that those are the same.
I don’t understand this chain of logic why we need to keep Biden:
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Biden isn’t the best candidate.
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Only Biden can drop (false)
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Biden will never make the adult decision to retire.
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We have to plow forward with Biden because he’ll never change his mind on anything.
Like, the argument for why Biden has to stay, is just reasons he shouldn’t stay…
And it’s not just up to him. It’s up to the DNC.
We are not stuck with Biden.
Biden and the DNC just know that’s the only way people will vote for him, so they’ve been reporting it for like 5 years now.
Ah yes, the DNC, known for making good decisions for our democracy. How they trusted Hillary on us leading to the election of Trump.
We just need ranked choice voting at a national scale. Until that happens we’re going to keep dealing with this bullshit. A lot of Republicans don’t want to elect a fascist anymore than a lot of democrats don’t want to elect a geriatric. But just like democrats a lot of those Republicans think they have no choice. These could all have been avoided with a different voting system and the more moderate members of each party could have voted together.
I agree with you, but the system is just fucking broken.
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“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” the 81-year-old Biden said Friday. “I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong and I know how to do this job.”
trump didn’t think he was wrong when he was breaking human rights laws on our southern border.
And Biden apparently doesn’t either now that he’s doing it.
My point being the people who do evil shit, usually dont think of themselves as evil.
The problem with Biden, is on issues like Israel where the vast majority of not only his party but the country won’t him him to calm the fuck down. He never will
Because he is absolutely sure his outdated morals are the best, and he’s not listening to anyone that disagrees with him.
This gonna be the first time you have to choose between the lesser of two evils?
