It’s maddening to see skepticism of ejecting Biden treated like cultish loyalty. Some of us have been out here saying Biden’s too old for years. The problem is that what is being proposed is a shocking, almost unheard-of remedy, and every historic precedent tells us it’ll end in catastrophe.
It’s very, very clear that the loudest voices calling most excitedly for this remedy are not especially politically sophisticated or even worried about Biden losing - that’s why they didn’t freak for the months of lagging polls and why they’re doing nonsense fantasy-draft replacement picks.
I guess I'm a weird case because I do think there's a strong case to make that Harris is the better car. But people who say their only concern is beating Donald Trump haven't made that case and have instead made arguments that would be *fatal.*
at this point I’m willing to believe Harris might be a better candidate but you do kinda have to add a grain of salt to account for the negative campaigning that right now is mostly not happening against her
It really rests on what you think Biden's actual capabilities are, something none of us really know, but which people who know him haven't (IMO) been able to really reassure us of. Tomorrow's interview will be interesting.
This is the thing that all the fantasy league politics seems to just skip. If he can do it, it’s best he does. If he can’t then, it’s best he doesn’t try too much longer. It doesn’t seem too much more complicated than that and none of us know the answer.
regardless I don’t think this is the actual fulcrum. Biden can resign in favor of Harris any time, and doing it ~any other time than now is likely easier. the electoral math is what matters
This is the thing. If things go publicly weird, Harris is already in place. If things go weird and they keep it secret behind the scenes, well gosh, Harris is already in place. Dem insiders know this, and I feel like the smart ones know they should just HODL.
I did. I thought he did well. I think he really does thrive in informal environments like that and should do more of them. The strategy to wall him off hasn't served him.
this is a thing that I find curiously under-discussed, is that if people are genuinely worried about biden's competence, or his dying, there is an actual plan for that built in to the constitution and everything
not to minimize the complications of a president dying in office, but that’s fairly straightforward. the history of presidents declining in office, well
I think she comes out ahead vs doing this 24/7 for months. What I think is most important for shielding her is making it a Harris/Biden ticket. A large portion of the old bigots are going to assume Biden's running the show. Very few alternatives
Feels like the VP debate would either go well - spawning 'why did they switch?' stories - or go badly - spawning 'Harris was dumb to stick with Biden' stories. Lose-lose
if the answer is “no” there is no further discussion
If the answer is “yes” than we probably should
if the answer is “maybe” there’s a lot of arithmetic and a lot of shouting about modeling assumptions
I just don’t like the precedent of overturning the primary because you get some yips. We ALWAYS have this moment. And what happens if we do this and Harris gets some bad polls. Swap again?
We can't know the percentages, but we've seen a clear Biden ceiling and can infer he hurt himself irrevocably. Harris by default has a higher upside, with the benefit of being able to form complete sentences.
Kamala fans don't want her to run, they want her to be the vp, why compete for a job you will get if the very old person you're running with can't do it anymore
The one thing that I’m mildly hopeful about Harris is the fact that she was a former prosecutor.
That’s exactly the style of campaign that we need against Trump: prosecutorial.
We need someone to prosecute the case against Trump on the campaign trail.
Just chatting with friends here in Ohio (all Dems), I suspect that the bluesky/NYT discourse may be severely underpricing midwestern white resistance to Kamala Harris. The phrase "Even less likeable than Hillary" came up twice.
We're about to learn how badly ~55% of voters want to avoid Trump II.
Right, that's my counterargument to switching. Because Democrats improving the margins with young and minority voters doesn't help if they crater with 65+ moderates, and it's possible the polling about young/minority voters is wrong, anyway.
This has been a sticking point for me - there seems something Obviously Wrong with polling for younger and minority voters as-is, I don't know if that's a pot you have to fling off the stove in alarm
I don't know what you are asking. Biden is a familiar figure perceived as weak or something. There is no affinity for Kamala. The people I am talking to would universally vote for Kamala (not happily) but they are "reading the room" in the state and to them it's obvious it's not going to go well.
yeah, I mean that the car is "Biden might resign", F=ma is "Harris is next up". You've been consistent on that, these jokers think she should interview for it with The Donors or some shit