It's like they've never seen an election before. Elections are close and scary sometimes! Grow up! This kind of public bed wetting just makes you (and the candidate) look weak. Don't do it.
I mean "weak" is a relative (and subjective) thing. You could imagine a better candidate, sure. But you don't get to make your imaginary candidate magically appear. And if Biden is "weak" his opponent is dramatically weaker.
The point is that the situation is what it is; the relevant decisions were made years ago. Now we have to deal with the election we have not the election we want. And we all KNOW what needs to be done, we just need to do it.
And yes, a part of what we need to do, collectively, is not put weak and defeatist energy out there where people can see it. A lot of Democrats, professional and otherwise, are failing that very simple task this evening.
That's not a task you get to lay on others. Those of us who have pointed out Dem strategy problems for a long time are always being told to shut up for the sake of cohesion, and that shushing has culminated in a presidential candidate crashing and burning on live TV this evening.
Sounds like it's more about you saying "I told you so" than realistically assessing damage 4 months before the election. Freaking out about a bad debate is pointless. It's not like the opponent looked good - he rambled conspiracy theories and outright lied every time he spoke!
I did tell people so, and seeing a problem well in advance makes me better at assessing its impact in the present.
Trump's BS is entirely on brand for him. His supporters love it, everyone else is used to it. He won by looking energetic, which counts for more than substance with many voters.
If Biden had been able to debate with the same energy he showed in 2020 or the last SOTU, he'd have won this evening. He's got good policies, he understands policy better, he's much more likeable.
He had good moments, but they're sprinkled in among many awful ones, particularly his very first Q.
So question - a man stumbles on his words, looks like an old man on TV (surprise, he is) that makes him mentally incompetent?
I mean, it was a mess at best, I'm still WTHing, but stumbling in your speech or misspeaking does not + weak minded.
If so, they we're all weak minded. Get what I'm saying?
I don't think we do all know what needs to be done. I wish that RNG had retired earlier. Also, why do we accept campaigns getting so long? I am not saying Biden should bow out, but most other countries would be able to work out a replacement in 4mo. www.npr.org/sections/its...
He was a weak candidate in 2020, but Trump was so self-evidently awful that people rightly chose a return to normalcy. A single Biden term makes sense.
Biden is imho mostly good on policy. But policy is only one factor in elections. Nobody wants to ride a bus whose wheels are visibly coming off.
Nobody wants to ride a bus that is literally on fire and the seats are made of knives and also the knives are poison, either. If we're doing bus metaphors, one of the buses is clearly preferable.
If the bus breaks down, we have an extra bus available. Call it the Vice Bus, I guess. There are procedures in place and lots of people who know what they're doing.
But yeah, in the end I just don't buy any of it. Biden is old, period. He was old a year ago and will be old a year from now. It is what it is. He's not senile and the "wheels are not coming off". It's all just bullshit that's either defeatist or in bad faith.
He's not senile but he's putting out dementia vibes, whether you like it or not. I have a parent of the same age who's in a nursing home and this is how she was a year ago.
Oh please, Kamala Harris has the charisma and warmth of a breeze block. I've met her, followed her career for 25 years (I live in the Bay Area), greatly admire her forensic skills and thought she made a very fine senator, but she cannot win a Presidential campaign.
Serious contenders don't want to rock the boat with an incumbent and would naturally prefer to wait for the next election cycle.
Then again, incumbents don't usually implode on TV as Biden this evening. Harris unfortunately doesn't have campaign juice; didn't even make it to primaries in 2020.
Not supporting Biden's candidacy =/= voting for Trump. The best way to oppose Trump is to run a candidate that has a steady pulse. This was true last year and is even more true now.
I'm not saying 'don't vote for him in the general,' of course I don't want Trump in office. I think Democrats should have an open convention because despite Biden's virtues he's no longer viable.
This might not matter if Harris was charismatic and popular, but that's not the case.
Because the field was fractured, people wanted to go back to the sanity of the Obama admin, Biden was the safe compromise choice, and he was experienced.
He's still experienced, but he's far less sharp than he was then. Contrast 2020 debate footage with today's.
The field was fractured? What combination of other candidates' votes would have allowed a different candidate to win?
I guarantee the next debate will have you eating your words.
Sanders and Warren were fighting for the same pool early on in my view.
The next debate isn't until September, too far away to alleviate voter's doubts about Biden. He can't unring the bell of him completely losing his train of thought multiple times, starting from the very first question.
Handing every warren vote to sanders or vice versa still wouldn't have come close to beating Biden.
Warren and Sanders voters also aren't interchangeable.
You have clips? Because it didn't seem like he lost his train of thought to me.
