look i am not an elections expert but i will just say that it’s striking how few of the arguments for keeping biden have anything to do with biden’s merits as a candidate or his ability to lead the country for four more years and i don’t think that’s going to be entirely lost on voters
I think that’s because those arguments wouldn’t feel responsive to people’s fears. I haven’t been hearing anyone suggest that Biden’s performance changes their view of how he’d govern (no one’s suggesting he resign), only how he’d campaign
I see your point, but I worry that the people whose fears are being taken into account here are the professional political class and committed Dems. Whereas the people whose fears actually matter in an election are those who are on the fence about who to vote for or whether it’s worth turning out.
I will absolutely concede that I have zero idea what happens in the minds of "undecided" voters and how different scenarios would affect turnout. I'd just say that the argument for Biden on policy is roughly the same as the argument for Harris, so you quickly return to discussing other tradeoffs.
I agree that no one is disputing the fact that Biden is old and diminished compared to his younger self. But it doesn't seem damning to me that the main conversation is about what you gain and lose by switching to Harris (or contested convention), just as we talk about voting for Biden vs. Trump.
