forgetting that the house has to weigh in on this (and adding it as a one-off after the fact without noting it) is a pretty fucking critical omission, man, it is not a small thing, it changes the entire scope of outcomes.
That was added in the last 20 minutes. The next sentence for me (on the copy of the page I loaded before writing that comment) changes topics entirely.
if i were under the impression that the senate and only the senate had to confirm a new VP for harris were biden to resign, i might be more amenable to the argument, but that isn’t the case, and that makes the entire case *significantly* weaker
the biden should not only step aside, but resign, seems somehow even weirder to me. like why on earth do you think biden is going to be willing to do both of those things. and why is that now your marker?
i like sewer and find him usually clear headed but man oh man
there’s a consistent logic that if he’s unable to campaign, he’s unable to lead — i legit think that’s a better faith argument than most are making. but, boy, to just handwave away the house entirely and blithely mention that you can bypass the filibuster in the senate is something else.
yeah I mean I think that's a tortured logic, if not in bad faith, but like if you think that a complete change of power and a campaign in a couple months time is gonna work idk man idk.
it’s either sophism or it’s sloppiness, either way, damage is done, both in terms of whatever atlantic reader believes it (and doesn’t think too hard about the process) and in terms of my opinion of a writer who i genuinely have had a good deal of respect for, even when i’ve disagreed with him
The fact that he's willing to write this makes me think the tone in those high flown circles must be at "standing next to a jet engine" levels. A freakout to end all freakouts.
this is where a lot of my "Kamala should be the nominee now" instinct comes from
the institutional freakout might be ridiculous but it's clearly real, and it's coming from everywhere including people I respect
I don't think Biden can campaign without tamping down the freakout level - and can he?
If he doesn't do anything to feed it, he can hope to tamp it down. If he withdraws, it'll be a different freakout & there will be no way out of it, as Kamala being the unelected nominee will be an unresolvable problem. If Biden can leg it out to the convention, he maybe can force their hands.
the problem is that inaction feeds it - it's something he has to actively combat, not just "not feed"
like, there's a lot of stuff out today about how his slow response to the debate and failure to reassure allies has caused increased concern among Dem lawmakers
he’s done at least two rallies, he had a meeting with dem governors today, he’s doing an interview with ABC on friday, if none of these professionals can hold it until then, they should buy some fucking diapers
if the Dems could have summoned some fraction of the Trump team's "fuck you this is actually great for us" response to being convicted of thirty-four fucking felonies, we would not be here!
Roy Cooper has now met with Biden twice in five days and there’s no hint of him being discouraged despite a pretty distinct drumbeat of “goddamnit Cal” from him in October 2020
I just want to see the list of every "top aide" or "source with knowledge" in the last week and confirm that it's the same five people who worried about the Afghan withdrawal and running too hard on abortion and thought Joe shoulda picked Mayor Pete
I see lots of people who are already basically living in trumps America not too bothered by the debate. It feels like a white costal elite thing worried that they may experience some discomfort and want to demand to see the manager
Whiteness culture is some self sabotaging shit. Millions of us shoot ourselves in the foot every time because we can’t see that our obsession with perfectionism is rooted in racism and sexism we refuse to admit to. This is why I listen to/trust voices of Black/brown Dem voters. They support Biden.
it's a palace coup for sure, but i think with all the democrat governors, including the ones that people are putting up as replacements, saying "shut up, this is the guy" we'll see how long it will last
Trump getting convicted of 34 felonies got less front page coverage than Biden Old, nothing Dems can do to fix that (though they all should learn to shut the fuck up and repeat the spin instead of their actual opinion)
Not having a massive media apparatus eager to help push your message makes it a bit harder. But yes, Dems need fighters, not the professional triangulators they actually have.
