43 Comments

You know what I think? I think Project 2025 is a big problem. I think Trump's association with Epstein is problem. I think MAGA madness is a problem. I think Trump is a horrible person in general. What I don't worry about is Joe Biden tripping over his words. He's been doing that forever.

As far as I can tell, Biden is the better candidate and, by far, the better president. If he decides to step down so be it. But he hasn't. So I am happily supporting Joe Biden and will be as long as he's running. And so do most Democrats who aren't media types. Which are the Democrats I know personally.

All you "nattering nabobs of negativity" in the chattering class need to be worrying about Trump being elected again. Because you people in the press will be some of the first on his retribution list.

If I'm wrong, I will happily say "Oh shit. He was right and I was wrong" But I don't think I am. Good evening to you.

Expand full comment

We ARE worried about Trump being elected again which is why many Dems want Biden to step aside and let someone who's electable be the nominee. I'm certainly not a media type. I'm just a Democrat who realizes that thousands of people will not vote for Biden because they think he's too old. I'm guessing that people who think Biden can win, only talk to their friends. How about all the millions of undecided voters in the swing States? Before the debate, Trump likely would have won by a slim margin - that's why Democrats who are willing to put in the effort have worked to increase Democratic voter turnout in battleground States. But since that disastrous debate, plus increasing disclosures from people who work with Biden having seen his decline in the past couple of years, it's pretty clear that if we want to keep Trump out of office we need someone other than Biden to be the nominee

Expand full comment

I think there are also A good number of low motivated voters who will look at the current two choices and decide it’s not even worth the time to go out and vote and just stay home.

If the Democrats get a younger vigorous candidate, that is much more motivating than Joe Biden is, we will get those people out to vote for her or him .

We absolutely need these voters if we are going to beat Trump.

Expand full comment

That's exactly my concern

Expand full comment

Yes!

Expand full comment

I wonder what folks here are doing to try to get more Democrats to vote in swing States? Sadly there are a lot of people who don't even vote at all unless they get out on the right side of the bed and the sun is shining. That's why I'm now spending hours every day on this. Just sitting here spouting off on social media doesn't do anything, which is why I'm now emailing hundreds of people to try to get them to vote for whoever the Democratic presidential nominee ends up being. It may be hard for us to believe, but there are a lot of people who are undecided and will probably vote for Trump if their grocery bill goes up one week. That's what we are up against

Expand full comment

I empathize with you guys on the other side of this. If you guys get your way and Biden steps down, I hope it turns out to be the panacea you want it to be. I guarantee I will be voting for the Democrat, whoever it turns out to be and trying to convince others to do the same. Here's wishing good luck to us all.

Expand full comment

Getting Harris at the top of the ticket won't be a panacea. I expect it will still be a very tough race. I will just feel more hopeful than I do with Biden. I like the idea of a prosecutor taking on Trump, rather than Biden trying to convince people that Trump is unfit, with so many questions about his own fitness to serve another term.

Expand full comment

I thought Biden was brilliant last night, as good as i have EVER seen him. Forceful, emotional, on message, aggressive, drawing blood fro dictator wannabe Trump. If Biden can repeat, ill change my mind and support his continuance in the race.

I also think that Chris' comment that Trump's election will not doom American democracy is inaccurate and naive. It underestimates Trump and his base-their power, their zealotry, their takeover of the Supreme Court and the federal circuit and state appellate courts.

Howard

Expand full comment

Detroit? Yeah, he slayed. I don’t care that he used a teleprompter. Being right should count for something too. I think that sort of performance os all we can ask, and all that we need.

Expand full comment

Using a teleprompter or not really doesn’t matter at all in terms capability to be president. As others have pointed out, it is proven that Joe Biden has the ability to meet the responsibilities and duties and demands of the office of president because that’s what he’s doing right now.

Everyone who is joining the “step aside” pile on needs to stop and rescind their comments. It is not just relying on a fantasy Magical Candidate who could do all the things and pull together all the things necessary to win the election, these people making these statement either don’t know or are ignoring what happens in open conventions and are ignoring ALL the election processes and requirements across the nation.

Topping off all the misunderstandings these people are promoting with their wide-reach platforms, they are actively supporting trump, the trump campaign, and republicans.

The New York Times has just become ridiculous with their overkill of over 200 articles and pieces slamming Biden in one week after the debate. The other big names, Washington Post, CNN, Rob Reiner, Stephen King, Jon Stewart, George Clooney, Ashley Judd, Michael Moore, Chris Hayes, the slurry of other celebrity, journalist, and political voices with wide reaches: Just STOP.

You are all aware who should step down and whose party should have forced out of the election process. Put out statements about trump’s unfitness for any office and the disgrace that the Republican Party is for allowing someone who incited insurrection to be their candidate.

Here’s what to do instead of piling on: Speak out on the accomplishments of the Biden / Harris administration in words that will inspire voters who want to see more accomplishments like this. Speak out on the goals of the Biden / Harris administration for their next term. Support Joe Biden. Speak out for Joe Biden with all your fluency and all your hope for this country working toward meeting the promises made when America was founded.

Expand full comment

It's unfortunate but predictable that the debate over whether Joe should step aside has become heated and , in many instances , personal. Chris's observations re the constant focus on Biden's performance are apt. IMO, we need the head of the ticket to be able to prosecute the case against Trump. But now, the focus is on Joe's fitness, and I don't see that fading away. To the contrary, every gaffe will be a headline , and if he falters again in a debate or interview-- game, set , match.

Expand full comment

I didn't see the press conference, but heard he did well enough. Unfortunately the two flubs are easily used in anti-Biden ads. While the fact that he sounded knowledgeable on foreign policy just kind of gets lost.

Expand full comment

All true. I watched the entire presser. He displayed deep knowledge. But he sometimes meandered and lost his train of thought , ending with "well anyway" or something like that. His voice was weak& enunciation was unclear. You have to love Joe unconditionally to ignore the performance aspect. Part of the job is being able to use the Bully Pulpit & prosecute the case against your opponent. It's also a bad look to keep refusing to take a cognitive test b/c "they don't tell me I need it. " How about taking one and challenging Trump to do the same? A D friend said to me after the presser " I think he can do the job tomorrow, but I can't believe his up to 4 more years."

Expand full comment

Yes, if he really thinks his cognition is in great shape and he should just go ahead and take the test.

But he’s not gonna take the test because the result is not going to be pretty

Total red flag!!

Expand full comment

On the VP pick maybe Trump will go with Tim Scott, in anticipation that he might be running against Kamala. Scott could provide competition for the Black vote. I don't think Trump is worried at all about beating Biden, if he stays at the top of the ticket, so why not hedge his bet.

Expand full comment

Before the reporting about how the VP stakes had narrowed to Rubio and Vance, I thought Scott would get the pick. Trump doesn't want any substance from a VP. He wants votes. And he has a weird point of pride about getting some POC votes. I suppose Rubio could help with Hispanics. We'll see. It's all a sad joke that this know-nothing narcissist leads a party

Expand full comment

I thought the same thing yesterday, Chris.

These foreign press conferences are standard fare. Yet yesterday's felt like such a white knuckle affair. What about the convention speech? The next debate? Additional press conferences?

It feels like the focus will always be on how he did rather than how dangerous Trump is.

Congrats on 30K!

Expand full comment

Running for President has always been a high wire act. But the media have always behaved badly. Howard Dean’s Presidential political career ended when the media captured him screaming. Regardless of what he stood for went out of the window. Fair and balanced, huh? The last two weeks have demonstrated that they cannot be trusted. CNN, for example, may be being economical with the truth. For whatever reason. Along with other media outlets, their impartiality is never going to be examined. Or believed again after these last two weeks of Biden bombardment. The self serving behavior of some white male congressmen who want to abandon their own democratic process in selecting their candidate because of fear is unsettling. And wrong. By contrast, the Congressional Black Caucus has stood by Biden. But the power of that gets lost in media reporting. Why? The real story is the democrats in disarray split across racial lines. But no. The media doesn’t focus on that either. Though there isn’t enough data to be definitive, the data that does exists shows Biden actually going up in the polls, not down. Remarkable given all the anti Biden media attention. Again a story in itself, as yet untold. Perhaps then, the story of the 2024 election is really the death of the media. And the politically misrepresented stories they tell. Which raise the stakes and freak out elite Congressional Democrats lol. Watching the candidates on TV, or in person, and making a decision yourself about their ability to do the job and the policies they represent, is the thing to do.

Expand full comment

Perfect, every time Grandpa Joe speaks or has an event the media will cover it. That’s what happened in 2016 with Donald. They covered every rally and he got a ton of free coverage.

There’s no reason to fear Joe Biden being seen speaking. His flubs will be normalized while the message will get through. Judge Joe by his policies and wisdom and compassion. It’s about time the media focused on what Biden says. Give him the nonstop attention.

This is actually a very good outcome from the debate performance.

America loves a person who won’t give up and goes out and fights for the job.

Go Joe, go.

Expand full comment

You continue to make a huge assumption here and can’t or won’t address my objection. The recent NPR/ABC (I think) poll has Biden up by a point, nationwide, at 50%. Yes, he’d need more than that distributed properly to win. But that isn’t my point. There are also polls showing that up to 75% of voters say that Biden isn’t in shape to be President. I think it is possible both those polls are accurate within a couple points here or there. The conclusion I draw from that is that there are a substantial number of voters who don’t feel Biden meets their expectations but intend to vote for him anyway. When you say one more flub or stumble or senior moment it’s over, what do you mean exactly? Over for whom? Biden voters? What’s the evidence of that? I’ve seen commenters on this page saying if Biden is the nominee they will stay home. Take that stupid Democratic Party! I think that’s primarily the position of Russian trolls rather than actual voters.

Expand full comment
founding

Addendum: I meant to say Per Trump and not Pee Trump

Expand full comment
founding

Pee Trump: "I have a gut and my gut tells me more than sometimes than anybody's train can ever tell me". Well, no wonder so many people died unnecessarily during covid 19. No wonder he was kicked out of the White House by Joe Biden in 2020.

Expand full comment

"Pee Trump" is very amusing, but I'm pretty sure you meant "Per Trump" ...

Expand full comment
founding

Yes, thanks MarkS. I meant to say Per Trump

Expand full comment

"And we are where we are not because most elected Democrats don’t agree with Himes — they do! — but because they lack the, um, bravery to come out and say so publicly."

Nope. We are here because the press REFUSED TO DO ITS JOB and report what reporters saw with their own eyes are heard with their own ears months ago, per Olivia Nuzzi's NY Mag piece (including Nuzzi herself).

Expand full comment

If Biden gets out on the trail often enough to have a chance to win,...like every day..numerous times..trashing Trump constantly kind of out there..., it is impossible to imagine him not having numerous senior moments. And every time he bumbles, the Biden must step aside clock resets. That is, clearly, not tenable. Retire, Joe. Enjoy your family, work on that 6.. I mean 8.. handicap. Head off into the sunset knowing that you had a pretty darn good 1 term and then, when it mattered the most, you did the right thing.

Expand full comment

Too late for that. The "right thing" was not to run, and to announce it well before primary season.

Expand full comment

He's going to high school gymnasiums filled with 400 people and thinking that their enthusiasm for him is widespread because he has a tight knit crew who is telling him it is. I had liked him so much, I'd been one of the 37%, even a superfan. But no one can unsee that debate (and in the fall, clip will be everywhere). His narcissism and bullying in the face of the ending of democracy has turned me off completely. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster, hoping he'll make the right choice and then becoming more and more aware that he wont. His legacy will be worse than RBG, because of him we will lose our democracy.

Expand full comment

Well, there are another Trump.Presidency would in democracy isn't the point for me. Another Trump presidency would allow him to redefine America in a way that many of us would not be able to tolerate. Trump would create an America that has absolutely nothing to do with the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution we have grown accustomed to living under.

Expand full comment

The first line up there is "whether another Trump presidency..."

Expand full comment

Chris just wanted to say the tweet about booing the press seems unfair. I noticed you didn’t include the context of Biden immediately trying to defend y’all. There’s no need to both sides things sometimes. Think about how Trump used to tell folks “to let em have it” instead.

Expand full comment

How do I sign up for a zoom 1:1

Expand full comment

Your comments about music belong somewhere else.

Expand full comment