This was a horrible piece to publish. You're helping to destroy our chance to beat Trump. I don't care how he acts in private, I care about what he's gotten done and what he can continue to do. So he has advisors and family to assist. WTF is wrong with that?
Now, how about you write about Trump's idiotic and jumbled speech? About how he wants to destroy this Country and his many criminal activities? I'm outraged by all of you Substack & Republicans who keep giving him a free pass. He's both demented and dangerous.
I disagree. People ignored HRC’s glaring flaws and un-electability and see what that got us?? I’ve worked around these higher up politicians and party staffers. They will parrot the same talking points like Stepford Wives. Someone has to say it, and it’s now or never. Elections are never about the past but always about the future. You cannot see a future where Joe Biden gets better. I LOVE the guy and what he’s done for us. He needs to do one last noble thing and resign now to give Kamala (sp?) Harris (or someone) a fighting chance.
I agree, especially after the disastrous SC decision yesterday. But it's up to Biden and I don't think he's going to step down. I wish he would. But I don't know who else could beat Trump if he does. Harris? Newsome? Buttigieg? Shapiro? A black woman, a super liberal, a gay guy, a Jew? Pretty dicey replacements.
The media wants Biden to step down because the resulting chaos would provide them with daily developments that they could report breathlessly about, for more advertising dollars which equals more profit.
The Republicans are calling for Biden to step down because it would hand the Presidency to Trump on a silver platter and they only care about power and winning. Notice that the Repubbies aren't calling for their own savant to step down despite HIS little dementia moments. Indeed, the MAGAs appear to be quite comfortable with Trumps constant lies and bizarre rants.
The real Dems, Dino's and those who are pretending to be Dems are calling for Biden to step down for their own inscrutable reasons...but I do find myself wondering for whose team they are truly rooting.
Chris's job isn't to help Joe Biden beat Donald Trump. And no one can really ignore this topic after Biden's horrific performance last Thursday. I'll vote for the literal corpse of Joe Biden over Donald Trump, who yes, also looks worse than he did 8 years ago, but Biden's functioning, the tight control over his limited media appearances, etc., is newsworthy.
Can you honestly say President Biden spoke coherently for 90 minutes? Yes Trump is awful, but President Biden doesn't seem to help his case at all the he's ready for 4 years. Just because Trump is bad, doesn't mean Biden is the only answer.
Uh...at this point in the game, yes he is. Read the damn transcripts of that "debate" and then tell me that Biden didn't speak coherently. You certainly can't say that Trump spoke coherently....not did he answer the actual debate questions. That wasn't a debate; it was a travesty staged by faithless CNN, and they didn't do any of the things they said they would do.
Biden looked dead. If you want to go by transcripts, most people who listened to the debate on the radio thought Nixon beat Kennedy. The visuals were awful for Biden. He clearly doesn't have the mental capacity to be president. Why not substitute another candidate who is capable?
Biden did a lot of good things and with Kamala and the Democratic Congressional members working together with him, I believe he'll continue to make this Country greater and greater for everyone. Trump wants to destroy it by being an unethical, criminal dictator.
Dawn, Biden can't win. It's not his age as much as it's his cognitive decline. I'm pleased that we're finally learning the truth that was being covered up. Another candidate at least has a chance of winning. It's not too late!
Chris is a reporter. It's his job to report, not to help you beat Trump. And some if his readers (including me) would rather see Trump win than Biden (though I would prefer neither). Where do you get off acting like Chris is an arm of the Democratic party?
Kind of a long email from an insider, to Bob Lefsetz, culture critic:
From: Fred Goldring
Subject: Re: The Debate And Its Aftermath
Bob – I was at the event in the Hamptons yesterday and saw it with my own eyes.
I’m a huge admirer of Joe Biden and I think he is a true patriot whose heart, wisdom and experience are exactly what you’d want in a president. He truly cares about people and has done an amazing job against enormous headwinds (the democrats just suck at getting this information out). I went to the event hoping that Thursday was an anomaly and that there would be some logical explanation given – especially to the small group of high roller donors in attendance – but there was nothing other than he “had a bad night”. And you would think at least he would have an impromptu conversion with his donors to allay concerns that he can’t think on his feet not a completely scripted speech.
Jill came on to introduce him – super strong, loud and energetic. You almost felt like she was auditioning for the job not him. Joe stood stiffly zombie-like next to her. It was like “Weekend At Bernie’s”. Then Joe gets up to speak and weakly gives the exact same stump speech he gave at a rally in NC the day before reading off a teleprompter – to a small group of important donors, not thousands at a huge rally! And it got worse. He used an example of how when he had his aneurysm years before and the doctor told him there was a 35-40% chance he could die his doctors said he was an eternal optimist. Why the hell would his handlers write a speech that brings that up and reminds people he had an aneurysm especially at this moment? The contrast between his much more youthful wife and Joe was such that you wondered why they even had her introduce him. I spied Jeffrey Katzenberg watching with a sullen face and then walk backstage before Joe was even finished. (If you read the NYT article on Katzenberg he seems like somebody who could – and should – get to Joe and tell him the truth.) Because he saw exactly what I saw.
James Carville (who I wish they’d put in charge of the campaign) is a no bullsh*t guy who calls it as he sees it. And he said the problem is that Joe needs advisors and what he has is employees. He’s right; employees are afraid of losing their jobs so they tell the boss what he knows he wants to hear not what he needs to hear. And Joe needs to hear that he must step aside. For the good of our country and the future for our children and grandchildren. One thing we do know is that in a Trump second term DT will only surround himself with sycophants and we’ll have no guardrails. That would be catastrophic and we’ll have Project 25 and be living like in “The Handmaids Tale”.
If Joe decides to stay on I’ll still vote for him because the alternative is unthinkable. And because there is a difference between right and wrong, morals and no morals, narcissistic dictatorship vs putting country first and democracy vs authoritarianism and facism. But it’s now abundantly clear that it’s time for Joe to pass the baton and save his legacy in the process. Because unfortunately what I saw and heard yesterday just confirmed that what 50 million people saw on Thursday was not a one off.
I subscribe to your column and I like and respect many of your columns and analysis including your immediate take (showing your shock) after the Thursday debate of Trump and Biden.
However, I must respectfully but adamantly dissent with your continued harping on this insistence on having Biden drop out as the Democratic nominee. My reasons are for two basic reasons, one more concrete and other perhaps more emotional and values based, with that said, here goes:
1) At this late stage the number of Democratic candidates who could be nominated other than Biden and have a prayer of winning consists solely of VP Kamala Harris, since she is the only person who could legally benefit from the large campaign war-chest that the Biden-Harris campaign has already amassed. Even with VP Harris as the new Presidential nominee, the task for the Democratic party is huge: rallying the massive and fractious Democratic coalition behind the new nominee. President Biden was able to rally this support due in no small part to his decades of experience in politics during which he gained respect and admiration from diverse political figures like: Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Congressman James Clyburn, Senator Bernie Sanders and even Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. That effort to get all of the parts of the coalition behind the new nominee CP Harris must not be underestimated. An open convention is prescription for disaster, if you do not believe me, try to remember the last time the Democrats had an open convention: 1968. On that occasion the preferred consensus candidate the incumbent VP Hubert Humphrey, had over four months to campaign, on this occasion VP Harris would have less than one month.
2) My second reason is as I said both more emotional and values based: why would the Democrats dispose of the duly nominated Presidential candidate because he has committed the “sin” of being old and has a lifelong stutter, which uniquely renders him difficulty in confronting Trump continual vomiting of lies and prevarications? Quite frankly who else would do better against such and assault? Why are the media, and columnists like yourself dumping all of the fault and shame for our country’s dire predicament on this one party and this one man, Biden? Where is your righteous anger at Trump and at the radical and corrupt U.S. Supreme Court? By calling for the decapitation of the current Democratic ticket, folks like yourself are yielding to an understandable panic, and frankly doing so, in a rather ignoble manner.
I will continue as a subscriber, but I really needed to get my disagreement “off of my chest” so to speak.
The Republicans would LOVE for Joe to step down and thereby throw the Democratic party in an ugly "civil war" from which no one would emerge unscathed. That would be, essentially, handing the presidency to Trump on a silver platter. Naturally, they are all for Joe stepping down...
The media, too, would love to see the Dems thrown into chaos--so good for reporting breathlessly about developments which garners lots of clicks, readers and advertising dollars.
I think Kamala Harris would be a big improvement over Joe Biden. She'd be an underdog -- partly because Biden failed to do anyting to put her in a favorable light -- but she has a chance. I find it impossible to believe Biden could win given his cognitive decline.
I agree that VP Kamala Harris would be a good President. Your statement is the most realistic counter-proposal that I have seen on this substack. I have been canvassing for Biden-Harris in both PA and NC, (I live in Maryland), but I would gladly do the same for a Harris led ticket. I would prefer to stay with Biden although he is old, but I would put aside my preference and proudly and energetically support whichever nominees the Democrats put forward. I am not going to spend time, wetting my pants and clutching my pearls.
We don’t need to see another episode, the debate cemented a lasting impression that will be remembered for a long time and especially these next 4 months. Biden can’t win, no chance. Harris is a very very poor alternative (that’s why Biden feels he has to run, in my humble opinion). Ds in a real predicament with very few options. It’s actually funny to see all these lies and deception catching up to the party. It’s equally sad to see what they are doing to Joe Biden. He deserves far better!
I don't want 45 anywhere near the White House--except maybe passing by in a van on his way to prison--but I don't think 'Biden tends to have some periods of lucidity' is a great campaign platform.
He was incapable of responding to 45's nonsense (Harris, or basically anyone, would have at least done that). He needed help navigating one step on the CNN set after the debate. No one is letting the totality of the debate sink in.
Both parties no longer are based in 'reality', but the Dems do have a late option to move on and I seriously hope someone grows a spine....
You may be sick of this reporting, but this reporting is not only for the perspective of informing us (I do like these, though), but also to try to shape the public opinion in a way that the decisions makers acknowledge that.
What I am sick of is hearing that Joe Biden's age is a non-issue.
There is no doubt that Biden's age is an issue. I wish he wasn't so old. I wish there had been a real primary season. But going forward, how do you replace Biden at this point? I don't want to hear that he should be replaced. I want to hear how to do it in a way that doesn't alienate key parts of the base and that produces an electable candidate.
It's not that hard: you nominate someone else at the convention like Kamala Harris. It's how nominees used to be selected. For example, in the 40s the Dems replaced the leftwing Henry Wallace with Harry Truman. It was a convention fight, but it was forgotten soon.
If Trump is indeed an existential threat, Biden should hear the voices of Americans having been being concerned for his age for a long time, watch the video of the debate, come to his senses and step aside. The Demicratic Party should select a replacement on the convention and all Democrats shoul stand behind this new candidate. Including Biden.
Okay, who is that person whom all the factions of the party will support? And if it doesn't involve Kamala Harris, how do you get around FEC rules to free up the campaign money they've collected for someone else to use?
To the folks here who are arguing that Biden should remain the nominee I say..."are you paying ANY attention to Bidens recent behavior? Are you nuts? Do you want to hand the keys to our Republic to Donald, forking Trump?" Biden is losing and his mental condition is deteriorating..rapidly. He will NOT get sharper. He WILL lose. Anyone with a modicum of common sense can decipher that. We have to fix this. NOW. Come on, Dems!
Why can't President Biden answer questions after his "statements"? The Supreme Court decision is a major impact to our country, but President Biden can't take questions? As the debate was so awful, where outside of Teleprompter events is the President alleviating the concerns people have about his metal ability. I have not seen it.
People say MAGA live in a bubble, but after the debate, what world are Democrats living in?
And also I don’t wanna hear the “Joe Biden loves this country and Donald Trump only loves himself” rhetoric. Nonsense! Biden is proving his is in this only for himself. I am so disappointed in him.
I love Biden and voted for him in 2020, however, I do wish that he passed the torch for 2024. However, he did not and is running once again and will support him again. I understand he is old, his debate performance was horrific and truly wish this was not happening. I will vote for him, or whoever is the Democratic nominee as the alternative is far too dangerous, even more so after yesterday’s SC decision. I think that if Biden wins in 2024, he may step aside if he thinks he can’t do the job and Harris becomes president. If that’s the case, so be it, better than a Trump White House.
Wait a minute! isn't this what we have known about Trump all along? People can't give him large dossiers of information because he can't/won't read it. People needed to curate info for Trump to make it more entertaining, easier to digest? Trump gets all his info from Fox and Friends? WT****? Can you please now draw the parallel between Biden and Trump? both of them are problematic, both of them scare the hell out of people. ONE of them is a crazy nut and the other one is a "kindly, older man". BTW, you do NOT have to believe that the debate was a one off, you have to KNOW that Trump is not fit for office under any circumstance. Again,i would vote for a rock!
Politico seems hell-bent of providing a rationale and an advanced scapegoat for the re-election/ "ascendance to the throne" of Donald Trump. Where the hell is the attention to Trump, Project 2025 or the numerous iniquities of the Robert's led SCOTUS? The world wonders!
The bottom line is, we the people voted for Biden to be our candidate. You political pundits are screaming into the wind for clicks and likes. Your opinions are not more important than our votes. You are all just tiring.
This was a horrible piece to publish. You're helping to destroy our chance to beat Trump. I don't care how he acts in private, I care about what he's gotten done and what he can continue to do. So he has advisors and family to assist. WTF is wrong with that?
Now, how about you write about Trump's idiotic and jumbled speech? About how he wants to destroy this Country and his many criminal activities? I'm outraged by all of you Substack & Republicans who keep giving him a free pass. He's both demented and dangerous.
I disagree. People ignored HRC’s glaring flaws and un-electability and see what that got us?? I’ve worked around these higher up politicians and party staffers. They will parrot the same talking points like Stepford Wives. Someone has to say it, and it’s now or never. Elections are never about the past but always about the future. You cannot see a future where Joe Biden gets better. I LOVE the guy and what he’s done for us. He needs to do one last noble thing and resign now to give Kamala (sp?) Harris (or someone) a fighting chance.
I agree, especially after the disastrous SC decision yesterday. But it's up to Biden and I don't think he's going to step down. I wish he would. But I don't know who else could beat Trump if he does. Harris? Newsome? Buttigieg? Shapiro? A black woman, a super liberal, a gay guy, a Jew? Pretty dicey replacements.
Biden polls better against Trump than anyone else who has been measured.
so then why is everybody bitching we should swap him out for one of them?
The media wants Biden to step down because the resulting chaos would provide them with daily developments that they could report breathlessly about, for more advertising dollars which equals more profit.
The Republicans are calling for Biden to step down because it would hand the Presidency to Trump on a silver platter and they only care about power and winning. Notice that the Repubbies aren't calling for their own savant to step down despite HIS little dementia moments. Indeed, the MAGAs appear to be quite comfortable with Trumps constant lies and bizarre rants.
The real Dems, Dino's and those who are pretending to be Dems are calling for Biden to step down for their own inscrutable reasons...but I do find myself wondering for whose team they are truly rooting.
Chris's job isn't to help Joe Biden beat Donald Trump. And no one can really ignore this topic after Biden's horrific performance last Thursday. I'll vote for the literal corpse of Joe Biden over Donald Trump, who yes, also looks worse than he did 8 years ago, but Biden's functioning, the tight control over his limited media appearances, etc., is newsworthy.
No, it isn't. It's to do an honest comparison of both candidates and to point out those comparisons ever damn time.
Can you honestly say President Biden spoke coherently for 90 minutes? Yes Trump is awful, but President Biden doesn't seem to help his case at all the he's ready for 4 years. Just because Trump is bad, doesn't mean Biden is the only answer.
Uh...at this point in the game, yes he is. Read the damn transcripts of that "debate" and then tell me that Biden didn't speak coherently. You certainly can't say that Trump spoke coherently....not did he answer the actual debate questions. That wasn't a debate; it was a travesty staged by faithless CNN, and they didn't do any of the things they said they would do.
Biden looked dead. If you want to go by transcripts, most people who listened to the debate on the radio thought Nixon beat Kennedy. The visuals were awful for Biden. He clearly doesn't have the mental capacity to be president. Why not substitute another candidate who is capable?
As truthfully as anyone can say Trump did or that Trump said one single entirely truthful comment.
Why should Biden get a free pass because he's not Trump?
he's not getting a free pass. Chris beats this same narrative every freaking day. Turn the record over FFS.
Because it's a huge story right now. You don't always see a party panicking about their nominee with just four months to go.
I get it, I get it. It's beating a dead horse. Every. Single. Day.
I'm much more worried about a future King Donald than Biden's debate performance. Just sayin....
I too am worried about Donald the Fascist which is why watching his opponent look so bad last week was not great!
We ALL agree. I don't think talking about it every day is necessary or helpful, however. Just an opinion.
Biden did a lot of good things and with Kamala and the Democratic Congressional members working together with him, I believe he'll continue to make this Country greater and greater for everyone. Trump wants to destroy it by being an unethical, criminal dictator.
Because he did in 2020?
Dawn, Biden can't win. It's not his age as much as it's his cognitive decline. I'm pleased that we're finally learning the truth that was being covered up. Another candidate at least has a chance of winning. It's not too late!
James, did you honestly believe that he has declined THAT much since taking office in 2020?
Some very serious TDS here.
Chris is a reporter. It's his job to report, not to help you beat Trump. And some if his readers (including me) would rather see Trump win than Biden (though I would prefer neither). Where do you get off acting like Chris is an arm of the Democratic party?
Where do you get off even considering Trump?
Kind of a long email from an insider, to Bob Lefsetz, culture critic:
From: Fred Goldring
Subject: Re: The Debate And Its Aftermath
Bob – I was at the event in the Hamptons yesterday and saw it with my own eyes.
I’m a huge admirer of Joe Biden and I think he is a true patriot whose heart, wisdom and experience are exactly what you’d want in a president. He truly cares about people and has done an amazing job against enormous headwinds (the democrats just suck at getting this information out). I went to the event hoping that Thursday was an anomaly and that there would be some logical explanation given – especially to the small group of high roller donors in attendance – but there was nothing other than he “had a bad night”. And you would think at least he would have an impromptu conversion with his donors to allay concerns that he can’t think on his feet not a completely scripted speech.
Jill came on to introduce him – super strong, loud and energetic. You almost felt like she was auditioning for the job not him. Joe stood stiffly zombie-like next to her. It was like “Weekend At Bernie’s”. Then Joe gets up to speak and weakly gives the exact same stump speech he gave at a rally in NC the day before reading off a teleprompter – to a small group of important donors, not thousands at a huge rally! And it got worse. He used an example of how when he had his aneurysm years before and the doctor told him there was a 35-40% chance he could die his doctors said he was an eternal optimist. Why the hell would his handlers write a speech that brings that up and reminds people he had an aneurysm especially at this moment? The contrast between his much more youthful wife and Joe was such that you wondered why they even had her introduce him. I spied Jeffrey Katzenberg watching with a sullen face and then walk backstage before Joe was even finished. (If you read the NYT article on Katzenberg he seems like somebody who could – and should – get to Joe and tell him the truth.) Because he saw exactly what I saw.
James Carville (who I wish they’d put in charge of the campaign) is a no bullsh*t guy who calls it as he sees it. And he said the problem is that Joe needs advisors and what he has is employees. He’s right; employees are afraid of losing their jobs so they tell the boss what he knows he wants to hear not what he needs to hear. And Joe needs to hear that he must step aside. For the good of our country and the future for our children and grandchildren. One thing we do know is that in a Trump second term DT will only surround himself with sycophants and we’ll have no guardrails. That would be catastrophic and we’ll have Project 25 and be living like in “The Handmaids Tale”.
If Joe decides to stay on I’ll still vote for him because the alternative is unthinkable. And because there is a difference between right and wrong, morals and no morals, narcissistic dictatorship vs putting country first and democracy vs authoritarianism and facism. But it’s now abundantly clear that it’s time for Joe to pass the baton and save his legacy in the process. Because unfortunately what I saw and heard yesterday just confirmed that what 50 million people saw on Thursday was not a one off.
-Fred G
Why is no one talking about all the lies Trump spewed at the debate. That is the real threat right now.
I agree, why not? Great point you make here!
Chris –
I subscribe to your column and I like and respect many of your columns and analysis including your immediate take (showing your shock) after the Thursday debate of Trump and Biden.
However, I must respectfully but adamantly dissent with your continued harping on this insistence on having Biden drop out as the Democratic nominee. My reasons are for two basic reasons, one more concrete and other perhaps more emotional and values based, with that said, here goes:
1) At this late stage the number of Democratic candidates who could be nominated other than Biden and have a prayer of winning consists solely of VP Kamala Harris, since she is the only person who could legally benefit from the large campaign war-chest that the Biden-Harris campaign has already amassed. Even with VP Harris as the new Presidential nominee, the task for the Democratic party is huge: rallying the massive and fractious Democratic coalition behind the new nominee. President Biden was able to rally this support due in no small part to his decades of experience in politics during which he gained respect and admiration from diverse political figures like: Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Congressman James Clyburn, Senator Bernie Sanders and even Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. That effort to get all of the parts of the coalition behind the new nominee CP Harris must not be underestimated. An open convention is prescription for disaster, if you do not believe me, try to remember the last time the Democrats had an open convention: 1968. On that occasion the preferred consensus candidate the incumbent VP Hubert Humphrey, had over four months to campaign, on this occasion VP Harris would have less than one month.
2) My second reason is as I said both more emotional and values based: why would the Democrats dispose of the duly nominated Presidential candidate because he has committed the “sin” of being old and has a lifelong stutter, which uniquely renders him difficulty in confronting Trump continual vomiting of lies and prevarications? Quite frankly who else would do better against such and assault? Why are the media, and columnists like yourself dumping all of the fault and shame for our country’s dire predicament on this one party and this one man, Biden? Where is your righteous anger at Trump and at the radical and corrupt U.S. Supreme Court? By calling for the decapitation of the current Democratic ticket, folks like yourself are yielding to an understandable panic, and frankly doing so, in a rather ignoble manner.
I will continue as a subscriber, but I really needed to get my disagreement “off of my chest” so to speak.
The Republicans would LOVE for Joe to step down and thereby throw the Democratic party in an ugly "civil war" from which no one would emerge unscathed. That would be, essentially, handing the presidency to Trump on a silver platter. Naturally, they are all for Joe stepping down...
The media, too, would love to see the Dems thrown into chaos--so good for reporting breathlessly about developments which garners lots of clicks, readers and advertising dollars.
Well said - the media would love for Biden to step down and for chaos to ensue, because it would generate "clicks" and short-term profit.
I think Kamala Harris would be a big improvement over Joe Biden. She'd be an underdog -- partly because Biden failed to do anyting to put her in a favorable light -- but she has a chance. I find it impossible to believe Biden could win given his cognitive decline.
I agree that VP Kamala Harris would be a good President. Your statement is the most realistic counter-proposal that I have seen on this substack. I have been canvassing for Biden-Harris in both PA and NC, (I live in Maryland), but I would gladly do the same for a Harris led ticket. I would prefer to stay with Biden although he is old, but I would put aside my preference and proudly and energetically support whichever nominees the Democrats put forward. I am not going to spend time, wetting my pants and clutching my pearls.
Nice job calling balls & strikes!
We don’t need to see another episode, the debate cemented a lasting impression that will be remembered for a long time and especially these next 4 months. Biden can’t win, no chance. Harris is a very very poor alternative (that’s why Biden feels he has to run, in my humble opinion). Ds in a real predicament with very few options. It’s actually funny to see all these lies and deception catching up to the party. It’s equally sad to see what they are doing to Joe Biden. He deserves far better!
I don't want 45 anywhere near the White House--except maybe passing by in a van on his way to prison--but I don't think 'Biden tends to have some periods of lucidity' is a great campaign platform.
He was incapable of responding to 45's nonsense (Harris, or basically anyone, would have at least done that). He needed help navigating one step on the CNN set after the debate. No one is letting the totality of the debate sink in.
Both parties no longer are based in 'reality', but the Dems do have a late option to move on and I seriously hope someone grows a spine....
Are you seriously not going to talk about the Supreme Court ever?
...he did
Um... Chris totally did do a whole post on that last night.
I'll look for it. I'm just sick of this take. None of us have any real information. And the press's salvating over Biden's health is too much.
We all saw what we saw last Thursday.
Biden has repeatedly said "watch me." We did. Yikes.
You nailed it. Biden, sadly, didn't nail it on Thursday. We can cry about it or take the steps to make it go away.
Biden isn't going to beat trumpf. We can hope and pray for a miracle, but it ain't coming.
😡
It's a very detailed interview with a lawyer.
You may be sick of this reporting, but this reporting is not only for the perspective of informing us (I do like these, though), but also to try to shape the public opinion in a way that the decisions makers acknowledge that.
What I am sick of is hearing that Joe Biden's age is a non-issue.
There is another way. Biden and Harris work together and the strong Democratic Congress members and Governors work with him.
There is no doubt that Biden's age is an issue. I wish he wasn't so old. I wish there had been a real primary season. But going forward, how do you replace Biden at this point? I don't want to hear that he should be replaced. I want to hear how to do it in a way that doesn't alienate key parts of the base and that produces an electable candidate.
It's not that hard: you nominate someone else at the convention like Kamala Harris. It's how nominees used to be selected. For example, in the 40s the Dems replaced the leftwing Henry Wallace with Harry Truman. It was a convention fight, but it was forgotten soon.
If Trump is indeed an existential threat, Biden should hear the voices of Americans having been being concerned for his age for a long time, watch the video of the debate, come to his senses and step aside. The Demicratic Party should select a replacement on the convention and all Democrats shoul stand behind this new candidate. Including Biden.
Exactly.
Okay, who is that person whom all the factions of the party will support? And if it doesn't involve Kamala Harris, how do you get around FEC rules to free up the campaign money they've collected for someone else to use?
To the folks here who are arguing that Biden should remain the nominee I say..."are you paying ANY attention to Bidens recent behavior? Are you nuts? Do you want to hand the keys to our Republic to Donald, forking Trump?" Biden is losing and his mental condition is deteriorating..rapidly. He will NOT get sharper. He WILL lose. Anyone with a modicum of common sense can decipher that. We have to fix this. NOW. Come on, Dems!
Why can't President Biden answer questions after his "statements"? The Supreme Court decision is a major impact to our country, but President Biden can't take questions? As the debate was so awful, where outside of Teleprompter events is the President alleviating the concerns people have about his metal ability. I have not seen it.
People say MAGA live in a bubble, but after the debate, what world are Democrats living in?
FYI: Wrong mic used, I think.
Hillary was leading - she only lost because Comey violated DOJ policy and dropped what turned out to be the "nothing"bomb during the voting.
Beat me to it ...
And also I don’t wanna hear the “Joe Biden loves this country and Donald Trump only loves himself” rhetoric. Nonsense! Biden is proving his is in this only for himself. I am so disappointed in him.
💯💯
I love Biden and voted for him in 2020, however, I do wish that he passed the torch for 2024. However, he did not and is running once again and will support him again. I understand he is old, his debate performance was horrific and truly wish this was not happening. I will vote for him, or whoever is the Democratic nominee as the alternative is far too dangerous, even more so after yesterday’s SC decision. I think that if Biden wins in 2024, he may step aside if he thinks he can’t do the job and Harris becomes president. If that’s the case, so be it, better than a Trump White House.
Wait a minute! isn't this what we have known about Trump all along? People can't give him large dossiers of information because he can't/won't read it. People needed to curate info for Trump to make it more entertaining, easier to digest? Trump gets all his info from Fox and Friends? WT****? Can you please now draw the parallel between Biden and Trump? both of them are problematic, both of them scare the hell out of people. ONE of them is a crazy nut and the other one is a "kindly, older man". BTW, you do NOT have to believe that the debate was a one off, you have to KNOW that Trump is not fit for office under any circumstance. Again,i would vote for a rock!
A
Politico seems hell-bent of providing a rationale and an advanced scapegoat for the re-election/ "ascendance to the throne" of Donald Trump. Where the hell is the attention to Trump, Project 2025 or the numerous iniquities of the Robert's led SCOTUS? The world wonders!
The bottom line is, we the people voted for Biden to be our candidate. You political pundits are screaming into the wind for clicks and likes. Your opinions are not more important than our votes. You are all just tiring.
Why did they push for this debate then? It doesn't make sense.