Always a staunch supporter to Biden, I say "no" to his continuance in the race. I like Kamala Harris a LOT. Always have. But I say a double "no" to her taking up the torch. She can't win. If I had my druthers, I'd say Gavin Newsom as presidential candidate, and Gretchen Whitmer as his veep in a whirlwind run.
The key to getting out of this self made Dem disaster is convincing Biden and Harris to step aside, voluntarily. Maybe offering KH the AG spot in a Newsom or Whitmer administration would help. The voting public must believe that Kamala wanted to go a different route from the presidency. Another key would be having Biden and Harris campaign with the new candidates.
How about, instead of Monday morning quarterbacking Biden’s bad night, in the process throwing gasoline on the MAGA attacks on Biden, take a look at the “orange shit gibbon’s” performance on Thursday? Biden is the nominee. You can speculate all week about “who can beat Trump” and it won’t change the fact that if Biden drops out the Dems will be cutting each others throats to make “their guy” the nominee. There would be no one left standing in the Demo party come November. I have rarely been so ashamed of the party as i was during the 24 hrs following the debate. I expect no better from the Faux news morons, but to see the people who should be defending the prez pissing their collective pants and dancing along with Hannity and his ilk is what is distressing. Biden will be okay. if he isn’t Kamala will step in and either rise to the occasion or not. But wringing hands and pretending this is a sport does only harm. I’m nearly Biden’s age and have never been too excited about him, but he is competent, experienced, and decent.
Kamala Harris' "unpopularity" seems to be partly because she's not seen as powerful within the administration, (she was chosen as a campaign prop but not fully trusted by Biden and his closest advisors). Additionally, staffing turmoil in her VEEP office affected confidence in her competence. If Harris were to take over as the Democratic nominee there would be a groundswell of relief among Democrats and a renewed hope that we could beat Trump. (She would start with low expectations and easily transcend them). As much as I appreciate Biden as a leader and a person, the fact that he and his advisors have decided to shield him from the press (very, very few press conferences) has been the major blunder of his presidency and helps explain why he was so unprepared for the debate. I endorse Daniel Drezner's idea on how to transition from a Biden presidency to a Harris candidacy, it would re-frame the campaign dramatically and set the Trump team on their heals. Imagine Harris/Murphy 2024 OR Harris/Buttigieg 2024.
Thanks Chris for broaching this subject. Most won’t come right out and say what we can all clearly see. It’s been painfully obvious for awhile now that the Ds have an awful ticket (regardless of what others in the media spin). Biden is bad. Harris is worse. So what to do? Fire both of them now or have the electorate fire them in November? Both are poor options. What a mess! If you dump the awful Biden/Harris ticket chaos certainly ensues. This decision will go down in history more so than the LBJ announcement that is still talked about all these years later. What will Biden be remembered for, being a quitter?? Chicago convention is already gonna be a circus, add this mess to it and you got bedlam. Maybe best to take your lumps in November and look to 2028.
“The ONLY story in politics right now”? I think that’s complete horseshit, Chris!
It IS the story that you, and the NYT Editorial Board, want to focus on, and I understand that, but how about Trump’s 602 lies in 40 minutes, a lie every 3.9 seconds? How about the polling, that you *love* to quote when it reinforces your opinion and ignore when it doesn’t, and the fact that post-debate polling shows Biden UP over Trump in comparison with their own pre-debate polling? How about the Univision polling that found that the Hispanic community expressed GREATER support for Biden and LESS support for Trump, likely because they are Spanish-speaking and would have been reading closed captions, ie actually READING the insanity being spouted by Trump? And how about SCOTUS and their presidential immunity ruling?
These are all CRITICAL political news items, including the hair-on-fire pundits demanding Biden step away, but you go ahead and say it’s the “ONLY story” that matters. For an alternative approach, read Jay Kuo’s excellent column today at The Status Kuo titled “Be Practical, Not Problematic”: https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/be-practical-not-problematic?r=1hynaw&utm_medium=ios
Man, I’m getting tired of the same ol’ story from YOU, Chris…
Thank you! I completely agree! I cancelled my subscription to the Times earlier this year. BTW, I wrote a reply to a post above. I am so sick of these know it alls peeing their undies and wringing their hands. The day after the “debate” I felt more optimistic than I have in a while. Maybe it’s my advanced age…… (wandering off into a corner with a 1000 yard stare….)
Why is all the focus on Biden for a few fumbles on one night when Trump has been spewing BS for months and years. Why isn’t Trumps incompetence and mental decline covered.
I understand where you are coming from. I feel that way a lot. But I will admit that even I am to a point where Trump is Trump and those of us who understand who he truly is don't need any more information to be never Trumpers. However, President Biden - who has been an amazing president and is a very decent human - is aging. And it was on display in full form at the debate. We know he has good days and bad days. But the debate showed what bad days look like, and we all know that with aging, bad days will increase. We are all talking about President Biden because we can not ignore that there is no way he will be fit to lead the country in 2, 3, or 4 years. And "better than Trump" is way too low a bar for the leader of the free world. We need a better candidate, as difficult as that is.
While I also “think” ( can’t rely entirely on polls) that Harris has less negatives and is in a better situation at the stage of the four year term, now is not the time to risk losing. She still has high negatives, which may weigh down an elderly Pres candidate. If Harris would stay on as VP ( magical thinking), the Dems could pick up some votes with Murphy, Beshear, Pritzker as replacement nominees. If Harris would decline, Booker, Moore, Whitmer, Newsom become viable.
The view from your colleague outside the beltway is not surprising, and too often ignored. In my conversations with those outside the beltway, their world is defined by Fox News. Maybe they are unreachable, but those in their community that evade “Fox think”, are surely going to have a more difficult time.
I sure am disappointed that the Biden family is ground zero for this decision and rather such an important decision be approached different than Trump would. Is this really time for a ”they and they alone” moment. I want the answer to be the most likely candidates to win.
*****I would put it at at least a 75% chance, maybe higher, that Kamala Harris winds up as the Democratic nominee for a few reasons....So let me explain why.
Number one, she's the sitting vice president of the United States, the obvious sort of heir to the throne, although they probably wouldn't put it that way.
Number two, she's an African American woman in a party where women and African American voters are two of the giant voting block pillars of this party. She also, by the way, is a history maker. First black woman president, first Indian American woman president, South Asian American woman president. There's a lot there. To pass her over for someone like Gavin Newsom, a white male, or Josh Shapiro, a white male, or even Gretchen Whitmer, a white female, when she's the sitting vice president of the United States and the convention is in five weeks from now, I guess I would be very surprised that that would happen.*****
.
Consider a third point: As one of the two titular principals of the Biden-Harris Campaign, she would have direct access to the approximately $100 million in the campaign's account.
*****During a tense call with a group of about 40 of Biden’s top financial backers, campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez laid out what could and could not be done with the campaign’s infrastructure if Biden were to step aside while emphasizing throughout the call that he had no intention of doing so.
Most of the campaign’s significant war chest would fall to Vice President Kamala Harris, Chavez Rodriguez said, according to two people familiar with the discussion. Only a smaller pool of money would be kept by the Democratic National Committee.*****
While half-conscious Americans are being distracted by geriatric feebleminded executive candidates, who’s asking about the Financialization of every natural resource on Earth? Including humans? https://youtu.be/24TH4MzuTWQ?si=14Mo0SnABThvTAlH
Dude..wake up. Biden is incapable of completing a sentence, and Kamala is, through no real fault of her own, stupidly unpopular. If we are going to stop Fuehrer Trump it will take a far greater effort than fossil Joe is capable of endeavoring. A new, and energetic ticket is the ONLY hope, and the longer the gaslit, delusional, AITOW Dems take to acknowledge that the worse off we are.
Why is it y'all think Biden losing a debate which was one day, one performance can cost him the win but VP Harris can't win in one moment, one performance?
I think I have an idea. Joe makes a speech to the nation, admits he had a "bad debate" but is still the best person to lead the country, then releases all his delegates to the convention to vote their hearts. That would show he has confidence and most delegates would still back him. Then he can challenge the GOP to do the same
Based on the Supreme Court's asinine ruling, President Biden can "officially" call for Trump's execution for committing treason on J6 and then retire. He's immune! And then Kamala can run un-opposed. How do Trump supporters feel about that presidential immunity now?
This is why I love Chris he is the only person who said it. I will add to anyone who thinks VP Kamala Harris can be tossed aside for a white person and still have the Dem base show up put down whatever you are taking or share it.
Always a staunch supporter to Biden, I say "no" to his continuance in the race. I like Kamala Harris a LOT. Always have. But I say a double "no" to her taking up the torch. She can't win. If I had my druthers, I'd say Gavin Newsom as presidential candidate, and Gretchen Whitmer as his veep in a whirlwind run.
I see Gretchen Whitmer, and Wes Moore as her VP, but whatever we need somebody
The key to getting out of this self made Dem disaster is convincing Biden and Harris to step aside, voluntarily. Maybe offering KH the AG spot in a Newsom or Whitmer administration would help. The voting public must believe that Kamala wanted to go a different route from the presidency. Another key would be having Biden and Harris campaign with the new candidates.
How about, instead of Monday morning quarterbacking Biden’s bad night, in the process throwing gasoline on the MAGA attacks on Biden, take a look at the “orange shit gibbon’s” performance on Thursday? Biden is the nominee. You can speculate all week about “who can beat Trump” and it won’t change the fact that if Biden drops out the Dems will be cutting each others throats to make “their guy” the nominee. There would be no one left standing in the Demo party come November. I have rarely been so ashamed of the party as i was during the 24 hrs following the debate. I expect no better from the Faux news morons, but to see the people who should be defending the prez pissing their collective pants and dancing along with Hannity and his ilk is what is distressing. Biden will be okay. if he isn’t Kamala will step in and either rise to the occasion or not. But wringing hands and pretending this is a sport does only harm. I’m nearly Biden’s age and have never been too excited about him, but he is competent, experienced, and decent.
Kamala Harris' "unpopularity" seems to be partly because she's not seen as powerful within the administration, (she was chosen as a campaign prop but not fully trusted by Biden and his closest advisors). Additionally, staffing turmoil in her VEEP office affected confidence in her competence. If Harris were to take over as the Democratic nominee there would be a groundswell of relief among Democrats and a renewed hope that we could beat Trump. (She would start with low expectations and easily transcend them). As much as I appreciate Biden as a leader and a person, the fact that he and his advisors have decided to shield him from the press (very, very few press conferences) has been the major blunder of his presidency and helps explain why he was so unprepared for the debate. I endorse Daniel Drezner's idea on how to transition from a Biden presidency to a Harris candidacy, it would re-frame the campaign dramatically and set the Trump team on their heals. Imagine Harris/Murphy 2024 OR Harris/Buttigieg 2024.
Chris, I'd love a column or video about San Diego, especially all the food you ate.
Thanks Chris for broaching this subject. Most won’t come right out and say what we can all clearly see. It’s been painfully obvious for awhile now that the Ds have an awful ticket (regardless of what others in the media spin). Biden is bad. Harris is worse. So what to do? Fire both of them now or have the electorate fire them in November? Both are poor options. What a mess! If you dump the awful Biden/Harris ticket chaos certainly ensues. This decision will go down in history more so than the LBJ announcement that is still talked about all these years later. What will Biden be remembered for, being a quitter?? Chicago convention is already gonna be a circus, add this mess to it and you got bedlam. Maybe best to take your lumps in November and look to 2028.
“The ONLY story in politics right now”? I think that’s complete horseshit, Chris!
It IS the story that you, and the NYT Editorial Board, want to focus on, and I understand that, but how about Trump’s 602 lies in 40 minutes, a lie every 3.9 seconds? How about the polling, that you *love* to quote when it reinforces your opinion and ignore when it doesn’t, and the fact that post-debate polling shows Biden UP over Trump in comparison with their own pre-debate polling? How about the Univision polling that found that the Hispanic community expressed GREATER support for Biden and LESS support for Trump, likely because they are Spanish-speaking and would have been reading closed captions, ie actually READING the insanity being spouted by Trump? And how about SCOTUS and their presidential immunity ruling?
These are all CRITICAL political news items, including the hair-on-fire pundits demanding Biden step away, but you go ahead and say it’s the “ONLY story” that matters. For an alternative approach, read Jay Kuo’s excellent column today at The Status Kuo titled “Be Practical, Not Problematic”: https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/be-practical-not-problematic?r=1hynaw&utm_medium=ios
Man, I’m getting tired of the same ol’ story from YOU, Chris…
Thank you! I completely agree! I cancelled my subscription to the Times earlier this year. BTW, I wrote a reply to a post above. I am so sick of these know it alls peeing their undies and wringing their hands. The day after the “debate” I felt more optimistic than I have in a while. Maybe it’s my advanced age…… (wandering off into a corner with a 1000 yard stare….)
Someone asked for a link to the “602 lies in 40 minutes”, which came from Seth Abramson and team at “Proof” Substack column that meticulously documented each and every lie, numbered from #1 to #602: https://open.substack.com/pub/sethabramson/p/donald-trumps-shocking-box-score?r=1hynaw&utm_medium=ios
Why is all the focus on Biden for a few fumbles on one night when Trump has been spewing BS for months and years. Why isn’t Trumps incompetence and mental decline covered.
I understand where you are coming from. I feel that way a lot. But I will admit that even I am to a point where Trump is Trump and those of us who understand who he truly is don't need any more information to be never Trumpers. However, President Biden - who has been an amazing president and is a very decent human - is aging. And it was on display in full form at the debate. We know he has good days and bad days. But the debate showed what bad days look like, and we all know that with aging, bad days will increase. We are all talking about President Biden because we can not ignore that there is no way he will be fit to lead the country in 2, 3, or 4 years. And "better than Trump" is way too low a bar for the leader of the free world. We need a better candidate, as difficult as that is.
While I also “think” ( can’t rely entirely on polls) that Harris has less negatives and is in a better situation at the stage of the four year term, now is not the time to risk losing. She still has high negatives, which may weigh down an elderly Pres candidate. If Harris would stay on as VP ( magical thinking), the Dems could pick up some votes with Murphy, Beshear, Pritzker as replacement nominees. If Harris would decline, Booker, Moore, Whitmer, Newsom become viable.
The view from your colleague outside the beltway is not surprising, and too often ignored. In my conversations with those outside the beltway, their world is defined by Fox News. Maybe they are unreachable, but those in their community that evade “Fox think”, are surely going to have a more difficult time.
I sure am disappointed that the Biden family is ground zero for this decision and rather such an important decision be approached different than Trump would. Is this really time for a ”they and they alone” moment. I want the answer to be the most likely candidates to win.
Chris said:
*****I would put it at at least a 75% chance, maybe higher, that Kamala Harris winds up as the Democratic nominee for a few reasons....So let me explain why.
Number one, she's the sitting vice president of the United States, the obvious sort of heir to the throne, although they probably wouldn't put it that way.
Number two, she's an African American woman in a party where women and African American voters are two of the giant voting block pillars of this party. She also, by the way, is a history maker. First black woman president, first Indian American woman president, South Asian American woman president. There's a lot there. To pass her over for someone like Gavin Newsom, a white male, or Josh Shapiro, a white male, or even Gretchen Whitmer, a white female, when she's the sitting vice president of the United States and the convention is in five weeks from now, I guess I would be very surprised that that would happen.*****
.
Consider a third point: As one of the two titular principals of the Biden-Harris Campaign, she would have direct access to the approximately $100 million in the campaign's account.
.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/bidens-family-keep-fighting-donors-alternatives-rcna159694
*****During a tense call with a group of about 40 of Biden’s top financial backers, campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez laid out what could and could not be done with the campaign’s infrastructure if Biden were to step aside while emphasizing throughout the call that he had no intention of doing so.
Most of the campaign’s significant war chest would fall to Vice President Kamala Harris, Chavez Rodriguez said, according to two people familiar with the discussion. Only a smaller pool of money would be kept by the Democratic National Committee.*****
While half-conscious Americans are being distracted by geriatric feebleminded executive candidates, who’s asking about the Financialization of every natural resource on Earth? Including humans? https://youtu.be/24TH4MzuTWQ?si=14Mo0SnABThvTAlH
Dude..wake up. Biden is incapable of completing a sentence, and Kamala is, through no real fault of her own, stupidly unpopular. If we are going to stop Fuehrer Trump it will take a far greater effort than fossil Joe is capable of endeavoring. A new, and energetic ticket is the ONLY hope, and the longer the gaslit, delusional, AITOW Dems take to acknowledge that the worse off we are.
Why is it y'all think Biden losing a debate which was one day, one performance can cost him the win but VP Harris can't win in one moment, one performance?
I think I have an idea. Joe makes a speech to the nation, admits he had a "bad debate" but is still the best person to lead the country, then releases all his delegates to the convention to vote their hearts. That would show he has confidence and most delegates would still back him. Then he can challenge the GOP to do the same
Based on the Supreme Court's asinine ruling, President Biden can "officially" call for Trump's execution for committing treason on J6 and then retire. He's immune! And then Kamala can run un-opposed. How do Trump supporters feel about that presidential immunity now?
far too complicated for them to understand.
and they feel absolutely nothing except personal grievance.
This is why I love Chris he is the only person who said it. I will add to anyone who thinks VP Kamala Harris can be tossed aside for a white person and still have the Dem base show up put down whatever you are taking or share it.
The ballot box has always been the only way to defeat DJT