Osler's Razor

I am glad that some one else is as pissed and disturbed about this situation as myself. I have been composing a letter to the President in my head and I may just write it and mail it.

Happy 4th while we still have one to celebrate!
 

I agree that the debate and follow up has been disappointing at best. It is indeed a pisser. Biden isn’t looking great, but he’s accomplished many positive things during this term. My question is, why are voters less worried about Trump’s abilities and morals than they are Biden’s abilities? (Des)
 

Des-- the issue for those of us who would never vote for Trump isn't "Oh, is Trump better than Biden now?" It's that almost anyone else would be a stronger candidate against Trump than Biden is now, and certainly be a better President than Biden will be in four years. As Democrats, we have some responsibility to present a candidate who can do the job, regardless of who the opponent is.

What people are arguing for isn't Trump instead of Biden, it is someone else instead of Trump and Biden.
 

Fair enough— I certainly understood that from your first post. Biden is certainly a weak candidate and we can do better. My question is more for Dems who are planning to stay home. That said, it’s all Buttigieg, all the time for the young ‘uns at my house.
 

I have a few observations.

First, the Punch and Judy shows we call "presidential debates" are a farce and no way to pick a president. To mix a metaphor, they have all the elegance of cock fighting.

Donald Trump's single skill is the ability to rapid fire lies so fast it takes hours to unwind them. You'll recall that in 2016 he mowed down the entire Republican field, one by one, including the scion of the party, Jeb Bush, and former Supreme Court clerk Ted Cruz. He walked all over Kaitlin Collins, who has since proven herself to be a pretty good interviewer.

Trump has been bested in "debates," but only when there was a referee; there was none at the recent fiasco.

I wish Biden had been counseled to respond, "Donald, that's you usual load of codswallop; time will not allow a response to everything, so I'll pick you most serious misstatement (or lie)."

But it's water over the bridge as Trump himself might say. So let's look forward.

Who replaces Biden? (He's only replaced if he withdraws.)

Harris? David Schultz, who some of you know, said at Drinking Liberally, in 2016 if memory serves, that about 1/3 of the electorate won't vote for a woman. Brutal, I know, and it's probably a smaller number now. But given the closeness of the race, it should give at least some pause. Republicans have also gone to work on Harris, giving her the Hillary treatment, painting her as a ditzy Black broad. Don't get me wrong, I'd vote for Harris; I did once already.

Buttigieg? A lot of Black voters stay home in a snit over Harris being passed over. If you are on Twitter, you can see this battle line already being drawn by Black activists. The Dems probably can't win without strong Black support, and there were already reports that it was flagging a little for Biden.

Newsom? See Buttigieg.

Whitmer? See Harris AND Buttigieg.

So, this is harder that it looks and harder than y'all think. The convention is next month.

Personally, I'd like all the armchair cognitive scientists to take a pill and chill out. I'll leave you with this:

https://left.mn/2024/07/dont-repeat-1968/
 

I forgot to mention that no other candidate has been vetted in the way presidential candidates get vetted. Everybody has skeletons, messes in their personal or public life.

We know what Joe's are.
 

Agree with all of the above, and your post, Mark. The kicker this week for me was Biden's admission that he was falling asleep during the debate because of his jet lag. (Reported by someone who'd heard him speak at a private event last weekend . . . ). Joe, dude, even if it's true, don't say it! Biden's the one who wanted the debate, and then to expect his many reluctant supporters to just be okay with excuses about jet lag and exhaustion (he knew what his schedule would be!) is some shocking hubris. He really disappointed me.

That said, I agree that choosing someone else is hugely risky. So I say this only half in jest: I think Biden's best shot is to get busy committing some devious presidentially-immune crimes, short of murder, that will result in knocking Trump out of the race. Let his out-of-touch campaign staff put their dark side to work. (!). Must be something he can now legally concoct with his Justice Department . . .