Since the debate a few days ago there has been a wealth of ink passed around on whether Biden should step aside or should he stay the course for November.
I have made my thoughts known….I think he should step aside but then I have never been a supporter of Biden so my thoughts are my own and in no way is acceptable to most people.
Biden has made it clear that no one is pushing him out….win or lose.
A flurry of new developments on the President Biden front:
- New poll: A well-regarded poll has bad news for the president in the wake of last week’s debate, reports the Hill. The New York Times/Sienna College poll has Donald Trump up 49% to 43% among likely voters, up 3 percentage points from a week ago, before the debate. Among registered voters, his lead is even bigger, 8 points.
- Defiant: In a call with all staffers on his campaign team, Biden sounded a defiant note Wednesday. “Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can and as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running,” he said, per CNN. “I’m the nominee of the Democratic Party. No one’s pushing me out.” Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that Biden is “absolutely not” considering bowing out, adding that he “understands that it is fair for people to ask that question.”
- Acknowledgment: Despite the show of bravado, both the New York Times and CNN report that Biden confided to an unnamed ally that the next week or so is critical in determining whether he can stay in the race. It’s seen as the first acknowledgement by Biden to surface publicly that he might not be the nominee. Biden has an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday, in addition to campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
- High-profile lunch: Biden ate lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, who is seen as the top contender to replace him as nominee should he drop out. Jean-Pierre cautioned against reading too much into that, reports the BBC, saying they regularly have lunch.
- Another dent: The editorial page of the Boston Globe called on Biden to leave the race, notes Politico. It’s the latest big newspaper to do so, with the New York Times also on that list.
He does not care what would be best for the country he just wants to keep the spot on the throne room.
Nate Silver, a person that looks at the numbers and trends thinks it is time to go….
“You don’t need another pundit telling you that [President] Biden should quit the race,” writes stats guru Nate Silver in the New York Times. Instead, Silver suggests Democrats listen to what the polls are saying—and they are saying Biden should quit the race, he writes. Silver isn’t talking about post-debate polls. He cites “remarkably consistent” data from polls showing that Democratic candidates for Congress in swing states outperform Biden, and Silver sees this as a “silver lining” for the party. “Voters in these polls like Democratic candidates for Congress just fine. More than fine, actually: It’s Mr. Biden who is the problem.” In short, Biden was in trouble before the debate—Silver had him with a 35% chance of winning—and now he’s in even deeper trouble.
What to do? Silver suggests Democrats stage a truncated nomination process, maybe with two or three debates coupled with straw polls across the country to give delegates at the convention enough information to pick a plausible substitute. (Silver personally would lean toward a swing-state winner such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.) But above all, Democrats must do something, he writes. “Poker players like me … understand the importance of working with incomplete information,” he writes. “And they understand that sometimes doing nothing is the riskiest plan of all.”
Read the full column.
Some good ideas but time is draw nigh and it will be too late to make any changes and still have any hope of winning in November.
Keep in mind that Silver projected Trump win in 2016 and Biden win in 2020….so he has a track record.
Something needs to change for Biden is looking weaker and weaker both in the polls and physically. (One report says Biden’s lapses appear to have gotten worse in recent weeks.)
Now there is a growing number of Dems that are looking at VP Harris in case Biden takes a powder….
President Biden’s bid to prove he should not withdraw from the 2024 race gets a major test Friday night when his interview with George Stephanopoulos airs on ABC. Simply put, it’s “the biggest interview of Joe Biden’s life,” as laid out by the Politico Playbook. Even if the president nails it, however, the talk of VP Kamala Harris replacing him as the nominee is in full throttle.
- On Harris: A “widening group of leading party officials” already has moved beyond the question of whether Harris should replace Biden to who her running mate should be, reports CNN. For the record, the story mentions North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as in the top tier, with others including Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, JB Pritzker of Illinois, and Tim Walz of Minnesota.
- The Shift: At New York magazine, Gabriel Debenedetti writes that “among Harris’s longtime donors, supportive professional Democrats, and friends, there is a growing sense of nervous anticipation alongside a hardening belief that her elevation to the top of the ticket is increasingly probable.” The story tracks how this shift occurred in the days after the debate. Harris herself and her closest aides have been careful to stay mum, even in an off-the-record sense, offering not “even any teeny, implicit hint of receptiveness.”
- Trump: Axios (which previously laid out why Harris would be the near-certain replacement to Biden should he withdraw) looks ahead to how Donald Trump would go after her. “He’d argue Harris is too liberal, too hostile to business and secure borders, and too inexperienced, weak and phony to be president,” per the analysis. On the other hand, her relatively young age of 59 would flip the narrative of which party has a president too old to assume office.
- Blunder? In the Atlantic, Elaina Plott Calabro takes Biden and the White House to task for a broken promise. What’s happening now “is precisely the sort of moment that the 81-year-old Biden had once professed to anticipate, or at the very least to be ready for: when, after assessing soberly the diminishing returns of his leadership, he would stand aside for a new generation,” she writes. “But if you believe Biden ever took seriously that it could come to this, that he would be pressured to cede his party’s leadership to her, then I have a bridge to sell you in Wilmington.” In the end, Biden’s best promotion of Harris was an “inadvertent” one—his disastrous debate performance.
- Donors: In a story not explicitly pegged to Harris, the New York Times reports that “many wealthy Democratic donors” have begun waging their own efforts to pressure Biden to withdraw. Some are threatening to withhold future contributions unless Biden steps down—including a Disney heir—and others are planning to direct their money to down-ballot candidates should he remain in the race. The moves “expose a remarkable and growing rift between the party’s contributor class and its standard-bearer,” per the Times.
I am not a fan of Harris so my thought is that it would be a mistake to run Harris….might as well stick with Biden.
The clock is ticking on a decision….one way or the other.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
There’s a couple interesting speculative scenarios floating about. At the moment my own idea…. Biden resigns from office, Harris takes over, picking her own VP with no “baggage”, then has the months ahead to make a presidential “mark” on the electorate to make voters feel much better siding with Harris than Trump. I am finding more and more realization that Bidens needs to resign from office simply because there are too many open questions about his diminished capacity. He’s done a good job, give him a statue somewhere.. then let’s move on.
Another interesting scenario… Bidens pulls out of the race, the Dems go with Harris/Whitmer. Both prosecutors and can attack on law and order, (for that matter, Whitmer could be the VP choice in my first scenario above). This pair just might be enough to kick life into the election. And yeah, will male voters be sold on two ladies running the show? There would be an awful lot of genderizing jokes coming out of a ticket like that. But.. still…..
I have no confidence that Harris can take on Trump….laws mean nothing to him and his supporters…..Dems have been too lax there is no one in the wings if needed. Newsom but he is too toxic to go national. chuq
You certainly could be very correct…. but I tend to see something very non-traditional with this election.
This battle is NOT about policy. Yeah, Biden has done a good job and Trump can’t communicate a thing because of his vengeance and grievance politics getting in the way. This election is entirely about Trump not returning to the White House.
I have thoughts about the ‘pocketbook vote’ coming up….the only thing is no matter which Dem they put forward will be better than Trump but little will change from today. chuq
The poor guy (Biden, that is) I fear will embarrass himself again before the election with all the attention being paid to every facial expression and nuance vocalizations. He could even end up do yet another quasi-meltdown, ala debate. He wants to go down fighting, I understand that. But I feel for him the fight is over. Needs to pass the torch or we lose the whole enchilada.
This would not be a problem if he would have waited to have a debate until after the convention….but hubris got the better of him and his team….torch should be passed but to whom? chuq
I think they are stuck with Biden now, and have to go with him. However, I fear that in the coming months he will deteriorate physically and mentally, and could lose by a bigger margin than is curently predicted. They made the mistake of allowing him to run, and now have to face the consequences.
Best wishes, Pete.
I agree….to me he is not looking ;like he is a 100%….in do not care what the spin doctors say….he is fragile. chuq
Yesterday’s assetion the he will not withdraw from running furtheer certifies Biden’s nuts. I want to know the answers to these 2 questions: Who has actually been making decisions and initiating policy last 4 years ? and will Kamoola, Jill, Chuck and Hakeem be held accountable for lying to the country all this time ? Their actions are absolutely criminal.
I will answer the last question first…no they will not be held accountable for lying….just as Trump is not held accountable….what actions are criminal that has not been done by either party? chuq
Isn’t putting the entire security of the country in jeopardy far far beyond criminal ? Any Trump reference is just another “what about ism” and Trump’s shenanagins (true or not) were exposed daily (not hidden) by media and dems. Jill’s “Oh, Joe’s just fine” assertions certainly are worrisome and shocking to me. All ability for any executive response to the multitude of possible catastrophies were completly dismissed and quite a gamble.
The same with Reagan….but how is the security of the country at risk other tan funding every war on the planet? chuq
Personally I think everyone in DC is criminal and that includes the lobbyists that are nothing more the errand boys for the criminal enterprise we call capitalism. chuq
Agree.
We finally agree…huzzah! chuq
It looks to me like all the nefarious powers of darkness are working overtime to make my prediction of a Trump Landslide in 2024 inevitable…unless enough people get scared enough of project 2025 to come out in force to oppose it at the polls… And there is some buzz rising about project 2025 but I wonder if it will get traction ..
Project 25 – sounds pretty good to me kinda like normalcy as opposed to current insanity.
Project 2025 sounds like a dictator….in today’s world the old idea of a centerpiece is not going to work….who threatens our sovereignty? Define ‘love freely’…..that has not been taken away from you but 2025 will start chipping away those ‘blessings of liberty’….read the plan. chuq
Most Americans do not care enough to see the danger approaching….so damn sad. chuq
My knowledge of project 25 is limited. I will research it more. I felt we are already losing our liberty with mandates from the left’s new order and complete disregard for our borders and esp indoctrination of children in schools to hate America. COVID closures killed thousands of small businesses and related jobs. No parental notice of abortion and no parental notification for sex change protocols is esp frightening I think. All kinds of insurance have become quite a racket too esp med field. I do not approve of imposition of particular religious values codified into civil law, however. Roger Williams pointed that out some time ago. Republicans need to drop involvement in abortion stuff should be simple. If you don’y like abortion – dont’t get one. Imposition of DEI at expense of meritocracy is absurd. Seems left and right both have project 25 type agendas. Hiding the mental decline of the president and lying about it is serious threat to security of US and we’ll all lose freedom when our enemies strike . .
The plan is 900 pages a tough read….COVID killed many Americans as well….I am not worried about the border for that is just a focal point for an election….many of the Biden protocols are the same ones Trump had he has even built a wall….all history should be taught…the good, the bad and especially the ugly….which enemy will strike…Russia? Nope China….not a chance….which? chuq