President Biden:
"If the Lord Almighty said, ‘Joe get out of the race’, then I would get out of the race. But the Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”
Biden and the DNC arranged the Democratic primary so that Democrats would pick Biden and no one else.
It worked.
But they couldn't stop time.
The DNC said they would punish any Democrat who caucused in Iowa or who entered the New Hampshire primary. They ordered political exile for any Democrat who challenged Biden.The huge bench of potential candidates fell into line: senators, representatives, governors, mayors, billionaires, and celebrities. The nomination is Biden's, unless and until he gives it up.
A growing mass of Democrats are saying they don't think he is capable of doing another four-year term. They join the voters of all parties who have been saying that to pollsters throughout Biden's term. The Democratic case is solidifying into a version of the mafia offer one cannot refuse: "You are stuck with Biden as the only alternative to Trump, so choose Biden or else."
Biden does not consider his debate performance an unmistakable sign from the Almighty. The Almighty might choose to communicate in another way, in a sea-change of public opinion.
One is underway. College classmate Michael Robinson's recent email is a single voice, a drop in that sea of opinion, but he is joined by many others. He isn't fatalistic. He is impatient and frustrated because a mechanism is already in place to deal with the incapacity of a president. We have a Vice President, Kamala Harris. Robinson argues that Biden should resign to make her the president now. She would be what Democrats want, a viable alternative to Trump.
Robinson was an international commercial banker. He lives in Brooklyn but wrote this from his summer place in Maine.
Guest Post by Michael Robinson
I am absolutely frustrated by the Democratic Party elites waiting around while Rome (a.k.a the USA) is about to burn. What is needed at this moment is something rare for Democrats: Bold, Decisive, Unconventional, and Clear thinking. Combined with action.
Salving Biden’s ego is none of those things.
Biden should go on TV and announce his resignation, And get the moving vans going.
President Harris as a candidate solves all of the salient issues.
No Hunter Biden baggage.
No Burisma “Biden crime family” allegations.
No classified documents in the garage.
No age issue.
No need to vacate a Democratic governorship or Senate seat.
California, without the Gavin Newsom distractions.
A lock on the Black woman voting bloc.
Women finally get a woman in the White House.
Arresting the bleeding of Black male voter support.
A Jewish husband can’t hurt.
No significant taint from arguments (phony, I know) that Harris is behind the special counsel charges against Trump.
The priceless powers of incumbency. She would immediately be “Madam President” and the settings where she is interviewed and photographed will be the Oval Office, the Rose Garden, and Air Force One. Very unlike any other “Democratic nominee.”
The element of surprise. It’s highly unlikely that Team Trump would be expecting this and they will lose valuable time trying to figure out how to adjust.
The arguments that Harris, who is already the proverbial “heartbeat away from the Oval Office,” is unqualified are just stupid. This from the party that gave us Sarah Palin and Mike Pence.
Need I say more?
Yes: Just Do It. And do it now!!!
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13 comments:
“She would be what Democrats want, a viable alternative to Trump”.
An admission that Biden no longer meets that description? Even after the news he broke during yesterday’s interview? “I’m the guy that shut Putin down”, said Biden. President Zelensky has not yet officially thanked Biden for that great feat.
Actually Biden DID seem a Trump alternative yesterday. Overbroad claiims of the “No one thought I could win” variety; overheated, unfactual self-praise; and outright denial of reality. Plus a fresh coat of orange spray tan to complete the effect.
Mr. Robinson articulates here what may very well be the thinking of many Congressional Democrats this weekend. ABC reported that Speaker Jeffries has ordered a mass Zoom call ahead of the resumption of House business next week.
Harris isn’t polling any better than Biden.
Biden had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, but what did anybody expect? The debate started at 9:00 PM – bedtime for any reasonable and prudent 81-year-old. No wonder he kept fading out.
Yesterday’s interview wasn’t bad enough to scare his loyalists and not good enough to convince anyone else. To paraphrase Leon Russell: Democracy is up on a tightrope; one side’s hate, the other’s hope. Come November, we’ll see which way it falls.
Yes, this is the only viable option on the Democratic Party side.
Not ideal. And yes, there are many pluses and minuses.
As for other alternatives, they took have pluses and minuses.
We don't have a time machine to change history.
Some Republicans and some Democrats--enough so that it is clear he has substantial support--say Pete Buttigieg is the one. They don't like Trump and Biden is scary. If Kamala Harris is to have a chance, now is the time for Biden to hand her the reins so we will see what she can really do. We need to get to know her. Otherwise, the light that shines on President Biden shines on her, and that's too bad.
If nothing else, all this furor over Biden illustrates the difference between the parties. Republicans don’t care about Trump’s history of sexual molestation, fraud, theft, coup attempt or boldfaced lies. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is concerned about… Biden’s age, not his character or priorities for the country.
Great idea except for this: The moment of decisive, bold action is long past. I believe that had Biden stepped aside two years ago, when it would have been effective, we would still be where we are now.
It's too late. I won't elucidate all the reasons, they are swirling around punditry and providing endless entertainment. But the fact of the matter is that it's not about Trump and Biden and never was. They are now just symbols of competing ideologies that has taken on the character of a religious war, although I would argue that Republicans are cynically exploiting the delusional fantasies and prejudices of their followers for profit and power.
The strength of our Republic was in the willingness of the two parties to negotiate and operate from a shared reality. This fundamental value has been undermined by allowing a cult of personality to hijack the Republicans, one that has no use for democracy and the rule of law.
It's too late. What should be happening is a full court press to communicate the existential risk to freedom we are facing. That's a job for every citizen not just the candidates.
Whatever Democrats do now, the hand wringing and divisiveness needs to stop.
As Joe would say, "Look, here's the deal". Is he incapacitated or not? If so, there is a mechanism to replace him. A unified adoption of the 25th Amendment would show bold decisive action. Knock yourself out. He's not going to resign unless faced with that.
I am no theologian, but I have read that the way the Lord Almighty talks to many people is through friends, family members and other respected people.
Right now many people are advising President Biden that he is going to lose. Perhaps, some Republicans want him to continue in the race.
Maybe if he listens more closely Mr. Biden could hear that voice he is waiting for.
Kamala Harris flamed out spectacularly in the 2020 Democratic primaries. She has shown no signs of charisma whatsoever as vice president. Her polls were worse than the polls for Biden before his polls started going down after the debate.
Votes for her based solely on identity politics are not going to be enough to put her over the line vs Trump; people who vote primarily in favor of dark skin color and female sex will undoubtedly be balanced out by people who vote against those characteristics. Identity politics is mostly a losing electoral game.
I think the best bet for the Democrats would be an open convention, so that all of the potential candidates are put to some kind of realistic test.
President Joe Biden suggested he could accept a loss to Donald Trump, so long as he did his “goodest,” during his interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday evening.
During the interview, Stephanopoulos told Biden that he had “never seen a president” who had a 36 percent approval rating “get reelected.” Stephanopoulos pressed Biden about how he would feel if he stayed in the race and Trump ended up being elected.
“Mr. President, I’ve never seen a president [with] 36 percent approval get reelected,” Stephanopoulos told Biden.
Biden responded to Stephanopoulos by stating that did not believe that was what his approval rating was.
“And if you stay in and Trump is elected and everything you’re warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?” Stephanopoulos questioned Biden.
Biden: “If Trump wins in November, I'll feel as long as I gave it my all and did the goodest job I know I could do.”
“The goodest job” 😂
pic.twitter.com/zQuGYUdI0F
I have received 36 emails from Joe Biden since the debate, doubling down on his commitment to stay in the race, asserting that he’s the right person to fend off tyranny. This, in spite of some his strongest supporters, and andvisors urging him to step down. It’s like he’s in denial that he’s old and tired and weak. There’s no shame in that of course. We’ll all be that if we’re lucky to live long enough. The shame is the heavy price we will certainly pay as a nation, culture and species when he loses.
"Identity politics is mostly a losing electoral game."
Trump's version of it - his appeal to White nationalists - seems to be working pretty well.
Democrats aren’t likely to agree on an alternative to Biden in time to get a plausible campaign rolling. The comment by Will Rogers remains as pertinent today as when he made it: “I’m not a member of an organized political party – I’m a Democrat.”
They say that in a democracy, we get the government we deserve. It looks like we’re going to find out in November whether we deserve an old, demented statesman or an old, deranged criminal.
This is so logical that it will never happen. The Party says “who are you going to believe, Us or your damn lying eyes?” The only thing progressive about JB is his dementia.
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