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Biden’s Candidacy Not Viable As Top Democrats Defect
If I were a bettin' man, I'd have to wager that Joe Biden won't ultimately be on the ballot come November in the US. Not literally, at least.
Assuming Kamala Harris replaces Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, the election will still be, in part, a referendum on his first term. In that sense, he'll be on the ballot. But it looks like Democrats -- top Democrats -- are determined that he step aside.
A rebellion that began with a handful of nobodies in the House has spread to the highest r
“Unless you’re Donald Trump, of course”? Unfortunately Joe seems more and more a mostly jovial, more benign version of the Don, in terms of being ego-driven at least…
So it looks like Joe realizes he has no constituency left and his exit is imminent. So then what happens to the delegates going into the Dem convention ?? Are they obligated to supporting Kamala ?? Or can they choose to support any other potential Dem nominee ?? If some delegates don’t support Kamala, and support Newsom for example then will they be mindlessly berated for being racists and misogynistic cretins by the morally superior literati ?? How likely is the Dem nominee to be agreed upon before the convention….or are we headed into an open Dem convention replete with hourly headlines of internecine rancor. Will flimsy down ballot candidates like Senator Montana with rugged haircut, surge with new found confidence and campaign in Bozeman and Billings with Kamala, since she’s at the top of the ticket ?? Or is the Trump Vance ticket not worth contesting and better to just hope for better prospects in 2028. I think Dems will quickly discover that glorifying Joe and then sending him out to pasture was the easy part.
Yes, they’ll be obligated to support Kamala. And they will. I like the open convention idea myself but it’s risky (it could devolve into chaos). In all likelihood, the party leadership’s already working behind the scenes with donors and delegates and so on to be sure the baton pass goes smoothly. It’ll be Kamala. Only she can access the existing campaign funds, and lest we should forget: She is the vice president. Of course, readers know where I stand on this: Democrats should swing for the fences and run Michelle Obama. But they won’t. It’ll be Kamala and [insert generic white man] for VP.
It’s been really painful to me to watch certain parts of the party try to bolster Biden, only because the arguments they’ve been making are in contradiction of what is in plain sight. As for the progressives supporting him, they seem to have felt they are getting an inside track to progressive policies finally becoming ascendant, but it sure seems to me they are only increasing the odds of the modest gains of the last 16 years being entirely reversed.
After the failed assassination attempt, Trump’s team certainly seems to feel that as long as they can keep him from alienating people who are now inclined to vote for him they have a wide open path to The White House if Biden is the nominee.
If Biden bowed out, the Democrats could nominate a younger candidate who has demonstrated the ability to capture people’s imaginations between now and the Democratic convention. Sure, that candidate may not be likely as big a supporter as Joe Biden is promising to be to the segments of the Democratic Party that are willing to continue to support him, but it’s folly to support him because Joe Biden is an ideal candidate for Trump to run against, and they have every opportunity to nominate a strong candidate against Trump if Biden were to drop out. Someone who could win now and in 2028 which is key if you want to see meaningful change at The Supreme Court. I haven’t seen all the potential candidates speak at length, but from what I’ve seen of Wes Moore, he could be a very popular candidate.
Re: The generic white man for VP H mentioned in his comment should Harris replace Biden,- if it were Moore or Harris at the top of the ticket, I like to see them seriously consider picking a hispanic running mate- such a ticket could draw a contrast with Trump/Vance that I think would prove inspiring for millions of low propensity voters. And I don’t think it would alienate the anti-Trump white voters either.
How about Bob Menendez ?? (just a joke). Repubs picked Vance to be more appealing in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and thus increase their claim to the electoral map. How appealing are Kamala or Gavin Newsom or Mayor Pete in the Rust Belt ??
LOL- I hear Bob is about to be available! And it would give the Dems a chance to break into the felon vote.
Right now, the Democrats are only looking at one map- they have to hold all their formerly core states and win PA, MI, WI and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District. That gives them 270.
With a younger candidate, I think a lot of different routes to 270 could open up. Obviously, which depends on who is at the top of the ticket. But without Biden at the top of the ticket, I think Trump’s numbers go down marginally in the swing states from 2020. A hispanic running mate would certainly help in AZ and NV. If Harris or Moore were at the top of the ticket, GA could come back into play.
Right now, the Republicans aren’t playing defense anywhere. They are just looking to pick off the Rust Belt states and maybe Nebraska 2 for a cherry on top. Forcing them to defend states they currently don’t see as in play is a key to making this an even fight again. Biden’s absence is necessary but not sufficient. The 2020 Kamala Harris campaign would probably not be enough in this environment. But to paraphrase Heraclitus, You can never vote for the same candidate twice. While that’s to Biden’s detriment in this contest, perhaps 2024 Harris is a better candidate than she was in 2020.
My own preference is to open it up and see if a candidate rises to the top. Harris would have pole position, but as I mentioned in my first comment, I think Moore may be the inspirational candidate the entire party could get behind if he were given a chance to show it.
Joe B apparently yelled at wavering Democratic reps to tell him who did a better job with foreign policy and bolstering NATO
No doubt those were the main issues on their constituents minds
Great comments everyone, thamk you!
I LOL’d at the Neo/Mussolini/Van Gogh references.
I’m a Brit and I know we have a lot of problems our end caused entirely by ourselves but to watch JB shuffle and stutter it does worry me that the US is the leader of the free world. A year ago Biden looked to old but now he seems to be deteriorating by the day and I wonder if he will even get to November. I don’t understand how the Democratic Party has allowed this to happen.
I think Kamala’s main problem will be that she was obviously aware of the declining state of Joe Biden, yet did not say anything.
Now, we are expected to trust in her?
I am absolutely a fan of Jared Polis.
Oh, come on. Seriously? Do you really think what Kamala Harris might’ve said would’ve mattered? That’s ludicrously far-fetched. How do you think this process works?
“Hello, Nancy? It’s Kamala. Joe got lost trying to get a ham sandwich out of the refrigerator again.” “Ok, thanks for letting me know. I’ll run it by Chuck and we’ll get back to you.” “Ok thanks!”
“Who was that?” “Nobody. Just Kamala with the ham sandwich thing again.”
Good point. However, I am just dreaming a bit here. If the DNC could scratch Biden/Harris and put together a “dream ticket”, I can think of some pretty good candidates that would likely do very well against Trump and JD. I read Hillbilly Elegy- and at no time while I was reading his amazing story did I think , “Wow! This person would make a great leader of the United States of America”.
New statement straight from Biden just min5ago:
“I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America: one where we save our democracy, protect our rights and freedoms, and create opportunity for everyone.”