I share the despair that infuses this piece. What is frustrating is that Biden could go out a hero for all he has accomplished (at his age). The spin could be great. Why is he and "they" (the Dems) turning it into "agony" and "catastrophe"
I disagree with you and we can do that in a democracy. President Biden has chosen to stay in the race and I believe we all need to support him. Kamala may need to take the reins at some point so why not leave the ticket intact? Our President may decide differently before any deadline and if he does, I will support that. Until then, I’m Ridin’ with Biden and truly wish we Democrats would all stand with him during this important week of the NATO Anniversary Celebration.
Sharon, Kamala can't take the reins if we LOSE in November.
And we were losing (under Joe) before the debate, we're losing worse now, mega-donors are pulling out, the Dem party is fracturing under Joe, and the Repubs are drooling.
Suddenly the line is: don't trust the polls. don't trust the media. don't listen to the "treasonous" Dems who see the writing on the wall.
The vast majority of Americans do NOT want Trump to win, but they also don't think Joe can beat him. so let's give them Kamala, now, and get off this losing streak, and start pulling in women and African Americans and young voters and Independents and Undecideds and Never-Trumpers, and rejuvenate a LOSING campaign. Now.
If Joe runs and loses, as the polls portend (when Joe says "ignore the polls, my people tell me I'm winning", then we're in deep trouble), then he'll go down as the stubborn old man who let his pride and ego get in the way, and gave the US gov't to Trump and his fascist regime.
Joe must stop clinging to power, hand the reins to Kamala, and the whole party will immediately get behind her and turn around this losing campaign. If Joe stays, Trump wins.
Fully agree Biden needs to end his campaign for reelection. He was an underdog even before the debate, in large part because of questions about his age and fitness for office. Unfortunately, the debate confirmed that the reason he has been avoiding press conferences, interviews, and virtually any live Q&A is that he no longer capable of being an effective Presidential candidate in 2024, much less someone who is capable of being an effective President for four more years. So he needs to step aside.
But that certainly doesn't mean that Kamala automatically becomes the nominee for 2024. While she certainly is someone who should be considered, she needs to demonstrate (like everyone else) that she is the person best suited to beat Trump and be a great President for the next four years. So we need a process to select someone else, whether it like what Carville advocated for in the Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/08/opinion/biden-democratic-nominee.html) or some kind of similar solution.
Which is all the more reason Joe needs to step aside sooner rather than later. Otherwise, he risk ruining his legacy in a similar way to RBG.
thanks Gord, and FYI, I wrote 3 articles on why Joe should leave, now, but I'm including a link to one of them because of your reference to RBG. She stayed too long, she rolled the dice, and America lost.
If Joe Biden is replaced by another Democratic presidential candidate, it should be with Senator Bernie Sanders.
Some statistics show, interestingly, that around three quarters of Americans favor a governmental implementation of a number of public programs, notably universal health care and some form of guaranteed income plan [a.k.a. welfare].
While I find the Republican party, like its federal Conservative Party counterpart here in Canada, is a moral write-off altogether when it comes to humane social policy, the Democratic National Committee also refuses to allow genuinely fiscally progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders as its presidential nominee, regardless of what Democratic Party members/voters want.
I recall that every county in West Virginia voted for Sanders in the 2016 primaries, yet the DNC declared them as wins for Hillary Clinton! [The neo-liberal New York Times is noticeably hostile toward Sanders’ ideals and desires for disenfranchised, low- or no-incomed Americans.]
I find it arrogantly presumptuous of the DNC and party (etcetera) to expect economically disenfranchised citizens to vote for an establishment Democrat candidate with thinly veiled ties to corporate interests and who’s not going to improve the poor person’s lot in life — simply to vote out or keep out an undesirable Republican. And, of course, to wait in long bad-weather lineups for the privilege.
Frank, I share your distaste for both parties, and even for ALL large institutionalized political parties, who now have their own agendas and priorities - and those priorities are not about solving the problems of the people, they are about retaining their own positions and powers.
So I say a curse on both their houses.
BUT, in a couple months the American gov't could fall under the control of a psychopathic narcissist and his neo-fascist regime and then we're into a whole new world of authoritarianism and we can all all forgetaboudit for any progress progress for the people.
Joe and his Dem supporters are going to hand complete control over to trump, and then we're all fucked.
If Joe steps aside and throws his support (and delegate and money) behind Kamala, then I fully believe there will be a huge sigh of relief and a huge inpouring of support and money and a reinvigorated campaign, joined by the millions, tens of millions who want to dump Trump (but didn't see Joe as the guy to do it.)
If anyone doubts that a black woman can be elected in America, please remember that the largest voting contingent in America is WOMEN! And they overwhelmingly don't want Trump (but they are disappointed with Biden)
Everyone agrees that beating Trump is Job One.
But Joe can't do it. (You can't un-break a broken window)
And it's too late to run a potentially disastrous contested convention:
I hope and pray that 1) show wakes up from his pride-and-ego trance and realizes he's dividing his party and giving the US govt to Trump, 2) sees the simplest and most effective stragtegy to throw his support to Kamala, 3) I entire Dem party (and the country) will sigh with relief and get behind Kamala, to beat Trump.
So Joe, if you're listening, thanks for you service, but your tour of duty is over. Pass the torch, we'll celebrate you to the rooftops at the convention, you an have your well-earned (and well-needed) rest and be assured of a great legacy, and Kamala and the rest of America can get on with the Job #One of beating the fuck out of Trump and his fascist regime.
To have a genuine representative democracy, there first needs to be a truly democratic electoral system for the citizenry.
The First Past The Post ballot that's utilized in the U.S., Canada and England largely masquerades as real democracy. And, of course, many voters get to wait in long, bad-weather lineups to participate.
While the FPTP ballot may technically qualify as democratic within the democracy spectrum, it is the PR system thus governance that actually is representative, regardless of ideology.
Canada’s FPTP system is particularly non-democratic. It has on albeit-rare occasion resulted in majority governments elected by less than one fifth of eligible voters. You don't get that with PR-elected governances.
FPTP does seem to serve corporate lobbyists well, however. I believe it is why such powerful interests generally resist attempts at changing from FPTP to proportional representation electoral systems of governance, the latter which dilutes corporate influence.
Low-representation FPTP-elected governments, in which a relatively small portion of the country's populace is actually electorally represented, are likely the easiest for lobbyists to manipulate or ‘buy’.
Many of us have sadly seen an elderly parent who refuses to give up driving, even after being talked into taking a confidential driving test and failing it.
my mother was frail and ailing at 80, but she refused to give up her driving licence. We eventually had to take away her keys, and do her driving for her.
Then at 90, she refused to leave her apartment, refusing to go to a nursing home (she walked right out of her first visit, saying they were all a bunch of old people).
It's perfectly normal to fight back against aging, but when it comes to being the President of the US, What if Joe has a "cold" when he gets a 3 a.m. call? Or "jet lag" renders him incoherent as he travels the world.
There are many documented cases of Joe falling asleep at meetings.
C'mon folks, that wasn't "one bad night" - it was a symptom of aging, and of course he has good nights too, but the deterioration has started, and will only get worse. He's not the same Joe who beat Trump in 2020; the 24/7 job has taken its toll.
What's wrong with exiting with grace and dignity, instead of destroying the Democratic party and handing the govt over to Trump and his fascists.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg stayed too long; Obama and a Dem Senate could have filled her seat with a younger RBG to carry on her legacy for another 30 years. Instead she stubornly refused to leave, and look who fills that seat now.
I have been perplexed by the lack of any noise from any big org. It feels strange and unusual that the punditry is leading, the people are wtf'ing and the orgs are silent. If the zero-member, just-born #passthetorch campaign can get thousands of calls into congress in a couple days, imagine what MoveOn, Indivisible, WFP et al could make happen. This does feel like an instance where those calls could meaningfully impact electeds to stick their necks out.
I could not agree more, Micah! It’s distressing how many other writers are accusing people who feel that Biden needs to step down of being disloyal or something. I’m loyal to beating Trump! I think a new ticket could be incredibly energizing and would show people that at least one political party is actually listening to them . I’ll check to see if any groups I belong to have asked members for feedback.
We're not traitors, we're realists. And the FACT is that we were losing before the debate, and now we're losing worse, and under Joe we're on track to hand the US gov't to Trump and his fascist regime.
Please Joe, if you're listening, hand the reins to Kamala, now, and the whole Dem party (and the majority of Americans - who want to flush Trump down the toilet) will breathe a sigh of relief and congratulate Joe on putting country before his pride and ego, and let Kamala show us what a strong intelligent woman can do.
I just saw poll results from Progressive Democrats for America… It’s not online but just in an email and I can’t figure out how to share that so I’ll just tell you that a small majority of the people who answered that poll say they think Joe Biden should stay in. The member who sent it to me was shocked and sad.
That means even among Progressive Dems there's doubt about Joe's ability to win this thing. Imagine the results among the other Dems, and among the non-Dems, etc.
A divided Dem party (which will remain divided under Joe) means a landslide defeat in Nov.
Maybe the Joe-supporters should read this little piece about "clinging to power"
During his interview with Stephanopolous, Joes said
“I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me.”
Well the polls disagree (they're predicting a landslide defeat for Dems), the Dem party is split over Joe's claim, Democrat Mega-donors are saying No to Joe.
In the face of a fracturing Dem party, collapsing poll numbers, mega-donors saying no, we're watching a stubborn old man clinging to power.
Job #1 is to defeat Trump and his fascist regime.
The majority of Americans want to flush Trump down the toilet.
But they don't think Joe's the guy to do it, and they're abandoning Joe (and the Dem party).
So Joe either hands the reins to Kamala (or more tenuously, we have a contested leadership convention) or he'll go down in history as the stubborn old man who gave the US govt to Trump his fascist regime.
Joe, if you're listening, thank you for your service, but your tour of duty is over, and it's time to pass the torch.
Wow, that's quite a reply. ... Yes, I'm a bit of an idealist. Nevertheless, morally speaking, Americans [and Canadians, for that matter] collectively deserve far better than just either the usual conservative or neo/faux liberal in the White House. Plus, Trump may be destined to win, anyway, even with a Biden replacement.
Maybe any U.S. president who, unlike Trump, would make a serious attempt at implementing truly humane, progressive policies — notably universal single-payer healthcare, a significant reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions and military spending, a genuine anti-war effort, and increasing the minimum wage while also reigning in Wall Street abuse/corruption, etcetera — would likely be assassinated [by lone gunmen, of course]. …
A few social/labor uprisings notwithstanding, notably the Bolshevik and French revolutions, it seems the superfluously rich and powerful have always had the police and military ready to foremost protect their big-money/-power interests, even over the basic needs of the masses.
Even today, the police and military can, and probably would, claim [using euphemistic or political terminology, of course] they had to bust heads to maintain law and order as a priority during major demonstrations, especially those against economic injustices.
Indirectly supported by a complacent, if not compliant, corporate news-media, which is virtually all mainstream news-media, the absurdly unjust inequities/inequalities can persist.
Therefore, I can imagine there were/are lessons learned from those successful social/labor uprisings — a figurative How to Hinder Progressive Revolutions 101, perhaps? — with the clarity of hindsight by the big power/money interests in order to avoid any repeat of such great wealth/power losses.
And the more they make, all the more they want — nay, have — to make next quarterly. It's never enough, and an increasingly corrupt corporate news-media will implicitly or even explicitly celebrate them.
There is only one focus for civic America and that is to defeat every Republican on the ballot whereever they appear across the USA. Trump is a psychopath who has said over and over again what he will do if re-elected. Read the text of Project 2025 (https://www.project2025.org) and be very afraid - these people are smart and have vast resources. They seek to take America back to 1830 in evert civic, economic, and social dimension.. Reagan was infirm in his second term and there zero fuss. Re-elect Biden. That is job #1 - then, if his health fails, he resigns, he dies in office, or he holds on and his team steers the ship - it has happened before.
I agree that Trump and his fascist regime must be stopped.
The majority of Americans agree too.
But the majority of Americans also recognize that Joe Biden in NOT the leader to it, not this time. In fact, he's starting to look more concerned with his pride and ego than with stopping Trump, and he'll go down in history as the stubborn old man who handed the US gov't to Trump and his fascist regime.
Tom, the rant against Trump is already baked in; the existential question is: can Biden WIN?
I don't think so.
Plenty of Dem Senators and Congressmen don't thinks so.
Mega-donors don't think so.
Frankly, if a leader is willing to split his own party apart to feed his pride and ego, then how can he win over the country and beat Trump?
You talk about Joe resigning or dying in office, etc as if he's gonna win in Nov. Well he ain't gonna win.
But I guess all the pollsters are wrong. And the media's out to get Joe. And the Dems who question his fitness to win are all traitors to the party. And David Axelrod (who got Joe elected VP, twice) is an treasonous asshole.
Think objectively for a moment: Joe was trailing BEFORE the debate. Now he's trailing worse than ever. Under Joe's leadership the Dem party is falling apart and the Repubs are sitting back laughing.
Trump must be stopped, and Joe can't do it.
In one day he could say I'm dropping out and putting my support behind Kamala, and WHAM, a whole new race, a whole new appeal to women, African Americans, young voters, Independents, Undecideds, Never-Trumpers - and the start of a Blue Wave instead of the ominous Red Wave bearing down on us now.
Very reasonable and deeply felt response. But my concern is that the pundits and professionals - including pollsters - have gotten it wrong from the git go when it comes to Trump and the mood of the nation. Do you think that the middle - the people who must be convinced to move from "Undecided" to "Joe" will go for a Black woman President. I don't believe it. Bottom line - I will vote for an impaired President Biden who talks slowly over Trump and his insane clown posse 100%.
Don’t prejudge the undecideds as broadly racist or sexist. I think that they will vote for the black woman who does a great job of prosecuting the case against Trump.
>>>" the pundits and professionals - including pollsters - have gotten it wrong"
Tom, whenever a politician says "ignore the polls, ignore the pundits, ignore the elites, ignore EVERYONE who disagrees with me" - well, those are words of losing campaign.
are aggregate poll sites: they compile and report the results of dozens of polsters, and they're in agreement that Dems are headed for a landslide defeat under Joe Biden.
I think this is the main point of my case for Joe handing the reins to Kamala:
the majority of Americans do not want Trump back in power, and are ready to vote him out.
We need to find a way to help Biden step out of the race that acknowledges his great contributions to the Democratic party and the country. It would be an honorable way out with wide public recognition of his accomplishments, with ceremonies honoring him, etc.. Putting him down is not the way to go
The ones that can do this might be only a few Democrats, such as Obama and/or Nancy Pelosi. Time is running out!
As a much younger man (I'm now 73), I was bullied by an acquaintance and found myself speechless and mumbling. Asked by this guy to say something in Italian, I flubbed it and in front of a group of six of his friends at an art opening, ridiculed me. I was flummoxed. I am learning my limits and regularly get 7 hours of sleep. I do not have a staff inserting more and more things into my schedule keeping me up until midnight. I think Biden might be realizing he is old and is taking steps to live a healthier lifestyle. Is his adminstration effective? Seems like it to me. I'd bet it is several orders of magnitude more capable and headed in the right direction than anything Biden's opposition could muster. If he remains on the ticket, who are any of you going to vote for? I think the answer is pretty clear. Come on ageists, start honoring merit and accomplishments and get back to work saving our democracy.
I watched the pile-on with horror. The public commentary by Democratic office holders was nothing short of a public shaming. I've lost all respect for the specific ones who poured out their bile in the press. Especially the New York Times.
It's perfectly normal to fight back against aging, but when it comes to being the President of the US, What if Joe has a "cold" when he gets a 3 a.m. call? Or "jet lag" renders him incoherent as he travels the world.
There are many documented cases of Joe falling asleep at meetings.
C'mon folks, that wasn't "one bad night" - it was a symptom of aging, and of course he has good nights too, but the deterioration has started, and will only get worse. He's not the same Joe who beat Trump in 2020; the 24/7 job has taken its toll.
What's wrong with exiting with grace and dignity, instead of destroying the Democratic party and handing the govt over to Trump and his fascists.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg stayed too long; Obama and a Dem Senate could have filled her seat with a younger RBG to carry on her legacy for another 30 years. Instead she stubornly refused to leave, and look who fills that seat now.
Half of "progressives" think Joe will lose to Trump; 67% of Democrats think Joe will lose to Trump; 75% of Americans think Joe will lose to Trump.
I've voted for and worked for liberal and progressive candidates all my life, and we all know beating Trump is Job One, but after that debate, sorry, I can't support Joe as our candidate, because 51 million people saw what I saw. There's an old saying, you can't un-break a broken glass. Broke the glass that night, and there's nothing he can do to un-break it.
Now his wounded pride and ego won't let him do the right thing.
If Joe Biden doesn't have the confidence of his own party, then how will he get the confidence of the American people?
Even the best athletes in the world know when to take a bow and pass the ball to the next generation.
I share the despair that infuses this piece. What is frustrating is that Biden could go out a hero for all he has accomplished (at his age). The spin could be great. Why is he and "they" (the Dems) turning it into "agony" and "catastrophe"
I disagree with you and we can do that in a democracy. President Biden has chosen to stay in the race and I believe we all need to support him. Kamala may need to take the reins at some point so why not leave the ticket intact? Our President may decide differently before any deadline and if he does, I will support that. Until then, I’m Ridin’ with Biden and truly wish we Democrats would all stand with him during this important week of the NATO Anniversary Celebration.
Sharon, Kamala can't take the reins if we LOSE in November.
And we were losing (under Joe) before the debate, we're losing worse now, mega-donors are pulling out, the Dem party is fracturing under Joe, and the Repubs are drooling.
Suddenly the line is: don't trust the polls. don't trust the media. don't listen to the "treasonous" Dems who see the writing on the wall.
The vast majority of Americans do NOT want Trump to win, but they also don't think Joe can beat him. so let's give them Kamala, now, and get off this losing streak, and start pulling in women and African Americans and young voters and Independents and Undecideds and Never-Trumpers, and rejuvenate a LOSING campaign. Now.
If Joe runs and loses, as the polls portend (when Joe says "ignore the polls, my people tell me I'm winning", then we're in deep trouble), then he'll go down as the stubborn old man who let his pride and ego get in the way, and gave the US gov't to Trump and his fascist regime.
Joe must stop clinging to power, hand the reins to Kamala, and the whole party will immediately get behind her and turn around this losing campaign. If Joe stays, Trump wins.
Fully agree Biden needs to end his campaign for reelection. He was an underdog even before the debate, in large part because of questions about his age and fitness for office. Unfortunately, the debate confirmed that the reason he has been avoiding press conferences, interviews, and virtually any live Q&A is that he no longer capable of being an effective Presidential candidate in 2024, much less someone who is capable of being an effective President for four more years. So he needs to step aside.
But that certainly doesn't mean that Kamala automatically becomes the nominee for 2024. While she certainly is someone who should be considered, she needs to demonstrate (like everyone else) that she is the person best suited to beat Trump and be a great President for the next four years. So we need a process to select someone else, whether it like what Carville advocated for in the Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/08/opinion/biden-democratic-nominee.html) or some kind of similar solution.
Which is all the more reason Joe needs to step aside sooner rather than later. Otherwise, he risk ruining his legacy in a similar way to RBG.
thanks Gord, and FYI, I wrote 3 articles on why Joe should leave, now, but I'm including a link to one of them because of your reference to RBG. She stayed too long, she rolled the dice, and America lost.
I'm afraid we're seeing the same thing with Joe.
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/cincinnatus-clinging-to-power-and
If Joe Biden is replaced by another Democratic presidential candidate, it should be with Senator Bernie Sanders.
Some statistics show, interestingly, that around three quarters of Americans favor a governmental implementation of a number of public programs, notably universal health care and some form of guaranteed income plan [a.k.a. welfare].
While I find the Republican party, like its federal Conservative Party counterpart here in Canada, is a moral write-off altogether when it comes to humane social policy, the Democratic National Committee also refuses to allow genuinely fiscally progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders as its presidential nominee, regardless of what Democratic Party members/voters want.
I recall that every county in West Virginia voted for Sanders in the 2016 primaries, yet the DNC declared them as wins for Hillary Clinton! [The neo-liberal New York Times is noticeably hostile toward Sanders’ ideals and desires for disenfranchised, low- or no-incomed Americans.]
I find it arrogantly presumptuous of the DNC and party (etcetera) to expect economically disenfranchised citizens to vote for an establishment Democrat candidate with thinly veiled ties to corporate interests and who’s not going to improve the poor person’s lot in life — simply to vote out or keep out an undesirable Republican. And, of course, to wait in long bad-weather lineups for the privilege.
Frank, I share your distaste for both parties, and even for ALL large institutionalized political parties, who now have their own agendas and priorities - and those priorities are not about solving the problems of the people, they are about retaining their own positions and powers.
So I say a curse on both their houses.
BUT, in a couple months the American gov't could fall under the control of a psychopathic narcissist and his neo-fascist regime and then we're into a whole new world of authoritarianism and we can all all forgetaboudit for any progress progress for the people.
Joe and his Dem supporters are going to hand complete control over to trump, and then we're all fucked.
If Joe steps aside and throws his support (and delegate and money) behind Kamala, then I fully believe there will be a huge sigh of relief and a huge inpouring of support and money and a reinvigorated campaign, joined by the millions, tens of millions who want to dump Trump (but didn't see Joe as the guy to do it.)
If anyone doubts that a black woman can be elected in America, please remember that the largest voting contingent in America is WOMEN! And they overwhelmingly don't want Trump (but they are disappointed with Biden)
Everyone agrees that beating Trump is Job One.
But Joe can't do it. (You can't un-break a broken window)
And it's too late to run a potentially disastrous contested convention:
I hope and pray that 1) show wakes up from his pride-and-ego trance and realizes he's dividing his party and giving the US govt to Trump, 2) sees the simplest and most effective stragtegy to throw his support to Kamala, 3) I entire Dem party (and the country) will sigh with relief and get behind Kamala, to beat Trump.
So Joe, if you're listening, thanks for you service, but your tour of duty is over. Pass the torch, we'll celebrate you to the rooftops at the convention, you an have your well-earned (and well-needed) rest and be assured of a great legacy, and Kamala and the rest of America can get on with the Job #One of beating the fuck out of Trump and his fascist regime.
To have a genuine representative democracy, there first needs to be a truly democratic electoral system for the citizenry.
The First Past The Post ballot that's utilized in the U.S., Canada and England largely masquerades as real democracy. And, of course, many voters get to wait in long, bad-weather lineups to participate.
While the FPTP ballot may technically qualify as democratic within the democracy spectrum, it is the PR system thus governance that actually is representative, regardless of ideology.
Canada’s FPTP system is particularly non-democratic. It has on albeit-rare occasion resulted in majority governments elected by less than one fifth of eligible voters. You don't get that with PR-elected governances.
FPTP does seem to serve corporate lobbyists well, however. I believe it is why such powerful interests generally resist attempts at changing from FPTP to proportional representation electoral systems of governance, the latter which dilutes corporate influence.
Low-representation FPTP-elected governments, in which a relatively small portion of the country's populace is actually electorally represented, are likely the easiest for lobbyists to manipulate or ‘buy’.
I have been very upset with people in the Republican Party who are too COWARDLY to resist their party being subsumed by a bully, a liar, a criminal.
Now I am disappointed that many leaders in the Democratic Party are finding cowardly excuses to let Joe self-destruct.
It is no favor to acquiese to his stubborn pride and a denial of what is best for him. What is best for our country?
Do we have the COURAGE to demand an open convention and push our best candidate forward?
Many of us have sadly seen an elderly parent who refuses to give up driving, even after being talked into taking a confidential driving test and failing it.
Gary, I'm with you on this:
my mother was frail and ailing at 80, but she refused to give up her driving licence. We eventually had to take away her keys, and do her driving for her.
Then at 90, she refused to leave her apartment, refusing to go to a nursing home (she walked right out of her first visit, saying they were all a bunch of old people).
It's perfectly normal to fight back against aging, but when it comes to being the President of the US, What if Joe has a "cold" when he gets a 3 a.m. call? Or "jet lag" renders him incoherent as he travels the world.
There are many documented cases of Joe falling asleep at meetings.
C'mon folks, that wasn't "one bad night" - it was a symptom of aging, and of course he has good nights too, but the deterioration has started, and will only get worse. He's not the same Joe who beat Trump in 2020; the 24/7 job has taken its toll.
What's wrong with exiting with grace and dignity, instead of destroying the Democratic party and handing the govt over to Trump and his fascists.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg stayed too long; Obama and a Dem Senate could have filled her seat with a younger RBG to carry on her legacy for another 30 years. Instead she stubornly refused to leave, and look who fills that seat now.
I have been perplexed by the lack of any noise from any big org. It feels strange and unusual that the punditry is leading, the people are wtf'ing and the orgs are silent. If the zero-member, just-born #passthetorch campaign can get thousands of calls into congress in a couple days, imagine what MoveOn, Indivisible, WFP et al could make happen. This does feel like an instance where those calls could meaningfully impact electeds to stick their necks out.
I could not agree more, Micah! It’s distressing how many other writers are accusing people who feel that Biden needs to step down of being disloyal or something. I’m loyal to beating Trump! I think a new ticket could be incredibly energizing and would show people that at least one political party is actually listening to them . I’ll check to see if any groups I belong to have asked members for feedback.
Amen to all of that.
Well said Jen.
We're not traitors, we're realists. And the FACT is that we were losing before the debate, and now we're losing worse, and under Joe we're on track to hand the US gov't to Trump and his fascist regime.
Please Joe, if you're listening, hand the reins to Kamala, now, and the whole Dem party (and the majority of Americans - who want to flush Trump down the toilet) will breathe a sigh of relief and congratulate Joe on putting country before his pride and ego, and let Kamala show us what a strong intelligent woman can do.
And Joe can have a long well-deserved rest.
Agree with You, micah!
Agreed on all accounts.
I just saw poll results from Progressive Democrats for America… It’s not online but just in an email and I can’t figure out how to share that so I’ll just tell you that a small majority of the people who answered that poll say they think Joe Biden should stay in. The member who sent it to me was shocked and sad.
"a small majority" means a divided sample.
That means even among Progressive Dems there's doubt about Joe's ability to win this thing. Imagine the results among the other Dems, and among the non-Dems, etc.
A divided Dem party (which will remain divided under Joe) means a landslide defeat in Nov.
Maybe the Joe-supporters should read this little piece about "clinging to power"
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/cincinnatus-clinging-to-power-and
During his interview with Stephanopolous, Joes said
“I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me.”
Well the polls disagree (they're predicting a landslide defeat for Dems), the Dem party is split over Joe's claim, Democrat Mega-donors are saying No to Joe.
In the face of a fracturing Dem party, collapsing poll numbers, mega-donors saying no, we're watching a stubborn old man clinging to power.
Job #1 is to defeat Trump and his fascist regime.
The majority of Americans want to flush Trump down the toilet.
But they don't think Joe's the guy to do it, and they're abandoning Joe (and the Dem party).
So Joe either hands the reins to Kamala (or more tenuously, we have a contested leadership convention) or he'll go down in history as the stubborn old man who gave the US govt to Trump his fascist regime.
Joe, if you're listening, thank you for your service, but your tour of duty is over, and it's time to pass the torch.
I agree with you Micah, that we have never been in a situation even close to what confronts all Americans right now. But to assume that
Our Revolution did a post debate membership poll asking if Biden should suspend his campaign
https://ourrevolution.com/post-debate-survey-results/
They just sent another survey out as I was typing this too.
Wow, that's quite a reply. ... Yes, I'm a bit of an idealist. Nevertheless, morally speaking, Americans [and Canadians, for that matter] collectively deserve far better than just either the usual conservative or neo/faux liberal in the White House. Plus, Trump may be destined to win, anyway, even with a Biden replacement.
Maybe any U.S. president who, unlike Trump, would make a serious attempt at implementing truly humane, progressive policies — notably universal single-payer healthcare, a significant reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions and military spending, a genuine anti-war effort, and increasing the minimum wage while also reigning in Wall Street abuse/corruption, etcetera — would likely be assassinated [by lone gunmen, of course]. …
A few social/labor uprisings notwithstanding, notably the Bolshevik and French revolutions, it seems the superfluously rich and powerful have always had the police and military ready to foremost protect their big-money/-power interests, even over the basic needs of the masses.
Even today, the police and military can, and probably would, claim [using euphemistic or political terminology, of course] they had to bust heads to maintain law and order as a priority during major demonstrations, especially those against economic injustices.
Indirectly supported by a complacent, if not compliant, corporate news-media, which is virtually all mainstream news-media, the absurdly unjust inequities/inequalities can persist.
Therefore, I can imagine there were/are lessons learned from those successful social/labor uprisings — a figurative How to Hinder Progressive Revolutions 101, perhaps? — with the clarity of hindsight by the big power/money interests in order to avoid any repeat of such great wealth/power losses.
And the more they make, all the more they want — nay, have — to make next quarterly. It's never enough, and an increasingly corrupt corporate news-media will implicitly or even explicitly celebrate them.
There is only one focus for civic America and that is to defeat every Republican on the ballot whereever they appear across the USA. Trump is a psychopath who has said over and over again what he will do if re-elected. Read the text of Project 2025 (https://www.project2025.org) and be very afraid - these people are smart and have vast resources. They seek to take America back to 1830 in evert civic, economic, and social dimension.. Reagan was infirm in his second term and there zero fuss. Re-elect Biden. That is job #1 - then, if his health fails, he resigns, he dies in office, or he holds on and his team steers the ship - it has happened before.
I agree that Trump and his fascist regime must be stopped.
The majority of Americans agree too.
But the majority of Americans also recognize that Joe Biden in NOT the leader to it, not this time. In fact, he's starting to look more concerned with his pride and ego than with stopping Trump, and he'll go down in history as the stubborn old man who handed the US gov't to Trump and his fascist regime.
Tom, the rant against Trump is already baked in; the existential question is: can Biden WIN?
I don't think so.
Plenty of Dem Senators and Congressmen don't thinks so.
Mega-donors don't think so.
Frankly, if a leader is willing to split his own party apart to feed his pride and ego, then how can he win over the country and beat Trump?
You talk about Joe resigning or dying in office, etc as if he's gonna win in Nov. Well he ain't gonna win.
But I guess all the pollsters are wrong. And the media's out to get Joe. And the Dems who question his fitness to win are all traitors to the party. And David Axelrod (who got Joe elected VP, twice) is an treasonous asshole.
Think objectively for a moment: Joe was trailing BEFORE the debate. Now he's trailing worse than ever. Under Joe's leadership the Dem party is falling apart and the Repubs are sitting back laughing.
Trump must be stopped, and Joe can't do it.
In one day he could say I'm dropping out and putting my support behind Kamala, and WHAM, a whole new race, a whole new appeal to women, African Americans, young voters, Independents, Undecideds, Never-Trumpers - and the start of a Blue Wave instead of the ominous Red Wave bearing down on us now.
Very reasonable and deeply felt response. But my concern is that the pundits and professionals - including pollsters - have gotten it wrong from the git go when it comes to Trump and the mood of the nation. Do you think that the middle - the people who must be convinced to move from "Undecided" to "Joe" will go for a Black woman President. I don't believe it. Bottom line - I will vote for an impaired President Biden who talks slowly over Trump and his insane clown posse 100%.
Don’t prejudge the undecideds as broadly racist or sexist. I think that they will vote for the black woman who does a great job of prosecuting the case against Trump.
>>>" the pundits and professionals - including pollsters - have gotten it wrong"
Tom, whenever a politician says "ignore the polls, ignore the pundits, ignore the elites, ignore EVERYONE who disagrees with me" - well, those are words of losing campaign.
538 (https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/2024/national/)
and 270 (https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/)
are aggregate poll sites: they compile and report the results of dozens of polsters, and they're in agreement that Dems are headed for a landslide defeat under Joe Biden.
I think this is the main point of my case for Joe handing the reins to Kamala:
the majority of Americans do not want Trump back in power, and are ready to vote him out.
But they don't see Joe Biden as the guy to do it.
So we either change the trajectory, now, or lose.
We need to find a way to help Biden step out of the race that acknowledges his great contributions to the Democratic party and the country. It would be an honorable way out with wide public recognition of his accomplishments, with ceremonies honoring him, etc.. Putting him down is not the way to go
The ones that can do this might be only a few Democrats, such as Obama and/or Nancy Pelosi. Time is running out!
Dan Pilowsky
Hastings, NY 10706
As a much younger man (I'm now 73), I was bullied by an acquaintance and found myself speechless and mumbling. Asked by this guy to say something in Italian, I flubbed it and in front of a group of six of his friends at an art opening, ridiculed me. I was flummoxed. I am learning my limits and regularly get 7 hours of sleep. I do not have a staff inserting more and more things into my schedule keeping me up until midnight. I think Biden might be realizing he is old and is taking steps to live a healthier lifestyle. Is his adminstration effective? Seems like it to me. I'd bet it is several orders of magnitude more capable and headed in the right direction than anything Biden's opposition could muster. If he remains on the ticket, who are any of you going to vote for? I think the answer is pretty clear. Come on ageists, start honoring merit and accomplishments and get back to work saving our democracy.
I watched the pile-on with horror. The public commentary by Democratic office holders was nothing short of a public shaming. I've lost all respect for the specific ones who poured out their bile in the press. Especially the New York Times.
It's perfectly normal to fight back against aging, but when it comes to being the President of the US, What if Joe has a "cold" when he gets a 3 a.m. call? Or "jet lag" renders him incoherent as he travels the world.
There are many documented cases of Joe falling asleep at meetings.
C'mon folks, that wasn't "one bad night" - it was a symptom of aging, and of course he has good nights too, but the deterioration has started, and will only get worse. He's not the same Joe who beat Trump in 2020; the 24/7 job has taken its toll.
What's wrong with exiting with grace and dignity, instead of destroying the Democratic party and handing the govt over to Trump and his fascists.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg stayed too long; Obama and a Dem Senate could have filled her seat with a younger RBG to carry on her legacy for another 30 years. Instead she stubornly refused to leave, and look who fills that seat now.
Half of "progressives" think Joe will lose to Trump; 67% of Democrats think Joe will lose to Trump; 75% of Americans think Joe will lose to Trump.
I've voted for and worked for liberal and progressive candidates all my life, and we all know beating Trump is Job One, but after that debate, sorry, I can't support Joe as our candidate, because 51 million people saw what I saw. There's an old saying, you can't un-break a broken glass. Broke the glass that night, and there's nothing he can do to un-break it.
Now his wounded pride and ego won't let him do the right thing.
If Joe Biden doesn't have the confidence of his own party, then how will he get the confidence of the American people?
Even the best athletes in the world know when to take a bow and pass the ball to the next generation.