President Biden has been a great President. He has been an amazingly effective President, passing crucial legislation that helped ordinary Americans even though he has only a razor-thin margin in the Senate and none in the House. I have supported him vigorously, believing that he would do what was best for the country. I took offense at the media pile-on against him, even though I was stunned by his frail appearance and appalling performance at the June debate.
But, Politico reports, Democratic Party leaders have decided he can’t win and have coalesced to persuade him to step aside. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but it seems unlikely that Biden can continue when those who know him best withdraw their support.
Politico reports:
For weeks, the Democratic Party has been paralyzed by uncertainty about whether President JOE BIDEN should stay atop the ticket or step aside. But over the last 24 hours, that uncertainty has given way to a growing clarity about the reality facing the president: The walls are closing in, and his position leading the Democratic ticket appears increasingly unsustainable.
The president’s reelection bid has now lost the confidence of Congress’ senior-most Democratic leaders, as well of party elders around the country.
Yesterday alone …
- ABC News’ Jon Karl scooped on World News Tonight that Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIEStold Biden in person that he should end his reelection campaign for the good of the country.
- CNN’s MJ Lee, Jamie Gangel and Jeff Zeleny reported that former Speaker NANCY PELOSI told the president that he can’t win and is dragging down the party, jeopardizing potential majorities in Congress. (More on this below)
- Rep. ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.), Pelosi’s longtime protégé, became the latest Hill Democrat to publicly call on Biden to step aside, arguing that he has “serious concerns about whether the President can defeat DONALD TRUMP,” and that it’s “time for him to pass the torch.”
- Biden’s confidant and campaign adviser JEFFREY KATZENBERG confronted the president about new financial woes, telling him that big donors — skeptical that he can win — have all but stopped writing checks, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman and Ben Smith scooped.
- Senior Democrats started privately circulating jarring numbers from Blue Rose Research, which found that “just 18 percent of voters and only 36 percent of people who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020 believe he is mentally fit and up to the job of being president,” according to the NYT. Other super PAC polling shows “Biden’s deficit growing to 5 percentage points or more in the must-win states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.”
- And DNC officials were pressured by their own party into pushing back a virtual roll call nominating Biden after an attempt to move it up was seen as a way of assuring Biden could run out the clock on the Dump Biden crowd.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has coordinated with senior Democrats to try to push Biden out. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
This flurry of stories yesterday is no accident. Senior Democrats had hoped to address this matter privately — Pelosi herself certainly advised members to try to do so, at least for a time.
But Biden and his inner circle have refused to listen. So now, Democrats are leaking tidbits of private conversations with the president himself, using the news media as a microphone to send a message: We’re no longer with you — and we will force you off the ticket, if needed.
“The speaker does not want to call on him to resign [as the Democratic nominee], but she will do everything in her power to make sure it happens,” one Pelosi ally we spoke with said.
The developments underscore a new, more public phase of the Dump Biden movement. It’s also an astonishing turn of events that puts Biden’s presidential bid on life support: With Democratic leaders like Pelosi, Schumer and Jeffries against him, how can he possibly continue?
Open the link to read more.

He needs to do this sooner rather than later. I would like to see him resign and for Kamala Harris to become President and the nominee. He did a great job. All honor to him.
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This is all quite sad. Thanks, Joe, for the amazing job you did fighting the uphill battles for ordinary people against Manchin, Sinema, and the Trumpanzees.
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So reality finally breaks into the world of Diane Ravitch after dozens of postings and comments by her denying the blatantly obvious fact that Joe Biden is not in any physical condition to serve another four year term. Blind partisanship and tribal loyalties diminish one’s ability to think rationally.
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Diane and others have repeatedly said that yes, Biden is slipping, but he is not too old to provide direction for HIS TEAM, which has been doing and would continue to do a great job. I agree; however, I and others have argued on this blog that Biden should step aside. Why? Because the figurehead, bully pulpit part of the Presidency is important, and THAT Biden is increasingly having trouble with. There is no shame in that. People age at differing rates.
So, at any rate, those who post here are not monolithic in their views. Ridiculously, Reichwing trolls who pop in here from time to time have accused commenters in general on this site and me in particular of slavishly agreeing with Diane on everything. Well, that’s demonstrably untrue. I love Diane Ravitch. She is one of my heroes. But sometimes we disagree. Rarely, but sometimes. Have a blessed day. R u watching any of Repugnican FascismFest 2024: Triumph of the Trumpian Will?
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Pauline, were you born mean-spirited or did you pick it up as an adult? Biden has been the best president of my lifetime, and, yes, I was on his side until I saw that it was not just the media pounding on him but that he had lost the support of his party’s leaders. I didn’t worry whether he could serve out a four-year term because Kamala Harris is his backstop.
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Well said, Diane.
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Diane,
You’re trying to avoid admitting that you were willfully blind to Biden’s cognitive decline. You criticized anyone who noted that fact, even after the disastrous June 27 debate. You absurdly claimed that you believed Biden was perfectly fit to serve another four year term. Your groupies here will defend you no matter what, but people who don’t need your approval for their psychological well-being aren’t fooled. A commenter in today’s NY Times says it well:
“Anybody who didn’t recognize Biden’s cognitive decline many months, if not years, before the debate either wasn’t paying attention or was in denial and saw only what they wanted to see. For them, anything that contradicted or challenged their worship of Biden was categorized as”fake news” and Fox News “propaganda”. And Robert Hur was personally slandered, vilified, and viciously maligned for telling the truth. The Democratic base, including the vast majority of the readers of this publication, were actually the real enablers. And they, and they alone, bear responsibility for the historic, stunning collapse of the Democratic Party that we’re witnessing.”
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Michael,
If Biden was in cognitive decline for many years, how did he manage to get so much accomplished in the past 3 1/2 years? Presumably many years means at least three.
I have never met Joe Biden. I admire him, respect him, and appreciate his amazing accomplishments. I was stunned and upset by his debate performance. But I was willing to support him rather than the Chief insurrectionist. I have nothing to apologize for. I thought he gave a master class in foreign relations after the NATO summit. I thought he was terrific at the Detroit rally. He didn’t ask for my psychological assessment. My opinion did not affect his decision making nor anyone else’s. I am by nature a loyal person. And, thank God, I have freedom of speech and freedom of thought.
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Diane,
I think you have been right all along around this. I think democratic leadership are to blame if we lose this election and shame on them. This is absolutely horrible and doesn’t bode well for democracy. Shame on dem leadership for how they are doing this.
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Thank you, Stef.
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Maybe he’s done too much for the working class and the dem elites are scared of the power he’s given to the working class?
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“Maybe he’s done too much for the working class and the dem elites are scared of the power he’s given to the working class?”
That’s a very plausible theory, especially since Bernie Sanders and AOC were still supporting Biden while the “elites” were demanding Biden step down.
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Unfortunately, Biden also tested positive for Covid so he will out of commission for the foreseeable future.
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He’s vaccinated and boosted, so one hopes that his symptoms will continue to be mild.
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We are watching the Dems shooting themselves in the foot. The failure to close ranks around Biden is why polls are slipping. It is not because of Biden. This tail is wagging the dog towards defeat.
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Biden too often has difficulty speaking audibly and coherently, even with teleprompters. This would not be solved by closing ranks around Biden.
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true
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nothing has changed with his speaking in 50 years
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That is an insane statement.
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Here’s Biden 35 years ago.
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QED, Flerp
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Of course, lol, most of the things he said about his law school and other education there was false, which he was later forced to admit. But my point was just to rebut the weird idea that nothing about the way Biden speaks has changed in 59 years.
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He was never my favorite Senator. He always took the side of the big banks. He treated Anita Hill abominably. He sponsored the bill that put MDMA, based on entirely bogus and later retracted science, on the Schedule I list. He opposed and still opposes Medicare for All. So, I was not in favor of the fellow whom I nicknamed “Status Quo Joe” becoming president. I have been pleasantly surprised by his actions while in office. He has earned the respect of all Americans. He has mine. Now it is time for him to step down. I strongly suspect that this will happen within the next few days.
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One big difference from 30 years ago is that Biden gained WISDOM, which is why his presidency has been so surprisingly good.
Ironic that people want to throw him over so fast because he isn’t as articulate as he was.
I know why the right wing wants to throw Biden over. They have been harping on his age for 4 years. I just don’t know why we want to help them.
I think it is possible that if Obama was president again at age 70, he might very well be a much better president than he was when he was young. He would have less vitality and youth and his memory would not be as sharp, but he would have gained wisdom.
Circular firing squad indeed.
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It’s not at all clear to me that Trump wants Biden off the ticket. That’s an assumption and I haven’t seen the evidence for it. I think the opposite is true.
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Bob,
What did Biden “do” to Anita Hill?
Not realize how awful the Republicans would be? Not figure out how to stop the Republicans from sliming a woman during hearings? Biden came out STRONGLY against Clarence Thomas as unfit to serve. Biden voted no.
To me, watching closely back then, it was one of the first times I witnessed how the far right gets away with their worst actions. “Biden” the Democrat was to blame! Not the Republicans who slimed her when Biden could not stop it. Maybe a “better” Dem Judiciary Committee leader Senator could have stopped that sliming, but most likely they would also have been the scapegoat.
If anyone is to blame, it is the Democrats in the Senate who voted FOR Clarence Thomas. It is George Mitchell, the Senate Majority Leader and Wendell Ford, the Senate Majority Whip for allowing 11 Senate Democrats — none of which were Joe Biden — to vote yay.
Most of those Dems who are to blame for Clarence Thomas were the southern Dems who ended up changing parties. But really to blame is Sam Nunn from Georgia, Robb from Virginia, Hollings from South Carolina, DeConcini from Arizona.
Biden apologized for losing control, but he never slimed Anita Hill himself. He BELIEVED her, but 11 Democrat Senators did not.
The person who should really be blamed is the reprehensible and evil Senator John Danforth, who gave us Clarence Thomas AND Josh Hawley. Danforth is far more to blame than Biden for his reprehensible actions foisting those two on this country. What a terrible human he is, and he has never come close to making the apology that Biden has, even though Biden voted AGAINST Clarence Thomas, and Danforth did everything in his power to get him confirmed. Even Clarence Thomas has cited Danfroth as the only reason he was confirmed. He said to him publicly: “You are the reason why I’m here.”
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I agree that the Dems are shooting themselves in the foot. Kamala Harris, as much as I like her, is a far more risky choice. Any poll before she is the nominee is meaningless. People like Biden. Regular people. They think he is old, but they don’t think he is incoherent. The person who is incoherent is Trump.
It’s July and Dems are running scared. Bernie and AOC weren’t scared. The voters are going to be very unhappy, especially the ones who don’t especially like Kamala.
The Dems have no courage. This is the opposite of unity. Instead of talking about Trump’s unfitness, the rest of the campaign will be about whether the Dem is too inexperienced, conservative, liberal, a tool of the elite, a tool of oligarchs (insert talking point).
Not sure there is a better “unity candidate” than Biden.
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Any poll before she is the nominee is meaningless.
yes
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The person who is incoherent is Trump.
Yes, but people are so inured to this that they don’t even hear it.
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Trump’s incoherence is different in kind. He will say crazy things that make no sense. But he doesn’t do this:
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George Clooney has been not only a HUGE donor to Biden. He and Pelosi and Schiff and Schumer and Jeffries have all spent time with Biden RECENTLY, and they think he is not up to the job because of his age and condition. Do you think that these people are simply making up WHAT THEY CLAIM TO HAVE SEEN WITH THEIR OWN EYES? These are people who care for and have strongly supported Biden.
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The choice is not between spending the rest of the campaign talking about a new Dem candidate’s perceived flaws or talking about Trump’s unfitness. The choice is between spending the rest of the campaign talking about a new Dem candidate’s perceived flaws or talking about Biden’s verifiable cognitive decline. Trump’s unfitness will be talked about in either case. The Dem candidate’s perceived unfitness will be talked about in either case. There will be internal discord and external attacks with a new Dem candidate. But there no unified path forward with Biden.
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I have concerns about Harris running despite the fact I think she would be a good leader. Will she be able to overcome the misogynists and racists that will crawl out from under rocks? Would she be able to take down Trump when HRC wasn’t able to? With the archaic electoral college the Dems have to win by several million votes in order to actually take the office.
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I have the same concerns. Racism and misogyny are a toxic combination. But I don’t think she can be replaced without insulting Black voters. She’s smart, she’s tough, and she is the heir apparent.
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There are 1,000 far worse clips of Trump.
There is nothing wrong here. Biden slurred his words, but he knew exactly what the question was and he demonstrated it when he replied.
Really, you are back to posting out of context clips that don’t even begin to show what people are told they show?
We all watched Biden answer questions for an hour. Biden slurred a word here, then he clearly answers the question, so it does not convince me Biden is as unfit as you seem to believe he is.
Trump on the phone with RFK Jr. should be scaring people.
I don’t know why anyone believes there aren’t going to be these kinds of dishonest “gotcha” clips of Kamala that supposedly confirm whatever right wing talking point is being used to smear her. Will you be posting those clips here too?
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retired teacher says:
“I have concerns about Harris running despite the fact I think she would be a good leader. Will she be able to overcome the misogynists and racists that will crawl out from under rocks?”
That’s a good point.
Unfortunately, they won’t just crawl out from under the rocks. I have every expectation that there will be people posting out of context video clips of Kamala that supposedly prove that whatever damaging talking point the right wing is saying about her is true. Right on this very blog!
I have every expectation those clips will make Kamala look just as bad and just as unfit as the out of context video clips of dedicated teachers that someone posted links to on this blog made those dedicated teachers look bad. Out of context clips that “prove” that Kamala is xxx, or that public school teachers are dangerously woke.
Why would anyone help the far right by conceding that their exaggerated demonization of Democrats or demonization of public school teachers are true? Why post misleading videos? I don’t know. But I won’t be at all surprised when we see them of Kamala, too.
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lol.
“Unfortunately, they won’t just crawl out from under the rocks. I have every expectation that there will be people posting out of context video clips of Kamala that supposedly prove that whatever damaging talking point the right wing is saying about her is true. Right on this very blog!
I have every expectation those clips will make Kamala look just as bad and just as unfit as the out of context video clips of dedicated teachers that someone posted links to on this blog made those dedicated teachers look bad. Out of context clips that “prove” that Kamala is xxx, or that public school teachers are dangerously woke.”
For those to whom this isn’t obvious, NYCPSP is referring to me with this language. She does it all the time—apparently it’s her way of skirting Diane’s instructions that commenters should not attack other commenters personally. But she cannot help herself. It’s the same thing she said when last year I posted video of Biden looking and sounding disturbingly decrepit—she attacked me as a closet right winger who posted “misleading clips” of Biden to make him look like he was in cognitive decline, when in fact he was totally sharp. I don’t know if she truly believed what she was saying, or if she was just determined to stamp out any narrative that Biden was not up to the job. It’s a shame either way, because that attitude, from the highest ranks in the party down to the minions who parroted the talking points, is exactly how we got to this point.
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You posted a clip of a hapless teacher from a right wing twitter feed.
Diane, please do not censor that fact, because it is true.
Because I saw this person posting a clip demonizing a dedicated educator, I became skeptical of the other clips posted.
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NYCPSP,
Who did that?
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Diane, this poster is again saying false statements.
I never said that Biden was “totally sharp”. this person is putting words in my mouth.
I did argue that the clip that was being played in the right wing twittersphere endlessly was MISLEADING about Biden.
I also believe the video clip above is MISLEADING.
Just like the clip making fun of the educator in a public school was MISLEADING.
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I’ll say it again. There was none of this sniping and infighting when you were on hiatus from the blog. None. Now that you’re back, it’s a regular occurrence. And it always involves you.
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NYCPSP….you’re a rip-roaring flame thrower and then when you get called on it, you go crying to Mommy like a little kid. It was a much nicer and informative atmosphere on the blog while you were away.
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flerp!,
It always involves YOU or 2 other people. It doesn’t involve everyone. I have had other folks here even thanking me.
You just posted a clip of Biden that was highly misleading. Why? To quote you when you posted the clip: Trump “will say crazy things that make no sense. But he doesn’t do this.” (followed by misleading clip demeaning Biden).
Why would you imply that what Biden did in the clip is worse than Trump saying crazy things? It is not.
You engaged with me, here. You should have ignored it.
The fact that LisaM gratuitously posted here speaks for itself.
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I’m not going to have an insipid argument with you about “who started it.” I know you—it would go on all day and take over the entire comment section. Suffice it to say that if you want to take a shot at me, have the stomach to do it directly in plain language rather than by elliptical allusions, and don’t go running to the teacher when you’re called out on it.
I posted the clip to illustrate the difference between how Biden is incoherent and how Trump is incoherent. Trump is incoherent because he says strange things. Biden is incoherent because he has serious trouble saying words.
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I am not going to get into an argument about whether Biden is “incoherent.” Biden’s debate performance was bad. It was Biden’s worst moment in recent history. Since then Biden has more than shown under very trying circumstances that he is coherent. I have no idea what that video is supposed to show, but it shows a coherent Biden patiently answering the question that he has answered dozens of times already. A version of “everyone wants you gone, why won’t you go already?”
I miss GregB. His insightful comments added a lot to this blog. He was also accused of ruining this blog or blamed entirely for getting into fights with certain people. But he didn’t get into fights with everyone — just with a few of the many thoughtful commenters here.
Those people would reduce GregB to his one or two worst moments, citing only the worst moments to push a false narrative that it was accurate to judge GregB by his few worst moments and ignore the 1000x more of his best moments, and his pretty good moments, and his moments where he made important points that are sorely missed (at least by me).
Biden has shown us who he is both before and after the debate. He showed us who he is when he changed from a neocon Senator to one of the most progressive presidents in recent history. He showed us who he is by what he got done under the most trying conditions. He showed us who he is by sitting for 2 long interviews and a long press conference where it was clear that nothing he said would ever satisfy the people who judged him only on his worst moments.
It is a privilege to be able to judge someone else by their very worst moments and then act defensive if someone else judges them by theirs.
I don’t think anyone who criticizes Trump judges him by his worst moments only. They judge him by the entirety of who he is. Trump is never better than his worst moments. I wish he was.
But Biden IS better than his worst moments. So is GregB. So am I and so are most people here, including the folks who push to judge other people on theirs. I don’t know what happened to GregB but he saw this future long before anyone else, and warned us. I suspect he’d agree with Bernie Sanders that the attack on Biden by those who gave up on Biden long ago is going to do far more harm than good, even if it succeeds tomorrow in the open convention that is supposed to unite us. And then the propaganda characterizing Kamala Harris by her worst moments begins.
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Just freaking stop it. Please.
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Were you saying that to GregB, too?
I have never once told you or anyone to just shut up. You should be better than that.
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The Democratic Party is a circular firing squad, it must resolve this issue ASAP since the spectacle is electorally lethal and toxic.
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It must resolve this ASAP. Agree.
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The deadliest bullet will be. . . when at the convention, the old guard nominates Hillary.
(Man, I hope I’m wrong.)
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I hope you’re wrong, too! How well did that work out in 2016 when most D voters wanted anyone else besides HRC on the ballot. Terrifying!
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Hillary?????? She’s happily retired and out of the rat race. She will not be named, nominated, mentioned or sign-languaged. Nada, nothing, nil. Even if someone were to mention her name, she would decline the offer. She did beat Trump by almost 3 million popular votes but lost the Electoral College vote.
If you were doing satire, my apologies.
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What Joe said
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Everyone now knows that it was a terrible mistake for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of loving memory, not to step down earlier. Same for Diane Feinstein. There is no shame in this. Because the stakes are so high and the signs of Biden’s decline are so clear and obvious to those who have spent time with him up close and personally in recent days, the Precautionary Principle applies. He must step down because if he doesn’t, Trump, catastrophe.
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Analyses based on anyone’s guess, is still only as good as anyone’s guess. The paymasters have all but stopped writing checks. If the flounders wanted a wall of separation between money and democracy, the Simon-Sez constitution would have said so. Then again, hearing above the din of concocted notoriety, is not part of a system that is built on concocted notoriety.
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Two points:
The Founders were rich merchants and planters engaged in a tax revolt. After founding the nation, they went back to their states and passed laws disenfranchising anyone who wasn’t male, white, and a property owners (that is, wealthy persons).
WTF is a “Simon Sez” Constitution?
These are not “analyses” of Biden’s condition; they are personal observations by people who have interacted with him IN PERSON, recently. They are not hearsay or speculation. They are what these people have seen with their own eyes.
In what senses are our system of government based on “notoriety” that is “concocted”” and.” This is utterly unclear and verging on or actually nonsense.
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It’s a very sad moment. But, of course, these moments can come to any and all of us.
I’m sitting clicking away on this computer in a 170-year-old farmhouse, on a beautiful hilltop.
The previous owner overstayed her time here, struggling with Alzheimer’s. Her only close relatives “took her to lunch” one day (really, to the “county home” as they called it). And she never came back.
Ironically, she’d taken the previous owner (a fiercely independent woman) for a similar “ride” many years before that.
I’d prefer to avoid that fate. But, I don’t think the times we live in today make these sorts of choices any easier.
BTW I’ve asked several older friends and family members the following question: what era was worse, in terms of our society being riven apart? Now or the 1960s? And, everyone’s response has been….now.
Why? As one person who is 76-years-old put it, 2024 is “uglier”….more “mean spirited”
More sad moments, every time I hear that answer. I feel especially bad for our kids.
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I agree, but not all mean spirits are equal. Most of the hateful rhetoric comes from the right. They vilify and demean any group or person that does not agree with them. The left leaders have been civil and cordial to the right. Some of the youthful folks on the left may have been less than cordial, but they represent a fraction of the Dems base.
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Maybe this difference is built into the two different political philosophies?
I agree with you, rt, btw.
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I come from a time and a place when old folks stayed at home with their families until they died. I find the attitudes that relegate them to homes where they are attended by careless and often brutal and untrained staff shocking and shameful. What kinds of people treat their elderly like that? When they come to get me to put me in a home, they better bring a freaking swat team.
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The “homes” are also a way to strip the assets of the elderly down to the bone, making it even more difficult for heirs to gain generational wealth, and leaving the elderly completely helpless when the money runs out. It is disgusting, one of the most depressing facets of American life.
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A friend of my from Europe said to me, “There are two things that you Americans don’t get: healthcare and elder care.”
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Rick Scott made an enormous fortune doing this. They take the person’s entire Social Security check except for $180 that he or she can use for things like personal care products and vitamins. And what they don’t use of that amount is profit. So, the incentive is to provide the bare minimum in comforts and care.
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Actually, that person said, “There are two things Americans don’t get, healthcare and vacation. Oh, and you treat your elderly like shit.”
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So, this scam operations are a means for diverting Social Security funds into private pockets.
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The 1960s were worse with the war in Vietnam, violent protests galore, assassinations, deep divisions, and US troops dying in Vietnam.
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The problem with this whole mess is that there is not a clear choice otherwise. Kamala Harris has not been prepared as a figure to step in, and no one else has given an indication that they even want to run for president.
The longer these news stories come out against Biden, the more our democracy is in danger.
Democrats need to stop bickering, get behind Biden, and prep the next generation of leaders.
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I think that if Biden were to step aside and the Dems moved toward an open primary, you would see several serious contenders step up. As long as Biden has not said he’s stepping aside, nobody else will step up. And if he does step aside and indicates he wants his delegates to vote for Harris, I think it likely that nobody else steps forward.
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Open convention, sorry
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who would be a “serious contender”?
They ALL have serious problems as contenders. Most notably a lack of gravitas and experience. People are going to have a lot more doubts about that than doubts about old Biden who could answer questions for an hour.
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There’s a chicken egg problem. It’s difficult to identify the serious contenders until they step up. They won’t step up unless Biden steps aside and does not anoint Harris as a successor. If Biden had done the right thing and stepped down last year, we could have had a proper primary process to identify the strongest candidate. That didn’t happen, so now we are in an extremely difficult spot.
There is no perfect candidate, correct. They all have aspects that will be attacked. And there is no certainty that another candidate will win. There is risk in replacing Biden at this late stage. But there is risk in sticking with him. The question is which course one thinks is riskier. I’m of the view that it’s riskier to stick with Biden.
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FLERP,
If Biden decides to step aside, Harris will be the candidate. Not only is she the heir apparent but to bypass her would affront black voters.
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I suppose. Maybe that’s right, that black voters would be insulted and would not vote for any other replacement candidate than Harris. I’m not totally sure that’s correct, but I am familiar with the argument and I’ve heard it a lot lately.
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The racists and misogynists who will oppose Harris were never going to vote for a Democratic candidate anyway. So, NO NET LOSS IN VOTES FOR THE DEMOCRAT.
If Harris is the nominee, SHE WILL NOT LOSE A SINGLE VOTE THAT WOULD HAVE GONE TO BIDEN. Seriously. Do you really think that ANY Biden voter is going to say no to Harris and sulk at home or vote Trump if she is the nominee? NOT LIKELY. So, NO NET LOSS FOR THE DEMOCRAT.
If Harris is the nominee, it is highly likely that YOUNG PEOPLE AND BLACK PEOPLE WHO ARE DISAFFECTED AND OTHERWISE WOULD SIT THIS ONE OUT, WILL COME AND VOTE FOR HER. So, A NET GAIN FOR THE DEMOCRAT.
And if the ticket has TWO women on it–say Harris/Whitmer–then it will be even more historic and more likely to galvanize those stay-at-home Democrats.
No lost votes. Some additional votes from the disaffected. Win-win. And a chance to beat Trump, which doesn’t seem very likely if the nominee continues to be Joe.
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Bob,
I agree. A historic ticket of two women would be exciting.
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Not enough people get this calculus.
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Hear that “whzzzzt,” Flerp? That is the sound of my argument going over some people’s heads.
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I do not, however, think Harris is a great replacement. Her approval numbers are just terrible. 29%, with 49% rating unfavorably. Someone like Big Gretch, who is a blank slate to so many people (70% having no opinion), would be a clearly better choice in my view.
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Whitmer would also be great. I would LOVE to see a Harris/Whitmer ticket.
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That Biden is polling as well as he is despite his now famous infirmities is a testament to how durable the democrats vote is. I don’t think a new candidate can fare worse. The only question to me is whether a new candidate will fare better.
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That Biden is polling so well is a testament to how durable BIDEN is after being trashed constantly for a month! The negative spin is ridiculous!
Didn’t Bob even say that his mom liked Biden?
I don’t hear the same “Biden is awful” rhetoric from my midwest friends. They think he is old. They think he is slowing down. They think TRUMP is the unfit candidate, not Biden.
And they don’t want Biden to step down EXCEPT when they hear that Biden can’t win and some Democrat to be named later can.
They know Kamala is waiting in the wings AFTER the election. Not before.
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No state will pay to have a SECOND presidential primary in the same year. That’s a ridiculous idea.
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There can’t be new primaries. The voting has to happen through the delegates.
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He corrected that. He meant to write “open convention.”
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I think that Biden has been a very effect President during this term. I would like to see him step aside. I an especially concerned about reports that his son Hunter is now part of Biden’s innermost circle. Hunter Biden is problematic, to be kind. Hunter Biden ought to be focused on his own continuing sobriety rather than advising his father.
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Even Obama is telling friends in private that Biden needs to consider his viability.
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I don’t want to hear a word from Michelle Obama unless she gets off her couch and takes the baton. Barack can also disappear if he only gives lip service to saving democracy.
Harris-Shapiro?
Harris-Jeffries?
Whitmer – Harris?
Harris-Klobuchar?
Harris-Taylor Swift
Harris-Springsteen?
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If it comes to Harris, I am partial to a Harris-Beshear ticket. They should fight fire with fire and go with a Southern governor and cut into the GOP base.
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Another idea: how about Harris-Whitmer or Harris-Klobuchar?
Both would be strong in the Midwest. I love the idea of a two-women ticket. Why not?
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I think Big Gretch is strong, much stronger than Harris frankly. I don’t care much for Harris personally and her poor performance in the 2020 primaries suggests others don’t, either. And I don’t buy the notion that she’s either earned or is owed this. But I recognize the potential political difficulties with passing over her.
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Whitmer, being from an important swing state, would be an asset.
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That too, yes.
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Or Roy Cooper from NC who also fits this bill and would not leave a state open to Republican takeover since he is term limited. There is a lot of younger talent in the party. Harris’ viability is dependent on how much she learned with the poorly executed 2020 campaign. That’s the perception that keeps pundits and political operatives from supporting her enthusiastically.
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A lot of “candidates” that you all are throwing around have NEVER run for president and have given no indication they want to do so. This is all useless speculation.
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Harris will be the nominee.
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TOW,
Yes. Everyone looks like a sure winner until the national media devours them and spits them out.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickgleason/2024/07/16/gretchen-whitmers-record-would-be-hard-to-sell-to-national-audience/
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Looks like Pocahontas’ canoe has sailed;
Bernie twice undermined and derailed;
Buttigieg never a serious contender;
Maybe Bloomberg- a big spender???
The Dem’s have out-Ginsburged themselves this year.
Ignoring the lessons of history, I fear.
Now, it’s three months of rope-a-dope
Obi-Wan is our only hope.
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I was furious at Ruth Bader Ginsberg when she died and gave Trump another seat to fill on SCOTUS. But there was so much adulation of her at the time, I decided to keep quiet. Apparently Obama tried to persuade her to retire two years earlier but she refused. When she died, she had survived four bouts with cancer and was approaching 90. Term limits would have saved the Court.
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Frankly this is how I feel about Biden. His refusal to step down last year was political malpractice. I also find it sad and depressing. But I am angry.
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What would have saved the court was if voters thought the court was worth saving. The 2016 election was the only election in modern history where the future direction of the Supreme Court was at stake. A vacant seat and the Court tied 4-4.
Too many voters wanted to PREVENT that seat being filled by a Democrat. Some of them were on the left. Most of them were on the right.
But ALL of them chose to use their vote to prevent RBG from leading a 5-4 liberal majority in 2016. Their main goal was to prevent a Democrat victory that would result in a Democrat president filling an empty seat.
Too often people look for Democratic scapegoats. Biden should have stepped aside last year instead of listening to Bernie Sanders and running. (I don’t know that for sure, but I do know that Bernie endorsed Biden the SAME DAY Biden announced he was running for re-election, when he could have been like every other prominent Democrat and waited. Bernie knew and approved.)
RBG should have listened to Obama, the guy who let the Republicans push him around when Scalia’s seat was open?
It’s likely Obama would also have opposed the Dems ending the filibuster for the Supreme Court. Obama stood back and let the Republicans do nothing to allow Scalia’s seat to remain open. Did not even fight.
I trust Bernie, not Obama.
How can we blame RBG for not stepping down when the blame should go to the voters who did not want a Democrat to choose her replacement. The same voters who didn’t want a Democrat to choose Scalia’s replacement.
It’s like blaming Biden, and not John Danforth, for Clarence Thomas. I just don’t get it and never will. We always scapegoat our own and give a pass to the people who are really responsible.
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It is not rational to argue that Ginsburg wasn’t culpable for her failure to step down. Same for Biden. In both cases, hubris, and that’s just not pretty. I’m with Flerp–furious that they have, because of their hubris, put us in this fix.
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Are you furious at Bernie Sanders, too? If he had withheld his support, it’s likely there would have been a progressive challenger and other challengers.
How come right wingers don’t spend their time being mad at Scalia for not stepping down before Obama was president? They didn’t spend their time trashing Scalia, they fought to make sure his seat wasn’t lost.
We have folks still blaming Biden for Clarence Thomas even though he didn’t vote for Clarence Thomas! Meanwhile, the Republicans weren’t trashing John McCain in 2008 because he voted to confirm RBG.
Bernie wrote an op ed and Trump was shot at and the Democrats did the OPPOSITE of what Bernie Sanders suggested. Trashed Biden even more.
After the worst trashing in modern history by his own party, Biden is still within striking distance. Imagine where he’d be if he had been treated like Trump, with all his past issues “old news” that is no longer relevant to talk about.
If the open convention demanded by the people who rejected Bernie’s appeal doesn’t result in a win, but in a bigger loss than the close race we have now, then Bernie told you so.
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haaaaa! well said
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“Always tease, tease. tease…” Excellent choice.
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That’s just what all the top Dems are doing today. They are saying, go. I suspect that Biden will announce that he is stepping down any day now. Seems pretty clear that that is what is happening. Clear to rational persons, that is.
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Maybe Biden is waiting for some assurances that this isn’t a ploy to throw Kamala under the bus, too, and install the candidate who the big donors want.
I think the narrative is about to get very ugly. Young people aren’t going to vote for the candidate the big donors pick. Traditional Democratic voters may not show up knowing Kamala got dumped for the choice of white billionaires. Especially if that becomes the narrative out of the convention because Kamala is thrown under the bus.
That’s why I think any dump Kamala move has to come with her getting a Supreme Court appointment.
But I apologize for the speculation because you already know Kamala will be the nominee.
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I’m irritated (and that is me being nice — if I wrote what I’m really thinking, Diane would have to delete my comment) with anyone demanding Biden step down because he’s 81. I think he was deliberately exposed to an allergen before the that debate to trigger his allergies – it would be easy to do and not get caught and the reaction is almost instantaneous.
And I KNOW what I’m talking about.
The reason I think that way is because I watched the video of Biden at a campaign rally the day after the debate. Biden was an entirely different person.
Instead of causing this rift in the Democrat Party, democrats should stand strong as one, unified to defeat Traitor Trump.
Many voters who may agree that Biden is too old, who will vote for him anyway, will be voting against Trump, not for Biden.
Replacing Biden with Kamal Harris at this stage of the election is poor judgment (again I’m being nice). For those who read this that don’t know me, I’m a US Marine and combat vet who was also a public-school teacher for thirty years in schools with a child poverty rate of 70% or higher in a community dominated by dangerous multi-generational street gangs, and believe me, my profanity might cause a serial killer to blush.
When I heard some of my students throwing the F word around like confetti at a birthday party, I told them they should be embarrassed because they didn’t know how to cuss creatively.
Anyway, back to why I’m irritated with all this BS about Biden stepping down and replacing him with Kamala Harris.
She is his VP. If he can’t do his job for any reason, she will become the president anyway.
Instead of putting all this public pressure (which is fuel for headlines) on Biden during the campaign, they should sit down with him behind closed doors and ask him to agree to step down if at any point during his second term he can no longer function and let Kamals replace him as presdient.
That is why the United States has VP.
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Lloyd,
Everything you say is absolutely common sense. But Dems like to shoot themselves in the foot, so it will be ignored.
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The entire episode has been tawdry. The debate was bad enough, but the response of the Biden team did nothing to rebuild confidence after it was revealed that two radio stations with black listeners conducted interviews with questions developed by Biden’s team along with 72 hours of public silence as democratic law makers and party members begged for evidence that the debate would be a one off. Then Democratic law makers began to break ranks with many only willing to do so as anonymous sources. Political cowardice is forever bi-partisan. The constant carping is understandable when a majority of Democrats love Joe Biden, but none of the visuals, speeches or interviews have put people’s minds at ease. Then the head to head polling along with polls on the perspectives of Democrats have made it abundantly clear that confidence in Biden has vaporized. The next steps are critical if Democrats are to recover and the hubris among the politically ambitious has got to take a back seat to a fair process for selecting the nominee. Some have made such proposals, but I’m not particularly confident that institutional Democrats know how to get this done. My only consolation is that Hubert Humphrey overcame such wrangling to come very close to defeating Nixon who was not yet understood as a crook. It is very clear that most Americans do not want Biden or Trump. Democrats have a chance to go into the fall with meaningful momentum while the DC court pours through all of Trump’s dirty laundry regarding January 6th. This also depends on Biden’s ability to give his last great gift by helping the new candidate prepare for the campaign by not appearing bitter. It’s going to be a long four months.
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The bottom line is that a LOT of IN THE KNOW Democratic leaders–ones with their fingers on the political pulse–lifetime politicians whose professional business is partly to know what the electorate is thinking–are now pretty clear about the fact that if Biden continues as the nominee, they lose in November. These include Schumer, Schiff, Pelosi, Jeffries, and Obama. And many of them have come to this conclusion a) because of Biden’s extremely low approval ratings; b) because of his abysmal polling; c) because of his recent obvious difficulties in public with moving about, speaking clearly, and remembering things; and, perhaps most damning of all, d) because of their recent IN PERSON interactions with the man, which have convinced them that he is not up to the job anymore. It’s time. He needs to step aside now. And to some commenters on this blog, denial is not a river in Egypt. It’s living in an alternative-facts, wish fulfillment fantasy land.
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This is all terribly sad. It obviously grieves this man, who has done so much good for his country, to have to do this, and I grieve with him. But the facts are the facts, and he and we must face them. Once again, the precautionary principle tells us that it would be extremely irresponsible for Biden to stay in given the high probability, if he does that, of catastrophe–of another presidency handed to the breathtakingly dangerous, ignorant, foolish, and evil criminal, predator, and traitor Donald Trump.
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Related to this is the fact that this is not a media-driven phenomenon. Rather, the media frenzy after the debate has been driven by a steady and increasing stream of leaks from Dem politicians and their staff trying to get the story of the party’s internal discontent out in the public to pressure Biden. And the party’s internal discontent has been driven by reality, i.e. the now unavoidable public knowledge that Biden is not up to the task, combined with public polling showing Dem voters want a new candidate for this battle for “democracy itself.”
from the ground up, i.e. by a showing
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I live in Bernie Sanders’ alternate reality. You can live in Obama’s. Obama also gave up on universal health insurance BEFORE he even tried to fight for it. And he gave up on Biden as fast as he gave up on replacing Scalia.
I agree that if don’t want to fight, we should just give up.
People here can’t even agree on a candidate! Have you noticed a certain person expressing doubts about Kamala Harris over and over again? What do you think will happen when those doubts that “many” Dems have are front page coverage in September and October?
I think Kamala is most likely to be president by electing Biden and having her step up.
I agree with you she HAS to be the nominee if Biden steps down. But I disagree with you that people won’t have tremendous doubts about her and that she won’t be trashed so that they don’t vote for her. Read closely at the doubts expressed here by people you respect about Kamala and multiply that 100,000x fold because that’s what the NYT will be reporting. Or maybe they will treat her like a Republican instead of a Dem, but I won’t hold my breath.
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Not sure if you’re responding to me but if you are I don’t understand what you’re saying.
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Alcohol Problems and Solutions: facts about alcohol and health (pinterest.com)
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Alcohol use disorder – Diagnosis and treatment – Mayo Clinic
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The two of you mean girl bullying again just makes you both look small.
Heather B and Heather f!, I give up. Boy do I miss GregB.
I find it interesting that when Heather B and Heather f! start their bullying, that there aren’t a lot of other folks here joining in, except one.
There are times I find other people annoying and they find me annoying, but most of us are grown ups and can deal.
I will be pleasantly surprised if no one here posts out of context video clips or links to right wing twitter feeds that make Kamala Harris look bad, and unfit to lead. If my saying that means it won’t happen, then the nasty replies I expect to get now will be worth it.
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Here’s my take–published last week in Ohio papers and online:
President Joe: Make Harris President!
by Jack Burgess
Dear President Biden: Thank you for your service—in Congress, as Vice President, and as President! You’ve had a heck of a career and contributed greatly to our country! You gave a strong assist to helping America elect its first black President, Barack Obama. With him you pulled America out of the Great Recession—bank failures, auto industry collapse—then passed the Affordable Care Act providing health insurance to 20 million uninsured, and more. As President, you’ve made significant strides to improve our economy—Build Back Better—helped those stuck with unreasonable student loans, got us through Covid, lowered unemployment, and more. But as an octogenarian myself, I know how hard it can be to keep up sometimes. I’ve had to step down from mowing my own grass—a job I actually liked—shorten my daily walks, and cut back on the size of the weights I lift. Father Time takes a toll on all of us. You and I are no exceptions. So, though you’ve still got the brains to think through the nation’s problems, it’s clear you’re having trouble expressing your answers and defending the record.
But standing right next to you is someone who can help. Can solve the problem. I’m speaking of Vice President Harris!
I know you’re busy, so I’ll get right to the point: Turn the government over to Vice President Harris. Resign. I say this not as a critic, but one who supported you in the past, but who now sees defeating the authoritarian opposition—a national disaster in the making–as absolutely essential. Give America’s majority—women—their first President. You’ll be a hero to millions of us who think it’s way passed time for that to happen. You’ll go out in style, as the ground-breaker you’ve been. You were the first Vice President to serve with a person of color. You were the first Presidential candidate to get elected with a woman Vice President. Now you can take the final step in that process—by creating a Harris presidency.
And Harris can be re-elected. I know she’s gotten some bad press—mostly because you sent her to the Mexican border with no more ability than anyone else to solve the problem no one can solve—stopping hungry, out-of-work people from coming into the USA. But I’m sure you remember how she stood up to you in that big debate in 2019—as the former little girl in California who had to ride a school bus as part of racial desegregation. Harris’ tough debating skills have been with her from the beginning, as she rose to such accomplishments as becoming California’s Attorney General, then a U.S. Senator, never afraid to take on powerful politicians, including other US Senators, and questionable court nominations such as Brett Kavanaugh. A lot of voters—men as well as women—would love to see her debate former President Trump, himself never very smooth, and now showing his years.
I know others are counseling you to not seek the nomination and let, or help, Harris win it. But she might not win that nomination. There’s still a lot of prejudice against a woman candidate for President—especially after the loss by Hillary Clinton. But if she were already President, she would almost surely be nominated to continue. Vice Presidents don’t always get nominated, but no party in modern times has denied the nomination to a sitting President.
So you could be a hero of the women’s movement—and don’t forget, women are the majority of voters. Most women and millions of men would rally to the cause of supporting America’s first woman President. And you would be the one making it happen.
Do it. Millions will help. It would shake up the process now trending toward disaster!
Jack Burgess is a retired teacher of America & Global Studies who has served in presidential campaigns from 1960 to the present.
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Emerson College Polling:
“Among Democratic Primary voters, 64% think Biden should not withdraw, while 36% think he should. 64% of Republican Primary voters think Biden should withdraw, 36% think he should not.
A majority of white (54%) and Hispanic (55%) voters think Biden should withdraw, while a majority of Black voters (65%) think he should not.
About 60% of voters under 50 think Biden should withdraw while 60% of voters over 60 think he should not.
Breakdown by age (60% of voters 18-29 think Biden should withdraw, 61% of voters in their 30s, 57% in their 40s, 54% in their 50s, 39% in their 60s, and 42% of those over 70 think Biden should withdraw.)”
I don’t get the rationale that the Dems must ignore the wishes of their most staunch voters.
64% of primary voters wanted Biden to stay, but the elite are forcing him out so that they can choose the nominee.
The fallout and divisiveness is likely why Bernie wasn’t roaring to get this to happen. Or Bernie just liked what Biden was doing and wanted him to continue.
Why would 64% of Republican primary voters want Biden to withdraw when he is supposedly guaranteed to give their candidate Trump a victory? I don’t think it is because Trump voters love America and are worried that an unfit candidate would be bad for America. Maybe they know Biden is more likely to beat Trump than another candidate.
https://emersoncollegepolling.com/july-2024-swing-state-polls/
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Rebecca Solnit:
“Who’s behind Biden and who’s not has, overall, with yes lots of exceptions, but still overall a divide along race and class lines. What I’m hearing from organizers is that the people who actually are committed to getting out the vote and a lot of ordinary people across the country are behind him; what I’m seeing online and in the news is that a lot of high-profile elites and insiders are the ones who are really poll-driven and panicking and trying to hound him out. And Black women in the Democratic Party and Black Democrats in Congress seem, overall, to really have his back. Here’s James Clyburn answering every question with “We are ridin’ with Biden” and a bunch of others. I think they know that the election isn’t decided by July polls; it’s decided by how strong the get-out-the-vote is and how clear the message to the grassroots. And clearly Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, is behind Biden.
Just in from The Hill: More than 1,400 Black women and allies have indicated their support for President Biden and Vice President Harris in a letter released Thursday.
Highlighting the fact that millions of Americans cast ballots for Biden and Harris in the primary, the women said attempts to change the ticket “disregard” and “circumvent the will of millions of voters who participated in a democratic process.” The letter is signed by Black powerhouses like Carol Moseley Braun, the first African American woman elected to the senate; Keisha Lance Bottoms, former senior adviser to Biden and former mayor of Atlanta; and Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable. https://thehill.com/…/4780486-black-women-biden-harris…/
End quote.
There is something unseemly about all the mainstream articles about how big donors are threatening the Dems to get rid of Biden.
It feels to me that the Dems are in danger of actually doing the very thing that they were falsely accused of doing in 2016. The majority of Democratic voters don’t want Biden to step down, but because the elites do, they will force him out.
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There is something unseemly about all the mainstream articles about how big donors are threatening the Dems to get rid of Biden.
There is something unseemly about suggesting that it’s just big donors who want Biden to step aside. AGAIN, a LOT of the Democratic leadership, including Pelosi, Schumer, Schiff, Jefferies, and Obama, are saying, Joe, it’s time.
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“Among Democratic Primary voters, 64% think Biden should not withdraw” – from the Emerson College Poll.
All Democrats are equal, but some Democrats are more equal than others?
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Roughly two-thirds of Democratic voters say President Joe Biden should withdraw from the 2024 race and allow someone else to take his place at the top of the ticket, according to a new survey conducted by the Associated Press.
That sentiment is especially strong among young Democratic voters, with roughly three-quarters of Democrats under 45 saying they would like him to step aside. About 60% of those 45 and older say the same.
Additionally, only 3 in 10 voters say they are “extremely” or “very” confident in Biden’s mental capacity to serve out a second term, down from the 40% who said the same in February.
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Democrats calling for Biden to step aside: Tracking updates and reactions (nbcnews.com)
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