If Biden believes the most important thing, which was one of his clearest points last night, is preventing Trump from being POTUS again, he steps aside on his own.
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âŚunless Biden believes that thereâs no one else on the Demsâ back bench who can win against Trump.
The Guardian focused on potential alternatives to Biden as well. Not sure the âreplace Bidenâ movement has any traction as Biden seems to be oblivious to how he is perceived.
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The number 1 concern Americans have with Biden is his age. Everyone knows this, including Biden. The only thing Biden accomplished last night was to reinforce their concern.
We canât wait until September on the hope that Biden somehow changes that in the second debate. Trump will just decline to show up.
I donât see a path for Biden unless something catastrophic happens to Trump. If that happens, anyone the Democrats put out will also win.
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I did not watch just skimmed the transcript this morning.
- Biden is old, check. Even evident in the transcript.
- Trump lies, check. Iâm not sure he can tell the truth.
Shouldnât headlines make both those statements?
Relative to expectations Trump lied as much as expected. There was hope Biden would come out less old than expected but he came out much older than expected.
And Trump was able to lie so much because he was debating against the oldest guy in the nursing home. If Biden hadnât stubbornly chosen to be there Iâd feel bad for the guy.
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Yikes.
Did anyone else watch and day dreamed how much different it would have gone if a Pete Buttigieg was on that stage? Just performance wise, Iâm not saying America is ready for a gay President. Just fantasizing about a world where the contestant could use a proxy, a champion to defend their honor. Like GoT. Just dreaming.
But, Yikes.
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If Biden is still as politically astute as I hope he is, when the dust settles heâll have that awareness.
I suspect he knew going in that he had to demonstrate that the concerns about his age were overstated. I also suspect that his performance suffered in part because he was exhausted from debate prep.
If he really is that oblivious, howeverâŚhonestly, I think thatâd be an additional sign that itâs time for him to retireâŚor to consider the 25th Amendment.
My preference for the upcoming election has been âanybody but Trumpâ. However, if I only had last night (plus an awareness of Trumpâs issues) to go onâŚI donât know that I could objectively hold that opinion.
Interesting that weâre so comfortable with Trump lying that it barely earns a mention.
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I mean, it was hardly even a debate.
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At this point âTrump liesâ isnât newsworthyâŚand Biden didnât exactly have good marks when it comes to fact-checking either.
However, up until last night, it was possible to wave off Bidenâs age as not being much worse than Trumpâs. I donât think that can be done anymore.
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Here is a question.
Some of Bidenâs early responses were just incoherent. Trump at one point said âI donât know what that means, I am not sure even Joe knows what he is sayingâ and left it at that. Was Trump being restrained in letting that play out? Given he couldnât let some other things go, why did he do it with that? Was Trump even aware, or even listening to anything Biden was saying?
I wondered that too. I think a sharper Trump would have been more aware that Biden was imploding and would have made a bigger deal of it. My sense was he was too focused on what he himself was saying.
Just saw this:
[MSN](Bloomberg via MSN - Democrats Question Replacing Biden: Hereâs How It Could Work)
For those who don't like clicking on links
Is there a precedent?
Yes. Most recently, President Lyndon Johnson decided not to seek re-nomination for a second full term in 1968, as Vietnam War protests mounted. In an Oval Office speech, Johnson made the surprise announcement that âI shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.â
But that was at the end of March â extremely late even before the modern nomination calendar became as front-loaded as it is today. Unlike Johnson, Biden has already secured enough delegates for the nomination.
Can Biden be removed from the ticket?
It would be difficult. Biden faced minimal opposition in his partyâs primaries and has secured 99% of the pledged delegates to the convention. Those delegates will be chosen in large part for their loyalty to the president. Absent extraordinary circumstances â and a backup plan â itâs unlikely they would remove him from the ticket.
Any challenger to Biden would have to announce his or her candidacy before the formal vote, publicly challenging the incumbent in a high-stakes attempted party coup.
How soon must a decision be made?
Soon.
The Democratic National Committee had already planned to move up Bidenâs nomination via a phoned-in roll call ahead of the convention to satisfy an Aug. 7 ballot deadline in Ohio. The Republican-led Ohio legislature has extended that deadline, but the Democratic Chairman Jaime Harrison has said the party will go forward with the early roll call anyway, making the convention â which begins August 19 â a mere formality.
What if Biden steps down after the convention?
The decision to replace him would be made by the members of the DNC. But then the party would face another hurdle: Printed ballots with Bidenâs name already on them.
Laws vary by state about how a vote for Biden would be counted if heâs no longer the nominee, but his votes would likely go to his replacement when the Electoral College meets.
Who are the possible successors?
Vice President Kamala Harris is the most logical heir apparent, but it wouldnât be automatic.
Other candidates waiting in the wings â who deferred to Biden and continue to publicly support him â include California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
None of those candidates have polled any better against Trump than Biden does, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of seven battleground states.
What about the money?
Modern presidential campaigns are hugely expensive undertakings, and financial considerations would play no small role.
Bidenâs campaign and party had $212 million cash on hand at the end of May, and that money would be available to Harris should she take over the top of the ticket. Any other candidate would likely have to start from scratch.
Bidenâs campaign and the Democratic Party have already spent about $346 million trying to re-elect Biden. Picking another candidate could require spending even more money to introduce a new name to voters.
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The access to money ends this debate of a replacement on the ticket unless it is Harris. Replacing Biden means a concerted media blitz. How much would that cost, an additional $250m minimum?
I appreciate the ones that always lie and the ones that always tell the truth. Itâs the ones that mix it up you have to watch out for!
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How many millions of campaign dollars spent were destroyed in 90 minutes last night?
Unelectable is unelectable no matter how much money exists. The question is - are we at that point? If nothing changes, yes.
Which is the kind of thinking that deludes people into making bad decisions.
Or, doing narcissistic stuff.
Or, both.