Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/28/swap-out-biden-morning-joe-co-hosts-butt-heads-reflecting-democratic-panic-after-disastrous-debate-video.html
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Beau put out a video that made me feel a little better this morning.
tldw : yeah Biden did poorly, but Trump didn’t do what he needed to do either. He needed to play nice and convince undecided and independent voters that he isn’t a monster, and he didn’t.
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It’s a little late to act surprised that Biden is old
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Realistically, the Dems options are limited. The primaries are over, and nearly every delegate is pledged to Biden. The only way to change that is if he voluntarily steps aside and either directs his delegates to support a different candidate or throws it to a contested convention. Either of which will raise concerns of an undemocratically selected candidate, and a return to the “smoke-filled rooms” of the past.
My dream scenario is that Biden steps aside, the DNC holds a last-minute nationwide primary following 1-2 emergency debates, and Biden pledges his delegates to whomever comes out on top of that contest. I doubt that’s possible, and it would certainly be expensive to arrange on such short notice, but that path would give us a new candidate with at least some input from the electorate.
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Biden’s going to be the candidate, and that’s all there is to it. The idea that all we need is Johnny Unbeatable to sweep in and grab universal acclaim is a fantasy, and a badly constructed one.
Biden has been a better than average president, and his opponent is a guy who idolizes Hitler.
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Yeah, definitely no great options there, but the one thing that the party does have at the moment is a little bit of time. As the Pod Save America guys pointed out, if this was a post-convention debate there would be no point in even having a conversation about replacing Biden. But Biden chose to schedule this debate as the earliest in presidential campaign history, with more than 7 weeks to go until the convention. In their estimation now would be the time to have that conversation, if Biden is open to it. Definitely no way to force him out if he’s determined to stay in the race.
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I’m still Ridin’ with Biden, but wow … last night’s performance was shockingly bad. I told my wife afterward (she can’t stand watching debates; makes her too nervous) that Trump obliterated Biden with a wall of solid lies. If anyone is bothering to read a fact-checking report today, Biden won, but on pure optics, it was a slaughter.
Back to writing postcards…Go Joe!
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Swap out Biden? After just one bad night??
Hell no! Why so defeatist?
To be honest, I don’t give a damn that Biden had a cold and did a lousy job; as someone who has to get up on stages more than most of you, I know it’s hard and there are off nights. Being sparkly and charismatic onstage has nothing to do with the job of president. If you want to judge his performance as president look at his presidency (and most people actually have no idea of what’s been accomplished beyond a few very high-visibility things; the thousands of ways the administration has acted on, for example, climate are invisible partly because the shitty mainstream media don’t really cover it, and because most people are not really paying attention anyway, which is what gives entertainment bullshit like this debate the outsized weight it shouldn’t have).
And getting him elected is not just his job; it’s the job of everyone who recognizes the choice at hand: the alternative is armageddon with a smirk, an end to democracy in America, a sabotage of our chance of doing anything about climate. Elections are made by widespread participation–as grassroots organizers, donors, and voters–not by one person. And your participation is not a gift to that one person; it’s your work to shape the world you live in, on behalf of all of us.
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Why would Democrats listen to a Republican? Just because he’s on MSNBC doesn’t change Joe’s background.
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I don’t think a Biden replacement is likely at this point but just for funsies I wonder who the Dems have in the wings who would be ready to go if they were drafted for 2024.
- Gavin Newsom has clearly had his eyes on the job, but he’s got some personal baggage that’s gonna make it awkward if and when he shows up on the national stage (like how his ex-wife is currently engaged to the son of the man he’d be running against in 2024).
- Harris is the obvious pick as Biden’s VP but she’d need to win over a lot of voters who haven’t been impressed with her so far.
- Bernie is a non-starter if the rationale for booting Biden is his age.
- Trump has already succeeded in launching effective (if inane/hateful/childish) attacks against other former Democratic Presidential hopefuls like Elizabeth Warren, and most of them are also getting up there in years now.
- Pete Buttigieg maybe?
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Man, I was really hoping that she’d win the 2020 primary. First candidate that I ever donated to during the primaries. But yeah, seems pretty unlikely that she would step in at this point for various reasons.
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Right? I’ve noticed that those expressing the firmest conviction that Biden should step down are usually Republicans. It plays into the narrative they and the corporate media have been building that a man just 3 years older (and a hell of a lot more fit) than Tromp is too old to be president. And what also plays into that narrative is Democrats also wringing their hands and pulling out their hair over who might replace him (as if he should, “of course!,” step down, after just one bad night).
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Keep on an eye on JB Pritzker. He’s done a thoroughly amazing job as IL governor, made smart economic decisions at just about every turn while also being progressive as hell at every opportunity. He’s a genuinely decent guy who also happens to be an actual billionaire who could ease any fundraising concerns pretty easily.
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Sure, for 2028. But it ain’t happening this time around, unless Biden genuinely strokes out or otherwise suddenly cannot carry on.
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But not now, because then we’d have President Harris! (Which is honestly what a lot of the right-wingers’ hand-wringing about Biden’s age has always been about, they’re terrified of the possibility that a Black woman could get the job.)
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Yeah, Dems need to hold the line, not run off in a panic like their fair-weather Never Trumper “allies.”
The Biden Campaign has way more money than T****. Plus, T**** diverts most of it to paying lawyers and fines.
Fundraising is not an issue.
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Nobody was more surprised at how good he’s turned out than me. I supported an opponent of his in the primary when he first ran in 2018 and thought he was another rich dick trying to buy an office, but I’ve been proven wrong thoroughly since then. He’s turned out to be a gem on just about every front.
I didn’t think there was any realistic chance Biden would decline the nomination a few months ago, but I don’t think that’s true any more. I hope last night is not an indicator of what’s ahead for Biden, but I also hope Pritzker is at the top of the list if the need arises.
Fucking gerontocracy. I like Biden and think he’s done a lot of good work. And I could only watch about 2 minutes of Trump’s meandering stream of lies. But why is the country run by a bunch of geriatrics at this point?
I despair.
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Beau says both parties’ leaderships need to make some difficult decisions / have conversations.
Maybe true of the Dems but what leadership for the repugnicons? There is none. It’s all ‘cult of Trump’ - it is no longer a Republican party, with leaders. Any GQP ‘leaders’ have only one decision: Do I lick his ass, and if so, just how enthusiastically am I prepared to do it.
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