The Biden Presidency

"The paradox of Biden’s poll numbers among Democrats is that there is no complaint about how he runs the government.The further paradox is that there is no movement to supplant Biden. There is no faction of the party that seeks to remove him. There is no group within the Congress that seeks to topple him. There is no credible person running against him or contemplating a campaign against him. There is no king across the sea. There is no Bonnie Prince Charlie ready to invade. There are no pretenders to the throne. There is none of that. The poll numbers as a party matter are hollow."
Democrats need to realize that there is no alternative to Biden – and buck up (yahoo.com)

A fair article, with one significant flaw- if he drops dead of a heart attack on Thanksgiving weekend, what happens next?

It's bizarre. Everyone complains that he's too old and they don't want to see him run again, but no one is stepping up. He's actually achieved some impressive things (infrastructure bill, CHIPS Act, and silly named "Inflation Reduction Act"), but doesn't even get credit from his own party.

Swing voters won't vote for an Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. No one from the more moderate part of the party seems interested. California governor Gavin Newsom is Biden's biggest cheerleader, but doesn't admit to contemplating a run before 2028.

The 'no alternative' argument is a bit circular because if Biden was put out of action by a health issue alternatives would emerge. I think the main reason they haven't is that nobody wants to risk being seen as the person who split the party and helped Trump to win again.

Every time a sitting President has faced a serious challenge in recent decades their party has lost the subsequent election. To be fair, however, they only faced a serious challenge because they were already in political difficulties so we can't be sure of the counterfactual.
https://www.vox.com/2023/9/12/238682...hallenge-polls

It's puzzling that Biden's approval rating has fallen so low (currently 38%) when objective measures suggest that things have been improving. Violent crime seems to have fallen back to pre-pandemic levels. Inflation has fallen to just over 3% without a recession (ie the elusive soft landing seems close to being achieved).

Some people say that prices haven't come down, but that never happened in previous episodes either. That didn't stop Reagan from receiving the credit in the 1980s, even though there was a severe recession early in his Presidency.

One thing that's been highlighted in many discussions is that there's a wide gap between peoples' assessments of their own circumstances and their views on how the country is doing, which doesn't seem to make sense in aggregate. According to the poll shown below, 56% of Americans surveyed thought 2023 was a bad or terrible year for the country, but only 27% said is was bad or terrible for them personally. Not surprisingly, the gap is largest for Republicans, but it's also large for Independents.

Attachment 1442962

Right-wing media and increased partisanship are obviously part of the story, but that doesn't explain the Independents. Maybe it's to do with the way mainstream media reports things; eg emphasising gloom and doom stories because they generate more clicks?

There was Trump's sarcastic praise of Jimmy Carter the other day, saying he was a great President but only when compared to Biden. The basic position taken by Trump and his media mates, is that no evidence is required to dismiss the Biden Presidency as a 'disaster' or 'the worst in American history' etc etc. If you keep saying it then people might believe it, though I have also read that Biden is being encouraged to go on the attack more, particularly as this is an election year.

Yes, on several policy issues, Biden is doing well. But I suspect he and his team yearn for an end to Israel's demolition of Gaza, though what happens when the guns and bombs fall silent is still unknown, the fate of 2 million people yet to be decided; while the idiocy of the Houthi in Yemen may not last as their resources are not as strong as the ones Hamas built up over the last 20 odd years- but they can cause chaos in the Red Sea with attacks that threaten to have the same impact on shipping that Egypt's closure of the Suez Canal had in 1956 and 1967. More important for Yemen is that in such a divided and lawless country there does not appear to be a sufficiently well organized alternative to the Houthi, though it would not surprise me if the 'South' with Aden as its capital secedes again as it did in 1969. It also suggests Saudi Arabia will not be bringing its futile war there to an end, its lukewarm 'rapprochement' with Iran now looking colder and colder.

A turning point in Ukraine's favour doesn't seem to be happening there, so on the foreign policy front, Biden is besieged by negative stories in the media, and wars he cannot control. though the idea none of this would have happened had Trump been President is risible.

I watched the State of the Union speech live, and thought it was a good performance for 'Smokin' Joe' Biden, given some feared he would forget the name of his wife, introduce Sweden's Prime Minister as the PM from Finland, and just stop talking for a few seconds while trying to remember where he is. It was noticeable that the Republican Speaker rarely stood up, was an object lesson in facial expressions, mostly negative, but gelled with the stark divisions in the Congress that merely consolidate how badly ruptured the American polity has become.

Will it help Joe's ratings? I think so, but maybe not as much as his supporters would like.

I did also watch some of Senator Kai Britt's response, which has occasioned much mocker. Sitting in a kitchen with all that heavy breathing was almost comical, until you realise she is a Senator, not a reject from Loose Women (UK version of The View). It must have been bad when her own party is in dismay over it. But then they are also in dismay with Trump, they just won't admit it.

‘What the Hell Am I Watching’: Republicans Torch Their Own SOTU Rebuttal (yahoo.com)

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Originally Posted by Stavros

I watched the State of the Union speech live, and thought it was a good performance for 'Smokin' Joe' Biden, given some feared he would forget the name of his wife, introduce Sweden's Prime Minister as the PM from Finland, and just stop talking for a few seconds while trying to remember where he is. It was noticeable that the Republican Speaker rarely stood up, was an object lesson in facial expressions, mostly negative, but gelled with the stark divisions in the Congress that merely consolidate how badly ruptured the American polity has become.

Will it help Joe's ratings? I think so, but maybe not as much as his supporters would like.

I did also watch some of Senator Kai Britt's response, which has occasioned much mocker. Sitting in a kitchen with all that heavy breathing was almost comical, until you realise she is a Senator, not a reject from Loose Women (UK version of The View). It must have been bad when her own party is in dismay over it. But then they are also in dismay with Trump, they just won't admit it.

‘What the Hell Am I Watching’: Republicans Torch Their Own SOTU Rebuttal (yahoo.com)

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I also watched the State Of The Union address last night,and thought that President Joe Biden did a phenomenal job of delivering the speech,and how he handled the immature heckling from the MAGA Caucus,and that childish stunt by Marjorie-Qanon Trollette-Taylor Greene,and all of them kept falling into his traps,because they know he's telling the truth about them. And the Speaker In Name Only MAGA Mike Johnson looked very uncomfortable,and didn't want to be there. Alabama Senator Kai Britt's response the SOTU was overscripted and fell completely flat. No they sure don't.

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Originally Posted by Stavros

I did also watch some of Senator Kai Britt's response, which has occasioned much mocker. Sitting in a kitchen with all that heavy breathing was almost comical, until you realise she is a Senator, not a reject from Loose Women (UK version of The View). It must have been bad when her own party is in dismay over it. But then they are also in dismay with Trump, they just won't admit it.

‘What the Hell Am I Watching’: Republicans Torch Their Own SOTU Rebuttal (yahoo.com)

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The claim now is that Senator Britt is a liar -who'd a thunk it? Isn't it now de rigeur for the Party of Trump?

Journalist says Katie Britt’s story about child sex abuse ‘out-and-out lie’ | Republicans | The Guardian

I'm still waiting for Liberals to stay true to their word about supporting us POC and stepping down from their various positions in favor of POC...
I.E., "Walk your talk"....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stavros

The claim now is that Senator Britt is a liar -who'd a thunk it? Isn't it now de rigeur for the Party of Trump?

Journalist says Katie Britt’s story about child sex abuse ‘out-and-out lie’ | Republicans | The Guardian

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Yes it is. Everything Katie Britt said the Republican Rebuttal was a lie.