2024 USA Election: Wishin' and Hopin'

[Fitzcarraldo]

Only in America is it considered somehow impossible to change anything a few months out.

I believe we're talking about an American election.

It is not possible to remove your doubt. I have my own kind of doubt. Give me a name of a Democratic savior who can defeat Trump. The sacred polls have not revealed one.

[filghy2]

Give me a name of a Democratic savior who can defeat Trump. The sacred polls have not revealed one.

I refer you to my previous answer. It doesn't have to be the messiah, just someone with fewer downsides and more upside than the current guy. Being able to complete sentences seems like a basic requirement for a candidate.

For obvious reasons, nobody is going to step up unless Biden indicates he's willing to step down, so that's a circular argument.

I'm not sure who the best replacement would be, but I think we are at the stage where it's better to acknowledge the problem and try to do something, rather than remain in denial and keep sleepwalking toward disaster. "Ignore all the bad polls, we are doing fine" is not a very good strategy for winning elections.

Also, if you really believe that it doesn't matter if Biden can't serve until 2029 because Harris can take over, then aren't you effectively saying that she would be a reasonable replacement?

You are also missing the point that there is huge downside risk here. Biden has clearly declined over the past 4 years, so there's no reason to think it can't get worse. It's common in elderly people for decline to start out gradually and then accelerate at some point.

If Biden is your messiah, perhaps you might explain to us non-believers how you think he can rise from the dead.

[Fitzcarraldo]

You can't provide a name of a viable candidate. No one has. The Democrats have had 4 years to come up with an alternative, they have had polls telling them voters think Biden is too old, and they have had polls telling them voters don't want a Biden/Trump rematch. They have not produced a viable alternative.

I know you like imagining that there's a better candidate out there, but you can't name one.

Biden isn't my vision of a messiah, but he did save us from Trump in 2020, and he has actually been the best president of my lifetime, although no one wants to give him credit. And he has put himself out there as a candidate. Now he doesn't even get credit for that.

[KnightHawk 2.0]

Twenty Democratic Representatives have called for President Joe Biden to step aside,however none of them have up come up a viable candidate to replace him at the top of the ticket. Over a year ago President Joe Biden announced his campaign for reelection,and if the Democratic Representatives didn't think that he wasn't up too the task of serving and completing a second term?,they should have expressed their concerns and chosen another candidate,one they thought had a better chance of defeating Donald Trump over a year ago. And with the election only three and a half months away,it is too late to replace him and nominate another candidate. The Democratic National Convention is over a month away,where President Joe Biden will more than likely win the nomination. And all this bickering and nitpicking within the Democratic Party isn't helping them,it's doing the opposite.

[KnightHawk 2.0]

Here's what Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had to say: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...ing-rcna161714

[Fitzcarraldo]

This will complicate matters:
https://apnews.com/live/election-bid...tes-07-13-2024

(Link title is misleading. At current time, it provides live updates regarding someone apparently shooting at Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.)

[KnightHawk 2.0]

This will complicate matters:
https://apnews.com/live/election-bid...tes-07-13-2024

(Link title is misleading. At current time, it provides live updates regarding someone apparently shooting at Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.)

Yeah it definitely will.

[filghy2]

You can't provide a name of a viable candidate. No one has. The Democrats have had 4 years to come up with an alternative, they have had polls telling them voters think Biden is too old, and they have had polls telling them voters don't want a Biden/Trump rematch. They have not produced a viable alternative.

I know you like imagining that there's a better candidate out there, but you can't name one.

Biden isn't my vision of a messiah, but he did save us from Trump in 2020, and he has actually been the best president of my lifetime, although no one wants to give him credit. And he has put himself out there as a candidate. Now he doesn't even get credit for that.

And you can't explain how Biden can turn things around, or how he's going to be able to do the job for another 4 years.

It's weird that you are blaming this situation on everyone but the man primarily responsible. Biden announced he was running again in April 2023, preempting any viable alternative. Nobody wanted to run because no sitting president has failed to get the nomination if they wanted it, and if they had run they would have been panned by people like you for undermining the president. There was no process for finding the best candidate - it came down to one man's decision.

If Biden had recognised the realities of his age and condition last year he could have ended his career with dignity and the party would have had an orderly process to determine the best successor. Now those things are almost impossible.

You are also exaggerating Biden's electoral appeal. He won the Electoral College quite narrowly last time, despite getting huge help from the pandemic. No pandemic and Trump would almost certainly have won. Biden has much bigger negatives now.

[Fitzcarraldo]

And you can't explain how Biden can turn things around, or how he's going to be able to do the job for another 4 years.

He can't turn it around. Nothing will satisfy the naysayers, as you well demonstrate, even though you can't vote in the election. He may be able to do the job for another 4 years, or he may not. That's why there's a well-established succession plan.

Joe Biden is the acted, electing president. He followed the rules and went through the primary process. There was one challenger who made no impact and whose name I've already forgotten. How is it Joe Biden's fault that his party has neither truly opposed him or truly supported him?

I am not exaggerating Biden's electoral appeal--I am saying that I have seen no alternative who does better. But he won the electoral college and had a large margin in popular vote. Any Democrat will have difficulty with the electoral college.

[filghy2]

How is it Joe Biden's fault that his party has neither truly opposed him or truly supported him?

They were supporting him until two weeks ago - maybe too uncritically. You seem to be in some parallel universe where you can't see any problem with a declining 81 year old running for President.

Anyway, there's no point in further discussion as we're just going round in circles. The Trump shooting is going to shift attention away from this for a while. Things were ugly enough already; now it's likely to get even worse.