jeffwWhy is the pundit class so desperate to push Biden out of the race?
anticolonialistThe media DNC is once again repeating the mistakes of 2016
blindbunny2016 1968
mozzTwo different groups can be fucking things up in depressingly familiar fashion at once
The DNC and corporate media walk hand in hand… They’re both bought and paid for by the same oligarchy
You better tell the fuckin corporate media that then, because they're definitely not holding up their end of the bargain
I would be surprised if more than 5% of even people who pay attention to the media know about the climate bill or about Biden's impact on the economy. Who do you think is responsible for that? The nation's dogcatchers?
I don’t mean that the media works FOR the DNC… They both work for the oligarchy… If the oligarchy wanted people to know about the climate bill, the media would shove it down our throats 24/7
Personally I think the oligarchy is currently going for as much chaos as possible, driving towards a major culling of the herd through war and the collapse of western society… But hopefully that’s just me
Yep, they think they’ll be safe and just be able to ride it out on their super yachts while we all die over pointless culture war bullshit. They’re probably right.
SternPokemon go to the polls? No. This time we need you to walk tuah polling place and vote on that thang.
ripcordHow high are you right now?
Crazy how systems are in place to commodify the meme within a couple weeks. Already merchandise? Damn this sucks now.
Fucking hell I love the “walk tuah poll.” Damn, I wish I was running my own campaign to use that on right now. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it.
Look who pays their bills.
Obviously because he’s a weak candidate (and has been from the very beginning) in what might well be the highest stakes presidential race in US history.
The debate didn’t suddenly create some notion of his weakness as a candidate - long before the debate, his prospects were already shaky at best, and the Dem establishment had already had to resort to basically trying to guilt trip people into voting for him.
All the debate did as far as any of that goes is drive home the point that people have been trying to make from the beginning - that he is and always has been a weak and uninspiring candidate at best.
And I’d say that rather obviously, if anyone’s repeating the mistakes of 2016, it’s the Dem establishment.
And on a bit of a side note - in response to the author’s smugly self-congratulatory view that the voters are mindless automatoms who just blindly do as the media tells them, I would just like to offer up a hearty, “fuck you.”
Riccosuavegolf clap… Well said.
All the debate did as far as any of that goes is drive home the point that people have been trying to make from the beginning - that he is and always has been a weak and uninspiring candidate at best
And Biden knew it too.
He did less than a tenth of the press conferences as the last two presidents in their first term.
If they wouldn’t have been hiding him, Dem voters would have seen how bad he’s gotten.
Mans was sleepy! 4 years of jet lag.
I should also add that his ABC interview on Friday only intensified my concerns. To me, all it really communicated is that he actually IS so wrapped up in his own ego and hubris that he doesn’t actually get that this is an existential election, and that the consequences for failure are well and truly catastrophic. Like, there’s a good chance we won’t have functional democratic processes anymore if he looses. But he thinks that’s fine because “he will have given it his all”, ignoring the fact that “his all” is shuffling around, trying to compromise with fascists, and bringing a deck of cards to the gunfight that American politics have devolved into these days.
Really, it’s an evolution of the concerns I had in the 2020 elections, which have kind of proven out to be completely true: that despite some clear domestic policy successes, he’s more or less out of touch with the fact that he’s playing with an absurdly outdated rule book, and does not seem to understand that the rules have fundamentally changed. He doesn’t get that a lot of his old bipartisan negotiating tactics are straight up self-defeating these days.
I am genuinely and deeply worried at this point that his refusal to see past his own personal situation in all of this is going to lead to the conclusion of the American experiment in its current incarnation, and replace it with something far, far darker.
sunbrrnslapperI’m glad you mentioned his interview increased your concern. I thought it was just me. I’ll vote for whoever is the Democrat on the ballot - but I’m not the person the campaign should be worried about. They have to put someone on the ballot who can win (which, as damning as it is to America broadly, is probably a good-looking, smooth-talking white guy who will look better on stage than Trump).
Really, it’s an evolution of the concerns I had in the 2020 elections, which have kind of proven out to be completely true: that despite some clear domestic policy successes, he’s more or less out of touch with the fact that he’s playing with an absurdly outdated rule book, and does not seem to understand that the rules have fundamentally changed.
He and the DNC and the Democrat establishment as a whole.
The voters made it clear in 2020 that they didn’t really want him all that much, and arguably the only reason he got the nomination is because the Democrat establishment transparently engineered it by getting all the candidates other than Sanders to all drop out and endorse Biden essentially simultaneously. That gave the establishment the opportunity to push through Biden’s nomination in spite of his glaring weakness as a candidate. They could’ve had a populist to rival Trump, and one that’s notably sane rather than a delusional narcissist and compulsive liar with the emotional maturity of a spoiled five-year-old, but instead they doggedly stuck to the same playbook that in the past brought us such drab losers as Mondale, Dukakis and Kerry, and brought us another drab loser who only barely managed to not lose.
And now here we are, four years down the line, with a drab loser incumbent up against the greatest threat American democracy has ever faced.
The rules clearly changed in 2016. The GOP and the Republican establishment changed to accomodate them (or at least to provide a colorable appearance of doing so). The DNC and the Democrat establishment did not. And now we’re reaping what they sowed.
Biden only appears weak to those not paying attention. He has a strong record of achievements, some you may have missed., not to mention bringing chip manufacturing back to the U.S.. He has skillfully navigated the impending recession to a soft landing and his policies are preferred by both Democrats and Republicans by a wide margin. Many didn’t see him as a great president but his results may prove them wrong. He will go down in history as under appreciated president. Biden is a successful president. Will that matter?
pjwestinBiden’s weak because he’s got a low approval rating, a high disapproval rating, he’s losing badly in every poll, and 80% of voters think he’s too old to be President. Being a strong candidate isn’t about qualified or accomplished you are, it’s about how strong your electoral support is. To those who’ve been paying attention, Biden’s weakness has been apparent for years, and we’ve been raising alarms since he said he would seek reelection.
And none of that carefully manicured astroturf makes the slightest bit of difference.
The Democrat rank and file have been clearly telling the DNC and the rest of the establishment for eight years now that we want a real leftist - somebody who actually represents our values who we can and will rally behind rather than just another establishment hack who’s sort of maybe somewhere to the leftish side of the extremely narrow establishment hack spectrum.
And for the same eight years, the DNC and the rest of the establishment has been alternately ignoring us and telling us that we’re too stupid to understand what’s best for us (just as you’re doing now).
They fucking cost us the election already in 2016, and damned well did again in 2020. And now they’re set to try to do it in 2024.
This election is unlike any other in US history. With overt fascists riding Trump’s coattails, already with a roadmap to destroying democracy and instituting their dictatorship, this isn’t just a choice between potential presidents, but a choice between destroying or saving the US.
So it really doesn’t matter in the slightest what sort of policy achievements a Democrat candidate might or might not have. The ONLY thing that matters is whether or not the candidate will inspire enough voters to win.
That’s it - this time around, winning literally is everything. NOTHING else matters.
And all the DNC and the Democrat establishment has to do to effectively guarantee a win is get the fuck out of the way and let the people choose the candidate they want - the candidate that they’re going to rally behind. That’s what the voters have wanted for eight years now, and it’s long past time for the power brokers and their mouthpieces to back the fuck off and let them.
Now that said, I don’t think the situation is as dire as all that. Trump and his fascist cohorts are such an obvious threat that I think that come November, if the DNC and the rest of the Democrat establishment have gone ahead and decided to gamble the fate of the country on clinging to a weak establishment candidate in spite of eight years of clearly communicated disillusionment from the base, just being “not-Trump” will be enough to likely win anyway, as it was in 2020.
But it’s not a sure thing. A candidate that the people chose and the people rallied behind would be a sure thing, while an establishment hack is just someone who might manage to eke out a win because enough people will hold their noses and vote for them anyway, solely on the “strength” of them being not-Trump.
SuavevillainBreaking out his checklist doesn’t mean anything, even average/working class people are struggling. If he was doing well as folks make him out to be, people would be singing his praises and be ready to stand beside him. He has gained a ton of apathy over 4 years.
Don’t forget he beat Medicare and has golf handicap of 6.
ClinicallydepressedpoochieI get so frustrated, and I’m sure others too, that I’ve been saying this for the entirety of the Biden presidency. Now that it’s 10 minutes to midnight everyone decides to talk about it. My voice had been ignored, I’ve been shutdown and basically forced out of any discussion when I brought this shit up.
The problem isn’t that the media changed. The problem isn’t that the DNC changed. The problem isn’t progressives changed. The problem is the voting public decided just now to actually show. Democracy is dying not because the Republicans ate political juggernauts it’s because Americans can’t get it up unless it’s fucking a giant production.
So you mother fuckers better do everything you fucking can’t to keep Trump out because I cant fucking even with you guys anymore.
I would say that the fact that the DNC hasn’t changed is pretty obviously the main problem.
With the exceptions of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, they’ve been offering up nothing but weak, uninspiring establishment hack candidates for decades now. And 2016 was the year when the base finally said that enough was enough, and they wanted an inspiring candidate who actually shared their values and not just another establishment hack who happened to have a (D) after their name.
And instead of changing to accomodate the clearly expressed preference of the electorate, the DNC dug in their heels and forced the establishment hack on us anyway.
Then after that so deservedly blew up in their faces, they went ahead and did it again in 2020. And they only managed to get away with it that time because Trump had just spent the last four years proving that he’s not just a ridiculous buffoon in clown makeup, but a grotesquely power-hungry buffoon in clown makeup who’s ready and willing to destroy the US because daddy never loved him.
And I’d say that the last four years, and the fact that Trump is back and a bigger threat than ever, pretty clearly illustrates that in spite of the fact that he managed to win, the establishment hack still wasn’t the right choice.
But as far as I can see, the DNC and the Democrat establishment still hasn’t changed. They’re still determined to go with an uninspiring establishment hack and count on some combination of resignation, desperation and guilt to compel enough people to vote for him to hopefully eke out a win.
The entire reason that Trump got support in the first place is that he gave a previously disillusioned and frustrated base what they wanted. The GOP was all set to nominate their own establishment hack - Jeb Bush - but when they saw the way the wind was blowing, they (eventually) got out of the way and let the people pick Trump instead. And it worked, entirely predictably.
There’s a much larger base on the left, including the vast majority of young voters, who are currently disillusioned and frustrated, and the DNC and the Democrat establishment, specifically because they haven’t and apparently won’t change, are missing out on the opportunity they would provide. And this is NOT a time to be missing out on opportunities. This is NOT a time for business as usual. It’s a time to inspire people.
You said it yourself, the issue was appernt in 2016 but all 2020 to to 2024 no one did a god damn thing about it. I’m telling you, if you even tried to reason anyone away from biden conversations were shut down. We can just show up in an election year and make demands. Change has to happen first. We took the W in 2020 when we should have said, “hey thar was too fucking close let’s fix this shit now.”
If we survive 2024, it only be by the skin of our teeth and the DNC will attempt the same shit. Uphold the status quo and ignore an ever more frustrated electorate. We need to secure democracy and then reform the party, and they will go out kicking and screaming.
The only reasonable explanation foe all of this is the DNC and GOP are operating under the assumption of mutually assured destruction. Bidens going down with the ship.
Because Biden is a distasteful choice for president. That being said, there are no other strong options right now so we’re stuck with it.
My naive theory is that Biden plans to drop out as late as possible so that he can take a media beating from the Republicunts and protect the real DNC nominee.
Holy fuck I hope so. I’m voting for whoever is most likely to beat Trump but I really don’t want to vote for this ticket.
Exactly! Blue no matter who (but barely on Biden)
CatoblepasThat would be funny as shit, but like basically everything Dark Brandon adjacent I fear it is more of a cope than reality.
Yeah, I can’t see that helping. You want someone to have as much coverage as possible.
When the DNC “upset” happens, there will be coverage. All the people with half a brain will be relieved and vote blue. Fox will fire up propaganda, but it can’t compare to years of “Biden bad”
This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥Can he do that after arresting supreme court judges? After all, he’s got presidential immunity.
Yeah, he should drop out the day of the election and put forth Kamala, so no one knows who they’re voting for. /s
there are no other strong options right now
How so? The Rest is Politics identified a few candidates who are more than capable, Gavin Newsom among them.
Sadly, I suspect the average voter isn’t really aware of who Newsom is. People are really disconnected from anything but the biggest headlines.
Every voting person would know within a week if Biden stepped down and gave 1/4th the support to the new candidate what he gives to Israel’s far right wing government.
Because they probably watched the same disaster of a debate that I did.
Because they are spineless cowards and various GOP operatives who have been doing this shit since Clinton and have become absolutely fuckin experts at it, came up to them in the locker room
“Hey so I pretty much everyone thinks Biden is a loser now,” they said.
“Really?” Said the media.
“Oh my God, do you even have to ask that?” asked the GOP derisively. “Did you see him at the debate?”
“I guess he did look pretty old…” said the media, thinking silently about when Trump said a wave of immigrants was coming in and killing our citizens at a level we’ve never seen.
“Media, he looked like a fucking ZOMBIE. He looked like an old, old man who didn’t know what year it was. I hope they find someone new after this. They’re pretty much going to have to. There’s no way they’re going to stick with that guy. He looks like someone’s great grandfather. He’s finished,” said the GOP forcefully. And then, after a carefully timed pause, they turned. “Wait, you don’t think he did GOOD, do you?”
And so on
And then the GOP operative got paid almost two hundred thousand dollars a year, and the media went out and wrote the story it was goddamned well supposed to write.
They’re incentivized to push the agenda since Trump wants to put in more protection för big money
It’s not that. Anti-Trump media makes a buttload of money wringing their hands and saying how bad he is. He drives ratings.
People stopped listening to him after he screwed up COVID. Plus everyone was tired of his antics after 4 years.
Fuck the media. This is your future here. Don’t vote for Biden. Vote for better Supreme Court Justices, better laws, better executive orders, and less corruption.
Correlate whom owns the media and whom stands to profit from Trump presidency
Don’t vote for Biden. Vote for better Supreme Court Justices, better laws, better executive orders, and less corruption.
And get Biden.
It’s not that. Anti-Trump Anti-Biden media makes a buttload of money wringing their hands and saying how bad he is. He It drives ratings.
FTFY. If you can’t see how the media pivoted from anti-Trump to Anti-Biden without missing a beat, I don’t know what to say other than I don’t think you’re paying attention.
People stopped listening to him after he screwed up COVID. Plus everyone was tired of his antics after 4 years.
Yeah, I don’t think you’re paying attention. The media and his donor class never stopped listening to him, outside of the couple weeks after J6 when consequences might have been a thing, and they’ve been giving him attention basically non stop for the better part of a decade now.
It was nice for a while when it seemed like maybe he’d be losing sway in the republican party, but that time was mercilessly short and long gone.
Dude. The Democrats leaked like a sieve to the media after that debate. It wasn’t the GOP holding the knife.
Some Democrats “leaked” because they are SPINELESS but Joe Biden already has the keys to a 2024 win.
Historian CONFRONTS Pundits TO THEIR FACES For Trump COMPLICITY
I’m sorry but “charisma” is not a data point you can put into a model. The truth is everything in the modern era has been predictable for a lot of people. And polling may be snapshots, but by putting those snapshots together you can see trends really easily. The second the guy cherry picked the one poll that had Biden up the day after the debate I knew he wasn’t the kind of guy who actually runs math models. Nobody who “makes predictions” is doing so off of a poll. And certainly not one that was either a flash poll or conducted before the debate. To get a look at how long getting that kind of data takes, we’re just now getting in depth data from battleground states that was gathered after the debate.
He’s also guilty of something you’re not supposed to do if you’re in that game. He’s putting himself in play. Saying there’s some X factor only he knows about. In reality, even if there was such a factor, it wouldn’t matter. This is a crisis of confidence that Biden brought down on himself. And it won’t be easily gotten past. The question now isn’t, does Biden win in a traditional race because that’s gone. The question now is how much damage gets done here. Can he win with that damage? and can someone else win with the damage of a replacement? And you only need to read the news to see some of the party leadership and Donors have decided the answers are No and Yes.
But also that answer during the interview didn’t help at all. He said he’d just be proud to do his best? This isn’t a fucking little league game. If he gets replaced or goes forward to lose, that’s the moment historians are going to point to.
Because they are spineless cowards and various GOP operatives
You can’t possibly think The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic are all run by GOP operatives.
Corporate news, like the other wealthy folks, love their big tax breaks.
So, you think the New York Times secretly wants the Republicans to win, and none of the dozen or so experienced journalists who comprise their editorial board has said anything about it.
Cool. I’m here for the show of watching liberals tear down their own side because they can’t face reality.
"Democrat" as an adjective is notable, as is viewing the New York Times as a "Democrat mainstay"
Before the 2016 election, yeah mostly. Definitely in comparison to most US media. But as mostly a Democrat looking at the NYT's coverage in the modern era, I am mostly horrified by it
Wait, you think corpo media are democratic mainstays?
How fucking naive are you?
This November we will elect a King.
Biden was a mediocre status quo manager, tweaks around the edges president who inspired no one. No one voted for Biden with love or with enthusiasm. As president Biden was just barely passable, more about damage mitigation (“I am not Trump!”) than about a positive, affirmative, forward looking VISION for America.
But we aren’t electing a president anymore.
We are electing a King. As a prospective King Biden is absolute trash. Biden can use his newly granted Kingly powers to immediately official act assassinate all 6 servative SCOTUS judges, immediately! Ruthless and efficient response is what befits a King. Biden is a goddamn sleepy and moist slug who can’t even protect himself from salt. Biden is weak, slow, lacks insight into the moment.
Biden had 4 years to deal with the structural wealth inequality issue in America. He’s ignored the issue because his billionaire donors paid him to ignore it. In other words, Biden does not think big, and cannot escape the big money influence. He’s a far cry from FDR.
But as King? The requirements for a King are totally different. Biden needs to be removed immediately and a ruthlessly hard left individual needs to be installed immediately. Nothing less will thwart the GOP while creating a path to the future we actually want to believe in and want to live in.
So you’re just all-in on autocratic rule then? Fight fire with fire, even though the forest is a mostly-dead tinderbox?
Yes, Biden will not assassinate Supreme Court justices. That’s a strength. If the Supreme Court intends to give a president king-like power, then I’m sure as hell going to vote for a president that I don’t believe will exercise that power.
As soon as we have a president that exercises the power of a king, left or right, there will be no going back. That power will corrupt left politicians just as surely as right, institutions will corrupt and people will lose faith, freeing them to do more corruption, in an endless cycle. And if we even seen another “president” in our lifetime they will only slip further down the slope. The only way you can win this game is by not letting it begin.
I despise autocracies but if my foe forces me into an autocratic ruleset, I will be ruthless and lightning quick. Don’t like it? Don’t even think about establishing an autocratic ruleset. Meanwhile while the autocratic ruleset is still in effect I will use it to end it in a spectacularly bloody manner. Once the autocratic ruleset is over and all the relevant individuals thirsty for autocracy have been properly dealt with, I will return to being an institutionalist.
Sorry to be so blunt, but you’re sharing a fantasy. The outcome will be no different from a right-wing autocratic takeover, even if it starts out more in your favor. The institutions of democracy will be destroyed either way.
You use “ruleset” like this is a game, but there’s no change-back in “ruleset” without a bloody revolution, after probably decades of suffering, and decades of reconstruction, if that - I expect we won’t see a return to pre-autocratic democracy in our lifetimes. Modern autocratic rule is too savvy, they will maintain the facades of our institutions while hollowing them out and making them meaningless, leading to efficient, soul-draining, Orwellian oppression like in Russia.
What you’re describing is a technical victory when you’ve also conceded that the playing board will be destroyed. As a deterrent? But what if the opponent is irrational and deterrents have no effect…
SCOTUS has changed the rules.
If you can’t come to terms with what has happened, the one living in a fantasy land is you.
Any American who does not think we are electing a King this November is a dangerously ignorant citizen.