Let's Talk Biden 2024

The Republicans are driven by anger. They have no plan to fix anything. They just blame everyone whose not straight, white and Christian.

Democrats want to fix things but they have very different ideas on how to do it.

I laugh at the complaint that Harris is inexperienced. Being inexperienced has become a job requirement for president for over 100 years.

I think that Biden has done a decent job in difficult times. His main problem is the inflation caused directly and indirectly by the plague. Directly because of worldwide broken supply chains. Indirectly by attitude changes. Many older workers retired and when they left the workplace they realized how toxic it was and didn't come back. Other workers found better jobs. People en masse decided it just wasn't worth working in a toxic work environment for low pay. Companies which treated their employees well did better but couldn't compete with toxic companies. Companies raised prices to pay workers. Other companies followed suit.

Biden really is too old but so far there's no one to replace him. No one with any relevant experience has a chance because that means they have a track record. Once a Democrat has a track record, 1/4 of voters will like them and 3/4 will hate them. You need someone whose charismatic with as little actual experience as possible. They need to be optimistic and talk in generalities.

I agree that Biden is too old, he's 81. Trump's 77. So Trumps too old as well.

But there just aren't any Democrats other than Biden who stick out in a good way.

Half of Democrats are left leaning moderates. 40 or 50 years ago, they might have been socially liberal, economically conservatives who used to be common where I live. The other half are much more liberal. In general, both sides of the party want the same thing but want different methods to get there.

The problem is how to appeal to both. Both Obama and Clinton are superb speakers. At their best, they are very inspiring. But when they ran, they really didn't say much about what they planned to do. They ended up using a mixture of moderate and liberal ideas. But many more people on the left want everything their way. You're either perfect or garbage. Nobody can be perfect for everyone.

The reason that Biden's numbers are low is inflation and relentless attacks from the right. Flat out lies are common.

Its a matter of competing sets of morality. Letting two democracies die because they are inconvenient is not right.

There is no easy answer in Israel. Hamas is the government of the Palestinians. It launched missiles at Israel then sent troops over the border to kill and kidnap indiscriminately. 1200 Israeli people dead. Then the went back and hid within the population. The Israeli far right wing government acted just the way they said they would, brutally. This fight has been going on for generations and both sides believe that god is on their side. Once god enters a war, there is no morality. The U.S. under the Republican's would act exactly the same way if Mexico did the same thing.

We could just abandon Israel but then we have a country under siege with a far right wing government in charge which has nuclear weapons in its arsenal. They won't hesitate to use them because god is on their side.

Biden is stuck. He has to negotiate.

The Ukraine is being attacked by Russia. This is really a war between The U.S. and Russia with no Americans dying. Russia's economy is smaller than California's. The war is bankrupting them. The people saying we just have to abandon the Ukraine are the new Neville Chamberlains.

The Republicans are the far right enemy from within. You can't win by appeasement. Hopefully a firebrand will emerge from the Democrats who will openly attack the Republicans. Biden is trying to work with Republicans which won't work with people like Trump or MTG. But he can't just abandon his values to try to appease them. He'd be a good president with sane opposition. Not great but good.

The view from a distant, interested party is unsettling. This seems to be case of undermining democracy in order to save it. It will have the opposite effect on Biden’s success than the one intended.

That level of energy is not Biden. A decade ago yes....but he's just too old to do that. 

I generally don't have a problem with Biden either but the optics aren't great. 

Do you mean the last election of which that old generation are the choices? If so, I agree. I think next election will have younger candidates. At least younger compared to this geriatric roster. 

He's practically running already which I think is smart if something were to happen to Biden from here to next year. Given his age....

I keep hearing from different sources that Biden is not going to be the Democrat candidate. Cornell West said that at some point on the first quarter of 2024, Biden "will pulled an LBJ"; alluding of course to (1968) Johnson deciding not to run for reelection due a combination of health concerns and to falling out of grace among the Democrat party and polls. Biden is not a bad president, but we need someone more aggressive and vital to fight the threat of the abyss Republicans represents now.   

For sure, West isn't reliable. He's a candidate himself of sorts. 

But I wouldn't dismiss the anxiety Dems feel about Biden at this point. Many, including myself, thought he would be sort of a pause to the Trump insanity, and that he would eventually bow out paving the way to a younger more suitable candidate. 

Now, if you mean by 'solidly behind him' to mean that of course we're gonna vote for him...sure. But I wonder how many people have doubts and how many won't vote for him similar to what happened to Hillary. 

I don't see her doing that for exactly the reason you postulate. I think she's smart enough to realize her own party hates her and that she would only hurt Democrats by doing that. 

I tend to think Chris Christie is doing that job. I don't think his candidacy is genuine. He's doing it to bring the horrors of a second Trump to light among his crowd...or former crowd. 

There are no serious challengers.


www.politico.com/news/2023/05/29/marianne-williamsons-campaign-against-the-world-00099043

Polling at 9% is not anything like a serious challenge. Saying you're running is not the same as making a dent in the nominating process.

They won't put these names on the ballot because, again, D or R, challenging an incumbent trashes the parties' odds in the General Election, even if they somehow manage to wrest the nomination from the incumbent.

Both parties know this.

Also, Uygur doesn't have "complications" associated with him running. He is prohibited from the office by the Constitution.

This is his argument--and his argument debunked:

checkyourfact.com/2023/10/16/uygur-president-experts-constitution/

Biden is not on the ballot in New Hampshire in '24, due to a delegate issue. The national party has chosen South Carolina as the first primary state. However, New Hampshire has a state law that says they have to go first. This is nonsense to me because it's a state law and state law doesn't have any impact on the national organization. The DNC can choose its primary schedule as it pleases. But it is the nonsense that it is... Biden has declined to appear on the NH primary ballot because of the tangle..

No one is keeping anyone off the ballot. Basically, all you have to do in most states is pay the filing fee, then convince people to vote for you. There are 21 names on the NH ballot.

Biden, Williamson, and Dean Phillips will appear on the SC ballot, so there are options if people want them.

Cenk doesn't appear on either, being disqualified from appearing for not being a natural born citizen.

And, actually, no, I would NOT want the Constitution amended so that a naturalized US citizen can run for President....


....not while Elon Musk is alive anyway.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump is ineligible to be president because of the constitution's clause about insurrection.

I don't really understand it at this point because the article doesn't state why Williamson didn't appear. I'd have to dig some more.

Why Cenk didn't appear is already clear.