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Atlantic opinion piece
Democrats Should Pick a New Presidential Candidate Now
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/...

I am going to be voting for the Democratic nominee in November, whether or not it’s Joe Biden. I would be doing that even if the party ran a potted plant in Biden’s place. A potted plant in the Oval Office would be infinitely preferable to a president who embodies a potentially fatal threat to the country’s democratic institutions.

I usually say "dead hedgehog", but other than that I am in complete agreement.

Biden is going to be the nominee. This kind of article does nothing but hurt Biden.

Again, there's no way for "Dems" to do this.

Democratic voters pick Presidential candidates through voting in primaries (and a few caucuses). If a candidate doesn't draw meaningful opposition, they will win those primaries. Nobody of any substance in the Democratic party chose to run against Joe Biden. Which means Joe Biden will be the nominee. Regardless of whether "Dems" "should" pick someone different, if no serious alternative candidate throws their hat in, "Dems" can only have Biden.

There is no mechanism for the grand poobahs in the party to change that fact. They don't get to override the voters. Any effort to do so would almost certainly both: i) fail; and ii) damage Biden's chances in the general.

Unless Biden withdraws from the race, he will be the nominee. No one can "pick" a new Presidential candidate unless someone comes forward to be that Democratic nominee. And no one, save the quixotic Dean Phillips, has done so - because no viable Presidential candidate wants to torch their 2028 run with an ill-advised 2024 effort to oust an incumbent.

Again, there's no way for "Dems" to do this.

I used "Dems" in the title due to title length limitations. There's no need for you to keep repeating it.

Unless Biden withdraws from the race, he will be the nominee.

That's what the article suggests: he should withdraw.

I used "Dems" in the title due to title length limitations. There's no need for you to keep repeating it.

Oh, it wasn't a criticism of the abbreviation. I put "Democrats" in quotes, because the idea behind this is that there exists some group of people - "Democrats" - that have the power to pick a new nominee. There isn't. If "Democrats" refers to the voters, they only get to choose between Biden and some minor-league candidates who can't possibly beat Trump. If "Democrats" refers to the DNC, well that's mostly controlled by Bidenworld at this point. If "Democrats" refers to the more politically prominent members of the party (Pelosi, Schumer, Jeffries, etc.), they don't have either the power or the inclination to force Biden out, or even to try.

These article always have an amorphous subject - some "they" or "Democrats" that ought to do something, without really specifying who has the power to do that. But there is no subset of "Democrats" that can or would do that. For a fairly good summary of why, consider this article as counter-point:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/13/...

That's what the article suggests: he should withdraw.

But he's not going to. To quote from the above article:

If not one Democratic governor or senator is willing to even publicly question whether Biden should run, how would he feel any pressure to change his mind? And even if they did speak up, they’d still be faced with the unpalatable dilemma of choosing whether to embrace or reject Harris.

Nor, quite frankly, would it be good for Democrats if he did withdraw now. It's too late. Because there isn't time for the voters to pick someone other than Biden (ballot qualification has already passed for something like 80% of the primary/caucus delegates). And there isn't away to get through an open convention and end up with anyone better than Biden. Articles calling for a change in candidate rarely engage with the damage that such a process would inflict on any candidate that managed to get to the end, which is why there's an excellent chance that Biden withdrawing just ends up with Harris (the only candidate who is certain to put her name in for the convention knife fight rather than wait to 2028).

Albaby1, good article, thanks.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/13/...

From it:
“I was of the opinion we’d come to our senses,” James Carville acknowledged. “We never did. So here we are.”

Same. I was under the impression that Biden *said* he would do only one term.

Biden has my vote in Novemeber, but damn! The man is too old for this job. Trump is too old also, of course.

My brother in the UK, back in 2020, said to me "Are these two old men the best you can do?"

Yep. Seems so.

He most definitely should NOT withdraw. It's too late. If he withdrew at this late stage, the Reps (Trump) will win in November. It's really not possible to spin-up a campaign on such short notice, and much of the funds are NOT transferrable between candidates (i.e. Biden has a war chest, but no one else can use it even if he withdraws).

So...bad idea.

Trump also should withdraw, based on the criteria people are judging Biden. He's even more mentally deficient. I'm not saying that as a pejorative, but just from observation. Even when he was POTUS he had episodes where he said actual undecipherable nonsense.

The Constitution doesn't have a maximum age, but perhaps it should. Some old folks are sharp as tacks into their 90s. But a lot of us slowly decline after 60 or so (I'm approaching 61, so not throwing stones at old people). Biden and Trump are both in their 70s, and neither is as sharp as they were in their 40s.

I would vote for a rabid badger before I voted for Trump. Though "dead hedgehog" works. :-)

I would vote for a rabid badger before I voted for Trump. Though "dead hedgehog" works. :-)

Funny, I'd vote for an oil slick before I'd vote for Biden, because the oil slick can be cleaned up. Biden is doing far more damage that a 50-mile oil slick ever would.

Though "dead hedgehog" works. :-) - 1ph

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The Dead Hedgehog Party.... I like it and it is much more catchy than that dullard No Labels movement.

Biden and Trump are both in their 70s, and neither is as sharp as they were in their 40s.

Biden is 81.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/10/us/politics/bid...

“In a New York Times/Siena College poll of six battleground states, an overwhelming majority of voters said they had serious concerns about Mr. Biden’s age, with 70 percent saying he is too old to be president. Fewer than half of voters have expressed similar misgivings about Mr. Trump.”

70%.

Barring some very odd circumstance, Biden is going to be the nominee. So, all this continued talk of him being too old, just helps TRUMP. It is pointless.

Trump is a confused old man but he just talks LOUD and that seems to make a difference in people's perceptions of the two.

Do you see any possible way for someone else to get the nomination? Biden is not going to step away.

Barring some very odd circumstance, Biden is going to be the nominee. So, all this continued talk of him being too old, just helps TRUMP. It is pointless.

Fair enough. I just so, so don't want another 4 years of Trump.

(I'll have to go all cynical again - my family is doing just fine. F-em.)

Fair enough. I just so, so don't want another 4 years of Trump.

Neither do I and neither should any truly patriotic American!

Trump was a disaster and one of the worst POTUS's this country has ever had. Trump v.2 will be even worse.

Fewer than half of voters have expressed similar misgivings about Mr. Trump.”

Trump is a walking talking photoshop. If he blabbered at a rally with his natural hair and skin tones he'd look like a obese jaba the hutt. People are so easily swayed by Trump's fake appearance. Imagine all the schwag they produce, if it reflected what Trump looks like without all the crap on his head.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2018/feb...

Biden just needs to get a good makeup/spray-tan artist, and a hairdresser to make a creation that competes with the dead weasel that resides on the orange rapist's dome.

Trump is a confused old man but he just talks LOUD and that seems to make a difference in people's perceptions of the two.

He talks loud and cultivates that fake appearance of being younger; hair and makeup.

OK. I was off by a couple of years (I was thinking 79).

I have greater misgivings about Trump. Not just because he's an idiot, and a probable-sociopath. I've heard him speak, and he -on several occasions- has uttered unintelligible gibberish. "Covfefe" was probably the most famous example (it was in the news for weeks), but since then it has not been an uncommon thing. Plus comments about airports in colonial times (or was it the Civil War?), etc. His faculties are not all there. I would expect a general poll NOT to reflect that because about 40% of the country are Reps, and almost none of them have any concern about Trump. That's almost half right there, before you even get to the independents and others. Meanwhile, most of the Reps will say Biden is too old, and some independents and Dems, too. So, no...not a surprise.

I just lurk on this site, I like reading the commentary, but I personally don't like to argue, it's just not my thing. But more power to all of the regular posters, it is interesting reading and thinking about your opinions.

This Gallup site shows that as of Jan-2024, the voter breakdown is as follows:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliati...

Repub: 25%, Independent: 45%, Dem: 27%
( As an aside, those #'s don't add up to 100%, don't know what the remaining 3% consider
themselves )

It also shows the leanings of the Independents:
43% lean GOP, 46% lean Dem.

It will be the Independents that will determine the winner in November.
The hatred for Trump will be high motivation for Dems to get out and vote.
The luv for Trump will be high motivation for MAGA to get out and vote.
It is to be determined which way the non-MAGA Repubs will vote.
Not sure if the ambivalence of the Independents toward both of them will motivate all of
them to get out and vote.

My guess is that Biden beats Trump by more than he did in 2020, but that could be
wishful thinking on my part, as I highly despise Trump. I do know people that voted for Trump
in 16 and 20 who now say they will vote against him. They never say they are voting for Biden,
always phrased as voting against Trump.

I do not know anybody who voted for Biden in 2020 that says they will be voting for Trump
this time.

Last 2 paragraphs totally small sample size anecdotes, lol.

Thanks Joe! :)

I have greater misgivings about Trump. Not just because he's an idiot, and a probable-sociopath.

Oh, absolutely. This article brings out the differences well:

The Real Difference Between Trump and Biden
Watching both men in office reveals a sharp distinction.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/...

Biden has his gaffes. He did well at that press conference the other day, right up until he said the president of Mexico was holding up aid to Gaza. Oops.
But he's infinitely better than Trump, and maybe even more important, all of Trump's lackeys.

Biden has his gaffes. He did well at that press conference the other day, right up until he said the president of Mexico was holding up aid to Gaza. Oops.

My Dad was a very smart research physician, diagnostician, administrator who frequently called me and my sisters by the other's name.

I've done the same thing as have most parents. Last week my sister visited. She and my dog have the same name, save for the first letter. My sister knew she needn't hit the deck when I said 'Rosie, sit!"

Biden has the Mexican Border and the Middle East in his head at the conference. I wouldn't worry about the mix-up.

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