US Politics, July 2024 - "Will you just drop out, man?"

Barak HUSSEIN Obama, etc.

I can already imagine a Trump rally line about how he’s now up against Obama for the White House

All this shit is what could energize lethargic voters to be like hell no fuck this guy I’m voting for her and poof she wins and we have a woman president!!!!!! Felicity otm as well.

Obviously it's all murky right now, I'm afraid that the signals we're getting so far sound kind of like "Let's see how things go but also let's bump up Harris a little bit just in case she needs to step in," which feels like ... the closest thing to denialism they can muster. The bad thing about that approach is it becomes kinda, what signal are you waiting for?

I don't know, I don't think this has to happen TODAY — although I wouldn't be opposed to it if it did — but I think the damage is done. This is going be a dominant part of the conversation from now until November if he's in the race, people will be scrutinizing every single little thing and debating it and comparing it to older clips of him and on and on, I just don't see a good way for him to stay in at this point.

I’m taking a moment to dream, please excuse me.

Personally, I'm ready for what can be, unburdened by what has been.

I like your dream LL and I think it's more realistic than any scenario involving a Biden November triumph. (A low bar perhaps, but it seems possible to me.)

yeah biden leaving would totally be a relief.

that WH press release later today saying the entire democratic establishment backs biden to the hilt is gonna hit different. a sizzling anvil of dread slamming down like mountain

if she wins trump can spend the rest of his life ranting about the fake deep state president who was illegally installed by george soros at the last minute.

Hallmark Channel proudly presents...
"The Samoa Loophole" https://t.co/RmpRePlk0i

— David Dayen (@ddayen) July 3, 2024

if she wins trump can spend the rest of his life ranting about the fake deep state president who was illegally installed by george soros at the last minute.

in prison

I really think the Harris-For-Biden switch is a done deal, it's just a matter now of the team figuring how to frame it in such a way that saves face for Biden/the party and gives Kamala a hero's sheen. Never waste a good crisis, etc.

subtly underscoring the optics of convicted felon vs. former prosecutor

She steps up and tells people to bring it home/finish the job for Joe, the lifelong public servant who only stepped up as a candidate in 2020 to thwart Il Douché.

Gamblers think they know something

It's absolutely Joever, Kamala reigns supreme: pic.twitter.com/1nIXjQAIR5

— Quantіan (@quantian1) July 3, 2024

lol @ "Joever"

Joe-ver (otherwise it looks like Joe Forever).

even if kamala is awkward it doesn't matter. she can talk! and walk! she's not trump! its like she's an angel sent from above.

I keep reading "Joever" as "Joe-ever" rather than "Joe over."

xp!

You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table

One way we can help manifest this is call your congressman and senators, call the White House.

Call Maya Rudolph. She will be booked and busy.

Her phone must be constantly exploding this summer

I called the White House but they said Joe was busy

#naptime

She steps up and tells people to bring it home/finish the job for Joe, the lifelong public servant who only stepped up as a candidate in 2020 to thwart Il Douché.

I was thinking this too, that it would be a lot easier for Dems to feel affectionate toward Biden if he wasn't on the ticket. He doesn't have to disappear, he could be a lovable win-it-for-the-gipper figure for those so inclined.

At a minimum, all of this would scramble the GOP's narrative and attack lines. Not that they don't have plenty they will deploy against Harris, obviously, but if it's a huge adjustment for the Democrats it's also a major one for the Republicans (who are yes stuck with their own deeply unpopular candidate).

Yeah tipsy, apparently Trump wants Biden to stay in.

https://wapo.st/3XUOzhT giftie

Which might plausibly be another reason to do the opposite.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/03/kamala-harris-joe-biden-election-2024-democrats
Mehdi's on board

re: framing/face-saving --- Biden could probably pull off a speech that starts really personal and relateable, about the experience of aging and realizing he can't do the things he could do only a short time ago, "I still think of myself as that young guy," and then broadens out to proud statements about his lifetime in public service, the urgency of beating Trump, and how Harris is the person to do it.

not saying he WOULD make that speech. but i think he could deliver it well and that it might actually work on a lot of folks.

Oh yeah, that would be ideal.

There's definitely a well of sympathy he can draw on if he's no longer trying to make the case that he's the guy for the job.

News: Jeff Zients begins all-staff call.
"July 4th is one of my favorite holidays"
says it's a key milestone in an election year.
"He didn't have a great night but that was one night and what we all know is he is a great president."

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 3, 2024

Heads up and heads down

She is his pick. There's nothing to feel sorry about.

Harris was the acting president for 1 hour 25 minutes when Biden was under anesthesia for his colonoscopy in 2021.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/19/politics/kamala-harris-presidential-power/index.html

Just think of it as one long colonoscopy.

Given current events, felicity, that is not a difficult stretch of the imagination.

You have your title for the next political thread.

can we not? some of us have to have these on a fairly regular basis due to nearly dying, really not a laughing matter

No shade meant, sorry. My husband loved his colonoscopy. He said it was a very refreshing sleep. The prep is not fun but it's important to do.

I've had two myself--they're not fun (more so the night before).

another thing is the Dems have a pretty good attack line on Trump - all the "he's only in it for himself" stuff which everyone knows is true, but it's kinda hard to sell from a guy whose party really wants him to drop out

“It’s not fun, but it’s the right thing to do” HARRIS 2024 lfg

no shame in it either, I mean Biden was already the oldest president ever, he inherited a uniquely stressful situation in an era where bipartisanship straight up does not exist, in addition to all the usual stresses of the presidency. if he did the "I feel good now but I don't know if I've got 4 years of this left in me, and I know the American people deserve someone they can count on" thing it would go over pretty well

maybe I'm nuts but I'm starting to suspect it's nearly a done deal, I mean if news is leaking out of the WH that he's considering it then it's kind of hard to imagine him going "lol no, I'm staying in", what's been coming out officially is exactly the sort of thing you hear when a QB is about to be benched or a coach is about to get fired

One kind of funny thing about this if it happens is that this is exactly what all of the right wing conspiracies were saying in 2020 – that Biden would win and then immediately turn it over to Harris. So they could claim vindication of a sort.

I think the subtext there was that Harris could not be elected, so she would have to be snuck into office. At least in this case she would run in the general.

maybe I'm nuts but I'm starting to suspect it's nearly a done deal

you're nuts

So they could claim vindication of a sort.

not if it's the country that elects her as president they couldn't. that vindication only works if Biden wins, gets sworn in, and immediately steps down to let Harris take over.

Trump would go nuts and polling that would put Harris up against J.D. Vance, whoever else they’ve got if Trump doesn’t make it to November.

return of Nikki

(Word salad there on my part, but I just want to see Trump see polls like that.)