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

How about, if the QB has lost the ability to throw with accuracy, their team has a much better chance of winning if that QB just hands off the ball to the running back? Nope. It's still a terrible analogy.

"The San Francisco 49ers are on line 1 with campaign advice, sir."

to answer Kevin's question, could just be that Democrats are panicking harder than ever right now, between Trump openly running on becoming a dictator and the Supreme Court kneecapping their policy goals, then you got polls showing Biden down a bunch, his approval rating is awful, and he appeared to be downright senile during the debate. its the same principle as when a good NFL team has an extended losing streak and everyone calls for the QB to be benched or the coach to be fired, citing reasons why this absolutely can not work out. but sometimes it does after the story dies down a bit. a lot of times it don't though

I don't think that's what's happening here but it's kind of an answer

― frogbs, Wednesday, July 10, 2024 8:44 PM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

but what would explain this behavior? remember, these are actual insiders, not pundits speculating. they (continuing with this hypothetical) see for themselves that biden is actually fit, and more to the point, they have access to secret polling data that shows he is actually well-positioned. what would be the logical reason for the private bed-wetting?

are they so desperate to stay in the media’s good graces that they are willing to placate them by feeding them information to sustain these stories? what could they possibly gain from that?

We want Beast Mode and we've got Least Mode

Tipsy, did you coin this? Because this is exactly my current state.

lol I did afaik except probably somebody else did first

but what would explain this behavior? remember, these are actual insiders, not pundits speculating. they (continuing with this hypothetical) see for themselves that biden is actually fit, and more to the point, they have access to secret polling data that shows he is actually well-positioned. what would be the logical reason for the private bed-wetting?

― brony james (k3vin k.), Wednesday, July 10, 2024 11:11 PM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

well the idea is they see the bad polling data and want Biden to drop out so they're leaking "he's having a lot of senior moments" stories to get the public on their side. I mean it's almost certainly not true that Biden is "fit" but maybe he is kinda functional during work hours

I haven't seen the reporting that nearly every elected Dem thinks he's in bad shape, guess I can't explain that one lol

during work hours

so, before 8 PM?

Have we mentioned Peter Welch in here yet? First senator to call for Biden to step aside. 77 years old, in the same way the first House rep was also septuagenarian, they're being careful about appearances. But the damage is not being contained.

I guess I'm not following the deluge of reporting on this, is the idea that he's been steadily declining since the SotU? because he sounded really good there to the point where FOX News spent the next 3 months telling their viewers that Biden was gonna also appear good at the debate...but only because he's on drugs! or do they think it started more in like, 2022?

Love the mound conference analogy. Eventually, the home plate umpire wanders out and breaks it up--who will be the home plate umpire here?

hunter

lol ok I surrender to the sports analogies

Cory Booker brought it up in 2019!

so, before 8 PM?

― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Wednesday, July 10, 2024 11:32 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

just thinking of my grandma here...when the first signs appeared she was still like...85% the same until about 7 PM. she was in a home about 4 years later

This statement of support reads like the next line is gonna be, "But we've decided to go a different direction."

As Democrats, let us acknowledge the thousands of staffers who are giving their heart & soul to the Biden admin & campaign. They are displaying guts in persevering through the challenges & criticism. They are true believers & represent the best of public service & our party.

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) July 11, 2024

Here's the GALLING exchange with @ezraklein about his conversations with Top Democrats who are resigned to Trump. https://t.co/wgAQ0eLNVZ pic.twitter.com/fy0pxkKann

— Tim Miller (@Timodc) July 10, 2024

I notice the Lincoln Project guys are all very concerned about Biden dropping out. Which is probably a mark in its favor unless you think they know anything about anything.

yeah, as has been noted this is an interesting shakeout process if nothing else, seeing the way people turn

look with the QB analogy there's two questions there, who gives you the best chance now and who is best for the future, for #1 I guess there's an argument to be made that Biden has a better chance of winning than Harris would, though I don't agree personally. but sometimes a busted up Drew Brees really is better than a newcomer who might be prone to really big fuckups. for #2 though I don't see how anyone argues that Biden will be fine next year, much less in four

rather go with Biden than Brees imo

Starting QB on his fourth concussion of the half, backup QB who was a four year starter in college but flopped at the combine

does anyone actually know someone who thinks Biden should stay in the race? I don't mean for like strategic reasons, I mean because they think he's gonna be fine for 4 more years

― frogbs, Wednesday, July 10, 2024

ohhhhh yeah

I guess I'm not following the deluge of reporting on this, is the idea that he's been steadily declining since the SotU? because he sounded really good there to the point where FOX News spent the next 3 months telling their viewers that Biden was gonna also appear good at the debate...but only because he's on drugs! or do they think it started more in like, 2022?

― frogbs, Thursday, July 11, 2024

Like many people his age, he has moments of lucidity and like Reagan was still pretty good at reading prepared texts. Gorbachev said many times over the years that Ronnie was on top of it during their one-on-ones.

As a non-American this thread was all making perfect sense until you all suddenly started with the baseball talk.

As an American this thread was all making perfect sense until you all suddenly started with the baseball talk.

As an American this thread continues to make perfect sense, with baseball and deathball (aka American football) metaphors acting as distractions from the horrible mire we are stuck in

Good morning!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEVdca9U9LM

As an American this thread continues to make perfect sense, with baseball and deathball (aka American football) metaphors acting as distractions from the horrible mire we are stuck in

― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table),

It's also possible to dig distractions and like I'll do on Saturday go knock on doors. My heart is full.

I guess I'm not following the deluge of reporting on this, is the idea that he's been steadily declining since the SotU? because he sounded really good there to the point where FOX News spent the next 3 months telling their viewers that Biden was gonna also appear good at the debate...but only because he's on drugs! or do they think it started more in like, 2022?

― frogbs, Thursday, July 11, 2024

this Matt Yglesias article about why he's changed his mind on replacing Biden suggests that things seem to have declined significantly over the last few months

https://www.slowboring.com/p/i-was-wrong-about-biden

Five days before the debate, someone who’d seen Biden recently at a fundraiser told me that he looked and sounded dramatically worse than the previous times they’d seen him — as recently as six months ago — and that they were now convinced Biden wouldn’t be able to make it through a second term. I blew that warning off and assumed things would be fine at the debate.

Now that Biden apologists like me are discredited in the eyes of the public, most people will probably just decide he’s been unfit this whole time. Per my fundraiser source, and people I know who were deeply involved in IRA work, I don’t think that’s true. My guess is that the rigors of the campaign schedule combined with the linear progression of time and the trauma of Hunter’s legal problems made things much worse. But nobody’s going to care or believe anything this White House says.

It didn't occur to me that the Hunter news must have wrecked him.

Now it’s being reported that Clooney ran his statement past Obama first and was not urged to call it off

Obama didn’t want him to run in 2020. He was intended to be a doorstop VP and then drop off the face of the earth a la Dan Quayle

I'm sure Clooney ran that op-ed past a whole lot of people, that's why it carried a lot of implicit weight.

The wheels keep turning:

In private conversations with lawmakers, we’re told, the former speaker hasn’t tried to hide her disdain for the situation that party now finds itself in. She’s suggested to people that Biden won’t win this November and should step aside, according to about a half-dozen lawmakers and others who have spoken with her or are familiar with these conversations.

In fact, she’s advised some Democrats in swing districts to do whatever they have to do to secure their own reelections — even if it means asking Biden to relinquish his place atop the ticket.

Pelosi has advised those members, however, to wait until this week’s NATO Summit is finished out of respect for Biden and national security writ large. Some members, we’re told, have already started drafting statements of what they want to say, ready to drop once foreign leaders leave town.

yeah I think that makes sense, the NATO Summit is a big deal and may be another chance for the public to see how Biden really looks and speaks these days, plus you don't really want to do this while the RNC is going on

Pelosi gonna Pelosi, always working the angles. She was so funny with the "he needs to make a decision soon" bit, but then scolding the NYT when they said that meant she was suggesting he should consider stepping aside — which she 100% was, but it was uncouth to say so.

nah that's cool, Dems should get pissed at the media more, it's paid a lot of dividends for the GOP

Oh it's fine, it's just funny because it's so Pelosi. She's calibrating things the way she wants them, isn't going to be pushed into saying more or less. There's somebody who probably hasn't lost so many steps.

She really is something else

two weeks ago, biden had a chance to defeat trump. now he has zero chance. the reason is that now trump can say, truthfully - "why is biden even in this campaign? most of his own party doesn't even want him there." if i were trump, that's what i'd say. "you're just attacking me because most of the democratic [sic: 'democrat' if it's trump saying this] party wants you gone and you want to change the subject".

he'd be saying it now except he wants biden in the race rather than any other challenger, because with all of the other challengers, he's not able to simply say "biden's own party wants him out of there, it's pathetic"

Mixed feelings on this. Obviously, it cherry-picks his single worst moment from the debate two weeks ago; also, he's getting millions and billions mixed up in 2008. If nothing else, though, it's exactly the kind of ad that'll be everywhere in October (and cut to look even worse).

The best thing about it is when you get a couple of shots of Sarah Palin making notes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st7WZ_2L-Y8

wo weeks ago, biden had a chance to defeat trump. now he has zero chance. the reason is that now trump can say, truthfully - "why is biden even in this campaign? most of his own party doesn't even want him there." if i were trump, that's what i'd say. "you're just attacking me because most of the democratic [sic: 'democrat' if it's trump saying this] party wants you gone and you want to change the subject".

he'd be saying it now except he wants biden in the race rather than any other challenger, because with all of the other challengers, he's not able to simply say "biden's own party wants him out of there, it's pathetic"

― z_tbd, Thursday, July 11, 2024

idk I suspect more and more that Biden will not be the nominee

hopefully that goes hand in hand - the realization that biden can't win this race, like...forget the polls, just think about how this is going to play out. that realization will hopefully kick him out very soon, after nato

i don’t think any candidate will ever acknowledge they can’t win. that’s not the kind of thinking that got them here. it’s too much like giving up. biden will never, ever give up because that’s the mindset of a loser, a quitter.

unless you're a broken man like LBJ.

in biden’s mind he’s like, i’ve ridden out bigger storms than this. i’ve been written off before.

I'm sure a lot of people told him not to run in 2020. He showed those losers!

the people will only forgive hunter if he says "dad, i have something to show you. it's on my laptop", and then when he opens the laptop it's a font 144 bold message that says "it's time to drop out, you fought hard, i love you so much. let's go have a catch sometime outside, maybe, just you and me. or maybe we can just roll the ball to each other, or kick at it while we sit in lawnchairs"

or that same letter read aloud by George Clooney

george clooney could probably do a really good hunter biden