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

well, I can't speak outside of the anecdotal, but there are a non-zero number of unaffiliated voters I know who might not be Trumpers or spouting conservative one-liners, and might actually be sympathetic to liberal talking points, but are quick to say all cancel culture is bad and that people are too sensitive.

again though purely anecdotal and not evidence of anything. I also live in a state full of morons (including myself)

Kicking and screaming, but it does look inevitable.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/17/politics/nancy-pelosi-biden-conversation/index.html

Will Ferrell for prez

good lord this is how they move people around where my grandma is

Biden appears to need assistance getting into his vehicle after getting off Air Force 1. https://t.co/HdvHmPpeCb pic.twitter.com/4cGcNjQvQE

— jordan (@JordanUhl) July 18, 2024

Biden said only god could stop him from running and god said bet

— Yuri (@yuri_ordeste) July 18, 2024

that's the other thing it's not just a mental decline physically he looks really stiff and he walks like he's trying not to break a bone, almost like he's gonna be in a wheelchair in 6 months

our last wheelchair bound President was pretty cool tho

when do we get our first cyborg prez

BET interview and NAACP convention are basically as bad as the debate

the debate was great and actually just an episode

He was tired, he took a trip two weeks before give him a break.

he got a cold and then got another one today I guess. who else can catch 2 viruses in 2 weeks? no one has been better for the viruses

https://bsky.app/profile/bellatrixcrawley.bsky.social/post/3kxjj4yci4j2x

xp got some way to go to Bolsanaro-level but its a good start.

Terrible state of affairs when people are hoping an auld fella who catches COVID has got the most serious variety.

Everytime I wake up and check the timeline overnight its somehow worse (and yes I saw the tweet below that).

I'm sick

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 17, 2024

In my experience it is completely true that a lot of normal people who don't have strong politics do have some general sense that "you can't say anything anymore" or you might get "cancelled" or "MeTooed" -- yes I know some people complain about this because they actually want to be massively racist and are sore that they can't, but that's not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about people who are perfectly nice but truly believe that if you say "I like your dress" or "Merry Christmas" on an American college campus you will be escorted from the premises and possibly executed

Is that Joe Biden post for real? What the ever-loving fuck?

I’m dying

…laughing at this ridiculous parade of RNC speakers!

xp Yes. Social team having a normal onnnnne

fwiw candidates who have run anti wokeness campaigns have generally fared poorly at the polls, now some of that may be that because they tend to be very extreme but thats kind of the nature of the beast, you cant really run on a you cant even say anything anymore platform youve gotta have some actual plans to tell people about and those tend to be weird stuff with high school bathrooms that make normal people uncomfortable

you can’t even run on a you can’t even say anything anymore platform anymore

I feel like there’s a path for a Republican politician who relentlessly feigns ignorance about every “wokeness” topic. “What’s a furry?” “What’s a fur suit?” “Why do they use a litter box?” Act completely puzzled whenever Joe Rogan asks you about “men in women’s sports.”

e.g., if you watch JRE, the most effective guests are the guests that let Rogan exhaust himself before they talk about what they want to talk about.

Yeah that's a good point lag∞n

I think I'm the only one but I liked the "I'm sick" tweet tbh

DeSantis the exception in his reelection race....but a disaster during presidential run.

did anyone respond to the "I'm sick" tweet with "Touch me"?

you can’t even run on a you can’t even say anything anymore platform anymore

― brony james (k3vin k.), Thursday, July 18, 2024 9:02 AM bookmarkflaglink

lmao

xp https://bsky.app/profile/bitesu.bsky.social/post/3kxjcbsjae32s

Let's check in on the case Bernie Sanders is making for Joe Biden's candidacy...https://t.co/dINzsMjkKg pic.twitter.com/VEPba2HjSy

— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) July 17, 2024

bernie my man please let me be your publicist I will work for free

you think youre better at this than bernie

I guess there is a pretty convoluted way it makes total sense:
1) see the writing on the wall that he’s cooked and is inevitably going to be persuaded to drop out
2) realize that given your standing among party elites, publicly calling for him to drop out might be counterproductive
3) make a deal with him to emphasize your issues in exchange for your public endorsement (elder abuse)
4) after those issues seem like they’re basically enshrined in the party’s platform, continue to defend his candidacy in the most cartoonishly half-hearted way

Worst-case scenario for the Bernie faction is to end up as Biden dead-enders. If he's not going to be the nominee, they need to make sure they're in the mix for whoever is.

i think first of all bernies playing it straight with you thats the bernie way yes joe biden is extremely senile listen we all know this ok, secondly hes not going to publicly call for biden to drop out and thats the same for all the big names theyre asking him to drop out face to face behind closed doors then leaking it lol if he doesnt drop out you dont want anything on tape itd just make a fucked up situation worse

that parts obvious but as to whether bernie thinks biden is actually the best candidate is an interesting question, i happen to think bernie is one of the smartest politicians out there as evidenced by being an old grumpy man no one had ever heard of who solo hiked out of the vermont woods and took it to the dem establishment catalyzing a movement that gave us aoc et al, i do think theres a lot of downside risk to getting rid of biden thats going un acknowledged cause people are just freaking out like we gotta get him out of here, which is totally understandable imho does need to happen but you basically dont know what youre getting if you replace him, its dicey

dicey is better than sure-to-lose imo

I feel like there’s a path for a Republican politician who relentlessly feigns ignorance about every “wokeness” topic.

This would get them nowhere except banished from the party. Project 2025 is full of references to woke. Anti-woke is the Heritage Foundation edict.

hes absolutely not sure to lose

it’s looking pretty bad but like you say the alternative is no sure thing either

James Comey owes us make-up ratfuckery in October. i don't care that he's not in the FBI anymore

its looking pretty tight and the campaign hasnt started yet so idk

funny that Ezra Klein returned to Twitter last week for the first time since October 2022, and all of his tweets are about Biden dropping out. work that influence!

idk if biden is senile (yet), he's old and weak and slow and makes some pretty egregious slip ups but i think he's still mentally present for the most part

Mentally present enough to be really annoyed by all these people telling him to drop out!

I don't know what's even happening at this point. How do they push forward with a nomination with the other party leaders and lots of donors saying they don't want it? Trying to envision what that convention looks like. I guess they could paper it over, sort of, but just seems ... well, not ideal.

If he's still on the ticket by the end of the month, suggest "Sometimes he can't put three sentences together" for August thread title.

really wishing I hadn't finally watched a few seasons of Veep earlier this year

Axios:

Several top Democrats privately tell us the rising pressure of party congressional leaders and close friends will persuade President Biden to decide to drop out of the presidential race, as soon as this weekend.

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/18/president-biden-drop-out-election-democrats

I feel like we've heard some version of this a few times before, but I guess we'll see.

good morning!

like to see Biden wriggle out of this one again

what is this “as soon as this weekend” like they’re working on repairing a road or something