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

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

I love that the RNC doesn't know who their opponent will be until after their convention. No way to hammer away at one candidate.

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

― brimstead

aren't they

I do wonder if Biden not running will resolve the situation, or if the next debate is whether Biden should stay President through January 2025. He would probably be better off staying hiding and forgiving medical loans, and working behind the scenes as much as possible, not having to campaign. If he hadn't had to run for office this year, we might not know the state he's in.

Republicans can make noise about him stepping down if they want, but I don't feel like that's much of an issue politically. Definitely no reason for the Democrats to wade into it. If Biden steps aside, Democrats will need to surround him like a warm blanket, thank him for his service, give him a good (short) speaking slot at the convention, and deploy him as avuncular voice of common sense to places where it could help. i.e. hospice him politically, rather than Ides-of-March him.

Assuming he'd be on board with all of that, who knows. Maybe he'll just want to sulk.

Now, look.

Here's the deal, folx

Look, fat

"like to see Biden wriggle out of this one again"

I think even wriggling is beyond him these days.

he can probably do the worm

🚨 BOMBSHELL from @mikeallen + @JimVandeHei: Top Dems now believe Biden will exit

"Top Biden aides - including ones who initially urged him to fight on after the debate - are saying it's now when, not if, Biden announces he's not running."https://t.co/R45PhVPO5Q

— Jake Wilkins (@JakeWilkns) July 18, 2024

BOMBSHELL

What happened when you propose no rent

CNN just had one of those evil poll guys on. He said Harris could win, etc., etc., but the interesting line was him saying that what the Democrats need right now is a little luck, something they haven't had at all.

Weird--the party that hasn't just escaped an assassination attempt (which I guess is a form of luck itself if you look at it that way) is the one that needs some luck.

if only the election were in 2025, we could run Taylor Swift and win in a unanimous landslide and then have her immediately resign on inauguration day

Campaign theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg33QcvNcWA

Wonder what sort of COVID fever dreams Biden is having right now

more like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzH-2NgtaZk

Meanwhile, this is good, regardless of whose campaign it ends up being used by.

Being raped by her own father, she found a thread of sanity with the words, "you have choices."

Now she's speaking out for the millions of women who no longer have choices because of the Republican Party's barbaric abortion bans. #Project2025WarOnWomen pic.twitter.com/LpZxpOFehQ

— Rachel Bitecofer 🗽💡🔭🦆 (@RachelBitecofer) July 18, 2024

hey Paul McCartney's another octogenarian who won't leave the world stage

Rough interview clip from Biden's interview with BET News tonight

"The secretary of defense- the black man" pic.twitter.com/CIuQDGx3g0

— umichvoter 🏳️‍🌈 (@umichvoter) July 18, 2024

…anyway

oh that's just the awkward racism he's been displaying his whole life

It took me a bit to realize that I'm disturbed not by Biden's flubs or lack of name recall but rather the fact that he doesn't seem to be aware that it even happened most of the time. Like, the sitting president accidentally calling a major figure on the world stage Pol Pot is a pretty big gaffe but failure to recognize and quickly correct the gaffe is redolent of something more troubling.

he does that defensive thing all the time now that people with dementia do when they lose the thread of their thought. "well, anyway..." "well, never mind, anyway..." instead of finishing the thought/sentence.

When Trump calls someone by the wrong name he acts like he's correct: "My running mate A.C. Vance. A.C. that's what some people call him. We call him that. Speaking of air conditioners..."

*indiana jones voice* top. dems.

Top Dems Seek Bottom

These leads obviously go down when you attach a specific name, but still...

PENNSYLVANIA
Younger Democrat 53% (+6)
Donald Trump 47%
.
WISCONSIN
Younger Democrat 54% (+8)
Donald Trump 46%

MICHIGAN
Younger Democrat 55% (+10)
Donald Trump 45%
.
NEVADA
Younger Democrat 54% (+8)
Donald Trump 46%
.
NORTH CAROLINA
Younger Democrat 51% (+2)
Donald Trump 49%
.… https://t.co/Pi2j93vaAb

— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) July 18, 2024

Might just as well poll Trump vs Batman.

they're the same guy

Batman is actually slightly older than Biden (Bats was born in '39, Biden '41). Does keep in shape tho.

Now, look.

Here's the deal, folx - that’s number one here’s number two

Re: that poll... so it could be a sea lion (D) as long as he's under 80

The headline that just had to be.

https://i.postimg.cc/Gh3Nxjcj/isolated.jpg

it is truly joever

I've made no bones about the fact that I think Biden has gotten a bit of a raw deal, but it seems almost impossible to image him forging ahead with a campaign while reports circulate that the most prominent Dems (Pelosi, Schumer, Jeffries, now Obama) think he should get out.

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 18, 2024

rip big man

holy shit the increasingly isolated tables have turned

"Younger Democrat, you say?"

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/7y91es0rBB9ZfyH9Ji8TpA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTk2MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/aol_gannett_aggregated_707/4788327a6c089b3210db6d8a558915cd

Been thinking about the famous story of Goldwater and a few others visiting Nixon to get him to resign. Not sure if it's all 100% accurate, but it seems more or less credible.

I think there are two, maybe three people who could do that with Biden (I do think Harris replacing him is the best course of action, whatever current polling says). Jill Biden is obviously one. Also, I think, Obama (or the Obamas together).

― clemenza, Friday, June 28, 2024 1:54 PM (two weeks ago)

One last domino to fall, except that one's not even necessary anymore.

If Biden wanted to stay in, he'd be impenetrable, thanks to liberal leaders and the Congressional Black Caucus. But his closest friends believe he's fought the good fight and will succumb to reality.

impenetrable

"succumb to reality" for August 2024 thread title plz