One House Democrat said he spoke for others in the wake of the president’s stunningly feeble debate performance on Thursday: “The movement to convince Biden to not run is real.”

The House member, an outspoken defender of the president, said that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should consider “a combined effort” to nudge President Joe Biden out of the race.

Crestfallen by the president’s weak voice, pallid appearance and meandering answers, numerous Democratic officials said Biden’s bet on an early debate to rebut unceasing questions about his age had not only backfired but done damage that may prove irreversible. The president had, in the first 30 minutes of the debate, fully affirmed doubts about his fitness.

A second House Democrat said “reflection is needed” from Biden about the way ahead and indicated the private text threads among lawmakers were even more dire, with some saying outright that the president needed to drop out of the race.

    • /home/addison@programming.dev
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      5 months ago

      The point is that there is now a credible fear that if Biden does not drop out, Trump wins.

      Replacing the candidate at the top of the ticket this late is a hail Mary, but it could bring unenthusiastic voters back into the Democratic tent.

      • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Trumps base is smaller, but passionate, they will show up. Biden doesn’t really have followers, he has people that are just glad that he isn’t Trump. But at this point it’s embarrassing to even vote for him for that reason… so people just won’t show up to vote at all. All they have to do is have a sentient human that can complete a sentence and the hate for Trump will prevail. For the love of God. Do something DNC or Trump it is.

        I just can’t believe everyone is acting all surprised that the dude that could barely complete a sentence when he was 77 didn’t get mysteriously better now that he’s 81. Who woulda thought?..

        We all know the DNC will do nothing, and Trump will win, and they are fine with it. Because they want to keep dragging this party to the right.

        • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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          3/7 incumbent presidents since 1980 have lost. It’s indistinguishable from a coin flip. Whatever benefit incumbency holds in the presidency, it’s not strong.

    • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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      Trump wins if biden stays. I will vote for potato Biden before Trump, but I literally barely give a shit. The bar is literally so low and the democrats found a way to still struggle against a hated criminal. For the love of GOD, run someone else now. I will vote for anyone other than Trump but the LONG list of people that just want a sane person in there and currently won’t vote for either will probably show up if a sentient human was an option.

      New candidate, dems win. Sit around and do nothing, Trump wins. His smaller base is passionate. The democrats are pretty underwhelmed and embarrassed of Biden.

      • girsaysdoom
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        I think what everyone needs to realize is that it’s already too late. It’s been too late and it was too late months ago. There are no other options. The world will suck but will most definitely suck less than one being led by Trump. You have two effective choices, vote Biden or don’t. It’s unfortunately all we have at this point.

        • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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          With that attitude. They could literally put ANYONE in there (other than Hillary) and they will win. ANYONE. Doesn’t matter how late it is. A vast majority HATE Trump and are embarrassed of Biden. Just give them someone they aren’t completely ashamed of. That’s it. That’s all they have to do. They don’t need years of campaigning. Just be able to complete a coherent sentence and don’t be a racist bigot. That is how low the bar actually is right now. Hell, Hillary would probably win this go around.

          • dragontamer@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Who?

            Kamala? She’ll lose to Trump.

            Newcom? Not even liked in California.

            Pete Buttigieg? LGBT rights are being wiped out right now because a huge upswing in recent homophobia and you think an openly gay candidate has a chance?

            You need to start listing names if you want this discussion to be taken seriously. There’s a reason why Biden was chosen in the first place, because no one could list a better choice. The same problem exists today.

            Just give them someone they aren’t completely ashamed of.

            People are surprisingly creative at being ashamed of Democrats. But are never ashamed of Trump. At some point, you need to just stop being so ashamed at the Democrat’s current choice: Biden.

            I recognize this is a tough time, but you need to seriously start listing names. I’m not a Democrat so I’m not going to be at the primary or convention or whatever. But I would like to see a strong Democrat party so that I can confidently vote against Trump in November. I don’t care if its Biden, Pete or whoever honestly. But this gnashing and wailing when you can’t even deliver a name in your post is annoying to me.

            • skulblaka
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              Literally every one of those names is one I would vote for if put on the ballot. The bar is that low. It is dangerously low, they could run anyone and people would show up to vote, red flags or not. We’re mostly interested in taking a loan to pay the piper at this point, a future catastrophe can be dealt with after we deal with the current catastrophe.

              • dragontamer@lemmy.world
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                Yeah, but you’d vote for Biden too.

                The question isn’t about who you or I’d vote for. The question is who’d “Joe Moderate” would vote for?

                And spoiler alert: “Joe Moderate” isn’t exactly a feminist or LGBT ally. “Joe Moderate” is the various citizens of Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan who flipped from Red to Blue in 2020.


                So you’re saying Joe Moderate is going to vote for a Female Governor? An openly gay politician? Or the California man who is proudly pushing ACCII to force people to buy Electric Cars? I don’t think so.

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                  Fuck sake, why do you have to be right?

                  My immediate response was “well anyone who is paying attention absolutely would vote for one of them given the alternatives of Trump and Biden” but that’s exactly the point, most people aren’t paying enough attention. I can’t even argue with that. And the people whose vote we have to court the most are the fence sitters who definitely especially aren’t paying proper attention. Fuck.

                  I don’t even have more to add to that, now I’m just depressed. Because you’re right, I WOULD vote for Biden anyway even if I hate it, I said so myself, so I’m not even the target audience here. And Joe Moderate is going to ratchet us three clicks further right just in order to attempt preventing even worse.

                  On some level I definitely already knew all this but I have to say this is throwing it all into some pretty stark light.

                  • dragontamer@lemmy.world
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                    Rest assured, Biden’s methodology has reached across the aisle and really solidified my support for him. I’m not liberal in the slightest and I recognize I’m probably a minority of people who considers themselves “conservative”. But Biden’s approach did reach out to me in a way that no other Democrat has.

                    I think you’re underestimating Biden.

                    That’s where my confusion comes in. I really don’t think Trump did very well on that stage, and you should instead be talking about how Trump literally defended January 6th to your cohort. Instead of a few missed lines and typical Biden blunders.

                    Biden always sucked at these debate settings. Yes, he’s older and even worse at it, but Biden wasn’t really that good in 2020 either. None of this shit is new to Biden voters.


                    Liberals really go hyperbolic and freak out at little things. Yall should learn from the Conservatives and I dunno… put a bit of Trust in the leader yall chose? Republicans have put too much faith in Trump, but Democrats consistently put too little faith in their leaders (and this entire episode of people calling on Biden to step down / be replaced is a continuation of this Democrat tradition).

                    So Trump is a charismatic liar / Reality TV Star who uses his literal WWE experience to form a bullying debate style that’s popular amongst the US Public. You already knew that, right? How else did you think this would go? It went like this last time in 2020.

                • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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                  Is Joe Moderate going to vote for an old man that can easily be legally declared incompetent to manage his own life, let alone an entire country? I doubt it.

                  • dragontamer@lemmy.world
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                    Joe Biden stumbled but what the hell?

                    Trump was the one talking in circles about immigrants and was literally unable to respond to the moderator’s questions.

                    Biden’s age is showing, but Trump’s brain is turning into cheese. The difference is that Republicans proudly rally behind their cheese-brain candidate while yall scardy-cats backstab Biden the first chance yall get.

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              Yes, Kamala, Newsom, who the fuck ever. Biden isn’t on this ticket because there was nobody else, he is on this ticket because they shoehorned in a sock puppet. The poor old man at one point had a name for himself but since there are a bunch of people around him that wanted to profit off the name he made for himself, he has instead turned into a senile old man on the public stage. That is the stamp he leaves in the history books because he is surrounded by shitbags that are taking advantage of an old man who cannot cognitively make decisions for himself anymore.

              There was a laundry list of candidates pushed out for him last cycle and they refused to primary him this cycle, because they can take advantage of him, worst case scenario they get Trump to lower the bar further for 2028.

              I would vote for any one of those people a thousand times over putting Biden or the country through what is happening now. AND SO WOULD ANYONE ELSE. If you think centrist dems will vote for Trump because the other option is a gay man, that’s crazy. If you think the far left will vote for Trump over Kamala because she’s a cop, you’re crazy. One thing a LOT of people won’t vote for is an old man that can’t even fucking talk.

              I will vote for Biden if that’s all that’s offered purely because I can handle stupidity due to an actual mental deficit. I can’t handle the willful ignorance of facts and pure evil from Trump and his cronies. Most people (and I am not referring to the type of people cruising a politics sub) just won’t fucking vote.

              • dragontamer@lemmy.world
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                If you think centrist dems will vote for Trump because the other option is a gay man, that’s crazy. If you think the far left will vote for Trump over Kamala because she’s a cop, you’re crazy.

                Its not centrist dems who are in charge of this situation. Its Joe “Independent” who kinda-sorta is flirting with Ron DeSantis’s Don’t Say Gay bill and has eaten 8 years of anti-Democratic women propaganda from the right. Kamala is a difficult to pronounce name and she ain’t exactly white looking. My racist buddies don’t like her face or how she talks.

                Honestly, I think Kamala has a chance vs Trump directly. She’s much more of a “fighter” type and I actually think her lawyer background would keep her more witty than both Trump and Biden. But you’re severely mistaken about the nature of Kamala’s problem as a Presidential top-of-the-line leader of the Democrats.

                People in the USA are racist fucks, and the moderates who flip the vote are “mildly racist” (not enough to say they’re against Kamala or Clinton on womanhood alone, but instead use weasel words like “Not strong enough” or “Bad politics for Russia”, etc. etc.).


                The main benefit we anti-Trumpers have going for us (note: I’m not a liberal), is that you Liberals have +4 more years off GenZ entering the voting pool and Conservatives have -4 years of Baby Boomers dying off.

                GenZ / Youth Vote is famously finicky but if everyone just votes the same as 2020, this is all quite in Biden’s favor actually. Do you think Biden’s performance yesterday was truly so bad that “Joe Moderate” is flipping over to Trump now?

                I don’t think so. Add the GenZ (however tepid their turnout will be) and we got this.

          • PsychedSy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            That’s the fucking point. You don’t have a choice. They decide. You vote for who you choose. Hope you don’t have a problem with that or you’re a fascist.

          • girsaysdoom
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            I’d agree with you, except that we’re in the dark timeline where the DNC has burned us hard by making dumb electoral decisions. We’re basically given another chance at 2016 where we have a democratic shoehorn vs a narcissistic authoritarian. I’m actually getting to the point where I regret not voting for Hilary because of how much of a shit show those years were.

            So, yes, I’d love to vote for someone else, preferably like Bernie, but it’s far too late to recampaign. Especially since it’s less than 5 months prior to actual elections. Given what was accomplished these past 4 years, I’d actually be okay with Biden if he would meaningfully do something to help Palestine.

                • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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                  Just remember, there are tons of people around him that hear him act and talk the way he did last night and keep this all going. He talks to foreign leaders and loses his train of thought. He participates in security briefings and decides how to handle crisis while he cannot hold a conversation. That isn’t one bad debate, it is a result of him not having notes or interaction with his advisors. This was him demonstrating his actual mental capabilities. It was predictable by anyone who has paid attention. Also, name one thing he did over the past 4 years that wasn’t immediately blocked that isn’t just… not be Trump.

                  • timbuck2themoon
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                    Biggest climate change law ever, forgave student loans, pardoned homosexual acts on the military, stood in picket lines, got railroad workers sick days, appointed a trust buster to the FTC.

                    Plenty more. And he’s not trump. Got my vote and Anyone who isn’t a complete dumbass, their vote too. Don’t forget about who will pick new SCOTUS justices too.

          • Beetschnapps@lemmy.world
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            I think you need to capitalize and repeat HILLARY a few more times to point out how logical and politically savvy you are.

            “I mean HILLARY could even make statements without being as ASHAMED as ANYONE. ANYONE! HILLARY could be literally ANYONE plus HATE! To be better than HILLARY people!“

            This is the incoherence you bring to the table. Maybe spice it up with the DNC being James Bond level super villains and telling everyone what to think?

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                Lmao, the fuck? You laugh why dipshit?

                Why is she mentioned at all? Who cares if I say her name 3 times compared to 2.

                What’s the fucking difference if YOU think she has no relevance at all? Got anything relevant to add or just lmao?

    • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
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      That’s not guaranteed if Biden drops out before the DNC convention in August, where presumably another (possibly younger) candidate could be chosen.

    • Lucidlethargy
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      Honestly… An unknown challenger from EITHER side may actually sweep this election. Both candidates are hated by their constituents more than any other president I’ve seen in living memory.

      Trump has the Republicans by the balls, but Biden doesn’t. I fully support this, if the right candidate can be found. The DNC won’t choose the right candidate, though… They are incompetent idiots.

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        The really fucked up thing is that the challenger wouldn’t be allowed onto every state ballot. The system is so tightly rigged its unbearable.

    • DancingBear@midwest.social
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      Not necessarily…… blue maga will support whoever they choose regardless and if they choose someone other than Biden they have a chance at the youth and uncommitted voters.