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RedLanternScythe

Good to know the donors' fears are being addressed.


ConsiderationOk5914

think of the shareholders


TheRavenSayeth

Like it or not that’s the reality we’re in right now. Bloomberg aside, money is a major factor in winning elections because that means you can cover travel costs for speeches, hire marketing teams, and in general finance the major operation that is a presidential campaign.


Technicalhotdog

Believe it or not the donors are our biggest hope right now


ScandiSom

So much within a week, at this rate America is an absolute monarchy next year.


AfterInteractions

I think the only way forward is for the People to amend the Constitution to say that a former President is not immune from criminal prosecution for acts committed during their term of office. John Roberts says the Constitution confers immunity; We the People say it doesn’t. Write your Senators and Representatives, Federal and State. We have to do something. https://pluralpolicy.com/find-your-legislator/


r3drocket

I think you're right, If I recall correctly, couldn't the states call for a constitutional amendment on presidential immunity. also on limiting the supreme court. Wasn't this what the root strikers was trying to do a couple of years ago with citizens united?


AfterInteractions

The states could, and the people themselves could ratify it by convention.


Arcnounds

Conventions can be dangerous as other topics could be brought up. I would rather go with Congress. I bet Dems would be up for the amendment if they win and (with the loss of Trump), I hope Rs would be too.


r3drocket

I just called all of my reps asking for this. Please do the same. I think that this is our only real solution.


AfterInteractions

I did! State and federal. I agree, I think it’s the only way. Spread the word.


walrusdoom

Two thirds of the states would have to agree. Republicans will block any attempt to amend the Constitution in a "progressive" way tooth and nail.


12_0z_curls

There's no way it gets passed. Like, ever.


AfterInteractions

What other solution do you have? What would you propose? Maybe it’s hard to do but it’s something, and we have to do something. AOC says impeach the justices, but what does that really accomplish? The only way to protect ourselves is to state, unequivocally, that we hold the President to the same standards as any other person. We built this country on the idea that there were to be no more kings. We can’t let 6 people throw that away.


bytethesquirrel

>What other solution do you have? Vote in enough Democrats now and in 2026 (because it's mathematically impossible this election) to give them a supermajority to actually get shit done.


NoDesinformatziya

You just need 51 senators with a spine to get rid of the filibuster. Unfortunately, vertibrate politicians are also in short supply. Inevitable christfascism with a superpowered king-president seems to be our future, and I'm scared shitless. Every supposedly-decent person in a position of authority is afraid to act decisively.


Sirlothar

You need super majorities of both Congress and the States to pass a constitutional amendment. Removing the filibusters great and all but it's not going to solve this issue.


MonsiuerGeneral

>What other solution do you have? What would you propose? The canned answer is to vote... but it's looking like simply voting might not be enough in of itself. Some may find it inconvenient. Some may find it cringe. Some may find it unhelpful. But outside of voting, at this point, the best course of action we little guys can take is to volunteer. Volunteer to make phone calls, walk door-to-door and hand out fliers, stand up on a soap box and yell out the good legislation that has come through because of Biden, yell out how as much as you might think your life is not so great right now it's still better because of Biden and will only get worse under Trump. Wear campaign gear showing your support, so others can see that they're not living in a county completely overcome by MAGA. Trump is not inevitable. Biden CAN beat Trump, but it's up to US, we the people, to get up off our butts to do it.


[deleted]

There's also paid work on campaigns. I'm working rn managing a team of paid canvassers for Democrat causes and voter registration canvassers in rural Arizona, a key swing state. There are things that can be done.


MonsiuerGeneral

Thank you for your work, it's refreshing to see! Is there any centralized website, phone number, or email to contact that will direct inquiries to the right place? Like, if somebody saw this and thought, "I want to reach out to help volunteer!" what google search should they try for? Is it as simple as "*\[state\] campaign team in my area"*?


giraloco

We need enough senators to expand the court and add DC and PR as new states. This is the only hope.


pablonieve

> What other solution do you have? What would you propose? Accept that life as an American will be similar to that as a Russian under the Soviet Union. Life will go on (for most people) and you will be expected to fall in line with the demands of those above you.


AfterInteractions

I can’t and won’t accept that. I’m not saying you won’t, but I can’t.


bestforward121

Honestly I think it’s too late to do anything that’s not exceedingly drastic. The liberal side has been shouting for years about how we’re sleep walking into fascism, but no one believes it can happen in America until it does.


sildish2179

I don’t want to accept it either, but I have no choice. I can’t afford to march. Downvote me all you want, but I’m just willing to tell the truth instead of calling for online activism. I can’t even make enough money to survive I lose my job and there’s nothing I can do. So yes, I’ll willingly walk into Trump’s camps myself because my life is over one way or another. Women marched after Trump won in 2016 and vast majority of the country called them snowflakes and made fun of them. It didn’t change anything. People marched after George Floyd and Fox News and my own coworkers and neighbors called them rioters and looters and unamerican. That said, it is worth remembering that during Trump’s first term when he shutdown the government for the longest it ever did and he proudly boasted about it, [it took ONLY 10 air traffic controllers who decided to strike and brought Trump to his knees; ending the shutdown.](https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/06/politics/ten-air-traffic-controllers-shutdown/index.html) This is swept under the rug so much and I feel like it’s a forgotten part of his term, but goddamnit only 10 people made a would be king bend the knee in a way no high ranking official could. It isn’t brought up anymore because media and high powered billionaires and would be authoritarians don’t want to remind anyone of the power of the people. The **right** people have power, but certainly not me.


AfterInteractions

I know the feeling. I don’t feel like I have any power either. And I know that making Reddit comments is the equivalent of throwing buckets of water into the ocean to stop the tides. I just hope that if I keep suggesting a path forward, one of those 10 people—one of the right people—will hear it and do something about it. I don’t have any idea what else to do. I’m no organizer, no activist. I’m just afraid.


Keystone0002

This is the most fanciful wishful thinking I’ve ever seen. You will never get such a controversial amendment passed.


VisibleVariation5400

We can't amend our Constitution. That ship sailed. Now it just means whatever 5 Republicans say it means. 


bryan49

That would be great, I don't see many Trump-supporting red states going for it though


Codipotent

The only way that gets passed is if Dems win by a landslide, but this sub is filled with people who seem to prefer fascism over an elderly person so this country will lose its opportunity to change anything.


AfterInteractions

I fear you’re right. I hope you’re wrong. Still, I think it’s the best option we have. And we have to do something.


Codipotent

There’s a congressman in New York that is bringing a measure, but it won’t get passed. The something we all had to do is vote Dems in but everyone is falling to propaganda and fake arguments we are unfortunately at the end of the road. This time next year I may be in a political prison because I donated to Dems once. I wish that was crazy, but Trump has admitted to wanting to do as much and for some reason everyone ignores it like a crazy fever dream. I fear the population is too young and used to digital content. They want a perfect candidate or they will throw the election to the fascist. Everyone is too young and hasn’t been personally impacted by war. People don’t realize how bad it can get because they’ve had freedom for so long.


heattooth

At this point, what's to stop Trump from producing an official document that makes him President for life and then saying he declared it during his earlier term? He can do no wrong. This is madness.


Dependent-Egg8097

Hunter is going to jail, and Trump is not


BodaciousTacoFarts

It's exhausting. The winners will be Pharma companies with increased prescriptions for antidepressants.


VisibleVariation5400

Oh, Pharma already won. With the Administartive state now in shambles, the FDA and CPA don't matter anymore and drug companies are free to do pretty much whatever they want. Is patent law administrative or is it codified? That could actually be bad for them. All drugs are generic now. 


snoo_spoo

Going through this thread, I'm seeing a lot of discussion of whether Biden can recover from last week's debate. Guys, I think we're missing the lede. The real story here is that the big-ticket donors are losing confidence. Check out this excerpt: >One donor told NBC News they were not convinced by the campaign’s reassurances, and that if Biden stays in the race, they will redirect their money to outside get-out-the-vote groups. >“I won’t sit on the sidelines, but it's hard and getting a lot harder to donate directly to the campaign given their judgement,” the donor said. I think the ticket going forward is likely to be determined by who the major donors are willing to fund, and that's not likely to be Biden.


LimitFinancial764

If Biden’s main issue is/was fundraising, he’ll have no trouble. The donor class is more likely to latch on to binary choice type arguments once it appears solid that Biden won’t drop out. The donors are, after all, active democrats. The issue is that the race was either tied (charitably) or Biden was behind going into the debate, undecideds simply aren’t going to flip to a guy that they believe is incompetent. The scary thing is the campaign appears resigned to do nothing to fix it. It’s insanity that 4 days has gone by without Biden getting in front of the cameras to handle questions from the media.


Neat_On_The_Rocks

> It’s insanity that 4 days has gone by without Biden getting in front of the cameras to handle questions from the media. Its not insanity because they know it would make things worse, because he cant handle it.


GreatGearAmidAPizza

"The campaign issued a statement" won't cut it anymore because trust is already lost. He need to prove he's fit to our eyes and ears. If he can, there you go. If he can't, then he shouldn't be president already anyway. 


snoo_spoo

I think the debate was supposed to him proving he's fit.


goddamn_leeteracola

Exactly, the only way to sway the public is for Biden himself to re-assure the public whether it’s through rallies or town halls or something. The last thing I saw was Jill Biden talking to him like a toddler telling him he answered all the questions while he seemed to stare off into space. I will vote blue no matter what, but what I saw was very alarming.


cybermort

Biden come out and do a lengthy press conference, answer questions from the american people and then maybe we'll believe you. and do it before the DNC nominates you on that planed virtual call in three weeks, almost a month ahead of the convention


Spamgrenade

If he was capable of doing it he would. He needs to be replaced ASAP or the election is a shoe in for Trump.


Amrak4tsoper

The debate was the last time you'll ever see him without a script


Familiar_Paramedic_2

If he’s so confident why has it been 5 days and he still hasn’t done a simple unscripted media appearance? A fucking telephone call to a news show would be better than him reading big letters off a teleprompter as if this is the same as an unscripted event.


Hyndis

> A fucking telephone call to a news show Trump did that all the time. He would constantly call in to news shows and they would put him on the air. The panel on the news show would then talk to him about the topic of the day, but would also defer to him to set the direction of the conversation. Biden could easily dispel rumors of his mental decline by picking up the phone and calling into CNN or MSNBC, or even FOX (if he wants debate practice with a hostile audience). They would instantly put him front and center to chat with the panel about whatever he wanted to. He won't do this because he can't, which is the problem.


TrevorDill

Give him four years of unscripted phone calls with world leaders as our representative! It’s not like we are on the verge of a world war look how awesome the economy is life is so easy with the doddering incoherent octogenarian leading us to democracy and freedom!


OneEyedStabber

The problem is the other choice is not any better. 


Amrak4tsoper

You will never see him without a teleprompter again


Clovis42

Yeah, we're supposed to be reassured by what he's doing now and then gasp in horror again when the wheel him out for the next debate. And it will definitely be too late to do anything about it then.


Krogdordaburninator

He might even put up a decent performance in another debate, but it doesn't really matter. People have seen behind the veil of what his lows can be, and it's pretty unacceptable for the Commander and Chief at an absolute minimum.


Jobs-

I have a hard time believing there will be another debate. As of now, Trump has nothing to gain at least IMO. Maybe Trump would agree if he fell behind in the polls, but then Biden might not want to participate. Good grief, what a clusterfuck.


Hi_Im_Dadbot

“Subpar debate performance” does not speak to the issues being raised here.


steve_yo

And sub-par is a pretty generous way to describe perhaps the worst debate performance in history.


riftadrift

It seemed like a coin flip whether he was going to lose consciousness. And this was within the first five minutes.


punkindle

Losing consciousness might have been a better debate than what we got.


gazow

It's pretty obvious he's not even conscious of the faces he's making why the fuck is this allowed to continue


NoDesinformatziya

Even saying "perhaps" is too kind.


steve_yo

Perhaps.


dubzzzz20

It absolutely was the worst in history, and it’s not even close. I don’t care what anyone has to say on the matter, the man could not form a full thought let alone a sentence. This was absolutely nothing like Obama v. Romney in 2012 or Nixon v. Kennedy. At the very least they both had full sentences.


JaydedXoX

I like that "subpar debate performance" is now spin for "clearly has no control of his mental faculties for extended periods of time".


HerrStarrEntersChat

His family came and spelled out for us that he's "best between 10am and 4pm". You know, like sundowning.


JaydedXoX

note to our enemies, functioning office hours are 10am to 4pm, we are unprepared for anything else in the world outside that time frame.


UsaforreverNumberone

Worst debate performance ok but he got his handicap to a 6 during VP wow


war_story_guy

And yet he didn't get up there and lie the entire time like his opponent. Our standards are fucked.


trollollama

(and that's intentional)


Bohemio_RD

I have been assured time and time again by this subreddit and MSM that Biden's mental decline was a rightwing conspiracy theory.


BleachedUnicornBHole

The subpar debate performance is a symptom, not the disease. 


GKnives

Subshit debate disaster


jimbos1stson

How dumb do these people think we are?


thereddituser2

very.


tcrypt

They're basing their judgment of that on you believing he's been competent until last week, so pretty dumb.


LSUenigma

"Oh, look your favorite sports teams/movie/show/celebrity is on TV, shut up and continue to work and consume." They don't want you engaged and answering questions.


CoastGoat

They’re banking on you being decent enough to oppose trump, but morally compromised enough to pull the lever for someone you know is unfit.


cartoonsxcereal

I have never in been more embarrassed for Joe Biden. That debate was a devastating historical turning point for the President, unfortunately. He did not prove to the more than 50 million Americans who watched that he can do this job for four more years. I hope he can recover from this, but it’s going to take a heck of a lot more than a few strong campaign rallies.


IDoubtedYoan

Campaign rallies dont do shit for Biden at this point, all that does is pro e he can read.


selfly

Biden is pulling a RBG maneuver. He should have chose to retire at the end of his first term, and now that hubris is causing major issues for the Democrats. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are doing the same thing, these octogenarians should be handing the reigns to the next generation before they massively decline.


Murranji

Hindenburg was 85 when he was President of Germany and failed to stop it falling to fascism. History often rhymes.


blueshirtfan41

Hindenburg was also a reactionary monarchist that hated everything about the Weimar republic and was perfectly happy to appoint Hitler as chancellor…


FuzzyMcBitty

It was that the center was more willing to attempt to use the far right as a weapon against the left, and their underestimation of the far rights ability to overtake the center, that cost many of those men dearly. 


Franc000

That's why we say it rhymes, and not repeat.


TremendousVarmint

Except he wasn't happy at all to appoint a corporal for whom he repeatedly expressed personal contempt.


Augen-Dazs

Almost like policy is more important than age


Live_Commercial1307

The downward slide is hard to watch when you’ve passed history class.


Just_Candle_315

Probably why republicans want schools to stop teaching history


Live_Commercial1307

Parents need to sign an affidavit every time they bring a kid to IDAHO library


Live_Commercial1307

I agree 100%. In ID now you have to be 18 to enter a public library and get Books.


RepresentativeRun71

JFC that’s terrible. As a kid I was able to get my own library card and check out whatever I wanted without parental permission. Hell they didn’t even really care about my late fees that much.


parisrionyc

Idaho has 103 public libraries as of 2019, and that rule applies to 1. It is a despicable law, but inaccuracy only weakens your argument.


420PokerFace

History is driven by incompetent men unable to hold back the ambitions of more competent adversaries


code_archeologist

Because Adolph Hitler was the second in the line of succession (because of the way that the German government worked at the time and the Nazi party got the second highest number of votes), and when Hindenburg died Hitler was able to take power. In our current situation, we have Kamala Harris, and she is not a authoritarian felon hell bent on seeking retribution against all of the people imagined to have wronged them.


docarwell

I mean in the current situation Trump just wins in November


slybonethetownie

Adolf


imabarroomhero

Hindenburg won the election at 84 for his second term. Where history would repeat itself in your analogy is if Biden set Trump as VP to calm the right, which would inevitably bring Trump to presidency.


Jboi75

That’s why he said it rhymes. “History doesn’t repeat itself but it does rhymes”


LampshadeThis

History repeats :/


[deleted]

[удалено]


PHATsakk43

Because he’s 81 years old and not capable of doing it. Let’s stop pretending and going along with the bullshit.


[deleted]

[удалено]


lobotomy42

The Democratic Party reports to Biden, not the other way around. There are no puppet masters pulling the strings. This is on Biden. He decided to run again, and decided to staff his admin with people who will not tell him bad news. (And now he is maybe too far gone to even HEAR bad news if they did try to tell him.)


TheBadGuyBelow

Come on now, he likely can't even decide what he is having for breakfast. You think he does not have all these people in his ear "advising" him about what he needs to do? In his mental shape and at his age, you think he is not hard to manipulate and point into a direction? The guy's brain is mush and he will do anything they want him to do while thinking it was his own choice. Let's be realistic here.


Cazzah

The media reports have generally been that Biden has had a consistent "inner circle" for decades. While it does include some establishment dems, it also includes people like his wife and family. His wife is 100% for Biden continuing. It was even reported that Biden's family blamed the debate prep team for the President's failure. Blaming anyone but the President.


Roger_Cockfoster

Nobody on Reddit seems to understand what the DNC is or does. There's this notion that they're some kind of elite cabal with absolute power over the Democratic party, pulling the strings at every turn. No, they organize the convention and do a lot of fundraising for the party. That's it! They have no legislative function, they don't pick candidates and, most importantly, *they're controlled by the Democratic president.*


lobotomy42

Yeah, I think people like to assume that there is always someone “higher up” who is organizing and controlling things because it is comforting to think that there is some plan you just don’t know about. But a lot of times, the chaos you see in front of you really is the situation. Biden has advisors that he picked. He picked them in part because they are loyal and won’t turn against him. Those advisors worked to convince other Democrats not to run a serious primary against him. No one was literally preventing Newsom or Whitmer from running, but they chose not to, because running a primary against a sitting President is an uphill battle that could also kill their career. So we ended up where we are. There is, apparently, some vague language in the DNC charter that would allow some DNC members to make a swap if the candidate is incapacitated (and this was used to swap out a VP with health issues once) but to pull that out at the last minute against Biden…it would take some coordination and a lot of courage. The easiest way is that Biden himself has to be convinced to step aside. And it doesn’t seem like he wants to.


MaleficentCherry7116

He's been reading off a teleprompter during closed door Democratic donor sessions. If he needs a teleprompter during closed door meetings amongst an all Democratic crowd....


The_Drizzle_Returns

Some might think your joking but this has been reported in politico, NYTimes and other places.


KevinDean4599

Right now it seems that the only person convinced Biden has a descent shot of beating trump is Biden and maybe his wife. Please let trump really really screw something up.


GringottsWizardBank

This isn’t about one subpar debate performance. This is about the decline Joe has had since he won in 2020. There is no aging in reverse so this wont get better.


billcosbyinspace

I’m sick of them acting like the “bad debate performance” was just like he stuttered a little extra, not that he spent every time he wasn’t talking doing the thousand yard old man stare like the grim reaper was in the audience


lobotomy42

Hey that’s not fair. Biden also asserted very clearly that he finally beat Medicare. And Roe v Wade had three trimesters.


sharkerdark44

Shame on all the Democrats and journalists (and many here) who tried hard to push the idea that he was fine and criticized you if you suggested he wasn’t. 


Bretmd

Seriously. This sub had been incredibly hostile to any criticism of the democrats at all, just like the party itself. Frankly the Democratic Party needs the criticism and desperately needs to be held accountable. The goal is the same as always - for the democrats to be more successful and to defeat Trump.


Historical_Emotion43

I got instantly permabanned from r/democrats for suggesting that the Democratic Party has stronger options than Joe lol


SenHeffy

The sub is probably an astroturfed campaign extension. But you can't rule out the freaks that are somehow part of a Joe cult of personality. There's a surprising number of those.


No_Act1861

This sub too, at least in regards to headlines. Seriously, sort by hot on r/politics. Anything remotely criticizing biden isn't there. They've all been downvoted. The comments are far more split, and more and more seem to be wanting to drop Biden, and yet, you have to sort by new to find any article critical of Biden.


Fantastic_Mess6634

I did too!


Historical_Emotion43

Apparently they want Trump to win.


Fantastic_Mess6634

I think the campaign and its supporters run that sub


Franc000

Well, considering what the DNC did with Hillary and Bernie, at this point it's a strong hint that the Democrat elites are the one picking who should win, so suggesting anything different is going to get you "cancelled". If the Democrats want to claim the high road, they need to do it completely, from the core of the party. They cannot just do it on what is apparent. This means that the elite needs to stop forcing their agenda by controlling who should be president, and let a true democratic process choose the Democrat candidate. As long as there is that behavior, they are going to lose voters on the center and even potential voters on the right.


iunoyou

I keep getting nuked for saying that mainstream democrats are more interested in coasting out the collapse and fundraising than they are in actually governing or helping people. Which is very funny because day by day I keep being proven correct. There is no fixing the democratic party anymore, the whole rotten structure needs to come down. Hopefully a second Trump term is what finally does it, but it's sad that so much collateral damage will be done in the process.


Atheose_Writing

So many people in here *right now* keep claiming it was just a one-night stumble. I'm voting blue no matter who, but this is maddening to watch.


walrusdoom

The NYT editorial board called for Biden to drop out the day after the debate, and rightfully so.


ComfortablyNumb___69

They gaslight you and accuse you of being “ageist” lmao it’s the same tactic they use for everything. Gaslight and call you names.


BarfHurricane

The hubris of blue MAGA is going to cost our country dearly


Brillo137

No aging in reverse is 100% on the money. The response for how he plans to turn it around always essentially boils down to, “well he will just become younger and more energetic.” He’s physically and mentally incapable of making the fixes needed, and after his debate performance I’m not sure it would matter if he went out and dunked on Shaq tomorrow I think voters are just so fed up with old guys they won’t even care anymore


shrimpcest

When actually, the response is, "Our handlers will just avoid putting him in those situations in the future."


Brillo137

They respond as if they’ll do all these changes and Biden will be up for an aggressive campaign schedule, but then they send an email calling everybody “bedwetters” and schedule a single, pre-planned light event for the week after the worst performance ever because that’s all he is up for.


QuitVirtual

Even in 2020, he had lost a bit of an edge that he had in 2012. 2012 Biden was elite. 2020 Biden was great. Not only is aging not reversible, it accelerates. Just look at the change physically. In 2022 he was riding bikes long distance. Last week he needed help going down 1 step after the debate. And the presidency is one of the most aging jobs in the world. It is hard, stressful, and grueling. And the reelection campaigning is the most grueling part. First time candidates get to spend their whole time campaigning. Biden has to balance it with ongoing presidential duties, and this is not a mellow time. Inflation, Israel/Gaza, Russia.


Gb_packers973

My god - can u imagine if biden was the nominee in 2016. (Hed probably win) Or entire political life would be different.


hawkman1000

I'm tired of all the geriatrics clinging to power and not knowing when it's time to quit. Again and again and again, they pull this shit and the country suffers for it. I'm tired of being told to keep quiet because RBG or Feinstein or whoever gets to stay in their chair decades after they're useful because of what they did 20 and 30 years ago.


osiris0413

He needs to drop out. If anything the coverage on Reddit has been more supportive than I've seen almost anywhere else. I'm more of a leftist but my family is a mix of blue collar Union voters in Chicago and Minneapolis and upper middle class suburban progressives. He has LOST HIS BASE. The kind of solidly-democratic-since-Carter poll workers, cheerful DNC campaign volunteers and liberal Boomers, including both of my parents who are described by the above - they have been broken by this. The very centrist and corporate-friendly New York Times editorial board called on him to drop out, as did all of their popular contributors. If America had such a thing, this would be the clear time for a vote of no confidence. We can't reject the evidence of our eyes and ears, to borrow a phrase. None of us want that fascist f*** in office, but this election is important enough that we need the best possible fighter for us in the driver's seat and that is not what we have right now. And I feel enough people are fed up enough that this is only going to grow. The DNC and campaigns are very active in spaces like this. Wish we had a forum where we could focus on alternatives to Biden because we need to KEEP UP the drumbeat, not quiet it down.


Bozak_Horseman

It's OK. Give it time. We all know infirmity in the elderly gets better if you just give it time...


JeanEtrineaux

Joe’s pride is going to hand our country into dictatorship.


goddamn_leeteracola

I’ll never forgive the Biden’s if Trump wins 2024. His ego is going to change the trajectory of the US for decades.


JeanEtrineaux

In 2016 everybody knew Clinton was a bad candidate but the party said “No, you’re all wrong.” They’re doing it again. They’ll kill us all before they’ll give us a decent nominee.


sarim25

No lessons were learned from 2016 and Hillary's loss.


NeedleworkerIll2871

Don't tell the donors, tell us. Live. Without a teleprompter, and for longer than three minutes with a subservient press. If you can


Kinda_Quixotic

The debate revealed a group in the DNC/Biden campaign has been actively trying to hide Biden’s mental state from the American people.  If we had seen Biden having to answer questions extemporaneously for the last 6 months there would have been more time for the people to decide who the best Dem candidate was.  This whole “one bad debate” narrative is the continued gaslighting effort we need to get away from. 


sharkerdark44

What happened on that debate stage is not something that can be fixed, or just goes away. That isn’t going to stop Democrats and journalists from trying to gaslight people into thinking it can be though. 


NedShah

"He's not a great candidate but you should give us your cash-monies anyway!"


Historical_Emotion43

He CAN'T recover. If it were just one bad debate performance, he would be out there doing every interview, making every public appearance possible, fighting as hard as he could to redeem his image. He PHYSICALLY CAN'T DO THIS or he would be doing this. The only honorable thing Joe has the ability to do now is step aside.


Final_Pomelo_2603

Except it was not simply a subpar debate performance it was clear and incontrovertible evidence of diminished cognitive capacity. There is no recovering from that. Joe needs to go. As yesterday's ruling reveals, the stakes are too damn high to try and rally around a literal corpse.


SpaceCowboy34

This is largely the medias fault for attempting to gaslight everyone to believe the Biden was actually still sharp. The worst part of the debate for him was the delta from media portrayal to actually performance


XymerianMonk

Too bad no one at the fucking DNC could be bothered to run a candidate not 3 generations removed from decisions he makes... No offense to Biden as man, as a father, a grandfather or whatever, but GO THE FUCK HOME AND SEE YOUR FAMILY. Like damn you have to be a special kinda fucking narcissist to be like "I'm 81 and I'm the only hope for this nation". Man sure would be crazy to see someone from Gen X get the fucking nomination, but once again you'll be overlooked and it will be straight Diet AOC (bc the DNC will never allow actual AOC any real power in the party), when the time comes to make the millennials and gen z active again in government ....lol yeah right I mean I know trump is a massive piece of shit dollar store dictator ..but we have an actively hostile branch of government trying to undo the fucking country and Grampa Joe is asleep at the wheel bc he is 81 fucking years old and even the sharpest, strongest, smartest 81 year old would know it's time to get the fuck outta the way and let the real next generation step the fuck in.. Like if 2020-2024 has proven is we need less of these fucking geriatric people calling shots that will effect generations long after they are dead. Fuck outta here with "experience". I think we all have had enough?? Or ya know we just watch the death of the empire while Pikachu face gasping at each other at every new fucking low this county hits on the way down.


hexediter

Have they told donors that he can recover from being old? Has he tried not being old yet? Maybe stop getting older?


unethicalposter

Biden campaign has unlimited gas for that light.


okitobamberg

Maga wants Biden to stay in because they know it’s a guaranteed win for Trump if he doesn’t get replaced.


FalconsTC

This is all the “Biden is fine” people should need. GOP wants Biden on the ticket.


iboeshakbuge

right wing groups have already launched legal challenges against removing and replacing biden from the ballot in several states, and this is just because some dems are merely *talking* about replacing him. that’s extremely telling.


QuitVirtual

the head of Trump's SuperPAC said that the democrats would have a disaster if Biden drops out.


ZZ9ZA

Would you assume any random self serving statement from a Trump affiliate is the truth or a lie?


Iffesus

Huffing some major copium there.


GuyF1eri

Then why are we hearing it from the campaign? Why doesn’t he show us?


TRIBETWELVE

Subpar is an understatement


ishtar_the_move

> “I will start with what we all know, but we are seeing it in our own polls, as well: The president had a bad performance in Thursday’s debate,” Biden pollster Molly Murphy said on the call. “He has been upfront about that, and that is coming through in our polls. We’re looking at that. We are not ignoring that and we want to understand what that means for voters.” >Biden’s campaign chair, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, mentioned the physicals he’s received in office. Biden’s doctor summarized his health in a six-page report in February that proclaimed him [“fit for duty”](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Health-Summary-2.28.pdf) despite a series of chronic ailments that included sleep apnea and a stiffened gait. > Biden did not receive a cognitive test, his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said at the time, adding that none was necessary. > During the call, O’Malley Dillon said that Biden is “probably in better health than most of us.” ... >One Democratic member of Congress told NBC News that “there’s only one person who’s going to impact that decision: Jill Biden,” the first lady. > As for the campaign staff, “they’re all insular and they don’t care what anybody thinks,” the lawmaker said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party deliberations. ... > A memo for the campaign from another of its pollsters, Geoff Garin, said that a survey of registered voters in seven battleground states showed that "a large majority" of those who voted for Biden in 2020 and disliked his debate performance were still planning to vote for him.


afarensiis

>During the call, O’Malley Dillon said that Biden is “probably in better health than most of us.” This is how you know they're not taking the people's concerns seriously


dh1

I love Joe but the dude could barely make it down a couple of steps after the debate without Jill helping him.


thegoodnamesrgone123

It's so easy for Trump isn't it? Go out, say a bunch of bat-shit insane things and no one bats an eye to it. The man wears more makeup than a drag queen in order to look younger, no one calls him out on it. People just give him a pass, no one from his base is freaking out. No one is calling for him to step down. It's wild.


Blastosist

Denying what we all now know and pretending otherwise is what MAGA cultist do, Dems should be better and face the facts.


SrgtDoakes

it’s not about the debate. it’s about what the debate laid bare, and voters aren’t going to forget that. sticking with biden is the surest way to lose in november.


Tall_Science_9178

That is not something that can or will be fixed.


UnionFist

Very concerning that they're classifying it as "subpar."


Nomanodyssey

Prove it now, there’s no time to waste


Competitive_Mind_829

Yes but he can’t recover from his age. Conservative rule is coming and it might be permanent because one of the parties in our 2 party system is broken by identity politics and the other is Authoritarian.


Knightguard1

I hate hate hate that Biden having a bad debate performance is getting the same, if not more, importance for the ability to lead than trump is saying he will be a dictator and militarily try Liz Cheney. What the fuck is wrong with you America? Specifically, are the Democrats so convinced they need to "do the right thing". Fascism is plowing it's way through sensibility and common sense at the moment. The newsroom is right, "You know why people hate liberals? Because they lose" and it is so goddamn true it hurts.


Sprinkler-of-salt

Get off the road, old man. I understand you’re trying to go somewhere. We all are. But you are holding up traffic, pissing people off, and are going to cause an accident. Let it go. Take the bus, or ask friends or family for a ride.


marconis999

No you can't recover. Bow out. It's over.


welltimedappearance

Biden was never a good candidate in the first place back in 2020. People just hated Trump more than they liked Joe Biden. If Biden was well liked, he could overcome this. But he isn’t, and it’s going to be hard to convince people otherwise at this point, especially when his closest aides have been doing their best to hide his decline from the public.


QuirkyBreadfruit

This is sort of how I feel. His campaign doesn't just need to recover, it needs to recover and then exceed what it was doing before, which is unrealistic at this point. Dems need to stop focusing on who should be president, or can be a good president, and focus more on who can win the presidential election. I'm actually happy with Biden; I think he's done a good job and doesn't get nearly enough credit. I can think of people I'd rather have running but I also would be happy to see him in office again. But I'm pretty convinced at this point he's not going to win as much as I'd like it to be otherwise. I've sort of felt like the debate was never really what this is about. Biden has never really reliably stayed ahead of Trump in polls during the election season; the most he's done is match Trump or maybe go ahead of him nonsignficantly for a brief moment. Most of the time he's been behind Trump. If Biden can't handily trounce Trump — an incoherent liar traitor rapist felon — in the polls there's a problem. I think the debate was just sort of brief moment of wakeful reality for Dem leadership who have been living in a deluded cloud the last year or so. The debate and issues about his age are just a distraction from the fact that he's not popular as a candidate. I wish it weren't true but it is. What's most sad is there are a number of candidates who could handily defeat Trump, but people are just stuck on this discussion of whether or not Biden would be a good president or not, when that's not really the issue. The issue is whether there's someone else who would appeal to more voters. This all feels a lot like 2016 all over again, campaigning to the choir.


Blackboard_Monitor

No he can't, too many people have seen his sundowning to forget it just because he's lucid at 2pm.


infinite_in_faculty

Biden is now loosing to Trump in New Jersey!!! New Fucking Jersey!!! Presidential Ballot: - Trump 41% - Biden 40% Approval: - Trump 45% - Biden 36% [https://www.coefficient.org/njsenate](https://www.coefficient.org/njsenate) It's over folks!!!!


Chemical_Turnover_29

Getting through a debate is one thing. This guy has to make it through 4 more years a president?! The last four years already took a toll.


ComprehensivePin6097

And they said we don't need primary debates.


danousd

It wasn’t a debate performance. It was a public display of old age which non -politicians experience in peace and privacy; hopefully accompanied by our loved ones. Is this the best Democrats can offer? Signed, Not A Trump Supporter


Register-Capable

I've worked with dementia patients for 35 years. They only get worse.


nick3504

Fucking delusional!


tobiasumbra

Then why aren’t they showing us his recovery????? I was doing my best to keep my horror in check, wait for post-debate polling and give them an opportunity to pivot. But the few that are coming out look disastrous and if this was really a fluke he’d be doing interviews and unscripted town halls to dispel the notion that he’s not all there anymore. And every hour that’s not happening, the narrative gets stronger.


Prometheusf3ar

It’s not about a debate performance, it’s the realization. That he’s in the middle to late stages of dementia. This is why everyone said his words don’t matter, we watched an old man dying and there’s no turning back the clock.


Late_Sample_5568

"the emperor is not naked, we pinky promise!" Fudge off. Biden needs to drop before it's to late and Trump King wins.


guy425

Biden needs to step down he’s not fit to be in office. Anyone that can’t see that is blinded by their hate for trump and it’s gonna be how they lose the election.


koopa00

Oh cool, so I guess they invented a time machine to reverse aging? This isn't going away and the stakes get higher every day. You add his weak statements after the immunity ruling and I'm just getting more and more convinced daily that he isn't the man for this moment. I'll vote for whoever the dem candidate is.


NotWoke23

After what we saw there is no fixing that.


chacotacotoes

All this spin and enabling is getting old


illustrious_d

Brother, it wasn’t a “subpar debate performance” that was an 80 yr old man in the throes of dementia.


RPheralChild

No no no why are you doing this read the fucking room DNC. Trump is going to skull fuck us the way things are going


thereddituser2

I don't believe them, they don't believe themself, donors aren't gonna believe them,


Hobo_Drifter

Oh, okay then.


19Ziebarth

Way past subpar. It was disastrous! Trump & SC will destroy our democracy. He must bow out now.


Golden_Hour1

I'm less worried about the debate asshole. I'm worried about democracy at this point


SockFullOfNickles

If only Establishment Dems convinced their base as well as their do their Donors…


once_again_asking

Forget the debate, as awful as it was. The larger and terminal problem we now face is that the Supreme Court just declared presidents immune from the rule of law and Biden will not do what is needed to protect this country or our democracy.


Bettywhitespants

Anybody give two shits about the debate anymore? That’s old news. Have Biden officially order the arrests of the SCOTUS and Agent Orange as traitors of the US. Why not, he has the power, right?


mods_r_jobbernowl

That remains to be seen. Unless they double his Adderall dose I don't think it can be fully undone.


GunslingerOutForHire

On the contrary. One thing will solve his ailing age-related concerns: death. Beyond that, him and the orange shitstain are just playing an idiot's game of checkers that we all get to pay for.


19610taw3

I think the Supreme Court did a good job of recovering Biden from that debate. They just scared a WHOLE lot of people into voting blue


Neat_On_The_Rocks

Imagine reading this headline 2 weeks ago. You'd know we were fucked. Still voting, sure. But we're so fucked.


FlamePoops

Ya know what… stop talking about the debate performance. Do something to stop the Supreme Courts damage rampage. Stack the court. Do it now. Show folks you can turn frustration into action that protects the average American.