Joe, are you ok?

[GoCubsGo]

He's not wrong, but there's also never been a debate performance/ age issue like this before.

We live in very strange times.

[GoCubsGo]

In somewhat of a flipflop of my previous view, I think he's toast.

Hate to admit it, but I'm leaning that way too. I'll happily give it another week or two, the damage is done. I trust trump to step on his own crank multiple times to tighten the race again and mitigate at least part of this debacle.

But sooner rather than later (very nervous congresscritters) are going to start fretting bigly that Biden is going to cost them the House. They may not be wrong.

Heck, they've already started.

Ruh roh, Senate too.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), an influential centrist who is close with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), is working to gather support among Democratic senators to ask President Biden to drop his reelection bid, according to two sources familiar with the effort.

Warner is concerned Biden could perform so badly in November that he risks taking down Democratic senators who were thought to be in relatively safe seats, such as fellow Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.

[GoCubsGo]

... GoKamalaGo?

I'm still holding on to Michelle fantasies, but Kamala seems to have locked up the narrative without saying a word about it.

Too cool for school.

I miss her.


https://youtu.be/ln3wAdRAim4?si=9tVGc6MyUYUFzWPn

[Vrede too]

I'm still holding on to Michelle fantasies, but Kamala seems to have locked up the narrative without saying a word about it.

Too cool for school.

I miss her.

https://youtu.be/ln3wAdRAim4?si=9tVGc6MyUYUFzWPn

Excellent, I never saw that one before. That was a lot of laps around the driveway

7 1/2 years, maybe she's tired of making her own grilled cheeses Fingers crossed.

[Vrede too]

Tbh, Michelle would have to be invited by Kamala at this point. There's no way that Michelle would stand against Kamala, and there's also probably no way that Kamala will bow out. At least one poll has her even with TRE45QN nationally, not sure about swing states.

... “You came home from Europe about 11 or 12 days before the debate,” Stephanopoulos continued. “You spent six days in Camp David. Why wasn’t that enough rest time, enough recovery time?”

“Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible,” Biden responded. “Matter of fact, the docs with me, I asked if they did a COVID test because they were trying to figure out what’s wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold."...

Old people, especially, who are sick and "feeling terrible" should never ever debate.



1. People know when they are being tested for COVID.
2. Everyone knows that a cold is an infection.
3. Everyone knows that a cold is a virus.

Joe, are you ok?

[O Really]

None of those excuses (or even reasons) rang true as a cause of the debate performance. We've all had a bad cold from time to time and sure the first day or so can be miserable. But you'd either suck it up and put on a show or address it upfront. This just keeps getting worse by the day.

[GoCubsGo]

None of those excuses (or even reasons) rang true as a cause of the debate performance. We've all had a bad cold from time to time and sure the first day or so can be miserable. But you'd either suck it up and put on a show or address it upfront. This just keeps getting worse by the day.

They screwed the pooch on this response, doesn't generate warm fuzzies.

The presidency ages the occupant exponentially, look at pics of recent presidents at the beginning and end of their terms (absent the hair dye presidents of Reagan and trump...)

I'm really at a loss as to how to resurrect the campaign. Putting on blinders and waiting for the storm to pass may eventually stop the bleeding but that's treating the symptoms but not the disease.

With the caveat that there's still a little time but the clock is ticking, Joe needs momentum not status quo.

[O Really]

With the caveat that there's still a little time but the clock is ticking, Joe needs momentum not status quo.

That, and the fact that unless they limit his public appearances to AI-generated representations, there's always the good possibility of another disaster.

[O Really]

It's starting to look like a "Weekend at Bernie's" presidency.

[Vrede too]

It's starting to look like a "Weekend at Bernie's" presidency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu6PH9E5jiA

[O Really]

Well, it's 7:45 am PDT and Biden's still in the race. And some credible polling apparently finds he's still a good choice. But it seems to me that a whole bunch of voters have said, again and again, they aren't happy with either candidate. It seems somebody different, younger, less baggage, would be attractive to most of the double-haters, and fence-sitters. I know we've mentioned that if the repugs replaced Trump, they're probably winning in a can of whoopass. The only reason Trump is still competitive is because of Biden's unfavorability. The only reason Biden has any chance is because of Trump's unfavorability. Kamala isn't my own first choice, but I would happily support her with more enthusiasm than I have for Biden. To paraphrase Knox "I like your confidence, but you're not Michelle." And she's not Hillary, either. She'd bring some women voters, probably all the Black voters, and even if some hold their noses, a lot will find her much less stinky than Trump.

[GoCubsGo]

Well, it's 7:45 am PDT and Biden's still in the race. And some credible polling apparently finds he's still a good choice. But it seems to me that a whole bunch of voters have said, again and again, they aren't happy with either candidate. It seems somebody different, younger, less baggage, would be attractive to most of the double-haters, and fence-sitters. I know we've mentioned that if the repugs replaced Trump, they're probably winning in a can of whoopass. The only reason Trump is still competitive is because of Biden's unfavorability. The only reason Biden has any chance is because of Trump's unfavorability. Kamala isn't my own first choice, but I would happily support her with more enthusiasm than I have for Biden. To paraphrase Knox "I like your confidence, but you're not Michelle." And she's not Hillary, either. She'd bring some women voters, probably all the Black voters, and even if some hold their noses, a lot will find her much less stinky than Trump.

The dust is beginning to settle and the jerking knees will start calming down which is a good thing.

2020 was a referendum on trump, Biden was the tool. He may not have been everyone's first choice but he was the choice.

2024 needs to be and will eventually come back to being a referendum on trump again. ATM, Biden is still the tool but this time the vote actually cast will be ( completely unspoken) for Harris as I'm feeling pretty confident that Joe won't be finishing a second term.

That's ok too, I like Harris well enough and the bottom line remains:

Anyone But Trump.

[GoCubsGo]

When You've Lost George Clooney.....



You've gotta problem.

“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,” he said.

Clooney added that Democratic Party leaders need to cease and desist from gaslighting voters by “telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw.”

“We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign,” he said.

“Is it fair to point these things out? It has to be. This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate,” he continued, adding later that his opinion is shared by “every senator and congress member and governor” he has spoken to privately since the debate.

My personal thinking is that at this point we're voting for a 'ticket' as opposed to a nominee, with a distinct possibility that Biden won't finish a second term.

Biden/Harris!

Start with one, finish with the other!

May not be a winning campaign slogan.

[Vrede too]

When You've Lost George Clooney.....

You've gotta problem.


My personal thinking is that at this point we're voting for a 'ticket' as opposed to a nominee, with a distinct possibility that Biden won't finish a second term.

Biden/Harris!

Start with one, finish with the other!

May not be a winning campaign slogan.

Biden/Harris, one year at a time!

When a fake ER pediatrician pronounces you dead . . .

However, I'd want a second opinion from a fake geriatrician.

Joe has also lost fake Wall Street :
Michael Douglas Says George Clooney’s Op-Ed Telling Biden to Step Aside Makes a ‘Valid Point’ | Video
“I mean, I’m deeply, deeply concerned,” the actor and longtime Biden supporter says

[O Really]

If Taylor writes a song about him, his goose is truly cooked.

[GoCubsGo]

This one surprised me.

My current Rep.

[GoCubsGo]

Joe's holding his own, bought himself a couple of days.

[Vrede too]

Joe's holding his own, bought himself a couple of days.

Biden Calls Vice President Kamala Harris ‘Vice President Trump’ During Press Conference
"I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president [If I didn't] think she's not qualified to be vice president,” the president said.

... Earlier on Thursday, Biden made a similar mistake when he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” at a NATO conference....

viewtopic.php?p=200352#p200352

Trump is not constrained in any way by reality, and unfortunately that's rubbed off on his cult. They say anything they want, without regard to any connection to truth, accuracy, or reality, and when challenged, just blow off the fact checkers as lying dog-breath fake newsers.

And double down on their lies while screaming louder.

If the game is attrition by means of fatigue they're winning.

It's exhausting.

Fact check: Biden’s false and misleading claims at high-stakes news conference

Sigh. It's exhausting.

Pool on when Joe withdraws: I'll pick 7/18, the RNC climax day, maybe 7/17 evening. Y'all?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJeLoMCF6Jo

... I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.

Otoh, polls show him still tied with TRE45QN nationally. Not sure about the swing states, but TV news: Trump is leading in key battlegrounds.

[GoCubsGo]

Sigh. It's exhausting.

Pool on when Joe withdraws: I'll pick 7/18, the RNC climax day, maybe 7/17 evening. Y'all?

Have to look it up, but there's some sort of drop dead money date in August before the convention.


Wrote this in 'jest' on a text conversation.

In consultation with my doctor and with deep prayer with my family we have decided that the rigors and needs of the presidency demand a younger person. The needs of the nation must come first.

Effective at noon tomorrow.....

[Vrede too]

Wrote this in 'jest' on a text conversation.

In consultation with my doctor and with deep prayer with my family we have decided that the rigors and needs of the presidency demand a younger person. The needs of the nation must come first.

Effective at noon tomorrow.....

Your "Effective at noon tomorrow....." phrasing made me think of a Joe resignation, thus (probably) giving POTUS Harris a huge incumbency advantage.