The first presidential debate is done and the aftermath has not been good for the incumbent, Joe Biden.
Some Democrat politicians and operatives reportedly texted CNN commentators with hopes that Mr Biden, 81, would step aside. Some floated the possibility of going to the White House and publicly stating concerns about him remaining as candidate.
But if Mr Biden were to drop out, it would be a free-for-all. There is no official mechanism for him or anyone else in the party to choose his successor, meaning Democrats would be left with an open (Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago from August 19-22.
You maybe should have tried this before 2024. This is gonna go on to November now. Just go vote for him. Old as he is.
Yeah… We’re all going to vote for him if he’s the nominee… But he’s still going to lose… That’s the point, the point progressives have been making all along. BIDEN. WILL. LOSE. Like the sun will rise in the east, it’s just a fact of nature. They need to nominate someone who will get Gen z excited to come out, so at least there’s a chance of stopping Trump.
We’re all going to vote for him if he’s the nominee… But he’s still going to lose…
The state of the election is such that turnout is going to tank. Libs and Cons are both very worried who the indie voter aligns with, but I’m betting a bunch of people simply don’t vote in November.
If the DNC would get their heads out of their asses (a longshot, ik) and voted in another viable, smart candidate they could turn voter apathy around in a heartbeat.
Too bad they seem to be happy with the power status quo and fail to see the real danger they are in if/when Trump wins … cause he would not be adverse to using guillotines or nooses to fix that ‘problem’.
Candidates that inspire voters are (edit: Not) obsequious to corporate interests.
I feel like the opposite is true?
:-p Disastrous typo
People staying home historically effects Democrats far more than Republicans. That’s why Dems win when people are excited about a candidate and more people actually show up.
People staying home historically effects Democrats far more than Republicans.
Trump has changed the math, somewhat. High energy elections tend to benefit Trump-y candidates and hurt the milquetoast Dems. Low energy elections favor Bidencrats.
Like I said, I’d vote for a rock at this point.
A O C
Bernie!
Bernie?
Finally getting the Bernie/Hilary ticket everyone has been asking for
If Bernie is in, I choose AOC as his running mate instead.
Fuck Hillary.
Me
A BOX OF HAIR WITH A STICKER OF A CARTOON BLUE DONKEY ON IT COULD EFFECTIVELY REPLACE HIMlook… We’re really not asking for much. The bar is subterranean. It’s clear that the Democrat party is dead set on playing limbo in hell. But I admit… It’s nice to dream. I hated buttigieg in 2020. In fact I couldn’t fucking stand any of the vaguely beige cardboard standees that made up the lion share of all democrat candidates that year, but the truth is that just about any of them would be acceptable now just to ensure that we’re one step closer to extinguishing the GOP because frankly THE ONLY WAY WE’LL GET A GOOD PARTY IS IF THE MOST EVIL ONE DIES AND THE REMAINING ONE SPLITS. Like when our forefathers curb stomped the federalists into oblivion - whom were ALSO nationalistic conservatives and absolutely deserved their resting place in history’s rubbish bin. For fucks sake, the Democrats desperately don’t WANT the Republican party to die and that’s all the more reason to KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT. So just vote for literally anyone other than the GOP to make the Democrats suffer and then their party will disintegrate into two subfactions and we can focus on purging the tradcon SCUM from them, too.The conspiracy theorists all say Joe is supposed to step down and Gavin Newsom somehow is added to the ticket which then will win. These conspiracy theorists also say that candidates are selected in advance by the powers that be and it’s all pagentry to deceive the gullible masses. If this is true, then we need not worry for this is all fot dramatic effect and Gavin and Kamela are already selected.
Gavin Newsom or Jon Stewart would be the only people with name recognized and the politics to win. Knowing the DNC will get Hillary Clinton or Hakeem Jeffries
Jon Stewart
Would be extremely funny if the Dem response to Trump was to seed the election with their own brand of C-List celebrity.
But our country simply isn’t that cool.
The conspiracy theorists all say Joe is supposed to step down and Gavin Newsom somehow is added to the ticket which then will win. These conspiracy theorists also say that candidates are selected in advance by the powers that be and it’s all pagentry to deceive the gullible masses. If this is true, then someone is already selected.
John Stewart.
The guy is an effective cheerleader for any cause he really believes in. I mean he almost singlehandedly extended benefits to 9/11 first responders on the strength of his eloquence.
Thing is he doesn’t want to do it. Which makes me want him to do it even more. Something about great leaders not seeking power but having it thrust upon them in times of need like a George Washington
I know he doesn’t want to run which just like you only makes me want him to run even more. He’s smart enough to know that he doesn’t know everything and never will.So he will surround himself with people who know what they’re talking about and listen to their advice.
Sounds like the perfect leader.
Stewart (and Colbert) are literally a clown (TV Comedian) who is refusing to ever make a serious political moves. Neither of them have any legislative experience or executive experience either.
The fact that modern people always choose TV Personalities (like Trump, Stewart and Colbert) is part of the same problem of ignorance of our Political system and what this job even freaken entails.
Perhaps, but even with these alleged shortcomings, either would be so much better equipped for the job than the 2 senile geezers.
Hey, it worked for Ukraine.
Stewart (and Colbert) are literally a clown
what this job even freaken entails.
You know Volodymyr Zelenskyy, current president of Ukraine?
He’s a comedian who did a political satire TV series about being president of Ukraine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy
Born to a Ukrainian Jewish family, Zelenskyy grew up as a native Russian speaker in Kryvyi Rih, a major city of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in central Ukraine. Before his acting career, he obtained a degree in law from the Kyiv National Economic University. He then pursued a comedy career and created the production company Kvartal 95, which produced films, cartoons, and TV shows including the TV series Servant of the People, in which Zelenskyy played a fictional Ukrainian president. The series aired from 2015 to 2019 and was immensely popular. A political party with the same name as the TV show was created in March 2018 by employees of Kvartal 95.
EDIT: Darn, someone else apparently mentioned it as well, checking their link. I’m still gonna leave this text up, though.
This one was also pretty good.
Ah, but Robbin Williams didn’t go on a year later to actually BECOME president.
Modern? where do you think Reagan came from? At least Stewart and Colbert are versed in the political and policy stuff from having been immersed in it for decades.
Strange that an ailing old man has his administration behind him to do all the gruntwork but an actually popular candidate wouldn’t
Why wouldn’t they have an administration? Any president will hire a cabinet and advisors.
Yes, indeed. So really what you need from a president is a trustworthy image and a baseline moral character, because all the actual governance minutiae is handled by the staff.
So why is it that all these people come out of the woodwork to insist the president NEEDS to be mired in one of the most corrupt political systems in the developed world?
Because a leader does need to be present. They aren’t just a face in front of their staff.
Didn’t stop Al Franken…
Didn’t stop Donald Trump or Ronald Regan.
My point is that there’s more bad examples of Hollywood Actors or Reality TV stars becoming President for the worse of America, than the reverse.
You have two counter examples, and one of them was incredibly successful, just for the side where success is bad for the country. Reagan wasn’t ineffective, he was effective for evil purposes.
Al Franken graduated cum laude with a poli sci degree from Harvard. I’ll let Jon Stewart himself tell you about his education.
“My college career was waking up late, memorizing someone else’s notes, doing bong hits, and going to soccer practice”
George Washington wasn’t able to attend school after the age of 11, because his father died and he had to take over running the family farm.
https://www.georgewashington.org/education.jsp
Despite being the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, the President of the Constitutional Convention, and the first President of the United States, George Washington’s level of education was far lower than any of the other Founding Fathers of the United States. In fact, he was often scorned by some of the other Founding Fathers for this inadequacy. However, this lack of education was not George Washington’s fault. Upon the death of George Washington’s father in 1743, George’s formal schooling ended. He is thought to have attended the nearby grammar school run by Reverend James Marye, the rector of St. George’s Parish, up until this time. Therefore, the extent of young George’s formal educational training was in basic mathematics, reading, and writing.
Although his older half-brothers had the opportunity to gain a formal education over in England at the Appleby School, George was required to take on the responsibility of running the family farm after his father’s death.
On this list, every ranking places him as the highest-ranked President to ever serve other than one that places him at #2 and one that places him at #3:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States
That was 200 years ago. I’m comparing Jon Stewart to one of his contemporaries, in the modern era.
This wasn’t about Stewart anyway. My point was that Al Franken is a bad example of an entertainer breaking I to politics, because with his background it was entertainment that was the abberation.
If wielding power in our “democracy” is so complicated that we must exclude non-experts isn’t that an indictment of our democracy? What is it about the legislative and executive process that people are ignorant of?
While I am skeptical of the celebrity as politician trend which has been prominent over the last few decades; especially on the right. I don’t think lack of experience is the problem with the trend.
Put aside what you think about Trump’s political project for a moment. He was effective at giving conservatives what they wanted. Tax cuts and Supreme Court seats. Despite having zero legislative and executive experience. You could say the same thing about Reagan and perhaps Schwarzenegger.
I agree, expecting a strongman to come in and save us from all our political issues is problematic. We shouldn’t recreate feudalism. We need to learn to organize ourselves into a base of democratic power that we can wield towards our broad economic interests.
But at the same time our media apparatus runs on spectacle, it takes someone with the charisma of John Stewart to be taken seriously by mainstream power brokers. Perhaps he could breakthrough the spectacle and kickstart a new progressive era that could enable those democratic ends.
Because the alternative to charisma for gaining political legitimacy is going through the political system. And the longer you’re in that system the more time that system has to influence you towards ends that want to stop progress. Just look at Jamal Bowman and John Fetterman.
very much doubt Stewart would want to finish himself off doing a presidential term
I know he doesn’t want too which is another reason why I want him. He could announce himself right now and still pull tons of votes to be a threat to both parties.
If the Democrats could ever get to that choice it would be an autowin and an instant rejuvenation for the party.
I’m tempted to really believe in Biden taking the loss and just going absolutely balls to the walls with harsh ads aimed at the GOP and Trump, hitting dozens of speaker events at high levels of energy, and becoming what we wish the Democratic party would become to win this thing.
Realistically though, I’d prefer a sound, harder left leaning, less bipartisan nominee. It’s a safer and surer bet, unfortunately.
Time to unleash Bernie, please
I voted for him last time. May be dumb, but I did believe in him more than Biden. I still don’t know if he could carry the party, but I’d love to watch him try.
If you don’t want someone who is too fucking old then don’t pick Bernie…
It’s not that Biden is old, it’s that he’s senile… Bernie is sound of mind, has the national name recognition, and is wildly popular
Old is one problem. Old and mentally disabled is a whole other problem. Plus who are you supposed to vote for here with that rule? We’ve got 2 realistic options.
But in general you’d be correct.
Any one 40-60 yrs old with moderate politics and an unobjectionable personality supported by a major party would really cause a splash.
It’s weird that you specify 40 when the Constitution says they only need to be 35. Doesn’t all of our recent political history show we need younger politicians?
with moderate politics
They’ll do great for one campaign until they actually have to govern and then it’s going to be 1996 and 2012 all over again and we’ll barely scrape by (if we’re lucky) against extremely beatable candidates. Moderates run good campaigns and terrible administrations because the average American voter has been propagandized into believing they want bipartisanship and small government when what they actually want is some affordable healthcare and housing which moderate politics are not going to deliver to them.
e; and actually the “do great for one campaign” thing might be optimistic or antiquated thinking based on how Biden barely won in 2020
Oh they could win alright. Literally all they have to do is be leftist.
“We’re gonna keep your kids healthy, in a good daycare while you work, educated and fed, and your fucking boss is gonna pay for it all” is a simple mantra well used by unions.
Except they don’t do that. The purpose of a system is what it does, and liberals have done nothing but protect capital since FDR died.
Of course we want affordable health care and housing, but I’d absolutely kill for a Bill Clinton or Bush Sr over a Trump any day.
You guys are getting Trump for a second term. Ouch.
Okay, but if we do this, we’re gonna need the whole rest of the world to stand against the US and decide to fight against our corrupt government. It’ll suck for us, but let’s be honest, we’ve had it coming. Some of us are willing to sacrifice to make the world a better place. Probably a good idea to all stand against Russia and China too… Everyone just stand together against the 3 big bullies… Deal?
Let’s do it. Can you send me a gun in the mail?! ;)
ouch… for the entire planet
We seriously are. This is madness.
The Democrat plan is to replace him just like they did Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by waiting for him to die and then hoping for the best.
Most idiotic plan, of course it’s hatched by the Dems.
Out of respect for a great woman/man! Not being disrespectful to important people is much more important than human rights or democracy.
I don’t really follow. Didn’t Obama ask RBG if she wanted to retire so he could put up a left leaning judge? That’s not disrespectful nor respectful, it’s just sensible.
She refused, predictably precipitating the current shit show out of hubris.
She may be a great woman deserving of respect but she fucked up, bringing harm to an entire generation of women.
The “respect” is letting her decide and then dropping the issue. After she refused she should have received more pressure, first in private and then, if necessary, in public. She should have been disrespected for the good of the nation.
Bernie.
Too many articles focusing on replacing Biden when they should be focusing on Trump being a federal convict walking around free.
Is it too much to ask for the most important office in the world not be held by an old demented man?
No. Unfortunately there’s two of them.
Who’s more crazy tho. The one who wants to put a senile old man through what is in all intents and purposes elder abuse, or the one who doesn’t?
You lost me on that one. What?
It’s not elder abuse for Trump because Nazis aren’t people.
Nazis are people… They’re just shitty people… It’s important not to allow dehumanization of anyone
Not enough articles saying why Biden is so unappealing that quite a few people prefer the convict. Physician, heal thyself.
There will be more of that around July 11th when he has his sentencing hearing. Biden shit the bed Yesterday.