Joe Biden Presidency thread *Please read OP - Threadbanned Users Added 4/5/21*

From the horses mouth

In reference to drilling for oil and closing the border?

Why do people believe anything from his mouth in the first place?

Trump says anything and everything to get attention.

Well, what do you want? If it were a case that all of the Democrats were rallying behind Biden, they'd be called delusional. Now that you have some prominent Democrats calling for Biden to step aside, you have people saying that the party is fighting with itself. There's a bullet in both chambers, in other words.

The reason for this is that there's no spin coming off that debate performance which could be positive. Even if all Democrats immediately said that they must stay behind Biden in order to keep Trump out of office, you still would have had many thousands of Americans, if not millions, who would have seen a doddery old man who was losing his train of thought, sounded hoarse, looked vacant at times, had a pale complexion and had to be helped off the debate stage. Many of these people may not want another Trump term, but they're certainly not going to be excited about Biden either.

George Clooney's op-ed is picking up some traction. Here's an excerpt:-

But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. 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.

So, his debate performance wasn't even a one-off, and if instances of that kind of form are happening that close together, I have the feeling they're probably common enough.

If nothing else, the conversation around Biden's fitness to run must be had so that there can be no feeling of sleepwalking into a second Trump term, rather going into it with eyes wide open.

Either that or the Democrats could put forward someone who is actually competent and would easily beat Trump.

Watching the replay here…

• The "VP Trump" gaffe .. ouch!
• "Guess what" / "By the way" /"Look…" etc… Maybe it plays to Americans, but it just comes across as immature and condescending to me.
• Handpicked journalists who pretty much ignored everything he said and focused completely on his health/ability… not great! It's only going to get worse.
• Trump digs - just reminds me of FG here constantly trying to bring SF into everything.
• Was there a teleprompter or earpiece? At some (awkward) points he looked as though he was waiting to be fed the answer.
• At various points he just looked very robotic/frozen. Again not a great look. Just comes across as very frail.
• That sudden shift in tone and anger when he started talking about gun deaths.. He's not wrong to be fair but it's a jarring transition from the previous 50 minutes of mumbling and coughing.

Unless he steps aside (although I'm not sure who they could put forward that would be better!), they're basically just handing the election to Trump.

@markodaly

Never underestimate the destructive power of a stubborn old narcissist with something to prove.

Ohhh, you can say that again.

Nasty even if there's a bit of truth in it. But FFS where are the Trump articles comparing him to a narcissistic grandpa who's not so much driving a car as carrying a loaded machine gun while ranting at his opponents?

Oh, I forgot, it's just Trump being Trump, now fully normalised

There have been news outlets like MSNBC and CNN essentially giving nightly sermons about how bad Trump is for pretty much the last 8 years. It's not acceptable that Trump is what he is, but it is accepted that this is what the Democrats are up against. What hasn't yet been accepted is the idea that the Democrats will put up an 81 year old man in the early stages of dementia against him. That bit's still being hashed out in terms of what exactly is wrong with Biden and what will be done about it, if anything.

Scaramuchi had a good point that Hunter and the family is pressing him to stay in the race as hel future pardon him for his crimes.

The possibility of pardons and all the benefits that come with being the first family. Can be difficult to stop the temptation of the gravy train, to be blunt.

Reporters can't help themselves

The debate changed everything. It went from there being a talking point about his age to it being front and centre and impossible to ignore. The problem is that it can only get worse. It might not, but it could. And while plenty of people did tune into the debate, it is so far out from the actual election that many millions didn't. But when they do start tuning in those clips of the debate, and other gaffes, will be what they will be presented with.

Trump supporters can argue that he won't be a dictator, that he is only saying these things to create controversy, and that the institutions will keep him in check. But almost everyone knows someone who gets older. They see their parents, or grandparents, and understand that this only goes downhill. And nothing can stop that.

They're the two candidates on the current ballot, that's why

I disagree, because while Biden is the only choice compared to trump, then it is a case of "one or the other", ie. Comparisons are required.

To date, I've seen data that suggests Biden is not doing well and I've seen data that he is.

I've seen allegations of all sorts of mental issues but zero diagnosis.

I've seen poor performances from him and strong ones.

I've seen calls for him to step aside and I've seen ones that support him staying on the ticket.

I've seen people saying it's certain that Harris replaces him on the ticket and others saying that won't happen.

Absolutely nothing is certain yet. Until then, people can have fun hypothesising, but it's all complete guesswork

Where did I say that? I expect/hope there will be a different Democrat candidate because I fear that Biden can't beat trump.