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Biden and Democrats 2024

I have been a political observer since 1980. I remember watching Reagan beat Carter and Anderson on TV. My political leanings have always been towards empathy, logic, helping the most people, and progress. Between Republican and Democrat, democrats have more closely aligned with this point of view.

This is not to say I have been happy with democrats. They habitually nominate terrible candidates. Although Bill Clinton was a great speaker, his achievements were mostly terrible. Al Gore ran a terrible campaign and John Kerry was the most boring person in the universe. Hillary Clinton may have been qualified, but she ran a bad campaign and let a true threat to democracy win.

Joe Biden was a decent candidate, and won in 2020, but everyone knew he would have a problem with a second term. He was just too old and we all knew it.

Yet, when it came time for primaries, the democrats did not have any debates. We did not give Biden any resistance. No good candidate stood up as an alternative. We all rolled over and said it was inevitable. He was ok giving the State of the Union speech, so we thought it was going to be ok.

This is our fault, not Biden’s. He is an old white man used to getting his way. It’s like when you tell your aging parent/grandparent that they can’t drive anymore. they say “yes I can! You can’t make me stop!” – but we all know that it’s unsafe for them to drive. Unsafe for them, unsafe for other people.

Biden is too old to drive. He is too old for a bike. He is too old to be the President of the United States. The democrats are afraid to tell their boomer parent that it’s time to call it quits.

If you are driving towards a cliff, it is risky to swerve to the left or right. This is true. Changing course is scary and hard to do. Democrats are afraid of getting it wrong. What if… what if… there is no crystal ball.

Doing nothing is a choice. If we do not insist on a different candidate as a unified party, we are choosing Biden. If candidates like Harris or Newsom or Whitmer do not say they will do it, it will be hard for people to rally around them.

I have never been so tense about an election. I have never been so stressed about our civilization collapsing. I have never been as pessimistic as I am right now.

And yet, even with that anxiety, I still feel optimism that we can do the right thing and make the world a better place for ourselves, our neighbors, and our children.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention Obama. He (imho) was an excellent candidate and president. I wish he had addressed climate/energy policy rather than healthcare, but still he was a leader I believed in. “No Drama Obama” – that’s truly what I want in a leader.

Comments

2 responses to “Biden and Democrats 2024”

  1. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    The Democrats’ failure to plan ahead is as bewildering as it is frustrating. They knew a second Biden term could be problematic, yet did nothing to promote an alternative candidate over the last four years.

    They’ve taken no action against this Supreme Court as it systematically dismantles democracy. We all saw it coming. They should have had a plan in place ready to go.

    All they’re giving us is “vote harder,” and “we have to stop Project 2025,” which yes, we absolutely must do. But our democracy has taken several huge steps backwards under Biden’s watch, and his platform seems to be, “hey, it’ll go even faster under the other guy.”

    I’m desperate for Biden and the Dems to take some action to preserve democracy, and resent the hell out of them for letting the situation get this bad just so they could extort us for votes without actually doing anything.

    Stack the Supreme Court. Impeach the justices. Stop helping Israel commit genocide! Do something besides just telling us how bad the other guy is while quietly holding the door open for him.

    Reply
  2. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    What a mess. The Democratic Party (as an organization) has failed to be sustainable (either by achieving its policy goals or creating a pipeline for future leaders). They should have spent the last four years promoting Kamala, Josh Shapiro (see below), J.B. Pritzker, etc. to be household names. Extra bonus points if they have military experience, are charismatic, or are from a swing state (If you’re from NY or CA, you are excluded (Kamala gets a pass for now). I agree, they could have easily had a good-natured primary, and given future leaders facetime with a national audience.

    Right now, Biden is completely surrounded by people whose job depends on Biden running for President. If he quits, they are all fired.

    The next debate isn’t until September, but could Biden challenge Trump to another debate in two weeks? He could question Trump’s manhood if he doesn’t accept. All the Democrats should collude to spin any mediocre performance to being great and all get behind him. If he is terrible, it is better to know now than later.

    Beating Trump is the only goal. I believe Gov. Josh Shapiro would have the best chance, but it would be really hard for him to gain a national reputation in just a few months. Shapiro is a very popular Governor of a swing state (Pennsylvania). He was born in Kansas City and has never lost an election. He is young and his voice sounds exactly like Obama (https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=eDa8tLysky8). He is not radical and could easily get votes from independents and moderate Republicans.

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