I have been thinking about this. Who can one name, who is not in jail, and who would be eligible to be President, who would actually be worse than this moron, to lead the country through this crisis right now? Someone who is even more self-centered, who knows less about the world, less about proper management, who has had more business failures, who is even more divisive, who has more staffing problems, who is more petty, more insulting to reporters asking tough questions, and who generally would fuck things up even more than him? This is truly not an easy question to answer. Any suggestions? I am seriously finding it hard to name someone.
The republicans sure picked a doozy.
I can’t imagine anything good will come of having the will of the people rejected again and again in the courts for decades to come.
Who can be worse? How about this one:
She would be a huge improvement over Trump.
stcordova,
Memes=arguments. You’re so smart.
Remember you’re talking to a guy who thinks the world is only 6000 years old and that all animals survived a globe-covering Flood on a big wooden barge. His connection to reality is tenuous at best.
Biden is not likely to be the democratic candidate.
My evidence is he has not been endorsed by Obama.
When Obama endorses someone, that will be the candidate.
It might be Joe, but I don’t expect it to be.
I expect Obama to wait until we know who the candidate will be, and then to endorse.
As long as those people are Republicans , I see a lot of good.
Why is there doubt?
Hey Sal, you are screwed.
Trump has denied this but left open whether the dynamic duo will be employed in some other function.
In other news. “President Donald Trump wrongly claimed during a press briefing on Monday that the president’s “authority is total” after reporters pressed him to explain how he would force governors to restart state economies during the coronavirus pandemic.
“When somebody’s the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that is the way it’s gonna be,” Trump told reporters. “It’s total. And the governors know that.
Soon afterward, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins let Trump know that his assertion was not true and asked him to explain himself. The president responded: “We’re going to write up papers on this. It’s not gonna be necessary. Because the governors need us one way or the other.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-total-authority-president_n_5e94f544c5b606109f5ea92b
Stable infant genius.
Apparently the doubt is resolved. This will be interesting.
Not because of the Constitution, because of extortion.
Having watched some of Trump’s press conferences over the last weeks, I can only think that Americans vote for him as President to make them feel that they are at least smarter than the POTUS.
Just to make sure Americans got the message, the infant also selected the biggest cabinet of Bozos in the history of ANY government in the world. Kim Jong Un must be thinking, “Ha, and they said I was dumb.” The piss orange kakistocracy.
Dunning Kruger is a terrible thing.
newton,
Joe Rogan this week was talking about Biden, and how he would vote for ANY of the Democratic candidates besides Biden, not because he doesn’t like Biden, but because he believes Biden is suffering from an early form of dementia. Rogan is not alone in believing this. A LOT of people also believe this. What the hell are the democrats thinking? Just that fact alone, the idea that many people are worried about his mental capacity right now, that will cost him at least 10 percent of the vote, and he will lose because of that. If the democrats don’t realize this, they are lost. People hate the infant more than ever, but they are also nervous about Biden. They need to find a way out of this.
Biden has too many pledged delegates at this point, and it’s too late for anyone else to enter the race. I think that Bloomberg seemed attractive to “moderates” as an alternative to Biden, but that didn’t last very long. The last hold-out against endorsing Biden was his old enemy Elizabeth Warren, and she endorsed him earlier today (I believe). Warren’s war against Wall Street meant that Wall Street would do everything they could to sink her candidacy, and they succeeded. Sanders was always a long-shot; his calls for “political revolution” were only attractive to a few.
I quite agree that Biden is uniquely vulnerable on multiple fronts — he does come across as having something like early dementia, and he’s too unsympathetic to Millennial concerns for him to do well with voters under 35. But he is popular with Black people, and I can’t imagine what it would take for any of them to stay home or vote third party. Trump is unlikely to make any inroads there.
Unfortunately, the Democrats do look like they are poised to make the same mistake as in 2016: insist that an obviously terrible campaigner is the only “electable” choice, then refuse to learn anything from their mistakes when they lose to the very worst person.
Biden wasn’t a terrible campaigner before the onset of whatever form of dementia he is exhibiting. Eight or twelve years ago, he might have been a formidable candidate.
But he also has ethical issues and meetoo issues. If he is the candidate, it means he is the one person who can be sacrificed at minimal cost to the party.
I see Trump found himself a new scapegoat in the WHO. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra was lying through his teeth on Dutch television to explain the withdrawal of funding and got told to his face that it was transparantly obvious that Trump was trying to cover up his own mismanagement. That got a snigger out of me: I was thinking precisely the same.
Pretty much everyone realizes that with Trump it is ‘projection and confession’ whenever he attempts to blame others for his failings.
Kantian Naturalist,
We could be charting even more unknown territory. I wonder what could happen if it becomes more apparent that he has some deficiency. What if three months from now it is acknowledged that something is wrong. Would level headed people step in and ask him to voluntarily step aside? Would the delegates get together and make the decision themselves? What if people who are close to him, like his family, come out and say that they believe he has a problem?
To me this seems like their best hope right now.
So the Democrats should ignore the will of their voters, like those in Wisconsin who stood out in the cold and rain during a pandemic to cast their votes, because Joe Rogan says so? And all those other candidates ,who Joe Rogan finds acceptable , have endorsed Biden, if he wouldn’t vote for Biden why would he vote for people who endorsed Biden?
And based on what diagnostic test has Joe Rogan made this evaluation? Or does he just believe it?
Sounds like Trump, “many people say”. How many have something to gain by that belief? How many are professionals in the field?
Joe Biden has always been prone to gaffs and they judged him as the best candidate in this particular race.
Democrats might think it sounds a bit like concern trolling. Let’s see how this logic works works.
“Lots of people “say “gee I would vote for women or a socialist or black candidate, but if your party democratically selects an old white guy, who “may have early onset dementia, sorry I will be forced to vote for a sociopath, who is unbalanced in a ways far worse than a loss of memory. And thereby ceding to this vulgar yam, who botched a crisis endangering thousands of lives and claimed no responsibility, the ability to appoint another justice to the Supreme Court and the untold damage that would entail. And it’s all the Democrats fault.
I thinks lots of Democrats would call bullshit on that.
It didn’t hurt Reagan’s re-election , and show me the math for that that10%. Right now in most polls Biden leads Trump. Remember last election when Hillary was the subject of health issues, too?
This just the beginning, we have sexual harassment charges, making money off influence.
All those issues Trump has and more
Maybe, but he is the duly elected candidate, he has the backing of the Party. If you look at what the people in Wisconsin did, seems pretty enthusiastic.
So blow up the party to please people who probably are not voting for a Democrat anyway. You don’t think that will affect the turnout?
If people prefer a known madman , who doesn’t forget because he doesn’t listen and played politics with American’s lives, to someone who may be forgetful. Then we are doomed.
If you have a united front of Sanders and Obama campaigning that would be helpful, Republicans are already crying about Obama taking a stronger role in the campaign, as if Republicans cared about norms. Democrats need to suck some of the oxygen away from Trump, Obama may do that. It all may come down to who has the better data strategy.
That hope would spell doom, you would have lost three months of campaigning. And seeming indecisive is fatal. If you want the infant gone , better hope you are just falling for Republican talking points.
newton,
Well, you are assuming if doesn’t have any diminished mental capacity. I don’t know if he does or he doesn’t, what I am saying is what if it becomes more obvious that he does? What are the democrats supposed to do, just ignore it? That will be their strategy? Just say it’s a republican witch hunt even if it is true?
newton,
I personally hope that it does become so obvious that they have no choice. Perhaps they can convince Biden it is in the best interest of the country that he drops out. I think that is their best chance. I don’t believe the polls. He is not popular.
Actually assuming he doesn’t have any more, he is 77. I guess we hope that doesn’t happen, along with heart attack and being hit by a bus.
What exactly is it, for instance, forgetting where his car keys are or forgetting who his wife is? We have established ,by the present occupant , that the bar is fairly low for high level cognitive ability. We know Trump voters would vote for him no matter what level of cognitive deficiency occurred .
Look at this way, how good politics would it be to say” if Biden gets dementia we are going to do xxx? You are implying that it is probable enough to have formulated a plan. That would become a Republican talking point. If there is plan, it be foolish to reveal it before it is needed.
It is certainly what the Republicans would do, my guess is not.
Me too. Rumor has it Reagan was way beyond the early stages, if that is a precedent.
I take it you have not had the experience of taking away the car keys from a parent when they are no longer able to safely drive, I can imagine dropping out of the race for President would go.
He is among the Democrats who care to vote in the primary. That is the first step. Obama was, and chances are good that he will fully engage this election. If Bernie and Warren and Pete all step up , they have a good chance against the cheating Republicans. Trump can’t win with only his base.
And never forget and equal amount of the focus needs to be on taking back the Senate and keeping the House.
newton,
You still seem to be avoiding the question. What do you think the procedure should be if he starts displaying more obvious signs of impairment? Or if someone close to him, like a family member says they believe he is impaired, but he maintains he is fine and doesn’t want to drop out?
This is a good question. I don’t know what the procedure would be. I would guess that it would come down to the DNC party leadership to say, “this person is manifestly unfit for office and cannot represent the party in the election.”
Kantian Naturalist,
I am very curious as to how they would select an alternative candidate.
A lot has changed since the primary debates. I think the psyche of the citizens is quite different now, and I think the candidate they would choose now would be quite different. I still maintain Andrew Yang would be a good candidate, as now the idea of a Universal Basic Income doesn’t sound nearly as crazy as it did six months ago. I suspect there are a lot of lower middle class republicans who also are starting to think so. I don’t think the promise of help for them they thought they would get from the republicans have come to fruition.
Do you mean more signs of more serious impairment? Sounds like déjà vu ,
“ In an Aug. 2 exchange, Stone’s WikiLeaks contact suggested the group would start spreading rumors about Clinton, identified by her initials, HRC, and her fitness to be president. “Would not hurt to start suggesting HRC old, memory bad, has stroke,” the person tells Stone, according to the indictment. “I expect that much of next dump focus.”
Over the next days and weeks, a barrage of claims about Clinton’s health started circulating in right-wing news outlets, including Fox News, the National Inquirer, and Infowars. By the end of the month, they would end up in Trump speeches”
Before the election it is determined ,obviously, by the Party who nominated him.One would guess the person with the second highest delegate count. Then the questions would arise whether Sanders was fit since he has a recent heart attack.
After the election, the Constitution comes into play.
Depends on the family member’s qualifications and evidence. His third cousin who is a Trump supporter not so much.
I agree, might as well concede the election at the same time.
newton,
I think unless he chooses a really amazing VP (And I am doubtful he will), you might as well already concede.
It still sounds crazy, zero delegates, 100,000 votes, replacing the other seven candidates with more votes based on a plan that not all Democrats support equals four more years.
Like who?
newton,
Warren, Booker, Yang, Obama…
newton,
I would assume Biden is allowed to give his delegates to someone else if he chose.
Warren seems to be a front runner , and has said would be open, If you want to do something with Obama you would appoint him to the Supremes. Booker and Yang, not seeing the electoral advantage. Pete might be possible media savvy pick. Biden will have plenty of advice.
How many of those blue collar drumpfinites do you think are disillusioned? I say a lot. The infant has not delivered one iota of help for them. It was always a lie.
A candidate that says he is going to give everyone a fighting chance in this deplorable economic chasm, that is going to help your chances a lot.
Yes, you are right. Many are disillusioned.
The funny thing is — they are disillusioned about Democrats but not about Trump. They will vote for Trump again in the next elections, and blame Democrats for all that went wrong. They really have been drinking the Kool-ade. That’s what cults do to people.
Don’t think so, the delegates are pledged to Biden but he cannot give them to Pete , for instance. After the first vote I believe they are free to vote for someone else, certainly they might do as he asks.
Neil Rickert,
I agree, but if you had a candidate that said you know what I am going to do, I am going to make sure you can afford to pay your rent every month, that is the one kind that could draw them away. It isn’t going to be someone just because she is a female, or just because it’s fair.
The general rule is that as you get older, such things get worse. Presidential campaigning is brutal. Hillary did have health problems that interfered with her campaign. I assume she recovered, but it probably cost her the election.
Biden is not going to be able to campaign at all. I’m not diagnosing him; just observing that attempts to give him a favorable venue seem to be failing.
I’ve watched elections since Stevenson/Eisenhower. I’ve concluded that voters pretty much ignore peccadilloes. They do not ignore perceived weakness. Sometimes, it seems, they are attracted to the candidate who can slough off attacks. I’m thinking Nixon, Clinton, Reagan, Trump. Hillary might have pulled this off, but she was undeniably sick.
I’m thinking this is a wartime election, and it will follow the pattern of wartime elections. I cannot predict the course of the war, but the voters will go for the candidate who displays stamina and resolve. Policy details will be unimportant.
I agree.
I guess , I am a bit skeptical that alleged severity of her health problems were decisive in her defeat. If pressed for one thing, Comey’s public announcements about the status of the investigation has my vote.
Sounds like a diagnosis.
Lots of experience , how sick is the question, Parkinson’s seems unlikely given public appearances since the election. Brain tumors, being on deaths door? As you said, campaigning is a brutal exercise. Dr Drew is still around giving his wisdom.
It seems with Trump , the goal of the war is be lavishly praised and escape any responsibility, actually combatting the virus seems secondary. His behavior has been erratic. None of those things are qualities Americans traditionally laud in a crisis. Encouraging civil disobedience against lawful orders of the states in also new ground for a wartime President.
petrushka,
I think the whole “wartime president” talking point is one of the biggest bunches of bullshit in a long time. Was Herbert Hoover a wartime president because he had to deal with the great depression? Was Obama a wartime president because he dealt with the financial crisis?
I mean seriously, fuck drumpf and his nonsense talking point. He just wants to act like the great leader of war, because deep down he knows he is a military chickenshit, but he wanted a military parade and couldn’t get it. Its not a war, its a crisis, a crisis that was largely avoidable if he would have actually done something for the two months head start when he knew it was coming. Now he screws up and wants to blame it on a war of his own incompetence. Fuck him. If this is a war president, then it is amongst his cabinet of bungling stooges.
Some , but are they going to be attracted to Yang just because what he hopes to do? He couldn’t catch on with a receptive audience of Democrats.
Speaking as a blue collar worker, I say Yang who? Remember lots of those workers voted for Trump based on a character he played on TV and to stick it to liberals. Making America Great.
Not according to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh , Trump has been the working man’s friend and a tough, strong guy.
Some of that message has been lost on women , blue and white collar. That is a demographic Democrats seem to peel off.
That is just the fake News, they might say. Sure a few plants closed, the trade war is hurting farmers, but it is the China’s fault, or Europe or Democrats or Impeachment or Deep State.
Or healthcare than doesn’t bankrupt you. But both those things help the undeserving as well, and that is not fair.
newton,
I think what appeals to the democrat base is almost irrelevant when it comes to the general election. It doesn’t matter what position Yang finished in in the primaries. the base is going to vote for whoever is there. Same as the base did with infant. The question is what are the rest of the people going to do.
Who is Biden going to bring back to the democrat side from the last election. Not many in my estimation. What type of person is he going to appeal to, that didn’t vote for Hillary last time, but that want him? That’s has to be a real small number. Yang brings those looking for help back. And he is different. And he is not a politician type, he is a tech type. And he is smart and articulate and can explain his position really well, and has data to back it.
I think people would really like someone different this time. They thought they were getting that with infant and they were wrong. This time they really want change. Biden isn’t that.