• themachine@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Biden could have done what’s best for the country and been a one term president. I’ll still vote for him but not because he’s some amazing leader or anything.

    So they did it to themselves if they lose.

    • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I don’t know, I think the situation is more nuisanced. I didn’t vote for Biden in the primaries (I did in the general), but I have to admit he’s accomplished a lot more than I anticipated he would. At the time I just wanted a president who wasn’t a complete train wreck.

      I’d be all in if he was younger, but even so, I’m not sure what the best option is. If Biden stepped aside, I’m not sure the Democrats’ ability to win in 2024 would go up. Incumbents have an advantage for sure, and there isn’t an obvious choice to replace him. The most important thing at this point is that Trump doesn’t win. Whatever situation maximizes the chance of him losing is good with me.

    • Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I agree, Newsome would have been a good candidate. Hell there are half a dozen good candidates that are half Bidens age. If Dems loose, I agree they did it to themselves by letting Biden run again.

        • Witchhatswamp@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I don’t totally disagree, but he’s a straight white man who is really wonky/can dive into the weeds of legislation and is affable. He has a potentially broad appeal with the coasts and Midwest.

    • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      I see that point of view. Out of curiosity, though, do you think there’s an obvious next in line on the bench? The only person I can think of as a no brainer for electability is Michelle Obama.

      Edit: I’m confused as to why my comment has been so controversial. I think it’s because people are misreading my claim. I am saying that Michelle Obama is obviously one of the most electable alternatives to Biden. The polling corroborates this. She is well liked and has 100% name recognition. Seriously, even if you hate her, as an objective empirical fact, she is obviously one of the top contenders for electability.

      I am not claiming that she is likely to run or that she wants to run, etc.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Do you think, that maybe, if Biden had chosen to support another candidate, all those “Blue No Matter Who” types would dog pile people not supporting that candidate?

        they’ve had four years to figure that out. That they can’t… is either a sign of gross incompetence or of intentionality. either way, at a certain point, you need to stop and realize the way it’s not worked for 30+ years is… not working and maybe it’s time to change things up a bit.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Do you think, that maybe, if Biden had chosen to support another candidate, all those “Blue No Matter Who” types would dog pile people not supporting that candidate?

          It depends on how far to the right the candidate is. Get far enough to the left, and they start bein’ like “Party Unity My Ass” and start forming PACs to get Republicans elected

          EDIT: I see centrists don’t like being reminded of their proudest moment: trying to get McCain/Palin elected because they didn’t get their first choice in the '08 primaries.

          • Doc Avid Mornington@midwest.social
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            1 year ago

            I mean, you’re not entirely wrong for sure. I’m gonna upvote because it’s a really good point, worth thinking about. But I do disagree, somewhat. Trump isn’t McCain. The majority of D voters are looking for someone more left, and the ones who aren’t, are definitely driven by beating Trump. It’s the party leadership that is mostly a problem here. If Biden went rogue and endorsed a leftist, which he wouldn’t do, the DCCC Democrats would be desperately scrambling to undermine that candidate, any way they could, even at the expense of losing to Trump. But that’s also, I think, kind of aside from Ensign Crab’s point, as if Biden had chosen to support another candidate, it would not be a leftist.

            • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              It wouldn’t have to be a leftist. Obama wasn’t, and the same people who now scream “no matter who” were screaming “party unity my ass” and raising money to legitimize Sarah Palin at the time.

      • At the beginning of his term, I’d have said they were lining up Harris; black, woman, young, and they made her highly visible in the first few months. I thought for sure they were going to spend 4 years lining her up for 2024. Biden would gracefully bow out citing his age, ride the 1/2 term election cycle, and badaboom: first female president.

        And then she faded away. I don’t know what happened; she didn’t poll well, or do well, or polling showed D chances sank without an old white guy in front… but it makes me kinda sad, because I thought it was a good strategy, and it’d be nice to have a run of diversity in the White House.

        • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          She was the least (or very close to it) popular candidate in the primary and people are surprised she didn’t get more popular? She is very much the definition of diversity hire, what she is checks all the boxes, what she’s done is massively unpopular to the majority of democrat voters.

        • Krauerking@lemy.lol
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          1 year ago

          I swear it’s like she freaked out at the idea of the attention and just faded out of existence. It’s so annoying cause she crushed people to get where she is and does nothing to make good use of it

        • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Kamala is just not good for anybody. She has a bad record of imprisoning people with similar skin tones to hers for victimless crimes and not much of substance to offer. The Diversity Hire excuse is not good enough for the office of President, there should be some good content of character within the person at least.

        • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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          1 year ago

          They made her visible with shit no-win issues. She was put on securing voting rights, fixing the border, and recently solving gun violence. Meanwhile the big spend-money bill passes and she’s no where to be seen. I also thought the intention was for her to inherit from Biden, but then they kind of just screwed her over and over.

      • MacGuffin94@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m really hoping Gretchen Whitmer runs in 28 but for this cycle it would probably be Newsome. Sherrod Brown would be great but he is the only person in Ohio that could keep that senate seat blue. Manchin probably runs off Biden isn’t there. Harris and buttigieg are"in line"but personally I can’t stand either.

      • themachine@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Tats a really hard question. I guess Newsom or Whitmer if we’re talking politicians that seem to be up and coming. But I can think of many other candidates that I would like to see take the position even if they aren’t as electable. Tammy Baldwin, Mark Kelly, he’ll even Adam Schiff, even though he couldn’t win in the general.

        Biden is fine but he looks and sounds horrible quite a bit of the time. There is nothing exciting about his policies and I feel he has way too much baggage.

        Gavin would probably be the best pick. But if we’re making up scenarios, hell put Tom Hanks in there or Jon Stewart like that other commenter said.

        Really I’ll always be bummed about not having Bernie but that ship sailed as well.

        I’m not a super leftist, more of a left leaning no centrist. Still reason, passion, radical change for what a leader could and should be like really get me fired up. The policies are important but we all know that the president is a figurehead as much as it’s a powerful position. I’d rather see someone call the citizens of the country together and be a fighter for even the same type of incremental changes that Biden professes to embrace and maybe have a signature mission.

        I do feel that his administration is chock full of smart and professional people. As a leader and a figure he’s just old and gross. Haha.

        As other commenters have pointed out, anyone but a conservative would be fine. They all fuckin suck with their evangelical positioning and horrible policies. Trump being the nastiest of the pile.

        • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          Oh is that why my comment is so controversial? I specifically said for electability, not on whether she wants the job. The polling corroborates this. She is objectively one of the most well liked political figures in the US today. Note, again, I am NOT claiming she is therefore likely to run.

            • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              Sure, due to increasing partisanship there is literally no candidate that is universally well-liked by both sides. But you don’t need to convince everyone to win an election. Michelle Obama does better on polling than (almost?) any other candidate.

    • UrPartnerInCrime@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      What a short sighted view. Had he came in guns blazing we would have never heard the end of it from Republicans. Dudes done quite a lot without giving the Republicans much ammo.