Should Democrats stay the course or replace Biden? | Robert Reich

For one, Biden would have to willingly give up the nomination in order to release delegates already pledged to him.

Factually not true...

The DNC can rewrite the rules before the convention and nominate anyone they want.

As their lawyers have told judges, they're a private organization that can name anyone as the candidate. That was their defense for accusations that they already rig primaries.

A second problem is the public doesn’t know any other Democrat nearly as well as they know Biden, and it would be difficult to introduce someone to the public at this late date without them being defined by Donald Trump, the Republicans and Fox News in the worst possible ways.

Literally anyone that becomes the Dem nominee will have nationwide name recognition in 24 hours.

The most common reason for voting Biden is "to stop trump" so any replacement shares the most important quality Dem voters want that Biden actually meets.

Like, sure, this would have been so much easier if we had an actual primary and the people closest to Biden hadn't spent four years hiding him and lying about his mental capabilities. But they didn't. They kept repeating it was too late for anyone except Biden.

They're still saying it, but it's still not true.

I am registered as an independent. I would like to vote third party eventually, but this is not the time and I think switching the candidate will backfire. We are playing with fire here. When it comes to voting between keeping a democracy or putting ourselves into a dictatorship, I'm voting for democracy. The people who are "protesting" by not voting or by voting third party this term are advocating for a Trump win. It's an attempt to divide the party in the same way that they did when Hillary was running. If Trump wins, democracy dies and genocide will be encouraged. Don't forget, he supported wiping out Gaza and encourages violence against other races, religions, political views, and LGBTQ+ people. He'll wipe out democracy and everything we've worked for over hundreds of years. All the protections put in place against poisoning the planet will be gone and climate change policies wiped out. This man plans to do so much damage.

I'll be honest. I'm scared of a loss here. I'm trans and with the amount of vitriol Trump and his followers spew, I feel like if I don't vote this way, I'm getting put in a dangerous situation, as are all LGBTQ+ people and many others. Please don't fuck around here. Don't make this about your pride. There is too much at risk here. Vote Biden and keep voting in mid-terms as well. We don't stand a chance otherwise.

Protesters, if you really want to make a change, run for congress. The only way to make real change is to put more decent critical thinking people in congress.

Some in this thread think that ‘chaos’ would emerge if the party replaced Biden and that would hurt the party’s chance of defeating trump. You are correct that there would be a media frenzy, and weeks of exhaustive, drama chasing coverage. It would absolutely dominate the media narrative, and be pounded into the entire voting population’s psyche. You know what else? That would be a wonderful, wonderful thing. It would totally disarm trump’s ability to drive the media narrative for much of the rest of the election. Whatever deficit that exists of national awareness for the new candidate would be erased very quickly. That candidate would be gifted months of desperate, free, media coverage. It’s actually a great strategy. That being the case, I’m sure the DNC and the party elders will never attempt something so obviously effective since they are terrible at politics and their cowardly approaches to both campaigns and governing are ultimately the reason our democracy is in such an existential crisis to begin with.

Regardless of whether we stay with Biden or someone new is chosen (God, what a shitshow that will be - though depending on the discussions behind the scenes, it may be the best course)...

Vote Dem on the presidential ticket this November. Biden or his replacement. Doesn't matter.

You've got a guy who tried the first autocoup in US history on the ballot, and a good 48% of the electorate who wants him back in. Not even getting into the myriad other problems.

Don't play fucking games here.

The pod save America group had a mini debate about the issue.
Two key things: A new candidate allows Dems to sidestep the Gaza issue A new candidate means the age issue vanishes.

As to 'its just a bad debate' - it is the worst presidential debate in modern history. That's a tough thing to climb out from.

Imo, I hope one of the candidates die from natural causes before the conventions and sidestep this craziness altogether.

Fuck no they should not. He is the most electable Dem as of today.

Idk. He seemed fine as usual the day after at his rally. I don't know what the hell that was on debate night. Someone idiot gave him NyQuil because of a cold or something??

Anyway, no, I don't think it's a good idea to replace him unless it's someone like Gavin Newsome who has no problem being aggressive against the Orange Mussolini.

A second problem is the public doesn’t know any other Democrat nearly as well as they know Biden, and it would be difficult to introduce someone to the public at this late date without them being defined by Donald Trump, the Republicans and Fox News in the worst possible ways.

The only people I can think of as possible nominees are Kamala Harris, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore, Gavin Newsom and (my personal favorite) Sherrod Brown.

. . . What? Of those names I recognize I’m pretty sure the faded lettuce of Liz Truss has more immediate electability. And Whitmer is right out. As is (don’t get me started) Harris.

The question anyone suggesting replacing Biden needs to answer is: Who?

Pretty much the entire electorate needs to know who the person is. They need to be somewhat popular. They need no real scandals.

That's just the bare minimum to complete with Biden. Then you have to answer: can they be popular enough, or overcome Biden's weaknesses enough to overcome incumbency bias?

That's not easy to answer but if the answer isn't a resounding Yes, then replacing him is a mistake.

And the candidate has to be popular enough that Biden is willing to stand down and support them. Because he has pledged delegates and several primaries already.

Overall I think this would be a mistake. There just aren't any good alternatives. And one bad debate isn't a scandal. This is letting the Fox News machine dictate how we think about Biden. Which is always a mistake.

The entire Democratic Party is sleeping on Andy Beshear. He checks all the boxes and then some. Young, smart, progressive, popular in a deep red state, etc.

He should at least be considered for VP.

"Democrats" can't replace Biden. The only person who can replace the sitting President is the sitting President.

That being said, many people need to have that conversation with him, notably Obama, and tell him it's time to step aside for the good of the country.

See:

Diane Feinstein
Ruth Bader Ginsburg

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Sadly, Biden’s stiff, halting, withered delivery, coupled with his slack-jawed expression and frozen stare when not trying to form sentences, made him seem not just old but on the decline.

I have a hard time seeing how this could happen, unless Jill Biden, along with others of his closest and most trusted advisors, and Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries, all teamed up and told him he must exit the race.

The only people I can think of as possible nominees are Kamala Harris, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore, Gavin Newsom and (my personal favorite) Sherrod Brown.

Yet, if it’s not Biden, a failure to nominate Harris might upset lots of Black people, women and younger voters.

All of the national, state and local party machinery, advertising, and internet capacity now designed to get out the vote for Biden would have to be totally redesigned.

But he can also reveal something else, as he did at the debate – a man who in many respects seems older than 81 years, who has trouble walking and speaking, and who, at least in those times and moments, doesn’t seem to stand much chance of being re-elected president of the United States – even when his opponent is a twice-impeached convicted felon, pathological liar and dangerous sociopath.

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