241–250 of 1001 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
how do you measure who is effective?
It's a very tough thing to objectively measure, but one metric we can point to is his ability to push a surprising amount of bipartisan legislation through an incredibly divided congress in just 4 years.
Question out of curiosity, not a challenge. I don't follow US politics that closely.
One of the most effective presidents since Johnson or Truman. But he did campaign on a single term. Let’s hope the Dem’s circular firing squad puts down its guns so they can quickly concentrate on winning the election with someone … probably Harris is the simplest answer.
I liked James Carville's idea of picking maybe eight contenders and having town hall type events to choose the most popular. Game show element to take publicity from Trump and also kind of democratic rather than anointing a connected insider, which of course Trump would then go on about endlessly.
2) republican candidate considered a crook
3) it's in Chicago
Whatever they do, don't do what the DNC did in 1968 again, lets try to at least make new mistakes this time I guess?
[flagged]
Political parties aren’t democratic institutions. They are essentially private organizations who can operate however they want. It’s only been the last 50 years or so that either party has used primaries as anything more than a straw poll
Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
Don't forget, Saint Ronald I. was (allegedly) basically a potato in the latter year(s) of his presidency. So there's precedence, with such a situation.
Nixon has a drunk.
Roosevelt was in declining health before beign reelected in 1944. He knew he might have to resign early.
One of the most effective presidents since Johnson or Truman. But he did campaign on a single term. Let’s hope the Dem’s circular firing squad puts down its guns so they can quickly concentrate on winning the election with someone … probably Harris is the simplest answer.
> But he did campaign on a single term. He did not really do this.
[1]: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/11/biden-single-term-0...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem isn't just his age, it's his decrepitude, both physical and mental. I know people in their 90s who are able to speak clearly at any hour of the day...
Speaking clearly has nothing to do with mental fortitude. Tons of things can affect the fluency of speech. We really need to move past the days where we judge people's intelligence and competence based on how well the connections of their brain are able to influence the movement of the vocal cords and the tongue the lips and the jaw.
There is clearly something wrong with him that was not in evidence in 2020. Whether it's Parkinson's, senility, 12-day-old jet lag, I don't know. But it's clear that it's hard for him to carry on a conversation, and that is basically the job of a politician.
One of the most effective presidents since Johnson or Truman. But he did campaign on a single term. Let’s hope the Dem’s circular firing squad puts down its guns so they can quickly concentrate on winning the election with someone … probably Harris is the simplest answer.
> Let’s hope the Dem’s circular firing squad puts down its guns so they can quickly concentrate on winning the election with someone … probably Harris is the simplest answer. On the contrary, the processes that anointed Hillary in 2016 and Biden round 2 in 2024 were exactly the kind of "well, it's this person's turn now" decisions that were bad, anti-democratic (lower-case d) choices previously. I'm not looking for a…
The last time we had a sitting president not seek reelection like this was LBJ and he announced his intentions in March, 1968 [1]. We don't have the communications media we have now. This had a massive impact. The Democrats were largely unprepared, in part because RFK was assassinated in June.
This ushered in Nixon who expanded the war in Vietnam, started the illegal bombing of Cambodia that killed hundreds of thousands [2], started the War on Drugs [3], reshaped the Supreme Court and ultimately created a crisis leading to his resignation in 1974.
Biden should've announced last year he wasn't seeking reelection, giving time for a real primary process. But we are where we are.
Some will point to Biden's achievements, and there definitely are some major achievements, but elections are forward-looking. It's not just about how Biden is now. It's how we would've expetged him to be 1 year from now, 2 years from now, 4 years from now. And those prospects weren't good.
I do believe this was the right decision (albeit way too late). This is an opportunity to reset what otherwise was looking like a bleak race for so many of us.
[1]: https://www.history.com/news/lbj-exit-1968-presidential-race
[2]: https://www.history.com/news/nixon-war-powers-act-vietnam-wa...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem isn't just his age, it's his decrepitude, both physical and mental. I know people in their 90s who are able to speak clearly at any hour of the day...
Speaking clearly has nothing to do with mental fortitude. Tons of things can affect the fluency of speech. We really need to move past the days where we judge people's intelligence and competence based on how well the connections of their brain are able to influence the movement of the vocal cords and the tongue the lips and the jaw.
One of the most effective presidents since Johnson or Truman. But he did campaign on a single term. Let’s hope the Dem’s circular firing squad puts down its guns so they can quickly concentrate on winning the election with someone … probably Harris is the simplest answer.
> But he did campaign on a single term. He did not really do this.
"Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else," Biden said. "There's an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country."