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Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

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Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

#571
post #136

Oof. This guy has been the biggest positive surprise of the US presidents in my lifetime. Expectations were low, but he actually turned out to be a good president (from a European perspective). No new wars, no more talk about shifting defense focus to Asia, generally nothing unreasonable. Good support for Ukraine, no doubts about NATO - rather the opposite. Basically, the rich uncle on the other side of the pond has…

This is a very partial view. A good number of people, including American democrats were disgusted by his unwavering support to the current genocide in Gaza. Many believe he could have stopped it with a phone call and explicitly refused. I know many who swore they would not vote for him, regardless of the circumstances.

On TikTok, maybe.

Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

#572

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a "radical" idea: why not actually let the constituency of this party make the choice.

It's barely been a few hours yet I've seen this idea making the rounds. Seems manufactured.

I find that rather offensive. Implication that what, moi can't think for myself or am a sock puppet?

> "Speak ill of no man"

Aha.

Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

#573

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like IQ tests will not measure mental sanity and lucidity, age does not measure mental proficiency.

Then why a minimum age of 35? It’s a reasonable suggestion

The minimum age requirement was intended to provide a safeguard against the election of individuals who might lack the maturity and experience needed for such a significant role.

The maximum age is a different consideration.

Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

#575

(No intend for this to be a controversial statement) I only want to express my opinion that he (and the Democratic party) took a while to make this decision, to their detriment. Interesting to see who their new candidate is going to be.

To their detriment? I'm not sure. They just had the Republican convention. At that convention, they took a lot of shots at Biden. Now the Democrats say "Wrong target, suckers!" They take over the news cycle from the Republican convention, and they neutralize a huge amount of the talking points from the convention. That could be pretty brilliant. (I mean, it would have been better for Biden to clearly not be running l…

Yeah, it certainly /can/ work. For example in New Zealand in 2017: The labor party (our big centre-left party) had an unpopular/uninspiring leader and was polling terribly. The existing leader stepped down and Jacinda Ardern took over just seven weeks before the election, and rolled to a win.

YMMV, we have very different political systems and cultures, etc. etc.

Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

#576

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's pretty obvious that the assassination attempt will not generate good discussion. Most online platforms are just a collection of spicy take memes about the event. In case of Biden stepping down, there's a lot more to discuss, ranging from his legacy as a statesman to the future of the election.

I think it's pretty obvious there's a leftist bias on this site. Good luck with the cackler :)

I think both things are true. There's a leftist bias and what I stated in my original post.

Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

#577
post #568

Putting politics aside … Why don’t they have an age limit on the president (or any elected office)? E.g., you must be younger than the average life expectancy (currently men: 73yo / female: 79) - while in office. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

[flagged]

i’ve been seeing this comment float around today, and assuming you aren’t a russian troll or bot account, here’s why it’s flawed:

there’s no _coup_ (not coop) because primary processes are not part of the constitution. candidates can step down (as biden did for the good of the country, and LBJ had done before him). there was no real choice to not pick biden, either, as the incumbent.

the party will now have an open nomination process where delegates will pledge based on how people of their state best want, and keep in mind that most americans did not want biden OR trump, so they really are doing what is best in the interest of american democracy

compare this to the RNC and GOP which has done nothing but embrace one criminal authoritarian crook for the last decade, and you’ll see why your comment doesn’t really make sense.

Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

#578

Putting politics aside … Why don’t they have an age limit on the president (or any elected office)? E.g., you must be younger than the average life expectancy (currently men: 73yo / female: 79) - while in office. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

Politicians who refuse to retire is a huge, bipartisan problem in the US affecting both genders. Putting an age limit on the president or members of congress would probably have to be done via a constitutional amendment, because the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that states cannot add eligibility requirements that are not in the constitution. One reform that would help in Congress would be to modify the seniori…

Maybe not even modulo but something like seniority increases monotonically for five terms but decreases monotonically for each subsequent term after the fifth term.

Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

#579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's considered to be up to the voters to pick the best candidate.

Sadly, this has never happened, anywhere, ever. The distinguishing and necessary result of democracy, practically unique when compared to any other form of government, is that it provides a nonviolent means to remove aggressively incompetent people from office.

    > Sadly, this has never
    > happened, anywhere, ever.
Didn't this literally just happen?

If Biden hadn't suffered in the polls after the nature of his debate performance, I don't see how we'd be here today.

However indirect the mechanism by which he was ousted, it ultimately comes down to an assessment of what candidate voters would have been willing to back.

Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate

#580
post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Age shouldn’t be a limitation. Mental competency should be regardless of age.

One is measurable though

"Innocent until proven".

(No really, you cannot conclude anything from circumstantial states that only increase chances of some conclusion, but not determine it as true, strictly. It is also one of the basic principles evident past consideration of prejudice and racism...)

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