This was a forgone conclusion since the debate but there needed to be prolonged drama to save face
I think the prolonged drama made it far far worse for Biden's legacy
I disagree. His legacy is strong and he will be viewed very favorably.
Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
791–800 of 1001 posts
Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
#792Earlier quoted context omitted.
With a better voting system (e.g. Approval or Condorcet) and nothing preventing a dozen candidates from running, that would be much more feasible. These go hand in hand: our current voting system breaks down if multiple candidates draw votes from each other, but a better voting system would be immune to that failure mode and could give people a free choice of several reasonable candidates without having some of them…
my thinking exactly why is it that there are not the best 5, 50 or 500 people on the ballot and I as a voter can mark any and all that I think I know will do the job the way I want them to
Only (relative) nerds would be able to figure this out in practice. Using a voting system that “the common man” doesn’t fully understand is unfortunately kind of elitist/classist in its effects even though i understand that’s not the intention of the many who wish for it.
Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
#793As a registered Republican who voted IND in 2016 and then for Trump in 2020 (which probably puts me in about a 0.1% minority on a site like this), I feel upset that the democratic process for choosing a nominee for the Democratic Party is about to just get bypassed. Are other folks feeling this? I’d be even more riled up if this were my party telling me, “Oh, that guy you voted for in the primaries? We thought he cou…
Not even a little bit. The Democratic Party has clearly stated policies and goals, the vast majority of which I agree with (possibly besides some of the trans policies). Who the final candidate is this time matters very little compared to making sure Trump doesn’t win and destroy American hegemony.
Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
#794> It’s a miracle, folks. Donald told the truth for once. It’s the most important election of our lifetimes. And I will win it. Curiously, his tweet from just 18 hours ago seemed like he was still in the race. I wonder what changed.
Threat that they will use article 25 to get him removed as president if he didn't playball
25th amendment requires a 2/3 majority of both houses of congress to remove the president if he objects. Not a credible threat to Biden.
Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
#795Putting 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
Like a lot of things never codified into law or the constitution — 250 years ago it seemed obvious that the voters wouldn’t do things that seem utterly insane, and that surely nobody who’s very openly, shamelessly corrupt would be elected and still maintain that support even when exposed. So here we are.
So the Framers figured nobody on the cusp of senility would run, and if he did, he wouldn’t get the votes. Because both would be ridiculous.
Especially considering that the only democracy they envisioned was the House, since everybody else was to be picked by nondemocratic means (essentially then, by an aristocracy, who would surely be wise enough to make a good decision).
Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
#796Earlier quoted context omitted.
The constitution has a lower limit on the age of the president, why not an upper limit?
It was written during a time when the average life expectancy of men was around 40.
True, but the landed gentry (who were the only people that might end up as President) lived to be considerably older.
Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
#797Putting 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
Put simply: it would require a constitutional amendment, and those are hard to come by. The Constitution only sets a minimum age for offices — no maximum ages.
Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
#798Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had a similar thought. It would be bold to pluck a republican of the old order as a gesture to the many republicans who now feel like men without a party. Romney would be an interesting choice. I remember this[0] article in the globe where a columnist who dragged him during his presidential run apologized after seeing how bad things could be. Like you say though, hard to imagine any party conjuring the courage to d…
> hard to imagine any party conjuring the courage to do something like that even if they thought it was wise. They would if they sincerely believed that losing this election would doom democracy. If they nominate a straight polarized political ticket instead of one that can actually unify everyone who doesn't want to see a second Trump term then we know that they don't actually believe their own apocalyptic rhetoric.
I imagine a mixed ticket is unlikely to sway many Republicans and likely to lose a lot of Democrats, especially younger ones.
Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
#799Earlier quoted context omitted.
Airline pilots have a legally mandated retirement age of 65. Running the country seems like it's at least as mission-critical as flying a plane.
The president has a large support staff to keep the lights on most of the time. Unless the nation is physically under attack, the president's day-to-day job is probably physically less demanding than that of pilots. They have plenty of time for golf.
Economic attacks are a thing.
Re: Joe Biden stands down as Democratic candidate
#800Putting 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
Like a lot of things never codified into law or the constitution — 250 years ago it seemed obvious that the voters wouldn’t do things that seem utterly insane, and that surely nobody who’s very openly, shamelessly corrupt would be elected and still maintain that support even when exposed. So here we are. So the Framers figured nobody on the cusp of senility would run, and if he did, he wouldn’t get the votes. Because…
> it seemed obvious that the voters wouldn’t do things that seem utterly insane, and that surely nobody who’s very openly, shamelessly corrupt would be elected
Credit where credit is due, it actually seemed obvious to Benjamin Franklin that such a thing was inevitable .. hence the need for close attention to the machinery of government and regularly updating the constitution.
See:
I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government, but what may be a blessing to the people if well-administered; and believe further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it,