We are nearing the end of this pushmi pullyou intolerable state of being that the Democratic party has been in since June 27, the night of the debate which was characterized as “disastrous” and other such superlatives. Yes, Joe Biden was exhausted and overprepared and his cold rendered his voice barely audible. The debate was bad. The twenty-seven days since then feel like a millenia. We have been back, forth, upside down and sideways. This cannot continue. We have to make a decision as a party. One of the most respected members of our party is Jamie Raskin. He penned a powerful letter to Biden and here are excerpts. He is asking Biden to step down and is charactertizing that act as an act of supreme and unselfish statesmanship. I personally characterize that act as one of plunging the election into chaos and possibly throwing the election to Trump.
I can’t find anymore of the letter beyond this, but you’re getting the clear gist of it. Here’s what we know: the electorate was set up for a contest between two old men, both of whom has been president. If we introduce an unknown quantity, say Kamala Harris, we don’t know what’s going to happen.
It’s painfully evident that the Democrats believe that Joe is too far gone to campaign. And perhaps that is the case. In which case, maybe it is necessary to pull the plug on Joe Biden. I fear doing this but I am not a heavyweight in the Democratic party. Jamie Raskin is. Adam Schiff is. Twenty-two other members of Congress in both chambers have weighed in and they want Biden off the ticket.
We also know that Ronald Reagan had Alzheimers while in office but he didn’t have it (or had it under control) when he was running for a second term. When he was in his second term, all kinds of stories filtered out about Nancy running the country with the help of her astrologer. I’m sure you remember those as well as I do.
Perhaps you even recognize a story about Reagan wandering the White House grounds with a bag of walnuts, daily, because he was worried if the squirrels had enough to eat. I don’t know how many of these stories are real and how much are apopryphal.
The clear and present fear — whether it’s grounded or not, it is clear and present — is that Joe Biden can’t continue effectively. And the fear is not only that he won’t defeat Trump but that he’ll take the party down with him. As I’ve said before here, I believe this is a suicide pill. I believe what Stuart Stevens had to say, that this is a winnable election. But I’m not calling the shots. Neither is Stuart Stevens. Schiff and Raskin and Schumer and Pelosi and others are calling the shots.
And I also don’t know how much media madness is playing into this. We are getting the horserace narrative that the media demands. The polls are worthless. That much we know. But polls are being treated as the gospel. By so doing, we may find ourselves where the Republicans found themselves two years ago, which is expecting a red tsunami and getting a pink trickle.
The only good thing is that it is rumored that we will have an answer by the end of this weekend. Every pundit I can find is saying three to five days, max, so that would be either this weekend or Monday or Tuesday. We have to be in agreement on the most basic thing, which is who is on our ticket? It doesn’t get more simple than that.
There is one bright ray of hope here. Maybe this is the shining light in the darkness. Team Trump has said that it hopes that Biden will stay in the race. I have seen that as them blowing smoke. But maybe that’s true. Maybe if Kamala and some good VP choice come at Trump and Vance with fresh vigor, a new angle, maybe that will totally derail Trump’s reelection bid.
Or, maybe the chaos that ensues will make Trump be viewed as the normalcy candidate. This is one hell of a crap shoot. But this may in fact be the roll of the dice that we’re going for. Let’s hope we roll sixes. Because democracy depends upon it, if our leaders decide to switch horses at this point in the race.
My heart goes out not only to my fellow Americans but to Ukraine and our allies abroad. I pray with all my soul that if the Democrats decide to replace Biden that the electorate will see the wisdom of voting Democratic, simply for the preservation of democracy itself. Because that’s how existential this election is, for us, and for the world.
I agree with you Ursula. But I really think that Biden should stay on the ticket along with Harris. Should anything happen to Biden, and I pray that it doesn’t, Kamala Harris is ready to take the helm and I trust her to do it well.
There’s two major problems here: 1. The more that high profile Democrats snipe at Biden the worse the crisis becomes; 2. Nobody will just ACCEPT that Joe said he was staying in the race. They keep screwing with him and this is destroying party unity, three months before a major election. This has to STOP one way or the other.
I agree,, this conversation should have taken place last year, NOT 3 months before the election.
I agree 100%, Marie. This just seems like a no-brainer. If Biden had picked a weak candidate (which he wouldn’t have!), this might be different. But if Joe and Kamala together are in this to win AND the entire Democratic Party will back them 100%, I believe they could win. And what’s the problem? If Joe becomes more frail, or God forbid becomes incapacitated or dies, Kamala will smoothly pick up the reigns, choose Jasmine Crockett as her new VP, and all the Republichickens will go bats@&t crazy!!! What’s not to love?
The Democrats in their ugly dissent against the primaries are determined to destroy democracy, well let them. This is the first election since 1972 that I just may not vote if they continue to stab Biden in the back. I have always stepped up and voted no matter what, but now, I think an anti vote may be just what these turncoat dems deserve.
I am sure that many other voters are going to feel the same.
They continue to ignore the primary vote at their peril!
Unfortunately, a non-vote is as good as a vote for Trump.
Don’t do that. Whatever you do, show up and vote the Democratic ticket. I know your frustration but we HAVE TO VOTE!
Agree. Vote for Democrats this fall, and then the day after the election (however it goes) we all get to work identifying and calling out EVERY single fucking elected Democrat that refused to back the President after the debate and instead have spent weeks stabbing him in the back. And then kicking him when he’s down. Get to work finding a terrific candidate to PRIMARY their gutless, spineless asses.
We surely have plenty of better Democrats than so many who purport to be our leaders these days.
It is time to sh!t or get off the pot. I’d rather Uncle Joe remain the candidate, but if we must switch ………
Harris is an absolutely horrible candidate, and if she becomes the nominee, we are ensured defeat. She has neither the credentials or temperament to be President and should never received the VP nod, especially after that uncalled for ambush on Biden in the debate. I do not like her and by her poor showing in the primary that year, neither do many Democratic voters. Can anyone name one thing she has accomplished other than a few tie breakers in the Senate, and those came not by legislating, but by the position as VP and President of the Senate,
You may as well gift wrap Trump the keys to the White House.
The only Dem who is fully qualified and ready to serve at this late stage in the game is Hillary Clinton…..she has instant name recognition, she is fully vetted and has proven right in everything she said about Trump. She won the popular vote in 2016 and this go around BOTH she and Trump are known quantities.
The down side is she claims to not want the position……
To be honest with you, one Democrat who I think could unite the party is Jamie Raskin. If anybody is universally loved it is he. Gavin Newsom would be a good choice as well. Ostensibly he’s on board for 2028, fine. Give him the torch now, since everybody is so bloody eager to pass the *@$#% torch. For my part, I am sick of the fighting! Either we need to support Joe or replace Joe but either way the fighting has to stop!
Raskin, I detest him now, he is a snake in the grass. Anyone who is not wanting it, would be someone I would consider, as they have not been in this cabal of backstabbers. Yes, Hilary Clinton would be great. But now I am falling into the division that these democrats set up. I want to see who they want in there, because that will be the tell. This, what I am saying is a preview of how bad the convention is going to be and no one is going to come out of it, liking the Democratic party, you know that.
I will vote, I will write in Biden. He was not my choice, in 2020, but I voted for him, and he came through with flying colors, but this whole evil maneuver has sickened me against the Democratic party. I can’t see a way out of it, and like I said I have voted D since 1972. I will still vote for Dems in my state.
Thanks for all your comments, perhaps I will feel better in the morning, but hearing from DKos and their outrage…
Let me be clear: I think we should stay with Joe. My qualifiying statements about who else might be good are solely based on this seeming insurrection in the Democratic ranks. I’ll vote for the Democratic nominee, period. I prefer we leave Biden the hell alone and unite behind him. That said, I’ve been saying the SAME THING for weeks now and more Democrats keep coming out of the shadows to tear Joe down. This is getting old.
I’m incredibly disappointed in Mr Raskin. I take it that his letter to the President was accompanied–at some point–with a statement of his own intent to step aside and not run for Congress again, given HIS health? I mean, a man in his early 60s, who’s already been treated for colon cancer over a decade ago, and then for a lymphoma just within the last couple of years, CERTAINLY should cause enough concern to voters about whether he’d be “up for the job” for another two years.
But, wait. I just discovered that Mr Raskin IS running for reelection, despite his health (although his lymphoma diagnosis did play a role in his decision *not* to run for the US Senate seat from Maryland this year).
Hypocrisy or not. YOU make the call.
For what it’s worth, I guess it doesn’t really matter whether I bother to cast a vote for President this year. I live in Alabama and there’s a better chance of the state being shut down on Election Day because of there being 3 feet of snow on the ground from the Tennessee River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico than the state’s electoral votes going to a Democrat. (In fact, the only time a Democrat has carried a winning plurality of the vote in a statewide election since 2010 was when Doug Jones managed to win over the GOPedophile Roy Moore in 2017. As for the Presidency, the State hasn’t gone with the Democratic candidate since 1980 so no matter who heads the Party on the ballot, he or she won’t win the state.)
I will vote Democratic down-ticket, though, even if I choose to protest the Presidential race. And, just for those who get all “a non-vote is a vote for Trump” at me, as long as we have the Electoral College, it won’t matter. Biden received nearly 850,000 votes in 2020 which was roughly 120,000 more votes than Clinton got in 2016; Trump got 1,441,170 votes in 2020 which was nearly 123,000 more votes than he got in 2016. My vote for Hillary didn’t matter in the long run in 2016 and my vote for Joe in 2020 didn’t matter in the long run since the Presidential election is decided by the Electoral College rather than the nationwide popular vote.
I’m also disappointed with Raskin. And Schiff. And Tester. And the other 29, however many. We don’t need this rioting in the ranks. We need solidarity.
Politizoom contributors and readers are all too aware that democracy is in peril yet we have writers saying they wil take their ball home if Biden is not on the ticket. What happened to GOTV? While I am/would be for Biden but events happen: for example the debate and now Covid for Biden and the near miss for Trump have created different momentums and perceptions of strength/weakness such that consideration has to be given by those well informed to the realities. Whatever the outcome, Democrats will have to come to and adhere to a common purpose: a winning card, GOTV and defence of the country and democracy. Be it Biden or, if another, “the King is dead, long live the King/Queen”. BE behind them, together and onwards.
I fear you’ve come to an incorrect conclusion. If the sniveling cowards so afraid of that orange sack of shit we saw accept the GOP nomination last night (yes, I watched his speech live) force President Biden out we will still work our hearts out to defeat Trump. We’ll have no choice. No one has to like it but we’ll all have to do it. Whatever we can, although unlike MAGAs we’ll do it in LEGAL ways and not cheat. Long ago when I was an athlete I played on some good, and at times even great teams. But all teams, even great ones sometimes find themselves too far behind in the latter part of a game to catch up. MY attitude was that if we were down by ten runs then at least cut it to 9. Or if we were down by twenty points cut it to eighteen or lower. Keep fighting until the very end to cut the margin, even if deep inside you know you can’t catch up. THAT will be MY attitude and if our Party fucks up and tosses President Biden aside I and the other writers here will, even if we think we’ll lose in November do all we can to rally folks to keep the margin as small as possible.
As the owner and editor-in-chief of this website, let me make it crystal clear: PolitiZoom stands behind the president of the United States, Joe Biden. Although I certainly grant the right to individual writers here to voice a different opinion, if they wish. We do respect the First Amendment and editorial license. But the official stance of this blog is:
1. Vote For Joe Biden;
2. Do NOT sit out this election, unless you’re literally in traction in the hospital.
3. We HAVE TO WIN or America is TOAST.
Great point on Raskin Joseph…it IS hypocrisy! Same with Pelosi. Hey Ms ex speaker…weren’t YOU an old lady who kept running for office??? God I hate cowards/hypocrites no matter what banner they march under! I will vote Democrat no matter if it’s a jello mold. At least it wouldn’t be an evil nazi child killing pedophile and the END OF OUR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC. And I wouldn’t be required to pick up a gun to honor the oath I took when I enlisted in the military…to defend the constitution from enemies foreign and DOMESTIC.
It’s that old cliche about a herd of cats. I’m sooooo tired of this. I have aged ten years in the past three weeks with all this infighting.
Ursula that’s why I say the Serenity prayer daily. I’m still working on line one.ha. For those unfamiliar it goes: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can, and the WISDOM to always know the difference. Always a goddamn catch. :>)