Donald Trump said Hezbollah was “very smart.” Lindsey Graham called for war crimes and religious war. He is a fool, a clown and profoundly ignorant. He always has been. He is intellectually light. In fact, light as a feather, and he doesn’t know a lot about the world. He is glib and used to be humorous, but has always been a lightweight. One of the great markers of corruption in the American media is the constant booking of Lindsey Graham as some type of serious and competent statesman on the cable news circuit. He’s a gadfly who couldn’t survive a debate for three minutes with someone who knows what they are talking about. Lindsey has an open invitation on The Warning to come and visit. He won’t. He lacks the toughness, the grit, knowledge and smarts. Yet, you will get to see him spewing nonsense on television.
First off, I understand as do most democrats, Biden’s age and unpopularity. However, most of this has nothing to do with his competence or presidency.
We have Trump denouncing Israel and praising Hezbollah, and he only grows stronger. This tells you everything you need to know about the American electorate; and it suggests nothing good.
Apparently, at least 40% of Americans would rather have a flamethrower as president, than a stable hand.
Apparently, 1.5 million deaths to COVID is acceptable to this electorate, but 11 Americans dying in Afghanistan during the extraction process, is a bridge too far.
Apparently, 40% of Americans will vote for a guy who denigrates our veterans and wounded warriors, over a man who represents the country with honor and integrity and with a commitment to the rule of law.
Apparently, 40% of Americans can’t get past Hunter’s laptop, but have no problem voting for a man of no conviction, moral compass and has been indicted 93 times, and convicted of bank fraud and rape. Not to mention, two impeachments; one for treason.
I could go on and on, but it sounds to me that Biden isn’t the problem. It’s the American electorate, and a media that is worse than state sponsored TV in Russia.
I’m sticking with Biden, because he’s proven himself to be worthy of his position. If Trump wins, then this country will get exactly what it deserves. And my condolences to America, because if Trump wins, America is dead to me.
Mr Jaffe, I am with you. I am despondent over these polls showing Biden behind Trump. I do not understand my fellow Americans. What is wrong with us. President Biden has done so much good during his presidency. Why don’t people see this? He is made for this moment.
Trump is nearly as old as Biden, yet a huge chunk of the electorate apparently have no problem with Trump's age. That's not a Biden problem.
After the Obama presidency ended, I believe we woefully underestimated the backlash from angry racists who are afraid of becoming the minority, and Trump told them what they wanted to hear. He gave them permission to be angry, racist a-holes. Those people would NEVER vote for Biden, even if he jumped in the Tardis and came back as a 45-year-old man. That's not a Biden problem.
I'm ridin' with Biden all the way. Decency has to win.
It's the damn media that keeps hammering on Biden's age. Oh, but he's 80, you know. This was never ever a thing when Bernie was running and he's a couple of years older than Biden! Just stop it, already
Bernie's age wasn't a thing because the media were completely obsessed with Hillary Clinton's emails to the exclusion of everything else. The media coverage is one of the primary reasons we ended up with a Trump presidency in the first place.
Well said, true on all counts, we are in serious trouble, we only have ourselves and those we elected to blame. Our fellow Americans are right where the powers that be want them, dumb and confused.
Good question and I’m with you. I talk to friends and they talk friends, but it appears most people know Biden and Trump, and have already formed an opinion.
My hope is the polls are wrong, and when it counts, Americans will choose wisely at the polls. It’s still early, and a lot can happen. Let’s just hope it breaks the democrats way. Biden, plus the house and senate....:)
Clearly, republicans have proven time and again, why they can’t be trusted to govern.
We can only hope that the Trump fascists in this country do not bring us to the situation Israel is in. With hatred & xenophobia rising in this country daily can we hang on til the next election?
Thanks. It’s the friends and family who talk with GOP voters who aren’t making headway. Even those who purport to “support Israel” given what was said by trump. And first there’s next month in my home state of Ohio to get through.....
I'm going to quote my reply to Charlie Sykes' Morning Shots yesterday and I'll say it as often as I need to: "[/rant]For the love of fucking God, what more do you want President Biden to do? Should he strap on body armor and wear a howitzer on his back like Braveheart and attack Gaza, without killing innocent civilians, himself? Jesus fucking Christ! Read JVL's piece yesterday. Can you imagine what this would be like with TFG in charge? Do you think it would be better with Romney or even McCain in charge? By what degree? Fuck your fucking age questions. He's not leaving and I have no idea who else could beat TFG. So, if it's Uncle Joe's charge to defend the republic, he's going to do it...again. How about a little gratitude up in this humpy bumpy? The republicans can't even come together for a group order at McDonald's. Joe is doing everything right and all I hear are questions about his age. WTF is he supposed to say "I'm not old"? He's old. You know how he demonstrates he's up for the job? BY DOING THE FUCKING JOB BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE!" Jesus fucking Christ! Know when to appreciate what the fuck is right in front of you![/rant]"
Say it loud, Markus! I’m with you all the way! The talking heads have bitten on to the age rant and will not give up even while President Biden is steering the US through such troubled waters.
I feel as emotionally charged about this ageism as you. I'm assuming you are talking to the 40% of American idiots and not Steve. Unfortunately we have largely, an ignorant electorate. Some willfully ignorant, some trying to keep their heads above water to keep their families fed. I will vote for Biden, no question. Unfortunately, and wrongly, a lot of Americans (especially young) blame Biden for inflation, high gas prices, and unaffordable housing due to many factors, but high interest rates is right up there. I'm sick of it too! But I have a masters degree in finance and understand the nuances of the economy - most Americans do not - all they know is what is coming out of their wallets for food and gas doesn't go near as far as it used to... It's enough for these people to not vote because they are fed up and don't see any end in sight. Too ignorant and/or apathetic, apparently to evaluate this election as the existential freaking crisis that it truly is. That no matter what, we are SO MUCH better off as a democracy no matter who is running Washington - if Trump gets in, they can kiss our democracy goodbye.
Amen, brother, that's an awesome rant! Get off the f'kn age thing, media, and ask about what Biden has accomplished. He has done much, he just doesn't go on the cables or social media and crow about it. I wish he would, sometimes.
Some “dream” candidate. Bush was polling at 93 percent favorable in the wake of the first Iraq War. He lost to Bill Clinton. This obsession with the polls this early out has gone from annoying to downright pathological. I’m sick to death of it. So now Biden is corrupt because of egoism for not stepping down? This is just absurd.
I have been a Biden supporter all along, and I believe he’s been a great president, the one we needed to clean up after Trump. I have supported him running again; I believe he would have beat Trump.
But this Israel-Hamas debacle is going to destroy Biden. He will lose most of the youth vote.
I have finally, reluctantly concluded that he (and VP Harris) should announce that they are not running in 2024. Let the Democrats choose a new candidate. Hopefully someone like Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Wittmer? It’s our only hope against Trump and the forces of fascism.
I support Biden 100%! He has the wisdom, the experience, and the qualified administration, backing him up! We need him/them now, in this time of crisis! Thank God, we have Biden and not orange man!
We as democrats must support Biden in 2024, we cannot afford to have an unexperienced person the oval office as our world is on fire!
I truly believe that when the American people vote in 2024, they will see that the party of trump is in chaos, and got absolutly nothing done, and they'll hear trump ranting and raging- saying nothing, but how people have treated him badly!
I have faith in the young people who are fed up with a government that doesn't listen to them, the Democrats, the old GOP's who can't believe what their party has turned out to be, and who are never Trumpers', and the Unaffiliated, who silently wait in the wings to vote the nonsense out, and don't ever underestimate the women voters, whose rights are being striped as we speak!
I have faith in America's citizens! The majority of us love our country and what it stands for! The majority of the American people love our Constitution and our democracy! The majority of the American people will vote in 2024, as they did in 2022. And I truly believe that the majority of American voters will tell MAGA followers, enough is enough-and to hell with you all!
FDR led america during WWII, he was inflicted by poliomyelitis and needed leg braces and a wheelchair, he was frail, yet he was able to lead and project American interests and power. The world was on fire. This Administration is taking lead on the world stage. It is projecting American power, this world, our world is catching fire. Any discussion about Biden’s frailness, pales in comparison to the experience and temperament necessary to lead America in a world In crisis. Biden has both the experience and temperament to lead and guide America through this difficult time. He’s doing it before our very eyes.
I have just begun reading Nigel Hamilton’s books on World War II which starts with the issuing of the Atlantic Charter by Roosevelt and Churchill- a set of goals and principles for the peace after the war.
This was before Pearl Harbor; Roosevelt was dealing with an isolationist public and congress who did not see the inevitability of war to defeat Hitler/Naziism.
Even after Pearl Harbor many isolationists did not see responding to that attack as necessitating involvement in war with Germany. Hitler made his second ginormous strategic mistake of declaring war on the United States four days after Pearl Harbor, removing the “ no war with Germany” option. (Hitler’s first BIG mistake was invading Russia six months earlier.)
I agree with the poster who said the problem is the public not Biden. I am hoping that Hamas’s blatantly immoral attack on the Jewish State can be the force that starts a massive education and awareness campaign.
Thank you for sharing Jonathan Greenblatt’s moving and informative appearance on Morning Joe.
Biden is comporting himself as a world leader. It seems to me that the other global democracies are eager to follow his strength & clarity of purpose. There are some areas where age, wisdom & experience matter & we are seeing them now. I think this moment is going to illuminate the differences between Trump & Biden & the dangers of Republicans taking any more power. They can’t govern themselves & they make it clearer with each passing day. Trump is decompensating in real time. And, it has to be said, more is being made of Biden’s age so that people can avoid saying the more discriminatory thing - they don’t want a black female POTUS.
Enough? Not until the impacts are felt by American on how awful the consequences are if we continue down this path Not until they feel it personally will they take action.
When I see NY telling the synagogue not to hold Friday services (NY!) out of fear we are going into a dark place Student protests are not unusual but seeing what a Faculty at Stanford did by calling out their Jewish students is unconscionable That is not who we will become as a nation unless we say Enough.
Back to the Biden age again, Steve who put together the coalition in hours, and who sent Blinken over to support the Israeli’s? Who spoke about taking his children and grandchildren to Dachau to see what occurred? That’s experience and maturity. Of that there is never enough
My wish is that these moments of Biden speaking as he has done this week, would happen during Primetime and not 2:00 in the afternoon when the majority of people are working. Would it make a difference? I think it might. MAGA is going to MAGA, but there are others who could be reached if they had more of an opportunity to see him, to hear him speak. Not edited versions, but all of it. He has been so good this week. His comments on taking his kids and grandkids to Dachau were powerful and should have been heard by a much larger audience.
I think Steve’s issue is not the competence Biden is showing now, but that the polls show he’s lagging behind Trump in some areas. Understandable to be concerned but I’m not trusting those polls. Polls also told us there would be a red wave in the midterms. Common sense and Michael Moore told us we were crazy to think women would sit back and let our rights be stripped away. There’s no guarantee either way but I’m trusting the people to come through for the right person like they did in 2020.
Though I agree about what a danger we're in, and the childishness of politicians: some advice:
Do not mistake the fact that Democrats are refusing to primary Biden as a sign they are "ignoring" the risks of his age, that they are tiptoeing around his ego or that they want you (or people like you) to "Shhhhhhh!!!!".
You're a free citizen and you have the right to your opinion; you can say what you want. But answer me this:
1.) Have you seen any polling matching any other Democrat candidate against Trump? Whitmer? Shapiro? Young politician X? Anyone?
2.) Did Republicans, in the depths of Trump's (or Bush's, or Reagan's) unpopularity, seriously consider replacing their president atop the ticket? And if not, why not?
The answers to that might be informative as to why Democrats are sticking by their president right now. They may be less a matter of head-in-the-sand blindness or "Shhhhhhh!!!!" than you think.
1) Here is one example from the same Michigan poll I reference. It found that if Governor Whitmer were to run against Trump, 46% would vote for her over Trump at 40%. See results below:
2) One of the things as a matter of fact and history that always surprises me in our community is the reaction to Ronald Reagan with regard to his popularity. I completely appreciate that many people here don't like Ronald Reagan, but he won 49 states in 1984 -- and almost won 50 -- and left office with a 63% approval rating. In the last Gallup poll before the 1984 election, in October of that year, his approval rating was 58%. Biden's approval rating is consistently around 40%.
The closest example would be this -- and because I ran McCain's campaign, I lived through this -- the idea of a third Bush term in 2008 if there was no 22nd Amendment because his numbers were very similar to Biden's. This was a fundamental feature in the McCain campaign. We understood the political condition of the Administration.
So my question is this: what is the plan because if we lose this election, we lose the country? I think that Joe Biden has been a very effective president. In fact, I think I can state this as fact: he is the most successful unpopular president in American history. Why? Honest to goodness, I think about this all the time. There is a massive communications problem from the Biden White House. If they were a baseball team it's like they don't have an outfield. These numbers are real. He's losing to Donald Trump. The extremist movement is hotter today than it was on January 6, 2021.
@MAP I totally agree. Secondly, Raygun was the beginning of our downfall, a totally despicable president. If you loved him, you weren’t paying attention.
1.) Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Also, thanks for all you did to defend democracy in 2020.
(You don't hear that often enough from people in general, I think--and I in particular owe it to you to tell you that. I was literally hiding in my basement during that year; I did nothing but vote, and man a phone bank for 2 hours once.)
I think your last paragraph actually nails why I remain badly skeptical of any plan to replace the president atop the ticket (or his running mate, for that matter).
I agree--Biden has a communications problem. But weirdly, that's largely by design. He believes he was elected to get us all back to "normal" and politics back to sane, background noise, and the intensity of his campaign right now reflects that.
Of course, voters say they want normal, sane, etc. (and may even think it!) but they don't necessarily mean it. It's probable we've gotten so used to the constant drumbeat of presidential publicity and circus politics in the post-Cold-War era (and especially in the last seven years) that we interpret the relative paucity/boringness of Biden news as a mark against him at best, a sign of "senility" at worst.
By corollary, though, if Biden's campaign stepped up its engagement with the public, and its presence in American discourse (which they will, sooner or later), these dire polls we're seeing won't necessarily be what we see in 13 months. Goes the logic, at least.
2.) By contrast, if Biden were to bow out, and jump-start a Democratic primary contest, one year before the election. . . well, let me illustrate the risk of that with a note from my own experience.
I don't know how intimately familiar you are with the bickering, screeching, and (now latent) fratricidal mayhem of a modern Democratic primary, but I am. Four of them, to be precise.
Democrats, for better or for worse, are not Republicans. We not only "fall in love" (as opposed to falling in line), we like to argue and bicker and debate and prove how right we are. And, more to the point, do so in public, by any means necessary.
You may counter, well, that's just democracy. Why should you be afraid of democracy, David?
In the abstract, you're right. Ideally, we should welcome public debate and punches thrown--even in the face of a unified, Trumpified, authoritarian GOP. Ideally, it would strike a welcome contrast to our would-be autocrats.
In the real world, that's not going to come off that way, and it certainly won't come off as "democracy". It should, but it won't. Not if I know my own Democratic party, round primary season.
It's likely going to come off, instead of "democracy", as a bunch of bickering, arguing factions who can't unify and can't even defend their own leader's record or legacy. Not only that, but we'll come off as so ambivalent on our leader and even our principles that we pushed him out, as a last resort.
Of course, like you said: We aren't ambivalent on Biden's legacy. We think he's a great president! We just feel he's too old and that he should pass the torch. Surely the voters will see that as our message.
Well. . . no. No, they probably won't. They'll likely see us as repudiating our own leader, and "admitting" he--and by extension, his party--were "bad" for the country.
4.) At this point, you're likely thinking: "David, you're living in fear. Stop living in fear! Fortune favors the brave!"
And I get it. I've just told you everything that can go wrong with Biden bowing out. Nothing about what can go right. And assuming a whole bunch of stuff based on my experience and bad memories. There's something to be said for ditching that.
But I could throw the same question back to you: Why fear throwing our weight behind the incumbent president and Leader of the Free World?
Why assume we can't get his numbers back up? That we can't win against Trump, with him as our standard bearer? That voters won't get behind him?
I mean, he did it before. And Trump has not been silent about the awful things he would do to America if he is president again. Nor has he been silent about his own criminality. He has given us all the ammunition we need, if we seize it. (Which, IMO, we haven't yet, not really.)
Anyway. Thanks for bearing with my long, rambling reply. Hope it illustrates my stance, without evincing some kind of blissful naivete or prejudice.
Biden wasn't supposed to win the primary, but he did. One can hope he wins again But Steve's message about communication malpractice by the democrats is a good one, I think.
3.) Moreover, if Biden drops out tomorrow, whatever divisions within the Democratic party that are being smoothed over will all of a sudden become jagged and savage. You've likely seen the tip of the iceberg of that in (for example) all the simmering intra-left debate over Israel and Palestine, with one side calling the other "fascist"/"imperialist" and the other responding with "terrorist sympathizer".
Biden has, for the time being, minimized that by virtue of being leader of the free world, supporting Israel to the hilt, and keeping his party largely unified behind sanity and its dissident factions disgruntledly quiet.
If he bows out of the race, watch out.
Not just because of our factional divisions, but efforts underway by all our enemies--Russia, China, Iran, various resentful trolls the world over--to pry open those divisions, especially in a fractured social media space demolished by the likes of Elon Musk and his fellow travelers.
And that's just one issue. There are countless others--oil drilling, border security, health care, child care, higher education, even Ukraine funding--which if opened, open Pandora's box of long-simmering intra-Democrat deathmatching.
Take it from a long-suffering center-left voter who's long come to expect this kind of stuff in my party whenever it has to choose its leaders in the 21st century. (James Carville has a different view of it--but with respect to the man, his heyday was not the 21st century.)
Whitmer is popular now, yes--in Michigan. Shapiro--similar story, in his own state. Have you seen national polling pitting them against Trump? Have you seen polling that shows them known at all, on a national scale?
Trump, by virtue of running against young unknowns, would be able to call himself the candidate of experience. The tested candidate. The vetted candidate. The candidate of . . . "stability". :(
Steve, I admit I don’t know a whole lot about what makes a poll robust, but I do know a fair amount about research methods in general. The poll of which you speak is only 600 people. I have no clue if it’s stratified or concentrated to one area. Do those variables not matter in political polling? Because it doesn’t take much to get to 46% of 600 people. And that doesn’t seem like a very big sample to me. Just trying to learn.
P.S.: Contra many liberals, I can see why so many people loved Reagan and voted for him.
Though I am not really a fan of his attitude toward social spending (and consider his mostly-forgotten 1964 manifesto against universal health care a black mark against him), I get his appeal. He was an idealist at heart, and made people want to believe in his ideals, even if they disagreed with him.
(Also he seemed to get along very well with a Democratic House, and eventually, a Democratic Senate. Which is always nice.)
I'm not going to say "I don't see the appeal of X politician because HE SUCKS AND I DIDN'T VOTE FOR HIM" if the former has nothing to do with the latter.
They are two different things. Sometimes the difference between the two eludes the comments section.
Here's a must-read from Thom Hartmann, titled, "Did Hamas Somehow Get Inside Information About Israel’s Defenses from a Trump Leak?"
From the article:
“Donald Trump’s sharing of alleged classified intelligence to Russian officials in the White House has come under scrutiny amid a large-scale attack by the Hamas Islamist military group against Israel."
"Trump ‘revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies.’”
“I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day.” ~Donald J Trump
The question is, will enough Americans awaken to the reality of the situation before it’s too late? Many are too focused on media outlets like Fox News which still promotes insurrection! According to one of their hosts, democracy is already dead!
Our nation is in decay if a bottomless human like Trump could be leading in any poll. He is not fit for service and his only appeal is that of a morally corrupt Televangelist. It is little surprise the likes of Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, MTG, Bobaert and Miss Mace are drawn to the flame of Trump. They're like insects being drawn to the light of a bug zapper. The Donald will leave their carcasses stiff in death after being drawn to him. Trump is the giver of death and his soul is black and empty pit.
I think it is unfair to keep pounding Biden on age. His resolve to stand with Israel and his command of international affairs is serving the country well during this perilous time. Did you see the interview he did with John Harwood? Did you read what General Milley said about how sharp and knowledgeable the President is? Many Americans are just waking up to the crisis at hand. The polls are showing a snapshot in time over a year from the election. A lot can and will happen including the trial where Trump is clearly exposed for why he took the classified documents and what he was going to do with them.
For some time we have been warned by Steve and others there would be darker days ahead. After the 2016 election and all the ensuing evil and/or sheer chaos including Charlottesville, the Pandemic, and the Jan. 6 insurrection, I didn’t dare imagine how much darker our world could get. It is here now. We need to stick together. Thank you for the stories of courage and heroism at the end of the article Steve.
I have seen too many 3 AMs! My frustration with the overwhelmingly obtuse populace is growing and the Republican clown show grows ever more destructive.
If Trump wins the presidency we may as well have elected Hamas to run the US - it will be that devastating. How can people worried about Biden's age not see the devil lurking behind those so-called alternatives? I am really really worried...
The chaos south of the 49th is making me seriously ill, not metaphorically, but seriously detrimental to my health. The country is unrecognizable, the dipshits who can’t even elect a leader when they’re in the majority, demonstrate the depth of the ever widening chasm in Congress, but also the body politic. I don’t know how you fix it, because it is deeply rooted as we’ve seen it evolve. I’ve often thought that the educational system focused on American centrism may be the root of the problem, the inequities between red and blue states and the huge discrepancy between the earnings of the elite and the poverty that is still pervasive throughout America. 2024 will make or break the country, but even if Biden wins, which I hope he will, the discontent will continue to grow like a cancer. One man alone can’t fix your ills, as has been proven since Biden was elected. He can inject positivity, money for infrastructure, improvements to health care, negotiate better deals on meds with big pharma, and have a vision and a path forward to save America. But in the end, if 40% or more Americans don’t share his ideals, America is doomed.
First off, I understand as do most democrats, Biden’s age and unpopularity. However, most of this has nothing to do with his competence or presidency.
We have Trump denouncing Israel and praising Hezbollah, and he only grows stronger. This tells you everything you need to know about the American electorate; and it suggests nothing good.
Apparently, at least 40% of Americans would rather have a flamethrower as president, than a stable hand.
Apparently, 1.5 million deaths to COVID is acceptable to this electorate, but 11 Americans dying in Afghanistan during the extraction process, is a bridge too far.
Apparently, 40% of Americans will vote for a guy who denigrates our veterans and wounded warriors, over a man who represents the country with honor and integrity and with a commitment to the rule of law.
Apparently, 40% of Americans can’t get past Hunter’s laptop, but have no problem voting for a man of no conviction, moral compass and has been indicted 93 times, and convicted of bank fraud and rape. Not to mention, two impeachments; one for treason.
I could go on and on, but it sounds to me that Biden isn’t the problem. It’s the American electorate, and a media that is worse than state sponsored TV in Russia.
I’m sticking with Biden, because he’s proven himself to be worthy of his position. If Trump wins, then this country will get exactly what it deserves. And my condolences to America, because if Trump wins, America is dead to me.
Mr Jaffe, I am with you. I am despondent over these polls showing Biden behind Trump. I do not understand my fellow Americans. What is wrong with us. President Biden has done so much good during his presidency. Why don’t people see this? He is made for this moment.
Exactly this.
Trump is nearly as old as Biden, yet a huge chunk of the electorate apparently have no problem with Trump's age. That's not a Biden problem.
After the Obama presidency ended, I believe we woefully underestimated the backlash from angry racists who are afraid of becoming the minority, and Trump told them what they wanted to hear. He gave them permission to be angry, racist a-holes. Those people would NEVER vote for Biden, even if he jumped in the Tardis and came back as a 45-year-old man. That's not a Biden problem.
I'm ridin' with Biden all the way. Decency has to win.
It's the damn media that keeps hammering on Biden's age. Oh, but he's 80, you know. This was never ever a thing when Bernie was running and he's a couple of years older than Biden! Just stop it, already
I never used to believe the media was an enemy of the people, but I think they are. Especially where clicks pay the bills.
Bernie's age wasn't a thing because the media were completely obsessed with Hillary Clinton's emails to the exclusion of everything else. The media coverage is one of the primary reasons we ended up with a Trump presidency in the first place.
You are so right. "But her emails." Wow. And coverage of every. single. one. of. TFG's. rallies. wall-to-wall. Even on MSNBC. Shameful.
Goddamn right!
Well said and accurate
Well said, true on all counts, we are in serious trouble, we only have ourselves and those we elected to blame. Our fellow Americans are right where the powers that be want them, dumb and confused.
Is there any way to educate those who appear to not want to know? I ask seriously.
Good question and I’m with you. I talk to friends and they talk friends, but it appears most people know Biden and Trump, and have already formed an opinion.
My hope is the polls are wrong, and when it counts, Americans will choose wisely at the polls. It’s still early, and a lot can happen. Let’s just hope it breaks the democrats way. Biden, plus the house and senate....:)
Clearly, republicans have proven time and again, why they can’t be trusted to govern.
We can only hope that the Trump fascists in this country do not bring us to the situation Israel is in. With hatred & xenophobia rising in this country daily can we hang on til the next election?
I agree, and this question keeps me up at night...:)
Thanks. It’s the friends and family who talk with GOP voters who aren’t making headway. Even those who purport to “support Israel” given what was said by trump. And first there’s next month in my home state of Ohio to get through.....
Good luck...:)
...to us all.
There are no so blind as those who will not see.
no
https://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Voter-Foundations-Fascism-1919-1933/dp/0807841471/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1932BQVCCXPWK&keywords=The+Nazi+Voter&qid=1697206033&s=books&sprefix=the+nazi+voter%2Cstripbooks%2C115&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Voter-Foundations-Fascism-1919-1933/dp/0807841471/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1932BQVCCXPWK&keywords=The+Nazi+Voter&qid=1697206033&s=books&sprefix=the+nazi+voter%2Cstripbooks%2C115&sr=1-1
I'm going to quote my reply to Charlie Sykes' Morning Shots yesterday and I'll say it as often as I need to: "[/rant]For the love of fucking God, what more do you want President Biden to do? Should he strap on body armor and wear a howitzer on his back like Braveheart and attack Gaza, without killing innocent civilians, himself? Jesus fucking Christ! Read JVL's piece yesterday. Can you imagine what this would be like with TFG in charge? Do you think it would be better with Romney or even McCain in charge? By what degree? Fuck your fucking age questions. He's not leaving and I have no idea who else could beat TFG. So, if it's Uncle Joe's charge to defend the republic, he's going to do it...again. How about a little gratitude up in this humpy bumpy? The republicans can't even come together for a group order at McDonald's. Joe is doing everything right and all I hear are questions about his age. WTF is he supposed to say "I'm not old"? He's old. You know how he demonstrates he's up for the job? BY DOING THE FUCKING JOB BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE!" Jesus fucking Christ! Know when to appreciate what the fuck is right in front of you![/rant]"
AMEN!!!
Say it loud, Markus! I’m with you all the way! The talking heads have bitten on to the age rant and will not give up even while President Biden is steering the US through such troubled waters.
I feel as emotionally charged about this ageism as you. I'm assuming you are talking to the 40% of American idiots and not Steve. Unfortunately we have largely, an ignorant electorate. Some willfully ignorant, some trying to keep their heads above water to keep their families fed. I will vote for Biden, no question. Unfortunately, and wrongly, a lot of Americans (especially young) blame Biden for inflation, high gas prices, and unaffordable housing due to many factors, but high interest rates is right up there. I'm sick of it too! But I have a masters degree in finance and understand the nuances of the economy - most Americans do not - all they know is what is coming out of their wallets for food and gas doesn't go near as far as it used to... It's enough for these people to not vote because they are fed up and don't see any end in sight. Too ignorant and/or apathetic, apparently to evaluate this election as the existential freaking crisis that it truly is. That no matter what, we are SO MUCH better off as a democracy no matter who is running Washington - if Trump gets in, they can kiss our democracy goodbye.
I like the fucking truth of this
Amen, brother, that's an awesome rant! Get off the f'kn age thing, media, and ask about what Biden has accomplished. He has done much, he just doesn't go on the cables or social media and crow about it. I wish he would, sometimes.
You're my new spirit animal.
Trump can’t win this election. The Democrats will lose it. And with it, the country.
Just love comments like this. 🙄 What is your PROPOSAL?
Some “dream” candidate. Bush was polling at 93 percent favorable in the wake of the first Iraq War. He lost to Bill Clinton. This obsession with the polls this early out has gone from annoying to downright pathological. I’m sick to death of it. So now Biden is corrupt because of egoism for not stepping down? This is just absurd.
And when did we decide Biden was only running again for his ego?
I have been a Biden supporter all along, and I believe he’s been a great president, the one we needed to clean up after Trump. I have supported him running again; I believe he would have beat Trump.
But this Israel-Hamas debacle is going to destroy Biden. He will lose most of the youth vote.
I have finally, reluctantly concluded that he (and VP Harris) should announce that they are not running in 2024. Let the Democrats choose a new candidate. Hopefully someone like Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Wittmer? It’s our only hope against Trump and the forces of fascism.
That is my proposal.
Why is Biden going to lose the youth vote because of 10/7?
I would like to hear that rationale too.
I support Biden 100%! He has the wisdom, the experience, and the qualified administration, backing him up! We need him/them now, in this time of crisis! Thank God, we have Biden and not orange man!
We as democrats must support Biden in 2024, we cannot afford to have an unexperienced person the oval office as our world is on fire!
I truly believe that when the American people vote in 2024, they will see that the party of trump is in chaos, and got absolutly nothing done, and they'll hear trump ranting and raging- saying nothing, but how people have treated him badly!
I have faith in the young people who are fed up with a government that doesn't listen to them, the Democrats, the old GOP's who can't believe what their party has turned out to be, and who are never Trumpers', and the Unaffiliated, who silently wait in the wings to vote the nonsense out, and don't ever underestimate the women voters, whose rights are being striped as we speak!
I have faith in America's citizens! The majority of us love our country and what it stands for! The majority of the American people love our Constitution and our democracy! The majority of the American people will vote in 2024, as they did in 2022. And I truly believe that the majority of American voters will tell MAGA followers, enough is enough-and to hell with you all!
Huh?
FDR led america during WWII, he was inflicted by poliomyelitis and needed leg braces and a wheelchair, he was frail, yet he was able to lead and project American interests and power. The world was on fire. This Administration is taking lead on the world stage. It is projecting American power, this world, our world is catching fire. Any discussion about Biden’s frailness, pales in comparison to the experience and temperament necessary to lead America in a world In crisis. Biden has both the experience and temperament to lead and guide America through this difficult time. He’s doing it before our very eyes.
I have just begun reading Nigel Hamilton’s books on World War II which starts with the issuing of the Atlantic Charter by Roosevelt and Churchill- a set of goals and principles for the peace after the war.
This was before Pearl Harbor; Roosevelt was dealing with an isolationist public and congress who did not see the inevitability of war to defeat Hitler/Naziism.
Even after Pearl Harbor many isolationists did not see responding to that attack as necessitating involvement in war with Germany. Hitler made his second ginormous strategic mistake of declaring war on the United States four days after Pearl Harbor, removing the “ no war with Germany” option. (Hitler’s first BIG mistake was invading Russia six months earlier.)
I agree with the poster who said the problem is the public not Biden. I am hoping that Hamas’s blatantly immoral attack on the Jewish State can be the force that starts a massive education and awareness campaign.
Thank you for sharing Jonathan Greenblatt’s moving and informative appearance on Morning Joe.
Biden is comporting himself as a world leader. It seems to me that the other global democracies are eager to follow his strength & clarity of purpose. There are some areas where age, wisdom & experience matter & we are seeing them now. I think this moment is going to illuminate the differences between Trump & Biden & the dangers of Republicans taking any more power. They can’t govern themselves & they make it clearer with each passing day. Trump is decompensating in real time. And, it has to be said, more is being made of Biden’s age so that people can avoid saying the more discriminatory thing - they don’t want a black female POTUS.
Enough? Not until the impacts are felt by American on how awful the consequences are if we continue down this path Not until they feel it personally will they take action.
When I see NY telling the synagogue not to hold Friday services (NY!) out of fear we are going into a dark place Student protests are not unusual but seeing what a Faculty at Stanford did by calling out their Jewish students is unconscionable That is not who we will become as a nation unless we say Enough.
Back to the Biden age again, Steve who put together the coalition in hours, and who sent Blinken over to support the Israeli’s? Who spoke about taking his children and grandchildren to Dachau to see what occurred? That’s experience and maturity. Of that there is never enough
My wish is that these moments of Biden speaking as he has done this week, would happen during Primetime and not 2:00 in the afternoon when the majority of people are working. Would it make a difference? I think it might. MAGA is going to MAGA, but there are others who could be reached if they had more of an opportunity to see him, to hear him speak. Not edited versions, but all of it. He has been so good this week. His comments on taking his kids and grandkids to Dachau were powerful and should have been heard by a much larger audience.
I agree with you 100%! In fact I did email the President, asking him to change his speech to prime time! Maybe the next speeches!
Good for you. I will do same today.
I think Steve’s issue is not the competence Biden is showing now, but that the polls show he’s lagging behind Trump in some areas. Understandable to be concerned but I’m not trusting those polls. Polls also told us there would be a red wave in the midterms. Common sense and Michael Moore told us we were crazy to think women would sit back and let our rights be stripped away. There’s no guarantee either way but I’m trusting the people to come through for the right person like they did in 2020.
Though I agree about what a danger we're in, and the childishness of politicians: some advice:
Do not mistake the fact that Democrats are refusing to primary Biden as a sign they are "ignoring" the risks of his age, that they are tiptoeing around his ego or that they want you (or people like you) to "Shhhhhhh!!!!".
You're a free citizen and you have the right to your opinion; you can say what you want. But answer me this:
1.) Have you seen any polling matching any other Democrat candidate against Trump? Whitmer? Shapiro? Young politician X? Anyone?
2.) Did Republicans, in the depths of Trump's (or Bush's, or Reagan's) unpopularity, seriously consider replacing their president atop the ticket? And if not, why not?
The answers to that might be informative as to why Democrats are sticking by their president right now. They may be less a matter of head-in-the-sand blindness or "Shhhhhhh!!!!" than you think.
David,
To answer your questions:
1) Here is one example from the same Michigan poll I reference. It found that if Governor Whitmer were to run against Trump, 46% would vote for her over Trump at 40%. See results below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9MDs5By3m4
2) One of the things as a matter of fact and history that always surprises me in our community is the reaction to Ronald Reagan with regard to his popularity. I completely appreciate that many people here don't like Ronald Reagan, but he won 49 states in 1984 -- and almost won 50 -- and left office with a 63% approval rating. In the last Gallup poll before the 1984 election, in October of that year, his approval rating was 58%. Biden's approval rating is consistently around 40%.
The closest example would be this -- and because I ran McCain's campaign, I lived through this -- the idea of a third Bush term in 2008 if there was no 22nd Amendment because his numbers were very similar to Biden's. This was a fundamental feature in the McCain campaign. We understood the political condition of the Administration.
So my question is this: what is the plan because if we lose this election, we lose the country? I think that Joe Biden has been a very effective president. In fact, I think I can state this as fact: he is the most successful unpopular president in American history. Why? Honest to goodness, I think about this all the time. There is a massive communications problem from the Biden White House. If they were a baseball team it's like they don't have an outfield. These numbers are real. He's losing to Donald Trump. The extremist movement is hotter today than it was on January 6, 2021.
Steve
A Michigan poll! For God’s sake! Run that poll in PA and most respondents would say who? And that’s before the GOP attacks and media hits.
You blame the Biden WH. I blame the damn media and yes people like you. All you have done is run him down for months now. It’s tiresome.
@MAP I totally agree. Secondly, Raygun was the beginning of our downfall, a totally despicable president. If you loved him, you weren’t paying attention.
Steve,
1.) Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Also, thanks for all you did to defend democracy in 2020.
(You don't hear that often enough from people in general, I think--and I in particular owe it to you to tell you that. I was literally hiding in my basement during that year; I did nothing but vote, and man a phone bank for 2 hours once.)
I think your last paragraph actually nails why I remain badly skeptical of any plan to replace the president atop the ticket (or his running mate, for that matter).
I agree--Biden has a communications problem. But weirdly, that's largely by design. He believes he was elected to get us all back to "normal" and politics back to sane, background noise, and the intensity of his campaign right now reflects that.
Of course, voters say they want normal, sane, etc. (and may even think it!) but they don't necessarily mean it. It's probable we've gotten so used to the constant drumbeat of presidential publicity and circus politics in the post-Cold-War era (and especially in the last seven years) that we interpret the relative paucity/boringness of Biden news as a mark against him at best, a sign of "senility" at worst.
By corollary, though, if Biden's campaign stepped up its engagement with the public, and its presence in American discourse (which they will, sooner or later), these dire polls we're seeing won't necessarily be what we see in 13 months. Goes the logic, at least.
I want to echo the “Thank You”to Steve for all you did for our country in the 2020 election.
2.) By contrast, if Biden were to bow out, and jump-start a Democratic primary contest, one year before the election. . . well, let me illustrate the risk of that with a note from my own experience.
I don't know how intimately familiar you are with the bickering, screeching, and (now latent) fratricidal mayhem of a modern Democratic primary, but I am. Four of them, to be precise.
Democrats, for better or for worse, are not Republicans. We not only "fall in love" (as opposed to falling in line), we like to argue and bicker and debate and prove how right we are. And, more to the point, do so in public, by any means necessary.
You may counter, well, that's just democracy. Why should you be afraid of democracy, David?
In the abstract, you're right. Ideally, we should welcome public debate and punches thrown--even in the face of a unified, Trumpified, authoritarian GOP. Ideally, it would strike a welcome contrast to our would-be autocrats.
In the real world, that's not going to come off that way, and it certainly won't come off as "democracy". It should, but it won't. Not if I know my own Democratic party, round primary season.
It's likely going to come off, instead of "democracy", as a bunch of bickering, arguing factions who can't unify and can't even defend their own leader's record or legacy. Not only that, but we'll come off as so ambivalent on our leader and even our principles that we pushed him out, as a last resort.
Of course, like you said: We aren't ambivalent on Biden's legacy. We think he's a great president! We just feel he's too old and that he should pass the torch. Surely the voters will see that as our message.
Well. . . no. No, they probably won't. They'll likely see us as repudiating our own leader, and "admitting" he--and by extension, his party--were "bad" for the country.
Unfair, but I don't make the rules here.
4.) At this point, you're likely thinking: "David, you're living in fear. Stop living in fear! Fortune favors the brave!"
And I get it. I've just told you everything that can go wrong with Biden bowing out. Nothing about what can go right. And assuming a whole bunch of stuff based on my experience and bad memories. There's something to be said for ditching that.
But I could throw the same question back to you: Why fear throwing our weight behind the incumbent president and Leader of the Free World?
Why assume we can't get his numbers back up? That we can't win against Trump, with him as our standard bearer? That voters won't get behind him?
I mean, he did it before. And Trump has not been silent about the awful things he would do to America if he is president again. Nor has he been silent about his own criminality. He has given us all the ammunition we need, if we seize it. (Which, IMO, we haven't yet, not really.)
Anyway. Thanks for bearing with my long, rambling reply. Hope it illustrates my stance, without evincing some kind of blissful naivete or prejudice.
Biden wasn't supposed to win the primary, but he did. One can hope he wins again But Steve's message about communication malpractice by the democrats is a good one, I think.
3.) Moreover, if Biden drops out tomorrow, whatever divisions within the Democratic party that are being smoothed over will all of a sudden become jagged and savage. You've likely seen the tip of the iceberg of that in (for example) all the simmering intra-left debate over Israel and Palestine, with one side calling the other "fascist"/"imperialist" and the other responding with "terrorist sympathizer".
Biden has, for the time being, minimized that by virtue of being leader of the free world, supporting Israel to the hilt, and keeping his party largely unified behind sanity and its dissident factions disgruntledly quiet.
If he bows out of the race, watch out.
Not just because of our factional divisions, but efforts underway by all our enemies--Russia, China, Iran, various resentful trolls the world over--to pry open those divisions, especially in a fractured social media space demolished by the likes of Elon Musk and his fellow travelers.
And that's just one issue. There are countless others--oil drilling, border security, health care, child care, higher education, even Ukraine funding--which if opened, open Pandora's box of long-simmering intra-Democrat deathmatching.
Take it from a long-suffering center-left voter who's long come to expect this kind of stuff in my party whenever it has to choose its leaders in the 21st century. (James Carville has a different view of it--but with respect to the man, his heyday was not the 21st century.)
Whitmer is popular now, yes--in Michigan. Shapiro--similar story, in his own state. Have you seen national polling pitting them against Trump? Have you seen polling that shows them known at all, on a national scale?
Trump, by virtue of running against young unknowns, would be able to call himself the candidate of experience. The tested candidate. The vetted candidate. The candidate of . . . "stability". :(
Steve, I admit I don’t know a whole lot about what makes a poll robust, but I do know a fair amount about research methods in general. The poll of which you speak is only 600 people. I have no clue if it’s stratified or concentrated to one area. Do those variables not matter in political polling? Because it doesn’t take much to get to 46% of 600 people. And that doesn’t seem like a very big sample to me. Just trying to learn.
P.S.: Contra many liberals, I can see why so many people loved Reagan and voted for him.
Though I am not really a fan of his attitude toward social spending (and consider his mostly-forgotten 1964 manifesto against universal health care a black mark against him), I get his appeal. He was an idealist at heart, and made people want to believe in his ideals, even if they disagreed with him.
(Also he seemed to get along very well with a Democratic House, and eventually, a Democratic Senate. Which is always nice.)
You were doing so well until this. But, otherwise, thanks.
I'm not going to say "I don't see the appeal of X politician because HE SUCKS AND I DIDN'T VOTE FOR HIM" if the former has nothing to do with the latter.
They are two different things. Sometimes the difference between the two eludes the comments section.
Here's a must-read from Thom Hartmann, titled, "Did Hamas Somehow Get Inside Information About Israel’s Defenses from a Trump Leak?"
From the article:
“Donald Trump’s sharing of alleged classified intelligence to Russian officials in the White House has come under scrutiny amid a large-scale attack by the Hamas Islamist military group against Israel."
"Trump ‘revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies.’”
“I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day.” ~Donald J Trump
https://hartmannreport.com/p/did-hamas-somehow-get-inside-information-23e
Yes, this Thom Hartmann report you linked is very important. Thanks.
The question is, will enough Americans awaken to the reality of the situation before it’s too late? Many are too focused on media outlets like Fox News which still promotes insurrection! According to one of their hosts, democracy is already dead!
Our nation is in decay if a bottomless human like Trump could be leading in any poll. He is not fit for service and his only appeal is that of a morally corrupt Televangelist. It is little surprise the likes of Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, MTG, Bobaert and Miss Mace are drawn to the flame of Trump. They're like insects being drawn to the light of a bug zapper. The Donald will leave their carcasses stiff in death after being drawn to him. Trump is the giver of death and his soul is black and empty pit.
trump = A bug zapper! Exactly! oh god, I hope so. A bug zapper would be so easy to break.
Right On!! Thanks.
I think it is unfair to keep pounding Biden on age. His resolve to stand with Israel and his command of international affairs is serving the country well during this perilous time. Did you see the interview he did with John Harwood? Did you read what General Milley said about how sharp and knowledgeable the President is? Many Americans are just waking up to the crisis at hand. The polls are showing a snapshot in time over a year from the election. A lot can and will happen including the trial where Trump is clearly exposed for why he took the classified documents and what he was going to do with them.
Steve Schmidt: Fight MAGA, not Biden!!
This is just it, I’m not so sure Trump is going to make it to election day….
For some time we have been warned by Steve and others there would be darker days ahead. After the 2016 election and all the ensuing evil and/or sheer chaos including Charlottesville, the Pandemic, and the Jan. 6 insurrection, I didn’t dare imagine how much darker our world could get. It is here now. We need to stick together. Thank you for the stories of courage and heroism at the end of the article Steve.
I have seen too many 3 AMs! My frustration with the overwhelmingly obtuse populace is growing and the Republican clown show grows ever more destructive.
https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Cultural-Despair-Germanic-California/dp/0520026268/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2MX1ZARZYUCJG&keywords=The+Politics+of+cultural+despair&qid=1697207293&s=books&sprefix=the+politics+of+cultural+despair%2Cstripbooks%2C105&sr=1-1
If Trump wins the presidency we may as well have elected Hamas to run the US - it will be that devastating. How can people worried about Biden's age not see the devil lurking behind those so-called alternatives? I am really really worried...
Here, here! ENOUGH!!
ENOUGH.
Biden has moral clarity on Hamas and the slaughter in Israel - something this essay fails to mention.
This editorial has it exactly right. We need more of this from the political media.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/12/hamas-israel-biden-trump/
The chaos south of the 49th is making me seriously ill, not metaphorically, but seriously detrimental to my health. The country is unrecognizable, the dipshits who can’t even elect a leader when they’re in the majority, demonstrate the depth of the ever widening chasm in Congress, but also the body politic. I don’t know how you fix it, because it is deeply rooted as we’ve seen it evolve. I’ve often thought that the educational system focused on American centrism may be the root of the problem, the inequities between red and blue states and the huge discrepancy between the earnings of the elite and the poverty that is still pervasive throughout America. 2024 will make or break the country, but even if Biden wins, which I hope he will, the discontent will continue to grow like a cancer. One man alone can’t fix your ills, as has been proven since Biden was elected. He can inject positivity, money for infrastructure, improvements to health care, negotiate better deals on meds with big pharma, and have a vision and a path forward to save America. But in the end, if 40% or more Americans don’t share his ideals, America is doomed.