There are 267 days left until the 2024 election, and 343 until the presidential inauguration. Let me begin this Monday by expressing my absolutely deepest level of worry and concern over the growing likelihood that Donald Trump could be elected and cause a national catastrophe.
Sounds like Steve is saying we should kick Biden to the curb because of his age less than nine months from the election.
Steve Schmidt; can you do one post about how effective Joe Biden has been as President? Just one. Pretty please? Seems fair to me.
One of our best presidents, FDR died in office early in his fourth term and the country still thrived.
Last week it was all about the border “crisis”. It turned out it was a political game the republicans were playing and that was pretty obvious. Now it’s the age “crises” again.
Come on! Isn’t there plenty to focus with Trump’s fascist movement? He wants to dissolve NATO for Gods sake! Why are you focusing on the age thing and not giving an interview during the Super Bowl? Is that more of a problem than trashing NATO? I don’t think so!
You said you would never bullshit us or gaslight us. Seems I am smelling a gas leak here.
This is NOT the age of FDR. While Biden has been effective as president AND there is plenty of Disgusting Donald to focus on that's not what this is about. Getting younger than me (50+) people -- and helping them -- to vote is going to make or break us as an experiment. IMHO Steve isn't gaslighting us, he's reflecting reality.
David: FDR was a presidency before global connectivity, let alone for-profit (and social) media. Most 30-somethings in 2024 think FDR is some three letter acronym used in tech companies. Controlling messaging today is incomparable. If Biden and his campaign want to win, their gonna have to work a hulluva lot smarter. No, don't squander the power and success, leverage it more creatively and as loudly as possible.
That is not what I was referring to about FDR dying in office in his fourth term. All I said was the country wouldn’t fall apart if Joe Biden died in office using FDR’s passing as an example. How does “global connectivity” play into that?
Global connectivity makes it so that we can't go 2 seconds let alone 2 presidential terms without being bombarded with bullshit about how afraid we should be about the president dying in office.
That is another point altogether, not the one I’m writing about, unless you are saying the country would fall apart if Biden died before his term ended, and I don’t think you are saying that.
Is that what you are saying? That the US couldn’t recover if Biden died early. FDR and JFK dying before their terms ended didn’t cause catastrophe and neither would Biden’s death or incapacity.
I am not suggesting the country would fall apart if Biden died before his term ended. What I'm saying is that we can't think about that the same was as in years past because the electorate has a completely different and horribly fragmented way of considering that kind of scenario based on the media landscape (among other things).
We're talking past each other about adjacent issues.
No, I’m just talking about my original point that you replied to. You went off on a tangent about global connectivity which definitely is an issue worth discussing, but that isn’t what my post that you originally replied to was about,and you never addressed that.
Do you think we should dump Biden at this point? I think it would be nuts this close to the election. Doubt Steve is advocating that. He gives a critique, but very much doubt if that’s his position. About my FDR reference; history tells us lots of important lessons and dismissing it is a mistake.
From Heather Cox Richardson Feb 12th: Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen outlined how Biden’s performance disproves the argument that he is unfit for the presidency: “The thing about Biden’s memory,” Cohen wrote, “is that he’s presided over the addition of ~15 million jobs & 800k manufacturing jobs, 23 straight months of sub-4% unemployment, surging consumer sentiment, wages outpacing inflation, the American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPs Act, PACT Act, infrastructure law, gun safety law, VAWA, codified marriage equality, canceled $136 billion in student loan debt for 3.7 million borrowers, bolstered NATO, and presided over electoral wins in ‘20, ‘22 and ‘23.”
Special counsel Hur's 'report' clearing Biden of wrong-doing with classified documents (Hur is a Trump appointee) was an intentional MAGA hit job against Biden's age and competency, which did not belong in that report. "Biden's age! Biden's age!" got into into the MSM, which is a MAGA strategy, since they have nothing else to aim a their opponent. Let's not play MAGA's game of subterfuge and low-blow propaganda by repeating their rants against Biden.
I think most rational people realize the Hur Report was a political hit job. Just as an aside I would like to add for comparison that Hur Report was like 345 pages while the Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report was only about 60. Jack Smith stuck to facts while he packed it with everything he could think of.
Steve Schmidt made a great point. If you look at that superbowl video of Biden it is an amateurish gibberish compared to all the blockbuster productions from the Lincoln Project videos. It is night and day. Mr Schmidt knows what he is talking about when it comes to political campaign and the ad. However if you look at Biden’s dark Brandon come back meme, it is amazing and trending on Tik Tok. https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1756888470599967000. It is impressive.
Aside from asking Biden to move over for a younger candidate, there is a problem. No other democratic candidate seems able to challenge Trump. Not only because of what Biden is doing as a president now but also because of the damage he inflicted on Putin as part of Obama’s team. If there is someone who can challenge Trump, people will follow that person in a heartbeat, I am sure. Biden is not the problem, his campaigners are flopping and it is Trump that is the problem.
Kent, brother. I split time between DC and Kentucky. Polar opposites. And long time, forever Dems are saying the same thing. Biden should be asked to step aside.
One last thought, personally I’m scared shitless about the future. It’s not just the devastation pending in this country but its effects worldwide.
Pure evil is here. There are so many minions assisting it . People are lining up to help. People we thought had morals, a good education and believed in democracy have abandoned those principles to become useful idiots. It is so plain to see that their service to Trump is one way. One utterance he doesn’t like and you are thrown to the mob.
I am so glum how our media has betrayed us and their principles for money and popularity, exactly like the politicians they cover.
Our highest judiciary, Congress, and even law enforcement have been compromised,
by greed and corrupt people. We chose our representatives based on loyalty rather than competence. America seems to be for sale. We the people, can afford it, so we get no say in it unless we united to force out the feckless, performative players.
It starts by removing dark money, large PACs, and corporate donors. It begins with term limits shorter than 6 years or lifetime appointments that are not reigned in by having a standard of ethics with the ability to remove them. There must be a set of qualifications for office just like any other job in America. Why is Congress the only job that has no qualifications or ability to fire for incompetence?
Donald Trump is an addled sociopathic liar, con man, criminal, rapist, snowflake with a very low IQ. He is support by some the the worst human beings (Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Stephen Miller , General Flynn, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone…)yet represents 40% of this country’s voters.
We have 60% that should be enough to stop this menace but have their hands tied by an equally incompetent party, who whine instead of act to repel the danger.
The media is complicit is this drama. One group has media label themselves as news but it’s strictly propaganda. Even those we feel are fair, aren’t. ( Brett B. ). Main stream media suffers from ADHD and can stay with any story more than a couple of days. (What’s going on in Ukraine for example.
Why is only Joe Biden’s senility being called out and not Trump? Because it’s not about news, it’s about money. Where is Walter Cronkite when you need him? The answer is dead like our once competent journalists.
It should be easy to rally against the tyranny posed by Trump. It should be easy to defeat a MTG or Boebert or even a Ron Johnson or a Tommy Tuberville. Yet one poor decision after another by both parties have led us to this mess.
The answer is better vetting of candidates to inform the electorate before they vote not after they are in office would help.
Right now, the minority runs the majority because we let them. Stop being complacent and just waiting for the storm that is coming. We can’t trust our politicians to help, nor the media. Start with local government all the way to the top and demand quality or vote them out.
Thanks to Steve and to all of you. We are living in dangerous times. Trump must be stopped. If people aren’t scared by his remarks on NATO, I don’t know what world they live in.
It’s the perfect storm of devastation that is coming. Yet the sirens are silent. Every sane human left in America see it coming and are being left helpless to stop it.
There is no Republican Party remaining. It’s strictly the goose stepping Trump cult who are stupid, crazy, cowardly, performative without any competence, and are driven simply to destroy without any plan to build this country.
These people are led by an elderly severely mentally criminally insane man bent on an arc to dismantle this country and everything good about it for his own . Yet 10s of millions of Americans support him.
On the other side is an incumbent president whose ego won’t let see the reality of his weak appearance. Perception in politics is everything. In reality he has been a good president and has noble intentions but things like no speaking before the Super Bowl supports the doddering old man propaganda. Biden is America’s Von Hindenburg. We are reliving Germany 1933.
The Democratic Party is complicit did this perfect storm of pending doom. Their leadership is so weak and complacent. Chuck Schumer has not been right about anything in his career. He is feckless, rudderless, and and totally incompetent as The Senate Majority Leader. When looks down his nose through those stupid reading half glasses he gives the look of weakness. As majority leader or even when minority leader, he accomplished nothing. Nancy Pelosi did all the work.
Hakeem Jeffries since taking over has been MIA. The DNC is also feckless and MIA. They had 3 years to groom a replacement for Biden. Instead they did nothing, have done nothing. Instead they have the ego of Joe Biden to control them. To make it worse, they have left Biden to face the mob alone. He is Gary Cooper in High Noon. The “good people “ of the town shuddered in their homes leaving Gary Cooper to fight the bad guys by himself.
The Democratic Party has potential candidates that should have been promoted, Goldman,Moskowitz , Newsome, Witmer and so on. Yet instead they are letting an old man’s ego go unchecked.
This should not be a close race. Those of us that are at least normal should have a choice to elect someone they want instead of having to pick between two evils.
Maybe we have become too fat and lazy to care enough about our democracy. Our leaders sure reflect that.
We are imperiled because we chosen form over substance. My thought is at this point that the only viable solution is to recruit Michele Obama . She doesn’t want it but the DNC has left us no choice.
So let me get this straight, Steve, you now maintain the Democratic Party and the Biden Administration are riddled with corruption and hubris because Joe Biden is power hungry? I don’t see that. Sure we all want another Obama. But you don’t think he can run on his stellar handling of the economy to date, and all of his first term’s legislative accomplishments? I know it’s a critically important race for all the reasons we talk about every day. I do agree he needs to take his campaign to the next level of fight, make of DJT’s face a figurative punching bag, as you have said repeatedly. And he does need another VP; a very good one at that, say Stacy Abrahams or Gavin Newsom. But before declaring Biden’s dance card terminally punched, I’d definitely want to see who else there is exactly. and each of their back closets, yes?
I don’t think Steve is saying that at all . I think he is saying that Biden is too old for another four years and is not the man to go to the wrestling mat against Trump.
I went back and read it again. True, there was a lot of stuff there, quotes included by others.
Steve did write this:
“What is it that we the people are witnessing? Are we not seeing a titanic act of egotism at the expense of the country? Are we not seeing the ambition of a small group of people who are hell bent on clinging to power no matter what? No matter what the risk? What the cost? What the danger?”
Oh good grief, I missed Biden’s video last night. I watched it twice this morning. I really would like to know who thought this was a good idea? Who thought that with everything going on in the world, with a possible devastating future if Trump wins, that this video was the right thing to do? Who had the bright idea to run a video commercial about snack food?
One of my complaints over the years has been the messaging/marketing by the Democrats. It seems to have gotten worse. At a time
Call me crazy but while production quality wasn’t great, I think the
substance will resonate with a lot of every day voters. Molly Jung- Fast said as much this morning. I don’t usually pay attention to her but I think she’s got a point today. That the pundit industrial complex is very critical of Biden but an add like that was for voters not pundits.
“Because, if Trump is a threat to democracy, and in many ways he is, so too are the Dems who are in danger of being as feckless as the Republicans have long been shameless. If they're going to send this guy out there, if Trump is a monster, and in many ways he is, you’re going send this guy out to slay the dragon? I don’t think so.”
100% agree Steve, and therein lies the rub! So what do we do? I’m not convinced that democrats at the convention will show any more backbone than they have done so far.
And nominating Harris will be a death kneel to the election. She can’t even manage to keep her revolving door of advisers in check, yet she wants to run this nation?
Unfortunately, democrats don’t have a deep bench of winners. This is 2016 all over again, and democrats are going to self implode. The only democrats with a national profile are Newsom and Whitmer. And Whitmer’s profile was raised only because a bunch of white supremicists decided to try to kidnap and kill her.
Furthermore, Biden’s handling of the Israel/Palestinian War is atrocious. He hugged Netanyahu, and now Netanyahu is singlehandedly helping Trump win reelection by committing a genocide against the Palestinians, and all Biden can muster is that “Trump would be worse!” Tell that to the Palestinian Americans in swing states that have lost love ones in Gaza and the West Bank!
So now we have a president who refuses to abdicate his position because of hubris and arrogance. Costa was right; Biden didn’t win in 2016, Trump lost.
And the mere fact that a guy who committed an insurrection, has 91 indictments against him, including treason (Top Secret documents), speaks volumes to how Biden is received nationally. TFG guy is a white supremicist, misogynist, morally bankrupt, narcissistic sociopathic kleptocrat, and yet, he’s still up in the polls.
Is it possible Team Biden is oblivious to any of these facts? What he needs to understand is that if he loses to Trump, any good he has accomplished as president, is gone. All the progress made, will be reversed in weeks, and this may be the last democratic election in US history.
And the only thing standing in the way of victory is an arrogant man of 81, whose own team refuses to make available in interviews, and claims he alone can defeat Trump.
You’re right Steve, Biden and his team are no better than Trump; possibly even worse because Biden understands what truly is at risk, and he’s willing to roll the dice because he happened to be the last man standing in 2016 when Team Trump imploded.
It is a delusional pipe dream to believe that “not Trump” will motivate voters we need: young people, independents, and never Trump Republicans.
Biden’s team is playing with a loaded gun that is aimed at killing democracy.
I am 74; my husband is a healthy and strong 84. We strongly support Biden stepping down. There is an arrogance about people whose stamina and condition are declining, to deny …increasingly irrationally… objective reality.
I read these comments that simply say “no problem; just get out and vote!” And have to ask: what are your ages?
Are you the grandpa whose eyesight is compromised but who won’t give up the car keys?
Are you the person who sits silently at Thanksgiving because you are not quite able to follow the various dinner conversations??
We all know what aging looks and feels and sounds like. Voters have parents and grandparents and aunties and uncles who function well enough but not as they did when they were 20 years younger.
It is not “ageist.” It is called the facts of life. The cycle of life. Move over,Joe.
Voting has consequences! If the voters had supported Hillary Clinton for President, we would not have those three ultra-conservatives on the Supreme Court! We would still have the Abortion Rights in our country! Wade would have ruled! So think carefully about the results of your vote! VOTE Blue!
We DID vote for Hillary. She won the popular vote. RBG should have resigned and Merrick Garland should have been allowed to be appointed. I know the coulda woulda shouda but think about doing the right thing now. Maybe something wild will happen at the Dem Convention. Of course i ll vote for Biden if nothing changes.
Will definitely vote for Biden! So disappointed in our World at this moment and really wonder whether voters will vote and come to their senses? Trump has such a hold on the GOP politicans and supporters-even with ALL his issues and constant vocal sprew!
Did you not mean 2020 Robert, each time you used 2016 I wondered if you meant 2020. Sometimes the fingers and the brain are at odds with each other not to mention auto typing which can be like introducing a third person into the mix. 🙏
2016 was also said in regard to the Democratic Party anointing Hillary, and handing her almost all the superdelegates before the primary started.
In this case, Joe’s team stopped all of the possible candidates from even entering the arena before the primary began; hence, we had no takers to compete for the presidency, and here we are…:)
Hello Steve, I do not fear of Biden losing to trump at the intensity you do. I just don't see it, if it comes to that binary choice. I believe current polls methodologies are antiquated coupled with the fact that most of them reflect registered voters. I believe there is a mass of unlikely voters out there who are fed up and just as fearful of a trump presidency as you/we are. The Dems need to turn them out of course (Taylor Swift please make that happen!). That said, in all of your recent writings I do not think I've seen who you would prefer to run for the Democrats if Biden were to decide not to run. Who would you choose? Pray tell.
I was disappointed in your email today. First, I do not see the contemporary Democratic Party as a cult. You seem to suggest that there is no difference between the two major parties today. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Also, you insist that Democrats are too scared to criticize President Biden about Americans being concerned about his age. What evidence is there of this? I have not seen any. Anyway, it’s way too late at this point for another Democrat to jump into the race. Doing so would only ensure the re-election of Donald Trump.
Finally, you don’t give President Biden credit for any of his accomplishments and you assume the American people are so stupid and pathetic that they will re-elect former President Trump simbecause they are skeptical
Yes, I need to reread my statements before pushing send because my grammar sucks. Call it flow of consciousness by a bad typist. But I think you get me message.
Even after the fairy tale bubble of yesterday's conclusion of the super bowl did not end with a Taylor Swift marriage proposal, I still believe in magic. I can't help it, I am a product of Disney and still think there is a spark in Joe's eyes that tells me there is life left in his old body. Whether the magic was ever there or if it was all smoke and mirrors is yet to be determined. I am not ready to throw the white towel in the ring yet and give up on Joe Biden. However, he has to find the illusive fountain of youth and find it quickly. He needs to go on the offensive and attack Trump and keep on hitting him with shots of reality that sting and flay Trump's decaying flesh.
If Biden does not withdraw, Trump will win. The same hubris that said Hillary Clinton was the most qualified person in the United States to be President gave us President Donald J. Trump.
Me too. I remember watching the crowds for Bernie Sanders in 2016. I kept thinking to myself there is something going on. The Establishment Dem candidate seemed like the wrong person for the party at the time. Trump’s close win, which was not Comey’s doing, was pre-ordained by what seemed to me a very strong and honest groundswell for Sanders. I am not saying that Sanders was the right candidate. I am saying Clinton was the wrong candidate. I feel the same way now about Biden.
I think JB is a decent human being and he has done a good job, but he IS too old for a second term. Would I still vote for him to keep that feculent raunchopotamus out of the White House again? Yes. Would I prefer to cast my vote for a strong and capable person around Gretchen Whitmer's age, who could keep that thing at bay for an easy 8? Hell yes.
A rehash of 2020 with the same two is depressing for me. Capable Democrats could easily beat Trump and whatever lickspittle he picks for VP. It comes down to Biden stepping aside and Harris, too.
I beg to differ on the Comey Affect on Hilary’s chances of being elected in 2016. Comey’s letter alluded to guilt on Hiliary’s part for using her personal server hoping it would placate Trump’s dissatisfaction of Comey’s performance before the election.
Fast forward to this past week, Hur’s report was too personal, too graphic concerning Biden’s documents found at his home and his old office. So I want to know is why did AG Garland not read the report before it was made public?
If they talked Biden into stepping down, who would take the challenge, a bit late to draft someone or could a Newsome, Jeffers, etc step up. Not Harris, she is having a hard time finding her footing.
It isn’t going to matter if it is Biden or another Democrat, don’t you get it by now? Trump is going to break this country again, he will lie, steal, yes, steal the spotlight again and yet again, to disrupt, threaten and toss this election to the SC. I portend this because as it was said, by Adam Shif, the first impeachment manager, who said, and I para phrase, “you cant trust him, he will do it again and again”. He will ultimately break this country, and I do not believe any other democratic candidate, will change the outcome. Focus on what trump is doing and what he will now do with all his enablers. How do we protect democracy when all of you have your hair on fire, over Biden’s age and not the bigger problem which is trump and his ability to narrate his lies into a chaotic finish. This country will only see another clear election, until we rid ourselves, of this plague called trump.
I recall a conversation Steve had with Ms. Applebaum, not so long ago, and it strikes me again: We have as lived under democracy as our birth rite, now we have to fight for it. This is what trump has taken from us, let that sink in.
There is nothing that Trump can say that will change the views of his supporters. It does not matter how wrong or outrageous. It will be glossed over. The only thing to do is attack him on policy. If people want to avoid a country of handmaidens, which is what he is being used for by the Christian Zealots to advance THEIR agenda, then vote again him based on that. The Zealots are coming for you and your kids.
If I were Biden, and still planning to give it a go, I’d replace Harris with Jasmine Crockett of Texas. If you want someone who will take the fight to the old white idiot Republicans, it is Jasmine Crockett.
Sounds like Steve is saying we should kick Biden to the curb because of his age less than nine months from the election.
Steve Schmidt; can you do one post about how effective Joe Biden has been as President? Just one. Pretty please? Seems fair to me.
One of our best presidents, FDR died in office early in his fourth term and the country still thrived.
Last week it was all about the border “crisis”. It turned out it was a political game the republicans were playing and that was pretty obvious. Now it’s the age “crises” again.
Come on! Isn’t there plenty to focus with Trump’s fascist movement? He wants to dissolve NATO for Gods sake! Why are you focusing on the age thing and not giving an interview during the Super Bowl? Is that more of a problem than trashing NATO? I don’t think so!
You said you would never bullshit us or gaslight us. Seems I am smelling a gas leak here.
This is NOT the age of FDR. While Biden has been effective as president AND there is plenty of Disgusting Donald to focus on that's not what this is about. Getting younger than me (50+) people -- and helping them -- to vote is going to make or break us as an experiment. IMHO Steve isn't gaslighting us, he's reflecting reality.
Larissa;
Fair enough. But are you saying we should dump Joe Biden and squander the power of incumbency?
Also, the comment about FDR is still relevant. Please explain why it’s not. Saying it’s”not the age of FDR” is vague and short on specifics.
David: FDR was a presidency before global connectivity, let alone for-profit (and social) media. Most 30-somethings in 2024 think FDR is some three letter acronym used in tech companies. Controlling messaging today is incomparable. If Biden and his campaign want to win, their gonna have to work a hulluva lot smarter. No, don't squander the power and success, leverage it more creatively and as loudly as possible.
Larissa;
That is not what I was referring to about FDR dying in office in his fourth term. All I said was the country wouldn’t fall apart if Joe Biden died in office using FDR’s passing as an example. How does “global connectivity” play into that?
You didn’t address my point Larissa.
Larissa; A more recent example of a President dying before his term ended was John F Kennedy. The US didn’t fall apart then either.
(Forgive typos misspellings and grammatical errors, this comment was likely added with thumbs and impacted by Apple's autocorrect)
Global connectivity makes it so that we can't go 2 seconds let alone 2 presidential terms without being bombarded with bullshit about how afraid we should be about the president dying in office.
Larissa;
That is another point altogether, not the one I’m writing about, unless you are saying the country would fall apart if Biden died before his term ended, and I don’t think you are saying that.
Is that what you are saying? That the US couldn’t recover if Biden died early. FDR and JFK dying before their terms ended didn’t cause catastrophe and neither would Biden’s death or incapacity.
I am not suggesting the country would fall apart if Biden died before his term ended. What I'm saying is that we can't think about that the same was as in years past because the electorate has a completely different and horribly fragmented way of considering that kind of scenario based on the media landscape (among other things).
We're talking past each other about adjacent issues.
Larissa;
No, I’m just talking about my original point that you replied to. You went off on a tangent about global connectivity which definitely is an issue worth discussing, but that isn’t what my post that you originally replied to was about,and you never addressed that.
Do you think we should dump Biden at this point? I think it would be nuts this close to the election. Doubt Steve is advocating that. He gives a critique, but very much doubt if that’s his position. About my FDR reference; history tells us lots of important lessons and dismissing it is a mistake.
I am with you David, my sentiments exactly!!!
😂
"The reality is that the Biden campaign is entering this week in a death spiral".
Really? Again, I 100% disagree with you Steve.
From Heather Cox Richardson Feb 12th: Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen outlined how Biden’s performance disproves the argument that he is unfit for the presidency: “The thing about Biden’s memory,” Cohen wrote, “is that he’s presided over the addition of ~15 million jobs & 800k manufacturing jobs, 23 straight months of sub-4% unemployment, surging consumer sentiment, wages outpacing inflation, the American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPs Act, PACT Act, infrastructure law, gun safety law, VAWA, codified marriage equality, canceled $136 billion in student loan debt for 3.7 million borrowers, bolstered NATO, and presided over electoral wins in ‘20, ‘22 and ‘23.”
Special counsel Hur's 'report' clearing Biden of wrong-doing with classified documents (Hur is a Trump appointee) was an intentional MAGA hit job against Biden's age and competency, which did not belong in that report. "Biden's age! Biden's age!" got into into the MSM, which is a MAGA strategy, since they have nothing else to aim a their opponent. Let's not play MAGA's game of subterfuge and low-blow propaganda by repeating their rants against Biden.
Steve Schmidt: Fight MAGA, not Biden!
I think most rational people realize the Hur Report was a political hit job. Just as an aside I would like to add for comparison that Hur Report was like 345 pages while the Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report was only about 60. Jack Smith stuck to facts while he packed it with everything he could think of.
Steve Schmidt made a great point. If you look at that superbowl video of Biden it is an amateurish gibberish compared to all the blockbuster productions from the Lincoln Project videos. It is night and day. Mr Schmidt knows what he is talking about when it comes to political campaign and the ad. However if you look at Biden’s dark Brandon come back meme, it is amazing and trending on Tik Tok. https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1756888470599967000. It is impressive.
https://deadline.com/2024/02/joe-biden-super-bowl-tik-tok-taylor-swift-1235822505/
Aside from asking Biden to move over for a younger candidate, there is a problem. No other democratic candidate seems able to challenge Trump. Not only because of what Biden is doing as a president now but also because of the damage he inflicted on Putin as part of Obama’s team. If there is someone who can challenge Trump, people will follow that person in a heartbeat, I am sure. Biden is not the problem, his campaigners are flopping and it is Trump that is the problem.
The "Just Like We Drew It Up" Dark Brandon meme is superb. Thumb's up!
I agree with you. President Biden can beat TFG -again!
Steve Schmidt, are you listening?
Nicely said ma'am! ;-)
Lisa, music to my ears!👍
Kent, brother. I split time between DC and Kentucky. Polar opposites. And long time, forever Dems are saying the same thing. Biden should be asked to step aside.
Lane, I respect your active engagement in this debate and the whole process! That said, I respectfully disagree. Don't forget to vote! ;-)
One last thought, personally I’m scared shitless about the future. It’s not just the devastation pending in this country but its effects worldwide.
Pure evil is here. There are so many minions assisting it . People are lining up to help. People we thought had morals, a good education and believed in democracy have abandoned those principles to become useful idiots. It is so plain to see that their service to Trump is one way. One utterance he doesn’t like and you are thrown to the mob.
I am so glum how our media has betrayed us and their principles for money and popularity, exactly like the politicians they cover.
Our highest judiciary, Congress, and even law enforcement have been compromised,
by greed and corrupt people. We chose our representatives based on loyalty rather than competence. America seems to be for sale. We the people, can afford it, so we get no say in it unless we united to force out the feckless, performative players.
It starts by removing dark money, large PACs, and corporate donors. It begins with term limits shorter than 6 years or lifetime appointments that are not reigned in by having a standard of ethics with the ability to remove them. There must be a set of qualifications for office just like any other job in America. Why is Congress the only job that has no qualifications or ability to fire for incompetence?
Donald Trump is an addled sociopathic liar, con man, criminal, rapist, snowflake with a very low IQ. He is support by some the the worst human beings (Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Stephen Miller , General Flynn, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone…)yet represents 40% of this country’s voters.
We have 60% that should be enough to stop this menace but have their hands tied by an equally incompetent party, who whine instead of act to repel the danger.
The media is complicit is this drama. One group has media label themselves as news but it’s strictly propaganda. Even those we feel are fair, aren’t. ( Brett B. ). Main stream media suffers from ADHD and can stay with any story more than a couple of days. (What’s going on in Ukraine for example.
Why is only Joe Biden’s senility being called out and not Trump? Because it’s not about news, it’s about money. Where is Walter Cronkite when you need him? The answer is dead like our once competent journalists.
It should be easy to rally against the tyranny posed by Trump. It should be easy to defeat a MTG or Boebert or even a Ron Johnson or a Tommy Tuberville. Yet one poor decision after another by both parties have led us to this mess.
The answer is better vetting of candidates to inform the electorate before they vote not after they are in office would help.
Right now, the minority runs the majority because we let them. Stop being complacent and just waiting for the storm that is coming. We can’t trust our politicians to help, nor the media. Start with local government all the way to the top and demand quality or vote them out.
Thanks to Steve and to all of you. We are living in dangerous times. Trump must be stopped. If people aren’t scared by his remarks on NATO, I don’t know what world they live in.
It’s the perfect storm of devastation that is coming. Yet the sirens are silent. Every sane human left in America see it coming and are being left helpless to stop it.
There is no Republican Party remaining. It’s strictly the goose stepping Trump cult who are stupid, crazy, cowardly, performative without any competence, and are driven simply to destroy without any plan to build this country.
These people are led by an elderly severely mentally criminally insane man bent on an arc to dismantle this country and everything good about it for his own . Yet 10s of millions of Americans support him.
On the other side is an incumbent president whose ego won’t let see the reality of his weak appearance. Perception in politics is everything. In reality he has been a good president and has noble intentions but things like no speaking before the Super Bowl supports the doddering old man propaganda. Biden is America’s Von Hindenburg. We are reliving Germany 1933.
The Democratic Party is complicit did this perfect storm of pending doom. Their leadership is so weak and complacent. Chuck Schumer has not been right about anything in his career. He is feckless, rudderless, and and totally incompetent as The Senate Majority Leader. When looks down his nose through those stupid reading half glasses he gives the look of weakness. As majority leader or even when minority leader, he accomplished nothing. Nancy Pelosi did all the work.
Hakeem Jeffries since taking over has been MIA. The DNC is also feckless and MIA. They had 3 years to groom a replacement for Biden. Instead they did nothing, have done nothing. Instead they have the ego of Joe Biden to control them. To make it worse, they have left Biden to face the mob alone. He is Gary Cooper in High Noon. The “good people “ of the town shuddered in their homes leaving Gary Cooper to fight the bad guys by himself.
The Democratic Party has potential candidates that should have been promoted, Goldman,Moskowitz , Newsome, Witmer and so on. Yet instead they are letting an old man’s ego go unchecked.
This should not be a close race. Those of us that are at least normal should have a choice to elect someone they want instead of having to pick between two evils.
Maybe we have become too fat and lazy to care enough about our democracy. Our leaders sure reflect that.
We are imperiled because we chosen form over substance. My thought is at this point that the only viable solution is to recruit Michele Obama . She doesn’t want it but the DNC has left us no choice.
Well said…:)
Thank you. Much appreciated
Well said. Don’t forget Gina Raimondo, bright, smart. I sure would like to see & hear more from her.
So let me get this straight, Steve, you now maintain the Democratic Party and the Biden Administration are riddled with corruption and hubris because Joe Biden is power hungry? I don’t see that. Sure we all want another Obama. But you don’t think he can run on his stellar handling of the economy to date, and all of his first term’s legislative accomplishments? I know it’s a critically important race for all the reasons we talk about every day. I do agree he needs to take his campaign to the next level of fight, make of DJT’s face a figurative punching bag, as you have said repeatedly. And he does need another VP; a very good one at that, say Stacy Abrahams or Gavin Newsom. But before declaring Biden’s dance card terminally punched, I’d definitely want to see who else there is exactly. and each of their back closets, yes?
I don’t think Steve is saying that at all . I think he is saying that Biden is too old for another four years and is not the man to go to the wrestling mat against Trump.
I went back and read it again. True, there was a lot of stuff there, quotes included by others.
Steve did write this:
“What is it that we the people are witnessing? Are we not seeing a titanic act of egotism at the expense of the country? Are we not seeing the ambition of a small group of people who are hell bent on clinging to power no matter what? No matter what the risk? What the cost? What the danger?”
He’s referring to the Biden Admin here.
Oh good grief, I missed Biden’s video last night. I watched it twice this morning. I really would like to know who thought this was a good idea? Who thought that with everything going on in the world, with a possible devastating future if Trump wins, that this video was the right thing to do? Who had the bright idea to run a video commercial about snack food?
One of my complaints over the years has been the messaging/marketing by the Democrats. It seems to have gotten worse. At a time
Call me crazy but while production quality wasn’t great, I think the
substance will resonate with a lot of every day voters. Molly Jung- Fast said as much this morning. I don’t usually pay attention to her but I think she’s got a point today. That the pundit industrial complex is very critical of Biden but an add like that was for voters not pundits.
I thought the same thing…:)
“Because, if Trump is a threat to democracy, and in many ways he is, so too are the Dems who are in danger of being as feckless as the Republicans have long been shameless. If they're going to send this guy out there, if Trump is a monster, and in many ways he is, you’re going send this guy out to slay the dragon? I don’t think so.”
100% agree Steve, and therein lies the rub! So what do we do? I’m not convinced that democrats at the convention will show any more backbone than they have done so far.
And nominating Harris will be a death kneel to the election. She can’t even manage to keep her revolving door of advisers in check, yet she wants to run this nation?
Unfortunately, democrats don’t have a deep bench of winners. This is 2016 all over again, and democrats are going to self implode. The only democrats with a national profile are Newsom and Whitmer. And Whitmer’s profile was raised only because a bunch of white supremicists decided to try to kidnap and kill her.
Furthermore, Biden’s handling of the Israel/Palestinian War is atrocious. He hugged Netanyahu, and now Netanyahu is singlehandedly helping Trump win reelection by committing a genocide against the Palestinians, and all Biden can muster is that “Trump would be worse!” Tell that to the Palestinian Americans in swing states that have lost love ones in Gaza and the West Bank!
So now we have a president who refuses to abdicate his position because of hubris and arrogance. Costa was right; Biden didn’t win in 2016, Trump lost.
And the mere fact that a guy who committed an insurrection, has 91 indictments against him, including treason (Top Secret documents), speaks volumes to how Biden is received nationally. TFG guy is a white supremicist, misogynist, morally bankrupt, narcissistic sociopathic kleptocrat, and yet, he’s still up in the polls.
Is it possible Team Biden is oblivious to any of these facts? What he needs to understand is that if he loses to Trump, any good he has accomplished as president, is gone. All the progress made, will be reversed in weeks, and this may be the last democratic election in US history.
And the only thing standing in the way of victory is an arrogant man of 81, whose own team refuses to make available in interviews, and claims he alone can defeat Trump.
You’re right Steve, Biden and his team are no better than Trump; possibly even worse because Biden understands what truly is at risk, and he’s willing to roll the dice because he happened to be the last man standing in 2016 when Team Trump imploded.
It is a delusional pipe dream to believe that “not Trump” will motivate voters we need: young people, independents, and never Trump Republicans.
Biden’s team is playing with a loaded gun that is aimed at killing democracy.
I am 74; my husband is a healthy and strong 84. We strongly support Biden stepping down. There is an arrogance about people whose stamina and condition are declining, to deny …increasingly irrationally… objective reality.
I read these comments that simply say “no problem; just get out and vote!” And have to ask: what are your ages?
Are you the grandpa whose eyesight is compromised but who won’t give up the car keys?
Are you the person who sits silently at Thanksgiving because you are not quite able to follow the various dinner conversations??
We all know what aging looks and feels and sounds like. Voters have parents and grandparents and aunties and uncles who function well enough but not as they did when they were 20 years younger.
It is not “ageist.” It is called the facts of life. The cycle of life. Move over,Joe.
If RBG stepped down when she should have we Wouldn t be stuck with this supreme court.
Step down Joe
Voting has consequences! If the voters had supported Hillary Clinton for President, we would not have those three ultra-conservatives on the Supreme Court! We would still have the Abortion Rights in our country! Wade would have ruled! So think carefully about the results of your vote! VOTE Blue!
We DID vote for Hillary. She won the popular vote. RBG should have resigned and Merrick Garland should have been allowed to be appointed. I know the coulda woulda shouda but think about doing the right thing now. Maybe something wild will happen at the Dem Convention. Of course i ll vote for Biden if nothing changes.
Will definitely vote for Biden! So disappointed in our World at this moment and really wonder whether voters will vote and come to their senses? Trump has such a hold on the GOP politicans and supporters-even with ALL his issues and constant vocal sprew!
Well said…:)
Did you not mean 2020 Robert, each time you used 2016 I wondered if you meant 2020. Sometimes the fingers and the brain are at odds with each other not to mention auto typing which can be like introducing a third person into the mix. 🙏
Thank you. I meant 2020 election; my bad…:)
2016 was also said in regard to the Democratic Party anointing Hillary, and handing her almost all the superdelegates before the primary started.
In this case, Joe’s team stopped all of the possible candidates from even entering the arena before the primary began; hence, we had no takers to compete for the presidency, and here we are…:)
2020
Hello Steve, I do not fear of Biden losing to trump at the intensity you do. I just don't see it, if it comes to that binary choice. I believe current polls methodologies are antiquated coupled with the fact that most of them reflect registered voters. I believe there is a mass of unlikely voters out there who are fed up and just as fearful of a trump presidency as you/we are. The Dems need to turn them out of course (Taylor Swift please make that happen!). That said, in all of your recent writings I do not think I've seen who you would prefer to run for the Democrats if Biden were to decide not to run. Who would you choose? Pray tell.
Hi Steve,
I was disappointed in your email today. First, I do not see the contemporary Democratic Party as a cult. You seem to suggest that there is no difference between the two major parties today. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Also, you insist that Democrats are too scared to criticize President Biden about Americans being concerned about his age. What evidence is there of this? I have not seen any. Anyway, it’s way too late at this point for another Democrat to jump into the race. Doing so would only ensure the re-election of Donald Trump.
Finally, you don’t give President Biden credit for any of his accomplishments and you assume the American people are so stupid and pathetic that they will re-elect former President Trump simbecause they are skeptical
That’s exactly why I donate to specific candidates and not to the DNC.
Yes, I need to reread my statements before pushing send because my grammar sucks. Call it flow of consciousness by a bad typist. But I think you get me message.
You have heart and guts and conviction, Eric.
Thank you for writing a great message
that makes us think.
Thank you. I am flattered and blushing from your words. Thank you again
Your intent was very clear. And you’re certainly not the only one who’s deeply concerned.
Even after the fairy tale bubble of yesterday's conclusion of the super bowl did not end with a Taylor Swift marriage proposal, I still believe in magic. I can't help it, I am a product of Disney and still think there is a spark in Joe's eyes that tells me there is life left in his old body. Whether the magic was ever there or if it was all smoke and mirrors is yet to be determined. I am not ready to throw the white towel in the ring yet and give up on Joe Biden. However, he has to find the illusive fountain of youth and find it quickly. He needs to go on the offensive and attack Trump and keep on hitting him with shots of reality that sting and flay Trump's decaying flesh.
If Biden does not withdraw, Trump will win. The same hubris that said Hillary Clinton was the most qualified person in the United States to be President gave us President Donald J. Trump.
Here we go again.
This. This is what scares the bejeezus out of me.
Me too. I remember watching the crowds for Bernie Sanders in 2016. I kept thinking to myself there is something going on. The Establishment Dem candidate seemed like the wrong person for the party at the time. Trump’s close win, which was not Comey’s doing, was pre-ordained by what seemed to me a very strong and honest groundswell for Sanders. I am not saying that Sanders was the right candidate. I am saying Clinton was the wrong candidate. I feel the same way now about Biden.
Bernie got shafted by the Democratic Party. And the country is about to get shafted again, big time, if Trump wins.
I think JB is a decent human being and he has done a good job, but he IS too old for a second term. Would I still vote for him to keep that feculent raunchopotamus out of the White House again? Yes. Would I prefer to cast my vote for a strong and capable person around Gretchen Whitmer's age, who could keep that thing at bay for an easy 8? Hell yes.
A rehash of 2020 with the same two is depressing for me. Capable Democrats could easily beat Trump and whatever lickspittle he picks for VP. It comes down to Biden stepping aside and Harris, too.
I beg to differ on the Comey Affect on Hilary’s chances of being elected in 2016. Comey’s letter alluded to guilt on Hiliary’s part for using her personal server hoping it would placate Trump’s dissatisfaction of Comey’s performance before the election.
Fast forward to this past week, Hur’s report was too personal, too graphic concerning Biden’s documents found at his home and his old office. So I want to know is why did AG Garland not read the report before it was made public?
If they talked Biden into stepping down, who would take the challenge, a bit late to draft someone or could a Newsome, Jeffers, etc step up. Not Harris, she is having a hard time finding her footing.
It isn’t going to matter if it is Biden or another Democrat, don’t you get it by now? Trump is going to break this country again, he will lie, steal, yes, steal the spotlight again and yet again, to disrupt, threaten and toss this election to the SC. I portend this because as it was said, by Adam Shif, the first impeachment manager, who said, and I para phrase, “you cant trust him, he will do it again and again”. He will ultimately break this country, and I do not believe any other democratic candidate, will change the outcome. Focus on what trump is doing and what he will now do with all his enablers. How do we protect democracy when all of you have your hair on fire, over Biden’s age and not the bigger problem which is trump and his ability to narrate his lies into a chaotic finish. This country will only see another clear election, until we rid ourselves, of this plague called trump.
I recall a conversation Steve had with Ms. Applebaum, not so long ago, and it strikes me again: We have as lived under democracy as our birth rite, now we have to fight for it. This is what trump has taken from us, let that sink in.
There is nothing that Trump can say that will change the views of his supporters. It does not matter how wrong or outrageous. It will be glossed over. The only thing to do is attack him on policy. If people want to avoid a country of handmaidens, which is what he is being used for by the Christian Zealots to advance THEIR agenda, then vote again him based on that. The Zealots are coming for you and your kids.
If I were Biden, and still planning to give it a go, I’d replace Harris with Jasmine Crockett of Texas. If you want someone who will take the fight to the old white idiot Republicans, it is Jasmine Crockett.