What transpired is the result of a combination of things.
One, a sensationalist, less mature, less experienced, news media with sharp political divisions, that operates on money tied to ratings and owned mostly by corporate interests, has latched on to the idea that President Biden is too old to serve in office for another term and they insist on promoting their conclusion, evidence or not. But they have ignored Trump's advanced age, evidence of dementia, his criminal conviction, indictments, threats, lies, and draconian political platform that includes a federal ban on women's right to choose and the Project 2025 plan which, in spite of his denials, the Heritage Foundation developed based on his support. The news media essentially set up the circumstances which prompted the panic over Biden's debate performance.
Two, fear has been generated among Democrats by polling data from a myriad of polling sources, most of them lacking credibility, some of them over-adjusting for mistakes they made in 2020 and in 2016, many of them owned by the same Republican corporate interests as the media sourced which cite them as evidence that this is a "dead heat." How reliable are they? Considering what they are being used to do, and who cites them as evidence to support a very biased perspective, and any objective poll that leans in Biden's direction is ignored, I'd say they are telling us nothing of substance. At this point in the campaign, I think the polling data is not in the same ball park with an accurate prediction of the election outcome.
Three, after already enduring a four year Trump Presidency, and seeing the very predictable resistance he put up to cooperating with the peaceful transfer of power at the end, basically ignoring the Constitution and attempting to steal an election he lost, there is genuine, plausible and very realistic fear among everyone other than his own MAGA base, that if he gets the power of the Presidency again, he will kill American constitutional democracy and set up an oligarchy of the wealthy, with himself as dictator. He's said as much. He's figured out every loophole to keep going. He's certainly communicated his intentions clearly enough that the Heritage Foundation, which is an apostate, Christian nationalist cult, helped draw up his 2024 party platform in the form of their Project 2025 plan.
Four, the Supreme Court has added to the heightened level of anxiety and fear by opening the door to a trashing of the Constitution unseen in American history. Six justices, including three he appointed, are helping in his attempts to thwart justice for crimes he committed in office which has contributed to the fear of what's coming if he does get re-elected. They are the first court in history to declare that it is OK for the President of the United States to commit crimes if those crimes are necessary to the conduct of his official duties. The justices who signed on to that have said, loud and clear, to the American people, that they are not qualified, are immoral and constitute the most corrupt judiciary group in American history. Their ruling, coming when it did, just added to the mix of attacks on American Democracy.
So the reaction to the debate performance of President Biden, upon which so many Democrats had pinned high hopes for a momentum boost, triggered a panic, because of what is at stake. Under normal circumstances, a week after it was over, no one would be talking about it and few would have remembered any of its content without having to watch reruns of it. It wasn't a great debate performance, but it certainly wasn't the worst ever. And in an honest evaluation of it, while Trump rarely answered a question directly, and in almost every case, lied about everything he did answer, Biden gave an accurate presentation and was factual in his presentation.
An accurate assessment and reporting of the debate should have generated a headline stating that Trump lied his way through, and failed to directly answer a question. But that's not anywhere close to the kind of political theme that gets ratings, so it's not what the media wants to report.
A Silver Lining in Every Dark Cloud
The panic, which is understandable given the seriousness of the circumstances, has been a disappointing development, since I expected a higher level of self-discipline and unity among the leaders of the Democratic party. Self-preservation is playing a role in the scattered call from members of Congress saying that President Biden should bow out, and let someone else take his place. Those who have a genuine and comprehensive understanding of what is at stake in this election should have taken care to exercise a much greater amount of discretion, instead of revealing the level of their own self-interest and seeking out those in the media willing to put them on camera and get their take on what the President should do, revealing that their own self-interest is greater than their fear of a second Trump Presidency, or Democratic party priorities.
One of the silver linings coming out of the dark cloud is that we now know where to find the weak links in Democratic party strength.
But the other silver lining is that this panicked reaction produced a groundswell of support for the President's re-election campaign that has translated into weekly and monthly all-time record campaign contributions as the President's supporters stepped up and demonstrated their complete confidence in his ability to win the election. It also doesn't appear that the voters were as panicked as Democratic party leaders were.
In fact, it's been more than a week since the debate, and the President's poll numbers are not dropping. Aside from the New York Times/Siena poll, which is, in my opinion, biased, his poll numbers have improved across the board. I have no confidence at all in the poll numbers regarding the Presidential election, especially not the Times, but it appears that the President's debate performance did not stir up the same panic among voters that it did among party leadership, at least, not the kind of panic that the leadership has exhibited.
But there is a measure of panic out there among the voters, and it appears to be resulting from the continued push of the GOP to keep Trump on the ballot in spite of felony convictions, a hidden agenda that includes completely shutting down a woman's right to choose, and the draconian proposals of the extremist far right agenda's Project 2025. Getting the President to step aside and let someone else be nominated does not seem to be what the people want, especially not the people in his own party. And this is what the party's leadership needs to be hearing.
It's Not Feasible to Change Nominees at This Point
It's not possible for another candidate to put together a campaign team, get an organization into place and raise several hundred million dollars in four months. That's not happening. And while it is possible for Vice President Harris to continue using campaign funds donated to the Biden campaign, no one else can touch that money. And in an election year when Republicans, at every level, are trying to undermine and subvert the ability of people to vote, how does a new Democratic nominee get their name on the ballot in every state without being nominated by the convention?
Replacing Joe Biden on the ballot at this point is unrealistic. It is also a highly likely path to handing the election to Trump and control of Congress to the Republicans. And that's game over for American Democracy. Why Democratic party leadership is still even muttering about the possibility of replacing Joe Biden as a candidate, in the teeth of popular support for him, is difficult to understand. The debate was not a good moment for Biden, but it also was clearly not a good moment for Trump. He made himself clear, and did not win any new support as a result of it.
Take a hint from what Biden's grassroots supporters are doing. This has generated momentum, picked up the pace and there is a lot of popular support for the President. If party leadership can gather some common sense, take a look at what's happening, instead of trying to push their own agenda and narrative into the picture, step away from the personal power trip and help the party gain control of the House, keep the Senate and hold on to the White House.
And since when does a candidate's debate performance carry the kind of weight necessary to disqualify his candidacy?
We Have Issues With Traction
Democrats must learn how to get hold of the narrative. Look what we have! We have the opposition bent on running a convicted felon as their nominee. Odds are, unless the Supreme Court steps in and rescues him, which, based on their ruling, doesn't seem likely, he will be in prison come election time. And I'm basing that statement on what some of the legal experts MSNBC has called in to calm down some fears. The Heritage Foundation has put together Project 2025, with the idea in mind that Trump would be President and he'd be the guy to implement it. He says no, but I think Democrats can tie that directly to him. That's who he hangs out with. They came up with that platform because they are depending on Trump to help them implement it. And if that's not the way it is, and it hasn't been discussed, and Trump really does think it is as bad as he says, then that's a sign of some real discord among the MAGA faction of the GOP that should be easy to exploit.
There are so many positive things this President has achieved, re-election should be a matter of course. I personally think it will be. I know everyone has an opinion of what will work best, which direction to go and the media won't let us forget that they are still pushing the "Biden is too old" theme they've had out there since he first announced he was running. We need something that is proven to be successful.
So take this as a rallying point, a turning point, and use the support and motivation that has been expressed since the debate in a more positive direction. Let the President determine his own fate, and the rest of us, those of us who have seen what this man has done and can do, need to act with common sense and understand the unity of our purpose is making sure Trump doesn't get back in the White House. We need to be spending our resources, precious time, and energy on getting the President re-elected and keeping the party unified, not on squabbling over something that isn't going to happen. We also have a very intelligent, vibrant, politically savvy Vice President who can step right in at any point during the next four years, if it becomes necessary, and do the job.
We are Democrats. The ballot box, which has nominated Joe Biden for President on our behalf, has spoken. Be smart. Understand that Trump is the real enemy, and venting feelings because of not getting one's way only contributes support to Trump. We are certainly more mature than that.
If One Bad Debate Performance Gets Media Calls for Biden to Step Down...
The bandwagon that started up at the media's prompting, and which got as far as naming potential replacements for the President had its wheels come off sometime in the middle of last week. No Democrats of significance or importance have jumped on, calling for Biden to step down. And while I must acknowledge that the Democratic party has shown its ability to carry out discussion without a lot of political fallout, and no one is switching sides to get even, I've been disappointed in the direction that some commentators have taken, and at the effort to find people who can keep this going after it has fallen down on the track and is dying.
The Democratic nominee and current President had a not-so-great debate performance, generating panic and calls, mostly from the media, and from small-fry Democratic party wannabes, for him to step down.
The Republican nominee has been convicted of rape, of business fraud on 34 felony accounts and is about to be sentenced, hopefully to prison, is indicted on multiple counts of election interference and of the theft of classified documents, lied through the debate, is hiding his party's progress in developing what is an extremely unpopular platform, and the media, along with members of his party, are silent.
So, it looks like sensible Democrats are taking this into their own hands, correcting the media through social media platforms, and here and there on MSNBC or in major daily newspapers, and calling for common sense and unity of purpose. And that appears to be working. Campaign funds are pouring in, grassroots support is rallying and the core constituencies of the Democratic party, including Blacks and Latinos, are solidifying their support behind him. That's the kind of common sense and unity of purpose that wins elections.
This is an election we must win, at all levels.
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