Biden establishes residence in new state – the State of Denial
Joe Biden established his residence in the 51st state of the country in his ABC interview on Thursday night. That was the State of Denial. He once again had trouble putting sentences together. "After that debate, I did 10 major events in a row, …
Joe Biden on ABC: His make up artists eliminated the pallor, but he still looks (and seems) well over the hill.
Joe Biden established his residence in the 51st state of the country in his ABC interview on Thursday night. That was the State of Denial.
He once again had trouble putting sentences together. "After that debate, I did 10 major events in a row, including until 2 in the morning after the debate," he said. "I did events in North Carolina. I did events in — in — in Georgia, did events like this today, large crowds, overwhelming response, no — no — no slipping. And so, I just had a bad night. I don't know why."
His debate with Trump? It was just "a bad episode.... I just had a really bad cold." In fact, he admitted that he had not even looked at the recording of the debate. (The interviewer, Democrat Stephen Stephanopoulos, didn't express surprise that Biden hadn't seen the recording.)
Biden went on and on about his record. But that's not what's on the voters' minds, and he cannot change that. He was asked "are you more frail?" His answer: "no". That is ridiculous. Every 81 year old is more frail than they used to be. Biden also confirmed the doubts when he was asked if he'd take cognitive test. At first he avoided the question but, when pressed he flat-out said no. He then turned around an proved he needed one when he replied to the question, how would he feel if Trump got elected. His reply: "I'll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that's what this is about." (ABC News has since "updated" the transcript to read "I feel I did the good as job as I know I can..." which makes even less sense.)
The critical point in the interviewcame when Biden denied the accuracy of the polls that show he is sinking like a rock. In other words, he is living in denial.
Since then, Biden has had several radio interviews. According to CNN, the Biden team fed the questions to the interviewer before hand!
Concern among Democratic politicians Other Democratic politicians worry that Biden may drag the rest of the ticket down and so some of them are starting to call on Biden to withdraw. But they are few and far between and almost none of them are at the top levels. They are people like Democratic Representatives Scott Peters from California and Angie Craig from Minnesota. The only US senator to speak out is Mark Warner from Virginia. Adam Schiff just today said that Kamala Harris would overwhelm Trump, but even Schiff stopped short of calling on Biden to withdraw. Bernie Sanders and the rest of the "progressive" wing of the Democrats are silent. The only DNC member to really speak out is James Zogby, who sent a memo to DNC chair Jamie Harrison outlining a means through which the Democrats could organize a series of debates between potential alternatives to Biden to establish another candidate. Harrison of course has rejected the suggestion.
Just this morning Velshi on MSNBC interviewed Vermont Democratic senator Peter Welch. Welch talked about the difficulties Biden is facing but when Velshi asked him whether he thinks Biden should withdraw all Welch could bring himself to say was that he believes Biden will do what's best for the country. Then Velshi had on two Democratic Party consultants. One of them actually claimed that all the
What Democratic voters are really thinking.
Democratic voters he has talked with want Biden to stay in, that they are enthusiastic about Biden. Not party leaders, the voters! Either the guy is outright lying or he is completely out of touch with reality.
Oaklandsocialist has explained how the Democratic Party leadership – the Democratic National Committee (DNC) – is simply handed down from one generation to the next. They are living in a bubble and the circle around Biden is an even more impermeable bubble. It's not entirely different from the circle surrounding Putin that told him what he wanted to hear regarding his planned invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Should Biden stay in the race, the outcome is not guaranteed. One possible wild card is the presence of abortion rights on the ballot in ten different states. These include Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Florida. If these ballot initiatives bring out enough voters who feel strongly about abortion rights, that could overcome Biden's extreme weakness. Also, a Trump health crisis is possible, although a Biden health crisis seems more likely.
But at this point, Biden seems headed for a disastrous defeat, and it's not ruled out that he could drag his whole party down with him as Democratic voter turnout could drop.
It is still possible that Biden could withdraw, although with each passing day that seems less likely because it makes it more difficult for the Party to choose an alternative. In his ABC interview, Biden said that only "the lord almighty" could convince him to withdraw. Maybe that could happen if "the lord almighty" speaks to Biden in the form of a health crisis. In either case, choosing an alternative becomes more difficult. Schiff could be right that Harris would easily defeat Trump. A recent poll showed her within a couple of percentage points of him. Her main problem is that she's listened to her advisort too closely – the ones who apparently are telling her that she has to smile a lot so she doesn't come off as a threatening woman, and a black one at that. But at this point everything is up in the air, at best.
Bernie Sanders' "Our Revolution" is studiously avoiding the issue.
Some Democratic Pary leaders say it's too late to change candidates. They have nobody to blame but themselves for the lateness of the hour. Every single other potentially credible alternative failed to throw their hat into the ring months ago. That was a clear signal that any challenge to Biden would be seen as betrayal and would lead to excommunication. This was despite the fact that even then the polls were showing that Biden was in deep trouble. So, yes, it would be chaotic if the Democrats chose a different candidate now, but it's difficult to see how a Biden candidacy is not a disaster waiting to happen.
Would there be a reckoning against the Democratic leadership if Biden loses and drags the party down with him? Who within the Party could conduct such a reckoning? Not the "progressive wing", who are just as guilty if not more so.
Widespread demoralization in the ranks of the Democrats seems likely if Biden refuses to withdraw and he carries his Party down to defeat. In Germany, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) used to be one of the two main parties. Today, it has all but disappeared, getting 13.9% of the vote, fewer votes than the extreme right wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the last elections. The French Socialist Party has seen an even greater collapse. These parties differ from the Democrats in that they were not capitalist parties, but whether they are today is open to question.
Where can the force come from that can build an alternative? In the past it seemed like it could originate within a layer of the youth left. Now, though, it seems the youth left is very influenced by Putin's assets and agents, although many aren't aware of that. As intended, this influence is having a disastrous effect. Among other things, this left – for example the pro-Palestine encampment forces – have shown no interest in even trying to make a link with the wider working class outside of academia. That leaves a thin layer of class conscious workers. Today, these small forces can begin to gather together in informal neighborhood meetings to discuss the situation in which we find ourselves and how can we start to build a resistance to MAGA.
Here, I think the unions are a key arena because they have the power to actually stop MAGA, whether Trump is in the White House or not. The problem is that the entire union leadership, including its "progressive" wing, will do everything in its power to divert any movement away from actually accomplishing anything. That's why any such movement will have to start by assembling the individual rank and file members who see the seriousness of the situation and are willing to speak up against all odds.
Joe Biden on ABC: His make up artists eliminated the pallor, but he still looks (and seems) well over the hill.
No comments:
Post a Comment