The Politics Thread

[reallyhateskateonlost]

I'm depressed and I fear for this country.

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[Maxim]

I am going to shut down my laptop. I can't bear this. 

[Vee]

Essential that he do this, and I'm very glad he did.

How Joe has been treated was shameful, disgusting and unnecessary, and it will likely be a dark story covered extensively in the days and years to come. But I'm just glad the public shivving is over.

[j swift]

How can it be this difficult to beat a 78-year-old convicted rapist for president?

[I Am A Swede]

Not the best news, but right now there's no time to dwell on it. The key thing now must be to find someone to run with Kamala against Trump/Vance. Any fallout from all this inside the Democratic Party must wait until after the election is won!

Edited July 21, 2024 by I Am A Swede

[janea4old]

Here's the full text of his tweet (some of which was hidden by the embedding)

Joe Biden @JoeBiden
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.

[MichaelGL]

At this moment only person I can think of that would be acceptable to run against Trump/Vance and be Harris VP pick would be Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Every and anyone who has followed my posts about MVP Harris since her days as Senator knows how I feel about her but her being given such a condensed timeline is making me feel some kind of way. Of course I support her but this tight timeline isn’t fair, just as much pressuring President Biden out wasn’t fair.

[I Am A Swede]

That's why there's no time to lose. Stop any semblance of infighting, choose someone as quick as possible, close ranks behind them and concentrate everything on beating Trump in November. I'm not kidding when I say that I feel this election could be one of the most important ones in history.

[j swift]

I think the counterargument to this talk about a condensed timeline is that most undecided voters historically make up their minds within weeks of the vote.  Which is why the “October surprise” has usually been a useful tactic. 

We also have the Olympics coming up, which will distract us in popular culture.

And, this campaign is so divisive that I can't see anyone crossing party lines to vote the opposition based on personality or other non-political reasons unless they are truly a racist pig, and as an optimist, I don't believe there are enough of them to matter.

Edited July 21, 2024 by j swift

[Soapsuds]

Bill Clinton has just endorsed Kamala.

[I Am A Swede]

I agree. I think that, like in 2020, the key is to get as many people as possible to vote. We know that Trump has his vocal and loyal following, but if the Democrats can mobilize enough voters I think (and hope and pray) that it will be enough to beat him.

[Vee]

This is going to be a hard fight, but as I said the other night: I saw Trump 2024 on that stage the other night. I defy anyone to tell me that man, not the man from eight or even four years ago, can't be beaten by Kamala Harris. It can happen. But it will require the whole Party. Not people leaking to Politico and Semafor every hour on the hour.

 

[MissPhoenixGirl92]

I am really shocked that this happened. I didn't think that Biden was actually going to do it and he was just going to keep on ignoring the naysayers, but the fact that he did really doesn't bode well for the Democrats and for us as a whole. My nagging feeling that this is basically a repeat of 2016 is intensifying even more with this latest turn of events and if the Democrats move ahead with Kamala Harris as their nominee, I won't be surprised if Trump wins. Then again, I guess the Democrats are screwed anyway no matter what they do now. 

Hilary Clinton couldn't even beat Trump back in 2016, so what makes anybody think that Kamala has a chance in hell of beating him? Not to mention that the political climate has gotten so much worse this time around and I can't help but think that there are a whole lot of people that would be more than willing to throw away their freedoms and rights away forever if it meant preventing a Black woman from getting into the Oval Office. 

I really would advise starting making exit plans as soon as possible because this is only going to get much worse from here and I truly believe that we're seeing our democracy fading and withering away in real time. If you guys still want to vote, that's fine  by me, but personally I really don't think it's going to make that much of a difference at this point.

Even if Kamala Harris somehow wins the election, and that's a very big IF, there is no guarantee that Donald Trump doesn't have some kind of back-up plan that's going to allow him to steal the presidency from right underneath her nose. One way or another, he's getting back in the White House and everyone needs to start preparing themselves. 

[I Am A Swede]

He was a fun novelty in 2016. Now more people see him for what he really is, and that does not work in his favour.