First time poster here so I am standing by for a range of accusations to be raised against me; Russian bot, troll, bad actor etc.
Europe is terrified of tRump. He would weaken and undermine Nato, he would give permission to Putin to keep on invading and would undo what little progress has been made towards addressing climate change.
The Task; to defeat Trump, to maintain control of the Senate, win the House and deliver strong blue down-ballot success. How to achieve the first bit? By, critically, persuading a relatively few swing voters, in a few swing States, to a)Vote, and b)Vote blue. Beyond that the task must be to motivate the youth vote, presently (I get the impression) wholly unimpressed-to say the least- with the Biden Administration’s apparent support for the extreme oppression of Palestinians. Simple eh?
The crunch. Who is likely to be the most effective candidate to do this?
We don’t know; we can only use our judgement and experience, listen to voters and ‘experts’, analyse polls and process the views of others. There can be be no dogmatic absolutes; the position that if we stick with President Biden we will win, if we change horses we will lose, is not sustainable. I can say ‘the earth is flat’ but repeating this absolute statement, or shouting it, does not make the earth flatter! We don’t know, and we will never know ‘the other’. We will never know-if Pres Biden runs and loses how an alternative would have done, and vice versa.
The Debate disaster has happened. It is far from the first time the President’s cognitive acuity has been shown wanting; we can apply a simple risk assessment model going forward. How likely is something similar to happen in public before November, and if it does, what would the consequences be? As Former Speaker Pelosi has said, questioning the Presidents ability to deliver (on the task) is ‘legitimate’. Is she a troll, or Russian agent? is Clooney, Schiff, Nadler etc? Seriously?
So, Kossacks, the question is healthy. Debate is healthy. I have been a Kos regular reader since the election of the tfg; I found solace in outstanding journalism and the wit and wisdom of commenters through the dark despond of the tRump presidency. I find this present-seeming majority Kossack-view(?) that there can be no alternative to Pres. Biden’s candidacy quite unnerving. The poet and prophet William Blake (1757-1827) tells us that if the fool were to persist in his folly he would become wise. We will see.
On a positive note I am lucky enough to live, and pay my taxes, in Scotland where in the July 4 General Election more than 80 percent of voters chose progressive/left of centre candidates, Get your head round that!. Best wishes to kossacks everywhere!