Like most of us here, I watched the debate last week and realized quickly that Joe Biden was having a very bad night. I also followed the reactions on social media as the debate was ongoing and on cable news immediately afterward. I instantly knew that Biden would be having to grapple post-debate with not just a realization of his own weak performance, but also with the angst and calls for his replacement from within his own base.
This week, I have seen this continuing. There has been a steady pile on by those casting doubt toward his viability as a candidate
For example, I recently read about a "snap poll" that CNN conducted immediately after the recent Trump/Biden debate. According to this poll - in which it appears that respondents were only allowed to pick a winner (and could not, for example, answer with "neither") - Trump "won" (according to 2/3 of the respondents).
Again, having watched the debate, I agree that Biden certainly came off badly, speaking in a raspy voice, occasionally losing his train of thought, and getting bogged down in details and thus weakening his responses.
Whereas Trump lied all night long and evaded questions. But two thirds of a (random?) sample of Americans saw this as winning. In other words, style over substance.
There were no winners in this forum. There was, however, one guy attempting to speaking honestly and accurately and another who lies pretty much whenever he opens his mouth.
Given that, I am still with Joe Biden. He has, in my opinion, been a very effective president. I have supported him in a number of ways and will continue to do so. I was pleased as punch to be in attendance for his fundraiser event in NYC back in late March of this year. Being in the presence of three living presidents - plus Stephen Colbert — is a moment I will never forget.
As far as the debate that has broken out as Democrats like Jared Golden, Lloyd Doggett and others have called for Biden to be replaced, while I see such calls as foolish and a sign of weakness, I also understand the anxiety about the idea of Trump winning. It is an anxiety knowing exactly how destructive he would be, particularly toward democracy and the rule of law, but also toward the economy, toward the environment and toward our global alliances.
I truly get that! But I am also now tuning a lot of this noise out. I feel like consuming any more of it will be bad for my overall mental health. I acknowledge that it is out there circulating in the media/political ecosphere, I just am not wanting to engage with it any longer.
Democratic voters get to choose their candidates and have done so. Sometime there might be a change in direction. I can respect a valid consensus. But, I am not in favor of Dems pressuring Biden to drop out. Even if that were to happen, and he were to drop out, then what? Where is the guarantee that his replacement would win. I am just not convinced that this gamble would pay off in ways that some are, glibly, suggesting that it would. I am not convinced of that at all.
If Joe Biden were to make that decision (and I hope he does not) on his own, I would respect that and accept it. We would have to scramble though, and it would not be easy at all to have a new candidate begin a campaign this late. It would also feed into a very negative narrative that Trump and his surrogates would be forever spinning about “the Dems in disarray.” And it would actually feel like disarray to me.
So, I am still very much Team Joe. He can still win. We should give him that second chance to prove it.
Let’s be strong, calm and resolved and fight like Hell to keep Donald Trump from ever setting foot in the White House again,