I have a friend who is in her early 80s. She has dementia. She does, as is almost always the way, deny it, only now she has a diagnosis after an MRI scan. It is not deniable any more, except by her.
I thought of that friend when reviewing last night's US Presidential debate, which, by all accounts, was dire, but worse for Biden than Trump.
Trump is an outright fascist. He does not need to be in touch with reality to peddle the untruths that drive his campaign and which will most likely end democracy in the USA and threaten the same around the world.
Biden does need to be competent to beat Trump. The trouble is, he is not. Whatever he might once have been, he is no longer. He is an old man, seemingly losing some of his mental faculties. As will be true of us all one day, if we are lucky enough to reach real old age, he has to face the reality that he is facing the end of his days and can no longer do what once he did.
The trouble for the world is that Biden has not faced that reality. He still thinks he can be President of the USA and serve a full second term. The evidence to the contrary is all too obvious.
The Democrats' duty in the USA is the same as that which my friend's daughters now have, and that is to remove the means for her to do harm. In my friend's case, that means that the car keys have to be taken away. In Biden's case, that means he has to be replaced as Democrat candidate for President. In both cases, there is no choice. The well-being of others requires it.
Unless Biden goes, we face a fascist USA. No one can risk that, and Biden cannot stop it. For the sake of the world, the Democrats need to act now.
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I saw the very beginning. Biden looked and sounded like an old man, unsteady on his feet, stumbling over his words, slightly uncertain and vague. Trump also looks older but he had his usual bombast. As I understand it Biden failed to land the most telling blow, that Trump is a convicted felon.
The first Trump presidency was awful. A second would be an unmitigated disaster.
I agree. Biden is still capable I believe of taking advice. The IRA Act, for example, was heavily influenced by MMT namely Stephanie Kelton working behind the scenes with Bernie Sanders. Trump actually achieved little of any worth despite the bombast except giving the rich a big tax cut. He backed down against Chinese threats to massively reduce imports from American farmers and their lobby made sure Trump got the message. Biden’s main mistep is the Gaza conflict but 9/11 was an emotional big deal for most Americans and that is the context Biden has had to work with.
If you haven’t already, have a look at Project 2025 to see what is in store for the USA under Trump. He will go for a kleptocracy for himself and let the USA slip into a fascist theocracy.
I have
It’s frightening
I absolutely agree with you Richard. Biden was mostly hopeless for 90 minutes. The problem is that there doesn’t seem to be a mechanism for taking him off the ballot unless he agrees to step down – which he won’t do, because he’s stubborn and delusional. That means that the best the Democrats can do at this stage is stop funding the Biden campaign – give him up as a lost cause – and divert funding to congressional races instead… the Senate and the House of Representatives. When Trump wins in November, if he’s facing a solidly Democratic Senate and House, he’ll still do a lot of damage via executive power but he won’t be able to completely destroy US democracy. The Democrats could then focus on getting the best possible candidate in place for 2028.
Good point, Howard.
And I like the new academic email address, which others cannot see.
As Rachel Maddow points out on MSNBC this morning (last night in the US) every president since Papa Bush lost the first presidential debate, with terrible headlines duly following (and yes, even Obama before he won a second term). But as the Michael Steel, the former president of the RNC (when it wasn’t Trumpist), points out on the same programme, the difference was that on each of those occasions the party didn’t rush into panic mode and try to think of ways to get the incumbent president off the ticket. His analysis was that Biden was bad because he wasn’t allowed to ‘be Biden’, his campaign team instead stuffing him full of numbers and stats, which (with him also suffering from a cold), was never going to out trump, the liar in chief, Trump (if you want to see Biden be Biden watch this years State of the Union address).
That said, I agree that it would have been better for US democracy and for the world in general (pity poor Ukraine in particular) if Biden had not decided to run again. But it is what it is, and I for one don’t think this is done a dusted yet at all.
I like the optimism ….
Agree with Bernard Hurley. From watching a lot of the post debate coverage in the US it does seem that Gavin Newsom would be the obvious replacement. He’s recognised nationally as he’s been Governor of California twice (reelected only last year, I think). Has a solid democratic pedigree and would certainly outshine Trump on any stage and in any setting. But ultimately it depends on whether Biden will step aside, and he has the best part of July to decide that so it may be that sensible heads will prevail. He can certainly ‘retire’ in the knowledge that he’s done some excellent things while President.
I hope you’re right….
The problem is this: There really is no other major Democrat with a national footprint and national presence who wants to run against Donald Trump.
@Ivan Horrocks & Richard – Thanks for the optimism
Depressing…..
Vlad Vexler suggests that Gavin Newsom might be able to beat Trump even at this late stage. Vexler’s comments on the debate, that I found quite interesting are here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2rVY5kBODTw
Thanks
Gavin Newsom cannot win against Trump.
Gavin Newsom will not play well in the Midwest and old Deep South both of which are home to several “swing states”.
Newsom is from the Limousine Liberal Wing of the Democrat Party.
Biden is from the Labor Wing of the Democrat Party.
The price of our democracy is vigilance. Politics is not supposed to be melodramatic, because when it is, we will swing pendulum style from one extreme to the other. Regrettably we are seeing this all across democratic societies, and our media acts as an amplifier for this distortion.
I don’t think there is a precedent for an American party not backing an incumbent President who wants to stand for a second term. Recently at least. Neither is there an obvious alternative who commands the necessary recognition among the American electorate.
And if Biden were to step aside at this point, it would presumably mean running a second set of Democratic primaries which would be difficult to do and still run an effective campaign for the actual election.
And it happens that Biden, despite his age and weakness in debating repartee, has been a pretty functional President; he still seems capable of seeking good advice and weighing it up to make a good decision. Whereas Trump’s record in power and subsequently has been one of spectacular dysfunction.
However it does put our frustrations here about Starmer and Sunak into perspective.
I wrote this in response to the ‘debate’ between Biden and Trump. It has been clear for some time that Biden is not compos mentis. Apart from the advanced age of the two US candidates, the UK’s uniparty candidates, Sunak and Starmer, are also incapable of stopping the UK’s decline.
https://dearscotland.substack.com/p/lamestream-media-admits-bidens-cognitive