You want the actual answer? Because the Democratic Party has spent the last decade torpedoing non-establishment candidates. They killed off other candidates even running in this primary, and shut down several primaries entirely. Why would we waste our time?
And let’s be honest, let’s say that now the DNC appoints a new candidate, like they legally can do, it’s not going to be an AOC or someone even slightly to the left like Warren. It’s going to be another neoliberal like Buttigeig who will continue to Biden’s legacy of absolute mediocrity and screwing over the American people in the name of “freedom”.
This is 100% correct.
Small thing to add - we’re also in the midst of a devastating heat wave across most of the US at this moment. Taking to the streets isn’t exactly an accessible option right now, but anyone who has been remotely engaged in online discourse should be well aware of voters’ discontent with Biden and the status quo. They certainly won’t be discussing it on MSNBC however.
Your comment illustrates how our broken news system is the reason why four months is an insufficient runway for candidate policy clarity.
How do you consider Buttigieg a neoliberal? He wants to remove financial lobbying and stock trading permissions from Congress, create a nine Justice SCOTUS with three Democrat nominated Justices, three Republican, and three voted in by the previous six, his campaign raised $80M from small donations, and he endorsed the Green New Deal.
Just because he’s not as progressive as AOC or Bernie, doesn’t mean he’s not a big step in the right direction.
Thinking back to 2019 iircc the only Democrat candidate of the ±15 that was more conservative than Biden/Harris was Bloomberg. -I guess you could also argue Gabbard but she opted to go a different direction altogether. Regardless, a lot of Democrat voters seem to be projecting their values onto Biden without evaluating him as he is and always has been. He’s never been particularly progressive.
People forget that Biden was paired with Obama because Obama was seen as “too liberal” for “mainstream Democrats”. Biden was supposed to be a “correction” for Obama’s crazy ideas like the ACA (that was actually originally pushed for by, wait for it, Ronald fucking Reagan. The only difference was that Reagan didn’t propose any kind of public option, but that was the first thing Democrats killed in the name of “compromise”)
They didn’t call him Wall Street Pete and Wine Cave Pete for nothing…
I mean, they packed university campuses across the country and then the riot police went in. What kind of goldfish memory is this?
They’re asking why democrats aren’t in the streets though. Democrats were largely against those campus protests since they were perceived as harmful to Biden’s reelection chances.
DemocratsBiden supporters were largely against those campus protests since they were perceived as harmful to Biden’s reelection chances.
The last time we filled the streets we wanted police reform and didn’t get it.
The time before that it was to protest a war that happened anyway.
Not only did we not get police reform, we got a cop as a democratic vice president.
Because that’s not a thing and never has been? Find me any large scale protests in the history of the US where they were protesting a candidate prior to an election.
There’s not a single liberal or leftist (a few paid shill podcasters notwithstanding) in the whole country saying “Joe Biden’s brain is so soupy that Donald Trump would make a better president.” We’re saying Democrat leadership suppressed the primary to anoint an incumbent who’s going to lose. Democracy is on the line, and we’re running out of time to put our best foot forward. It’d be one thing if we were getting honest and reasonable arguments in response, but instead we’re getting gaslit (Only the elites want Biden to step aside?) and being told "get in line or you’re helping Trump somehow. " Meanwhile, Republicans are preparing to sue to keep Biden on the ballot in the event of a switch, because they know who they want to run against.
I hope I’m wrong and I hope he wins, since we’re probably stuck with him on the ticket. Given that he’s down 12 points from where he was in 2020 against Trump, where the swing states that gave Biden the election were only fractions of a percent in his favor, it’s gonna take some kind of miracle. We don’t have to be in this seemingly hopeless situation, but Biden’s ego and stubbornness seem like they’re gonna keep us here.
Historically protests are at the convention when the unpopular candidate is named.
Then the people who named the unpopular candidate blame the protests for the loss
I agree with this message, but the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests were in part due to the nomination of Hubert Humphrey.
Honestly. The number of people just on this platform saying “nobody thinks biden should drop, you’re wrong, you have no right to be upset with Biden’s team, and anyone who says otherwise is a bot” is seriously making me wonder if that narrative itself is the one being pushed by bots to sow discord between us. Who honestly jumps directly to “bot or stupid, no other possible explanation” when they disagree with an opinion so clearly held by a substantial number of people with nuanced opinions.
Anyone paying attention would see that Biden, having won on razor margins in 2020, on promises of being a 1-term president, could not afford to lose ANY ground in democratic turnout. Every feeler they put out is coming back showing we have lost that ground substantially and Biden is utterly unable to campaign to gain it back. Anyone can be not Trump, not everyone can run an energetic campaign on their own merits, and that is overwhelmingly what motivates people to turn out to vote.
It’s not a difficult connection to make and the assumption that bots would be the only ones to make an argument to replace Biden, after they ran a “primary” in which they hid Biden away from us and didn’t let even anyone remotely viable run, is just such an uninformed and arrogant viewpoint to witness in such droves that I hardly believe it’s real.
I seriously wonder the same thing. People panicking and the response being to the people panicking
“don’t worry no one is panicking cause he’s a good pick”
feels like the psyop that helps the Republicans win.
I know it’s just willful ignorance because they find this easier and less scary but like… Are they just Trumpies?
Because there aren’t any other viable candidates.
I agree with you, and that’s how you know it’s just disinformation and dishonesty. Nobody ever has a serious name to replace Biden. You press them for the replacement candidate, and you’ll get a ridiculous answer because they don’t actually have a plan. They just want to knock Biden down.
Harris is already on the ticket. If she’s the reason to vote, good news! Biden can step aside after he beats Trump and hand Harris the big chair. She can then run in 4 years as an incumbent (assuming she does a good job.) If she’s not the dream candidate, then why aren’t we talking about replacing her on the ticket? You want Whitmer or Newsom or Buttigieg, then put them on as the VP and let them run behind Biden.
You don’t get away from Biden’s baggage by having him step aaide. His record, his endorsements, his policies, those all come with the package. The only thing you shed is his age. If that’s the only reason you’re concerned about Biden, then it’s not a serious concern.
how is Biden the only person that can beat Trump? What left-leaning person would go “hmm, it’s not Biden so I guess I’m voting Trump”?
It’s not that Biden is the only person who can beat Trump. Biden is the only person RUNNING who can beat Trump. There are plenty of people who could beat Trump, but until one of them says they want the job this entire thing is a nonstarter.
Did I say that? I might have said something like it in another comment, but I don’t think I ever said anyone who is voting for Biden would vote for Trump if the Dems nominate someone else.
There exist many voters who do not follow politics and will only show up to vote for someone they know. Name recognition builds trust and enthusiasm for voting. We need all the voters, not just the ones tuned in enough to know they shouldn’t vote for Trump.
Nobody ever has a serious name to replace Biden.
Oh, they’ve moved on to indignation now and pretending they didn’t spend the last few weeks disappearing after being asked for a name. But they still very rarely actually give one.
She’s not my favorite, but mostly because we haven’t seen much of her. If Biden can live two years and she can really get her voice out there, she could potentially see 2028 and 2032.
You haven’t seen much of her because she is a terminally uncharismatic former cop who is abusive towards her staff. The best she can do for herself is stay behind the scenes.
I cannot imagine her running a campaign that motivates people to show up at the polls. Now would be her chance to show it though, considering the president himself being incapacitated outside the hours of 10am and 4pm.
They don’t have an answer or you don’t like the answer? Because they are two different things. I can name a bunch of possibilities. I don’t like many of them, but to say “they don’t have any ideas” is ridiculous. So let’s make a list of people I’ve seen brought up as possible replacements:
Newsom, Klouchar, Warren, Sanders, AOC, Whitmer, Buttigeig, Harris…do I need to go on?
Now here’s what you do: you move the goalposts or you play the no true scotsman game (“no, somebody with a serious chance”). Then you continue the game smugly like nobody has actually given you any names that you’re willing to concede might be a better nominee than Biden.
And maybe you won’t, but this is how this argument has gone every single time I’ve had it. It’s a dismissal technique and I’m only really calling it out is because there are a lot of folks like me that have been saying Biden is a shitty choice for the last 3 years and have been told to sit down and shut up because he’s the president and you have to support him (sound familiar? Trump supporters did the same damn thing). We were told “oh Biden has committed to being a 1 term president, he’s just righting the ship”. We were told we could address it in 2024. And then he decided that nah, he felt like running again. And killed the primaries. And we’re told we have to vote for him again because the other guy is fascist.
It feels very much like Oliver Twist being fed gruel everyday and being told to be thankful for it. And then those same people who told us to sit down and shut up are the ones telling us that we have to vote for it again (because fascism!). This is what happened in 2016, then again in 2020, and now again in 2024. At some point people start to throw you the middle finger and walk away, and that’s what you’re seeing happen.
You named 8 people who have all backed Biden and are not running. I would also prefer pretty much any of them to Biden, but they aren’t candidates. You might as well throw in Jon Stewart and Kermit the Frog for all the realism you have in your list.
You also named 8 people. That’s not a plan, that’s a menu. You don’t have an answer, either. The primaries have happened already, and the Democrats don’t have another candidate.
I’ll take you at your word that you’re not a fascist pretending to be a disgruntled progressive, but this is precisely what a fascist pretending to be a disgruntled progressive would say. A sincere progressive wouldn’t attack Biden without a specific path forward or realistic alternative.
So I’ll tell you what should be obvious to you: Trump will be worse. If you don’t think Trump will be worse than Biden, then you’re a Trump supporter. There’s only one perspective that creates such a massive blind spot, and that is to be squarely inside of Trump’s large colon. From any other angle, you would support Biden.
So, please, vote. I don’t expect you to like it. I don’t like it. But we can work on the rest once Trump is behind bars. If he wins again, that’s the end of our Democracy. It is not an option. Biden must win, and then I’ll join your voice in demanding he step down.
You don’t get away from Biden’s baggage by having him step aaide. His record, his endorsements, his policies, those all come with the package.
That’s a good point. The entire Democratic Party has failed the working class (because they were never on our side to begin with). Whose name is on the line on the ballot next to the D is irrelevant; we’ve already lost.
Theres a whole country of people, how hard is it to find one qualified candidate?!
Apparently, rather hard.
I doubt it is the qualification for the actual job that is the issue. Being willing to put one’s family through that shit it tough.
There’s also a very consistent and common shortlist that these people just pretend doesn’t exist because the narrative line they’re now following demands they pretend it doesn’t.
Right! Nobody’s stepped up because Biden hasn’t stepped down, I thought that was well established by now??
