US Election & Presidency

First of all I think Biden has made the correct decision in withdrawing his candidature for a myriad of reasons.

The question now is who the Democrats turn to. It is complicated because as I understand it there could be legal challenges especially if Kamala Harris is not on the ticket in some capacity. Questions such as has Harris made enough of an impact as VP to give grounds for enthusiasm? Could any other new candidates generate interest and support quickly enough to threaten Trump?
It's a tricky one for the Democrats made slightly less horrendous by the fact Biden has made this decision now as opposed to even later in the process which would have been a logistical nightmare.

The issue here is made more difficult in that Trump may well have gained some initiative in the presidential race by almost losing his life.
No point skirting around it. If there is political capital to be gained from almost being assassinated then Trump is going to milk it for all it's worth. His strategy of trying to call for unity is clever but not particularly genuine in my view.

America being so ridiculously split down the middle as it is makes things harder. The political system is broken and plays into the hands of cynical populism. That favours Trump. To beat Trump it requires someone to surgically pick apart his record in public life but do so calmly and clinically whilst at the same time being a voice of constructive compromise. On that score I think Harris could do it.
She is after all a former prosecutor who is in line to face off against a convicted felon for the race to the White House.
However the problem is that the American electorate being as febrile and feral of mindset as it is may not be in any mood to accept reason or mature common sense. She may fail precisely because she is not bombastic enough as opposed to being too bombastic.

On her side she has the Biden endorsement and potentially all his funding too.
She also has four years of vice presidential experience now that she did not have before. Being part of the inner circle of decision making gives her important knowledge in terms of trying to defend the Biden record.
The question will be can she cut through to the public in a manner she has not managed previously.
If she wins the whole thing a bunch of glass ceilings will be smashed for the better and she will be a heroine.
If she loses she will cop it big style.

Interesting times indeed.

I'm glad he's done the right thing, even though it took a lot of people telling him to bugger off for the sake of his party. Agreed, interesting times ahead indeed.

The Clintons release a joint statement backing Harris

But for a twist of the head we could have been rid of the pair of them....

(21-07-2024 19:46 )Tumble_Drier Wrote:  But for a twist of the head we could have been rid of the pair of them....

Do not look left,look right.

Joe is going to be awful mad tomorrow morning when he finds out he is not running for reelection.

It would seem that the election, is Trump's to lose.

(21-07-2024 21:04 )lancealot790 Wrote:  Joe is going to be awful mad tomorrow morning when he finds out he is not running for reelection.

Is that Joe Longthorne? Joe Harris? Joe Bloggs? Joe Putin? Joe Johnson?

I’m pretty sure in Bidens mind he is all of those people?

Kamala's biggest Achilles Heel is she must've known Biden wasn't fit to run again, and probably not even fit to run until January. I see Vance is already on that case, and they'll be going after that wound.

On the positive side, there was little appetitie to see these two old men run against each other again, but now there's a different younger candidate. And suddenly Trump is now the old man.

An open contest now seems likely and potentially messy if everybody doesn't play ball and back Harris. But the Democrats only have themselves to blame for all this. Biden should never have been allowed to annouce he's running again, especially by those covering up for him. There are plenty of mentally fit 81 year olds but he's not one of them. He should've been prepping his younger replacement.