I didn’t watch the press conference but heard about 15 minutes on the radio. What I heard didn’t reassure me. From what I heard it doesn’t sound like it was as bad as the debate but wasnt nearly as good as needed to be. Yes Biden has always been gaffe prone and mixes up names but the problem is that following the debate and the less than stellar interview with Stephanopoulis Biden is under a lot of scrutiny where ever gaffe is magnified. I don’t think this will reduce the calls for him to step down.
Surprisingly, gaffes in Biden’s press conference felt more assuring than anything over last two weeks. It seemed so normal
I said it would be viewed as another failure, and because of that, I think there will be more calls for him to step down. I still think he needs to go, but he's in a stronger position today than last week. Two other observations: I think it was the NPR reporter who asked him if his pledged delegates, who are not comfortable with him, are free to vote as they see fit. Biden's answer was yes, it's democracy. This gives the green light to the delegates to vote for someone else. There is no DNC rule, other than custom, that they must vote for Biden. The Trump campaign is disciplined. Unlike his supporters who immediately spout nonsense based on what they saw on Twitter, they sent a message that Biden did well enough to continue in the race. This does two things: it doesn't lower the bar for Biden, which I think would backfire on them, and it keeps Biden in the race, which they clearly see as advantageous, as he is a weak candidate.
I'm wondering aloud about both his electability and his fitness for office. IME age related issues tend to be a slippery slope. Once it begins, the decline accelerates at an alarming rate. Can he keep it together over the next 4~ months? Maybe, maybe not. Can he keep it together for the next 4+ years? I'm almost certain he cannot. I do not want Kamala Harris to be President, nor do I want the country to have to deal with changing Presidents (either voluntarily or god forbid involuntarily) mid-stream. It's absurd we're having this discussion and I am ashamed of both Biden and the Democrats for putting us in this position.
Yes, he can be typical Biden over the next ~four months. He will make gaffes, and he could repeat his debate performance at any time. Oct self sabotage. It's too risky, as he has a record of gaffes, so there's no reason to think he won't repeat them untimely. The microphone and microlens are waiting to capture those moments. Other than that, he can govern. He's slow and old. He knows his stuff better than 99.9% of the folks on this forum and 80% of the senators and congressmen. That's today. Over the next four years, he could decline rapidly if some old-age disease hits him, which he's clearly at a higher risk of developing. Maybe that's a 20% risk, and that would be absolutely too high, IMO, for a normal election. Biden's age over the next four years doesn't factor into it for me at all given the other guy. Presidents do die or get assassinated while in office, and we have a constitutional, clear way and a historical record of transition that allows the ship to continue until the next election. Harris isn't someone I'm concerned about breaking the ship. She will be able to handle it fine. She might even surprise us. We too often look for a president who is polished and quick on their feet, not one who is studious, knows their stuff, and governs well.
But but the woke clowns in here will call him dipshit moron and tout Bidenomics as the greatest thing since slice bread.
Yeah - at least he caught himself. I strongly suspect he still sometimes calls Jill Biden by his wife's first name.
Yup - saying the wrong name, when it is clear that it is just a gaffe is one thing - but he is 82 and we can see how much he has aged just in the last 3+ years. Honestly though, what we are dealing with right now with Biden, we will likely be dealing if we elect Trump too - he is only a few years younger than Biden... hopefully the parties realize they need to nominate younger candidates. The job is extremely demanding and very few people in their 80's are capable of doing it, plus the life expectancy comes into play as well. No one wants the uncertainty of electing and then replacing a sitting President from death because of age or illness.
Yes - once someone is in their mid 70's, age really accelerates. Couple that with how demanding the job of campaigning and being President is - it is actually surprising that Biden isn't worse. He is approximately 82 years old and will be 85-86 by the time his term ends. Biden appears to be mentally all there, the issue is that his body is breaking down and betraying him and he has neurological issues. There are also real concerns that he may not live until he is 85-86 years old. What sucks for the country is that the other candidate is only 4 years younger, and has not taken care of himself. So, we are going to be dealing with a lot of these same issues with Biden, with Trump over the next few years as he will be going deeper into his geriatric years. Both parties should be ashamed - they have not put the best interest of the country over their own selfish interests. In 4 years from now we are going to either have an 85-year-old Biden or an 82-year-old Trump as President of the most powerful country in the world and there are some valid concerns about that. A lot of jokes are made about older people and the gaffs or people like Reagan, Biden and Trump - but the reality is that running a country is exhausting between the travel, the press, meeting with advisors, making decisions for political reasons and best interest of the nation - speaking to the public, dealing with possible scandals etc. This job is not for someone as old as these guys.
agree completely, but I saw someone noted Nancy Pelosi is three years older than Biden right now, and she doesn't appear to have lost a step. So it's not like there's some sort of rigid line between being old versus being "too old."
Of course. Aging hits everyone differently and at different rates (both on the front and back end). You truly are only as 'old' as you feel. I had to deal with an aging grandparent and the loss of their faculties. When I see Biden I see a lot of that person in him. It feels irresponsible, both practically and morally, to support his campaign at this point. Shame on the people who are cheering this on.
not sure I'm seeing people "cheering this on," if anything I think there's a shared sense of tragedy that the Democrats (and Biden) have let it get to this point
Your window into the 'blue no matter who' universe is probably a lot smaller than mine. There are a lot of astro123's out there.
I agree that there isn't a rigid line, but I think that it just isn't worth the risk because the reality is that most people will hit that point - look at Feinstein and McConnell. In the case of McConnell, he is mentally there but he, like Biden is having his body betray him. Also - Pelosi has a very demanding job, but she isn't debating like Biden is and if you watch clips of Pelosi a decade ago, she isn't as good as she was. I wish as a society we addressed it differently - we ALL are eventually going to deal with this, and it also is completely normal and a healthy part of aging. Plus, people like Biden and McConnell and Trump are not mentally bumbling idiots.... their body cannot always express what is in their head. There are exceptions, Feinstein for example clearly had issues with mental cognition - which happens for most people as well, and they are not fit to be in the position they previously held. We should be honest with the limitations we have as we age - but I just find the "senile grandpa" characture that is common in our culture to be very offensive and largely not true, and that has nothing to do with politics.
maybe. but I think a lot of conservatives/Republicans are in shock at Biden's campaign and how quickly the wheels have come off the bus. I think there was suspicion all along about Biden's health, but this is a genuinely historic meltdown, and I think there's some sympathy for Biden as a person there even if conservatives detest Biden's leftist politics
