I was greatly surprised when President Biden announced he was ending his re-election campaign. As of this writing he had not endorsed anyone.
Now what? IMO the best case is an open convention and I honestly do not know what will emerge from that.
Update
David Ignatius remarks at the Washington Post:
Biden’s decision will allow a relieved country to applaud his success as president. Much of the Republican critique of Biden is pure nonsense. In fact, he helped steward sustained economic growth. He made critical investments in technology and infrastructure. He rebuilt America’s foreign alliances. And he was steadfast in the great moral challenge of our time, which was resistance to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dark designs on Ukraine and the world.
?It’s often said that if we could see ourselves through others’ eyes, we would make better decisions about our weaknesses. But Biden for many months resisted recognizing what television viewers could plainly see: that he was aging and increasingly unsteady in ways that made another term as commander in chief problematic.
Update
President Biden has just endorsed Kamala Harris.
Always seemed inevitable, but not to be expected. I think the best option is for some sort of mini-competition, perhaps with some weight on the scale in favor of Harris. The competition would attract interest and generate excitement for the Democratic candidate that is probably not going to be there for a pure continuity candidate. But who and how such a competition could be put together is beyond me. That Mark Halperin predicted Biden probably dropping out today to be followed by a mini-comp makes me wonder if he also has the rough outlines of what the Democratic leadership are planning. Who are the Democratic leadership?
He should have done this months ago. Anyway, it will be hard to choose anyone other than Harris without alienating a bloc of voters.
Steve
I’m not super surprised, but it’s impressive they kept the secret without it leaking.
As for what’s next, I think all roads lead to Harris. Now that Biden has endorsed her, I think few potential aspirants will want to try to push against that tide. And then there are the practical considerations which favor Harris.
“ He should have done this months ago.”
Yep – and we can finally say that without being dumped on by Democratic partisans who have insisted for so long that Biden is fine.
@steve
So, you admit President Biden is senile. Now, you just need to admit he is a racist pedephile, and then, we can agree on my formulation that he is a senile, racist, pediphile.
For the record, I think a Harris presidency would be as worthless as Trump’s or Biden’s. What can I say? I am an equal opportunity hater, except for a Nicki Minaj presidency, but that would require a 28th Amendment.
There is always RFK, Jr.
@bob sykes
There is always RFK, Jr.
So, a slightly younger old white guy. Got it.
C’mon man. Get behind Nicki Minaj. I mean really get behind Nicki Minaj. If your into the skinny white girl thing, there is Paris Hilton, and she would not require any Amendment.
Well, there goes the Black vote.
She’s a cop, an Indian American cop.?????
I looked at the dementia thing mostly as a clinician. A fairly common course is for people to have a long slow slope going downwards then accelerate at the end. He wasn’t tout i public so it was hard to know how he was actually doing but at the debate it became clear. The debate acted as a stress test as its the kind fo situation in which you would expect someone with cognitive deficits to perform their worst. They might do well in a familiar setting surrounded by people they know but in the stress test he failed.
A pedophile because he supposedly showered with his daughter who denies it? Pedophile never do pedophilia once, so not buying it. Everyone used to be a racist. Certainly doesnt show up in his actions.
Steve
@steve
So, is the jury still out on Mitch McConnell? When he freezes, is it possible he suddenly begins considering a new theory for why the universe is not just expandinding but accelerating?
Let me help you. They are all too old, and in addition to age issues, they are most likely on medications that affect cognitive functionality.
Until I saw a compilation of some of the videos going back years, I thought he was just being paternal, and it was right-wing nonsense. Once I saw, it was too f*cking creepy. Somebody told me that many fathers shower with their daughters, but it still sounds weird. On the other hand, my father walked around the house in his tighty-whities.
Like most liberals, he is a soft racist. He believes in the “White Man’s Burden”. I love how white people adopt the black boy and put him through high school and college. Strangely, they also help themselves to his earnings, but Britney Spears father did the same thing. So, it might just be something you white people do – steal shit.
Since you are retired, stop reading the pundits, and start with some real shit. Try Minister Farrakhan. Then, spout some of him at your liberal get togethers and watch the blood shoot out of the white people’s eyes. If any black people are there, they will be stunned but slightly shake their heads.
Anyway, I really do not trust you white people. So, it might work better for me.
Anyone but Harris. Look at what she did to her base in California. Also, she has no way of connecting with those swing states. Hoping for an open convention.
Democrats have chosen the high variance option. An increase in the chance of winning, but a greater chance of a wipeout, and I think on net, the median / modal outcome is worse then before.
First, Robert Hur deserves an acknowledgement he was a straight shooter; and if anything Hur underplayed Biden’s issues.
Second, it is ironic that it’s a Democrat talking point about the electoral college and how it is flawed that the popular vote leader may not win. The party just ignored its own popular vote using an “electoral college” as a cudgel to get a “better” candidate.
Third, how is this going to affect foreign affairs. Biden is an official lame duck, yet Ukraine and Middle East are if anything, heating up. Netanyahu visits on Monday. Is Harris going to applaud, skip the meeting? Is Netanyahu going to meet Biden; will Biden take questions?
Fourth, I note Obama didn’t endorse Harris but talked about an open nominating process….. of course it won’t matter a bit unless Obama and Pelosi endorse someone else; Harris will default be the nominee with Biden’s, Jim Clyburn’s endorsement.
“If we had some smoke, we could make smoke and mirrors, if we had some mirrors.”
@Piercello
Use the bong. You get smoke, reflection, and high. A glass crack pipe might work. Not as much smoke, but if you mainline as well, who cares.
Comparing the electoral college to people calling for Biden to drop out may be one of the weirdest analogies I have seen anyone try to stretch. Note that in polls Biden hasn’t been doing well either. It’s not really the case that a small group forced him to drop out, which they really didnt have the power to do anyway. If the polls had showed overwhelming support and the polls didnt shows his mental status as a concern and it was truly a few leaders somehow forcing him then maybe you have a case.
Every president leaves office eventually. Well, one tried to illegally stay in office but even he left. Seems like the lame duck thing occurs regularly.
Obama’s official statement was that he is not endorsing any candidate, same as in past, but help anyone nominated. IIRC that’s not much different than some others.
Steve
“Obama’s official statement was that he is not endorsing any candidate, same as in past, but help anyone nominated.”
That’s the way he operates. Working through surrogates allows him to claim clean hands. It’s not a bad strategy unless he feels he losing control.
General election polls is not the same as the votes of 14 million Democratic voters casting a ballot for Biden as their nominee.
It is the case that its a small group forced him out, because nothing like 14 million or 2 million voters actually casted a ballot against Biden in the primaries. In fact, it is likely it was less then 20,000 people that forced Biden out (outside of the primary process). Lets be honest, its not like Biden’s age wasn’t unknown to those voters; it has been a talking point since 2020.
And yes, “20,000 plotters” used the fact the process is not purely democratic. Their point of leverage was the need for delegates to actually vote for their nominee — which is an “electoral college”. Hence why Biden tried to rush through the virtual roll call last week — to jam himself in as the official nominee. When Biden’s opponents blocked it, that’s when Biden realized he had a losing hand.
Mary Rose Jeffrey:
I’ll help you understand, the people who run D.C. want someone pliable, she’s a known applicant, she’ll read her script and play along and she’ll get RICH.
With Kennedy? They don’t know.
Plus, she’s female, from California, and PART Black, like Obama!
Perfect!
They keep their jobs!
And she’s necessarily NOT slave descendant.
You just never know about them.
And a Pelosi pawn. Has to be.
Tighty Whites:
Me too.
Relaxed and happy.
Biden being creepy is different.
I’m struggling with the evidence of child exploitation and sexual abuse of minors among the rich and powerful and our recent immigrants.
It runs against my grain. It’s hard to even believe. It’s abhorrent. It’s intolerable.
And the evidence says it’s……happening.
Morality is dead because smart people pronounce God to be dead. Then this.
God is not dead,
I renounce thee in the name of Jesus and the policeman shoots her in the face three times.
God was slow on the draw and satan wins the day. Splain me?