It's crucial that those of us (like myself) who are standing with Biden/Harris also recognize the distinct possibility that the President really is too frail to continue.
Here's what that means:
Most of the polls taken since the debate, treat all potential Democratic nominees as though they are interchangeable candidates. But the reality i…
It's crucial that those of us (like myself) who are standing with Biden/Harris also recognize the distinct possibility that the President really is too frail to continue.
Here's what that means:
Most of the polls taken since the debate, treat all potential Democratic nominees as though they are interchangeable candidates. But the reality is that only Vice-President Harris (or the President himself) can seamlessly continue the current campaign.
Any nominee not named Biden or Harris would essentially have to build a new campaign from scratch, just months before the election. That is a practical impossibility, even if it were possible to choose such a nominee without fracturing party unity.
Given that Kamala Harris is polling as well, or better, than any other potential nominee, there is only one plausible path to a unified party and victory in November. That is to nominate President Biden, or for him to resign so Ms. Harris can run as the incumbent.
This is the message we have to spread within the Biden-loving activist community.
You obviously were not around when this was tried in 1968. The party didn't behave as you suggest they should then, and will not do so now. The result of LBJ ending his re-election campaign was that the RFK Democrats hated the Humphrey Democrats and disliked the Gene McCarthy Democrats, who hated both the RFK and Humphrey Democrats. The result was Nixon won and we got four more years of the Vietnam War and the majority of US casualties, and the foundation of the crap we still deal with today.
As the Old Salt Marine Gunnery Sergeant said, "Listen up, Butter Cups! Off yer dead asses and onto yer dyin' feet! There's a fight to be won!"
Make that nearly 7 more years, the War really ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon, The Paris Peace Accords were in 1973, but they didn't stop the fighting.
1) LBJ did not resign the presidency. If he had, Mr. Humphrey would have gone into the convention as the incumbent. Not saying that would have unified the party, but it would have been an entirely different scene. Today, President Harris would enjoy full support from virtually all those who are supporting Mr. Biden, as well as all those who don't really want to be the nominee this year.
2) The Democratic party was already torn apart by the Vietnam War. There's no anti-Joe movement today like there was anti-LBJ in '68. ("Hey, hey, LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?" Not to mention the McCarthy and RFK candidacy.
Also possibly inform our own senators & representatives that we intend to vote Biden/Harris - period. Its asinine to think of changing at this point in time AND expecting everyone in the country to also change!!! Aint gonna happen!
Here's an idea: Write to your local newspaper, then forward that letter to your Congressional reps. Use, and re-use, the loving care you put into your message(s) as appropriate.
My wife and I wrote an LTE to the Albany Times Union (timesunion.com) as follows:
***Beginning of LTE***
Regarding your editorial of June 28th ("Editorial: If Biden can’t make a better case for his candidacy than he did Thursday, he must step aside"), we believe that the TU editorial board acted rashly to attack President Joe Biden for his unexpectedly poor performance during the debate.
The very next day, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Joe Biden performed ably and well, calling out Trump's lies ("a new record for the most lies told in a single debate"), and lack of character (“the morals of an alley cat"), and, indeed, speaking plainly about his own performance ("I don't debate as well as I used to").
Your editorial missed this news event completely.
We wish that you had looked as deeply into the realities of electoral history as Lawrence O'Donnell did in his MSNBC segment "We live in a country where most commentators declared the liar the debate winner."
Biden's rally in NC was a good start on a "resurrection campaign." We look forward to more news of that sort, and to excellent, fact-based reporting from the Times Union on the real choice in this election: Democracy under the Democrats, with a few brave Republicans joining them in governing wisely, or the loss of freedom under a Trump dictatorship.
The Philadelphia Inquirer called for Trump to resign (June 29, “To serve his country, Donald Trump should leave the race”).
Have you called for Trump to withdraw from the race?
***End of LTE***
A couple days later, they published that editorial from the Inquirer, and I emailed my thanks to the TU's managing editor.
Thank you and your wife So Much for doing that. It was a good idea to get extra mileage out of the carefully crafted letter. It takes time to write these. Sending them around as far as you can is a good idea.
It's crucial that those of us (like myself) who are standing with Biden/Harris also recognize the distinct possibility that the President really is too frail to continue.
Here's what that means:
Most of the polls taken since the debate, treat all potential Democratic nominees as though they are interchangeable candidates. But the reality is that only Vice-President Harris (or the President himself) can seamlessly continue the current campaign.
Any nominee not named Biden or Harris would essentially have to build a new campaign from scratch, just months before the election. That is a practical impossibility, even if it were possible to choose such a nominee without fracturing party unity.
Given that Kamala Harris is polling as well, or better, than any other potential nominee, there is only one plausible path to a unified party and victory in November. That is to nominate President Biden, or for him to resign so Ms. Harris can run as the incumbent.
This is the message we have to spread within the Biden-loving activist community.
.
You obviously were not around when this was tried in 1968. The party didn't behave as you suggest they should then, and will not do so now. The result of LBJ ending his re-election campaign was that the RFK Democrats hated the Humphrey Democrats and disliked the Gene McCarthy Democrats, who hated both the RFK and Humphrey Democrats. The result was Nixon won and we got four more years of the Vietnam War and the majority of US casualties, and the foundation of the crap we still deal with today.
As the Old Salt Marine Gunnery Sergeant said, "Listen up, Butter Cups! Off yer dead asses and onto yer dyin' feet! There's a fight to be won!"
Make that nearly 7 more years, the War really ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon, The Paris Peace Accords were in 1973, but they didn't stop the fighting.
Two points, TC:
1) LBJ did not resign the presidency. If he had, Mr. Humphrey would have gone into the convention as the incumbent. Not saying that would have unified the party, but it would have been an entirely different scene. Today, President Harris would enjoy full support from virtually all those who are supporting Mr. Biden, as well as all those who don't really want to be the nominee this year.
2) The Democratic party was already torn apart by the Vietnam War. There's no anti-Joe movement today like there was anti-LBJ in '68. ("Hey, hey, LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?" Not to mention the McCarthy and RFK candidacy.
.
If you will re-read, you will see I wrote "resigned his candidacy"
Also possibly inform our own senators & representatives that we intend to vote Biden/Harris - period. Its asinine to think of changing at this point in time AND expecting everyone in the country to also change!!! Aint gonna happen!
Here's an idea: Write to your local newspaper, then forward that letter to your Congressional reps. Use, and re-use, the loving care you put into your message(s) as appropriate.
My wife and I wrote an LTE to the Albany Times Union (timesunion.com) as follows:
***Beginning of LTE***
Regarding your editorial of June 28th ("Editorial: If Biden can’t make a better case for his candidacy than he did Thursday, he must step aside"), we believe that the TU editorial board acted rashly to attack President Joe Biden for his unexpectedly poor performance during the debate.
The very next day, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Joe Biden performed ably and well, calling out Trump's lies ("a new record for the most lies told in a single debate"), and lack of character (“the morals of an alley cat"), and, indeed, speaking plainly about his own performance ("I don't debate as well as I used to").
Your editorial missed this news event completely.
We wish that you had looked as deeply into the realities of electoral history as Lawrence O'Donnell did in his MSNBC segment "We live in a country where most commentators declared the liar the debate winner."
Biden's rally in NC was a good start on a "resurrection campaign." We look forward to more news of that sort, and to excellent, fact-based reporting from the Times Union on the real choice in this election: Democracy under the Democrats, with a few brave Republicans joining them in governing wisely, or the loss of freedom under a Trump dictatorship.
The Philadelphia Inquirer called for Trump to resign (June 29, “To serve his country, Donald Trump should leave the race”).
Have you called for Trump to withdraw from the race?
***End of LTE***
A couple days later, they published that editorial from the Inquirer, and I emailed my thanks to the TU's managing editor.
Thank you and your wife So Much for doing that. It was a good idea to get extra mileage out of the carefully crafted letter. It takes time to write these. Sending them around as far as you can is a good idea.