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Joe Biden withdraws from US presidential election race [Update at Post#51]

Should 'sleepy' Joe Biden be allowed to run in the US elections against populist Donald Trump?

  • Yes, because he is the sitting President

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No, someone else must be chosen to face Donald Trump

    Votes: 8 100.0%
  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
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60% of Americans say Biden is not fit for another term as president after disastrous debate — yet 2024 contest with Trump remains too close to call​

A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll confirms what most viewers sensed after last Thursday’s presidential debate: that it was a disastrous night for the 81-year-old President Biden, who looked unsteady, sounded sick, stumbled over his words and, at one point, lost his train of thought entirely.

A full 60% of Americans now say Biden is not “fit to serve another term as president.” Just 24% say he is fit. The president’s fitness rating has only been that low once before, in November 2023, and it has never been worse.

Yet the survey of 1,754 U.S. adults, which was conducted from June 28 to July 1, also shows that Biden (43%) remains statistically tied with his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump

(45%), in a head-to-head matchup among registered voters — even after a performance that seemed to substantiate long-standing concerns about the president’s age and competence going forward.

In short, Biden’s vulnerability has never been more apparent — but Trump remains too flawed to fully capitalize.

A truly terrible debate for Biden
There is no sugarcoating Biden’s debate numbers. Roughly three out of every four Americans (74%) say they either watched the debate (56%) or saw enough video clips afterwards to have an opinion about how it went (18%). A full 84% of registered voters report watching the debate (66%) or catching clips afterwards (18%).

Among that group of registered voters, a clear majority (57%) say Trump won the debate. Just 16% say Biden was the winner.

It’s rare, in our sharply polarized era, to see a margin that big. It’s also a stark shift from 2020. To put the president’s dismal debate numbers in perspective, the Yahoo News/YouGov surveys conducted in October of that year — which asked identical questions — found that Biden easily beat Trump among registered voters in their first debate (43% to 27%) while edging him in their second clash as well (48% to 41%). Still, in neither case did a majority of Americans name Biden the winner.

Source: Yahoo News
 

Struggling Biden faces big test with ABC interview, vows to fight on​

US President Joe Biden, scrambling to defuse a political crisis over his shaky debate performance, will participate in a television interview on Friday that will be closely watched for signs of whether his mental acuity is failing.

Biden will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to rally Democratic voters. During the trip he will be interviewed by ABC News, part of a flurry of events over the next week aimed at showing Americans he still has the stamina to run against Republican candidate Donald Trump in the November 5 election.

While Biden insists he is staying in the race and that his health is not faltering, he is under enormous pressure to step aside and open a path for 59-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris.

Some donors are making their displeasure known loudly, halting funding or looking at possible Democratic alternatives. Even some of Biden’s closest political allies, like former speaker Nancy Pelosi, have raised questions about his health.

Several public opinion polls have shown Trump establishing a sizeable lead over the Democratic president since the debate, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll found one in three Democrats want Biden to quit the race.

The White House has blamed a cold for Biden’s shaky performance and Biden himself cited jet lag from back-to-back trips to Europe.

The ABC interview offers the likelihood of unscripted comments from Biden, who relies heavily on the use of a teleprompter for his public remarks.

At Fourth of July holiday ceremonies on the White House South Lawn on Thursday night, Biden responded quickly when someone shouted at him to “keep up the fight”.

“You got me, man,” Biden responded. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Harris is a strong contender to take his place if Biden were to drop out, sources have said, though his allies believe he can still assuage the concerns of voters and donors.

Trump’s campaign and some of his allies have launched a pre-emptive political strike on Harris, moving swiftly to try to discredit her amid talk that she could eventually replace Biden as the Democrats’ nominee.

The Biden campaign showed no signs of slowing down, although the Trump team has overtaken it on fundraising. The campaign announced it would spend $50 million on a media blitz for the month of July, “including strategic investments around key events that draw in large and politically diverse audiences like the 2024 Olympic Games and the Republican National Convention”.

Trump, 78, who made multiple false statements from the debate stage in Atlanta, falsely claimed in a video that was circulated on social media that he had driven Biden out of the race. He made disparaging comments about Harris in the same video, which the Trump campaign stood by.

Source: Reuters
 
Kamala Harris will be the Democratic nominee. Biden's time is up and the media have turned against him.
 
Biden has ensured the Trump will be elected back in Nov, and infact the mandate for Republicans will be sweeping.
The only saving grace is the overturning of Roe v/s Wade thats holding some respectable fight for Democrats and even on the abortion issue, Trump and Republicans are turning mildly moderate.

Apart from many other issues, I believe this pandering to Trans-rights by the left in Western world has really pushed a lot of the people in the centre to the right. Even Starmer had to back track from his previous stands on trans rights in UK. Regular folks are not comfortable with insertion of trans talks in every day discourse.
 
She would be equally pathetic, pity for democrates once they had guys like Bernie Sanders as early drop outs from Presidential race but now even can't bring up a proper nominee to challenge Trump
RexRex said:
Kamala Harris will be the Democratic nominee. Biden's time is up and the media have turned against him.
Click to expand...
 
The Bald Eagle said:
She would be equally pathetic, pity for democrates once they had guys like Bernie Sanders as early drop outs from Presidential race but now even can't bring up a proper nominee to challenge Trump
Click to expand...
Corbyn ,Sanders might be good people but they cannot run a capitalist country in this world.

Jimmy Carter was a good human but almost destroyed America with limitations and his policies.
 
JaDed said:
Corbyn ,Sanders might be good people but they cannot run a capitalist country in this world.

Jimmy Carter was a good human but almost destroyed America with limitations and his policies.
Click to expand...
The bitter truth, good guys are always unacceptable to the deep state and establishment elements.
 
Trump too confident this team and he has every reason for it
====
Donald Trump offered a blunt assessment of Joe Biden, describing him as a "broken-down pile of crap" on the verge of "quitting the race" in a recently leaked video

The clip, acquired by the Daily Beast, showcases the 78-year-old former president discussing the 2024 presidential campaign while sitting in a golf cart, holding cash, with his son Barron nearby. The video, taken after last week’s presidential debate, captures Trump’s candid commentary on the race.

In the video, Trump asked off-camera, “How did I do with the debate the other night?” He then predicted that Biden would not seek re-election, stating, “He just quit, you know – he’s quitting the race. I got him out of the – and that means we have Kamala.”

While the White House and many Democrats maintain that Biden will remain the nominee, recent polls reveal that he trails Trump by six points, with Vice President Kamala Harris potentially being a weaker candidate in November. Trump remarked in the video, “I think she’s gonna be better” as an opponent, but added, “She’s so bad. She’s so pathetic,” emphasising, “She’s so fucking bad.”

Biden’s campaign denied any intention of withdrawal, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating, “Absolutely not.” Several Democratic governors reiterated this stance, declaring Biden is "in it to win it."

The Trump campaign, though not directly commenting on the video, predicted a "total collapse" of the Democratic party following Biden’s lacklustre debate performance and growing calls for him to step aside.

The Biden-Harris campaign responded by labelling the video as another “rock bottom” for Trump, an attempt to deflect from Biden's struggles.

Trump also questioned Biden's capability to handle international leaders like Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping. “Can you imagine that guy dealing with Putin? And the president of China – who’s a fierce person. He’s a fierce man, very tough guy. And they see him,” Trump commented, highlighting concerns about Biden’s foreign policy strength.

Source: The Express Tribune
 

Latest in, he is still adamant to run in Presidential elections​

=====

Biden says he 'screwed up' debate but vows to stay in election

President Joe Biden has admitted he "screwed up" in last week's debate against Donald Trump, but has vowed to fight on in the election race and moved to reassure key allies.​


He told a Wisconsin radio station he made a "mistake" with his stumbling performance, but urged voters to instead judge him on his time in the White House.

On Wednesday, as reports suggested he was weighing his future, he worked to calm senior Democrats including state governors and campaign staff.

“I'm the nominee of the Democratic Party. No one's pushing me out. I'm not leaving," he said in a call to the broader campaign, a source told BBC News.

Mr Biden was joined on the call by Vice-President Kamala Harris, who reiterated her support. Speculation has mounted over whether she could replace the president as the party’s candidate ahead of the November election.

A fundraising email sent after the call by the Biden-Harris campaign was also bullish. “Let me say this as clearly and simply as I can: I'm running,” Mr Biden said.

Can Biden be replaced as nominee? It's not easy

It sparked concern in Democratic circles around his fitness for office and his ability to win the election. Pressure on Mr Biden to drop out has only grown as more polls suggest his Republican rival’s lead has widened. A New York Times poll conducted after the debate, which was published on Wednesday, suggested Trump was now holding his biggest lead yet at six points.
And a separate poll published by the BBC’s US partner CBS News suggested Trump has a three-point lead over Mr Biden in the crucial battleground states.

The damaging polling for Mr Biden has been compounded by some Democratic donors and lawmakers publicly calling on the president to stand aside.

Among them are Ramesh Kapur, an Indian-American industrialist based in Massachusetts, who has organised fundraisers for Democrats since 1988.

“I think it’s time for him to pass the torch,” Mr Kapur told the BBC. “I know he has the drive, but you can’t fight Mother Nature.”

And two Democrats in Congress also called for a change at the top of the party’s ticket. The second, Representative Raul Grijalva of Arizona, told the New York Times it was time for Democrats to “look elsewhere”.

Despite this, the White House and the Biden campaign have vehemently denied reports he is actively weighing his future and say he is committed to defeating Trump for a second time on 5 November.

The New York Times and CNN reported on Wednesday that Mr Biden had told an unnamed ally he was aware his re-election bid was in danger.

Source: BBC
 

Biden's interview fails to quell Democrats' concerns about his fitness​

President Joe Biden's Friday night TV interview does not seem to have quelled an uprising within his own party to end his campaign after a halting debate performance against Donald Trump.

A fifth House Democrat, Angie Craig of Minnesota, joined her colleagues on Saturday in calling for the president to step aside, as reports indicate more could follow soon.

In his rare primetime ABC News interview, Mr Biden dismissed his debate performance as just a “bad episode” and said only the "Lord Almighty" could convince him to end his bid for re-election.

Mr Biden, 81, is spending Saturday at his family home in Delaware before two public events on Sunday.

While no senior members of the party have called on the president to quit, the unease amongst Democrats is palpable.
Some polls show Trump's lead over Mr Biden widening, and many are concerned about losing the presidency and House seats, along with the Senate majority, if he leads the ticket.

On Saturday, congresswoman Craig, who is running in a competitive district in Minnesota, said she did not believe that the president could "effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump".

She said while she respects the president's decades of service, she is calling for Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee.

“This is not a decision I’ve come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency," she said in a statement.

Minutes after the ABC interview, Texas congressman Lloyd Doggett, the first House Democrat to call for Biden to drop out of the race, said on CNN that the "need for (Biden) to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it".

He said the longer it takes Mr Biden to make a decision to withdraw, the "more difficult for a new person to come on board who can defeat Donald Trump".

Other House Democrats including congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts called on Mr Biden to withdraw from the race on Friday. They join Arizona lawmaker Raúl Grijalva who called for the president to end his candidacy on Wednesday.

In his interview, Mr Biden declined to take a cognitive test and make the results public to prove he is fit to serve another term.

"I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test - everything I do [is a test]," he told George Stephanopoulos.

This response did not resonate with Democratic congresswoman Judy Chu of California, who told news outlet Politico that his answer was “unsettling and not particularly convincing, so I will be watching closely every day to see how he is doing, especially in spontaneous situations".

www.bbc.com

TV interview fails to quell Democrats' concerns about Biden's fitness

A day after the interview, a fifth Democratic member of Congress has called on him to end his bid for re-election.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Democrats weigh risks and rewards of losing Biden

President Joe Biden sought to revive his beleaguered re-election effort on Sunday, with two campaign events in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state.

But the efforts so far have done little to quell the swirling panic as Democrats weigh the risks and rewards of keeping Mr Biden at the top of the ticket.

Calls for Mr Biden, 81, to exit the race have only grown after a halting debate performance last week raised questions about his physical and mental capacity to run. A prime time interview with ABC on Friday fuelled further speculation about his campaign's future.

A number of top Democratic figures voiced their stances over the weekend, aiming to address the question: is it riskier to stick with Biden or to leave him behind?

The party may be headed to defeat against Donald Trump in November if Mr Biden stays on, but replacing him comes with many unknowns.


www.bbc.com

Democrats weigh risks and rewards of losing Biden

Concern over Mr Biden's re-election effort has reached fever pitch. Is there a better option?
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 

It’s 9 now: House Democrats who oppose ‘gaffe machine’ Biden’s presidential bid​

“I am a gaffe machine,” Joe Biden acknowledged on his book tour in 2018, two years before he became the US president. Now, his gaffe-streak has put his presidential candidature on the line, with the chorus growing louder asking him to drop out of the race. Many including some of the House Democrats believe Donald Trump has already won if Biden remains the Democratic Party candidate against the Republican Party nominee in the November 2024 US presidential election.

By Sunday night, the number of House Democrats demanding Biden’s removal as the presidential nominee grew to nine, deepening the political crisis surrounding the embattled US president. This came when Biden campaigned in the must-win state of Pennsylvania.

The chorus grows louder

The latest four senior House Democrats who forcefully pressed the demand that Biden should step aside were — Jerry Nadler (from New York), Adam Smith (from Washington, Mark Takano (from California) and Joseph Morelle (from New York), the CNN reported.

They joined the five other House Democrats who have gone public calling on Biden to drop his reelection bid citing his diminishing chances of defeating Donald Trump.

Lloyd Doggett (from Texas) was the first House Democrat to call for Biden to withdraw with an official statement on Tuesday last week. “Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw,” Doggett said.

Others who followed Doggett in asking Biden to make way for a new candidate to take on Trump in the November contest were Raúl Grijalva (from Arizona), Seth Moulton (from Massachusetts), Mike Quigley (Illinois) and Angie Craig (from Minnesota).

The US media reports say there are at least 18 elected Democrats who are against Biden contesting the US presidential election in November. This comes as top Democratic leaders are reported to be organising meetings to discuss Biden’s fitness for the office.

A look at Biden’s gaffes

Against the backdrop of his gaffes, especially after becoming the US president in January 2020, Biden was facing severe criticism over his fitness to occupy the White House. Medical professionals, however, supported him, with Biden’s physician Dr Kevin O’Connor saying in 2021, that he was a “healthy, vigorous 78-year-old male fit for presidency”.

Amid his slipping tongues and freezes in summits, Biden gave just 36 press conferences by the end of June — fewer than any president since Ronald Reagan.

Let’s look at some of the most embarrassing gaffes that painted Biden in a poor light, finally weakening his candidature against Trump, and bringing him to the verge of an unprecedented move in US election history — a possible removal of a presidential nominee by the Democratic Party:

March 2021: Biden stumbled thrice on the stairs of Air Force One. A White House spokesperson blamed it on the high-speed wind.

March 2022: At the State of the Union, Biden said “Iranian” when he meant “Ukrainian” and confused “profits” with “prices."

March 2022: In Warsaw, Biden read a well-written script but ad-libbed to say, Putin “cannot remain in power,” prompting a White House clarification.

September 2022: During a conference, Biden sought out the late representative Jackie Walorski.

October 2022: Biden began a speech with “Let me start with two words: ‘Made in America.’"

November 2022: Biden mistakenly linked inflation to the Iraq war and claimed his son Beau died in Iraq, which was incorrect. His son had returned from Iraq and died in a US hospital.

May 2023: Biden referred to South Korea’s president as “President Loon” (Yoon Suk Yeol).

June 2023: Biden called British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “president”.

June 2023: In Connecticut, Biden ended a speech with “God save the queen, man”.

June 2023: Biden confused Russia’s attacks on Ukraine with Iraq. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was losing war in Iraq.

September 2023: During a press conference in Hanoi, Biden was abruptly stopped mid-ramble by his press secretary. “We talked about stability, we talked about the Third World, excuse me, the Southern Hemisphere has access to change. It wasn’t confrontational at all…” Biden said to a question, his remarks meandering.

September 2023: Biden mistakenly claimed he visited Ground Zero the day after the 9/11 attacks. He actually visited the site nine days after the attacks.

February 2024: Biden confused French President Emmanuel Macron with François Mitterrand, the longest holder of the office (1981-95).

June 2024: Biden appeared to “freeze” during a Juneteenth event before briefly stumbling on his words.

Against this backdrop, on June 27, Biden’s first debate against Trump saw him hoarse and stumbling, later attributed to a cold and jet lag. But it triggered a number of Democrats seeking his removal as the party’s presidential candidate.

Why Democrats are worried

Democrats look worried more on account of the perception of Biden, who is losing the battle in opinion polls. Economically, Biden’s record in job creation has been fairly good, with over 206,000 jobs created in June alone. However, the unemployment rate too ticked up slightly from four per cent in May to 4.1 per cent in June. But overall, Biden has ensured that the US economy came out stronger after the pandemic years.

Inflation has come down to 3.3 per cent, less than half of what the US saw during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it’s still far above the range of two per cent around which it hovered during Trump years (2016-19). Another issue that is bothering the Democrats is the migration from the southern borders. Trump had made illegal migration from Mexico a high-pitched campaign during his presidentship. Biden is losing the perception battle in safeguarding the borders, the recent survey shows.

These factors have rattled several Democrats’, who view Biden as a weak candidate to face Trump. Already, surveys and opinions favour his vice-president Kamala Harris as a better challenger to take on Trump in the presidential election four months from now.

Source: First Post
 

Clooney and Pelosi heap pressure on Biden campaign​


George Clooney has issued a damning call for Joe Biden to pull out of the US presidential race, hours after senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi swerved questions about whether he should continue.

The Hollywood actor and prominent Democratic Party fundraiser, said that the president had won many battles in his career, "but the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time".

His comments came hours after Ms Pelosi, the former House Speaker, joined growing disquiet in the party, saying that time was "running short" for Mr Biden to decide whether to stay in the race against Donald Trump after a disastrous debate late last month.

Clooney said in The New York Times that it was "devastating to say it" but the Mr Biden he met at a fundraiser three weeks ago was not the "Joe 'big ****ing deal" Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020.

"He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate," he said. "Our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw.

"This is about age. Nothing more," he continued. "We are not going to win in November with this president."

The growing dissent has emerged amid one of the most consequential weeks of Mr Biden's struggling re-election campaign as he hosts a crucial Nato summit in Washington.

On MSNBC'S Morning Joe, when asked if she supported President Biden's re-election, Ms Pelosi said: "I want him to do whatever he decides to do."

"It's up to the president to decide if he's going to run. We are all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short.

Her response appeared to ignore Mr Biden's repeated statement on Monday, on the same programme, that he was committed to staying in the race.

The president has struggled to maintain morale within his party since his 27 June debate performance against Trump.

Since then, around a dozen elected Democrats have suggested he should abandon his election campaign in private and public comments.

On Tuesday, Michael Bennet of Colorado became the first Senate Democrat to publicly dissent.

Although he did not call for Mr Biden to quit outright, he said Trump would win the election, possibly by a "landslide".

Others have been much more direct.

North Jersey Congresswoman Mikie Sherril said in a statement: "I am asking that he declare that he won’t run for re-election."

Acknowledging the pressure, Ms Pelosi said on Wednesday: "I said to everyone - let's just hold off. Whatever you're thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don't have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week. But I am very proud of the president."

www.bbc.com

George Clooney calls for Joe Biden to quit presidential race

Hollywood star joins growing list of donors and senior Democrats questioning president's fitness.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Never understood the fascination of hollywood with Democrats.
I understand Weinstein and Epstein issues which they want to brush under the carper but still
 
JaDed said:
Never understood the fascination of hollywood with Democrats.
I understand Weinstein and Epstein issues which they want to brush under the carper but still
Click to expand...
While true liberalism is a great ideal (although impractical to be followed), most people adopt a liberal identity to cover for their immoral and unethical behavior. You can be a paedophile, a womanizer, but as long as you are known as a liberal, the ecosystem will go very soft on you, and even cover for you.

So it is a no brainer why hollywood sides with democrats.
 
Biden's bruising day sinks hopes Democrats will move on

The most devastating argument against Joe Biden’s re-election bid may have come not from a politician or a pundit, but from a film star.

But George Clooney, with his stinging New York Times opinion piece, isn’t the only one speaking out. A growing chorus from Democrats is sinking the president’s hopes of steadying his campaign this week - and perhaps ever.

This all comes after it appeared that the president had turned a corner, with the influential Congressional Black Caucus and key liberal members of Congress just voicing their support for him.

But now the ground has shifted once again - and all in the midst of a high-profile Nato summit with US allies here in Washington.

On Wednesday evening, Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Democratic senator to openly call on Mr Biden to withdraw, "for the good of the country", as he wrote in a newspaper op-ed.

The drumbeat of defections makes the stakes for Mr Biden’s press conference at the end of the Nato summit on Thursday afternoon even higher. It will be the biggest unscripted test for him since his botched debate two weeks prior which triggered this crisis.

Mr Biden also has a sit-down interview scheduled with NBC News presenter Lester Holt on Monday. A fumble or misstep in the days ahead could buttress all the most damaging assertions Mr Clooney, a top Democratic fundraiser, makes in his New York Times piece.

The actor writes that the president's decline is not an illusion; it’s real. He points to a Los Angeles fundraiser he threw for the president last month. “The Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe... of 2010,” he writes. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

The president is not up to the task of beating Donald Trump in November, Clooney continues. He calls the Biden campaign’s claim that he is the choice of Democratic primary voters “disingenuous, at best”. And, perhaps most devastating, he says every prominent Democrat he has spoken with knows all this – whether they’re willing to publicly admit it or not.

“We can put our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle in November", he writes, “or we can speak the truth.”

The Biden campaign is pushing back against the Clooney piece, noting that the president had flown across nine time zones, from the G7 summit in Italy, to attend the star’s fundraiser.

Campaign officials also note that the president has had serious disagreements recently with the star and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, about his administration’s Gaza policy. The opinion piece, published three weeks after that Los Angeles fundraiser, could be viewed like a strike timed for maximum effect.

But Clooney isn’t just any movie star. He’s a powerful fundraiser for Democrats and has been for years. Given that California, and the Hollywood industry in particular, is a key part of the party’s money base, Clooney’s comments present a very real threat to Mr Biden.

It also comes on the heels of expressions of dissatisfaction from other big-money Democratic donors, such as Netflix chair Reed Hastings and IAC chair Barry Diller.

The actor is also plugged in to party politics, with close ties to former President Barack Obama. It is difficult to imagine that he would have taken to the pages of the New York Times in such a dramatic way, with a double-barrel blast against the sitting president, without at least some tacit sign-off from prominent Democrats.

Revelling in the Democratic turmoil on Wednesday night, Trump posted to social media about Clooney: "He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are."

Increasingly, prominent Democrats are saying things that should give Mr Biden pause.

Senator Welch's column in the Washington Post said: "We have asked President Biden to do so much for so many for so long.

"It has required unmatched selflessness and courage. We need him to put us first, as he has done before. I urge him to do it now."

Earlier in the day, hours before the Clooney and Welch opinion pieces published, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - who still holds considerable influence within the party - stopped notably short of endorsing Mr Biden's bid for re-election.

She said the president’s critics should hold their tongues until after this week’s Nato summit. “Whatever you're thinking,” she said, “you didn't have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week.”

She added that Mr Biden should make a decision quickly about whether to continue his campaign. When prodded that the president had already clearly said he would stay in the race, she dodged. “I want him to do whatever he decides to do,” Mrs Pelosi said.

And later in the day, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine - Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential running mate in 2016 - offered similar lines, about how the president “will do the patriotic thing for the country” and “make that decision”.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, put it even more bluntly: “I’m fully behind him as our nominee until he’s not our nominee.”

It’s as if Mr Biden’s tepid supporters simply won’t take “yes, I’m still running” as an answer.

Meanwhile, even some of Mr Biden’s staunchest supporters have started to engage in “what if” scenarios. California Governor Gavin Newsom said he still backs the president, and would not run against Vice-President Kamala Harris as the nominee if Mr Biden stepped aside.

Senate Democrats are meeting Biden campaign officials on Thursday to discuss the future of the campaign. And House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said he would speak to the president directly about Democratic concerns by Friday.

Wheels are turning, but it's unclear whether they are grinding toward a resolution or spinning in place.

If Mr Biden were to bow out, it’s still unclear what happens next. Some have suggested that Ms Harris, as the president’s running mate, is next in line.

The solution, according to Clooney, is for Democrats to regroup and pick a new nominee, although he is vague about how the process could unfold. And his suggestion that, because of the shortened campaign season, whoever the party chooses would be able to avoid opposition research and negative campaigning – either from fellow Democrats or Republicans – seems naive in the extreme.

While the mood in Washington has taken a new turn against the president in the past 24 hours, the mathematics of his situation has not changed.

Mr Biden still controls the lion’s share of national convention delegates who ultimately decide the party’s presidential ticket. And while those delegates aren’t explicitly bound to support him, he could replace any who show insufficient loyalty.

The opinion polls, while indicating he is trailing Trump, have not changed dramatically since his ill-fated debate. And few show any of the most obvious alternatives to him – the vice-president and prominent Democratic governors – doing substantially better.

Even Mr Biden’s critics, with their appeals to his patriotism, sense of duty and concern for American democracy given the potential for a second Trump presidency, implicitly acknowledge that the decision ultimately lies with him.

What Wednesday demonstrated, though, is that if he presses ahead, he may never be able to fully put the concerns about his age behind him.

His debate performance may end up being a self-inflicted wound that never heals.

BBC
 

Amid Doubts About Biden’s Mental Sharpness, Trump Leads Presidential Race​

Following President Joe Biden’s poor performance in the June 27 debate, former President Donald Trump holds a 4 percentage point lead over Biden among registered voters: 44% say that if the election were held today, they would vote for Trump; 40% would vote for Biden, while 15% support third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Chart shows Only about a quarter of voters say Biden is ‘mentally sharp’; nearly two-thirds describe Trump as ‘mean-spirited’
Voters’ doubts about Biden’s mental sharpness, while not new, have become the subject of intense focus following the debate.

Only about a quarter of voters (24%) say the phrase “mentally sharp” describes Biden very or fairly well; more than twice as many (58%) describe Trump as mentally sharp.

The share of voters describing Biden as mentally sharp has declined 6 points since January and is considerably lower than it was in 2020.

The new survey by Pew Research Center, conducted July 1-7 among 9,424 adults, including 7,729 registered voters, finds that both Biden and Trump are widely viewed as flawed, though in different ways. And nearly seven-in-ten voters (68%) say they are not satisfied with their choices for president.

Among the survey’s major findings:

Most voters describe Trump as “mean-spirited.” Trump trails Biden on honesty and, by a narrower margin, on empathy. And about twice as many voters describe Trump as mean-spirited (64%) as say that about Biden (31%).

Majorities of voters describe both Biden and Trump as “embarrassing,” with identical shares (63% each) saying this about each candidate. A third or more of each candidate’s supporters – 37% of Biden supporters and 33% of Trump supporters – say their own candidate is embarrassing. (Read more about views of the candidates in Chapter 2.)

Chart shows Where the presidential race stands, four months before the election
The state of the 2024 presidential race: While Trump leads the presidential race, 44% to 40% over Biden, 17% say they support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (15%) or another candidate (2%).

If the choices are narrowed to Biden and Trump, Trump would hold a slight edge: 50% favor Trump, while 47% support Biden.

Age
Trump leads Biden among voters ages 50 and older by 48% to 39%, with 11% favoring Kennedy. Trump has a more modest edge among voters 30 to 49: 42% support Trump, while 37% back Biden and 19% favor Kennedy.

Biden holds a wide advantage over Trump among voters under 30 (48% to 28%). About one-in-five voters (22%) in the youngest age group say they back Kennedy.

Race and ethnicity
Trump has an advantage among White voters (50% to 36% for Biden), while Biden holds a wide lead over Trump among Black voters (64% to 13%, with 21% supporting Kennedy).

Source: Pew Research Centre
 
The delay will kill Democrats and their chances at Senate, man there might be a super conservative Entire government coming in due to Democrats being absolutely foolish.

Ruth did the same mistake and the SC became conservative, she could had easily retired during Obama years.
 

What world leaders thought of Biden’s Nato summit performance​


Western leaders have rallied round Joe Biden at the Nato summit, amid concerns about the US president's age and ability to serve another term.

Calls are growing for Mr Biden to drop out of the presidential race this November, and his attempts to diminish fears about his re-election bid at the summit were marred by two serious gaffes.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Mr Biden was "in charge" and "clear on the issues he knows well", while UK PM Sir Keir Starmer said he was "on good form".

But Mr Biden's first gaffe, in which he introduced Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky as President Putin, was ridiculed in the Russian media.

The US president has been under pressure to quit since a disastrous performance two weeks ago in a debate with his Republican rival in the upcoming elections, Donald Trump.

And later in a news conference - Mr Biden's first unscripted public appearance since the debate - he referred to his "Vice-President Trump" when meaning to say Kamala Harris.

But throughout the summit, other Nato leaders have been asked about his fitness as a leader, and all have defended him.

Mr Macron, speaking after Thursday's White House dinner, said he had had a long discussion with Mr Biden during the meal, and appealed for understanding of his flaws.

"I saw him as always a president who is in charge, clear on the issues he knows well," he said.

"We all make slips of the tongue sometimes. It has happened to me before, it will probably happen to me tomorrow.

"I would ask you to show the same leniency that should be shown between caring people."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also addressed the gaffes.

“Slips of the tongue happen, and if you always monitor everyone, you will find enough of them," he said.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir said repeatedly during the summit that the US president had achieved much to be proud of there, and was "across all the detail".

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was a privilege and a pleasure to work with Mr Biden.

"[Biden's] depth of experience, his thoughtfulness, his steadfastness on the greatest issues and challenges of our time is a credit to the work that we're all doing together," he said, quoted by CBC.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, seen as being close to former President Trump, said, quoted by AFP: "I talked with President Biden, and there is no doubt that everything is ok."

Meanwhile Finnish President Alexander Stubb combined a defence of Mr Biden with fears about the atmosphere in the US elections.

"I have absolutely no concern about the capacity of the current president of the United States to lead his country and to lead our fight for Ukraine and to lead Nato," he said, quoted by AFP.

"The only thing I'm worried about is that the political climate in the United States right now is too toxic, is very polarised, and that doesn't leave enough room for a civilised and constructive debate."

But if leaders of allied countries have been unwilling to criticise the US president for his frailties, Moscow has been similarly restrained.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the gaffes were clearly slips of the tongue and "not our business, an internal matter for the USA".

Not so the Russian media, which have been all over Mr Biden's confusion of Mr Putin with Mr Zelensky.

Official Rossiya TV showed it at the top of its 9pm bulletin, saying that "America's vassals pretended that they'd not noticed anything".

NTV said Biden had never been so close to a fiasco and that his "latest slip of the tongue is worthy of an Oscar".

And popular daily Moskovsky Komsomolets ran an article headlined "Senile Leaders", comparing Joe Biden to the elderly Communist leaders of the USSR.

"What's more dangerous, a monkey with a grenade or a shaking hand on the nuclear button?" it asked.

www.bbc.com

What world leaders thought of Biden’s Nato summit performance

Western allies defend the US president's performance, while media in Russia ridicules his gaffes.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Bidens coup in PK led to many deaths in PK and 1000s of arrests. I hope the crook suffers like those party workers of the PTI. His support of Israel and the deaths of those Palestinian innocents will also haunt his last days. But Trump is an even bigger crook and hopefully he will take America down for all the suffering they have supported against the innocents.
 
Many Democrats are sticking with Biden. Here's why

As Joe Biden took to the stage for a rally in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday evening, one of the most raucous crowds seen in recent years at any event for the US president chanted: "Don't you quit!"

The presumptive Democratic nominee was greeted by deafening cheers from hundreds of supporters as he vowed: "I am running! And I'm gonna win!"

As he left the stage, the strains of Tom Petty's hit I Won't Back Down washed over the high school gymnasium, an implicit rebuff to the growing list of elected members of his party exhorting him to step aside amid concerns about his age.

But for all the headlines dominated by the latest politician, donor or liberal actor to turn on Mr Biden, a longer list of Democrats are sticking by him.

At least 80 Democratic politicians have publicly backed the 81-year-old, and more are joining them as he insists he is going nowhere.

To many, his political record, his principles and his 2020 victory over Donald Trump mean more than the damage of a rambling performance in any debate or public appearance, or health fears during a new four-year term.

In Mr Biden's first solo news conference of the year on Thursday, he gave detailed responses on Nato and his plans for a second term, but many headlines focused on his flub in referring to his deputy, Kamala Harris, as "Vice-President Trump".

His allies - for now, at least - praised the embattled commander-in-chief's performance, which was watched live by over 23 million people - a bigger audience than this year’s Oscars.

"I thought he showed a real command of foreign policy, really extraordinary," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told reporters on Friday. "I don’t think Donald Trump can talk about foreign policy coherently for one minute."

Gavin Newsom, the California governor touted as a possible successor, told CBS he was "all in" for Mr Biden, adding that there was "no daylight" between them.

Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania said Mr Biden "showed he knows a million times more about policy" than Trump, "the convict conman".

Experts say these politicians have a host of reasons for their support, including Mr Biden's record in office, his 2020 victory against Trump and the gamble of putting in a new candidate so close to the November election.

"The president has made it clear he wants to continue to run, and I think people are being very respectful of that," said Simon Rosenberg, a Democratic strategist.

"And it's also true that in our system, replacing a candidate for president this late is hard and is unprecedented, and so there's enormous reticence about making a big change."

He added that there was a "healthy debate" about who the nominee should be.

However, a range of groups have said that the candidate should be Mr Biden, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which has about 40 members, and the 60-member Congressional Black Caucus, which Mr Biden met earlier this week.

Ameshia Cross, a former Obama campaign adviser, said that the black caucus, as well as many black voters, see Mr Biden as a president committed to civil rights, unlike his rival, Trump.

"They understand what is at stake with a Donald J Trump presidency," she said. "This is a guy who has stood against DEI - diversity, equity and inclusion efforts."

Mr Biden has received public support from several politicians on the left, including the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who have previously criticised Mr Biden for an agenda they have said is too moderate.

Ms Cross said many recognise the risks a Trump presidency brings to civil and LGBTQ rights and climate change.

"These are things that matter to the progressive left, and the president has actually worked on those things," she said.

To date, most of Mr Biden's support comes from politicians running for re-election in reliably Democratic districts, rather than those who worry Mr Biden could harm their own election chances in tougher seats.

Mr Rosenberg said that the White House "needs to be respectful of their concerns and deal with them, I think, in a far more aggressive manner".

Even as calls grow for Mr Biden to exit the race, the most recent poll seems to suggest that he has not lost much voter support.

The Biden campaign has touted a survey from the Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos published this week, which shows him and Trump in a dead-heat, similar to survey results from before the debate. But the poll also found two-thirds of Americans want Mr Biden to step aside.

The president has also lost support from some among the Hollywood elite. Actress Ashley Judd called on Mr Biden to step down in a USA Today op-ed on Friday, saying the party needed a "robust" candidate. Her article followed an even more damning opinion piece this week by George Clooney about Mr Biden.

Longtime Democratic donor Whitney Tilson is the latest fundraiser to pull the plug, telling the BBC on Friday that he was increasingly confident Mr Biden would go. Other Democratic donors told a pro-Biden fundraising group, Future Forward, that pledges worth some $90m (£69m) were on hold until he exits, reports the New York Times.

Other top donors, however, are sticking by the president.

Shekar Narasimhan, who has been organising fundraisers for Democrats for more than two decades, said there had been no change in his plans.

"Our eyes can see what’s going on, our ears can hear what's being talked about but we are keeping our heads down to get the work done," said Mr Narsimhan, who is the founder of the Asian American Pacific Islander Victory Fund Super-PAC.

"It's the president’s decision to make, whether he wants to run or not, and we will go with whatever he decides," he said. "But it's better to end this discussion as soon as possible."

He said his support for Mr Biden came from the belief that he would win.

"This election will be decided by no more than a total of 50,000 votes in three states - Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - and we have the ground game and infrastructure to win there," he said.

Frank Islam, who sits on the National Finance Committee, said he had a fundraiser planned at his Maryland home later this month. "I am absolutely going ahead with it because I know he [Mr Biden] will win," he said.

BBC
 
Biden avoids further gaffes at Detroit rally

President Joe Biden has delivered a strong speech before a friendly audience at a rally in Detroit, the BBC's Nada Tawfik reports.

The Democrat has faced intense scrutiny after a series of high-profile gaffes in recent weeks.

But in a fiery rally, the 81-year-old told supporters that he can beat former President Donald Trump in November's election.

The crowd in Michigan chanted "don't you quit'' and "four more years".

BBC
 
From an outside point of view the fact that a convicted criminal with a history of sexually abusing people is currently odds on to become president again, after literally inciting a terror attack on the US Capitol when he failed last time round, is insane...
 
House Democrats oppose party’s plan to speed up Biden nomination

At least three Democrats in the US House of Representatives were preparing to sign a letter protesting against a plan to speed up the official party approval of Joe Biden’s re-election bid, the lawmakers’ offices said on Tuesday.

The three are among a growing number of Democrats upset by plans to hold a “virtual roll call” vote on Biden’s becoming the nominee as soon as 21 July, instead of waiting for the convention being held from 19 to 22 August in Chicago.

Democratic representatives Susan Wild, Mike Quigley and Jared Huffman plan to sign the letter, representatives of each lawmaker said when contacted by Reuters.

“Stifling debate and prematurely shutting down any possible change in the Democratic ticket through an unnecessary and unprecedented ‘virtual roll call’ in the days ahead is a terrible idea,” said a copy of the draft letter seen by Reuters.

“It could deeply undermine the morale and unity of Democrats.”

The virtual nomination was originally planned to beat an Ohio state deadline for placing candidates on the ballot for the 5 November election that fell before the Democrats’ August convention. But Ohio extended the deadline, negating that obstacle, the letter to the Democratic National Committee argued.

In response to criticism, DNC chair Jaime Harrison said on X that the Ohio extension would not take effect in time. He also disputed reports that he has said the virtual vote could happen as soon as next week. “The only thing you have heard us say is that we must get this done by August 5 to give us time to comply by August 7,” he said.

Pass the Torch, Joe, a group pressuring Biden to drop out of the presidential race, accused the DNC in a statement of potentially engaging in “an undemocratic, and perhaps even Trumpian, maneuver”, deepening the Democrats’ internal bickering.

The latest effort follows a call by 19 congressional Democrats for Biden, 81, to end his campaign after his halting 27 June debate performance against Donald Trump.

Adam Schiff, a California Democrat running for his state’s open senate seat, who was not one of the 19, warned donors in a private meeting that his party would likely suffer major losses if Biden continued his re-election bid, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Schiff’s campaign declined to comment.

Last month’s debate raised concerns in the party about both Biden’s ability to beat Trump and his fitness to hold the high-pressure job for another four years.

Thirty-nine percent of Democratic respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Tuesday said they believed that Biden should end his White House run, a slightly higher reading than the 32% who said the same in a Reuters/Ipsos poll days after the debate.

The letter from the three lawmakers has not yet been sent to the DNC and was being circulated widely among House Democrats, according to congressional sources.

Democrats fear that a poor performance by Biden in the election could cost their party not only control of the White House but both chambers of Congress, setting the stage for a second Trump administration that would be able to pursue its policy goals with almost no Democratic opposition.

Republicans followed their party’s standard procedure in officially nominating Trump at their convention in Milwaukee on Monday.

If Biden were to drop out of his re-election campaign, the Democrats’ top choice for presidential nominee would be Kamala Harris, multiple sources have said.

Some Democrats, however, could insist on a more open process that would allow other potential candidates to vie for the nomination, less than three months before the general election.

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/democrats-biden-roll-call-vote
 
As some push Biden to quit the race, Democrats aim to nominate president in first week of August

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats will look to hold a virtual vote to make President Joe Biden their party’s nominee in the first week of August, as Biden has rebuffed calls from some in his party to quit the race after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.

The Democratic National Convention’s rules committee will meet on Friday to discuss its plans, according to a letter sent to members obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, and will finalize them next week. The letter from co-chairs Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz states that the virtual vote won’t take place before Aug. 1 but that the party is still committed to holding a vote before Aug. 7, which had been Ohio’s filing deadline.

“We will not be implementing a rushed virtual voting process,” Daughtry and Walz wrote, “though we will begin our important consideration of how a virtual voting process would work.”

The party announced in May that it would hold an early roll call to ensure Biden would qualify for the ballot in Ohio, which originally had an Aug. 7 deadline, but the state has since changed its rules. The Biden campaign insists that the party must operate under Ohio’s initial rules to ensure Republican lawmakers can’t mount legal challenges to keep the president off the ballot.

Even if Democrats conduct a virtual roll call vote ahead of their convention, scheduled for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, it wouldn’t necessarily lock Biden into the nomination. The DNC rules committee could vote to hold an in-person roll call in Chicago, said Elaine Kamarck, a longtime member of that committee and expert on the party’s nominating process. But since the Ohio law doesn’t go into effect until Sept. 1, Biden appearing on the state’s ballot remains a real concern, Kamarck said.

“This is a failsafe for the Democrats,” Kamarck said, adding that “the convention is the highest authority” in the nominating process.

The move to schedule the roll call vote comes as nearly two-thirds of Democrats say Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, sharply undercutting his post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him even if some “big names” are turning on him.

The poll, conducted as Biden works to salvage his candidacy two weeks after his debate flop, also found that only about 3 in 10 Democrats are extremely or very confident that he has the mental capability to serve effectively as president, down slightly from 40% in an AP-NORC poll in February.

The letter from Daughtry and Walz came a day after a contingent of House Democrats wary of swiftly nominating Biden as the party’s pick for reelection circulated another letter raising “serious concerns” about plans for a virtual roll call. Their letter to the Democratic National Committee, which has not been sent, says it would be a “terrible idea” to stifle debate about the party’s nominee with the early roll call vote.

“It could deeply undermine the morale and unity of Democrats,” said the letter obtained by the AP.

Source: PBS
 
It would have been far better for the democrats and the world in general, If Biden had been in place of Trump this week. Any new guy would have been able to decimate Trump.
 
Weak opposition (stranglehold of the opposition Congress by the Ghandi-Maino family) is the reason for Islam hating Hindutva ruling India.

Weak opposition (corrupt DNC not letting true leaders emerge) will be the reason for the rise of Islam hating Trump in the US.
 
rickroll said:
Weak opposition (stranglehold of the opposition Congress by the Ghandi-Maino family) is the reason for Islam hating Hindutva ruling India.

Weak opposition (corrupt DNC not letting true leaders emerge) will be the reason for the rise of Islam hating Trump in the US.
Click to expand...
Too simplistic and misleading narrative here.

The so called "weak opposition" you mention were in power in India for majority of years till 90s and recently for over 10 solid years (2004-2014), and 8 solid years in US. Democrats had complete control of lower house for literally 40 continuous years, before exchanging controls in last 2 decades.

How did these "weak oppositions" lose their powers which they had practically for most of the 50 years post world war 2?
 
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Clock ticking on Biden as pressure to quit race increases​


The walls appear to be closing in on President Biden.

Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff, are about as influential as you can get within the Democratic party - and whilst not all of them have publicly called for Mr Biden to step down - the fact they’re not denying reports of private conversations is notable.

Ms Pelosi in particular is a battle scarred politician who is very likely playing a game of 3D chess. She doesn’t want to be accused of disloyalty to the president she admires, but equally doesn’t want to be seen as complicit if Democrats suffer huge losses under Mr Biden in November’s election.

It’s reported in the New York Times, external that Mr Schumer was shown data from a top Democratic fundraising committee that alarmed him - the president is trailing behind in the must win states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Many analysts believe Mr Biden’s pathway to victory lies through these Midwest must-win states. There’s also some evidence that Nevada, Georgia and Arizona could be slipping away.

President Biden himself has revised his view on what it would take for him to bow to the growing pressure. He’s gone from “only the Lord Almighty” can make him stand down, to telling BET (Black Entertainment Television) he would re-evaluate his campaign if his doctor diagnosed him with a medical condition. Then he announced he had Covid.

While he’s suffered with the illness before, it’s exacerbated the ongoing concerns about his age, health and fragility. To now get “general malaise” as the doctors put it, is not a great look for a leader many Americans already worry is past it.

Former President Trump’s assassination attempt appeared to have quelled the Democratic rebellion a week ago, but perhaps the reality is it’s compounded it.

Politics isn’t just about the strength of policies. It’s about projecting physical strength as a leader. Many Republicans here at the RNC said to me they’re happy for Mr Biden to stay in the race because they believe he’s no competition for Trump. And polls aside, their confidence is not unfounded. Yesterday’s video of a fragile President Biden walking slowly down Air Force One alongside images of a death-defying Donald Trump pumping his fist shouting ‘fight fight fight,’ is just too stark a contrast.

But ultimately the decision to stand down has to come from Mr Biden who is dismissive of polls - pointing to Mr Trump’s election 2016 victory and his own in 2020 as well as the mid terms. There are also Democrats who still hugely support the president and consider him to still be sharp. However with the Democratic National Convention a month away, it feels as if the clock has again reset and is ticking.

www.bbc.com

Clock ticking on Biden as pressure to quit grows

After testing positive for Covid, the President is struggling to calm concerns about his health and fitness for office.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Aang_The_last_airbender said:
Too simplistic and misleading narrative here.
The so called "weak opposition" you mention were in power in India for majority of years till 90s and recently for over 10 solid years (2004-2014), and 8 solid years in US. Democrats had complete control of lower house for literally 40 continuous years , before exchanging controls in last 2 decades.
How did these "weak oppositions" lose their powers which they had practically for most of the 50 years post world war 2 ?
Click to expand...
I should clarify - "weak opposition" was a catch all term for their current reality. When I mentioned weak it meant a badly run opposition and badly run could be nepotism, corruption, family hegemony any of which could chase away true leaders away from those parties.

I did not mean "weak opposition" as them being politically weak. Maybe they ARE politically weak now but WERE strong before.

Ask yourself this - Would BJP have ruled this much and changed the fabric of your secular India so much if the Congress party had a truly democratic set up that attracted capable leaders at all levels instead of prostrating before the Maino family at every opportunity?

Similar question for DNC too. They twisted the 2016 primaries and took it away from Bernie to Hillary, which resulted in Trump v1. Now their corrupt set up has sleepy Joe being the only leader suffocating the rise of any other genuine leader which can very well result in Trump v2.

I feel the elections in many parts of the world now are decided by those ~10% centrist voters and these are swayed by how effective a party set up is and how good are the candidates they field.
 
Democratic mood darkens as Biden faces new pressure

Joe Biden's campaign faced further pressure on Thursday amid reported concerns from Barack Obama about the presidential election, a darkening mood among Democrats and polls suggesting Donald Trump was pulling ahead.

Some Democrats painted a bleak picture. One senior party official told the BBC that many in the party felt Mr Biden's stepping down was "inevitable".

Polling on Thursday by the BBC's US partner, CBS News, showed him five points behind Trump - the widest margin recorded this campaign.

But Mr Biden's campaign batted away reports of high-level Democratic concern as "baseless", insisting he would remain the nominee.

Mr Obama was reported by the Washington Post to have privately stated Mr Biden's chances were greatly diminished. Spokespeople for the former president have declined to comment.

It followed several reports that former house speaker Nancy Pelosi and the two most senior Democrats in Congress, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, had advised Mr Biden to consider his candidacy for the good of the party. All have rejected the reports.

But a senior Democrat source told BBC News that the mood in Washington was grim, adding: "We are all waiting for the inevitable decision."

Adam Smith, a Democratic congressman for Washington state, painted a similarly grim picture. Asked by BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight whether the party was "coming to the end" of Mr Biden's candidacy, he said: "That is my sense".

"I mean, I don’t know. But without question, I think that is the direction that this is heading right now."

Mr Biden has faced a torrid few weeks since his poor showing in the first presidential debate late last month. He is currently in isolation in Delaware while he recovers from a Covid infection.

By contrast, Donald Trump officially accepted his party's presidential nomination at the Republican national convention in Milwaukee on Thursday evening.

He struck a confident tone in his first speech since surviving an assassination attempt. Delegates and supporters at the convention have been in high spirits all week.

Mr Biden has so far taken a defiant tone in response to Democratic pressure for him to step aside as his party's candidate. He continues to enjoy the public support of many politicians, including members of the powerful Congressional black caucus.

Mr Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader and Mr Jeffries, the ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, are reported to have told Mr Biden last week that their colleagues in Congress were "concerned" that his troubles would hit their own chances of re-election.

Mr Schumer said the reports were "idle speculation", while Mr Jeffries said his was "a private conversation that will remain private".

CNN meanwhile reported that Mrs Pelosi had told Mr Biden that polls show he cannot win. She later slammed the reporting as a "feeding frenzy", but did not deny that a conversation with Mr Biden had taken place.

Jamie Raskin, a congressman from Maryland, wrote to Mr Biden, comparing him to a baseball pitcher at the end of his career - saying there was "no shame" in retiring "to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is tired out".

But TJ Ducklo, a Biden campaign senior adviser, slammed reports of grandee concern as "baseless conjecture from anonymous sources".

"Joe Biden is his party's nominee," he wrote on X. "He's running for re-election."

Deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said Mr Biden was "not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don't want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times we can answer that."

Mr Biden has mild upper respiratory symptoms associated with Covid but does not have a fever, presidential doctor Kevin O'Connor said on Thursday,

The White House said he was expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he arrives in the US on Wednesday.

BBC
 

Biden reportedly open to 2024 rethink as Pelosi steps up pressure campaign​

Joe Biden has reportedly become more open in recent days to hearing arguments that he should step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate, and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told Democratic colleagues that he could be convinced to leave the race soon.

The Washington Post reported that Pelosi has taken a prominent role in passing messages from House Democrats to the White House, relaying concerns that Biden is incapable of beating Donald Trump in November, and has said she thinks Biden is close to making a decision to end his campaign.

Pelosi has been widely reported as orchestrating the renewed pressure on Biden to give up his re-election bid, which has intensified in recent days after a brief pause following last Saturday’s failed assassination attempt on Trump, to which the president responded with a series of authoritative statements calling for calm.

Though he continues to insist he will be the party’s nominee in November, Biden has reportedly started asking questions about negative polling data and whether the vice-president, Kamala Harris, considered the favourite to replace him if were to withdraw, fares better.

The indications of a possible rethink come after Biden tested positive on Wednesday for Covid-19, forcing him to isolate for several days while curtailing a campaign visit to Nevada that had been part of a drive to show his candidacy was very much alive.

It also coincides with fresh polling data showing that he now trails Trump by two points in Virginia, a state he won by 10 points in 2020, and signals that key Democrats, including Barack Obama, now believe he should stand down.

The Emerson College Polling/Hill survey showed Trump ahead by 45% to 43%, within the margin of error but consistent with a spate of other polls showing that Biden’s support has fallen in swing states since his disastrous showing at last month’s debate in Atlanta.

Biden’s newfound receptivity to at least the possibility of stepping aside represents a shift from the position he adopted at a press conference at last week’s Nato summit in Washington, when he told journalists he would only drop out if polling data showed him “there’s no way you can win”.

“No one’s saying that,” he added.

His willingness to listen to opposing arguments comes after Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, and Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, reportedly both told him that it would be in the country’s interest if he stepped aside, ABC reported.

I am told Chuck Schumer had a blunt one-on-one conversation with Biden Saturday afternoon in Rehoboth. Schumer forcefully made the case that it would be best if Biden bowed out of the race.

The Senate leader’s intervention has apparently been influential in delaying a move by the Democratic National Committee to stage an early electronic roll call of delegates that could have started next week and was aimed at locking in the nomination for Biden before next month’s party convention in Chicago. The roll call vote has been pushed by at least a week, giving forces opposed to him running more time to organise.

Pelosi also told Biden in a recent conversation that polls show he cannot beat Trump and that he could wreck the Democrats’ chances of recapturing the chamber in November, according to CNN.

Biden is said to have pushed back during the conversation, insisting – as he has in several Zoom sessions with other Democrats – that he had seen polling data showing he could win.

It is not known if Pelosi had called on the president to stand aside during the talk, which was said to have taken place in the past week.

Adam Schiff, the California congressman who on Tuesday became the latest elected Democrat to urge Biden to stand down, is known to be close to Pelosi.

Source: The Guardian
 
Democratic calls mount for Biden to end campaign, but he vows to fight on

President Joe Biden vowed on Friday to continue his campaign for reelection even as more fellow Democrats in Congress urged him to end his floundering campaign, fearing that it could cost the party dearly in the Nov. 5 election.

More than one in 10 congressional Democrats have now publicly called on the 81-year-old incumbent -- who is isolating at his Delaware home with a case of COVID -- to drop out following a disastrous June debate against Republican Donald Trump that raised questions about Biden's ability to win or to carry out his duties for another four years.

Biden remained defiant, saying he would resume campaigning soon.

"I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America," he said in a statement, referring to a policy plan developed by Trump's conservative allies.

The divide among Democrats stood in sharp contrast to the scenes that played out this week at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where former party rivals united around Trump, who accepted the Republican nomination in a rambling speech that featured his familiar mix of grievance and bombast.


 
Democratic mood darkens as Biden faces new pressure

Joe Biden's campaign faced further pressure on Thursday amid reported concerns from Barack Obama about the presidential election, a darkening mood among Democrats and polls suggesting Donald Trump was pulling ahead.

Some Democrats painted a bleak picture. One senior party official told the BBC that many in the party felt Mr Biden's stepping down was "inevitable".

Polling on Thursday by the BBC's US partner, CBS News, showed him five points behind Trump - the widest margin recorded this campaign.

But Mr Biden's campaign batted away reports of high-level Democratic concern as "baseless", insisting he would remain the nominee.

Mr Obama was reported by the Washington Post to have privately stated Mr Biden's chances were greatly diminished. Spokespeople for the former president have declined to comment.

The most recent lawmaker to pull support from Biden's run is Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. On Friday, the Democrat released a statement saying it is his ''job to keep fighting'' for his constituents.

“I agree with the many Ohioans who have reached out to me. At this critical time, our full attention must return to these important issues. I think the President should end his campaign," he said.

It followed several reports that former house speaker Nancy Pelosi and the two most senior Democrats in Congress, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, had advised Mr Biden to consider his candidacy for the good of the party. All have rejected the reports.

But a senior Democrat source told BBC News that the mood in Washington was grim, adding: "We are all waiting for the inevitable decision."

Adam Smith, a Democratic congressman for Washington state, painted a similarly grim picture. Asked by BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight whether the party was "coming to the end" of Mr Biden's candidacy, he said: "That is my sense".

"I mean, I don’t know. But without question, I think that is the direction that this is heading right now."

Mr Biden has faced a torrid few weeks since his poor showing in the first presidential debate late last month. He is currently in isolation in Delaware while he recovers from a Covid infection.

By contrast, Donald Trump officially accepted his party's presidential nomination at the Republican national convention in Milwaukee on Thursday evening.

He struck a confident tone in his first speech since surviving an assassination attempt. Delegates and supporters at the convention have been in high spirits all week.

Mr Biden has so far taken a defiant tone in response to Democratic pressure for him to step aside as his party's candidate. He continues to enjoy the public support of many politicians, including members of the powerful Congressional black caucus.

Mr Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader and Mr Jeffries, the ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, are reported to have told Mr Biden last week that their colleagues in Congress were "concerned" that his troubles would hit their own chances of re-election.

Mr Schumer said the reports were "idle speculation", while Mr Jeffries said his was "a private conversation that will remain private".

CNN meanwhile reported that Mrs Pelosi had told Mr Biden that polls show he cannot win. She later slammed the reporting as a "feeding frenzy", but did not deny that a conversation with Mr Biden had taken place.

Jamie Raskin, a congressman from Maryland, wrote to Mr Biden, comparing him to a baseball pitcher at the end of his career - saying there was "no shame" in retiring "to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is tired out".

But TJ Ducklo, a Biden campaign senior adviser, slammed reports of grandee concern as "baseless conjecture from anonymous sources".

"Joe Biden is his party's nominee," he wrote on X. "He's running for re-election."

Deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said Mr Biden was "not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don't want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times we can answer that."

Mr Biden has mild upper respiratory symptoms associated with Covid but does not have a fever, presidential doctor Kevin O'Connor said on Thursday,

The White House said he was expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he arrives in the US on Wednesday.

BBC
 

Biden continues to resist Democratic calls to end re-election campaign​


Democrats were caught in an apparent stalemate on Saturday as a dug-in Joe Biden continued to endure high-profile calls to end his re-election campaign after a week of astonishing party moves to unseat the president in favor of a candidate many hope will be more likely to beat Donald Trump.

In the weeks since his disastrous debate performance against Trump, the 81-year-old Biden has attempted to fight off calls for him to step down from the top of the ticket amid concerns that his age and mental acuity are no longer up to the job. But a series of interviews, a press conference and speeches have done little to quell party nerves.

“Everyone’s waiting for Joe,” quoted the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd of one top Democrat. “And he’s sitting at home, stewing and saying, ‘What if? What if? What if?’ We’re doing things the Democratic way. We’re botching it.”

Frustration within the Democratic party establishment at what they see as Biden’s intransigence comes as the outlet also reported on Saturday that the president in private is complaining that former aides to presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton would be lecturing him on election strategy after Democratic 1994 and 2010 midterm election losses that he had avoided in 2022.

Those pressuring Biden – who also has Covid – to abandon his re-election bid, the Times reported, “risk getting his back up and prompting him to remain after all”.

Some advisers are said to believe that Biden is holding out at least until the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, visits Washington on Wednesday. But some donors say that that this is the ideal moment for Biden to step aside now that Republicans have had their convention, and Democrats have a month until their own convention in Chicago to tell a new story about a new candidate.

The vivid picture of a Covid-sick, abandoned and resentful veteran politician, sitting out the pressure in a Delaware beach house, comes as most senior Democrats, including the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and the current minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, are calling for Biden - at a minimum – to reconsider his position.

“We have to cauterize this wound right now and the sooner we can do it the better,” Virginia representative Gerald E Connolly, a Democrat, told the Times. Connolly, who has not publicly called for Biden to step aside, said the ongoing drama “shows the cold calculus of politics”.

According to the Washington Post on Saturday, the tight-knit Biden family has not called an emergency meeting to discuss the spiraling crisis, but is instead exchanging usual daily phone calls and text messages.

Rising anger within the family, which has enjoyed nearly half a century of Joe Biden’s power in Delaware, both as a senator, vice-president and president, is fueled by the belief that his dismal debate performance could still be overcome by a determined fight back and a display of loyalty. “It’s like they don’t know he’s Irish,” the Post quoted a person close to the family.

The past week has seen waves of Democrat elected officials make public statements of their appreciation of Biden’s record in office but dire warnings that the US will see a second Trump presidency should he remain the party’s candidate for November’s presidential election.

Head and shoulders of Seth Moulton speaking during an interview in Boston in 2017, speaking into a microphone with his right hand raised to express himself

The latest high-profile name to join the chorus was Sherrod Brown, when the embattled Ohio senator broke cover on Friday evening to call for an end to Biden’s re-election campaign.

“I’ve heard from Ohioans on important issues, such as how to continue to grow jobs in our state, give law enforcement the resources to crack down on fentanyl, protect social security and Medicare from cuts, and prevent the ongoing efforts to impose a national abortion ban,” Brown said in a statement.

He added: “At this critical time, our full attention must return to these important issues. I think the president should end his campaign.”

Those public disavowals of support have been mirrored by an equally intense private lobbying campaign from top Democrats, party stalwarts and senior donors that is aimed at persuading Biden that he cannot beat Trump and that his political legacy is at risk unless he is replaced by a more dynamic candidate, most likely his vice-president, Kamala Harris.

On Saturday, Representative Mark Takano of California, the top Democrat on the House veterans affairs committee, added his name to the list of nearly three dozen Democrats in Congress who say it’s time for Biden to leave the race. The Californian called on Biden to “pass the torch” to Harris.

“It has become clear to me that the demands of a modern campaign are now best met by the vice-president, who can seamlessly transition into the role of our party’s standard bearer,” Takano said.

Source: The Guardian
 
rickroll said:
I should clarify - "weak opposition" was a catch all term for their current reality. When I mentioned weak it meant a badly run opposition and badly run could be nepotism, corruption, family hegemony any of which could chase away true leaders away from those parties.

I did not mean "weak opposition" as them being politically weak. Maybe they ARE politically weak now but WERE strong before.

Ask yourself this - Would BJP have ruled this much and changed the fabric of your secular India so much if the Congress party had a truly democratic set up that attracted capable leaders at all levels instead of prostrating before the Maino family at every opportunity?

Similar question for DNC too. They twisted the 2016 primaries and took it away from Bernie to Hillary, which resulted in Trump v1. Now their corrupt set up has sleepy Joe being the only leader suffocating the rise of any other genuine leader which can very well result in Trump v2.

I feel the elections in many parts of the world now are decided by those ~10% centrist voters and these are swayed by how effective a party set up is and how good are the candidates they field.
Click to expand...
As i said, the analysis is too simplistic and in hindsight you can can put every action or inaction of the losers as a cause of their demise.

Are you telling me the BJP and Republican party of US were not corrupt?
and only naive idiots think that Sanders could ever have won US Presidential elections.
your continuous reference of "Maino" is just troll attempt and shows how open minded you can be.

What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close.
 
Aang_The_last_airbender said:
As i said, the analysis is too simplistic and in hindsight you can can put every action or inaction of the losers as a cause of their demise.

Are you telling me the BJP and Republican party of US were not corrupt?
and only naive idiots think that Sanders could ever have won US Presidential elections.
your continuous reference of "Maino" is just troll attempt and shows how open minded you can be.

What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close.
Click to expand...
Nope I beg to differ. I deliberately made it simplistic since that is hitting the core reason.

I assume you are an Indian?

If you are a BJP supporter then I totally get why you want to defend Maino (yes Maino!) and the Ghandi family stranglehold on Congress. It is in your (BJP) best interest for the opposition to be weakened this way because then this will ensure BJP holding onto some power no matter how bad their policies are and how much hatred they spew. You can stop reading anything else below because nothing I say will matter once you have an agenda.

If you are not a BJP supporter or are neutral ...

Are you telling me the BJP and Republican party of US were not corrupt? - They are both corrupt but it is relative. They are not facing a stranglehold under one family, though corrupt, they have a better (better is the operative word since it is all relative) democratic system within their party to percolate good leaders over time as opposed to only looking up to a dud just because he is some great grandson or only looking to a senile old man or the wife of a former President (Hillary) instead of a true democratic process (ironic given the D in DNC).

only naive idiots think that Sanders could ever have won US Presidential elections. - Maybe and maybe not. But he was the true winner in 2016 and I would argue he would have certainly fared better than Hillary.

What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close. - In a way this proves my point. Ask yourself this - if the Congress party of India had not turned away multi-generations of good capable leaders, and if they had good ones, don't you think they would have swept up this election and had won? In spite of BJP's high corruption, failed policies, obvious lies, and high hatred, they still won. Why? Because the other choice is pretty much impotent, thats why!

Seriously, imagine if your Congress party had a truly democratic set up and the Ghandi (biggest disgusting brand theft renaming themselves as Gandhi) family was never involved post Nehru, don't you think they would have had multi-generations of capable leaders by now? To me, the congress seems to think that Indians only want old school dynastic kings and rulers who are also look more like their conquerors with fairer skins. So let's always look up to that one family while suppressing or chasing away other capable leaders for 70+ years and everything will be fine?
 
Joe Biden withdraws from US presidential election race

US President Joe Biden has announced that he will end his candidacy for re-election, saying "it is in the best interest of my party and the country".

It comes four months before Americans go to the polls, upending the race for the White House.

It follows weeks of intense pressure from fellow Democrats after a faltering debate performance against Republican Donald Trump at the end of June.

In a letter posted to his social media account, he said it had been the greatest honour of his life to serve as president.

"And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling the duties as President for the remainder of my term".


www.bbc.com

Joe Biden drops out of election, upending race for White House

President says decision is in interests of country, but endorsement of vice-president to take over is not a done deal.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1815080881981190320
 
Cricket Warrior said:
Joe Biden withdraws from US presidential election race

US President Joe Biden has announced that he will end his candidacy for re-election, saying "it is in the best interest of my party and the country".

It comes four months before Americans go to the polls, upending the race for the White House.

It follows weeks of intense pressure from fellow Democrats after a faltering debate performance against Republican Donald Trump at the end of June.

In a letter posted to his social media account, he said it had been the greatest honour of his life to serve as president.

"And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling the duties as President for the remainder of my term".


www.bbc.com

Joe Biden drops out of election, upending race for White House

President says decision is in interests of country, but endorsement of vice-president to take over is not a done deal.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1815080881981190320
Click to expand...

Farewell to a great career in politics.
I believe he was one of the youngest senators and retired as the oldest President. What a ride he’s had. Too bad he will be judged more for his last few years when he was physically at his worst state.
 
He started really well with good domestic legislation, overseeing the withdrawal from Afghanistan, but his subserviance to Israel will cloud his legacy.

His failure to meaningfully restrain the Israeli war machine led to far too many innocent Gazans killed.
 
oLNMYN0.jpeg
 
This was a total comical attack on America . Even the most subservient mainstream sheep now wonders who really runs America . The commander & chief doesn’t exist it , they are laughing at the people falling for their cinema democracy.

After trump surviving , they need a new runner. Trump will try to end the Ukraine war , Russia winners & taking glory while USA continues in decline .


It’s that time again, western civilisation needs another world war to shift the order & also once again help secure its outpost in the holy land .

if the new guy is popular, should use a YouTuber for American voters , they can steal the election from trump
 
rickroll said:
Nope I beg to differ. I deliberately made it simplistic since that is hitting the core reason.

I assume you are an Indian?

If you are a BJP supporter then I totally get why you want to defend Maino (yes Maino!) and the Ghandi family stranglehold on Congress. It is in your (BJP) best interest for the opposition to be weakened this way because then this will ensure BJP holding onto some power no matter how bad their policies are and how much hatred they spew. You can stop reading anything else below because nothing I say will matter once you have an agenda.

If you are not a BJP supporter or are neutral ...

Are you telling me the BJP and Republican party of US were not corrupt? - They are both corrupt but it is relative. They are not facing a stranglehold under one family, though corrupt, they have a better (better is the operative word since it is all relative) democratic system within their party to percolate good leaders over time as opposed to only looking up to a dud just because he is some great grandson or only looking to a senile old man or the wife of a former President (Hillary) instead of a true democratic process (ironic given the D in DNC).

only naive idiots think that Sanders could ever have won US Presidential elections. - Maybe and maybe not. But he was the true winner in 2016 and I would argue he would have certainly fared better than Hillary.

What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close. - In a way this proves my point. Ask yourself this - if the Congress party of India had not turned away multi-generations of good capable leaders, and if they had good ones, don't you think they would have swept up this election and had won? In spite of BJP's high corruption, failed policies, obvious lies, and high hatred, they still won. Why? Because the other choice is pretty much impotent, thats why!

Seriously, imagine if your Congress party had a truly democratic set up and the Ghandi (biggest disgusting brand theft renaming themselves as Gandhi) family was never involved post Nehru, don't you think they would have had multi-generations of capable leaders by now? To me, the congress seems to think that Indians only want old school dynastic kings and rulers who are also look more like their conquerors with fairer skins. So let's always look up to that one family while suppressing or chasing away other capable leaders for 70+ years and everything will be fine?
Click to expand...
Again, your analysis is pretty unidimensional.
You are crying foul about the very system that let a relative outsider Barack Obama beat Hillary in 2008 fair and square in the closest of close primaries.
and I followed 2016 Democratic primary very closely and cheered for Bernie. He was a better and more likable leader for me but HE DID NOT WIN THE PRIMARY. Hillary got the majority votes in the primaries won more states and was also the favored party candidate.
1. Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat, he is an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
2. He lost the popular vote in Democratic primary to Hillary by 55% to 43% ( Hillary won 34 state contests to Bernie's 23)

Had Bernie won the the popular vote in Democratic primary, your arguments would have had some weight but he didn't. He lost by near 3 million votes. Super delegate votes, the insider votes hardly mattered.
So stop spreading false narratives.

Your analysis are pretty reductive and very much incorrect because you reverse trace the cause once you seemed to have formed a conclusion.
 
Biden is the beginning of the end that is Wokism.

If Trump wins, it will be the greatest political come back story in history.
 
KingKhanWC said:
This was a total comical attack on America . Even the most subservient mainstream sheep now wonders who really runs America . The commander & chief doesn’t exist it , they are laughing at the people falling for their cinema democracy.

After trump surviving , they need a new runner. Trump will try to end the Ukraine war , Russia winners & taking glory while USA continues in decline .


It’s that time again, western civilisation needs another world war to shift the order & also once again help secure its outpost in the holy land .

if the new guy is popular, should use a YouTuber for American voters , they can steal the election from trump
Click to expand...
They have the saudis in their pocket. The whole of KSA is their outpost.
 
As expected. Sleepy Joe is no match for Trump.

Dems have no candidate that can go against Trump. They might put Camel-A Harris to garner Black vote and hope for the best. Dems have no strong candidate.
 
Aang_The_last_airbender said:
Again, your analysis is pretty unidimensional.
You are crying foul about the very system that let a relative outsider Barack Obama beat Hillary in 2008 fair and square in the closest of close primaries.
and I followed 2016 Democratic primary very closely and cheered for Bernie. He was a better and more likable leader for me but HE DID NOT WIN THE PRIMARY. Hillary got the majority votes in the primaries won more states and was also the favored party candidate.
1. Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat, he is an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
2. He lost the popular vote in Democratic primary to Hillary by 55% to 43% ( Hillary won 34 state contests to Bernie's 23)

Had Bernie won the the popular vote in Democratic primary, your arguments would have had some weight but he didn't. He lost by near 3 million votes. Super delegate votes, the insider votes hardly mattered.
So stop spreading false narratives.

Your analysis are pretty reductive and very much incorrect because you reverse trace the cause once you seemed to have formed a conclusion.
Click to expand...
No mention of my questions regarding the Congress party proving your point to be too simplistic and focusing your entire answer only one portion of my response, and then calling my analysis reductive and simplistic?
 
rickroll said:
No mention of my questions regarding the Congress party proving your point to be too simplistic and focusing your entire answer only one portion of my response, and then calling my analysis reductive and simplistic?
Click to expand...
Good analysis are nuanced, multi-faceted and lengthy but I have seen you lack the capacity to sit for long, have an aversion to facts and are incapable of admitting when you have the wrong facts which form the basis of your "conjectures". Now, This is my reductive assessment of yours. I would be glad if you can prove me wrong. Its always a learning experience.

Comeback after you can have the courage to admit factual inaccuracies and hence revision of those assessments.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
‘Considerable political capital’: Asian allies react to Biden decision

US President Biden’s exit from his reelection campaign is being felt here in Asia. South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo’s front page has a headline saying he was “Unable to conquer the tall wall of old age”.

South Korea’s leader Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have spent considerable political capital to affirm three-way coordination with Biden in recent years in their Asia-Pacific strategies vis-à-vis Beijing and Pyongyang.

Kishida said he respects Biden’s decision and the Japan-US alliance remains a lynchpin of his country’s diplomatic and security policies.

In Seoul, officials have expressed confidence in whoever the next US leader will be. There are many eyes on the United States’ next steps, especially here on the Korean Peninsula where inter-Korean relations have been at their lowest in decades.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Aang_The_last_airbender said:
Good analysis are nuanced, multi-faceted and lengthy but I have seen you lack the capacity to sit for long, have an aversion to facts and are incapable of admitting when you have the wrong facts which form the basis of your "conjectures". Now, This is my reductive assessment of yours. I would be glad if you can prove me wrong. Its always a learning experience.

Comeback after you can have the courage to admit factual inaccuracies and hence revision of those assessments.
Click to expand...
Sorry buddy, your analysis is not some elite level nor is it data driven. Seems to me that your projecting your perception of yourself onto others and I am not looking for arguments when people are resorting to name calling. Good luck with all of that.

Bernie not winning DNC primaries was my point about how those votes were influenced in 2016 and your response seems to be at surface level just looking at the votes.

Forget the DNC that you somehow latched on to while conveniently ignoring my point about your BJP and Congress in India. You never acknowledged or answered my points below. In a way it is your thought process that seems too surface level lacking depth. Your thinking is that Congress won some seats recently so all is well despite the 70+ year dominance of this family? Did you not pause to think the long term effects or what could have been? How myopic is this? Of wait, I'm the clueless one with "factual inaccuracies" (inaccuracy because you did not even pause to understand what I'm saying) and without nuance and whatever other terms you can throw while conveniently ignoring entire section of my points and just latching onto ONE narrow spectrum (oh wait, I'm the one who is not multi-faceted, great!).

Did it hit a nerve that I called you out as a BJP supporter or how even today "free" Indians still want to see themselves to be under an Italian family thanks to vestigial colonial mindset instead of being truly free? Or did some other point hit a nerve and you resorted to personal attacks instead of answering ALL of my points?


What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close. - In a way this proves my point. Ask yourself this - if the Congress party of India had not turned away multi-generations of good capable leaders, and if they had good ones, don't you think they would have swept up this election and had won? In spite of BJP's high corruption, failed policies, obvious lies, and high hatred, they still won. Why? Because the other choice is pretty much impotent, thats why!

Seriously, imagine if your Congress party had a truly democratic set up and the Ghandi (biggest disgusting brand theft renaming themselves as Gandhi) family was never involved post Nehru, don't you think they would have had multi-generations of capable leaders by now? To me, the congress seems to think that Indians only want old school dynastic kings and rulers who are also look more like their conquerors with fairer skins. So let's always look up to that one family while suppressing or chasing away other capable leaders for 70+ years and everything will be fine?
 
rickroll said:
Sorry buddy, your analysis is not some elite level nor is it data driven. Seems to me that your projecting your perception of yourself onto others and I am not looking for arguments when people are resorting to name calling. Good luck with all of that.

Bernie not winning DNC primaries was my point about how those votes were influenced in 2016 and your response seems to be at surface level just looking at the votes.

Forget the DNC that you somehow latched on to while conveniently ignoring my point about your BJP and Congress in India. You never acknowledged or answered my points below. In a way it is your thought process that seems too surface level lacking depth. Your thinking is that Congress won some seats recently so all is well despite the 70+ year dominance of this family? Did you not pause to think the long term effects or what could have been? How myopic is this? Of wait, I'm the clueless one with "factual inaccuracies" (inaccuracy because you did not even pause to understand what I'm saying) and without nuance and whatever other terms you can throw while conveniently ignoring entire section of my points and just latching onto ONE narrow spectrum (oh wait, I'm the one who is not multi-faceted, great!).

Did it hit a nerve that I called you out as a BJP supporter or how even today "free" Indians still want to see themselves to be under an Italian family thanks to vestigial colonial mindset instead of being truly free? Or did some other point hit a nerve and you resorted to personal attacks instead of answering ALL of my points?


What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close. - In a way this proves my point. Ask yourself this - if the Congress party of India had not turned away multi-generations of good capable leaders, and if they had good ones, don't you think they would have swept up this election and had won? In spite of BJP's high corruption, failed policies, obvious lies, and high hatred, they still won. Why? Because the other choice is pretty much impotent, thats why!

Seriously, imagine if your Congress party had a truly democratic set up and the Ghandi (biggest disgusting brand theft renaming themselves as Gandhi) family was never involved post Nehru, don't you think they would have had multi-generations of capable leaders by now? To me, the congress seems to think that Indians only want old school dynastic kings and rulers who are also look more like their conquerors with fairer skins. So let's always look up to that one family while suppressing or chasing away other capable leaders for 70+ years and everything will be fine?
Click to expand...
As I said you do reverse analysis, First you have a conclusion and then you start glueing reasons.
1. If you have issues with votes getting influences, it happens in every election in the history of mankind. I can easily wager a guess that you didnt have the factual information about 2016 primary numbers and again Since you are always in a hurry, you have forgotten to check 2008 primary because it hardly serves your pre-conceived notions.

Comeback when you actual talk with facts and numbers.

PS: Let me give you a hint, since most of your analysis is usually wrong, you can correct your assumptions about me by simply reversing your own posts :troll .

Let me wager a guess about you: you are about 18-22 College kid. Probably 2nd or 3year. Likely getting a tech education. Just about average in your class, Very likely an urban/ semi-urban upbringing have had little contact with rural life of whichever country you have lived in. :hamster:
 
Aang_The_last_airbender said:
As I said you do reverse analysis, First you have a conclusion and then you start glueing reasons.
1. If you have issues with votes getting influences, it happens in every election in the history of mankind. I can easily wager a guess that you didnt have the factual information about 2016 primary numbers and again Since you are always in a hurry, you have forgotten to check 2008 primary because it hardly serves your pre-conceived notions.

Comeback when you actual talk with facts and numbers.

PS: Let me give you a hint, since most of your analysis is usually wrong, you can correct your assumptions about me by simply reversing your own posts :troll .

Let me wager a guess about you: you are about 18-22 College kid. Probably 2nd or 3year. Likely getting a tech education. Just about average in your class, Very likely an urban/ semi-urban upbringing have had little contact with rural life of whichever country you have lived in. :hamster:
Click to expand...
As predicted, NO response or acknowledgement of the points I made about Congress in India (pasted again below) as examples for how weakened opposition enables wrong actors to be in power ... but instead just some random drivel resorting to name calling and personal insults (usual recourse for people when substance becomes lacking).

No response or acknowledgement from you for these points below

What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close. - In a way this proves my point. Ask yourself this - if the Congress party of India had not turned away multi-generations of good capable leaders, and if they had good ones, don't you think they would have swept up this election and had won? In spite of BJP's high corruption, failed policies, obvious lies, and high hatred, they still won. Why? Because the other choice is pretty much impotent, thats why!

Seriously, imagine if your Congress party had a truly democratic set up and the Ghandi (biggest disgusting brand theft renaming themselves as Gandhi) family was never involved post Nehru, don't you think they would have had multi-generations of capable leaders by now? To me, the congress seems to think that Indians only want old school dynastic kings and rulers who are also look more like their conquerors with fairer skins. So let's always look up to that one family while suppressing or chasing away other capable leaders for 70+ years and everything will be fine?


Let me wager a guess about you: you are about 18-22 College kid. Probably 2nd or 3year. Likely getting a tech education. Just about average in your class, Very likely an urban/ semi-urban upbringing have had little contact with rural life of whichever country you have lived in. :hamster:


Comment like this one above makes me wonder if you have looked into a mirror and are projecting. Your assumption about me is wrong, not that it matters for the discussion in any way (as you can see I have not made any personal insult about you). You seem to be a poor example for Indians in terms of etiquette.

Come back if you have anything of substance to add instead of some personal insult drivel.
 
rickroll said:
As predicted, NO response or acknowledgement of the points I made about Congress in India (pasted again below) as examples for how weakened opposition enables wrong actors to be in power ... but instead just some random drivel resorting to name calling and personal insults (usual recourse for people when substance becomes lacking).

No response or acknowledgement from you for these points below

What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close. - In a way this proves my point. Ask yourself this - if the Congress party of India had not turned away multi-generations of good capable leaders, and if they had good ones, don't you think they would have swept up this election and had won? In spite of BJP's high corruption, failed policies, obvious lies, and high hatred, they still won. Why? Because the other choice is pretty much impotent, thats why!

Seriously, imagine if your Congress party had a truly democratic set up and the Ghandi (biggest disgusting brand theft renaming themselves as Gandhi) family was never involved post Nehru, don't you think they would have had multi-generations of capable leaders by now? To me, the congress seems to think that Indians only want old school dynastic kings and rulers who are also look more like their conquerors with fairer skins. So let's always look up to that one family while suppressing or chasing away other capable leaders for 70+ years and everything will be fine?


Let me wager a guess about you: you are about 18-22 College kid. Probably 2nd or 3year. Likely getting a tech education. Just about average in your class, Very likely an urban/ semi-urban upbringing have had little contact with rural life of whichever country you have lived in. :hamster:


Comment like this one above makes me wonder if you have looked into a mirror and are projecting. Your assumption about me is wrong, not that it matters for the discussion in any way (as you can see I have not made any personal insult about you). You seem to be a poor example for Indians in terms of etiquette.

Come back if you have anything of substance to add instead of some personal insult drivel.
Click to expand...
As I have limited data, I have no issues in accepting if I am wrong. Getting it right with a limited sample is always tough. But I don't understand that why it should have struck such a raw nerve. :troll . You are the one who started with labels sir, please go back to chronology of the posts. I responded back and it seemed to have hit too deep. I thought you If you can dish it , you can take it, guess I was wrong. :hamster:

Please tell me which of my points about my guess work is an insult or a derogatory term?
The direct comments have been about your analysis which I have termed as reductive and I explained for terming it as such and your inability to have fact based on conversation. I have countered with facts, would be only right if you can bring facts for your side of the argument too.
 
Aang_The_last_airbender said:
As I have limited data, I have no issues in accepting if I am wrong. Getting it right with a limited sample is always tough. But I don't understand that why it should have struck such a raw nerve. :troll . You are the one who started with labels sir, please go back to chronology of the posts. I responded back and it seemed to have hit too deep. I thought you If you can dish it , you can take it, guess I was wrong. :hamster:

Please tell me which of my points about my guess work is an insult or a derogatory term?
The direct comments have been about your analysis which I have termed as reductive and I explained for terming it as such and your inability to have fact based on conversation. I have countered with facts, would be only right if you can bring facts for your side of the argument too.
Click to expand...
Dude, chill! I did not have any personal insults towards you. You are repeatedly not responding to points and just getting into some weird argument mode. I do not give a rat's end about he said, she said scenario. I also do not give a rats end about who you are (making weird assumptions about the other person) that you seem to do.

I have no "raw nerves" about this topic and your behavior did a complete U turn the moment I said you could be a BJP supporter rooting for Maino family.

1. You made unsolicited wrong assumptions about my background in this thread.
2. You made repeated comments that are personal insults towards me and not the points I make (I'm perfectly happy to admit if I'm wrong about something when someone says that instead of resorting to name calling).
3. You made NO attempt to respond to something I said proving you wrong, completely ignored it and washed over it with personal attacks.

No response or acknowledgement from you for these points below

What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close. - In a way this proves my point. Ask yourself this - if the Congress party of India had not turned away multi-generations of good capable leaders, and if they had good ones, don't you think they would have swept up this election and had won? In spite of BJP's high corruption, failed policies, obvious lies, and high hatred, they still won. Why? Because the other choice is pretty much impotent, thats why!

Seriously, imagine if your Congress party had a truly democratic set up and the Ghandi (biggest disgusting brand theft renaming themselves as Gandhi) family was never involved post Nehru, don't you think they would have had multi-generations of capable leaders by now? To me, the congress seems to think that Indians only want old school dynastic kings and rulers who are also look more like their conquerors with fairer skins. So let's always look up to that one family while suppressing or chasing away other capable leaders for 70+ years and everything will be fine?
 
rickroll said:
Dude, chill! I did not have any personal insults towards you. You are repeatedly not responding to points and just getting into some weird argument mode. I do not give a rat's end about he said, she said scenario. I also do not give a rats end about who you are (making weird assumptions about the other person) that you seem to do.

I have no "raw nerves" about this topic and your behavior did a complete U turn the moment I said you could be a BJP supporter rooting for Maino family.

1. You made unsolicited wrong assumptions about my background in this thread.
2. You made repeated comments that are personal insults towards me and not the points I make (I'm perfectly happy to admit if I'm wrong about something when someone says that instead of resorting to name calling).
3. You made NO attempt to respond to something I said proving you wrong, completely ignored it and washed over it with personal attacks.

No response or acknowledgement from you for these points below

What would you analysis be when the same "Maino" family seems to have found it life back in politics. BJP is getting trounced in all the by elections that have happened recently and its not even close. - In a way this proves my point. Ask yourself this - if the Congress party of India had not turned away multi-generations of good capable leaders, and if they had good ones, don't you think they would have swept up this election and had won? In spite of BJP's high corruption, failed policies, obvious lies, and high hatred, they still won. Why? Because the other choice is pretty much impotent, thats why!

Seriously, imagine if your Congress party had a truly democratic set up and the Ghandi (biggest disgusting brand theft renaming themselves as Gandhi) family was never involved post Nehru, don't you think they would have had multi-generations of capable leaders by now? To me, the congress seems to think that Indians only want old school dynastic kings and rulers who are also look more like their conquerors with fairer skins. So let's always look up to that one family while suppressing or chasing away other capable leaders for 70+ years and everything will be fine?
Click to expand...
I have told you, why and where I have consciously chosen not to respond to your point. You want the conversation just on your terms. That's not how things proceed among reasonable adults. Go read my posts clearly.

1. You have been making unsolicited labels right from the start check your post #50. and continued on and on, I just added my thoughts.
2. Again, where is the name calling or the insults?? If you tend to make wild accusation, you better be prepared to justify it.
Moderators here don't allow any name calling or personal insults. We literally cannot proceed unless you clarify this accusation of yours.
3. I have given you facts and numbers from two separate Democratic primaries, You have continuously chosen to ignore to even acknowledge that.

Conversation is a give and take sir. You are not going to get to dictate every part and structure of a debate, those are called monologues.
 
Aang_The_last_airbender said:
I have told you, why and where I have consciously chosen not to respond to your point. You want the conversation just on your terms. That's not how things proceed among reasonable adults. Go read my posts clearly.

1. You have been making unsolicited labels right from the start check your post #50. and continued on and on, I just added my thoughts.
2. Again, where is the name calling or the insults?? If you tend to make wild accusation, you better be prepared to justify it.
Moderators here don't allow any name calling or personal insults. We literally cannot proceed unless you clarify this accusation of yours.
3. I have given you facts and numbers from two separate Democratic primaries, You have continuously chosen to ignore to even acknowledge that.

Conversation is a give and take sir. You are not going to get to dictate every part and structure of a debate, those are called monologues.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the insights and good luck to you.
 
Netanyahu faces delicate balancing act in US after Biden exits race

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the US this week under pressure to end the Gaza war, from both Israelis and the US administration. How might the political turbulence in Washington shape the trip and future relations?

Mr Netanyahu is set to meet Joe Biden – if the president has recovered from Covid-19 – and address a joint session of Congress, the only foreign leader to do so for a fourth time.

The trip offers him a platform for a reset with Washington after months of tensions over his hardline approach to the war, and an opportunity to try and convince Israelis that he hasn’t undermined relations with their most important ally.

But it is overshadowed by President Biden’s decision not to seek re-election, highlighting political uncertainties about Israel’s next partner in the White House and possibly eclipsing some of the attention on Mr Netanyahu’s visit.

The prime minister got a lot of unwelcome attention in Israel until the moment he boarded the plane.

A drumbeat of protests demanded that he stay home and focus on a ceasefire deal with Hamas to free Israeli hostages.

“Until he has signed the deal that's on the table, I do not see how he picks up and flies across the Atlantic to address the American political chaos,” said Lee Siegel, one of the family members who has come out to demonstrate. His 65-year-old brother Keith is a captive in Gaza.

The trip is a political move, he added, unless Mr Netanyahu stops being a “hurdle” and signs the ceasefire agreement.

Mr Siegel reflected a widespread view that Mr Netanyahu is slow-rolling the process for his own political reasons, roiling his negotiators when he recently threw new conditions into talks that seemed to be making progress.

The prime minister has been accused of bowing to pressure from two far-right cabinet ministers who’ve threatened to bring down his government if he makes concessions to Hamas.

These perceptions have added to frustrations in the White House, which announced the latest formula for talks and had been expressing optimism an agreement could be achieved.

Mr Biden remains one of the most pro-Israel presidents to sit in the Oval Office, a self-declared Zionist who’s been lauded by Israelis for his support and empathy, cemented by his flight to Israel just days after the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

But since then, he’s grown alarmed at the cost of Mr Netanyahu’s demand for a “total victory” against Hamas in Gaza.

The administration is frustrated with the Israeli prime minister for rejecting a post war solution that involves pursuing a Palestinian state.

It’s angry with him for resisting appeals to do more to protect Palestinian civilians and increase the flow of aid to them. It’s facing a domestic backlash over the mounting death toll in Gaza. And it’s worried that the conflict is spreading to the region.

As Joe Biden’s presidency weakened in the swirl of controversy over his abilities, analysts said there might be less room for him to keep up the pressure on the Israeli prime minister.

But Mr Biden’s decision to drop out of the race could actually have strengthened his hand, says Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister and a critic of Mr Netanyahu.

“He is not a lame duck in regard to foreign policy, in a way he's more independent (because) he doesn't have to take into account any impact on the voters,” Mr Barak told the BBC.

“With regard to Israel probably he feels more of a free hand to do what really needs to be done.”

Mr Barak believes it was a mistake for Congress to invite Mr Netanyahu to speak, saying that many Israelis blame him for policy failures that allowed the Hamas attack to happen, and three out of four want him to resign.

“The man does not represent Israel,” he said. “He lost the trust of Israelis…And it kind of sends a wrong signal to Israelis, probably a wrong signal to Netanyahu himself, when the American Congress invites him to appear as if he is saving us.”

Whatever politics he may be playing, Mr Netanyahu insists military pressure must continue because it has significantly weakened Hamas after a series of strikes against the military leadership.

In comments before departing Israel, he suggested that would be the tone of his meeting with President Biden.

“It will also be an opportunity to discuss with him how to advance in the months ahead the goals that are important for both our countries,” he said, “achieving the release of all our hostages, defeating Hamas, confronting the terror axis of Iran and its proxies and ensuring that all Israel’s citizens return safely to their homes in the north and in the south.”

He’s expected to bring the same message to congress, “seeking to anchor the bipartisan support that is so important to Israel”.

The reality is that Mr Netanyahu’s polices have fractured that bipartisan support. The Republicans are rallying around him, but criticism from Democrats has grown.

The Democratic Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer caused a small earthquake in Washington recently when he stood up in the chambers and said Mr Netanyahu was one of the obstacles standing in the way of a lasting peace with Palestinians.

“I hope the prime minister understands the anxiety of many members in congress and addresses them,” the former US ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides, told the BBC at the weekend. He’d been addressing one of the many rallies demanding a hostage release.

That includes “on humanitarian issues and to articulate that this fight isn’t with the Palestinian people, it’s with Hamas."

It’s a message that Kamala Harris would repeat if she were to become the Democratic nominee. There’d be no change in US policy: a commitment to Israel’s security while pushing for an end to the Gaza conflict and a plan for the Day After embedded in a regional peace with Arab states.

But there might be a difference in tone.

Ms Harris does not share Mr Biden’s long history with and emotional ties to Israel. She’s from a different generation and “could more closely align with the sentiments of younger elements of the Democratic party," says Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East.

"That’s a stance more likely to include restrictions on weapons, on munitions from the United States for use in Gaza," he said.

Mr Netanyahu could very well use the visit to steer the conversation from the controversy over Gaza to the threat from Iran, a topic with which he’s far more comfortable, especially after the recent escalation with Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

But his main audience will be domestic, says Tal Shalev, the diplomatic correspondent at Israel’s Walla News.

He wants to revive his image as “Mr America,” she says, the man who can best present Israel to the US, and to restore his image which was shattered by the October 7 attacks.

“When he goes to the US and speaks in front of Congress and [has] a meeting in the White House, for his electoral base, it's the old Bibi is back again,” she says, referring to the prime minister by his nickname. “This is not the failed Bibi who was responsible for the seventh of October. This is the old Bibi who goes to the Congress and gets the standing ovations.”

It also gives him an opportunity to pursue connections with the former President Donald Trump at a time of great political flux in Washington.

“Netanyahu wants President Trump to win,” she says, “And he wants to make sure that he and President Trump are on good terms before the election.”

There is a widespread view that Mr. Netanyahu is playing for time, hoping for a Trump win that might ease some of the pressure he’s been facing from the Biden administration.

“There is a near-universal perception that Netanyahu is eager for a Trump victory, under the assumption that he will then be able to do whatever he wants,” writes Michael Koplow of Israel’s Policy Forum.

“No Biden pressuring him on a ceasefire or on West Bank settlements and settler violence... There are many reasons to doubt this reading of the landscape under a Trump restoration, but Netanyahu likely subscribes to it.”

The question is whether that pressure from Biden will ease as he steps away from the presidential race, or whether he will in fact use his remaining months in office to focus on achieving an end to the Gaza war.

BBC
 
Biden sidesteps hard truths in first speech since quitting race

It was Joe Biden's first chance to define how he will be judged by history.

In a rare televised address from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, his first public comments since he abruptly ended his re-election bid on Sunday, he spoke of his accomplishments. He spoke of his humble roots. He sang the praises of the American people. He said the future of American democracy lies in their hands.

What he didn’t do, despite saying he would always level with Americans, was provide a direct explanation for the biggest question of the day.

He didn’t say why he has become the first incumbent president to abandon a re-election bid, just a few months before voting begins.

And that is what the history books will be most interested in.

He hinted at it. He talked around it. But he never tackled it head on. It was left for the American people to read between the lines.

“In recent weeks,” Mr Biden said, “it’s become clear to me that I need to unite my party.”

He then echoed what has become a growing chorus among Democrats - that it was time to “pass the torch” to a new generation.

While he said his accomplishments, which he listed in detail, merited a second term in office, he added that “nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy – and that includes personal ambition.”

Left unsaid was the cold, hard reality that he resigned because it was becoming increasingly clear that he was going to lose to Donald Trump in November. And that is an outcome that those in his party universally view as catastrophic.

Trailing in the polls, embarrassed by a miserable debate performance and with a growing chorus in the Democratic Party calling for him to step aside, there was no clear path to a Biden victory.

While the president may not have said it, his Republican predecessor - and now former rival for the White House - had no such qualms.

At a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, a few hours before the address, Donald Trump said Mr Biden dropped out because he was losing badly.

Then he went on the attack against Kamala Harris, the party’s new presumptive nominee, claiming that she was a “radical left lunatic” and the “ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe”.

Republican groups have been flooding the airwaves in key battleground states, in an attempt to define Ms Harris in their terms, not hers. According to research by the Associated Press, Trump’s side is slated to outspend their Democratic counterparts 25-to-1 over the course of the next month.

One advertisement had been saying Ms Harris was complicit in covering up the president’s “obvious mental decline”.

Mr Biden’s speech offered a nationally televised, primetime opportunity to provide a rebuttal to the attacks against his vice-president and to firmly address concerns about his ability to continue to fulfil his presidential duties.

It was an opportunity he mostly passed on.

Towards the end of his speech, the president did talk up his running mate. He said Ms Harris was “experienced, tough, capable” and an “incredible partner for me and a leader for our country".

They were strong words, but there weren’t many of them. He spent more time discussing Benjamin Franklin than he did his vice-president – the person he endorsed on Sunday, and the one who will be the most important torch-carrier for his legacy in the months ahead.

With little cover from the president, Ms Harris and her team will have to decide whether, and how, to respond to the withering Republican attacks in the coming days.

Mr Biden may have another chance to tout his former running mate at the Democratic convention in Chicago next month, but this is a delicate time for the new presumptive nominee, as her campaign is just lifting off the ground and Americans are still getting to know her.

The president may have been uncomfortable being overly political in this what could be his final Oval Office address. But if he is concerned about his legacy, Harris’s success or failure, more than anything else he does from here on out, matters.

It will determine whether history judges him as man who made a noble sacrifice, or one who put his party at risk by selfishly holding on to power for too long.

BBC
 
US President Joe Biden is focused on ending the war in Gaza between now and the end of his term, Pentagon chief said on Thursday.

Source: Al-Arabiya News
 
Biden to announce plans to reform US supreme court – report

Joe Biden will announce plans to reform the US supreme court on Monday, Politico reported, citing two people familiar with the matter, adding that the US president was likely to back term limits for justices and an enforceable code of ethics.

Biden said earlier this week during an Oval Office address that he would call for reform of the court.

He is also expected to seek a constitutional amendment to limit immunity for presidents and some other officeholders, Politico reported, in the aftermath of a July supreme court ruling that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution.

Biden will make the announcement in Texas on Monday and the specific proposals could change, the report added.

Justice Elena Kagan on Thursday became the first member of the supreme court to call publicly for beefing up its new ethics code by adding a way to enforce it.

“The thing that can be criticized is, you know, rules usually have enforcement mechanisms attached to them, and this one – this set of rules – does not,” Kagan said at an annual judicial conference held by the ninth circuit. More than 150 judges, attorneys, court personnel and others attended.

The court had been considering adopting an ethics code for several years, but the effort took on added urgency after it was reported last year that Justice Clarence Thomas did not disclose luxury trips he accepted from a major Republican donor.

Public confidence in the court has slipped sharply in recent years. In June, a survey for the Associated Press-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research found that four in 10 US adults have hardly any confidence in the justices and 70% believe they are more likely to be guided by their own ideology rather than serving as neutral arbiters.

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/26/biden-to-announce-plans-to-reform-us-supreme
 

Joe Biden reveals reason why he pulled out of race for the White House​


US President Joe Biden has revealed he dropped out of the race for the White House because Democrats felt his candidacy was "going to hurt" their chances of being re-elected.

The 81-year-old abandoned his campaign in July after months of speculation about his age and his fitness to serve another four years.

Concerns increased among Democrats after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump in June and a series of high-profile gaffes.

Senior Democrats, including former US President Barack Obama, expressed their concerns about him running, while former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mr Biden's long-time friend and ally, urged him to step aside.

Asked on the US news show CBS Sunday Morning why he chose to abandon his campaign, Mr Biden said: "Look, the polls we had showed that it was a neck and neck race which would have been down to the wire. But what happened was, a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was gonna hurt them in the races.

"And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic [journalists] would be interviewing me about - 'Why did Nancy Pelosi say [this]? Why did someone [say this]?'

"And and I thought it would be a real distraction."

Mr Biden added he thought of himself as a "transition president" when he ran in 2020, and added: "I can't even say how old I am. It's hard for me to get out of my mouth."

The US president also said the "critical issue" for him is "maintaining this democracy".

He continued: "Although It's a great honour being president, I think I have an obligation to the country to do the most important thing you can do and that is - we must, we must, we must defeat Trump."

In the interview with CBS' chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa, Mr Biden also said he was "not confident at all" that there would be a peaceful transfer of power if Mr Trump loses the election.

It comes after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building on 6 January 2021 as they sought to keep him in power two months after his election defeat to Mr Biden.

The US president quickly threw his support behind vice president Kamala Harris when he withdrew from this year's race and urged Democrats to donate to her campaign.

Ms Harris has chosen Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential candidate, with the pair making their first public appearance together at a rally in Philadelphia this week.

Meanwhile, the campaign for Republican candidate Mr Trump has claimed it was hacked by Iran in June.

News website Politico said it had received emails in July from an anonymous source offering authentic documents from inside Mr Trump's operation, including a report about running mate JD Vance's "potential vulnerabilities".

"These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said.

news.sky.com

Joe Biden reveals reason why he pulled out of race for the White House

The 81-year-old abandoned his campaign in July after a disastrous debate performance and a series of gaffes led to heavy speculation about his fitness to serve.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
It seems the Biden administration is already afraid of Trump's potential victory

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

US to accuse Russia of effort to influence 2024 election, CNN says​


The United States plans to accuse Russia on Wednesday of a campaign to influence the 2024 elections using online platforms to target American voters with disinformation, CNN reported, citing six sources familiar with the matter.

Russian state media network RT will be a focus of the announcement, CNN reported.

The news comes just hours before Attorney General Merrick Garland is due to make public remarks at a meeting of the Justice Department's Election Threats Task Force.

He will be joined by FBI Director Chris Wray, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, and Matt Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment ahead of the election task force meeting.

The Justice Department has previously warned that Russia remains a threat to the Nov. 5 presidential election.

In a speech last month, Monaco warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin "and his proxies are using increasingly sophisticated techniques in their interference operations."

"They’re targeting specific voter demographics and swing-state voters in an effort to manipulate presidential and congressional election outcomes," she said.

"They’re intent on co-opting unwitting Americans on social media to push narratives advancing Russian interests. They’re working to diminish American support for Ukraine. And they’re always adapting."

 
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