Biden …out!

[WyattEarp]

What is the income bracket of your circle? And how many don't have employer coverage?

Who you need to ask are expat Americans now living in Canada. One friend I have still marvels at going to the hospital for his first kids delivery and walking out without a bill.

That would be great, but people know someone is picking up the tab. I think the fear is the government, budget restraints, etc.

Canadians that work in our American offices routinely prefer their U.S. private coverage. It's not some resounding disfavor of a Canadian system, but rather they're not favoring it.

Income bracket doesn't matter entirely. The people on the plant floor have the same coverage as the executive team. There's no real need to add personal monies to it. It's the basic general rule of employment in the U.S. if you are skilled or somewhat trainable as well as dependable you will have decent healthcare.

Some people find this link between employment and private healthcare uncivilized, but it accomplishes certain employment incentives. So that's why more than 50% prefer private coverage. Most people don't view Medicare as something granted, but rather something earned during their working years. Of course, that's not true for everyone on Medicare.

In any event, Kamala won't campaign on Medicare4All. I think she might have raised her hand in support at one of the 2020 debates.

 

[Knuckle Ball]

When Melania got the news:

TikTok - Make Your Day

vm.tiktok.com

#BeBest
#brat

 

[Valcazar]

Once again, projecting your silly little notions. Biden was anointed to stop Sanders. That's it.

"That's it."

I see.

Do I think they planned to engineer a bait and switch? No.

Pretty sure you did back then. Don't care enough to look it up.

 

[Valcazar]

Who you voting for, Butler?

Still RFK Jr?

Butler isn't an American and can't vote.
When talking about elections he actually can vote in and that might impact him directly, he has a very different approach.

 

[squeezer]

Then you realize that the Demicratic leadership has been lying yo the American people right? What is the bigger cover up? Fucking a pornstar? Or that the President IN OFFICE is incapable of doing the job?

Why do you believe he is incapable of doing his job?

Let's see,


THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
Just six weeks into his presidency, Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan to jumpstart our economy and change the course of the pandemic. The American Rescue Plan funded our national vaccination campaign and helped safely reopen America’s schools.
THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW
President Biden worked across the aisle to deliver what decades of presidents promised and failed to do: rebuild our nation’s roads and bridges, upgrade our public transit, clean up pollution, and provide high-speed internet to every American.

CONFIRMATION OF JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
President Biden appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court. She is also the first public defender to serve on our nation’s highest court.
THE BIPARTISAN SAFER COMMUNITIES ACT
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is the most significant gun violence prevention legislation in 30 years. It will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, narrow the “boyfriend loophole,” and expand mental health and safety services in schools.
THE CHIPS AND SCIENCE ACT
The CHIPS Act will bring back manufacturing from overseas and create good-paying union jobs here at home. Since President Biden signed it into law, companies have already announced almost $300 billion in new American manufacturing investments.
EXPANDING HEALTH CARE FOR VETERANS THROUGH THE PACT ACT
President Biden signed into law the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans in more than 30 years.
SIGNED MARRIAGE EQUALITY INTO LAW
President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act to enshrine marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples into federal law.

THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT
President Biden signed landmark legislation to bring down costs for families, lower prescription drug prices, and make historic investments in American clean energy jobs and manufacturing. Every single Republican in Congress voted against it.

CHANGING OUR FAILED APPROACH ON MARIJUANA
President Biden pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, removing a burden to employment, housing, and educational opportunities for thousands of Americans

PROTECTING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and strip a constitutional right from the American people, President Biden issued executive orders to preserve access to reproductive care and protect the right to travel across state lines to receive care.

HISTORIC CLIMATE ACTION
President Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Accords on his first day in office. He is delivering on the most aggressive climate agenda in American history through historic investments in clean energy.

RALLYING THE WORLD IN SUPPORT OF UKRAINE
Since the start of Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has rallied the world to stand with Ukraine, defend democracy, and stand up to autocracy.

PROTECTING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
President Biden has worked to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. Now, millions of Americans are saving $800 per year on their health insurance and 4-in-5 Americans can find coverage for $10 a month or less through the ACA.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
President Biden signed a landmark executive order to promote safe and accountable policing, ban chokeholds, restrict no-knock entries by police, create a national police accountability database, and prohibit the transfer of military equipment to local police departments.

STUDENT DEBT RELIEF
President Biden has approved the cancellation of billions in student loan debt for millions of Americans, as well as the largest increase in Pell Grants in over a decade.

THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION’S HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Joe Biden for President: Official Campaign Website

Together, we can finish the job for the American people. Are you with us? Join our campaign to re-elect Joe Biden today!

joebiden.com

 

[richaceg]

Why do you believe he is incapable of doing his job?

Let's see,


THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
Just six weeks into his presidency, Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan to jumpstart our economy and change the course of the pandemic. The American Rescue Plan funded our national vaccination campaign and helped safely reopen America’s schools.
THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW
President Biden worked across the aisle to deliver what decades of presidents promised and failed to do: rebuild our nation’s roads and bridges, upgrade our public transit, clean up pollution, and provide high-speed internet to every American.

CONFIRMATION OF JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
President Biden appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court. She is also the first public defender to serve on our nation’s highest court.
THE BIPARTISAN SAFER COMMUNITIES ACT
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is the most significant gun violence prevention legislation in 30 years. It will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, narrow the “boyfriend loophole,” and expand mental health and safety services in schools.
THE CHIPS AND SCIENCE ACT
The CHIPS Act will bring back manufacturing from overseas and create good-paying union jobs here at home. Since President Biden signed it into law, companies have already announced almost $300 billion in new American manufacturing investments.
EXPANDING HEALTH CARE FOR VETERANS THROUGH THE PACT ACT
President Biden signed into law the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans in more than 30 years.
SIGNED MARRIAGE EQUALITY INTO LAW
President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act to enshrine marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples into federal law.

THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT
President Biden signed landmark legislation to bring down costs for families, lower prescription drug prices, and make historic investments in American clean energy jobs and manufacturing. Every single Republican in Congress voted against it.

CHANGING OUR FAILED APPROACH ON MARIJUANA
President Biden pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, removing a burden to employment, housing, and educational opportunities for thousands of Americans

PROTECTING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and strip a constitutional right from the American people, President Biden issued executive orders to preserve access to reproductive care and protect the right to travel across state lines to receive care.

HISTORIC CLIMATE ACTION
President Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Accords on his first day in office. He is delivering on the most aggressive climate agenda in American history through historic investments in clean energy.

RALLYING THE WORLD IN SUPPORT OF UKRAINE
Since the start of Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has rallied the world to stand with Ukraine, defend democracy, and stand up to autocracy.

PROTECTING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
President Biden has worked to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. Now, millions of Americans are saving $800 per year on their health insurance and 4-in-5 Americans can find coverage for $10 a month or less through the ACA.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
President Biden signed a landmark executive order to promote safe and accountable policing, ban chokeholds, restrict no-knock entries by police, create a national police accountability database, and prohibit the transfer of military equipment to local police departments.

STUDENT DEBT RELIEF
President Biden has approved the cancellation of billions in student loan debt for millions of Americans, as well as the largest increase in Pell Grants in over a decade.

THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION’S HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Joe Biden for President: Official Campaign Website

Together, we can finish the job for the American people. Are you with us? Join our campaign to re-elect Joe Biden today!

joebiden.com

Mandrill said it's Kamala now...Biden is out...
Democrats doing democratic things...

 

[Butler1000]

Why do you believe he is incapable of doing his job?

Let's see,


THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
Just six weeks into his presidency, Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan to jumpstart our economy and change the course of the pandemic. The American Rescue Plan funded our national vaccination campaign and helped safely reopen America’s schools.
THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW
President Biden worked across the aisle to deliver what decades of presidents promised and failed to do: rebuild our nation’s roads and bridges, upgrade our public transit, clean up pollution, and provide high-speed internet to every American.

CONFIRMATION OF JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
President Biden appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court. She is also the first public defender to serve on our nation’s highest court.
THE BIPARTISAN SAFER COMMUNITIES ACT
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is the most significant gun violence prevention legislation in 30 years. It will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, narrow the “boyfriend loophole,” and expand mental health and safety services in schools.
THE CHIPS AND SCIENCE ACT
The CHIPS Act will bring back manufacturing from overseas and create good-paying union jobs here at home. Since President Biden signed it into law, companies have already announced almost $300 billion in new American manufacturing investments.
EXPANDING HEALTH CARE FOR VETERANS THROUGH THE PACT ACT
President Biden signed into law the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans in more than 30 years.
SIGNED MARRIAGE EQUALITY INTO LAW
President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act to enshrine marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples into federal law.

THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT
President Biden signed landmark legislation to bring down costs for families, lower prescription drug prices, and make historic investments in American clean energy jobs and manufacturing. Every single Republican in Congress voted against it.

CHANGING OUR FAILED APPROACH ON MARIJUANA
President Biden pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, removing a burden to employment, housing, and educational opportunities for thousands of Americans

PROTECTING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and strip a constitutional right from the American people, President Biden issued executive orders to preserve access to reproductive care and protect the right to travel across state lines to receive care.

HISTORIC CLIMATE ACTION
President Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Accords on his first day in office. He is delivering on the most aggressive climate agenda in American history through historic investments in clean energy.

RALLYING THE WORLD IN SUPPORT OF UKRAINE
Since the start of Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has rallied the world to stand with Ukraine, defend democracy, and stand up to autocracy.

PROTECTING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
President Biden has worked to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. Now, millions of Americans are saving $800 per year on their health insurance and 4-in-5 Americans can find coverage for $10 a month or less through the ACA.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
President Biden signed a landmark executive order to promote safe and accountable policing, ban chokeholds, restrict no-knock entries by police, create a national police accountability database, and prohibit the transfer of military equipment to local police departments.

STUDENT DEBT RELIEF
President Biden has approved the cancellation of billions in student loan debt for millions of Americans, as well as the largest increase in Pell Grants in over a decade.

THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION’S HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Joe Biden for President: Official Campaign Website

Together, we can finish the job for the American people. Are you with us? Join our campaign to re-elect Joe Biden today!

joebiden.com

I'm stating he is incapable because of his debate performance, and in pretty much every public appearance since he looks incapable. He send a resignation text, then took several more days to do a pre recorded message to the American People. And still he is incapable of doing a simple press scrum.

At this point he is a national security problem. And the legislative record has no bearing on his fitness for office. It's, CAN HE DO THE JOB NOW.

He can't.

 

[mellowjello]

I'm stating he is incapable because of his debate performance, and in pretty much every public appearance since he looks incapable. He send a resignation text, then took several more days to do a pre recorded message to the American People. And still he is incapable of doing a simple press scrum.

At this point he is a national security problem. And the legislative record has no bearing on his fitness for office. It's, CAN HE DO THE JOB NOW.

He can't.

It would be a tough haul to prove a president is mentally unfit.
The eye test says it's obvious, the legal requirements are another story, probably not worth the trouble other than for political gamesmanship.
I don't think he'll be making any serious decisions, I'm sure the deep state is in place to make sure no one goes to far off the rails.

 

[Valcazar]

Another thing I read which was an interesting take, but likely a conservative wet dream was the electoral propensity of Arizona and Nevada Democrats. The opinion was that Arizona and Nevada Democrats do not share the same progressive zeal as California Democrats. That might be true, but given a choice between Trump and Harris they will stick with Harris. That of course is if she doesn't push a strict progressive agenda.

That's a thing people tend to forget - it is a choice between these two parties/people/visions.
"I don't want policy X" plays a factor but almost no one votes on a single issue alone. (One issue might be heavily weighted, but outside of some real wackos, people have more than one thing they are interested in.)

"Person X is too progressive for me" / "Person X is too conservative for me" are real things people mean when they say them, but that doesn't mean their final choice isn't sometimes "But fuck that other person, so I'd rather have Person X".

(That's not even getting into the fact that most people don't vote on policy at all.)

 

[Valcazar]

I don't have any issue with the way this has been handled this month. The Democratic party has to do what it needs to do. It has to unite around one candidate sooner than later. I'm not sure you could have Democratic challengers campaigning against each other for a month then at the convention. You could but would that facilitate winning.

It was never certain the party would unite.
There are lots of factions and there was a lot of shit-stirring from the outside and people absolutely rooting for a "Chaos Convention" to rival or surpass 1968.
(The media, in particular, has wanted a contested convention with lots of drama from either party for years because it would be great ratings.)

You look at the last month and it is obvious there was lots of manoeuvring going on among the various players in the party.
It will be a long time, I suspect, before we know that whole story. (The snippets we got in leaks have to be viewed with suspicion since the leaks themselves are often part of the strategy and tactics employed and - as stated earlier - the press has its own agenda in how it reports things.)

I think most Democrats wanted something smooth - which is what we got.
I, personally, didn't expect the party to pull it off. I really thought the likeliest result was a power struggle that cracked the party and handed a victory to Trump on a silver platter.
Looks like I was wrong and we have a shot to win it. (Anyone who says the election is a guaranteed victory for either side at this stage is just wishcasting in my view.)

 

[Valcazar]

I don't know. Conspiratorial is a strong word.

Agreed.

There seems to be a lot of people thinking that "made plans and acted" equals "conspiracy".

As if "We had a safety plan in case of fire" MUST mean the fire was arson and set by themselves for the insurance money.

Biden is old.
His age has been an issue of discussion since his first run.
It isn't at all surprising that various people had ideas about what to do should he drop out or even if it looked like his age was going to be an insurmountable obstacle.
Some probably had long-standing plans, others just had a vague idea in the back of their head that they jumped on after the debate, and probably lots in between.

Hell, each party has sets of rules in place for how to handle a nominee dropping out before or after the convention.
The fact these plans exist doesn't mean every time something happens it is a "conspiracy". (I guess if you are one of the rare people who uses "conspiracy" to mean "any plan people make that other people don't know all the details of" then sure. But most people don't use it that way.)

I just think Democrats thought Biden was a safe bet to take on Trump. The limited campaigning in 2020 worked. Perhaps, they could do that again and campaign from the White House (as they used to say). President Biden holds it together for two debates and you have a race. Never underestimate politicians' tendency to do the same exact thing. It is the safest way to go.

Valcazar and may someone else here was absolutely correct that is not unusual for a sitting President to go unchallenged in the primaries. It can be career suicide if you lose. Again, safe.

Ah-ha, but somebody had the good sense to encourage Biden's team to sign up for an early debate. I look forward to the insider's books that will come out a few years from now.

The early debate will be a very interesting chapter.
Remember, Biden had been trailing pretty much since 2022.
The theory of the case the Biden camp floated a lot was that when it became obvious to people it was Biden vs Trump, Biden's poll numbers would improve. Remember lots of people kept insisting it wouldn't be Trump even after he was winning the nomination. Hell, I remember people telling me in 2021 that obviously it wouldn't be Trump. The Press tried to push Hayley or DeSantis hard - again, I think a lot of people just assumed Trump wold go away and if he did I expect Biden steps down far earlier.

So some were pitching the early debate as "Get Trump v Biden as the reality into people's heads early" so that people started focusing on it as a binary choice and that would start Biden catching up.

Now, were there people in the Biden camp or in the "We have to try someone other than Biden" camp who wanted the early debate thinking that if Biden tanked it they would have time to try and recover or switch candidates and that played a role in the scheduling? Maybe! I don't know. It will be interesting to find out if that was the main factor, just a part of the mix, or no factor at all.

 

[Valcazar]

If indications were that Biden was ahead of Trump or even neck and neck, I would agree.
Biden was getting trounced in the polls way before the debate,
and then they schedule a debate against a guy like Trump when he's already hanging on by a thread mentally?
I think it's possible they let this happen so he would fall on his sword in the aftermath of everyone turning on him.

As I mentioned above, who picked the early debate and why is an interesting question.
Did different people have different motives?
Maybe we will know one day.
We don't know now.

I mean, look at what the DNC did to Sanders in 2016, and he would have crushed Trump by all polls.

LOL.
What did they "do" to Sanders?

And no, he would not have "crushed Trump by all polls".

Could he have won?
Absolutely.
He 100 percent had a shot at winning.

But anyone predicting confidently that the polls show he would have crushed Trump is making the same kind of mistake as people saying "Michelle Obama would obviously win".
Polls about people not in the race are not perfect indicators of what will happen if they really were in the race.

 

[mellowjello]

LOL.
What did they "do" to Sanders?

And no, he would not have "crushed Trump by all polls".

Court Concedes DNC Had the Right to Rig Primaries Against Sanders | Observer
I'm just providing one article for reference, not digging up a bunch of stuff.

Could he have won?
Absolutely.
He 100 percent had a shot at winning.

But anyone predicting confidently that the polls show he would have crushed Trump is making the same kind of mistake as people saying "Michelle Obama would obviously win".
Polls about people not in the race are not perfect indicators of what will happen if they really were in the race.

You're stating the very obvious, something I agree with you on.
The whole discussion of Sanders was an aside, to give context to my point that the party establishment is capable of anything.
I never said that he would win definitely but based on relative polling, he was way ahead of Clinton who got 3 million more votes than Trump and with that
kind of lead it would be a reasonable speculation that he would actually win.
Not sure why we're splitting hairs here.
I hope this clarifies it a bit.

 

[Valcazar]

Let's face it. Somebody has to win in November and somebody has to lose. We all might think a handful of States deciding the Presidency with razor thin margins is the likely outcome. Maybe that's not going to happen this time.

I expect it still will.
I don't see that changing for quite some time, sadly.

Lastly, I don't remember Sanders crushing Trump in the 2016 polls. Sanders has a strong base in the Democratic party. Beyond that, I don't think his message sells well with Americans. There are probably still many voters who don't know a lot about Sanders.

There were definitely a few polls that showed him much further ahead than Clinton.
These were mostly after it had become obvious Clinton had won the nomination. (Before that you had lots of polls that showed both Clinton and Sanders beating Trump handily.)

These are in March of 2016 and maybe May.

After that, once the general is underway, Sanders polled very well, since he got to be the "I hate both these people" candidate.
That's the kind of polling you can never count on surviving actually being the real candidate.

 

[Valcazar]

I did a quick perusal of Sanders vs. Trump and Realclearpolitics had Sanders up 4% in April, 2020 with an aggregation of polls. It sounds like a lot until you realize Biden won the election with 4.5% margin nationally.

What's interesting is Biden was polling much higher than 4.5% in October, 2020.

So would have Sanders' April polling margin of 4% shrink on the actual Election Day? Was Sanders really that well-known to voters in the Spring of 2020? I maintain that outside Democratic voters who are very engaged Sanders is not well-known.

So it might be an overstatement to say that Sanders was crushing Trump. In actuality, Biden was "crushing" Trump in polling as late as October and up until Election Day.

2020 General Election: Trump vs. Biden Polls | RealClearPolling

Explore poll data on the 2020 General Election between Trump and Biden. Gain insights into key trends and electoral dynamics.

www.realclearpolling.com

This is my point.
Was Sanders viable against Trump in either 2016 or 2020?
Absolutely.

But his numbers weren't that wildly better than other people. (There are obviously stretches where he is stronger and stretches where he is weaker, as usually happens in these things.)

 

[Valcazar]

It has not been bypassed. NOBODY is wanting to run against her.

Butler (like Frank and a few others from what I can tell) firmly believes that people not running is anti-democratic and cheating if it means his preferred outcome doesn't happen.

What would you like them to do. Force a bypass so your ilk can jump on the wagon that the DEMS bypassed a black woman??

Are you trying to point out that this is just a double-bind argument in which no matter which thing the Dems did Butler would say it is the wrong thing?
Because he doesn't like it when you point that out.

 

[Valcazar]

Buying into the Fox spin eh? LOL

I give him full brownie points for insisting a pooner should know a bait and switch though.
Good phrase choice for the room.

 

[Valcazar]

Squeeze, don't push this so hard.

Do you think Biden vs. Dean Phillips was a competitive battle? Rearranging primary battles to fast forward to South Carolina doesn't look so good in retrospect.

One could say let's have a real democratic contest and allow Newsom, Whitmer, etc. to challenge for the nomination. It's been clear to some of us for a long time that Biden was declining and Democrats had to have an open fight for the nomination.....for their own good.

I am not sure what you are objecting to that Squeeze is saying here.
Newsom and Whitmer were allowed to challenge for the nomination.
They chose not to.
They looked at their chances of winning and thought not running was better than running and losing.

Dean Phillips ran explicitly as the "Biden is too old" candidate and got nowhere. (The fact he is particularly unimpressive probably had a lot to do with that.)

If you want to speculate that if Newsome had run he would have been competitive enough to force Biden into engaging and that pressure would have resulted in Biden tanking during the primaries... sure. It's possible; even plausible.

But it is just speculation and it sure as hell isn't for sure.

We could have ended up with something like what happened on the GOP side where the front runner barely acknowledges the race, doesn't debate, and none of his challengers get more than 20-30% of the vote.

We just don't know. They made the call that made sense to them.

--

As for South Carolina, what doesn't look good about that?
People have been saying it needed to be moved from New Hampshire and Iowa for years (and Iowa fucking up so bad in 2020 shot any last chance they had of hanging on to hell).

I would prefer some kind of rotation among more representative states rather than one in the lead and SC wasn't my first choice even then (I think I remember backing Michigan when this was being decided) but it is a perfectly plausible pick. Biden wasn't going to be seriously challenged as an incumbent anyway, so it isn't like he was doing it to stack the deck in his favor for future presidential runs.

 

[Butler1000]

The issue isn't that I consider it rigged now. The issue is the party covered up the decline of Biden to prevent people jumping in a year ago in an open primary.

No one with any sense was going to jump in with no money, ground game, being on the ballots in 50 states and against Pelosi who put the word out not to. I even called that and said only Kamala can realistically take over.

But it never should have come to this last minute thing. I believe the cover up was purposeful. They wanted to prevent an open primary. Moving up the delegate vote and making it online was proof as well. They did everything to counter any division and cover for Biden.

The primaries are a part of the base voting structure of the USA. Any tampering with it is anti democratic in the eyes of the electorate. Add in a betrayal of leaving a senile old man in the office and really the party is going to find a section of the electorate isn't going to believe them.

Very soon the pressure and attacks for Biden to resign are going to come in. And if he refuses Kamala is going to have to explain why the 25th isn't being used.

It all adds up to not respecting democracy. Despite their claims to be saving it.

 

[WyattEarp]

Agreed.

There seems to be a lot of people thinking that "made plans and acted" equals "conspiracy".

As if "We had a safety plan in case of fire" MUST mean the fire was arson and set by themselves for the insurance money.

Biden is old.
His age has been an issue of discussion since his first run.
It isn't at all surprising that various people had ideas about what to do should he drop out or even if it looked like his age was going to be an insurmountable obstacle.
Some probably had long-standing plans, others just had a vague idea in the back of their head that they jumped on after the debate, and probably lots in between.

Hell, each party has sets of rules in place for how to handle a nominee dropping out before or after the convention.
The fact these plans exist doesn't mean every time something happens it is a "conspiracy". (I guess if you are one of the rare people who uses "conspiracy" to mean "any plan people make that other people don't know all the details of" then sure. But most people don't use it that way.)

If in the past I made it seem like the Democrats rigged the primaries for Joe, that was too strong a take. Everyone had a fair shot at challenging Biden. It's possible a guy like Newsom might be kicking himself for not trying. I do think the Democratic leadership did assist a Biden nomination a bit, but again they didn't violate any party rules. There's no rule that says Iowa and New Hampshire have to be first in the primaries.

A stronger case could be made that the Biden inner circle can be at fault. I would expect that if the Democrats lose the Presidency they will be very critical of Biden's team.

Now we are going to hear a lot about Kamala Harris' being proclaimed the Democratic nominee. At this late of stage, it's impossible to have Democratic party voters select Biden's replacement. The decision is left to Democratic convention delegates who are more likely to be influenced by endorsements from party leaders. Again, there's nothing wrong with party leaders coming together around Kamala. The convention delegates still choose the nominee, but will likely trust the leadership.