Writes David Ignatius in "President Biden should not run again in 2024" (WaPo).
Ignatius is tripping over himself. The somebody else is screamingly obviously Kamala Harris. If Biden steps aside there will be a grisly interlude in which Harris is destroyed. Who wants to see that? I mean, who wants to see that who doesn't wish the Democrats ill?
ADDED: No sooner did I publish this post than I noticed this Guardian piece by Sidney Blumenthal: "Democrats need to realize that there is no alternative to Biden – and buck up/Spooked by Trump’s shadow, Democrats react with disapproval of Biden, whose numbers are stagnant. They risk creating a self-fulfilling prophesy."
Blumenthal doesn't even mention Harris. He just says there's "no alternative," which is an obtuse way to say Harris is an unworkable alternative.
Posts
94 comments:
"s still an old-time pol, to be sure, but he is now more focused and strategic; he executes policies systematically, at home and abroad. "
Who is saying this and who believes it?
If the impeachment inquiry yields any big nuggets...Michelle Obama, the only Democrat who can jump over Harris and not only keep but add to the vote total. I think she'd win, too. Especially if Trump is the nominee.
It's not that Biden is too old to be President. He's been bribed.
Even the Democrats should realize he needs to be impeached and convicted.
What does Joe have to do in order to be convicted? Publish a sex tape?
The media is playing chicken with Joe
we're going to drive you out of the race!
you better get out now
while you still can!
What fussbudgets. They have the whole thing set up so it doesn't matter if the President needs a court appointed guardian, yet they still complain. I can't get through the morning because he's not somebody I want to blow, they think...
Here's another leftmediaswine running interference for QuidProJoe, the worst President ever.
He's still the manhandler, albeit less gay. Biden should be impeached and removed. Harris should take a knee to her progress.
If there is no alternative, shouldn't the story not be about retaining Biden, but instead be on the topic of why there is no alternative? What is it about the Democratic Party that is preventing them from having viable Presidential candidates? The GOP can find them in most states, senatorial positions, or even from the corporate world.
As for Biden, he is still the lying political hack that kept him out of the Presidency for decades. That he is Democrats only hope for retaining such power, well again that should be the story.
Hey Ann,
Whyis kamala the obvious choice?
How many sitting vice presidents have run for prez because "it stands to reason, the vp is the obvious choice!"?
How many have won?
John Henry
I watched a documentary that was streaming, called "The Great Commanders" which covered Alexandr the Great, Caesar, Napoleon, Ulysses S Grant, and Georgi Zhukov, who led the Red Army from a humiliating opening effort, Hitler's army could see the minarets of Moscow, to the taking of Berlin.
After the war, Zhukov's daughters said, he always kept a small suitcase packed, expecting to be arrested by Stalin, since he was a credible leader of the Soviet Union, and therefore must be eliminated. Stalin never did order him killed, possibly out of respect, but more likely out of fear that killing the greatest hero of "The Great Patriotic War" might have occasioned him political trouble, it might have been too hard of a sell to paint him as a traitor, but he was put as far from power as possible without killing him.
This is the same dynamic that leads to their being "no credible alternatives" to Biden. It started under Obama, where all promising Democrats were suppressed, except for Hillary. Then the 2020 primaries were fixed for Joe Biden, as all of the rivals, except for Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, dropped out at the same time, and Warren only stayed in for one more primary, where she splits the Sanders vote, to ensure Biden won. Who makes these decisions? Could Joe Biden, on his own, order all of his rivals to do his bidding? Well, except for Bernie Sanders, who didn't sell out until later.
He’s still an old-time pol, to be sure, but he is now more focused and strategic; he executes policies systematically, at home and abroad.
I call BS
Biden cant focus long enough to read the sentence rolling on the teleprompter.
More gaslighting. Obama's crew is running all of this. Obama, the only President in history to stay in DC after leaving office. But that data point is ignored.(like ignoring data points in climate research)
--- by Sidney Blumenthal
!!!!!
Hey Ann, Why is kamala the obvious choice? How many sitting vice presidents have run for prez because "it stands to reason, the vp is the obvious choice!"? How many have won?
Yah, it does seem silly. I can understand the logic with the GOP, where the GOPe seems to prefer an 'inevitable' Veep lineage (against the better judgement of their constituents). When was the last time it was a successful strategy for the Democrats? Truman?
--- He is not Mick Jagger strutting at 80.
Litotes.
That excerpt from Ignoratius is hilariously ridiculous. Joe Biden hasn't been in charge a jack-shit since he was inaugurated. They wheel him out amped up on stimulants when they need him to make a public appearance, then wheel him back to the closet when they don't.
cassandra lite said...
If the impeachment inquiry yields any big nuggets...Michelle Obama, the only Democrat who can jump over Harris and not only keep but add to the vote total. I think she'd win, too. Especially if Trump is the nominee.
9/13/23, 9:33 AM
And America loses. Even more of the "Don't agree with me..then you are RACIST" that her husband started. No thanks. The Obamas did enough damage.
oh please. It's over.
Crook puppet mob-money Biden - collectively protected by media outlets like WaPo - will not only be the mob-crook puppet nominee - he will win.
Joe Biden is our greatest President, giving us peace and prosperity. Full of vigor and implementing his plans for a better america, while working for peace around the globe. Inflation is down, crime is dowm, the border secure, millions of refugees have been welcomed, the green new deal is underway, race harmony has increased, and Putin has been held in check.
Biden has charmed the DC Republicans with his wit and good nature. They are working together to bring down the defecit.
The darknness of the Trump years is gone. Its morning in America.
Biden - the indispensable man.
Based on this, can the WaPo/NYT's give me a Job?
Joe Biden is our greatest President, giving us peace and prosperity. Full of vigor and implementing his plans for a better america, while working for peace around the globe. Inflation is down, crime is dowm, the border secure, millions of refugees have been welcomed, the green new deal is underway, race harmony has increased, and Putin has been held in check.
Biden has charmed the DC Republicans with his wit and good nature. They are working together to bring down the defecit.
The darknness of the Trump years is gone. Its morning in America.
Biden - the indispensable man.
Based on this, can the WaPo/NYT's give me a Job?
Right now South Korea is shitting a brick as Kim rides his armored train up to Vladivostok to meet with Putin, after Stratego Joe forced South Korea to send artillery shells to Ukraine to kill Russian soldiers. Now at the G20, South Korea took Russia aside and begged forgiveness, which likely fell on deaf ears.
The Taiwan War is gonna be lit, thanks to Joe's brilliant strategery. He has produces what Trump could not, a hot war with Russia, a Cold War with China, and a military alliance of China, Russia, and North Korea (which will take South Korea out of any dustup that Joe might provoke before China gets so strong that it would be the equivalent of The Empire of Japan taking on the industrial might of the US at that time.
The next major war, if it doesn't quickly go nuclear, will, as we are seeing in Ukraine, be fought with conventional missiles and drones, and whoever can produce the most of them the fastest, and has the greatest stockpiles, will win. Hint: We will not be able to order military drones from China on Amazon and wait for them to show up in containers at the Port of Lost Angeles six weeks later. Our great leaders have decimated our industrial capacity in search of profits through lower wages, something Trump tried to correct, and for which, people like Rich will never forgive him.
Trump also tried to un-hollow out NATO's military, the hollowness of which has come to light in a big way, but Biden thought that it was better if Europe was weak and totally reliant on us, even as we sold off our industrial war making capacity, underfunded our weapons systems, and now have drained our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Some systematic thinker Joe Biden is, you know, the guy who flunked the third grade.
Q. "If Biden steps aside there will be a grisly interlude in which Harris is destroyed. Who wants to see that?"
A. Me. Would be willing to pay money to see that.
Theories are generally accepted as true if they not only explain the past, but have great predictive power, and if your theory is that the Democrats are now run by a cabal of criminals who use the US government as an ATM machine, as Goetz puts it, you will have pretty good success predicting what the Democrats will do next.
If we had a decent country with halfway honest people as our "elites," then Joe Biden never would have been elected. And after his election and after what we have learned, he would have been run out of office.
Our country is corrupt and failing.
Who wants to see that? I mean, who wants to see that who doesn't wish the Democrats ill?
Porn on middle school library shelves. Biological males entitled to use women’s locker rooms and rest rooms. War on gas stoves, air conditioners, ceiling fans, and gasoline engines. Open, in-your-face corruption. Democrats have decided to drop the facade and openly pick a fight with Normal people. Why shouldn’t Normal people fight back?
Not that I follow presidential election odds, but Kamala is only at 3.3% (just above Haley). As divided as we are as a country on so many issues, it's nice that we can still agree that Kamala who has been bad at every job she's ever had (well except for that first one) is an incompetent idiot. So is Joe Biden, of course, but people can (somewhat) forgive him due to his age.
Biden is lucky if he can execute a daily bowel movement much less Presidential policy.
There will be no alternative to Biden because the people really running the country have no intention of ceding power. Even to another Democrat. They will continue to ride their meat puppet mascot as long as he has a pulse.
Speaking of public sex workers, I read the first three paragraphs of that Ignatius piece and I was reminded of that other journalist wanting to give Bill Clinton a blow job.
But if this guy typing with his mouth full thinks Biden needs to go away, maybe the Dems are starting to wise up.
“Biden has remade himself”
It’s the dementia!
Over the years, Biden has gone from being a pompous, plagiarizing glad-hander to just being a mean old man.
That's the main difference I've noticed: from Joe Biden, who rides the train, to Joe Biden, who will say "fuck you"
Our nation is a 3rd world shit-hole run by corrupt democrat Neo-Maoist elites.
Period. It's over.
-Open southern border
-Billions in green energy Solyndra boondoggles that only line Democrat pockets.
-250 million American tax dollars to Ukraine for "green energy" (the latest in big money to Ukraine. On top of the war machine.
-Media and Democrat party denials of inflation - while they do all they can to increase inflation and unsustainable debt. (again - with big money flowing to democrat elite coffers)
-Media collectively sell democrat party talking points and BS narratives.
and on and on....
"Right now, there’s no clear alternative to Biden — no screamingly obvious replacement waiting in the wings." This is so screamingly obvious that they have set the rules to the two first primaries so that if you campaign in the state and win, your delegates will be assigned to Biden.
This is all a show.
why are the collective left running with mob-puppet Biden? oooo 2020 provides clues.
All we need are the illegal Zuckerburg drop boxes again.
The deadline for getting your name on the ballot is rapidly approaching. If the Dems are thinking of replacing Joe they better get to it quick. Time is running out.
Sane volema kara rara kamelo venas (Esperanto palindrome): A healthily wishful dear rare camel is coming.
"Ignatius is tripping over himself. The somebody else is screamingly obviously Kamala Harris. If Biden steps aside there will be a grisly interlude in which Harris is destroyed. Who wants to see that? I mean, who wants to see that who doesn't wish the Democrats ill?"
Should Harris become president, it will be the crowning achievement of the DEI, race-baiting, Democrat ethos of style over substance.
What does your skin look like? Who do you fuck? Do you have a bonus hole?
These are the important questions now.
Get used to it, peasant.
Hack D- Press ready to defend crook Joe in unison:
"without evidence"
"no proof"
"Russian propaganda"
“circumstantial!” – All evidence is circumstantial. ‘It snowed last night – prove it’, say the collective BS left.
If Biden steps aside there will be a grisly interlude in which Harris is destroyed. Who wants to see that? I mean, who wants to see that who doesn't wish the Democrats ill?
Who would the run in his place? I'm not so sure that Michelle Obama would be a certain thing and I can't see them running Swallwell or AOC. Newsome, maybe? Nah, considering how California Reparations are polling he's head for pariah status.
"Biden has remade himself..."
Kinda like Nordstream remade itself from a pipeline into a casus belli.
You do not have to read any pundits. Just go back 10 years and watch vids of Biden's public talks. Compare to today. The man is coming apart in the brain.
"He’s still an old-time pol, to be sure, but he is now more focused and strategic; he executes policies systematically, at home and abroad."
A pointless observation. He's in the "executive" branch, where the job is to "execute" policy.
These occasional refrains to Michele Obama crack me up. No political experience, nothing substantial to her credit except the 'School Lunch Program !!' failure, nothing of substance to say, and fashion sense that competes with Jill Biden - and yet, here she is, being trotted out.
Is there really any large part of the country that wants Obama again (still) so badly that they would vote for his wife? Of course, the trope has been tried once, with Cankles, so maybe there's a hope being reserved for the re-runs.
“If Biden steps aside there will be a grisly interlude in which Harris is destroyed.”
Harris has excellent prospects to be elected President in 2028. Why waste that on running in 2024?
Michelle Obama would run away with a win.
why won't she run? She doesn't want to. She and Obama are worth multi-millions and they do not need to worry about anything.
Too bad for the Dems.
@Aggie: "These occasional refrains to Michele Obama crack me up. No political experience, nothing substantial to her credit except the 'School Lunch Program !!' failure, nothing of substance to say, and fashion sense that competes with Jill Biden - and yet, here she is, being trotted out."
Did you miss 2007-'08 and the rise of her similarly "nothing substantial to her credit" husband? Did you miss Joe Biden's stated reason for choosing Harris as his running mate?
Reham,
Truman was not elected as a sitting vp. He got it by death of fdr.
Which segues i to part 2 of my point.
How many former vps have had successfully presidencies. Look at Biden, nixon, Ford, lbj truman, Coolidge, tr. Except Coolidge and possibly tr none.
None got reelected to a second full term except nixon and he didn't finish it.
We should ban vps and former vps from running.
It would save a lot of money and drama
John Henry
Hillary is tanned and rested, and she is more publicly visible than she has been 7 years. Just sayin......
Reham,
Truman was not elected as a sitting vp. He got it by death of fdr.
Which segues i to part 2 of my point.
How many former vps have had successfully presidencies. Look at Biden, nixon, Ford, lbj truman, Coolidge, tr. Except Coolidge and possibly tr none.
None got reelected to a second full term except nixon and he didn't finish it.
We should ban vps and former vps from running.
It would save a lot of money and drama
John Henry
It's gonna be Gavin.
tim in vermont said...It started under Obama, where all promising Democrats were suppressed, except for Hillary.
I've always blamed the Clinton machine for destroying the Democrat's bench by eliminating all potential rivals, but whoever the specific culprits are, this is the upshot--Dems have no one to turn to. They are stuck with the doddering old fool in the White House because they have no alternative.
Harris? pfft!
Newsom? He has no more national potential than Michael Bloomberg did
Michelle Obama? Sure, another woman with nothing to recommend her but the men she's had sex with. That's today's Democratic Party. Angry talentless women who sleep their way to the top.
If there is no alternative to Biden, what does that say for the Democratic Party? What does that say for our country? Biden or nothing? Seriously? This is the best we can do?
At least Commodus was entertaining.
"Harris has excellent prospects to be elected President in 2028."
Once all of these five million migrants with pending asylum case, by then it will be ten or fifteen more, are granted the right to vote and kept in red states by executive fiat, same as student loans were done, Constitution be damned, sure. I can see it.
Aggie,
"These occasional refrains to Michele Obama crack me up. No political experience, nothing substantial to her credit[...] and yet, here she is, being trotted out."
I think it comes down to two different ways of seeing the job: President as avatar, versus as chief executive.
I'm remembering too how people who called Hillary the most accomplished presidential candidate ever, were stumped when asked what she had accomplished:
- Well, look at all these positions she's held!
- And what did she accomplish in those positions?
Talking past each other. What she accomplished was to gain and hold those positions.
If you subscribe to this school, then Michelle Obama is a formidable candidate. If you're looking for an effective chief executive, then you might ask, Why her?
How can any serious national political commentor claim that there isn't a credible Democratic candidate ready to go if Biden declines to, or is forced not to, run for reelection? Newsom has all but announced his contingent candidacy. He literally offered to debate DeSantis!
I'm not a fan, but it's pretty clear that Newsom's vision for California is basically the establishment Democratic vision at this point. He's honestly a perfect standard bearer for a real choice of visions, especially if he was pitted against DeSantis.
"no alternative". Makes zero sense to me. Biden is a cipher, a place-holder President. No one pays the least attention to anything he says. I presume that's true in his inner circle as well.
Just pick someone at random from a geriatric ward, with no problem family, and you're good.
"The deadline for getting your name on the ballot is rapidly approaching."
Like legal deadlines (or any other requirements) mean squat to the D party.
If we accept that Biden is 'focused and strategic' then the fact that people are suffering economically under Biden is deliberate.
Blumenthal doesn't even mention Harris. He just says there's "no alternative," which is an obtuse way to say Harris is an unworkable alternative.
If she is unfit to be President, then why is she fit to serve as Vice President? Particularly when the chances of her inheriting the office are increasing.
The Dems put this Jenga Adminstration together, let them see if they can keep it from falling in on itself.
He gives two reasons for Biden to withdraw.
One is that Biden will be 82 and much of the country thinks he is too old. However, Ignatius tells us, if he believes what he writes, that Biden is a highly effective and functional President. So Biden's age is not the problem, the problem is the incorrect public perception of the effects of his age.
Two is the Harris albatross. He can't get rid of her without angering a portion of his base, but she is electoral rat poison ("she has failed to gain traction") despite her many laudable qualities, according to Ignatius. He doesn't offer an explanation for her rejection by the public.
The column is a collection of lies and distortions written to nudge public opinion while avoiding addressing the reality that Biden is a senile grump and Harris is simply not mentally fit for the job.
Why not Newsom? Good hair, little body fat, and he has mastered climate change and refilled the reservoirs and ended California's permanent drought without sacrificing any endangered species.
Pair him up with an attractive AA female and 2024 is in the bag.
@cassandra lite, I notice you didn't have anything favorable to say about M.O.
Biden and the DNC picked Harris, not the US Electorate - she had less than 5% of their support at her zenith of popularity, including now, in office. Obama was a newbie fraud but had community leadership experience and could organize at grassroots levels, and could give a rousing speech to a susceptible audience. While I agree that the audience is still just as susceptible, Michelle Obama has the personality of a grapefruit. But by all means, let's run her.
Newsom is rapidly shifting toward the center.
Biden is somewhere around 5% behind "any democrat". Newsom, baggage and all, is more electable, and the D back room knows that.
Same as they knew Biden was more electable than Bernie.
As a Californicator, all I can say is "Please God, not Newsome"
Biden still short of critical impeachments and indictments to catch up with Trump’s insurmountable lead.
When the media’s chief spokesman/excuse maker for the Democrat Party says you’re done, well, I guess you’re done.
"How many sitting vice presidents have run for prez because "it stands to reason, the vp is the obvious choice!"?"
How many were women of color?
Hillary!(TM) is ready and willing to step up
You can't just elbow Kamala Harris aside. She's not just another Vice President. She has stature that will need to be torn down by anyone other than Biden, and the Democrats cannot want that spectacle.
The VP constitutionally is the next viable choice. Maybe not as candidate, but certainly as President. Democrats ought to be made to explain why she is acceptable for her role, but not acceptable if her role actually required her to ascend to the Presidency.
The Dems already have a spectacle. Joe Biden bragging about how he convinced Strom Thurmond to vote in favor of the Civil Rights Act. I think that was an OMG moment for those who thought Biden might be able to make it another 14 months.
Does anyone think Biden is getting stronger? Recently saw a clip from Biden in 2021 and was shocked by the decline.
How many were women of color?
9/13/23, 12:24 PM
You mean how many were PICKED only BECAUSE they were women of color.
Democrats cannot want that spectacle
Like they worry about spectacles. And everybody has a price in DC.
"Obama, the only President in history to stay in DC after leaving office."
Except for Woodrow Wilson. However in his case he moved into his wife Edith's house, and he was in no condition to meddle in politics after his stroke.
If Biden steps aside there will be a grisly interlude in which Harris is destroyed. Who wants to see that?
Me! Me! Me!
"How many sitting vice presidents have run for prez because "it stands to reason, the vp is the obvious choice!"?"
George H W Bush, and Richard Nixon. Bush won and Nixon lost those elections.
Democrats have decided to drop the facade and openly pick a fight with Normal people. Why shouldn’t Normal people fight back?
Defending "normies"? You're on the wrong blog.
Ann Althouse said...
"You can't just elbow Kamala Harris aside."
I still can't see how sleeping with a Con Man like Montel Williams, while she was a United States Prosecutor, didn't do that already.
Whenever I see someone like Kamala Harris succeed, my faith in my country just evaporates
'She has stature...'
She has no 'stature.'
She's a laughingstock punch line to blow job jokes.
Even the Dems, deep down in their black hearts, don't like her.
Nobody voted for her in the primaries...
What's the basis for the claim that she has "stature" beyond what previous VPs have had simply by virtue of being VP? Is it because she's a "woman of color"? I'm not clear if YOU think this gives her stature or if you just think dems, or voters generally, think she has stature on account of being a WoC.
Because I tell you, if people thought that KH had stature, gravitas, remarkable talent, intelligence, wisdom, strong character, and clear vision for American's future, she would be president today. She would not have been the first candidate out of the race in 2020 and a national laughingstock to this day. At the very least, if dem insiders perceived her as someone of stature, then they wouldn't be wringing their hands trying to figure out how it might be possible to get her out of the way so someone else can take over from our current disgrace of a president.
In short, I don't see how you characterize KH as a person of stature when it's obvious that nobody likes or has any respect for her as a leader.
"You can't just elbow Kamala Harris aside."
Horseshit. The entire Democrat group of presidential candidates elbowed her aside in 2020- she didn't even make it to Iowa to finish in last place.
"Why shouldn’t Normal people fight back?"
Fear of the gulag.
"Just pick someone at random from a geriatric ward, with no problem family, and you're good."
It's a shame Boston no longer has phonebooks.
Althouse is right.
The problem isn't that Kamala will be mad. The problem is elbowing her aside will seem emblematic to all the black women, and lovers of black women, who think they have been elbowed aside in favor of...a man, or a white woman in the past. How can you talk against systemic racism if your party dumps the woman they celebrated enough to make VP? She was historic! And pushing her aside would be historically damaging to the party.
Ann Althouse said...
You can't just elbow Kamala Harris aside. She's not just another Vice President. She has stature that will need to be torn down by anyone other than Biden, and the Democrats cannot want that spectacle.
Fortunately it will be a long time before anyone will have to find out, if ever. Long enough so everyone will have forgotten Ann's nonsense...
oh please. It's over.
Crook puppet mob-money Biden - collectively protected by media outlets like WaPo - will not only be the mob-crook puppet nominee - he will win.
THIS is the thoughtful analysis...
You can't just elbow Kamala Harris aside. She's not just another Vice President. She has stature that will need to be torn down by anyone other than Biden, and the Democrats cannot want that spectacle.
Yes. She is a POC who cannot be dissed. They will have to pay her off to quit the race when Uncle Joe retires.
However, I suspect that the current plan is to make her Prez either before or after the '24 election. If she runs as the incumbent, it would be horribly racist to not vote for her.
Harris has excellent prospects to be elected President in 2028.
Well, that would certainly explain why she dropped out in 2020 before the first ballot was cast Iowa. Because excellent prospects.
Kamala Harris deserves to be destroyed, based solely on the amount of lying she does in her book, Right on Crime.
Rich: "Biden still short of critical impeachments and indictments to catch up with Trump’s insurmountable lead."
Stalin was well short of critical indictments to catch up with refusniks insurmountable lead.
Mao was well short of critical indictments to catch up with Cultural Revolution victims insurmountable lead.
Sensing a pattern here.
How many were women of color?
Who cares? As a country we have to start moving past identity politics sooner or later; now is a good time to start.
And, Althouse, as a woman shouldn’t you be concerned that she would do thoroughly stink up the job that it would be decades before anyone will even remotely consider a woman for the Presidency.
"I mean, who wants to see that who doesn't wish the Democrats ill?"
I really wouldn't know.
@Aggie: "But by all means, let's run her."
You misunderstand. I'm terrified she'll run and, in our name-brand culture, win. The second coming of Barack is a horror movie.
"Michelle Obama would run away with a win."
That would be Barack Hussein Obama's (Queue 5 year old singer video, Umm, Umm, Umm) 4th term! But it would require the intervention of Ophrah!(TM).
“Can we ever get away from identity politics?”
Given that Democrats exist, there’s no escape. I mean, what else do they have?
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