I know that it’s popular to dismiss President Biden. I get it. He’s old. This is the first election featuring the 2 oldest candidates, ever. So what? The future of the WORLD is literally dependent on this election. To boot Biden from the ticket and try to bootstrap another candidate is madness. Booting this incumbent and hoping his VP will succeed is like firing the cook and hoping the dishwasher will give you Michelin-quality food. Stick with the old man, and figure out a way to enact his popular policies while also expanding the Supreme Court, enacting term limits and limiting “Christian” Nationalists.

  • @Carrolade
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    -55 months ago

    There were a couple, Dean Philips and that one author lady whose name I can’t remember. Is that some “leaderships” fault though, should they have forced say, Bernie to run again, even though he flat-out said he wasn’t planning to?

    Couldn’t we have written in Bernie anyway, just to make a point? But instead we picked “nobody”.

    This is just how democracy works, it’s a messy system where people get to do what they want. Including run or not run.

    • queermunist she/her
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      5 months ago

      The Party made it clear behind the scenes to serious contenders that they should not campaign and should just wait until 2028, Biden was going to be the nominee and the primary was a figleaf. There was never a serious chance of anyone beating Biden.

      That’s just Party politics. I get it.

      But pressuring Biden to drop out is Party politics too! You’re acting like I’m asking for something obscene or undemocratic, but I’m just asking for a chance to beat Trump. Our genocidal mummy might not even survive to the election (he has COVID again)

      • @Carrolade
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        -65 months ago

        I agree, calls for Biden to step aside are legitimate arguments. I just dislike the DNC conspiracy theory lines like there were no primaries, when people absolutely did have the freedom to run against him if they wanted. Nobody forced progressives not to run, every last one of them personally chose not to, of their own volition, based on the existing information they had at the time. They could be asked not to run, but the choice was theirs every time.

        • queermunist she/her
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          55 months ago

          A political party operating like a political party is not a “conspiracy.” Political parties are literally groups of people that work together to achieve political goals.

          Party members had the freedom to defy their Party but that would be seriously detrimental to their political careers within the Party. People chose to follow the Party’s direction because that’s how political parties are supposed to work. It’s like when Obama called all the also-rans and told them to drop out and endorse Biden in 2020. The choice was theirs back then, too, but it’s not as simple as everyone just spontaneously deciding to run or not run or drop out all on their own with zero input from the Party.

          That’s not a conspiracy! That’s just a political party operating like a political party. I don’t know why this is so hard to accept.

          And it’s not too late for the Party to fix this fucking mess.

          • @Carrolade
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            -45 months ago

            That last line right there is the problem. Tell me, how can the party fix this mess if Biden, for whatever reason, simply refuses to drop out? Is there some mechanism or method by which the party can force him out, short of attempting to enact the 25th amendment and hoping Congress agrees?

            You’re minimizing the personal freedom these individuals have to defy their party, giving the party an unrealistic amount of behind-the-scenes power. This is conspiratorial.

            Bernie did not cooperate with the party, isn’t even officially a member. Still doing fine though. This party apparatus does not have the actual degree of control people like to think, it can only sway, lobby and pressure. People simply like to blame it at every opportunity, out of convenience mainly.

            • queermunist she/her
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              35 months ago

              Tell me, how can the party fix this mess if Biden, for whatever reason, simply refuses to drop out?

              Threaten to invoke the 25th Amendment.

              I should point out that they don’t really care if he loses. If he loses, oh well, Trump is great for the Party because they can use him to fund-raise and make electoral gains. He’ll probably fuck up as badly as he did in his first term and they’ll get a new majority.

              Why wouldn’t they just run the genocidal mummy, let him lose, and then start over in 2028? The Public’s memory is short, after all.

              Bernie did not cooperate with the party, isn’t even officially a member.

              Bernie has a personal political brand that’s strong enough to withstand the Party. He can afford to defy the Party. Bad comparison.

              People simply like to blame it at every opportunity, out of convenience mainly.

              The Party gets the blame for when their coalition fucks up. Parties are accountable for their membership.

              • @Carrolade
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                -15 months ago

                The 25th amendment requires both houses of congress to vote in favor of replacing the president with a 2/3rds majority. Republicans control the house, and are unlikely to comply. Additionally, unless he actually is legitimately unfit, it would be unethical for his cabinet and VP to make that assertion.

                It’s a pipe dream. There isn’t actually an answer when we get into the nitty gritty legal details.

                The reason to not allow Trump to win, incidentally, is proj 2025 and his new SC granted legal immunity. He already tried to overthrow one election, in case you don’t remember.

                You’re living in conspiracy land to make yourself feel better about why progressives aren’t in charge more often. The real answer is we just don’t outnumber the moderates in most places.

                • queermunist she/her
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                  15 months ago

                  The 25th amendment requires both houses of congress to vote in favor of replacing the president with a 2/3rds majority. Republicans control the house, and are unlikely to comply. Additionally, unless he actually is legitimately unfit, it would be unethical for his cabinet and VP to make that assertion.

                  You think Republicans would turn down the chance to remove Biden from office?
                  How, exactly, would the explain that to their constituents? 🤨

                  The reason to not allow Trump to win, incidentally, is proj 2025 and his new SC granted legal immunity.

                  Yes, which is why they should be trying to replace Biden, because making him the nominee is guaranteeing a second Trump term. The fact that they won’t even try and most of the party is lining up behind him as the nominee shows me that they don’t actually believe there’s a real danger.

                  You’re living in conspiracy land to make yourself feel better about why progressives aren’t in charge more often. The real answer is we just don’t outnumber the moderates in most places.

                  The literal purpose of political parties and their power to both influence elections and party membership isn’t a conspiracy, this is ludicrous, this is the function of political parties. It’s not just a fan club. They exist to set the agenda, platform, and manage the coalition. You’re basically denying that political parties perform a function.

                  In your world, what even is the purpose of political parties?

                  This isn’t even about progressive politics. This is about a genocidal mummy driving us off a cliff and guaranteeing a second Trump term.

                  • @Carrolade
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                    -15 months ago

                    Simple, they think Biden is a weak candidate, and they have the best chances of beating him. Several have made statements towards this effect.

                    So, any other ideas for how Biden can be removed beyond republicans voting for a stronger opponent?

                    Your conspiracy is this hanging on to some way to control events when no mechanism exists. You are exaggerating a true thing (the purpose of parties) into something untrue (control over events). Very simple.

                • @Viking_Hippie
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                  05 months ago

                  if the vice president and either a majority of the executive Cabinet or a review body appointed by Congress declare in writing that the president is unfit for office, then the vice president immediately becomes the acting president.

                  That wouldn’t be enough to LITERALLY remove him, but it would be such a strong signal of disavowal from people who he himself appointed that he’d be effectively dead to the party already.

                  • @Carrolade
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                    15 months ago

                    True. It would still be unethical unless he was actually medically unfit, though. Regardless of debate performance, he’s probably not actually senile yet, which they would know better than we would just from working with the guy regularly.