“The guy is not a democrat with a small d,” the president told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
President Joe Biden said in an interview Wednesday he is all but certain Donald Trump, his predecessor and presumptive 2024 rival, will reject the results of the November election and called Trump “dangerous” for the nation.
“The guy is not a democrat with a small d,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett during a visit to Wisconsin this week.
“How many court cases do they have, Supreme Court cases? They’ve all said this is a totally legitimate election. … He may not accept the outcome of the election? I promise you he won’t. Which is dangerous.”
The president went on to say other world leaders had expressed to him their fear of a second Trump presidency and pointed to Trump’s pledge to prosecute his political opponents if he enters the Oval Office once more.
I wasn’t trying to make it personal, but I do find the kind of attitude you display to be somewhat entitled. And it also displays an admirably idealistic but not very realistic view of the political system that we are stuck with.
You are not going to get that. As far as I am concerned the entire system is corrupt. The military industrial complex is far far too powerful, as are the neocon capitalist forces that essentially call the shots. Guess what? That doesn’t get changed by sitting out an election. It doesn’t get changed except over the very very long haul. If this were a Romney or somebody we’re facing I might be more inclined to say heck ya, let’s blow up the election… but the consequences of a Trump administration are incredibly dire. We don’t have a choice.
Unpopular with you. Popular with a lot of people. It comes down to who can win the election and since Biden is the only candidate that has won against Trump, that’s a good start. You may like to assume that the Dem party just runs with whomever is up next, but while there may be a kernel of truth to that (witness Hillary vs Bernie) it’s not how they’ve won elections (witness Obama).
That’s exactly what they are getting. And provably so. If the 18-39 demographic actually turned out to vote in the numbers that the 65+ group did, you can bet we’d be looking at a different candidate. But that’s not what has happened, due in no small part to folks such as yourself holding out for the whatever your conception of a preferred candidate is.
Look, I completely agree with you about the candidates on offer. They suck. But if you withhold your vote you are not going to get better candidates… you will get worse because the Dems know you aren’t going to vote so they may as well appeal to a demographic that will.
That’s why you should vote blue no matter who, but support progressive candidates and protest policies you oppose.
You’re still trying to have this conversation about me, and not with me about a demographic that you yourself described as fickle…
What do you think is easier? A candidate that gives that demo attention and they like?
Or getting all of them to stop being who they are?
Because if we try to change them, it’s a never ending battle, every year more people turn 18.
If we just run candidates they like, and let them get politically active at a young age. They’ll likely become lifelong Dem voters.
And if the party keeps evolving to meet the more and more progressive views of the next generation, republicans will never have a president again.
All it takes is the “moderate” members sacrificing and supporting candidates that will fix problems a little faster than they want, and we’ll fix our problems.
Who’s being rational here?
I’m sorry if you feel this is aimed at you and is personal. It’s not, but we are debating and you are in a sense representing that demographic.
Specifically you display some traits of a demographic that has not yet learned that you at once have enormous power collectively and very little power individually.
For example you display the tendency of that demographic to think that the entire political system should revolve around them and their particular desires. That somehow our political system is zero sum and that everyone believes or should believe exactly as you do and that if you don’t get 100% of what you want you have failed. You haven’t failed at all! You got some of what you want and others got some of what they want. That’s the success of democracy. And, crucially, that’s your power.
So when you say, to paraphrase, “if only they just had candidates that are popular” you are really saying “candidates my demographic likes”. I’m sorry, that’s not how it works for the simple reason that there are other demographics and other cultural and political beliefs. AND… they vote more.
I think we should end it there although you are welcome to have the last word. But I want to say one last thing: We have made enormous progress and having lived that is a key difference between someone younger and someone older like myself. When I was in my teens I was assaulted and beaten for being queer. Another time I escaped being raped and probably murdered only by sheer luck. For the longest time I couldn’t legally marry. All because of who I am. Now, as a queer and transgender person, I can literally go to at least a few work places and have them respect my pronouns and gender identity. I don’t often fear for my personal safety. I even have our president publicly acknowledging this fact and speaking in support of who I am. And I’m happily married.
This is not everything and there is a lot of work left to do. But HOLY FUCK that is enormous progress in just a few decades.
You say that, but then
There’s nothing I can say that can get thru to you. Which I knew when you wouldn’t share your age demographic and got “snarky” about it. I gave you a bunch of chances rather than make the obvious assumption.
I guess I’ll be “fickle” and have standards about who I associate with.