That was interesting. Joe Biden flipped the script. Dana Milbanks writes:
On Sunday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson declared that President Biden absolutely, positively had to run for another four years as president.
“It’s not possible to simply just switch out a candidate who has been chosen through the democratic, small-d democratic process,” he told ABC News’s “This Week.”
Biden's response was "Wanna bet?" As Milbanks continues:
[The Republicans] wanted desperately to campaign against Biden this fall, and their party’s nominee, Donald Trump, had built his entire campaign around beating an opponent he could portray as old and feebleminded. But Biden upended everything Sunday with these words: “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and my country for me to stand down.”
His opponents seemed not to know what to do. The Republican response was confused and weak. They accused Democrats of a coup and a conspiracy to hide Biden’s “dementia.” They called for invoking the 25th Amendment and teed up legal challenges. But mostly they responded, in what was clearly a coordinated if illogical plan, by insisting that Biden resign immediately. “If Joe Biden can’t run for re-election,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote in a typical formulation, “he is not capable of serving as president for the next six months and needs to resign NOW!
Politics is a cruel business. It's not about governing. It's about winning. And to win, you need to put on a good show. Biden -- wise though he is -- is no showman. Kamala Harris is no showwoman. But, as a former prosecutor, she knows how to prosecute the case against Trump.
Let's hope she succeeds.
Image: CNN
16 comments:
Now if only Trudeau would step aside.
GDN
Time will tell, GDN.
Er, ah, um………the Libbies have not a viable successor. One would think they would have addressed AND remedied this problem when Ignatieff was their leader.
Is the LPC as fractured as the Dems of the US?
Hey Plutocrats - if you want to run the country, do it in an organized way that benefits the majority, not just your narrow, greedy, selfish selves. DJF
Yes. As difficult as this was for Biden he put his country and his party before himself. He was forced somewhat but I would think he spoke to many people and to his family before making this decision . He has lost nothing by doing this and if anything has only strengthened his legacy all that much more for making this hard and selfless decision. I gotta think too that in a few days he is going to be thinking he is glad to free of the republican nonsensical shi… storm that is to come, the closer the election gets.
The rapid right have no limit to their nastiness and, simultaneously, their over the top theatrical silliness in their quest for power.
Biden has more than done his duty and is overdue to relax and enjoy his life.
PS- If JT does step aside and he timed it as well as Biden it would have the same effect in throwing the pp and reform campaign into disarray. Their entire MO is to blame and to hate JT. Without him they got nuthin’. Personally I would rather a more controlled step down if he decides it’s time to leave but there could be a positive to leaving it late.
So Rick Scott thinks Biden should resign now, which would give Harris the advantage of being an acting president in the November election. It would also give Harris the immunity from prosecution recently conferred on the president by the SCOTUS. She would be free to implement her "radical left" agenda by, say, ordering SEAL Team 6 to take out Scott or even Trump. I think Scott might be safer with a dotard like Biden in charge. No telling what a young (60 y.o.), wild-eyed Marxist might do.
It sounds like Justin is trying to get Mark Carney to succeed him, DJF. We'll see how that works out.
If the Trumpers win, there will be a shitstorm, Graham. Let's hope Biden has changed the weather forecast.
I'm still not convinced that JT will step down, Graham. But perhaps what Biden has done will get him thinking.
Scott's comment merely confirms his vapidity, Cap.
Owen Gray said... "It sounds like Justin is trying to get Mark Carney to succeed him, DJF. We'll see how that works out."
What a slap in the face to members of his Cabinet. Justin is an elitist. We saw what happens when the Liberals brought in Ignatieff. I suspedt Carney is smart enough to stay out. Trudeau needs to step down. The Liberals need to pick an insider.
I suspect the caucus could make it quite a race, Toby. But that won't happen as long as Trudeau sticks around.
f Joe Biden can’t run for re-election,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote in a typical formulation, “he is not capable of serving as president for the next six months and needs to resign NOW!
This actually sounds sensible. Biden is clearly too disabled to function well as the US President.
On the Democrats' side does it make sense for Kamala Harris to become president? On one hand, it, probably, gives her a boost going in to the election as the incumbent. Incumbency, in many/all(?) US elections seems to convey an advantage[1].
On the other hand, it drags her away from campaigning and exposes her to all sorts of crises that Biden and preceding presidents have set up but for which she, as incumbent, will be savaged by the Republicans.
[1] Ask to see my age plots of US senators.
I loved watching the social-media tidal wave of age/cognitive-decline comments directed at the (now) oldest candidate who has ever run for President. I think a few of these even showed up in the m-s-media with the Rethuglicans crying foul. LOL. :-)
This and, (closer to home) the Jr. vs Lil'PP pageant are most entertaining.
Meanwhile, regardless of who is nominally fronting the Canadian or US gov'ts, run-away global heating seems to have begun and the march to war goes on ....
"The global temperature reached 17.09°C (62.76°F) on July 21, 2024, a new record high. The previous record, 17.08°C, was reached on July 6, 2023."
“Ukraine’s future is in NATO.” Russian PoV: First Napoleon, then Hitler and now NATO.
Blame China: "NATO’s statement that characterizes China as a “decisive enabler” permitted the Atlantic alliance to defend its “out of area” operation in the South China Sea"
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/new-arctic-and-offshore-patrol-ship-out-of-action-because-of-flooding-mechanical-problems
Pearl Harbor?
What's an CDN Arctic Patrol ship doing in Pearl Harbor?
"The vessel was to take part in U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises."
Ah yes, trying to provoke China with a little Taiwan-baiting.
Alas, Canada used to aspire to peace-keeping.
The world gets more complicated, PoV.
The Republican response will be nasty on steroids, jrk. Witness the Republican woman claiming that Harris has "destroyed her uterus" because of too many abortions.
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