The Democrats Cannot Be Like the Other Party... They Must Be Smarter in Order to Save Our Democracy.

I'm tired of the arrogance of anyone who thinks of themselves as more important than the values they represent, especially when they can do the right thing and exit the stage before the events overtake them and their legacy is destroyed. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Joe Biden, Sonya Sotomayor come to my mind today.

Well, if they were listening to me... First, the Dem players who can force Biden out have to agree he should go. However, the timing and the how could play out indirectly. After polls show Biden's appeal with the persuadable voters is abysmal (which is the case now), the would-be successors pledge support for Biden as they have done after his terrible show.  But in private, they'd tell him otherwise. No one wants to appear as a backstabber publicly. Why? Because it may make JB less likely to bow out, and they'd also want to be in prime position for the 2028 election--if it happens! So, Biden will decide "on his own" sometime this month (July) to pass the torch to a new gen of Dems after having saved our democracy! The convention can pick the nominee, preferably by ranked choice ballot.

It's a ridiculous argument some Dems are making now that Biden rebounded... that it was just a bad night for him... that he's raised tens of millions $ after the "debate". That money came from people who will vote for Biden and the party's candidates. But, BUT, this is not how the election will be decided. It's a small minority of voters (the vast majority of voters are already committed and won't change) who do not think Biden deserves another term. When it mattered (June debate) he couldn't deliver. When Obama lost his first debate nobody was questioning his cognitive ability or his age! Joe had only one task: to convince the voters he could be president, now and in the future. Optics matter more than citing some numbers and esoteric policies (he fumbled those too). Bernie Sanders is one year older than Biden but have you seen him recently? He's feisty and a very clear communicator. All of us we'd be talking about different topics today had Bernie faced Trump in the debate!

 

In the best case scenario the few voters who are up for grabs and don't like both candidates may not vote for Drumpf but they can also stay home, which would be bad for Dems. TURNOUT is the key in this election as it was in 2020...   Oh, and Biden took those 3-4 must-win states by a few thousands of votes! He cannot afford to lose any votes this year! Not showing up because they don't like Biden will also mean all Dems down ballot will suffer. Control of Congress is at stake too in addition to a myriad of other state and local races.

 

If they were still listening.... Biden can perform another great act: convince Justice Sotomayor (age 70 and not in good health) to retire now! The Dems can replace her before they lose the Senate--as this is likely given the map this year for them. If the Repubs win the Senate, the Dems can forget about getting anyone to the SCOTUS. In an ingenious twist, Biden nominates Kamala Harris to the SCOTUS.   This would be a masterful move imho.