It would be amazing if Harris, a black woman, beat the shit out of Trump. But how probable is this? I thought Kamala Harris was universally disliked across the board?
It's less that she's universally disliked and more that she's not particularly liked. In her most prominent appearances in the past 4 years, she's lacked charisma and not taken stances notable enough to distinguish her from the administration. She's heavily disliked on the left-wing of the Democratic Party for being a DA who laughed about jailing people for drug crimes she herself had committed in the past (possession), and not particularly popular on the right-wing of the Democratic Party because they're still racist, just LESS racist than Republicans.
She may be the best choice to go with at this junction, but she wouldn't be my first pick if the field was open. But the field isn't open, so we make do with what we have.
I do very much like one thing about her. In a race where we need to be hitting Trump very hard on the campaign trail, a former prosecutor should be extremely well-practiced and good at that.
But otherwise I agree.
former prosecutor should be extremely well-practiced and good at that.
Prosecutor vs. convicted felon. Who wins? Watch our brand new reality show!
I bet I know who the party of "Law and Order" will vote for!
And to that end, I think Newsom would be the safest choice for a pivot by far.
Reasoning:
We're trying to stop the fascists from winning. Anything else is (unfortunately, but necessarily) secondary at this point. Pragmatic triage of the situation MUST be the mindset with which the party is evaluating their choices.
Of course, the DNC is neither triaging the situation, nor being pragmatic about the candidate who can actually fucking win and stop the fascists, because from where I’m standing, it looks like Biden hasn’t done a great job at any point in his term of slapping down the Nationalist Christians + MAGA crowd (and friends).
nor being pragmatic about the candidate who can actually fucking win
It's been a long time, and I don't remember the exact quote and the entire context, but I remember Trae Crowder (the "liberal redneck") on Real Time just after donnie was selected by the EC and people were trying to do some kind of post mortem on just how the hell we ended up with donnie.
And Trae Crowder says something like, "....or do you want to fucking WIN?" I remember Ana Marie Cox looking kind of put out by the comment, but IIRC, it was about pragmatism. I'm pretty sure exchanges like that went on, in various forms, all around the country during 2015-2016 and they are playing out again...
If anyone has a link to that full exchange, or to a transcript of it, I sure would appreciate it, by the way.
Oh, and by the way I love the idea of Newsom, for exactly all the reasons you lay out.
Yeah, as an anarchist I'm particularly unenthused by "Top Cop" Kamala. I'm also concerned that people haven't learned the lesson that Americans are extremely fucking racist and misogynistic. I'll sadly be "voting blue, no matter who" but when the DNC runs these deeply uninspiring candidates, they can't be surprised at how the low turnout costs them.
Biden can only use his quarter billion in campaign funds for his running mate Kamala. So the only choice is a Biden*/Harris ticket in November. And realistically no matter who anyone would prefer, you're not going to sell a new candidate before November.
We've all in this mess, so now it's time to grab the Go Joe, and clean it up.
This is simply untrue. He cannot give more than the maximum to another campaign, but he can give the balance to the DNC or a Super PAC to elect a new nominee.
I seriously don’t give a fuck who it is, just give me someone who’s likely to get to 270. Will vote for any D, dead or alive, over any R, always.
Yes, we're all THAT desperate at this point.
Polls also say she would do no better than Joe.
So it won’t matter if she replaces him, right? I mean, if it doesn’t matter who the candidate is with polling, then changing the candidate shouldn’t matter, right? Like, why are we keeping Biden if it doesn’t matter who the candidate is? Theoretically, if it doesn’t make a difference who the nominee is, and it won’t change anything, then changing the nominee shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Yes but she's capable of actually campaigning. Expectations have been clear since the debate. If he got right out there and started campaigning immediately, he'd probably be doing fine. It's becoming clear however that he can't.
Reee-publicans worst nightmare
Good luck with that. All I know is I'm voting for whoever isn't Trump regardless of who else they put on the ticket. I'd vote for Biden's cat even.
Is prefer his dog, who has more proven battle experience. It will be useful in the next debate.
While Commander may have experience with biting facists in the dick, this particular facist may present a bit of a problem for the pup.
Jesus christ. Can we just stop? Biden's the nominee. Doesn't matter who else you could get to run because they'd get crushed. Yes, it's a terrible position the DNC has put us all in, but that's just the way it is now.
That would be my opinion too, if I were a Trump voter.
The problem is, you have one side whos worried their candidate might be too old and another who doesn't even care if their candidate raped a child and tried to overthrow their government.
However, for reasons no one can quite explain, only one of them is being called to drop out of the race.
doesn’t even care if their candidate raped a child and tried to overthrow their government
It's right there. It's because his voters don't care. Calls to drop out from a faction Trump calls 'the enemy of the people', is a huge waste of time.
However, for reasons no one can quite explain, only one of them is being called to drop out of the race.
No one can explain? He got on a debate stage in front of the entire world and looked like a confused, doddering, and feeble old man. Any party would call for their candidate to step down after that.
As for why Trump doesn't get the same treatment, it's because the Republicans are no longer a political party, but have become a cult of MAGA. Hell they have people holding signs that say real men wear diapers.
I do wish everyone would stop pretending the Biden replacement would be anyone but Harris. Everyone being cagy about who the replacement is just hurts Democrats, because it gives false hope to people who want someone other than Harris and thus encourages those people to both push for Biden to leave the race while still not being happy with the end result.
It will be Harris, if it's anyone other than Biden. Period. Literally the only way Biden doesn't endorse her as his successor is if he dies, and if he dies she will be the incumbent president.
I think she sounded great in her recent speech in Dallas. Presidential, energetic, refreshing. Started laying into Trump a bit past the halfway point.
Cool. So the best alternative is still expected to lose? Maybe it’s time to stop calling for a replacement.
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-harris
That's before even a day of campaigning with her at the top of the ticket, I don't think those numbers are as bad as you think. Trump has been campaigning nonstop for nearly a decade. Unfortunately Harris is not exactly energizing, but I bet she can pick up 2-3 points just by being normal for 4 months.
That’s true. Although it’s just as possible she’ll say the wrong thing and lose points. Some voters on the left are quick to abandon a candidate.
But the current polling says Biden will lose to Trump, and he's been shedding independents.
Fuck me. Well, we make do with what we have.
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