Actually, it is looking like Biden might be stepping down and we may get a candidate who can actually beat Trump, thanks to the pressure from the the center anti-genocide coalition.
Trying to paint Democrats and independents who are anti-genocide as tankies just isn't believable. Tankies and Russian/Israeli trolls want everyone pretending that Biden is fine and can beat Trump, they're the ones who have a vested interest in Trump winning.
What you will see, if Biden steps down, is the center (your "left") are the ones who will have ensured Trump loses.
He's not guarunteed to, no, he may stay in the race, lose, and hand our government over to the far-right.
But, "where I'm getting that" is from the fact that nearly every senior democrat is telling him to step down, many of them publically doing so. His own friends and allies are trying to massage him out of office. I think maybe you need to pay more attention to what's going on. Even Nancy Pelosi is indicating he needs to step aside, this from the fucking lady who clung to power well past her expiration date.
Don't assume that I am not paying attention to what's going on. I'm just telling you that despite the "massaging out of office", Biden has made no indication (in fact quite the opposite) that he will be stepping down.
However, nowhere anywhere has Biden mentioned or even hinted at having made the decision that he will be stepping down. Just because other people, democrats, friends, family, etc. are saying he should step down, does not mean that "he might be", when the fact is he's already said that he will not be stepping down.
Hence why I said "where did you get that notion".
And then you try to turn it around on me like I'm the one not paying attention?
Yeah! Us people telling undecided voters in swing states that Biden can't govern are the real leftists! Biden is going to step down any minute now, and the new candidate unilaterally chosen by the DNC with no voter input will be an ally to Palestine! The antifascists are the real tankies!
Polling has Biden losing by ten points, and no, he can't govern because he's 82 years old and in steep decline.
Him stepping down would be due to undeniable and direct voter input. Voters are the ones creating pressure on him to move aside for a more functional candidate. It's you who are arguing that the will of the voters should be ignored.
I'm not arguing for that, I'm all for Biden stepping down! I truly believe that democracy means Russian botnets shitposting the primary winner and best chance to stop fascism out of the race and the neoliberal party choosing whatever puppet they want without holding a primary. After all, he's old. Having an OLD president is even worse than having a fascist president. What if he doesn't change anything? That's much much more dangerous than project 2025.
I would be shocked if they try that strategy, and even more shocked if it succeeds.
Several states have already held their primary, and those states picked Joe Biden. State and local laws can vary quite a lot, and often the letter of the law is ignored for the spirit of the law.
I think that if a preponderance of voters supported it, there could be a case for the Democratic Party fielding a new candidate. However, the letter of the law may prohibit that. In fact, the letter of the law may not even cover scenarios where a candidate quits or perhaps even dies.
The reason I keep mentioning the letter of the law is because the Heritage Foundation (yup, the same one that wants to turn our oligarchy with delusions of democracy into a theocracy run by white Christian nationalists) has pre-emptively promised to bring lawsuits in every jurisdiction where this is attempted.
The goal of this would be to ensure the maneuver gets stuck mid-transition. Some states will have Biden, some states will have a replacement candidate, and no matter if every single person in the U.S. voted democrat, it would be impossible to get to 270 electoral votes. Under normal turnout and voting conditions, the democrat vote would be split, and the republican would not be - a sure win for Trump, even if he would otherwise have lost. And also, I believe the house would then pick the president if 270 electoral votes cannot be reached - the same house that is currently republican controlled.
Biden dropping out would fuck the Democrats 6 ways from Sunday. Far worse than if he stays in.
Why is it that politics always feels like picking 1 of two bad options at every turn?
Except the numbers we have don't support what you're saying. Biden is down 8-10 points versus Trump, while Harris (the most realistic nominee) is up, beating Trump by around 3 points.
All the evidence points to Biden as being an all but certain loss, and replacing him being the best shot democrats have.
Biden was not democratically elected to run again, he's simply the incumbent and the primary was literally canceled in many states. So we're past any arguments about whether replacing him is democratic or not, if anything the pressure from the polling is a democratic pressure, it's a reflection of how people are actually feeling in the abscence of being able to actually express that with a vote.
Biden needs to step down if he wants Democrats to win. If he genuinely doesn't care about anyone but himself, he'll run.
I’m not defending Biden, or the Democratic Party here. The first past the poll system and its unlimited donations have engendered a political system that has created two functionally identical political parties that offer about 5% variance to voters in terms of their actual policies.
And Biden was elected - usually as the only option on a primary ticket. But people voted for him (even though 2016 showed us primaries don’t matter). But it’s legal, because that’s what the law says. And it’s crappy, and will continue to be crappy until the system is changed.
But it’s the only system the U.S. has. We can’t magic-think our way out of it.
I’ve already laid out what the players have said they would do. Given their efficacy as well as the judicial makeup right now, I fully believe the Heritage Foundation would deliver a divided ticket to Trump if the Democratic Party pulled something stupid.
Alterations to what is already in motion, protest voting for third party/write ins, or lack of voting will hand over the entire country to a bunch of folks who have promised to throw out that system entirely and institute something where me and my ilk will NEVER be heard, ever.
To be completely clear: This is not a game to be argued based on principles or political speculation. We are locked in, and we are fucked. Strap in, and fight like hell. It sucks, and it’s shitty, but this is the corner the rich people, the religious nuts, and the non-voters have trapped the rest of the U.S. in.
If Biden can't step aside, yes, he's only himself to blame and those who are telling him he can do it. He's a guarunteed loss for multiple reasons, his pro-genocide position is only one facet of his failure.
Of course everyone knows that it's Bidens fault for having a raspy voice and a life long stutter. That's why we should vote for Biden, because why have one genocide when we can have multiple genocides. Clearly the only solution is to vote in Fascism.
The hell are you talking about? Biden is 82 years old and clearly in rapid decline, go watch clips from his campaign in 2020, he's not that man anymore. That's how age works; you reach a point where your body just starts to collapse. It hapoens for everyone at different times, it's happening for Biden right now, it's been happening for the past two years. It's more than a raspy voice.
It doesn't matter what we want to be true, he's hemorraging support and checking all the boxes that have historically indicated a losing campaign. He needs to get the fuck out of the way because he's the one blocking the fire exit and he's too senile to recognize it.
Now you're getting it, Biden is too old and because of that we need to vote for Trump. Obviously Fascism is an acceptable alternative to old age. Of course as we know you're not a true leftist unless you discriminate based on age, if someone has a stutter, how raspy their voice sounds, and their apprence.
No one's voting for Trump, he's extremely unpopular and there are no more voters left for him to convince at this point, he's scraped together all the racists and nazis and traitors. And regardless of that, Biden is still trailing him by ten points. He's that unfit.
If he runs, he will lose. It doesn't matter how you feel about the genocide or how much you want to blame the "left", Biden simply can't win and he's not stepping aside so that's him handing Trump a victory. He's the only one with the power to avoid crisis.
The Republicans are literally talking about trying to sue if Biden steps down, that's how much they want him to run.