This presidential contest is not between Biden and Trump, it is between all of us and trump. We Americans are the force to stop him and his cultish followers.
I hate, absolutely hate writing this, but far too many eligible voters are in fact “low information” and subject to childish heuristics to decide on a President. I mean how dumb does one have to be NOT to see the difference in what a Trump regime would mean?
Joe Biden is a truthful, master legislator and diplomat, and I believe he can "finish the job" he set out to do four years ago. Trump is a ugly, false TV idol marinating, or should I say rotting, in his own lies and bent on empowering the powerful at the expense of everyone else. Biden's shaky 90 minutes on Thursday does not negate what he has done for America and the world in the last 3 1/2 years, nor what he can do in the next four, and he is still, BY FAR, the best man for the job.
"Biden's shaky 90 minutes on Thursday does not negate what he has done for America and the world in the last 3 1/2 years, . . ." Of course not. He has an impressive record and we all should be proud and grateful. He could use the next six months solidifying those accomplishments and more by not continuing to run for President.
"nor what he can do in the next four . . . " As someone who is about to turn a healthy 77, and have seen contemporaries age, and age well, I have deep concerns about what he will be capable of in those future years. I don't think "debate night" was a "one off." The nation will be facing huge challenges in the upcoming years and I would hope he would stay involved as a wise senior statesman. But he is in decline--we all are, of course, but sometimes elders need to "stop driving" even when they protest they're fine.
"and he is still, BY FAR, the best man for the job." I hate to say it, because I respect Biden greatly, he is not the best person the Democratic Party can put forth to lead our country in these perilous times. We have tremendous, thoughtful, knowledgeable, quick thinking people in our party. Let's use them.
Imagine in October; an Endless 24/7 spew of Biden attack ads where he stumbles, slurs speech, seems literally incoherent and d freezes ad nauseam… Then tell me Independents will vote for him.
You know William, I’ve read your case and frankly, find winning the Battle Grounds a pipe dream with Biden as the candidate. There are too many angry over Biden’s Israel policy, (though I can not imagine how they see Trump making that better) and too many Independents buying the “Economy from Hell” agitprop of the Trump campaign.
Depressing isn't it? Stupid mothah phuckahs whose loyalty is to the Ummah, and not to the nation that gave them opportunity and comfort. and the stupid shitz who buy into Trump's/Republican bull shit.
Will they ever whine if their stupidity nets them the results of their stupidity,
Trump will double down on supporting his brother Bibi, and the economy will go in the tank.
The only reason the economy kept chugging under Trump is because his partner in crime, Jerome Powell, dropped the Open Market rate of Treasury bonds to damn near zero. That encouraged borrowing by everyone, including people and corporations, and our medium of exchange is created out of debt (the fractional reserve system), more money, more consumption, but COVID ruined the game.
Biden gets elected and Trumps buddy, Jerome Powell, raises the interest rate again, to cut down the money supply.
I have read your substack link. An open convention with a sitting president running would be a disaster and give pundits, the media and the right nothing but meat.
My opinion is this that Biden and Harris be nominated/certified then a couple of weeks later Biden gets ill,claims health issues and can't run, and Kamala steps forward to take his place.
Kamala has this going for her. Everyone who would vote for Joe will vote for Kamala in the Democratic party. She is a mixed race , pro choice, female and will siphon off votes from fence sitting females, and she doesn't have the baggage that Biden has as regards Israel, and because she is mixed race, Indian and black, she will pick up the Muslim and black votes that Biden has lost.
"You're not a wartime consigliere. . .you're out, Tom."
Biden is a great human being and has done some great things, but we need someone who will bring a hydrogen bomb to this gunfight and not another goddamn tray of cupcakes.
I wouldn't characterized Biden's already beating Trump in 2020 and three-and-one half-years of incredible accomplishments under the circumstances as a tray of cupcakes. So he couldn't masterfully handle a sociopath whose practiced his litany of lies for eight years in a "debate." Who could? Even several people at the NYT had difficulty just trying to classify them:
Biden will beat Trump easily in their next debate, if Trump will even show up, However, Biden now has Trump's script and should debate it every chance he gets, Truth bombs are more lethal than made-up BS. The debate has created a tremendous opportunity for all Dems. They should use it!
Good points all. The next generation is chomping at the bit, and I would rather not add Biden's name to the Feinstein-Ginsberg syndrome (if there is such a thing)...
The issue is not Biden or his attributes, qualities and accomplishments, and Daily Kos is partisan, the issue is can he get 270 electoral votes. See my response further down.
For over a quarter century Thom Hartmann continues to be American democracy's top copilot and navigator. So who's the main pilot of this sacred craft? Us. Hundreds of millions of "you and me". It's time we start acting like it. Why? Because this ship of democracy - which carries all we hold sacred - is nosediving. We must take back the controls from the party of Trump, the immoral take-all's, and the Court of Supremacy. The earth is coming up faster and faster with each passing day - there is no terminal velocity here.
The crime committed by Trump's Court of Supremacy yesterday in its "Chevron deference" annihilation is one of the most profoundly devastating singular events since J6. There is a war being waged against us all..
My take is the CNN debate format was an advantage for tRump, gish galloping verbal diarrhea spewing lying traitor that he is. The debate prep for Biden was probably memorizing stats and numbers to promote his record but ended up with the time Biden spent having to both fact check and answer the debate questions at the same time. Biden advisors should have realized that there is nothing “normal “ or truthful spewing from tRump, knowing trump knows nothing about policy ot how anything works and plan accordingly. Let Biden come out like he does in other speeches . I think that with Biden fighting a cold (which should have probably warranted a reschedule) and the verbal carpet bombing of lies by his orange excellency threw Biden off. To change candidates now just because of one night of a faltering start is ridiculous.
My first reaction was that Biden is a mess and should be replaced. The debate was very difficult to watch. It should have been the time to blow Trump away as the liar and cheat that he is, but the entire first focus was on Biden. I think, in 4 days, if the current reaction continues and the Dems do it right, the focus will shift to how dangerous and crazy the whole MAGA movement has become. This includes the Supreme Court. They have become a democracy destruction machine. They not only are running the country, they have legalized the way they can get paid for their decisions. Biden is the figurehead for freedom, justice, and the American way. They say is a great president from 10 AM to 4 PM. (I take my nap at 3) .Vote on the issues. Vote for to save America. Work your way up from the school committees to the president.
DNC should never have forced Biden on us the first time, and certainly not the second time, but here we are.
That said, I actually disagree with people that think Biden lost that debate. As bad as Biden looked and sounded, he still handily defeated Trump in the debate. That says more about Trump than Biden.
Oldandintheway, the only thing that matters is Biden getting 270 electoral votes, as it stands three swing states, Wi, MI, Pa which have 45 electoral votes will determine the election and those states have Muslim populations of WI 68,000, MI 241,000, Pa 174,000. Biden won those states as follows. WI 20,000, MI , 150,000, PA by 81,000 and it is not only Muslims but blacks, especially black males who are pissed at Biden because of Israel support and because he and the Dems have not done enough for blacks, they even accuse Democrats of more racism than Republicans, if you can believe that, at least according to at least one black member of Thom's substack.
If the Muslims alone sit out the elation or vote third party Trump wins,if blacks in Detroit and Philadelphia do the same, then Trump wins, and both groups will reap what they have sowed.
My take is that Kamala does not have the baggage with Muslims or blacks that Biden has, that Democrats will vote for her anyway, and Republicans won't, anyway.
That the Democratic convention in August is an opportunity tor joe to step down,claiming health, and turning the reins over to Kamala.
If you and I are aware of that, I am sure that the DNC is aware of that. I am not Black or Muslim so I don’t have many cred in those communities, but I send $ to GOTV to people who can explain to those voters what electing any Republican will mean to them. I know why people are upset. The world is a mess. But they are not as out of it to want Trump to return to office. We’ll see.
Oldandinthe way. I share your sentiments, but not so sure of Muslims and the younger black males who never lived through Jim Crow and red lining.
Problem is that you,I and members of substack are politically minded, we stay abreast of issues, but we are not AMERCIA, Gen X,Y,Z get their new from social media and the cell phone or tablet.
I have an apartment I rent and the last three renters didn't even have a TV. Only an internet, the average person is caught up in their mundane and banal lives, working, having fun, drinking booze, snorting coke, feeding themselves and family.
If they commute to work, drive a truck or cab, they are bombarded with right wing talk radio.
They aren't tuned into or obsessed with politics, and if they do watch TV, chances are they are old farts like us, or millenials who watch Fox or CNN. The MSNBC audience is liberal boomers, and you can tell by the ads they carry, Pharmaceuticals, and the $9.99 plan by Colonial life insurance ($9.99 a month for $1,000 of life insurance, what a rip off.
Wm, how does Biden win these states where you lay out the numbers showing that he will fail to do so in 2024? BTW Those neighbors are exactly the lo-info voters who will faithfully pull the lever for Trump. Those are Republicans my friend, NOT Independents, who will split along the D and R quite predictably. The R’s will eke out a EC victory at this point unless we get a younger charismatic candidate
I honestly do not know how Biden can win the swing states, except to motivate the Muslims and blacks to turn out and vote. Considering that the first loyalty of Muslims is to the Ummah, and the Ummah has turned out tearing their hijabs, abaya's and kaffiyeh's for HAMAS and the Gazans. I don't see Biden getting their vote, the only chance the Democrats have is Kamala, she was and is not on the decision making part of the process, and is a female and a person of color.
The white males who won't vote for her, will not vote for Biden anyway, so nothing lost there.
I would suggest that Biden step aside for Kamala after the Democratic convention when he is formally nominated, and the campaign funds will devolve to her, other wise if he steps aside sooner, the campaign funds will be distributed per the law, and not devolve to the candidate selected by the convention, (treated like primary campaign funds).
It seems strange to me that one of the three branches of government, the Supreme Court, can unilaterally give itself more power at the expense of Congress. Why does the Congress need to go along with this? Can they just ignore the Supreme Court as being out of line, and continue business as usual? It is ironic that the strict originalists on the Court ignore all the writings of the founders on how the Supreme Court should be a weaker branch of the government, while they are creating an "Imperial Court".
The only authority SCOTUS has is that which is voluntarily given to it by the people and the states. Andrew Jackson said, in regards to the Indian Removal Act, "Justice Marshall has ruled, not let him enforce it".
Governor Abbott and other Southern Governors, like in Alabama have told SCOTUS to fuck off, everyone else should as well.
Mr. Hartmann, why don't we talk about how the uneducated boob Harry Truman lost the White House in 1948 to Thomas Dewey from New York? The answer: because the boob won the election in spite of the fact that all the polls had Dewey in the lead on election night. Students of American history are familiar with the photo of a smiling Truman holding up a copy of the Chicago Tribune saying on the front page in a huge font "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN." In the photo the boob Truman has a big smile on his face.
Polls are a snapshot of the times, a limited snapshot. Even though pollsters do their best to adjust for bias in their sampling by using stratified/random sampling methods; the predictive value of polls is highly limited. As for the debates; they have never had predictive value.
History shows us voters return the incumbent to the White House if his administration has given the public good programs in the preceding four years. Truman had continued to support the great programs of FDR, so the public voted for Truman, even though he was a boob. Voters are much more affected by programs and policies and the conditions of the times than the commentariat realizes. They will vote for Biden in November.
Old Joe Biden has pushed through the biggest infrastructure bill since Eisenhower, the biggest environment bill in history. He forgave millions of dollars in student loans. He expanded eligibility for the ADA. He pulled us out of the Covid mess which trump had left us in. He did this with a divided Senate and a House controlled by Republicans. Is he senile or did he have a bad cold? I panicked at first upon viewing that debate. But after time to reflect on history, I have calmed down.
Gerald the political landscape in 1948 is not the same as in 2024, the comparison is not apt. The election is not about what Biden did, or his decency and honesty or humbleness.
As it now stands the election will be won and lost in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and Biden has lost those states, not that Trump has won them, but that Biden has lost them and the Muslim population, as well as Blacks in Detroit and Philadelphia will sit out the election or vote for Cornell West, and I haven't discussed the RFK and Jill Stein voters.
Mr. Farrar, my thinking is based upon the work of Allan J Lichtman. He developed a predictive model in collaboration with Vladimir Keilis-Borok a world renown authority on the mathematics of prediction models while they were at The California Institute Of Technology. Lichtman is a Political Scientist, now I believe he is at American Univ.
Lichtman's model successfully predicted the out-come of every Presidential election from 1860 up to the present. The only time the model missed was when Gore was cheated out of the win by the Supreme Court. Gore actually won both the popular vote and the electoral college; which is what Lichtman's model predicted. That election is literally the only time such a thing has been done by the court. Lichtman's model works regardless of the political landscape. His model worked even when the electoral vote outcome did not match the popular vote outcome three times: in 1876, 1888, 2000.
Those televised debates are not predictive. The first one was Kennedy-Nixon. The only other notable public debate involving a president in our history was the one between Lincoln and Douglas. But that was a senate race, not presidential race.
My degrees are not in Political Science, but in Mathematics, Psychology, and Sociology. I don't think this affects my understanding of his work. I am elderly now and I have slowed down. But I can still follow Lichtman's reasoning.
I don't think that LIchtman's model takes into account, things like the Ummah, and it's loyalty to Islam before democracy, nor the tenuous hold that the forces of democracy have on the pulse of America in the states circling the Great Lakes, but we will see.
In a sense they both lost the debate. In the reactions I'm hearing many people didn't like Trumps belligerent style and repeated lies. Bidens next day speach showed the Biden we wanted at the debate. If he can produce more like that I believe he can pull out of this.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/will-bidens-debate-performance-turn-out-to-be-fatal-or-just-a-bad-night/ I think the corporate Democrats (Elephants in Donkey suits), which really control the Democratic Party, are unhappy about his attempts to bust monopolies and regulate business who are driving this effort to stampede the party's rank and file with fear. The noise is ALL about his appearance and not about his ability to present evidence or statistics to back up claims . That never occurred in the debate by his opponent. Follow the substance.
Independent journalists (real ones with awards) seem to have figured this out.
Of the options, despite the best efforts of corporate media like the the NYT to spin this and then quickly shut down comments, of the two I still prefer the one with the cold/flu, the raspy voice, but who nevertheless backed most statements with evidence and had it together enough to actually hear and respond to facilitators' questions—more so than the one that responded to the question about climate change with a diatribe about immigrants.
I love Biden even more. He is both vulnerable and BELOVED. Watch him and his enthusiastic, surprisingly young crowd, in Raleigh on the day after his poor showing in the debate. “I know I’m not young, to state the obvious….I also know how to tell the truth…and how to do this job.” Biden represents those of us, across any divide you can name, who see there is collective work to do to prepare for the future coming at us. He knows we need everyone, including all sorts of Democrats, Independents, and the new Republicans who will join us. There is plenty for everybody, when we work together. You wait and see….Biden will become a beacon of wisdom and courage for a wide swath of Americans. He is my hero.
It really is too bad that so many USians only realized democracy was in trouble when Trump was elected. It's even more too bad that so many of these USians are high up in the Democratic Party. If we get through this, can we please give Chuck Schumer and his buddies a kick in the pants and tell them to get to work?
Not that it will make you feel all that much better, but I have been crying in the wilderness since GWB, no make that Reagan, about the rise of Fascism in this nation.
I don't know if misery really does love company, but a reality check never hurts! I probably made matters worse by reading Jacob Heilbrunn's new book, AMERICA LAST: The Right's Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators soon after Rachel Maddow's PREQUEL.
If the polls show that President Biden's chances of winning are low, then he needs to bow out. If not, I would be satisfied if he remains in the race and then, at an appropriate time, resign and let Kamala Harris succeed him.
If you didn't learn the hazards of mainstream media polls in 2016 when they convinced Democrats that HRC had the election in the bag and many stayed home after swallowing the complacency pill, you never will. Right now, we need to avoid the MAGA mafia by VOTING them out. Right behind this and IMMEDIATELY after, we need to clean the corruption out of our own Democratic Party. Both are critical to our survival.
Thank you -- but I'd add that "corruption" probably isn't the big problem in the Democratic Party, at least at the upper levels. It's incompetence, lack of vision, and apparatchik-ism (is there a word for that?). The state party organizations in swing states like Wisconsin seem to be in much better shape than mine (I'm in MA), where the complacent apparatchiks rule, intelligent activists get discouraged by the lack of movement, but other, younger activists are working hard to get in the door.
Example: A few short years ago, the MA Democratic Party voted that state committee members who'd been elected five times to four-year terms would become lifetime members. Their argument was that this would open up their seats to new, younger, more diverse members. Term limits would have done the exact same thing, but of course they didn't think of that. Last I looked, MA had the second-largest state Democratic party in the country. It is not the second-largest state. Nowhere close.
When I arrived in FL in 2002, I really wanted to be active in FL Dem Party. Then I saw that it was essentially run by a power-couple who continued to lead the state down the road to ruin.
Bernie Sanders was our last best hope to bail out the sinking party.
EVERYTHING in the Democratic Party at the national level is about MONEY. In Texas, the Party operatives united to support grifter Henry Cuellar over Jessica Cisneros, a progressive woman with ethics. If I deleted all of the rhetoric on the Democratic Party sites I frequent that (1) does not focus on addressing a SPECIFIC issue that is critically needed by the citizens and the nation, (2) that is solely finger-pointing at "the other party" and crafted to promote fear and (3) is a fund-raiser disguised as a poll, a survey, or a petition, there would be NOTHING left except posts put there at the initiative of citizens' advocacy groups, NOT by this Democratic party. If you try to point to what this Party is FOR by united action around a platform, there is nothing there except "Affordable Health Care" which is the elephants in donkey suits' commitment to keeping the insurance cartel's money flowing into the party. "
Universal Health Care?" When have you EVER seen that on a DCCC fund raising mailer? In this Democratic Party "Universal Health Care" is like "climate change" in Ron DeSantis' Florida. It constitutes words that cannot be uttered. This Party cut the legs out from under Universal Health Care in California after the citizens did the leg work to get their representatives to pass it. The PARTY, not Trump and not MAGA prevented the bill from coming to the floor. This party is led by operatives who are corrupt to the core.
I registered as a Democrat after the 2016 election, got involved with the local Dem group, and attended several state (MA) conventions. That was enough. The state party solicits grassroots input for its platform, which of course is big and bloated and totally ignored. I stepped down and out at the beginning of last year. Long time ago I learned about the "illusion of inclusion." The Democratic Party is very good at it.
I did same in 2016 in Colorado. It's like the cliche' warning about not going into the kitchen of a nice restaurant if you want to keep enjoying the food. I wish progressive Democrats in Congress would resign the Party in mass and start their own party after we unite to stop Trump. I'd join that new party. Corporate Democrats would rather see Republicans elected rather than any progressive.
Lol about the kitchen -- like the observation attributed to Bismarck on laws and sausages. However, I'm not optimistic about the chances for a third party. The prognosis in the U.S. has never been good, and IMO it's worse since Citizens United released the floodgates on money, dark and otherwise. Something like the Working Families Party in NY might work in big blue states. But the progressive Democrats in Congress are, almost by definition, the least able to raise enough money to get a national third party off the ground. If only such an entity could rake in the small donations like Trump's Screw America PAC.
The makers of a documentary "Healing US" did an initial screening in Colorado that also featured a discussion by the film's producer, director and several key people involved with the film. Since most were from CA, I asked the last question of the discussion session---about what happened after they had the plan in the bag and they answered.
The national Democratic Party is largely for the big donor class. Some of the state level parties are more under their control than others. Their national leadership will reduce it into a gang of kleptocratic authoritarians like the MAGA folks did with the former Republican Party unless we vigorously hold our own electable accountable. Party stooges try to shush those of us who do that. Don't cave in and be silent.
Personal account. Last vote I cast until 2016 was in 1964 for Goldwater. I was then a vehement anti communist, I knew nothing about nor care about anything else.
But I quicly figured out that the two parties were two sides of the same coin, and did not even register to vote until Trump came down the elevator and opened his filthy mouth, then I couldn't register, as Democrat, fast enough, now I am seeing the same thing I saw in 1965, the steeple chase for donor cash.
I voted in 2016 against Trump,not for Hillary,same in 2020,same in 2024.
I would like to vote for, instead of against, but that is a forlorn hope.
BTW I agree and have been complaining endlessly about the DNC's addiction to donor cash, they completely ignored the lesson learned from Bernies campaign.
Kamala has a much better chance of securing the 270 votes needed to win, than Biden, because Kamala has not pissed off the hundreds of thousands of Muslims and blacks that determine if Wi,, MI, PA goes red or blue, in fact because she is mixed race, she has a better chance, and the race will be won or lost in those three states.
Despite the polls, despite all the BS, Trump is the worst candidate of all time. If we work, a yellow dog can beat Trump.
I just doubled down on my contribution to the FT 6 TextArcade. Object: sunset Rick Scott. Has a 34% favorability rating. That group must not know much about him. Largest fine for Medicare fraud in history. Wants to "sunset" all benefits. Plus he's ugly, supports a guy who hates dogs and stole from kids with cancer, assaulted women, and was convicted of 34 felonies.
I just saw Andy Borowitz’s recommendation to replace Joe with his son Hunter, because he’s a generation younger, we can continue using BIDEN ‘24 election material, and - Hunter is a convicted felon, which attracts Republican votes!
Bernie Sanders campaign did raise sufficient funds in 2016, which is why corporate Dems are trying to bleed the grassroots dry by every elephant in a donkey suit sending out email after panhandling email with their "goal" (we should care about THEIR "goal"?), their fear mongering or some outrage (that in reality they intend to do nothing about) to get the working class to pony up to them rather than any progressive. In 20/20 hindsight, when Wasserman-Schultz rigged the primary and then handed the rank and file the ruling that "the Party" had a right to pick any candidates they wanted in a "smoke filled back room," could rip up their own Bylaws and violate them on a whim, the 45% of delegates for Sanders not resigning the party brought us what we are facing right now. Operatives of the Plutocratic Party don't want a platform or candidate that can win; want only candidates they can control. People with ethics and critical thinking skills need not apply.
Joe Biden is no longer fit to be president. Unfortunately the Joe Biden we saw on the debate stage is the real Joe Biden. He hasn’t aged well. At 81 years of age he looked and acted like a 101 year old, with mumbled incoherence when speaking, and a confused, opened-mouth stare when not speaking.
Televised debates are not about data points and policy. Televised debates only determine which candidate is the biggest and strongest bad ass. I’m not saying that is the right way to evaluate a debate, it’s just the way things are, and Trump cleaned Biden’s clock. There is a critical mass of voters who care only about that. The feeble, elderly Joe Biden is long past his days as a bad ass. Expecting a second term is delusional.
We aren’t obligated to like the facts, but we are obligated to act in accordance with them. Our democracy is more important than Joe Biden and Joe Biden’s ego.
Our Democracy is waaay more important than your ego.
There's no viable alternative at this point, to our Blue guy who had a bad night . But I guess when it happened to you, you curled up and died. Oh wait, it doesn't matter about you because it's not about you. So if you want lying cult45 fascist dictatorship to restart on Jan 20/21.25, keep badmouthing the one who needs to continue his amazing accomplishments.
Should an actual health crisis develop, we'll have our 1st woman president take over, and she'll be proDemocracy too. Is this what you're terrified of and hoping to prevent❓️
This presidential contest is not between Biden and Trump, it is between all of us and trump. We Americans are the force to stop him and his cultish followers.
I hate, absolutely hate writing this, but far too many eligible voters are in fact “low information” and subject to childish heuristics to decide on a President. I mean how dumb does one have to be NOT to see the difference in what a Trump regime would mean?
https://open.substack.com/pub/olflawriduhcracker/p/the-biden-train-wreck-better-now?r=38b45&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Well said!
Thanks, Gordon… I’m sure you would agree that serving the role of Casandra is not a fun thing.
For readers who panicked during or after Thursday's so called "debate", check out these links:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/28/2249610/-Listen-to-Lawrence-you-ll-feel-better
and
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/28/2249481/-I-got-something-to-say-and-it-s-not-pretty-but-it-s-accurate
and
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/28/2249390/-An-Independent-s-View-of-the-Debate-and-Beyond
and
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/28/2249280/-CNN-gave-Trump-a-sledgehammer-and-thanked-him-for-destroying-the-debate
and
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/28/2249441/-The-debate-was-an-epic-disaster-for-Trump
and
https://open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/a-debate-that-reveals-our-surreal?r=8ishh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Joe Biden is a truthful, master legislator and diplomat, and I believe he can "finish the job" he set out to do four years ago. Trump is a ugly, false TV idol marinating, or should I say rotting, in his own lies and bent on empowering the powerful at the expense of everyone else. Biden's shaky 90 minutes on Thursday does not negate what he has done for America and the world in the last 3 1/2 years, nor what he can do in the next four, and he is still, BY FAR, the best man for the job.
"Biden's shaky 90 minutes on Thursday does not negate what he has done for America and the world in the last 3 1/2 years, . . ." Of course not. He has an impressive record and we all should be proud and grateful. He could use the next six months solidifying those accomplishments and more by not continuing to run for President.
"nor what he can do in the next four . . . " As someone who is about to turn a healthy 77, and have seen contemporaries age, and age well, I have deep concerns about what he will be capable of in those future years. I don't think "debate night" was a "one off." The nation will be facing huge challenges in the upcoming years and I would hope he would stay involved as a wise senior statesman. But he is in decline--we all are, of course, but sometimes elders need to "stop driving" even when they protest they're fine.
"and he is still, BY FAR, the best man for the job." I hate to say it, because I respect Biden greatly, he is not the best person the Democratic Party can put forth to lead our country in these perilous times. We have tremendous, thoughtful, knowledgeable, quick thinking people in our party. Let's use them.
Imagine in October; an Endless 24/7 spew of Biden attack ads where he stumbles, slurs speech, seems literally incoherent and d freezes ad nauseam… Then tell me Independents will vote for him.
The question has already been surveyed. They will!
It will be a tsunami unleashed on every form of media imaginable.
If people think Cicadas are agonizing, just wait.
Again the only issue is can Biden get 270 electoral votes. And I repeat my statement above, look at my comment further down towards the bottom.
You know William, I’ve read your case and frankly, find winning the Battle Grounds a pipe dream with Biden as the candidate. There are too many angry over Biden’s Israel policy, (though I can not imagine how they see Trump making that better) and too many Independents buying the “Economy from Hell” agitprop of the Trump campaign.
https://open.substack.com/pub/olflawriduhcracker/p/the-biden-train-wreck-better-now?r=38b45&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Depressing isn't it? Stupid mothah phuckahs whose loyalty is to the Ummah, and not to the nation that gave them opportunity and comfort. and the stupid shitz who buy into Trump's/Republican bull shit.
Will they ever whine if their stupidity nets them the results of their stupidity,
Trump will double down on supporting his brother Bibi, and the economy will go in the tank.
The only reason the economy kept chugging under Trump is because his partner in crime, Jerome Powell, dropped the Open Market rate of Treasury bonds to damn near zero. That encouraged borrowing by everyone, including people and corporations, and our medium of exchange is created out of debt (the fractional reserve system), more money, more consumption, but COVID ruined the game.
Biden gets elected and Trumps buddy, Jerome Powell, raises the interest rate again, to cut down the money supply.
I have read your substack link. An open convention with a sitting president running would be a disaster and give pundits, the media and the right nothing but meat.
My opinion is this that Biden and Harris be nominated/certified then a couple of weeks later Biden gets ill,claims health issues and can't run, and Kamala steps forward to take his place.
Kamala has this going for her. Everyone who would vote for Joe will vote for Kamala in the Democratic party. She is a mixed race , pro choice, female and will siphon off votes from fence sitting females, and she doesn't have the baggage that Biden has as regards Israel, and because she is mixed race, Indian and black, she will pick up the Muslim and black votes that Biden has lost.
Brings to mind a line from The Godfather:
"You're not a wartime consigliere. . .you're out, Tom."
Biden is a great human being and has done some great things, but we need someone who will bring a hydrogen bomb to this gunfight and not another goddamn tray of cupcakes.
I wouldn't characterized Biden's already beating Trump in 2020 and three-and-one half-years of incredible accomplishments under the circumstances as a tray of cupcakes. So he couldn't masterfully handle a sociopath whose practiced his litany of lies for eight years in a "debate." Who could? Even several people at the NYT had difficulty just trying to classify them:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html
Biden will beat Trump easily in their next debate, if Trump will even show up, However, Biden now has Trump's script and should debate it every chance he gets, Truth bombs are more lethal than made-up BS. The debate has created a tremendous opportunity for all Dems. They should use it!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/01/us/politics/trump-presidency-dishonesty.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/17/us/politics/trump-election-lies-fact-check.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/08/us/politics/trump-speech-mistruths.html
Good points all. The next generation is chomping at the bit, and I would rather not add Biden's name to the Feinstein-Ginsberg syndrome (if there is such a thing)...
The issue is not Biden or his attributes, qualities and accomplishments, and Daily Kos is partisan, the issue is can he get 270 electoral votes. See my response further down.
I loved this and shared it.
Great analysis!
For over a quarter century Thom Hartmann continues to be American democracy's top copilot and navigator. So who's the main pilot of this sacred craft? Us. Hundreds of millions of "you and me". It's time we start acting like it. Why? Because this ship of democracy - which carries all we hold sacred - is nosediving. We must take back the controls from the party of Trump, the immoral take-all's, and the Court of Supremacy. The earth is coming up faster and faster with each passing day - there is no terminal velocity here.
The crime committed by Trump's Court of Supremacy yesterday in its "Chevron deference" annihilation is one of the most profoundly devastating singular events since J6. There is a war being waged against us all..
It's almost as if they knew that Trump was going to win (because they would decide that too).
Sentiments matter not. the only thing that matters is Biden getting 270 electoral votes.
My take is the CNN debate format was an advantage for tRump, gish galloping verbal diarrhea spewing lying traitor that he is. The debate prep for Biden was probably memorizing stats and numbers to promote his record but ended up with the time Biden spent having to both fact check and answer the debate questions at the same time. Biden advisors should have realized that there is nothing “normal “ or truthful spewing from tRump, knowing trump knows nothing about policy ot how anything works and plan accordingly. Let Biden come out like he does in other speeches . I think that with Biden fighting a cold (which should have probably warranted a reschedule) and the verbal carpet bombing of lies by his orange excellency threw Biden off. To change candidates now just because of one night of a faltering start is ridiculous.
My first reaction was that Biden is a mess and should be replaced. The debate was very difficult to watch. It should have been the time to blow Trump away as the liar and cheat that he is, but the entire first focus was on Biden. I think, in 4 days, if the current reaction continues and the Dems do it right, the focus will shift to how dangerous and crazy the whole MAGA movement has become. This includes the Supreme Court. They have become a democracy destruction machine. They not only are running the country, they have legalized the way they can get paid for their decisions. Biden is the figurehead for freedom, justice, and the American way. They say is a great president from 10 AM to 4 PM. (I take my nap at 3) .Vote on the issues. Vote for to save America. Work your way up from the school committees to the president.
DNC should never have forced Biden on us the first time, and certainly not the second time, but here we are.
That said, I actually disagree with people that think Biden lost that debate. As bad as Biden looked and sounded, he still handily defeated Trump in the debate. That says more about Trump than Biden.
Oldandintheway, the only thing that matters is Biden getting 270 electoral votes, as it stands three swing states, Wi, MI, Pa which have 45 electoral votes will determine the election and those states have Muslim populations of WI 68,000, MI 241,000, Pa 174,000. Biden won those states as follows. WI 20,000, MI , 150,000, PA by 81,000 and it is not only Muslims but blacks, especially black males who are pissed at Biden because of Israel support and because he and the Dems have not done enough for blacks, they even accuse Democrats of more racism than Republicans, if you can believe that, at least according to at least one black member of Thom's substack.
If the Muslims alone sit out the elation or vote third party Trump wins,if blacks in Detroit and Philadelphia do the same, then Trump wins, and both groups will reap what they have sowed.
My take is that Kamala does not have the baggage with Muslims or blacks that Biden has, that Democrats will vote for her anyway, and Republicans won't, anyway.
That the Democratic convention in August is an opportunity tor joe to step down,claiming health, and turning the reins over to Kamala.
If you and I are aware of that, I am sure that the DNC is aware of that. I am not Black or Muslim so I don’t have many cred in those communities, but I send $ to GOTV to people who can explain to those voters what electing any Republican will mean to them. I know why people are upset. The world is a mess. But they are not as out of it to want Trump to return to office. We’ll see.
Oldandinthe way. I share your sentiments, but not so sure of Muslims and the younger black males who never lived through Jim Crow and red lining.
Problem is that you,I and members of substack are politically minded, we stay abreast of issues, but we are not AMERCIA, Gen X,Y,Z get their new from social media and the cell phone or tablet.
I have an apartment I rent and the last three renters didn't even have a TV. Only an internet, the average person is caught up in their mundane and banal lives, working, having fun, drinking booze, snorting coke, feeding themselves and family.
If they commute to work, drive a truck or cab, they are bombarded with right wing talk radio.
They aren't tuned into or obsessed with politics, and if they do watch TV, chances are they are old farts like us, or millenials who watch Fox or CNN. The MSNBC audience is liberal boomers, and you can tell by the ads they carry, Pharmaceuticals, and the $9.99 plan by Colonial life insurance ($9.99 a month for $1,000 of life insurance, what a rip off.
Wm, how does Biden win these states where you lay out the numbers showing that he will fail to do so in 2024? BTW Those neighbors are exactly the lo-info voters who will faithfully pull the lever for Trump. Those are Republicans my friend, NOT Independents, who will split along the D and R quite predictably. The R’s will eke out a EC victory at this point unless we get a younger charismatic candidate
I honestly do not know how Biden can win the swing states, except to motivate the Muslims and blacks to turn out and vote. Considering that the first loyalty of Muslims is to the Ummah, and the Ummah has turned out tearing their hijabs, abaya's and kaffiyeh's for HAMAS and the Gazans. I don't see Biden getting their vote, the only chance the Democrats have is Kamala, she was and is not on the decision making part of the process, and is a female and a person of color.
The white males who won't vote for her, will not vote for Biden anyway, so nothing lost there.
I would suggest that Biden step aside for Kamala after the Democratic convention when he is formally nominated, and the campaign funds will devolve to her, other wise if he steps aside sooner, the campaign funds will be distributed per the law, and not devolve to the candidate selected by the convention, (treated like primary campaign funds).
It seems strange to me that one of the three branches of government, the Supreme Court, can unilaterally give itself more power at the expense of Congress. Why does the Congress need to go along with this? Can they just ignore the Supreme Court as being out of line, and continue business as usual? It is ironic that the strict originalists on the Court ignore all the writings of the founders on how the Supreme Court should be a weaker branch of the government, while they are creating an "Imperial Court".
The only authority SCOTUS has is that which is voluntarily given to it by the people and the states. Andrew Jackson said, in regards to the Indian Removal Act, "Justice Marshall has ruled, not let him enforce it".
Governor Abbott and other Southern Governors, like in Alabama have told SCOTUS to fuck off, everyone else should as well.
Mr. Hartmann, why don't we talk about how the uneducated boob Harry Truman lost the White House in 1948 to Thomas Dewey from New York? The answer: because the boob won the election in spite of the fact that all the polls had Dewey in the lead on election night. Students of American history are familiar with the photo of a smiling Truman holding up a copy of the Chicago Tribune saying on the front page in a huge font "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN." In the photo the boob Truman has a big smile on his face.
Polls are a snapshot of the times, a limited snapshot. Even though pollsters do their best to adjust for bias in their sampling by using stratified/random sampling methods; the predictive value of polls is highly limited. As for the debates; they have never had predictive value.
History shows us voters return the incumbent to the White House if his administration has given the public good programs in the preceding four years. Truman had continued to support the great programs of FDR, so the public voted for Truman, even though he was a boob. Voters are much more affected by programs and policies and the conditions of the times than the commentariat realizes. They will vote for Biden in November.
Old Joe Biden has pushed through the biggest infrastructure bill since Eisenhower, the biggest environment bill in history. He forgave millions of dollars in student loans. He expanded eligibility for the ADA. He pulled us out of the Covid mess which trump had left us in. He did this with a divided Senate and a House controlled by Republicans. Is he senile or did he have a bad cold? I panicked at first upon viewing that debate. But after time to reflect on history, I have calmed down.
Gerald the political landscape in 1948 is not the same as in 2024, the comparison is not apt. The election is not about what Biden did, or his decency and honesty or humbleness.
As it now stands the election will be won and lost in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and Biden has lost those states, not that Trump has won them, but that Biden has lost them and the Muslim population, as well as Blacks in Detroit and Philadelphia will sit out the election or vote for Cornell West, and I haven't discussed the RFK and Jill Stein voters.
Mr. Farrar, my thinking is based upon the work of Allan J Lichtman. He developed a predictive model in collaboration with Vladimir Keilis-Borok a world renown authority on the mathematics of prediction models while they were at The California Institute Of Technology. Lichtman is a Political Scientist, now I believe he is at American Univ.
Lichtman's model successfully predicted the out-come of every Presidential election from 1860 up to the present. The only time the model missed was when Gore was cheated out of the win by the Supreme Court. Gore actually won both the popular vote and the electoral college; which is what Lichtman's model predicted. That election is literally the only time such a thing has been done by the court. Lichtman's model works regardless of the political landscape. His model worked even when the electoral vote outcome did not match the popular vote outcome three times: in 1876, 1888, 2000.
Those televised debates are not predictive. The first one was Kennedy-Nixon. The only other notable public debate involving a president in our history was the one between Lincoln and Douglas. But that was a senate race, not presidential race.
My degrees are not in Political Science, but in Mathematics, Psychology, and Sociology. I don't think this affects my understanding of his work. I am elderly now and I have slowed down. But I can still follow Lichtman's reasoning.
I don't think that LIchtman's model takes into account, things like the Ummah, and it's loyalty to Islam before democracy, nor the tenuous hold that the forces of democracy have on the pulse of America in the states circling the Great Lakes, but we will see.
Me, I haven't calmed down.
In a sense they both lost the debate. In the reactions I'm hearing many people didn't like Trumps belligerent style and repeated lies. Bidens next day speach showed the Biden we wanted at the debate. If he can produce more like that I believe he can pull out of this.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/will-bidens-debate-performance-turn-out-to-be-fatal-or-just-a-bad-night/ I think the corporate Democrats (Elephants in Donkey suits), which really control the Democratic Party, are unhappy about his attempts to bust monopolies and regulate business who are driving this effort to stampede the party's rank and file with fear. The noise is ALL about his appearance and not about his ability to present evidence or statistics to back up claims . That never occurred in the debate by his opponent. Follow the substance.
Independent journalists (real ones with awards) seem to have figured this out.
[https://www.racket.news/p/the-democratic-coup?r=rdp7](https://www.racket.news/p/the-democratic-coup?r=rdp7)
[https://www.levernews.com/how-lobbyists-could-install-bidens-replacement/](https://www.levernews.com/how-lobbyists-could-install-bidens-replacement/)
Of the options, despite the best efforts of corporate media like the the NYT to spin this and then quickly shut down comments, of the two I still prefer the one with the cold/flu, the raspy voice, but who nevertheless backed most statements with evidence and had it together enough to actually hear and respond to facilitators' questions—more so than the one that responded to the question about climate change with a diatribe about immigrants.
You nailed it Mr. Nuhfer. Thank you.
Thanks, Gerald!
I love Biden even more. He is both vulnerable and BELOVED. Watch him and his enthusiastic, surprisingly young crowd, in Raleigh on the day after his poor showing in the debate. “I know I’m not young, to state the obvious….I also know how to tell the truth…and how to do this job.” Biden represents those of us, across any divide you can name, who see there is collective work to do to prepare for the future coming at us. He knows we need everyone, including all sorts of Democrats, Independents, and the new Republicans who will join us. There is plenty for everybody, when we work together. You wait and see….Biden will become a beacon of wisdom and courage for a wide swath of Americans. He is my hero.
It really is too bad that so many USians only realized democracy was in trouble when Trump was elected. It's even more too bad that so many of these USians are high up in the Democratic Party. If we get through this, can we please give Chuck Schumer and his buddies a kick in the pants and tell them to get to work?
Not that it will make you feel all that much better, but I have been crying in the wilderness since GWB, no make that Reagan, about the rise of Fascism in this nation.
Being a Casandra sucks
https://open.substack.com/pub/olflawriduhcracker/p/the-biden-train-wreck-better-now?r=38b45&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I don't know if misery really does love company, but a reality check never hurts! I probably made matters worse by reading Jacob Heilbrunn's new book, AMERICA LAST: The Right's Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators soon after Rachel Maddow's PREQUEL.
If the polls show that President Biden's chances of winning are low, then he needs to bow out. If not, I would be satisfied if he remains in the race and then, at an appropriate time, resign and let Kamala Harris succeed him.
If you didn't learn the hazards of mainstream media polls in 2016 when they convinced Democrats that HRC had the election in the bag and many stayed home after swallowing the complacency pill, you never will. Right now, we need to avoid the MAGA mafia by VOTING them out. Right behind this and IMMEDIATELY after, we need to clean the corruption out of our own Democratic Party. Both are critical to our survival.
Thank you -- but I'd add that "corruption" probably isn't the big problem in the Democratic Party, at least at the upper levels. It's incompetence, lack of vision, and apparatchik-ism (is there a word for that?). The state party organizations in swing states like Wisconsin seem to be in much better shape than mine (I'm in MA), where the complacent apparatchiks rule, intelligent activists get discouraged by the lack of movement, but other, younger activists are working hard to get in the door.
Example: A few short years ago, the MA Democratic Party voted that state committee members who'd been elected five times to four-year terms would become lifetime members. Their argument was that this would open up their seats to new, younger, more diverse members. Term limits would have done the exact same thing, but of course they didn't think of that. Last I looked, MA had the second-largest state Democratic party in the country. It is not the second-largest state. Nowhere close.
When I arrived in FL in 2002, I really wanted to be active in FL Dem Party. Then I saw that it was essentially run by a power-couple who continued to lead the state down the road to ruin.
Bernie Sanders was our last best hope to bail out the sinking party.
EVERYTHING in the Democratic Party at the national level is about MONEY. In Texas, the Party operatives united to support grifter Henry Cuellar over Jessica Cisneros, a progressive woman with ethics. If I deleted all of the rhetoric on the Democratic Party sites I frequent that (1) does not focus on addressing a SPECIFIC issue that is critically needed by the citizens and the nation, (2) that is solely finger-pointing at "the other party" and crafted to promote fear and (3) is a fund-raiser disguised as a poll, a survey, or a petition, there would be NOTHING left except posts put there at the initiative of citizens' advocacy groups, NOT by this Democratic party. If you try to point to what this Party is FOR by united action around a platform, there is nothing there except "Affordable Health Care" which is the elephants in donkey suits' commitment to keeping the insurance cartel's money flowing into the party. "
Universal Health Care?" When have you EVER seen that on a DCCC fund raising mailer? In this Democratic Party "Universal Health Care" is like "climate change" in Ron DeSantis' Florida. It constitutes words that cannot be uttered. This Party cut the legs out from under Universal Health Care in California after the citizens did the leg work to get their representatives to pass it. The PARTY, not Trump and not MAGA prevented the bill from coming to the floor. This party is led by operatives who are corrupt to the core.
I registered as a Democrat after the 2016 election, got involved with the local Dem group, and attended several state (MA) conventions. That was enough. The state party solicits grassroots input for its platform, which of course is big and bloated and totally ignored. I stepped down and out at the beginning of last year. Long time ago I learned about the "illusion of inclusion." The Democratic Party is very good at it.
I did same in 2016 in Colorado. It's like the cliche' warning about not going into the kitchen of a nice restaurant if you want to keep enjoying the food. I wish progressive Democrats in Congress would resign the Party in mass and start their own party after we unite to stop Trump. I'd join that new party. Corporate Democrats would rather see Republicans elected rather than any progressive.
Lol about the kitchen -- like the observation attributed to Bismarck on laws and sausages. However, I'm not optimistic about the chances for a third party. The prognosis in the U.S. has never been good, and IMO it's worse since Citizens United released the floodgates on money, dark and otherwise. Something like the Working Families Party in NY might work in big blue states. But the progressive Democrats in Congress are, almost by definition, the least able to raise enough money to get a national third party off the ground. If only such an entity could rake in the small donations like Trump's Screw America PAC.
Cuellar is the typical Republican in Democratic clothing, he is anti abortion, misogynist,anti immigration,
You are correct about Universal Health Care in California, the citizens passed an initiative but the majority leader, a Democrat, shelved it.
The makers of a documentary "Healing US" did an initial screening in Colorado that also featured a discussion by the film's producer, director and several key people involved with the film. Since most were from CA, I asked the last question of the discussion session---about what happened after they had the plan in the bag and they answered.
The national Democratic Party is largely for the big donor class. Some of the state level parties are more under their control than others. Their national leadership will reduce it into a gang of kleptocratic authoritarians like the MAGA folks did with the former Republican Party unless we vigorously hold our own electable accountable. Party stooges try to shush those of us who do that. Don't cave in and be silent.
In a nutshell.
Personal account. Last vote I cast until 2016 was in 1964 for Goldwater. I was then a vehement anti communist, I knew nothing about nor care about anything else.
But I quicly figured out that the two parties were two sides of the same coin, and did not even register to vote until Trump came down the elevator and opened his filthy mouth, then I couldn't register, as Democrat, fast enough, now I am seeing the same thing I saw in 1965, the steeple chase for donor cash.
I voted in 2016 against Trump,not for Hillary,same in 2020,same in 2024.
I would like to vote for, instead of against, but that is a forlorn hope.
BTW I agree and have been complaining endlessly about the DNC's addiction to donor cash, they completely ignored the lesson learned from Bernies campaign.
Kamala has a much better chance of securing the 270 votes needed to win, than Biden, because Kamala has not pissed off the hundreds of thousands of Muslims and blacks that determine if Wi,, MI, PA goes red or blue, in fact because she is mixed race, she has a better chance, and the race will be won or lost in those three states.
Despite the polls, despite all the BS, Trump is the worst candidate of all time. If we work, a yellow dog can beat Trump.
I just doubled down on my contribution to the FT 6 TextArcade. Object: sunset Rick Scott. Has a 34% favorability rating. That group must not know much about him. Largest fine for Medicare fraud in history. Wants to "sunset" all benefits. Plus he's ugly, supports a guy who hates dogs and stole from kids with cancer, assaulted women, and was convicted of 34 felonies.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops
I just saw Andy Borowitz’s recommendation to replace Joe with his son Hunter, because he’s a generation younger, we can continue using BIDEN ‘24 election material, and - Hunter is a convicted felon, which attracts Republican votes!
Bernie Sanders campaign did raise sufficient funds in 2016, which is why corporate Dems are trying to bleed the grassroots dry by every elephant in a donkey suit sending out email after panhandling email with their "goal" (we should care about THEIR "goal"?), their fear mongering or some outrage (that in reality they intend to do nothing about) to get the working class to pony up to them rather than any progressive. In 20/20 hindsight, when Wasserman-Schultz rigged the primary and then handed the rank and file the ruling that "the Party" had a right to pick any candidates they wanted in a "smoke filled back room," could rip up their own Bylaws and violate them on a whim, the 45% of delegates for Sanders not resigning the party brought us what we are facing right now. Operatives of the Plutocratic Party don't want a platform or candidate that can win; want only candidates they can control. People with ethics and critical thinking skills need not apply.
Joe Biden is no longer fit to be president. Unfortunately the Joe Biden we saw on the debate stage is the real Joe Biden. He hasn’t aged well. At 81 years of age he looked and acted like a 101 year old, with mumbled incoherence when speaking, and a confused, opened-mouth stare when not speaking.
Televised debates are not about data points and policy. Televised debates only determine which candidate is the biggest and strongest bad ass. I’m not saying that is the right way to evaluate a debate, it’s just the way things are, and Trump cleaned Biden’s clock. There is a critical mass of voters who care only about that. The feeble, elderly Joe Biden is long past his days as a bad ass. Expecting a second term is delusional.
Shut up and sit down.
We aren’t obligated to like the facts, but we are obligated to act in accordance with them. Our democracy is more important than Joe Biden and Joe Biden’s ego.
Our Democracy is waaay more important than your ego.
There's no viable alternative at this point, to our Blue guy who had a bad night . But I guess when it happened to you, you curled up and died. Oh wait, it doesn't matter about you because it's not about you. So if you want lying cult45 fascist dictatorship to restart on Jan 20/21.25, keep badmouthing the one who needs to continue his amazing accomplishments.
Should an actual health crisis develop, we'll have our 1st woman president take over, and she'll be proDemocracy too. Is this what you're terrified of and hoping to prevent❓️