[Politics] 2020 US election - Joe Biden vs Donald Trump

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Understood. My point was it looking unlikely that he will be ALIVE in 4 years time, forget all the dementia stuff for a sec!

Got it.

Stepping back, is the president invested with so much 'shock and awe' power in the US that his party is almost constitutionally paralysed, meaning a president is effectively unchallengeable from within his own party, explaining how he was reselected by the Dems unopposed?

If not, the Dems must be paralysed by stupidity.

Calling @US Seagull

 

[Mellotron]

Got it.

Stepping back, is the president invested with so much 'shock and awe' power in the US that his party is almost constitutionally paralysed, meaning a president is effectively unchallengeable from within his own party, explaining how he was reselected by the Dems unopposed?

If not, the Dems must be paralysed by stupidity.

Calling @US Seagull

I have to admit, when he was first elected I had completely assumed - given his age - that the plan was he would be a one-term president and they were going to bring Harris through.

Perhaps that was the original plan but she just hasn't done well enough for that to become the reality.

Either way, it looks like they've massively f***ed it unless they change course very soon. Do we know what the latest they could feasibly switch candidate is?

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think the longer he hangs in there the worse it will be for any candidate that ends up replacing him.

The message coming out of The White House seems to be that they don't rate Kamala Harris's chances of winning the race. However, she seems to the favourite with Democrat voters if Biden steps down.

If Biden leaves the race AND Harris does too, or they choose a third candidate then they are toast. Indeed, the other Democrat candidates will be eyeing 2028 as the time to run, especially as Trump will be 82 and will almost certainly have no successor outside of his own family.

 

[US Seagull]

Got it.

Stepping back, is the president invested with so much 'shock and awe' power in the US that his party is almost constitutionally paralysed, meaning a president is effectively unchallengeable from within his own party, explaining how he was reselected by the Dems unopposed?

If not, the Dems must be paralysed by stupidity.

Calling @US Seagull

Are you suggesting I'm "paralysed by stupidity" too

Challenging an incumbent president is generally considered "hard", "not done", "disloyal" and/or "political suicide". That's why he didn't attract a serious challenger. People with ambitions to be the 2028 nominee (yes, the 2028 election has already started) generally need to be seen as being loyal team players. Which means not taking a pop at the sitting president in the hope of jumping the gun 4 years too early.

Also a schism in the party with a serious challenge to the sitting president in the primaries is generally considered not a "good look" for the party in general. Who'd vote for a party seemingly in such disarray.

So that's, kinda, the normal logic in a normal election. Of course you can 100% argue that is isn't a normal election, this isn't a normal opponent and this isn't a normal president. Although at the start of the primary process, it wasn't 100% certain that Trump would again be the nominee either. Haley gave him, at least, a little bit of a run.

 

[US Seagull]

I have to admit, when he was first elected I had completely assumed - given his age - that the plan was he would be a one-term president and they were going to bring Harris through.

Perhaps that was the original plan but she just hasn't done well enough for that to become the reality.

Either way, it looks like they've massively f***ed it unless they change course very soon. Do we know what the latest they could feasibly switch candidate is?

Probably the DNC which is set to be held August 19–22 in Chicago. After that it will be very much harder to change course.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I have to admit, when he was first elected I had completely assumed - given his age - that the plan was he would be a one-term president and they were going to bring Harris through.

Perhaps that was the original plan but she just hasn't done well enough for that to become the reality.

Either way, it looks like they've massively f***ed it unless they change course very soon. Do we know what the latest they could feasibly switch candidate is?

Indeed. They have a bit of time but, with no incapacity proven, Biden has to trigger it himself. It doesn't sound like he's open to persuasion....

 

[aolstudios]

Part of the problem is that Biden has support across so many crucial blocks of voters. The Dems just don't have anyone else who appeals to more.
It's awful but it's so bloody tribal over there

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Are you suggesting I'm "paralysed by stupidity" too

Challenging an incumbent president is generally considered "hard", "not done", "disloyal" and/or "political suicide". That's why he didn't attract a serious challenger. People with ambitions to be the 2028 nominee (yes, the 2028 election has already started) generally need to be seen as being loyal team players. Which means not taking a pop at the sitting president in the hope of jumping the gun 4 years too early.

Also a schism in the party with a serious challenge to the sitting president in the primaries is generally considered not a "good look" for the party in general. Who'd vote for a party seemingly in such disarray.

So that's, kinda, the normal logic in a normal election. Of course you can 100% argue that is isn't a normal election, this isn't a normal opponent and this isn't a normal president. Although at the start of the primary process, it wasn't 100% certain that Trump would again be the nominee either. Haley gave him, at least, a little bit of a run.

Constitutionally paralyzed it is then. Just as I imagined. Cheers

 

[Zeberdi]

@Titanic @ Bozza

Can you please merge this 2020 US Election thread with my 2024 US Election thread so we don’t have two threads on the current election running consecutively. This old one was bumped today for reasons I can’t fathom and it is getting confusing - especially as the title this thread says it’s the “official match thread” but it’s actually referring to an election that took place four years ago.

I don’t think people realise that this isn’t the current Trump v Biden Election thread.

Thank you.

 

[Titanic]

Not a great idea to merge such large and old threads... I will change the title of this to make it clearer that this relates to the 2020 US election.

 

[nicko31]

Not a great idea to merge such large and old threads... I will change the title of this to make it clearer that this relates to the 2020 US election.

Reset the pole too

 

[Titanic]

Reset the pole too

The POLL closed Nov 5, 2020. No point re-opening it on this thread.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Not a great idea to merge such large and old threads... I will change the title of this to make it clearer that this relates to the 2020 US election.

I haven't 'merged' threads. Only you have the privilege to do that. I considered it a better idea to add posts to the existent thread (that my search found when I used the relevant keywords) than create a new thread. But what do I know? Evidently not enough.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The POLL closed Nov 5, 2020. No point re-opening it on this thread.

Everything is completely ruined now. I'll nip off and shoot myself.

 

[StonehamPark]

Me trying to work out which thread to post in.

 

[lasvegan]

The only question is whether he can function now. We can't play 'what if later?'. My concern is that Biden may have gone beyond the point where he is capable of realizing he needs to stand down without having reached the point when medics can declare he is unfit to stand. And the longer this goes on the worse the final outcome will look. For the Democrats. Looks like @lasvegan was right all along

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always hated his politics, but you can’t possibly vote in good conscience for someone in his physical and mental condition.

 

[lasvegan]

I have to admit, when he was first elected I had completely assumed - given his age - that the plan was he would be a one-term president and they were going to bring Harris through.

Perhaps that was the original plan but she just hasn't done well enough for that to become the reality.

Either way, it looks like they've massively f***ed it unless they change course very soon. Do we know what the latest they could feasibly switch candidate is?

Do you think that Harris is a viable alternative? I don’t think you do…is there a viable alternative? I can’t think of one.

 

[beorhthelm]

Do you think that Harris is a viable alternative? I don’t think you do…is there a viable alternative? I can’t think of one.

i've not really understood what's so bad about Harris, seems non-Democrats have auto-disliked and Democrats have been a bit meh. but what has she actually done to make people turn away from her?