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Tuesday, July 23, 2024

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3444 - Biden is out: President withdraws from 2024 re-election campaign



A Sense of Doubt blog post #3444 - Biden is out: President withdraws from 2024 re-election campaign


History.

I was very young when Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for re-election, and so I did not know about it. Since then, his decision was not a major element of my history studies, so it just recently became something of which I am aware.

Ever since the June 27th presidential debate, which I wrote about here:

Saturday, June 29, 2024

many people have been clamoring for Joe Biden to step down as the 2024 presidential candidate.

I have to agree.

Overwhelmingly, even before the debate, the majority of Americans did not like this Trump-Biden re-match with many complaining that they are both too old, though especially Biden.

After Biden's Sun-downers episode on the debate stage, his ability to beat Trump has been seriously questioned, and yet, I did not think he would step down.

On July 21st, Biden announced he was withdrawing his candidacy from the 2024 presidential election. He wrote a letter that I share here (below) and since I am writing from the future, he spoke to the American people from the Oval Office "tomorrow," July 24th. 

And then he endorsed VP Kalama Harris as the best person to earn the candidacy of the Democratic party.

And many, many people around the world, especially this country, are very excited about Kamala Harris, and Trump is clearly terrified.

I was somewhat surprised that Biden stepped down; I did not expect him to do so.

Bring on Kamala Harris!!

She was my top choice in the run up to the 2020 election.

I am stoked!


https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1815080881981190320



https://twitter.com/NormEisen/status/1815081827771854853




https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1815085903301239087







It's HER TIME NOW!






https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1815087772216303933






https://twitter.com/kinley_brenda/status/1815407297490800781

The Real Liam Nissan - YESWEKAM


OBAMA TWITTER    






https://barackobama.medium.com/my-statement-on-president-bidens-announcement-1eb78b3ba3fc


My Statement on President Biden’s Announcement

Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me. Today, we’ve also been reminded — again — that he’s a patriot of the highest order.

Sixteen years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I knew about Joe’s remarkable career in public service. But what I came to admire even more was his character — his deep empathy and hard-earned resilience; his fundamental decency and belief that everyone counts.

Since taking office, President Biden has displayed that character again and again. He helped end the pandemic, created millions of jobs, lowered the cost of prescription drugs, passed the first major piece of gun safety legislation in 30 years, made the biggest investment to address climate change in history, and fought to ensure the rights of working people to organize for fair wages and benefits. Internationally, he restored America’s standing in the world, revitalized NATO, and mobilized the world to stand up against Russian aggression in Ukraine.

More than that, President Biden pointed us away from the four years of chaos, falsehood, and division that had characterized Donald Trump’s administration. Through his policies and his example, Joe has reminded us of who we are at our best — a country committed to old-fashioned values like trust and honesty, kindness and hard work; a country that believes in democracy, rule of law, and accountability; a country that insists that everyone, no matter who they are, has a voice and deserves a chance at a better life.

This outstanding track record gave President Biden every right to run for re-election and finish the job he started. Joe understands better than anyone the stakes in this election — how everything he has fought for throughout his life, and everything that the Democratic Party stands for, will be at risk if we allow Donald Trump back in the White House and give Republicans control of Congress.

I also know Joe has never backed down from a fight. For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life. But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America. It’s a testament to Joe Biden’s love of country — and a historic example of a genuine public servant once again putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own that future generations of leaders will do well to follow.

We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond.

For now, Michelle and I just want to express our love and gratitude to Joe and Jill for leading us so ably and courageously during these perilous times — and for their commitment to the ideals of freedom and equality that this country was founded on.






David Leonhardt - July 22, 2024

Good morning. We’re covering Biden’s exit and Harris’s entry — as well as JD Vance, heat in Egypt and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

Vice President Kamala Harris reaches out to shake the hand of President Biden.
President Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Doug Mills/The New York Times

What next?

With President Biden having dropped out of the race, I’m devoting today’s newsletter to four big questions about what happens next. My colleagues and I will also give you the latest news about the campaign.

Four questions

1. Is the Democratic nomination race already over?

It may be. Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be in a commanding position.

Some top Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, favor a competition to choose a new nominee. And an open process would have some big advantages. It would test whether Harris was a stronger politician than she had been during her failed 2020 campaign. If she won the competition, she would emerge from it looking like a winner who was more than Biden’s No. 2.

But a competition obviously requires more than one competitor, and Harris was the only top-tier Democrat to declare herself a presidential candidate yesterday. Many other Democrats endorsed her in the hours after Biden’s withdrawal.

Her list of backers include both progressives and moderates in Congress, as well as Biden, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and two governors who had been considered potential presidential candidates themselves: Gavin Newsom of California and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. The party’s nominating delegates from three states — North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee — unanimously voted yesterday to endorse Harris.

Overall, the hours after Biden’s exit went about as well as Harris could have hoped.

2. What will the Harris-Trump polls say now that they’re not hypothetical?

Polling experts frequently caution against trusting hypothetical survey results. People don’t always know how they will respond to a scenario that hasn’t yet happened, such as a sitting president’s departure from a campaign.

That said, the recent hypothetical polls about a race between Harris and Donald Trump have suggested he leads her, although more narrowly than he led Biden. A CBS News poll conducted this month, for example, showed that Trump had support from 51 percent of likely voters, compared with 48 percent for Harris.

As new polls emerge in coming days, it will be worth watching whether a Harris-Trump race effectively starts as a tossup — or something else.

3. How will Trump campaign against her?

For starters, Trump will emphasize the same unpopular parts of Biden’s performance that were already the central message of Trump’s campaign, including inflation and immigration. Given that Harris helped oversee Biden’s immigration policy, that subject will continue to play a central role.

But there are some uncertainties about how Trump and his aides will campaign against a Harris-led ticket. Among the questions: Will Republicans emphasize the candidates’ obviously different racial and gender profiles, much as Trump used gender-based messages against Hillary Clinton in 2016? Or will Trump tread more carefully now that he hopes to win a meaningful share of Asian, Black and Latino voters?

It does seem likely that Trump will emphasize some of Harris’s most liberal past positions, including her support in 2020 for Medicare for All, a policy that would effectively eliminate private health insurance.

4. How will Harris campaign differently from Biden?

Harris has one huge advantage over Biden: She isn’t 81 years old. She is an energetic campaigner, with a strong history as a debater.

She has some other advantages, too. Harris is more comfortable criticizing the Republican Party’s unpopular position on abortion than Biden has been. Nate Cohn, The Times’s chief political analyst, points out that recent polling data suggests she is also better positioned than Biden to hold onto support from some groups that have historically supported Democrats but soured on Biden, such as younger voters and voters of color.

At the same time, Harris is starting with some disadvantages relative to Biden, Obama and other recent nominees. Nate notes that the same polling data suggests Harris is weaker than Biden among voters over 65 and white voters without a college degree.

Above all, Harris has little track record of winning the type of swing voters who decide presidential elections. She comes from California, a liberal bastion. In her only Senate campaign, which she won, no Republican even qualified for the general election. Harris beat another Democrat.

If she is the nominee, I think the biggest question is: How she will appeal to swing voters in states like Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin?

Many of these voters are working-class Americans dissatisfied with the country’s direction. Many do not follow politics obsessively. Most are less liberal on social issues than prominent Democratic politicians, including Harris. Many have been attracted to feisty populist and patriotic messages, from both Trump and from Democratic Senate candidates. (Harris is likely to choose a running mate with a stronger history of winning swing voters.)

Harris will no doubt devote much of her campaign to an anti-Trump message. But a message organized almost entirely around Trump seems less likely to succeed than one that also focuses on her vision of the future — including how it differs from Biden’s vision and why even voters who are often skeptical of the Democratic Party should support Harris this year.

More on Biden’s decision

  • Several top Republicans — including JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, and Speaker Mike Johnson — called on Biden to resign as president. Trump said that Biden had “quit the race in COMPLETE DISGRACE!”
Vice President Kamala Harris waves her hand as her hair blows in the wind.
Kamala Harris Erin Schaff/The New York Times

More on Harris

  • “We have 107 days until Election Day,” Harris said in a statement yesterday. “Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
  • Democratic donors quickly mobilized around Harris. One Silicon Valley bundler raised over $1 million in 30 minutes. Yesterday was the single biggest day for Democratic online fund-raising since the 2020 election, with more than $50 million donated.
  • Many Democrats think Harris will pick a white man as her running mate. Possibilities include governors — like Roy Cooper of North Carolina or Andy Beshear of Kentucky — and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.
  • As vice president, Harris defended Biden’s economic agenda. But in the past, she’s pushed for more progressive policies, like universal health care and generous tax benefits for working-class Americans.
  • While many Democrats have coalesced behind Harris, she doesn’t start the campaign as the kind of broadly acceptable candidate Democrats have put forward during the Trump era, Nate Cohn writes.

Commentary

  • “Right now, most Democrats can see Biden only as a millstone, but history will remember him as one of the most effective presidents of his era,” Franklin Foer, who wrote a book about Biden’s presidency, argues in The Atlantic.
  • “Do Americans share enough disgust over Trump this year to forget their traditional misogyny when it comes to the top job?” Robin Epley asks in The Sacramento Bee.
  • “Really cannot overstate how problematic this is for Trump’s operation. Everything they built was customized for a contest with Biden,” The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta, who has written about Trump’s campaign, wrote on X.
  • “If you think Biden’s only problem was age, then Harris is a good choice,” The Washington Post’s Megan McArdle wrote on X, adding: “If you think that voters disliked Biden for other reasons, then Harris is the worst choice, because she’s shackled to that baggage.”
  • “Anyone who tells you they know how this is going to play out is lying or deluded,” Jacob Rubashkin of Inside Elections wrote on social media.




https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/07/after-biden-drops-out-trump-lashes-out-2024-election-joe-biden-drops-out-donald-trump/


JULY 21, 2024

After Biden Drops Out, Trump Lashes Out

Trump told CNN he believes Vice President Kamala Harris will be easier to beat.





Despite his calls for “unity” this week, former President Trump denigrated President Biden within minutes of the Democratic president’s announcement that he would no longer seek reelection this November.

Trump called Biden “the single worst president by far in the history of our country” in a call with CNN, adding that he believes Vice President Kamala Harris—who Biden endorsed to replace him as the nominee—will be easier to defeat than Biden.

One problem with that? The entire Trump campaign was set up to not just beat Democrats but specifically Joe Biden. As the Atlantic chronicled in a long story, the campaign for Trump 2024 was all about Biden being weak—and old. How that all will shift if Harris, or another Democrat, is the nominee is unclear.

As my colleague Jamilah King wrote, Harris’s background as a prosecutor—and the strength she showed in questioning Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation—could make her the perfect fit to take on Trump, a now-convicted felon. As Jamilah wrote:

In the ill-fitting vice president job, many have forgotten how smart, decisive, and appealing Harris can be when the role fits. If the job is to attack Trump on his criminal record, who better than a prosecutor?

Not only that, Harris has also been a more forceful messenger than Biden on abortion rights—a winning issue for Democrats. A CNN poll showed that Harris polled better against Trump than Biden did, though Trump still maintained a 47-45 lead in the hypothetical matchup.

All this may be why, as I wrote earlier this month, Republicans have been running against Harris long before Biden endorsed her as the Democratic nominee. She’s long been a threat to Trump—and could soon be fighting him for the presidency.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


JUST PUTTING THIS HERE.....








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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2407.23 - 10:10

- Days ago = 3308 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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