Octopus Overlords

Kraken wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 8:18 pm
True, but every election cycle it becomes slightly less true. Buttigieg is young enough to outlive that bias as it ages out of the population. Maybe not in '28, but in '32, or '36, or...? Meanwhile, he continues to burnish his resume and network.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 5:18 pm I'm not so sure a protest vote in a meaningless election necessarily means those same people will vote for a sociopath dick-tater come November.

waitingtoconnect wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 9:54 pm As for Arab Americans, they face the same choice many of us do. Actually go and vote for Biden holding your nose or don’t vote for Biden ensuring a trump victory and a new Muslim ban eliminating your families from being able to visit, the possible deportation of your families from America citizenship or not and even more assistance for Israel on destroying Gaza.

LordMortis wrote:Though I am not as hostile to Biden as others.

WASHINGTON (TND) — President Joe Biden is using “cheat sheet” notecards to answer questions at private fundraising events, sparking concerns among some leading donors, Axios reported.

While past presidents have leaned on notes and teleprompters for live events, Biden has reportedly kept the cheat sheets on hand even at private events full of his own supporters. The notes aid Biden in identifying pre-screened audience members during Q&A sessions and he relies on them to help give detailed answers about his own policy, according to Axios.

These sessions, the outlet wrote, “have left some donors wondering whether Biden can withstand the rigors of a presidential campaign.” While the notes are prepared beforehand by staff as a safeguard to make Biden’s events successful, pre-event briefings reportedly often see the president become “demanding, difficult to please — and frequently profane.”

Despite this, some donors say they are pleased with Biden’s campaign efforts thus far, according to Axios. Biden has reportedly already accumulated a sizable cash lead over Republicans and some fundraiser attendees say the president feels relaxed and poised while making impromptu responses.

Biden has caught flack as of late for off-the-cuff remarks. Russian officials shared outrage after the president referred to Russia’s Vladimir Putin as a “crazy SOB” Wednesday.

"This is a huge disgrace for the country... for the United States,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reportedly said. “If a president uses that kind of language, he should be ashamed. It's clear that Mr. Biden is behaving like a Hollywood cowboy to score domestic political points.”

Respondents to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday said they worry about 81-year-old Biden’s ability to serve a second term. While Biden holds a narrow lead over former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical election, 67% say Biden is too old to effectively serve another term. A smaller group of respondents, 57%, said the same of Trump, who is 77.

Victoria Raverna wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:53 am Maybe Biden is really too old?

YellowKing wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 10:26 am At this point Biden could be publicly shitting his pants and I'd still vote for him over Trump.

Unagi wrote:That is not really all that concerning.

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:57 am That is not really all that concerning.

El Guapo wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 1:12 pm

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:57 am That is not really all that concerning.

100%. ZOMG Biden uses note cards to remember things when talking! Also, that Biden uses them more than prior presidents is also consistent with him understanding that the political impact of him forgetting something or mixing something up is orders of magnitude worse than the impact of prior presidents doing so.

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:57 am That is not really all that concerning.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 10:28 am I'm sure there is a line of decline where I would actually vote for TFG.

Zarathud wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:34 am

Unagi wrote:That is not really all that concerning.

Less concerning than Victoria posting articles with Kremlin comments on Biden? The agenda is transparent.

waitingtoconnect wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 7:26 pm

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:57 am That is not really all that concerning.

It’s so good to see that Russian influence is so high over the GoP now that they are asked directly to comment on Bidens remarks rather than go through the middle man.

Right now I’d vote for an inanimate carbon rod over trump.

President Biden is struggling to overcome doubts about his leadership inside his own party and broad dissatisfaction over the nation’s direction, leaving him trailing behind Donald J. Trump just as their general-election contest is about to begin, a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College has found.

With eight months left until the November election, Mr. Biden’s 43 percent support lags behind Mr. Trump’s 48 percent in the national survey of registered voters.

Only one in four voters think the country is moving in the right direction. More than twice as many voters believe Mr. Biden’s policies have personally hurt them as believe his policies have helped them. A majority of voters think the economy is in poor condition. And the share of voters who strongly disapprove of Mr. Biden’s handling of his job has reached 47 percent, higher than in Times/Siena polls at any point in his presidency.

The poll offers an array of warning signs for the president about weaknesses within the Democratic coalition, including among women, Black and Latino voters. So far, it is Mr. Trump who has better unified his party, even amid an ongoing primary contest.

At campaign rallies, Trump routinely says he would carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in history if re-elected. Trump also vows to reinstate his infamous Muslim travel ban, expand it to include Gazan refugees, and incorporate “ideological screenings” for all immigrants.

Majority of Biden’s 2020 Voters Now Say He’s Too Old to Be Effective
A New York Times/Siena College poll revealed how much even his supporters worry about his age, intensifying what has become a grave threat to his re-election bid.

Widespread concerns about President Biden’s age pose a deepening threat to his re-election bid, with a majority of voters who supported him in 2020 now saying he is too old to lead the country effectively, according to a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College.

The survey pointed to a fundamental shift in how voters who backed Mr. Biden four years ago have come to see him. A striking 61 percent said they thought he was “just too old” to be an effective president.

A sizable share was even more worried: Nineteen percent of those who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, and 13 percent of those who said they would back him in November, said the 81-year-old president’s age was such a problem that he was no longer capable of handling the job.

The misgivings about Mr. Biden’s age cut across generations, gender, race and education, underscoring the president’s failure to dispel both concerns within his own party and Republican attacks painting him as senile. Seventy-three percent of all registered voters said he was too old to be effective, and 45 percent expressed a belief that he could not do the job.

Otto Abad, 50, an independent voter in Scott, La., said he voted for Mr. Biden in 2020 but planned to flip his support to Mr. Trump if they faced off again. Last time, he wanted a less divisive figure in the White House after the chaos of the Trump administration. Now, he worries that Mr. Biden is not quite up for a second term.

He added: “Trump, one of the few things I would say good about him, is that nothing seems to bother him. He seems like he’s in the same mental shape he was 10 years ago, 12 years ago, 15 years ago. He’s like a cockroach.”

Mr. Abad is far from alone. Just 15 percent of voters who supported Mr. Trump in 2020 said they thought he was now too old to be an effective president, and 42 percent of all voters said the same — a much lower share than for Mr. Biden. Polling from the 2020 race indicates that the share of voters who believe Mr. Trump is too old has also increased over the past four years, but not as drastically as for Mr. Biden . . .

In the most recent Times survey, 19 percent of all voters said Mr. Trump’s age was such a problem that he was not capable of handling the presidency. And in a sign of Republicans’ far greater confidence in their likely nominee, less than 1 percent of voters who backed Mr. Trump in 2020 said his age made him incapable.

Brian Wells, 35, a lawyer from Huntsville, Ala., described himself as a reluctant supporter of Mr. Biden. He was frustrated that there were not other choices for the top of the presidential ticket, and was convinced that Mr. Biden was not entirely up to the duties of the office.

Still, Mr. Wells plans to cast his ballot to re-elect the president in November.

“He’s incompetent. He’s clearly struggling to fulfill his duties,” he said. “He’s clearly reached the point where he’s too old for the job. But he’s still a step ahead of Trump.”

Kurth wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:01 pm It seems like the antidote to this problem is to just get Biden out in public as much as possible, displaying for all to see that he is vibrant and cogent and hasn't lost his fastball. But it doesn't feel like that's happening.

Kurth wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:01 pm

“He’s incompetent. He’s clearly struggling to fulfill his duties,” he said. “He’s clearly reached the point where he’s too old for the job. But he’s still a step ahead of Trump.”

Holman wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 7:11 pm

Kurth wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:01 pm

“He’s incompetent. He’s clearly struggling to fulfill his duties,” he said. “He’s clearly reached the point where he’s too old for the job. But he’s still a step ahead of Trump.”

This is the thing. Current media loves this kind of soundbite for its drama and its intensity, but they also love to sidestep the question of whether Biden *is* incompetent and struggling to fulfill his duties.

From all reasonable accounts, that's just not the case. Journalists who meet with him describe him as old but still sharp enough to make his points.

Meanwhile, Trump is out there in rallies stumbling to finish his sentences (or not) and declaring that he'll beat Barack Hussein Obama again like he did in 2016 and 2020.

Kurth wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:01 pm I'm hoping someone here can take apart this poll and give me a compelling reason not to be scared shitless that we're careening toward another Trump administration:

YellowKing wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:02 pm The polling just boggles my mind. It's seemingly like the better the economy gets the worse Joe's poll numbers. The more Trump fucks up, the better his numbers. I just don't understand reality anymore.

waitingtoconnect wrote:Did they repeal the trump tax cuts? No. Have they delivered real minimum wage support. No. Have they delivered real health care (which we can afford). No. Have they kept us in endless forever wars overseas. Yes. Have they done anything about the border. No.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:15 pm

waitingtoconnect wrote:Did they repeal the trump tax cuts? No. Have they delivered real minimum wage support. No. Have they delivered real health care (which we can afford). No. Have they kept us in endless forever wars overseas. Yes. Have they done anything about the border. No.

Everything you're saying the Democrats haven't delivered, the Republicans have delivered not only *less* but actively campaigned *against*. And we both know the border bill was right there waiting to be signed and MAGA Republicans killed it on arrival.

waitingtoconnect wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:17 pm
You are right but until 2022 the democrats held the presidency and both houses yet could deliver nothing. People see this.

Unagi wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 9:20 pm

waitingtoconnect wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:17 pm
You are right but until 2022 the democrats held the presidency and both houses yet could deliver nothing. People see this.

They did not have the type of majority needed. IIRC

waitingtoconnect wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:17 pm You are right but until 2022 the democrats held the presidency and both houses yet could deliver nothing. People see this.

Kraken wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 10:34 pm

Unagi wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 9:20 pm

waitingtoconnect wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:17 pm
You are right but until 2022 the democrats held the presidency and both houses yet could deliver nothing. People see this.

They did not have the type of majority needed. IIRC

It's a testament to Biden's dealmaking skill that they accomplished as much as they did despite the constant cat-and-mouse games by Manchin and Sinema.

The American Recovery Act
The bipartisan infrastructure bill (that eluded trump his entire term)
The Inflation Reduction Act (that tackles climate change for the first time and authorizes Medicare to negotiate drug prices)
The CHIPS and Science Act
The first gun control bill in decades (weak sauce, but better than nothing)
Billions in student loan forgiveness
Rallying NATO (after TFG did his best to kill it) and restoring American prestige abroad
Unemployment below 4% for 24 continuous months and counting
Wage growth outpacing inflation
The long-threatened recession receded; economic growth continues to exceed all predictions.

But tell me again how the Dems delivered nothing and Biden is ineffective. Because that's how the public sees it. 2/3 of us say the US is on the wrong track. A majority believe we're in a recession (despite having the strongest economy with the lowest inflation in the western world). A majority say that Biden's policies have harmed rather than helped them.

I'm not a Democrat and I understand their shortcomings, especially regarding the border and identity politics, and now the disaster in Gaza. But the disconnect between perceived reality and actual reality is maddening. Republicans excel at instilling and exploiting grievances. Blocking progress is easier than making progress.

waitingtoconnect wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:24 am
The main issue in my opinion is the trump tax cuts which

Kraken wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 10:34 pm I'm not a Democrat and I understand their shortcomings, especially regarding the border and identity politics, and now the disaster in Gaza. But the disconnect between perceived reality and actual reality is maddening. Republicans excel at instilling and exploiting grievances. Blocking progress is easier than making progress.

pr0ner wrote:Hard to know what thread to put this in, but SCOTUS rules 9-0 that states cannot bar Trump (or others) from their ballots based on the 14th Amendment.