It’s vitally important that Democrats now ask one question and one question only: Does Biden have the best chance of beating Trump, or is there someone else readily available who has a better chance?

Most people engaged in politics have likely made up their mind, and anyone sufficiently disengaged will vote for the incumbent and be done with it. Biden is the incumbent, and they're not going to put forth a progressive.

Yeah
The race is not people deciding between Biden and Trump, but people on both sides who have made up their minds deciding whether or not to vote
Coincidentally, there is an enormous effort to paint voting as not worthwhile, and Biden as not good enough to be worthwhile bothering to vote for, aimed at left wing voters
- Actual left-winger here. We've been saying the USA deserves better than Biden since before the 2020 election. Don't lump us in with the centrists, liberals, and moderates who've only just pulled their heads out of the sand long enough to notice that the incumbent is expected to lose.
  There's no point in starting to panic now, all this has been inevitable since the DNC won the right to rig their own primary after the disaster that was the "Her Turn" campaign in 2016. Either y'all start calling your reps and demanding a better option on the ballot, or start making preparations for the fascism and civil unrest in our future.
- Yes. Enormous efforts. “Genocide Joe” (the name) is part of that effort.
- Joe Biden is on track to win this election. Democrats are hell bent on snatching defeat from the mouth of victory.
- Most people are just now waking up and paying attention while Biden's numbers are beginning to climb, in spite of his own party trying to sabotage him.
Anyone sufficiently disengaged with Biden might just NOT vote. And then Trump wins. Heres a better framing of the question. Could anyone generate more voter disengagement than Biden?
- This is my worry too. They're not going to switch to trump, they'll either skip it or vote 3rd party.
Vote blue no matter who died quickly I guess.
- Those people are still voting blue. The issue is getting everyone else on board. "Vote blue no matter who" can't carry the election entirely on its own and never could. 2020 was won on razor margins.
they’re not going to put forth a progressive.
The corporate media would shred a real progressive but Biden is a lot more progressive leaning than I ever thought he would be.
- Yeah, that's part of why I'm so suspicious of this massive "Biden needs to be replaced" push. We're not getting better policy out of it, and I seriously doubt it'll hurt Trump's odds at re-election, so why is everyone so keen on it at this stage? The time to replace him was months ago.
A travesty then, considering polling consistently shows progressives would wallop Trump, and the Dems claim that democracy is on the line this election. We could do so much better, but absolutely will not at the peril of capital.
We have narrow margins these days. Elections are decided by the undecided.
It's pretty likely that a lot of those disengaged will not vote for Biden because they know he's too old

Biden is cooked. But there is so much fear/exhaustion/disgust with Trump we are still in the margin of error.

Imagine if the Democrats ran somebody that anybody was actually positively excited about.

But that is not how the DNC works.

In 2024, who would that be? Who would you be excited about?
- Literally anyone under 50 years old
- I'd rather vote for Bernie or Newsom, personally.
The DNC ran the person primary voters nominated
- Funny, my ballot only had one name you could pick.
- No prominent Democrat would dare challenge Biden before he drops out for fear of party retaliation. The two party system is the real issue here. Until we abolish it our best hope is things don't get worse because they won't get better.
- Money, nepotism, and other corrupting things are pretty big factors in politics
- We weren’t allowed to nominate anyone else. Did you miss that part?

I'm absolutely sick of mainstream media trying to hose the democratic candidate by suggesting the guaranteed-suicidal act of switching out the incumbent. They know it's failed every time. They still bring that up as news.

Find something else controversial to pin your ad revenue onto.

Every other time was different. Trumps the guaranteed winner unless something changes.
- They are polling dead even; even if the polls are garbage that's some sort of indication that "guaranteed winner" is false no matter how hard people keep repeating it
  That said, I get what you're getting at. It's really too bad there's that big stasis rift in reality that means nothing can possibly change except replacing Biden with some other candidate, and that that action and that action alone is guaranteed to produce a good result, no matter how we do it.
  Fucking rift
The only suicide pact is riding a senile candidate into the sunset while there's still a chance to get off the ride.
- Are we talking about Trump now? Man I wish I could keep track of senile old bastards. Because my senile old bastards are yelling incoherent crap and not actually in the conversation.

The Democrats have had YEARS to endorse anyone who was born after the Battle of the Bulge. With the election less than 4 months away, it is WAY too late to pick Biden's successor.

They need to come with a campaign message that shows ordinary people why Biden is a better choice than Trump, which should be the easiest g*ddamn thing in the world.

The Democrat "voters" haven't had a choice. It's the Democrat party that has pushed for Biden so hard and not allowed any opportunity for voters to choice someone else before now.
The democratic party wants Biden as president.
I suspect the majority of Democrat voters do not want him to run again.
- “Democrat voters” “Democrat party”
  I asked about this curious phrasing in this comment - what’s your take on it? Why do you think there might be a notable overlap between the users who are so fed up with the Democratic Party that they’re against Biden, and the users who even though they are obviously left wing people, use a traditionally conservative turn of phrase?
Almost like.. now hear me out.. they don't want to win...
The establishment has been keeping his mental decline as secret as possible for quite some time now. They had the time and squandered it. Now the narrative of is he fit for the presidency is going to dominate any other factor to the election. If I'm being honest with myself, he's done. We're just currently salvaging as much as we can and push the never-trump narrative hard and pray.
It's annoying that most everyone can understand this, but the media keeps pretending like it's an open question.
- Because they are pushing a narrative. They aren't being honest that no one is prepared to take over, no one else has been campaigning. Even if people wanted a replacement, there isn't one ready to take on the mantle.
  They are intentionally sowing discord.

The answer is Bernie Sanders in 2020 and in 2016. Now? Probably nobody.

Bernie would still win. Just has to publicly recognize his old age while also showing that he's not senile like the other 2, agree to one term, pick a good young progressive VP, and start hammering away at progressive messaging. Probably outright tell the center Dems it's THEIR turn to hold their noses... Unless they want Trump to win.
- Sanders is only one year older than Biden
- This would be a dream come true!
Harris is actually polling better than Biden against Trump. I know the Internet never forgets but the people do.

Honestly, we're basically just voting for Kamala when we vote for Biden.

Jill then Kamala
- This is what I've been thinking too. Cognitive decline isn't necessarily fatal. Nancy Reagan used astrologers because she was lost and trying to keep up appearances.
  Dunno what Jill/Joe will do. But if he was inclined to step down, I don't see home doing it for a few years.
i wish that was a guarantee; i would vote for biden in that case and i wouldn't have to hold my nose as tightly to do so.
- If we split the votes between third party and democrat again, we're done for. We've already lost this race. Hard stuck democrats won't be convinced to vote third party. There won't be enough votes to win. Unfortunately, this is a democrat or fascist dictatorship vote.

Considering the competition... I'd be willing to vote for Biden's dog.

Secret Service are cops, Commander bites them, therefore Commander says ACAB.
Commander 2024.
- I thought it was Major? Does he have 2 dogs that bite people?
  And yes. It’s not totally logical, but I kind of liked that Biden’s dog was biting people. I tend to assume that a lot of people who work in the White House are bad people, and if someone’s dog is going in and biting them then I’m gonna assume without evidence that it had a good reason.
- This shit is getting so fucking old.
This shit is just because they're scared. They know Biden is going to curbstomp him come November. The racist rapist with 34 felonies is further up the ladder on mental decline anyways. I would vote for a steaming pile of Bidens dogs shit before I'd vote for anyone from the GOP.
- That's not what we're seeing. Every time Biden tries to prove he can still think and shift the focus to Trump it fails and his polls get worse. He's behind by 6 points in PA now. The single state we really need to win.

Biden has the best chance of NOT beating Trump (I fear). He cannot change and as a known commodity will not generate new enthusiasm. Trump has generated all the outrage and rejection he is going to get. No new information is going to change that.

Someone else is an unknown. What happens if we switch is unknown. It may lose. But we are losing now.

But it could grab a LOT of press attention, generate enthusiasm, and break up the logjam of conservatism that runs national politics.

The whole point is that this is not a "dicey" or desperate thing to do when we are fighting for democracy and freedom. It is the ONLY thing to do when you are sure your current course loses.

We have to win.

enthusiasm
It’s an interesting day when you get to identify a new talking point
- Enthusiasm in this case would be turn out, actually getting butts out of seats to vote.
  The existential threat that Trump poses no longer seems enough to motivate people to vote specfically against him. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the reduction in turn out by people who are not energized by Biden and aren't afraid of Trump has been a thing this whole time, it's not new.
  Like literally the campaigns are targeting people to tell them not to vote at all, right? The fact that Biden is visibly spiralling gives those campaigns a lot of very effective ammunition imo.
  Then again you got that x-ray shill vision.

Readily available for repubes to start yelling “democrats in disarray” “both sides are the same”. Hell, repubes don’t even have to do it. The mainstream media is already doing their bidding.

It's crazy to see the difference in tone CNN and other major new outlets have adopted when talking about Biden, vs. how they talk about Trump.
With Biden it's "What a national embarrassment, no way this man can lead in his current state, voting for him is nearly elder abuse and you should be ashamed of yourself."
With Trump it's "jeez get a load of this guy lol. He's just so silly with the things he says, who would take him seriously about the crazy stuff? Might be worth a vote?"
- The press is stupid
  Political people, mostly on the conservative side, figured out long ago that if you just pushed hard a particular framing and narrative, the majority of the American political press would just kind of go with it as opposed to upset the herd by presenting a different framing. Once you’ve set the boulder rolling in one direction, you can just kind of let it go and it’ll follow the same path on its own. And they practiced the technique until they got really good at it.
  A fun exercise to see it is to read an article, but flip the party and subject of the article to the opposite side. Like some gaffe that Biden made, say that Trump made it, or vice versa. The tone will seem wildly off kilter in this really unusual way.

That’s all I’m saying. That’s all anyone is saying.

Take ego and hubris out of the equation. Who has the absolute best chance of beating the fascists?

That’s it. That’s the only question that really matters right now in the context of this upcoming election, if we want to stop Trump.

yeah except democrats were so sure it was shillary, and then REFUSED the far better candidate in Bernie Sanders. Even if they came out tomorrow with someone, told everybody it was a lock, and the entire DNC fell in behind them, I still wouldn't trust them to get it right.
- But would you vote for them? No names, just generic Democrat.

I'm so sick of these articles and headlines about how Biden should step down.

DNC had years to figure this shit out and back another candidate, but instead we had seemingly rushed primaries with no real challengers. At this point with less than four months until the actual election, who the hell do they expect will be a better choice? Because nobody has stepped up to the plate, and for all the talk of how Biden should step down, there's been no discussion of who should step up in his place.

Just fucking back the man, unify, and rally to convince people to get out and vote. Best case scenario, we get a functional Biden, who is known for his work ethic and general attitude of doing the job without platitudes or bullshit. Alternative not so good cases are we get a diminished Biden who isn't effective at the job, but also isn't a fucking fascist, or Biden dies of natural causes at some point and we get a partial term of Harris as president.

- I did read it. But I'm not referring to just this article, but the dozens I've seen in just the past week. If the dems are convinced there's a better candidate, actually convinced, we'd have a name by now. Literally anyone. But there's been nothing. Just the step down discussion, with no discourse on who should be taking his place.
- The.article.doesn't.matter since it's always been a losing strategy to pivot to a new candidate. I'm thinking less Bernie/Clinton, and more Johnson/Humphries.
  It's still a binary choice: Biden or fascism. Frilly articles about what-if and "but his stammer" mean nothing when it resolves down to the same binary choice.

right wingers and the corporate media absolute hate that Biden is one of the most pro worker, pro union, and pro labor presidents in recent history and will do anything to try and get back trump

I think that’s a lot of the underlying reason
Like yes, we may get an open fascist who literally will destroy the country, and that won’t be good for our profits either. But fuck you, that’s why. You raise corporate tax, we’re gonna start some shit with you; that’s where it begins and ends.
- And since no laws actually apply to the billionaire class, they have no existential fear of a Trump administration. Anti immigrant fervor? LGBTQ persecution? Oppression of women? Violent racism? “They won’t affect ME, or anybody I care about, but higher taxes and labor laws might mean I can only buy a thousand foot yacht every month, rather than the 1100 foot one I deserve.”

Oh sure, "now" they have to ask it but a year ago everything was hunky dory. Get fucked

I'm not at all American and I honestly don't understand the American voting system but I will say this: basically anyone would do the job instead of Biden, it's shocking that someone in his state is allowed to run for presidency again.

Old people are easier for lobbyists to manipulate. The US has a lot of old politicians for the same reason scammers target the elderly.
- That may be a factor, but most of the old farts in office have been there for decades. They weren't 70+ years old when they first got elected.
- Dunno why you're getting downvoted, you're right

Yeah cause it's a great idea to change candidates 4 fucking months before the election.

There have been plenty of presidential elections where the candidate wasn't known until the nominating convention in August. This whole "12 month election cycle" bullshit is a pretty new phenomenon.
Anyway, the absolute media shitstorm that will ensue if Biden is dropped from the ticket will more than make up for the late start to a new candidate's campaign — the new DNC nominee will dominate the news cycle for weeks without having to spend a dime.
- This whole "12 month election cycle" bullshit is a pretty new phenomenon.
  That exactly the point. We're in the age of the 24 hour news cycle were attentions spans have been grounded into dust. For a campaign to win there needs to be nonstop engagement. Half of lemmy forgot all the actual good stuff Biden has done in his 4 years. Even the stuff they wanted and legitimately benefitted from. The fuck is a new candidate going to do in 3 or 4 months?
Normally I’d agree, but this ain’t your average election. A Dem candidate younger than Biden could be out there pounding the campaign trail day after day, generating enthusiasm in a way that Biden now seems physically incapable of doing.
Plus, a large number of voters hate both candidates. A shiny new candidate would be exciting and unprecedented, and would get boatloads of attention. They could easily close the gap with Trump, despite what the polls say.
- This only works if Kamala declines the nomination at the convention. Otherwise leapfrogging her to get someone shiny and new would anger too many voters.
- A new candidate will be mince meat from Republican attacks. Right now, there's limits on what they can say that Biden will do during his term. "He will take away all guns!" But Biden was already president and didn't do that, "he's going to force everyone to buy EV cars!" Again, he's already president and didn't do that already, etc. A new candidate will get accused of wanting to do all these things, and Republicans/independents will be more likely to believe them than those attacks being attributed to Biden.
- A shiny new candidate would split the Democrat vote guaranteeing Trump the win.
4 months is a massive amount of time. Other counties have their entire election cycle in half the time. America’s 1-2 year long presidential election cycle is so weird.
well its a great idea for your opponent to push forward.
It's a bad idea not to when it'd be a guaranteed loss
Isn't super Tuesday when it usually becomes pretty clear in March, but the convention is where it's known. So best case scenario a few months ago. Worst case the convention. 12 months is absurd and not possible, unless, your party has decided who will win the primaries before anyone even votes.... and they totally don't do that... ever...
People that are loud about it now are loud because they have been screaming about it for the last 5 years and suddenly the DNC is all surprised like they didn't already know. We know we're fucked. But they fucked it. A sentient human will talk a lot of people that are disgusted with the two options to maybe show up and vote. A lot of people just want to watch it burn.
We can't change candidates because no one has voted on shit. It would split the party (which I am ok with other than the Trump/end of democracy problem). The DNC did this.
- All because they were afraid that we would actually get Bernie. They basically begged Biden to run, because no one else would have beaten Bernie in the primary.
nearly all elections were like this until 2016; nobody was sure who the candidate was until the convention.

So how do we answer this question in an analytical way that can be agreed upon by most or all factions in the party? Because right now I just see lots of people angrily shouting their totally unfounded opinions and assuming everyone who disagrees with them is insane or a shill. This type of dialogue is extremely unhelpful.

I will say that I do not know if Biden is the best person to beat Trump or if Harris is or if it’s someone else. But I think having the most unpopular incumbent in history who is struggling to mount a campaign makes it a reasonable question to ask.

If anyone has well-reasoned thoughts on this I welcome them but I really haven’t seen any serious attempt to answer this question yet. Perhaps it is unanswerable.

american culture frowns down upon talking about politics publicly so americans generally lack the necessary practice in engaging in meaningful political discourse; you'll have to wait for a generations long culture shift to get your answer.
- Of recent time. I remember decades ago sitting around and having polite, but argumentative discussions with people accross the political spectrum. It was really engaging when people still talked and thought about policy... instead of just people.

I still haven't seen anyone put forth a candidate worth throwing away Bidens incumbentcy advantage, Harris isn't a great option

You’ve identified the issue yes
Kamala Harris is the only option that polls better than Biden, and she’s not a great option, no. I wish there were one that seemed like “oh that is the answer yes.”
I think - this is a completely serious statement - that Jon Stewart would be a great option. But because our political system is broken, we can’t do that.
- Jon Stewart would absolutely win if he went for it, but he doesn't want to. It sucks.
- You have to read the entire section of the poll, not just the "supports candidate" part. The don't know/undecided part grows in lockstep with the loss of support. While Trump maintains right around 40%. Which is a common phenomenon when people don't recognize the candidate's name.
  A four month campaign is more than long enough to fix the name recognition problem and court the independents. The really important thing is generic Democrat beats Trump every time. That highly suggests Biden is hurting the campaign, not helping it and any recognizable Democrat will win this thing.
Gretchen Whitmer.
George Clooney

The optics are shot, people have already heard dem leaders having meetings about his capabilities. The situations only going to deteriorate in the coming months as things are.

And yet, I and many others will vote for him. We cannot let Trump anywhere near the presidency. I honestly would vote for a dead frog over Trump. The staff that's in place is competent, have done well for us, and I believe they'll hold things together until Kamala takes over.
Of course we would all rather a much younger, charismatic candidate, but it is what it is.
At this point, I truly believe most Democratic voters understand the assignment.
- A rabid chimp wielding a machete would honestly be safer than another Trump presidency.
- We know you'll vote for anyone with a "D" next to their name. Being a "safe" voter means the party doesn't have to try and earn your vote. Thus, you can be safely ignored, because appealing to you won't raise enthusiasm among undecided voters.
  What's amusing to me is how the DNC always fails to apply this logic strategically. If they've got such huge masses ready to vote blue no matter who, then what's the harm in switching to another candidate?
- Wasnt really a statement of what you should do, just a prediction. If biden stays in the race i think Trump becomes president
- Unfortunately, elections are not decided by people like us.
- At this point, I truly believe most Democratic voters understand the assignment.
  What about independents? I think you need their votes to win, too.

We're too trapped in a bubble if we think the white, non college-educated suburban housewives in Pennsylvania and Ohio that ultimately swung the 2020 election to Biden would vote for A) A woman B) A black woman C) A black woman who's name sounds like "Obama".

This is a bad place. And not most people, but most of the people who vote regularly, are just bad, broken, selfish, frightened people.

Then get Newsom to run. He checks all the traditional boxes.
- Theyll vote down a Californian even faster, "MUH DRUG NEEDLES ON THE STREET, MILLION COST OF LIVING", those will be the headlines for the four months before they turn into Magat pravda

Earlier, in the day, when introducing Vladimir Zelensky, he called him “President Putin.”

Say what you will about whether he's able to beat the Mango Mussolini or not, but THAT has to be the biggest faux pas I've ever seen!

Had me laughing so hard I startled my cat 😂

This might have been 20 years ago. Some civic organization, probably on Martin Luther King weekend, held a tribute honoring some famous black men. One of the most prominent famous black men they invited was actor James Earl Jones -- reasonable enough so far. So they called him up to the stage to present him with his honorary plaque made out to James Earl .... Ray.
- Yikes! 😬😂
- That almost sounds like sabotage
i remember being incensed as a young man from seeing & hearing his fiery & well spoken anti-gay, anti-feminist, pro-segregationist views and seeing him morph into a doddering old man at the debate and plus this somehow make feel sorry for him now.

The majority of people really like and prefer Joe Biden's policies. They didn't vote him in office to debate. Democrats have no spine and are quit willing to be lead to the loser's corner.

As has always been 🥲
You forget, as as everyone always seems to, THE VOTERS ARE STUPID
unfortunately, debates matter to a lot of people and may be the only time some people really pay attention to politics
- Most people only bother to begin paying attention after the conventions.

A great concern that not many talk about is, that he won't be getting any better during the next 4 years. Even if he wasn't old now, he'd become older while sitting in office, if he somehow managed to win.

somehow managed to win
What is your understanding of what the polls currently show?
I don’t really agree that polls mean much of anything, but I am curious what you think they show.
IPYWAIACCWTSYAOWTRIBCTTTSIIAWTBFB
- Biden being on par with any unnamed Democrat and Harris +4 over Biden in head-to-head matchups with Trump.

No, because Harris does not poll well and leapfrogging her to send Newsom would anger lots of people.

Leapfrogging? This isn't some schoolyard game of "it's my turn next". If there's a better candidate who cares who it "leapfrogs".
I don't think it would anger as many as it would help to have a better candidate
- The tradition of succession is still strong in American politics, it's how Biden got the nom.
  Look to Hilary and Bernie for a very similar parallel, its tribal but it's true
People wouldn't be mad about the "leapfrogging", nobody gives a shit about that. People don't like Newsom though, I would be shocked if an SF based politician won a presidency.
- Even worse, an SF based fiscally conservative corpo-Democrat. This is the same guy who suddenly changed his mind and didn't pass universal healthcare in California when he supported it beforehand (guess being bankrolled by healthcare companies made it harder to sign), I don't think anyone would want that. Also he's just an unlikeable piece of shit, he's what pops into the average person's mind when they think "the elite". His shitty economics seem to have fucked up California quite a bit and he's barely any better than the average libertarian (but unlike the Libertarian party candidate, at least he doesn't want to abolish the Department of Education and all government healthcare, but that's a pretty low bar)
  I will commit seppuku before I vote for Newsom. Disclaimer: I am not Californian

Cool, now WSJ is publishing a pro-Biden op-ed, comparing him to....The Blessed Saint Ronnie Raygun (PBUH).

JFC, they really want to have donnie run against Biden...

Don't forget, he was elected by boomers in the first place. If they don't have their candidate, they might not vote.

Not "Democrats". One specific Democrat needs to ask that question.

That's 2 questions.
The more important question is asking how you convince Biden to step down. He has the delegates, he is the nominee if he wants to be. You could have the best candidate ever (they don't) and it wouldn't matter if you can't get Biden to step down.

Just play his own appearances back to him until he’s shouting at himself on screen like the rest of us
The party committee can meet and change the rules. Ironically it was SCOTUS that made this possible.
- Even if you could change the rules, the delegates were decided by the Biden campaign. Would be hard to convince more than half of them to change their vote without Biden himself asking them to.

I think most people are voting D or R at this point.

I don't think that those who are not voting that way are more likely to vote for a brown woman than an old white man.

I think Kamala is the only real option, as I don't think it is above board to transfer the campaign finances off to some other candidate, to get the word out etc.

Lastly, I think a last minute change (while would Ideally be my choice) would ultimately be challenged legally by the Republicans and it's ultimately go to the SCOTUS...

It is frustrating and sad but Biden might be our best bet... Unless there's finances available for any possible new candidacy. But again that switch will create legal challenges.

There's less barriers than you may think. For one the nominating convention hasn't happened yet. The only state that was a potential barrier was Ohio, and they made a change so the final candidate can be submitted after there too. If dems nominate someone else at their convention, that person should be able to be on all the ballots nationwide. The convention is where the candidate is actually picked, not the caucuses or primaries.
The money currently in the campaign itself could be transitioned into a PAC. And yes while technically PACS aren't supposed to coordinate with candidates, we all know that line barely even exists anymore. And some big donors are apparently already building up new funds to be given to a new candidate if that occurs.
I'm not certain a new candidate will guarantee a win, but I don't think a politician known for making gaffes for decades now is going to suddenly stop in their old age. And every single misstep will create another flurry of speculation about his cognition, and suck all the air out of the room for the rest of the race. I don't personally care, if Biden is elected and can't cut it anymore cognitively than Harris takes over and it's still miles better than Trump.
But I worry all of this will just drive down engagement and turn out and make things harder and harder until election day. And it's clearly been demonstrated no matter how horrific trump acts or what terrible policies he promises or how badly his policies will hurt his own supporters, they aren't budging no matter what. If a majority of democrats and that slim amount of independent and undecided voters want Biden out of the race based on all of this, I think the best chance to make sure they show up for the polls on election day and vote blue is that they're given what they want.
- Right, the PAC thing then gets brought to the SCOTUS, and do we wanna risk that?
  If George Clooney gets a few billionare buddies to chip in 50M a head to put someone to the front it could work financially, but then who are we even getting?
  The situation is dire. I don't know that there's a clear solution. All I know is how I'll vote regardless.

Does Biden have the best chance of beating Trump

The election is in ~3 months. Yes. Next question.

He's much more unpopular than any previous president that won reelection, he's literally unqualified for the job, he's in a weaker position than when he BARELY won the first time and he's refusing to change course on the main source of discontent, his active and ongoing participation in a genocide and other war crimes committed daily.
No.
Next question: Will he be replaced by one of the 50 other Democrats who could beat Donald Trump (by his own estimate) before it's too late?
I hope so, but probably not.
- he’s refusing to change course on the main source of discontent, his active and ongoing participation in a genocide and other war crimes committed daily.
  Voters simply don't care about Gaza anywhere near as much as they care about literally everything else:
  https://iop.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/2024-04/240415_Harvard_IOP_Spring_2024_Topline_Final.pdf
  https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24564257/240126-nbc-april-2024-poll-4-21-2024-release.pdf
  https://news.gallup.com/poll/644570/immigration-named-top-problem-third-straight-month.aspx
  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-disapprove-biden-handling-israel-hamas-war-poll-2023-12-10/
  It shows up in poll after poll after poll. With the exception of chronically online lemmings and less than 10% of Democratic voters, nobody else really cares.
Did you not pay attention to Frances election? Much shorter with much better outcomes. Maybe the year long election cycle is the problem driving turnout down in the US, which benefits republicans.

Isn't it already too late? Each state has laws about when a candidate needs to be "entered" so they can get their ballot/mail in/military ballots ready in time. I believe the earliest ballots are going out in like 2 weeks.

This would just set us up for every red state to push lawsuits and would recreate the absolute insanity that was 2020 election, except now these red states have installed "yes men" that will certify/refuse to certify whatever they are told to.

No. The convention is the end of the road. Ohio is an exception and maybe Alabama but I don't think they'd be able to get away with keep the dem off the ballot completely.

He's been known for making gaffes since he was Obama's vice president. From his Wikipedia page:

The remark revived Biden's reputation for gaffes.[227][221][228]

Those sources are from 2009.

Journalist and TV anchor Wolf Blitzer has called Biden loquacious;[692] journalist Mark Bowden has said that he is famous for "talking too much", leaning in close "like an old pal with something urgent to tell you".[298] He often deviates from prepared remarks[693] and sometimes "puts his foot in his mouth".[169][694][695] Biden has a reputation for being prone to gaffes[696] and in 2018 called himself "a gaffe machine".[697][698] The New York Times wrote that Biden's "weak filters make him capable of blurting out pretty much anything."[169]

He has struggled with a stutter most of his life, which he learned to cover up.

Aren't the cons planning on doing everything they can to keep Biden from being replaced?

In the UK there are 5 independent MP's who beat both mainstream parties that won just by advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Now if anyone wants to save Democracy it might be time to sack Genocide Joe and run a candidate that actually has popular policies. Because Biden will not beat Trump and that was even before he started adding Geriatric to his list of adjectives.

The irony is that if people don't vote for Biden because of his Israel policy (which has been the policy of every president before him), then Trump will win and then Gaza will be finished.
- Like a big graveyard
  And then the Israelis will move in, presumably, and the Palestinians will become a scattered-handful ethnicity with no country at all, like the Kurds. Or like the Jews used to be.
- Gaza is already finished what do you mean?
  It might be impossible to understand for Biden supporters but some people actually have functional red lines. And Biden crossed them.
  Rewarding Biden for this behavior is far worse in the long term than the slightly more evil Trump could be. Thought I doubt Trump would actually be worse on Palestine.
I would love to adopt an European system. I wish .ore people accepted that they have been doing it longer and better. But that whole "we left it behind" thing.
We arent Europe. Most American Boomers, even the ones who arent republicans, support Israel. Because they're boomers
- Suburban boomers are not relevant. Swing voters are the only party that matters. Without them Democrats won't win.
  Supposedly Bidens support for israel was because he wants to win the Zionist vote in New York. Strangely everyone found that perfectly reasonable and didn't say anything about how Trump is actually antisemitic (Nevermind that it turns out real Jews actually don't support israel because New York is turning into a Red state right now after Biden got on his knees for Netanyahu)
  But using the exact same logic as Biden uses to win Zionist votes, Democrats seem perplexed that Arabs and Muslims aren't going to vote for someone committing Genocide against their people.
You haven't answered the question. Who else will beat Trump?
- Bernie Sanders
- Harris, Whitmer, Newsome all poll well.

AOC or Bernie Sanders.

I think they are probably too polarizing.
- Maybe, but we can dream

This was an important question a few years ago. Isn't it way too late now?

Not at all. Four months is still plenty of time to change candidates. If there's the will for it.

The sad part is that the answer is: Is there a young straight white male that is beloved by the electorate? That is why you see Newsom's name thrown around, as the people democrats like more don't play well to the racisit-sexist-bigoted but not fascist demographic that you need to win an election in the us.

I just want to see the evidence. Biden keeps saying that polls show he is the best choice to beat Trump, but he has either been neck-and-neck or losing by a few points in every recent major poll. So is he trying to tell us the polls are wrong? Or is there polling data that he has that they won't release? How many Democrats of some noteriety were included in those polls? Were these polls taken before or after the debate debacle?

My mind would be more at ease if I could actually verify that Biden was the clear best choice. We're just being told that there are no alternatives and we have to accept the gerentocracy is here to stay. The stark denial of reality that Biden is slipping in the polls during the most crucial election of our lives is not reassuring.

The only thing keeping me on his side right now despite my doubts is that party progressives are backing him while party centrists are trying to oust him. The centrists stand to lose the least if Trump wins, and likely have ulterior motives for going after him now unrelated to his mental fitness.

At this moment, with the Democratic convention just 39 days away, the only question worth discussing is whether Biden or Harris is the best candidate the Democrats have to beat Trump.

It is more likely that Trump will beat both when it comes to just focusing on winning.

The long-term goal should be to build a grass-roots third party so as to break the duopoly.

Dozens of us will continue to vote for that long-term goal.

Say no to MAGA and Blue MAGA.

We should focus our actions, time, and resources on Direct Action, Mutual Aid, and Community Outreach… No War but Class War!

Blue MAGA
It's not even 8am and I've already read the dumbest shit I'll see all day
- I for real don’t get how they cannot see that it is just identifying the person saying it as a shill (if the rest of the message didn’t give it away somehow). Far far more that than any of the intended effect that it might have on the discourse
  Idk, plenty of dumb shit has made its way into the discourse, so maybe I am the one that is wrong and if they just keep repeating it enough it will have some kind of intended impact. But I cannot imagine it working for them in a good way. It’s just too transparent and dumb.
build a grass-roots third party
I 100% agree with this, but good fuckin luck with that when Trump is shooting protestors and elections are cancelled until further notice
Long term goals aren't up for discussion; we need to win in the next few months, or we'll face another existential threat. This idiotic shit could get people killed.
That's what I did in 2016 and now our system is trending towards a fascist dictatorship with zero checks and balances and outright contempt for voting and voting rights. Any long-term goal is still predicated on having a functional democracy, which is essentially what this election decides, so don't make the same mistake of making a hardline rush to the finish line while ignoring the leopards waiting to eat your face
A third party isn't an option.
Vote Blue and, when they win, primary the hell out of your local reps, replacing neoliberal candidates at every level. Get every progressive candidate you can, be it for president or dog-catcher.
Basically, do what the Tea Party and MAGA did to the Republicans. Change the party from within.
- Caveat: we don't want this last part to happen the same as it went down over in R camp because (simplified) the og grassroots tea party was terraformed by moneyed interests into the maga it is today.
  I really don't have a good idea on how leftists trying to build a coalition would respond to this continuing attack on our democracy in a legal way.
  Moot point atm i suppose
The long-term goal should be to build a grass-roots third party so as to break the duopoly.
Dozens of us will continue to vote for that long-term goal.
I'm not sure if you mean "vote for a third party in this election to move forward the long-term goal of a third party"?
The only thing that will help is getting rid of FPTP elections. If we could both (a) avoid fascism, and (b) ensure ranked choice or other voting actually is implemented for all elections, I'd weather a lot of pain for that long-term result. But between the two, of course preventing fascism is more important.
A third party won't fix the issue, as long as you've got FPTP voting it's gonna be a two horse race. You need the popular vote and you need proportional representation, and the only way to get those is by working from the ground up.