"I believe many in the press and the Democratic party did not have any ill will towards Biden and were genuinely concerned about his well being."
I believe you're projecting your own concerns onto a press which has shown themselves to have absolutely no concerns for the wellbeing of others.
Your experience with your grandparents and their decline makes it reasonable that you'd be concerned for Biden when you see similar things starting to happen to him. Article after article after opinion piece after opinion piece for month after month after month in the press has shown they love attacking Biden. That they will search out or just make up bogus reasons for doing so. For you to suggest they are somehow now concerned about his health is right up there with their headlines declaring Trump is interested in unity: a narrative completely unsupported by any actual facts.
The decision to "stand down" on the part of President Joe Biden on Sunday just shows us how selfless and conscience stricken Biden truly is. He chose country over the self-interest in this fraught moment. I am quite aghast, however, over how much the media press portrayed Biden as a doddering old fool but declined, for the most part, to portray Trump the same way. Actually, there are so many instances of Trump going off the rails at campaign rallies that these moments of incoherence cannot be brushed off anymore. But the decision was made now to knit the country together in the midst of an existential threat known as Donald J. Trump and his Trumpican enablers.
Harris will be a wonderful foil to the convicted felon known as the Don. I can't wait to see her debate Trump on the debate stage and wipe the floor with him. Of course, Trump will find a way to weasel out of debating her. That will be disastrous for him, but who cares. At that time, the race should be over, given that Harris will choose a profoundly capable centrist to be her vice president and we can focus now on sending Trump to the dustbin of history!
Mainstream Media Bias has long been a hot topic here on the Banter, but I was astonished to compare/contrast the way the three major networks covered it. MSNBC (pretty much an NBC simulcast most of the day) focused on hope and how this move would invigorate voters and cement Biden's legacy. ABC and CBS positioned it as an epic failure, the downfall of a man, and read republican talking points verbatim with no counterpoint, commentary, context or perspective. Perhaps sensing how this would disrupt the horse race narrative, they were quick to point out all the ways Harris wasn't entitled to, nor deserving of the nod. Even on MSNBC, Steve Kornecki focused on dated poll number, positioning them as cemented gospel and a crystal clear determination of voter intent. Any network that takes polling as crystal clear bankable data has no respect in my book. They should always say, "X% of the people who answered the survey said..." not "X% of all voters said."
Actual election results have differed from poll predictions so widely for the past decade (if not more) that any "news" organization that relies on them for anything significant is lying to you.
Clinton will beat Trump. Biden was done once he stopped being VP. Trump will beat Biden. There will be a red wave. And on and on.
Polls *could* be useful and indicative if they were done right. But that's expensive and not of interest for those who commission the polls. They don't want polls done so they can find out things ("What are voters thinking?"). They want polls done so they can declare things ("Look voters support me more than the other guy.")
Especially polling done when she was not yet the candidate and hadn’t had a chance to present her strong case to the American public. Let’s see the polling once she has a running mate and we’ve all seen her debate Trump, if he’s not too afraid to do so.
I predict Trump will come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid debating Harris. She's not a legitimate candidate or other similar nonsense.
And Harris and the Dems should relentlessly point at him, laugh at him, and call him "coward". I've no doubt Harris would beat him soundly in any debate and pricking his ego, declaring him a coward afraid to debate a girl, would goad him into agreeing to debate.
Ben saw this coming before many others did. I see the excitement among Dems here in my red county in AZ, the national outpouring of support for the new nominee, and small and large donations pouring in. Next, we’ll see a strong VP nominee, then on to a reinvigorated Convention. We’ll see her take it to Trump at the debate, assuming he doesn’t back out which would be costly to him. I’d like to see a stronger campaign team form around her, perhaps even some who so well advised Obama. I’m optimistic for the first time in 3 weeks. It’s still a challenge given how locked in Trump’s core group is, but there are many Independents in Arizona, and lots of work to do!
Did you think Biden was a stellar candidate these past few weeks? After watching the debate and the interview with Lester Holt - really anything completely unscripted - I had my doubts about his ability to carry forward in the campaign. He was good responding to the tough foreign policy question at the press conference, and it’s not his understanding of issues I question. It was his difficulty responding off the cuff under pressure that gave me pause. Good days and bad days are what you expect of someone of his age, and I see that at 75 myself. I could no longer practice law, and I wasn’t comfortable with him going forward in a campaign.
Ben. I owe you the greatest admiration for being one of the first and steady voices for Pres Biden to step down. I disagreed. I was dead wrong. You had it right from the get-go. Yay for you!
Good work - I don’t think people in the msm were concerned or worried about him - see Ed’s behavior during press conf- I think they’re cruel. The Dem party I do think were prob genuinely concerned , in retrospect. The Clooney op Ed was uncalled for - and heard Obama knew it ahead of time , Obama leaking sounds about right. Liking the guy less and less and less - esp when you think had Biden been the candidate in 2016, the last horrible 8 yrs could’ve been avoided. He has never supported Joe, now I’m sure he’s living in joes shadow which is def a burn his ego. Even so, they’ve made Biden a living saint now so , it’s not what we wanted or asked for, but things are looking good.
You missed one of the most scurrilous attacks the GOP will be making against Harris. That she slept her way to the top. They will drag it out again. Nothing is to low or base.
"I believe many in the press and the Democratic party did not have any ill will towards Biden and were genuinely concerned about his well being."
I believe you're projecting your own concerns onto a press which has shown themselves to have absolutely no concerns for the wellbeing of others.
Your experience with your grandparents and their decline makes it reasonable that you'd be concerned for Biden when you see similar things starting to happen to him. Article after article after opinion piece after opinion piece for month after month after month in the press has shown they love attacking Biden. That they will search out or just make up bogus reasons for doing so. For you to suggest they are somehow now concerned about his health is right up there with their headlines declaring Trump is interested in unity: a narrative completely unsupported by any actual facts.
The decision to "stand down" on the part of President Joe Biden on Sunday just shows us how selfless and conscience stricken Biden truly is. He chose country over the self-interest in this fraught moment. I am quite aghast, however, over how much the media press portrayed Biden as a doddering old fool but declined, for the most part, to portray Trump the same way. Actually, there are so many instances of Trump going off the rails at campaign rallies that these moments of incoherence cannot be brushed off anymore. But the decision was made now to knit the country together in the midst of an existential threat known as Donald J. Trump and his Trumpican enablers.
Harris will be a wonderful foil to the convicted felon known as the Don. I can't wait to see her debate Trump on the debate stage and wipe the floor with him. Of course, Trump will find a way to weasel out of debating her. That will be disastrous for him, but who cares. At that time, the race should be over, given that Harris will choose a profoundly capable centrist to be her vice president and we can focus now on sending Trump to the dustbin of history!
And SLEEPING, if Biden did that ?!
Mainstream Media Bias has long been a hot topic here on the Banter, but I was astonished to compare/contrast the way the three major networks covered it. MSNBC (pretty much an NBC simulcast most of the day) focused on hope and how this move would invigorate voters and cement Biden's legacy. ABC and CBS positioned it as an epic failure, the downfall of a man, and read republican talking points verbatim with no counterpoint, commentary, context or perspective. Perhaps sensing how this would disrupt the horse race narrative, they were quick to point out all the ways Harris wasn't entitled to, nor deserving of the nod. Even on MSNBC, Steve Kornecki focused on dated poll number, positioning them as cemented gospel and a crystal clear determination of voter intent. Any network that takes polling as crystal clear bankable data has no respect in my book. They should always say, "X% of the people who answered the survey said..." not "X% of all voters said."
Actual election results have differed from poll predictions so widely for the past decade (if not more) that any "news" organization that relies on them for anything significant is lying to you.
Clinton will beat Trump. Biden was done once he stopped being VP. Trump will beat Biden. There will be a red wave. And on and on.
Polls *could* be useful and indicative if they were done right. But that's expensive and not of interest for those who commission the polls. They don't want polls done so they can find out things ("What are voters thinking?"). They want polls done so they can declare things ("Look voters support me more than the other guy.")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahgjEjJkZks&t=26s
Especially polling done when she was not yet the candidate and hadn’t had a chance to present her strong case to the American public. Let’s see the polling once she has a running mate and we’ve all seen her debate Trump, if he’s not too afraid to do so.
I predict Trump will come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid debating Harris. She's not a legitimate candidate or other similar nonsense.
And Harris and the Dems should relentlessly point at him, laugh at him, and call him "coward". I've no doubt Harris would beat him soundly in any debate and pricking his ego, declaring him a coward afraid to debate a girl, would goad him into agreeing to debate.
Goodbye? He’s still President dude! He’s got more to accomplish. But we e now got Kamala to run and it’s a good day!
Ben saw this coming before many others did. I see the excitement among Dems here in my red county in AZ, the national outpouring of support for the new nominee, and small and large donations pouring in. Next, we’ll see a strong VP nominee, then on to a reinvigorated Convention. We’ll see her take it to Trump at the debate, assuming he doesn’t back out which would be costly to him. I’d like to see a stronger campaign team form around her, perhaps even some who so well advised Obama. I’m optimistic for the first time in 3 weeks. It’s still a challenge given how locked in Trump’s core group is, but there are many Independents in Arizona, and lots of work to do!
Hmmm. It those guys- they had a stellar candidate - I don’t think they really know what they’re doing in this situation
Did you think Biden was a stellar candidate these past few weeks? After watching the debate and the interview with Lester Holt - really anything completely unscripted - I had my doubts about his ability to carry forward in the campaign. He was good responding to the tough foreign policy question at the press conference, and it’s not his understanding of issues I question. It was his difficulty responding off the cuff under pressure that gave me pause. Good days and bad days are what you expect of someone of his age, and I see that at 75 myself. I could no longer practice law, and I wasn’t comfortable with him going forward in a campaign.
And I’ve heard that from other people who have critiqued them, bc clearly what do I know
Ben. I owe you the greatest admiration for being one of the first and steady voices for Pres Biden to step down. I disagreed. I was dead wrong. You had it right from the get-go. Yay for you!
Good work - I don’t think people in the msm were concerned or worried about him - see Ed’s behavior during press conf- I think they’re cruel. The Dem party I do think were prob genuinely concerned , in retrospect. The Clooney op Ed was uncalled for - and heard Obama knew it ahead of time , Obama leaking sounds about right. Liking the guy less and less and less - esp when you think had Biden been the candidate in 2016, the last horrible 8 yrs could’ve been avoided. He has never supported Joe, now I’m sure he’s living in joes shadow which is def a burn his ego. Even so, they’ve made Biden a living saint now so , it’s not what we wanted or asked for, but things are looking good.
You missed one of the most scurrilous attacks the GOP will be making against Harris. That she slept her way to the top. They will drag it out again. Nothing is to low or base.
Trump touts his Penn bon fides. He hides that he originally started at Fordham and transferred to Penn and he had someone take the sat for him
Any of you want to revisit these comments?
I think you’re forgetting Harris was also a senator.
I also think Kamala needs better campaign advisers and staff around her than she had in 2020. Savvy folks who give her good and honest advice.
Don’t you think the lucky stars it’s not Haley ?😁