Biden's debate performance was likely the result of an elderly person taking a cold medicine! Medpage Today just reprinted a longish article from Newsweek pointing out that cold medications can have a devastating effect on the mind and body of the elderly. For that matter I remember giving a benadryl to a 35 year old friend and he fell asleep into his bowl of soup. The article points out how his improvement by debate's end and solid functionality after the debate is consistent with a cold med wearing off. This NEEDS to be in the public's eye. Here is the article link: https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/110891
Your concluding comments say it all. I am with you 100% and again say - lines are being drawn and I am surprised at the positions some have taken. One thing seems important to me - the US is a powerful nation in the midst of world teetering on a decision between authoritarianism and democracy. If this country could pull up its pants and forget all the petty nonsense, including should-Biden-step-down, and secure democracy in the coming election, I suspect the world would be influenced in favor of democracy. The point is - are we world leaders - let's behave like them.
I am under no illusion about anything piercing the fumes and fog of MAGA denial. No, it's the estimated 2%-3% of "undecided" that this might influence, which after the debate may be down to a few thousands in those districts that will decide this election.
Early polls and the comments in this thread make it clear most people are simply NOT affected, even if they're deflated. They've already decided on their vote. But for that thin,immensely important slice of the electorate that are either disheartened or seriously and legitimately worried enough that they may not vote for Joe, or at all now, it may be just enough to rally them to common sense and "the cause".
In another small but perhaps immensely important way, it also may perhaps do something to dispense with the media narrative and near-ending fixation on what we all hope is a non-issue (age and fitness), and thereby, again influence just enough voters to make the right choice.
It's easy, a cognitive test, and the campaign (or us) trying to avoid the issue and making it about "loyalty" is a head-in-the-sand approach with significant possibility of that deciding sliver of voters sliding to Trump and the end of our republic.
Yet more flubs and vacant stares in the months ahead are likely if not inevitable. The issue needs to be dismissed once and for all.
One: The reason people are calling for Biden to withdraw is that he confirmed his most significant weakness: He's too old. He displayed a level of infirmity that was alarming. The American people do not believe he can function through another four year term.
Two: Arguments of loyalty, feelings, or votes already cast are not relevant. The only relevant factor in an existential contest is victory.
Three: Infirmity asside, Biden's performance was incompetent. Offered two minutes to make the case on reproductive health care, Biden pivoted to a case where an undocumented immigrant murdered a young American woman. With two minutes to prosecute Democrats strongest issue, Biden pivoted to his weakest.
Four: There are no awards to those who stick with a losing team the longest. Recognizing a pending defeat early is the best strategy.
Five: "Vote for me because I'm not him" only gets you so far.
Biden is a good man and has been an exceptional president. That's not germane to the problem we face. We need to field a winning ticket, and we don't have one.
A contested election or some concocted nomination process will lead to division and loss. The only and best path forward is for Biden to retire ASAP.
Don't dismiss a good idea because of its source. If the 25th is what's required to get Biden to bow out, so be it. Hopefully the threat, privately delivered, will be enough for him to choose the right path.
Once we've all had the opportunity to thank him for his service, President Harris will lead the country through the election. She will run as an incumbent. People will see she's competent. The age and senility problem will be Trump's burden. She'll win decisively.
Especially after she selects Mayor Pete as her VP. The most talented communicator the Dems have will lay waste to Trumpism. Harris is a damn good prosecutor too.
Someone tell me Dems will not be energized by fact that we have the first female US president and first openly gay VP on our team. Voter enthusiasm will spike.
Y'all are overestimating the bitterness and resentment at replacing Biden if it's "by his own choice" (wink wink). You're underestimating the damage Biden did to himself last Thursday. We need a change, and the path to a good ticket and enthusiastic electorate is waiting. There's just one hurdle to get over.
Thank you for your comments and links in support of Joe Biden for president. As soon as I heard the calls for Joe to remove himself from the race, I had a different reaction. I was angry. I am still angry. I have spent many hundreds of hours working to get out the vote. When I heard pundits discussing whether he should be our candidate, all I could think of was voter suppression – and that Russia must be gleeful. Each and every one of their comments likely lost us votes – votes that I personally and thousands of others have worked so hard to obtain. Without evidence, I assume Russian disinformation is fueling this effort. They may not have started it, but I am sure they are fueling it. I remember Volume I of the Mueller Report – and that discussed extremely coordinated disinformation efforts in 2016! I believe pundits are now used as part of a Russian disinformation campaign to sow division, chaos and complacency. It reminds me of the successful Russian effort to suppress black votes for 2016. I also assume the Russians have been fueling the push to blame Biden for Israel’s attacks in Gaza. I get angry every time I hear some commentator state that they are commenting only to “help our country”. As you have discussed, discussion out in public is only helping Trump. They not helping, indeed, they are damaging our efforts. They are suppressing the vote. Because they want to be pushing a conversation, we have even more work to do.
Without evidence you have pissed me off. I've been an enthusiastic Biden supporter in many conversations with doubters. I'm not a Russian or a bot. Biden's performance on Thursday convinced me that he cannot win. He confirmed his infirmity in the minds of many Americans who were primed to believe it already. That is fatal.
Your efforts at recruiting are not wasted. Those efforts will transfer to President Harris after Biden resigns. The transition will be smooth, and the new ticket will create enthusiasm. Even you will be happy to have our first female president.
Make no mistake, Biden is suppressing the vote when he is clearly not fit to start a four year term. The people see it.
My first time trying to comment, and I may have posted it two places. The gist is, it is more than time for Biden to take a legitimate cognitive test to dispel all this nonsense, and then demand Trump himself take a real cognitive test.
I believe this is not only the best way to dispel the handringing as well as the legitimate doubts, and to refute and pushback on the MAGA campaign nonsense. And, although I don’t believe it is so, if the test shows, he has a legitimate cognitive medical deficit, the country deserves to know ,
that said, unless it was a severe deficit, I will continue to support Joe Biden
Your confidence it would dispel the nonsense is misplaced. MAGATS will simply claim it's fake news. They're immune from facts. After Thursday, I have no confidence he would pass the exam. In elections, perceptions and emotions rule. The nation's perception, and now mine, is that Biden is too old for another term.
I support Joe Biden. The Dems had 3 years to find someone else. Yes…he is old, but only 3 years older than his opponent. Biden is experienced and has longstanding relationships with many senators and congressional members. He knows how government works. Please don’t let disgruntled Democrats allow Trump to win. He is a threat to America. Do you want an older experienced man with integrity or an older inexperienced, self-absorbed liar for president?
The dump-Biden people are self-centered blind fools. We are going to have a "convention"?! We all know that black women are the backbone of the Democratic party in many states, and the single major block of secure Dem voters. Anyone who thinks that an open convention that chose anyone but Vice President Harris would benefit the Democratic Party is just plain nuts. I'm not suggesting that black women vote as a block, but if the party Pols were to pick some white guy instead of the seasoned VP, I can imagine a backlash from a black community that has often legitimately wondered if their votes were being taken for granted.
Maybe I am full of it, and as a Boomer generation affluent white male, i can hardly claim to understand how normal Americans would react to such a stupid scenario. But I think there might be at least a grain of truth in what I wrote above.
The American Speech and Hearing Association states that studies show that stuttering increases when there is stress, especially time stress. Stuttering behavior includes difficulty in forming parts of words, something I noticed in the President’s speech during the debate. As Robert pointed out the two minute restriction was not something the president has practiced and perhaps it wasn’t seen as a potential problem during the preparation. I agree with Susan Lineham that the transcript is fine. It was the stress of the need to respond to grotesque lies in two minutes that caused the speaking problem.
The editorial boards that came down so hard on Biden didn’t know why Biden had a problem that night, nor were they inspired to find out. It was time to kill Joe and protect their tax breaks and they jumped on it.
I really wish the campaign would call out the press for this outrageous behavior instead of supplying Republicans with talking points.
I did a text bank tonight and support for Democratic candidates was strong. Only one person expressed a preference for Michelle Obama over Biden but quickly added that she will vote Democratic in any event. So Gavin, Whitman, Harris, and Michelle, and Biden hasn’t even dropped out. Imagine the scene if he does.
I absolutely agree with you. I would trust your assessment over mine since I only watched five minutes of the "debate." I've certainly heard a lot of noise about it, enough so that I assumed it was terrible. Mediocre makes more sense. Why the media didn't yell and scream about Trump's lies and idiocy is beyond me. To give the convicted felon any slack makes no sense whatsoever. Somewhere deep in the Republican soul they must know that he is a creep.
Biden's debate performance was likely the result of an elderly person taking a cold medicine! Medpage Today just reprinted a longish article from Newsweek pointing out that cold medications can have a devastating effect on the mind and body of the elderly. For that matter I remember giving a benadryl to a 35 year old friend and he fell asleep into his bowl of soup. The article points out how his improvement by debate's end and solid functionality after the debate is consistent with a cold med wearing off. This NEEDS to be in the public's eye. Here is the article link: https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/110891
Anne Beversdorf
An important read. Thanks.
Marcia Herman,LA. 💕
Your concluding comments say it all. I am with you 100% and again say - lines are being drawn and I am surprised at the positions some have taken. One thing seems important to me - the US is a powerful nation in the midst of world teetering on a decision between authoritarianism and democracy. If this country could pull up its pants and forget all the petty nonsense, including should-Biden-step-down, and secure democracy in the coming election, I suspect the world would be influenced in favor of democracy. The point is - are we world leaders - let's behave like them.
What we need are “younger“ Roberts, Gorsich, Bryant, Thomas & Alito’s not a “younger” Democratic Presidential candidate!
I am under no illusion about anything piercing the fumes and fog of MAGA denial. No, it's the estimated 2%-3% of "undecided" that this might influence, which after the debate may be down to a few thousands in those districts that will decide this election.
Early polls and the comments in this thread make it clear most people are simply NOT affected, even if they're deflated. They've already decided on their vote. But for that thin,immensely important slice of the electorate that are either disheartened or seriously and legitimately worried enough that they may not vote for Joe, or at all now, it may be just enough to rally them to common sense and "the cause".
In another small but perhaps immensely important way, it also may perhaps do something to dispense with the media narrative and near-ending fixation on what we all hope is a non-issue (age and fitness), and thereby, again influence just enough voters to make the right choice.
It's easy, a cognitive test, and the campaign (or us) trying to avoid the issue and making it about "loyalty" is a head-in-the-sand approach with significant possibility of that deciding sliver of voters sliding to Trump and the end of our republic.
Yet more flubs and vacant stares in the months ahead are likely if not inevitable. The issue needs to be dismissed once and for all.
We need to know. It's high time
Respectfully
One: The reason people are calling for Biden to withdraw is that he confirmed his most significant weakness: He's too old. He displayed a level of infirmity that was alarming. The American people do not believe he can function through another four year term.
Two: Arguments of loyalty, feelings, or votes already cast are not relevant. The only relevant factor in an existential contest is victory.
Three: Infirmity asside, Biden's performance was incompetent. Offered two minutes to make the case on reproductive health care, Biden pivoted to a case where an undocumented immigrant murdered a young American woman. With two minutes to prosecute Democrats strongest issue, Biden pivoted to his weakest.
Four: There are no awards to those who stick with a losing team the longest. Recognizing a pending defeat early is the best strategy.
Five: "Vote for me because I'm not him" only gets you so far.
Biden is a good man and has been an exceptional president. That's not germane to the problem we face. We need to field a winning ticket, and we don't have one.
A contested election or some concocted nomination process will lead to division and loss. The only and best path forward is for Biden to retire ASAP.
Don't dismiss a good idea because of its source. If the 25th is what's required to get Biden to bow out, so be it. Hopefully the threat, privately delivered, will be enough for him to choose the right path.
Once we've all had the opportunity to thank him for his service, President Harris will lead the country through the election. She will run as an incumbent. People will see she's competent. The age and senility problem will be Trump's burden. She'll win decisively.
Especially after she selects Mayor Pete as her VP. The most talented communicator the Dems have will lay waste to Trumpism. Harris is a damn good prosecutor too.
Someone tell me Dems will not be energized by fact that we have the first female US president and first openly gay VP on our team. Voter enthusiasm will spike.
Y'all are overestimating the bitterness and resentment at replacing Biden if it's "by his own choice" (wink wink). You're underestimating the damage Biden did to himself last Thursday. We need a change, and the path to a good ticket and enthusiastic electorate is waiting. There's just one hurdle to get over.
Thank you for your comments and links in support of Joe Biden for president. As soon as I heard the calls for Joe to remove himself from the race, I had a different reaction. I was angry. I am still angry. I have spent many hundreds of hours working to get out the vote. When I heard pundits discussing whether he should be our candidate, all I could think of was voter suppression – and that Russia must be gleeful. Each and every one of their comments likely lost us votes – votes that I personally and thousands of others have worked so hard to obtain. Without evidence, I assume Russian disinformation is fueling this effort. They may not have started it, but I am sure they are fueling it. I remember Volume I of the Mueller Report – and that discussed extremely coordinated disinformation efforts in 2016! I believe pundits are now used as part of a Russian disinformation campaign to sow division, chaos and complacency. It reminds me of the successful Russian effort to suppress black votes for 2016. I also assume the Russians have been fueling the push to blame Biden for Israel’s attacks in Gaza. I get angry every time I hear some commentator state that they are commenting only to “help our country”. As you have discussed, discussion out in public is only helping Trump. They not helping, indeed, they are damaging our efforts. They are suppressing the vote. Because they want to be pushing a conversation, we have even more work to do.
Without evidence you have pissed me off. I've been an enthusiastic Biden supporter in many conversations with doubters. I'm not a Russian or a bot. Biden's performance on Thursday convinced me that he cannot win. He confirmed his infirmity in the minds of many Americans who were primed to believe it already. That is fatal.
Your efforts at recruiting are not wasted. Those efforts will transfer to President Harris after Biden resigns. The transition will be smooth, and the new ticket will create enthusiasm. Even you will be happy to have our first female president.
Make no mistake, Biden is suppressing the vote when he is clearly not fit to start a four year term. The people see it.
The entire “debate” process has been destroyed and should be permanently withdrawn from the presidential election campaign season.
My first time trying to comment, and I may have posted it two places. The gist is, it is more than time for Biden to take a legitimate cognitive test to dispel all this nonsense, and then demand Trump himself take a real cognitive test.
I believe this is not only the best way to dispel the handringing as well as the legitimate doubts, and to refute and pushback on the MAGA campaign nonsense. And, although I don’t believe it is so, if the test shows, he has a legitimate cognitive medical deficit, the country deserves to know ,
that said, unless it was a severe deficit, I will continue to support Joe Biden
Your confidence it would dispel the nonsense is misplaced. MAGATS will simply claim it's fake news. They're immune from facts. After Thursday, I have no confidence he would pass the exam. In elections, perceptions and emotions rule. The nation's perception, and now mine, is that Biden is too old for another term.
I support Joe Biden. The Dems had 3 years to find someone else. Yes…he is old, but only 3 years older than his opponent. Biden is experienced and has longstanding relationships with many senators and congressional members. He knows how government works. Please don’t let disgruntled Democrats allow Trump to win. He is a threat to America. Do you want an older experienced man with integrity or an older inexperienced, self-absorbed liar for president?
The dump-Biden people are self-centered blind fools. We are going to have a "convention"?! We all know that black women are the backbone of the Democratic party in many states, and the single major block of secure Dem voters. Anyone who thinks that an open convention that chose anyone but Vice President Harris would benefit the Democratic Party is just plain nuts. I'm not suggesting that black women vote as a block, but if the party Pols were to pick some white guy instead of the seasoned VP, I can imagine a backlash from a black community that has often legitimately wondered if their votes were being taken for granted.
Maybe I am full of it, and as a Boomer generation affluent white male, i can hardly claim to understand how normal Americans would react to such a stupid scenario. But I think there might be at least a grain of truth in what I wrote above.
Yes, we have real work to do. Let’s get to it!
The American Speech and Hearing Association states that studies show that stuttering increases when there is stress, especially time stress. Stuttering behavior includes difficulty in forming parts of words, something I noticed in the President’s speech during the debate. As Robert pointed out the two minute restriction was not something the president has practiced and perhaps it wasn’t seen as a potential problem during the preparation. I agree with Susan Lineham that the transcript is fine. It was the stress of the need to respond to grotesque lies in two minutes that caused the speaking problem.
The editorial boards that came down so hard on Biden didn’t know why Biden had a problem that night, nor were they inspired to find out. It was time to kill Joe and protect their tax breaks and they jumped on it.
I really wish the campaign would call out the press for this outrageous behavior instead of supplying Republicans with talking points.
I did a text bank tonight and support for Democratic candidates was strong. Only one person expressed a preference for Michelle Obama over Biden but quickly added that she will vote Democratic in any event. So Gavin, Whitman, Harris, and Michelle, and Biden hasn’t even dropped out. Imagine the scene if he does.
Thank you for listing the reasons why it is important to keep Biden as the nominee for the
next term as president. I was a depressed while watching the debate. After debate someone
commented, record rather than performance is what matters. I think that should be emphasized.
Robert, your positive points in your newsletters helps to offset all the negative in newspapers.
I absolutely agree with you. I would trust your assessment over mine since I only watched five minutes of the "debate." I've certainly heard a lot of noise about it, enough so that I assumed it was terrible. Mediocre makes more sense. Why the media didn't yell and scream about Trump's lies and idiocy is beyond me. To give the convicted felon any slack makes no sense whatsoever. Somewhere deep in the Republican soul they must know that he is a creep.
And thank you also Robert for fine values and consistently sensible analysis.