Biden speech live: president says best way to save US democracy is ‘to pass torch to new generation’

jordanlund@lemmy.worldmod to politics @lemmy.world – 390 points –
Biden speech live: president says best way to save US democracy is ‘to pass torch to new generation’
theguardian.com
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I feel like this speech was unnecessary. It only made me feel worse. I need the Democrats, and especially Biden, to stop soapboxing about "saving democracy" and "presidents are not kings" when they literally just skipped the democratic part of choosing a nominee for it to be handed down like a crown.

In fact, I'd feel a lot better if they apologized for it and told us how they were going to stop it from happening in the future.

Edit: wow, y'all really freak out at any suggestion of wrongdoing by the Democrats. I'd suggest looking backwards at how we ended up with the current primary process. 1968 Democratic primaries. The Democrats recognized the problem then and introduced reform, why is that such an outlandish thing to ask for now?

First of all according to the constitution it is up to the parties to bring their candidates. The primaries are done in a certain way for example Republicans don't allow to vote for their candidate unless you are registered Republican, superdelegates etc.

Second, Harris is a VP, she already was on the ticket with Biden. Biden just opted to not run.

First of all according to the constitution it is up to the parties to bring their candidates. The primaries are done in a certain way for example Republicans don’t allow to vote for their candidate unless you are registered Republican, superdelegates etc.

No. Political parties are not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution as the founders were wary of the polarization and factionalism that parties would bring- Washington famously warned against them in his farewell speech when he left the office of the Presidency. Second, primaries aren't in the Constitution either. The DNC and the RNC are private organizations that work to get candidates on ballots according to the laws each state and Congress have passed regarding elections, but they are by no means a requirement. That's why both parties do their primaries differently.

The President is only elected when the electors from each state cast their votes after the general election. The states have decided to select their electors by having primary elections, but there is no Constitutional requirement for them to do so.

My bad, I meant to say that as far as the Constitution is concerned, the parties can pick up their candidates however they want.

Well that actually is in the Constitution, so you're kinda right. The first amendment promises "freedom of association" which is exactly what these parties are doing. They're choosing who to associate with as their candidate for president. They are voting, the delegates I mean.

The other guy is just upset because they didn't personally ask him. But I guarantee he doesn't donate to or volunteer for any local candidates.

Found the trolls. No one is listening to you guys. Just give up.

they literally just skipped the democratic part of choosing a nominee for it to be handed down like a crown

How about the fact that nobody mounts a serious challenge against an incumbent anyway, how is that any better? Is it because they were already elected in the general 4 years ago? Because Kamala was on that ticket, too. Oh, and nobody votes for the VP nominee in the primary stage, even if they are second in line. Heck, you kind of have to trust the presidential nominee on that front.

Thanks for pointing this out. We really need more people who are not completely blind to any wrongdoing of the dems on here. It does nobody any good to just constantly hear the same praises of anything everything blue. Dont get me wrong, Republicans are also super fucked, but to pretend they have a monopoly on being messed up does nobody any good.

The people that keep telling us that we need to save democracy by electing Democrats just appointed someone that has never won a primary, has never won a single electoral vote, came in sixth place in her own state.

Presidents are selected not elected

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