Gathered at Camp David, Biden's family tells him to stay in the race and keep fighting
President Joe Biden’s family used a Sunday gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite his dreadful debate performance, and some members criticized how his staff prepared him for the faceoff, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
Biden spent the day sequestered with first lady Jill Biden, his children and grandchildren. It was a previously scheduled trip to the presidential retreat in Maryland for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
But the gathering was also an exercise in trying to figure out how to quell Democratic anxiety that has exploded following Thursday’s performance.
While his family was aware of how poorly he performed against Donald Trump, they also continue to think he’s the best person to beat the Republican presumptive nominee. They also believe he is capable of doing the job of president for another four years, according to the people who were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
This strikes me as a pretend leak kind of story.
This whole media narrative of "Biden should step down" is all fabricated.
All fabricated to help trump.
Trump should step down. Oh ya, we know he won't and it would just be dismissed by the people it should matter to. This narrative of Joe stepping down is an attack designed to go after people with morals and standards. Which is sad, that being principled will be exploited by our so called 4th estate.
Only someone voting democrat can agree in ernest that someone with limited mental capacity should not be tasked with the job of president. Why this is true, is the entire problem.
Fake news?
Not necessarily, it's just a common tactic in politics to "leak" something to the media to make a positive story seem more credible by making people think it's some hush hush secret.
So it may well be true, but I suspect the messaging is coordinated by the Biden campaign.
I’d love to be wrong here, but i think we’re totally fucked.
If during the debate, the building had collapsed and accidently killed everyone in the room, Americans would be overjoyed at our luck.
This is meant to be a comfort: you're wrong.
This is not meant in an unkind way: I think you’re wrong. But I hope you’re right.
I am, don't sweat it.
Social media is blurring the lines here .
Not if Biden steps down. Having a new candidate puts some much needed energy into this election cycle. I'm just worried Hillary will rear her head.
There is still time for Biden to do the right thing and step down, but the window is closing fast. If this is such an important election where we choose democracy over fascism, you’d think they would act to preserve the nation’s best interests.
It’s also extremely dangerous at this late juncture…Hillary isn’t the only frightful replacement being bandied about by the establishment right now. I’ve also seen calls for Kamala or Jeffries to step in, which would be disastrous in both cases.
The issue with Kamala is people can now say she's known about Joe for a while and kept it hidden for selfish reasons. I think there are lot of Dems that could do better than Biden, but there isn't much time left like you said. The sooner, it shows that Biden himself isn't just power hungry, and people will be empathetic given what they saw during the debate. I don't see how it would hurt the odds for a party to do what is right for once.
86 years old if he get reelected and makes the full four year and Trump would have 82 years on him by the end of his term if he won the election
gerontocracy
Keep the elder abuse going.
I understand I'm voting for Kamala Harris with my vote for Biden, but I don't think she could beat Trump.
There's a lot of independents still on the fence between Trump and Biden (for some reason) and I think that anyone who's even entertaining the idea of voting for Donald Trump would never vote for a woman of color.
So, unfortunately because we're so late in the election year, I think we'll have to vote for the old white guy to keep the old white felon out of the Whitehouse.
The only silver lining to all of this is that they'll probably both be dead before the next election and we can firmly remember to take age into account in the next primary if Biden wins.
If Trump wins there won't ever be another primary or general election and I think a lot of people lose focus on that because Biden is 2½ years older than Trump.
We still have 4 months. Biden can be replaced in a heartbeat right now so we don't get Trump. Biden stepping down is likely to increase Democrat support in all elections. The longet they wait the more likely it is that we'll end up with more losses other than the Presidency.
I see this parroted a bit and am not convinced most of the people who repeat it know what they're talking about. On what do you base this belief on? How do you know that voter turnout will increase if Biden steps down?
Ezra Klein has had some good content on this topic recently. He talks about how a new candidate might be agreed upon at the upcoming Democratic National Convention, and the positives and negatives that might result from that switch. The drama of it all would likely lead to increased political engagement, too.
Thanks! I'll look it up. :)
Pre debate and postdebate polls, aggregate sampling data, testing public sentiment on social media, comparing similarities to polls for Clinton to drop run in 2016 for Bernie who was polling higher, etc.
I suppose I walked into that one. Though those are big words. It doesn't explain anything, however. Once again, you seem to be parroting. Understanding is the key here, which is what I meant under it all.
You see, the issue we face today, one of many in fact, is that people tend to read a headline, listen to a sentence, do "research" all in the name of confirming their personal theories or perspectives, not challenge them. Thus why I ask.
Because most won't have the slightest idea, though they sure will be able to repeat what they heard.
This is turning into Succession
Staying in and keeping fighting is a lot to ask from a guy in his condition. Maybe he could drop out and keep fighting, or possibly stay in and quit fighting. Those would both be easier, and it doesn't much matter at this point anyway.
All signs point to stay in and quit fighting. Brace yourself!
It matters quite a bit for the presidency, the progressive policies of the United States and its active collaborations on climate with other countries.
He's been doing a good job for 4 years, he was an old man on TV for 90 minutes.
Vote him in and let him keep doing a good job.
He spent 7 days rehearsing for the debate to remember that he beat medicare. Just pick someone else so that we aren't all complicit in elder abuse and let's win this thing. Biden was good at supporting genocide... I'll give him that.
Please, it's clear "elder abuse" is another limp maga slogan.
You vote for the rapist if you want, I'm voting for the good president who has achieved successful policies that benefit hundreds of millions.
What is your problem man? I'm not MAGA. I'm just not going to be in a cult and pretend Biden is fine. He clearly isn't fine. Keep your head in the sand. Go call your fellow Dems MAGA and rapist supporters. That'll certainly help your efforts to beat Trump. I thought supporting elder abuse would be MAGA level politics, but I guess not.
Nobody is pretending Biden is "fine", I'm saying that he was supported for his positive progressive policies that benefited hundreds of millions of people for four years, and everyone is suddenly siding with maga trolls throwing a hissy fit because the old guy who did a great job as president is still old.
Any progressive listening to your limp maga crap is showing themself to be nearly as susceptible to playground taunts as you lot.
What garbage. You're pretending that he's not only fine, but a progressive. I'm not sure which is more absurd.
He isn't just old, but struggled to remember most of what he spent the previous 7 days prepping for. He did an okay job domestically.. he had some wins but he also did some really stupid and terrible things like threatening to arrest railroad workers for demanding better working conditions, and saying how much he is a Zionist. He didn't fix ERISA, housing or inflation. If we're comparing him against Trump then not enabling domestic extremist is a good job.
There you go making things up again because you don't have a leg to stand on.
Biden was a great first-term president, he'll be a great second term president.
Keep fuming and playing make believe, it's pretty funny.
What did I make up? Tell me and I'll either provide facts or retract it. Unless you're looking for a cult and not facts?
If I ever start looking for a cult, I'll ask you first.
Your whole stance is based on vague pretense, spin and wholesale fabrication.
Make up your silly, false stories if you like, and prepare to get called out.
You lodge a bunch of accusations at me but can't articulate with fact a single one. Who does that sound like?
I'm not, but that sounds like you. Why?
Somebody should tell him he's listening to the wrong people here.
The time to switch candidates was 6-8 months ago. It's too late at this point, at least for US politics. Too many "undecided" voters seem to think they need a year to get to know a candidate.
If they were to switch from Biden, Trump would win in a landslide without having to say a damned thing or remind anyone he existed between now and then.
This country is fucked.
Ya, he should have never sought re-election, but it's past that point.
And yet, it's exactly the point. He broke the biggest campaign promise that caused me to vote for him. Now we're exactly where we don't want to be.
I have to vote for him because the alternative is infinitely worse. I don't think he can win. Fuck the DNC and Biden for not foreseeing this and sticking to the promise.
The DNC has been snatching defeat from the jaws of victory my whole life. I’m so sick of this shit.
I still remember when Obama gave us all health care. Good times.
Obamacare did not give us healthcare. It mandated purchasing insurance and made insure follow more human rules. There are still plenty of people without insurance who instead take tax penalties every year. Sure it's better that what we had but it's not healthcare like normal nations have.
I was being sarcastic.
I think you're suggesting that he committed to being a 1-term president as part of his campaign. You might be remembering a bunch of sensationalized articles based on a Politico article where an unnamed "prominent advisor" said "he won't be running for reelection" and a bunch of other mostly unnamed people also suggested he wouldn't/shouldn't run again. Which led to tons of other articles, which parroted it as fact.
The Politico article even further went on to be updated after it was first published to add a quote from Biden's deputy campaign manager and communications director at the time, which stated Biden was "not privately considering declining to run for re-election."
So he never made that commitment and the only official communication refuted the speculation.
Reference Politico - Biden Single Term
Slate even covered this recently in another article, where they were unable to locate any official commitment related to serving a single term.
Reference Slate - Biden Single Term
Disclaimer: I also wish we had another option, just presenting some evidence. Maybe it'll make you feel better with your choice.
It's like Ruth bader Ginsberg all over again
If she had stepped down when Obama asked her to, we wouldn't have this current SCROTUS. Seems like Obama had some foresight about aging. Too bad Biden's handlers didn't.
Back then we were told "But no party has run a different candidate when they had a setting president that was eligible for reelection." There was never a choice.
Oddly reminiscent of this. I just wish we got a chance for Bernie.
It's not too late. Imagine if Biden actually had a health crisis between now and November and had to drop out. No way would the Democratic party not galvanize to find a replacement.
That's an entirely different situation voters would be responding to, and they would only be doing it because they would have no other option. Even then, it 100% would end up being Kamala Harris and a running mate they scramble to find, only because they need the name recognition. Those are totally different circumstances, extremely obvious and avoidable, but still technically not under their direct control like the entire cycle up to now.
What we have now is the party's unwillingness to accept that Biden needed to be told not to run again, so we could get a real primary and voters actually deciding. They are only now starting to question the shitty decision when it's becoming glaringly obvious that an 80+ year old shouldn't be running again and younger blood is needed.
The party is run by the old fucks though, and they don't want to give up what they have to the younger generations. Look at AOC's seat, it's the perfect encapsulation of the DNC's belief that the old fucks should be running everything.
AOC handily beat Joseph Crowley in the primary with 57% of the vote (against the #3 Dem at the time, a 20 year Congressional veteran, it's unprecedented), and he still refused to drop out. Instead he stayed on the ballot under a third party where he again lost, with only 7% of the vote. 7% despite being the "safe" politician, with 20 years experience, #3 in the party, the incumbent with all the name recognition in the world, being challenged by an upstart young female "bartender". The old fucks don't want to give it up, and will do anything to prevent that, even losing the election entirely to the Republicans, because they aren't doing it for the country, they're running for themselves.
Interestingly, according to the most recent Ipsos poll where they polled different candidates against Trump, every major democratic candidate lost in the polling to Trump including Kamala (who did poll I think one point better than Biden), some by a lot...
Except Michelle Obama, who won in the polling against Trump by 11 points (50-39), i.e. by a landslide. I was pretty surprised by that.
I think it's probably because she generally wasn't publicly political during her husband's Presidency, or after. She did what was expected of the First Lady, didn't do anything too controversial, and that was about it. And there's likely a lot of people that want Obama again, but he cannot run, but if she's there obviously his counsel would be as well.
That's simply not true.
Fixed it for you. His chances were already bad due to his insistence on not listening to the people telling him to stop participating in a genocide, and that debate killed it. Even Kamala Harris would have a better chance now.
Come on now, it’s bleak and Trump is going to trounce him with ease, but it’s not that bad.
The fact that there are undecided voters at all says it takes longer than a year. 4 even. It's too late.
Are there, though? Or is it just people who won't admit that they don't plan on voting and/or don't know shit about dick?
My preference would be for them to flip the ticket. Put Kamala as first and him as vice. I don't really care for her, but it would be worlds better than another Trump reign of terror. Flipping the ticket would be the least destabilizing move and would appease the concerns of age while also keeping him on for those that didn't like her (or a woman).
Please no. I don't want a career prosecutor as president. I don't even want her as VP, because the odds of Biden leaving office during the term for whatever reason are pretty high.
People hate her more than Biden.
There are too many sexist voters that would never vote for a woman. Look at Hilary, even ignoring how unlikeable she could be, a ton of people were very vocal about not voting for her only because she was female, including other women.
Besides, I'm fairly certain Kamala is making a lot of the current decisions anyway. Joe and her have been together a lot more than other VPs and Presidents in the past.
You can't ignore that, because it's the reason she lost. And despite it, she won the popular vote and came really close to winning the election. We easily could have had a woman president if she didn't have Hillary's baggage.
People didn't like Hillary for lots of legitimate reasons as well. A different female candidate like Whitmer would do fine. I think AOC is the best choice personally though.
If his family supports him, i guess we all should /s
Yes. You should. Because the alternative is a dictator. So if he is the nominee, you should support him.
I'm just wondering why they left the fate of the entire free world to...this guy? Seriously? A turtle would have been better. Why run him again when it was this obvious of a bad idea even back in the primaries? Anyone but Hillary would have been a shoe in, now we have to worry.
Who did you canvas for as an alternative? Anyone?
That would be your answer.
Edit: Interesting thing to get downvoted for- asking who someone canvassed for. Do you downvoters not know how political campaigns are supposed to work?
Lol I didn't realize that I'm the entirety of the DNC, who knew?
You know registered Democratic voters pick the nominee, not the DNC, correct?
If you want someone like Bernie to win, you have to fight with the establishment over the Democratic voterbase, and the Bernie campaign never succeeded in winning over the majority of the Democratic voterbase. You can argue this is because the majority of the endorsements and media were on Hillary's side, but that was inevitable, you can't just expect your internal Party opponent to roll over, you have to build up an opposing powerbase within the party and media.
Seems like a lot of socialists and progressives got too disenchanted from Bernie losing to ever accept that, though.
I still think it's a ridiculous notion that I alone am responsible for the failures of the democrat party simply because I am unable to go door to door and say "Vote for Zippy," regardless of who puts forth the candidate. Short of being the sole arbiter of ballots of course.
That's the thing, though, no one "puts forth" a candidate except the candidate themselves, parties will sometimes reach out to activists or local party officials for local or state office nominations, but Federal office candidates are almost always decided by candidates themselves getting signatures and putting their name forward.
You're no more responsible for the failures of the party than party establishment officials at the DNC, and likely quite less responsible, but you are responsible for writing off the party as a whole, and thereby abandoning the about 50% of the party that wants to take it in a progressive/anti-capitalist direction.
You can blame me all you wish, if it makes you feel better to blame others who have absolutely no say in the matter instead of the party or their leaders for disenfranchising so many people.
Your continued support of the familiar means they'll never change. Of course since I'm sure you, like the party leadership, like it that way, it shouldn't be an issue for you.
You can keep shoving your head in the sand or research and confirm what I've been saying is the truth, that candidates are nominated by candidate choice, signatures, and then a primary vote. Up to you.
Lmfao, yeah? Can I ask how long you've been involved in politics? Or how much you know about American domestic political history?
The Democratic Party and Klu Klux Klan Venn Diagram a century ago would've been essentially a circle, with some weird progressives like Roosevelt on the sidelines. The past century of American political conflict has been one of the Democrats slowly solidifying around socially left issues and the Republicans doing the opposite, solidifying around the right. Both Parties found an economically left wing New Deal consensus after the squabbling of great depression recovery, which lasted basically until Reagan and the creation of a Neoliberal consensus.
That's all to say that the Parties have changed massively over the past 100 years, the Democrats completely switched their position on social and economic issues.
I have been pushing for my part of the Democratic party to be more economically and socially liberal for a decade now, and even in that short time I've noticed immense changes in what the party is willing to accept. A decade ago, rent control advocacy would've had city level Democratic officials criticizing me, and now Biden, a moderate, is advocating for it in debates and in speeches.
The Overton window of the Democratic Party has never been stagnant. It has trended solidly left on almost everything for a century, and you'd have to be ignorant or bad faith to not recognize that.
Keep your guilt complex to yourself, I don't need it. If you feel personally responsible for the abhorrent candidates the DNC runs more power to you. I however am but one man with one vote and I'm hardly responsible if the majority of or the leadership of The Party don't align with my views. It is they who have failed us, not the other way around.
Like I said, you're not responsible for their current policies, that would be the Democratic voter base of 30 years ago, but you're responsible for not trying to vote them out and writing off the entire fucking party as the same.
Have fun feeling politically nihilistic and irrelevant though, it sure worked for the CPUSA, the SPA, the SWP and every other third partyist of the past 100 years.
You expect others to canvas on your behalf? Campaigns are made up of people willing to go out and do things on behalf of the candidate. You wanted to know why not someone other than Biden wasn't the nominee. The answer is because I didn't canvas for anyone else and neither did you and neither did almost anyone else.
Blaming everyone but yourself when you were just as complicit is just an excuse to get out of doing it the next time. If there's going to be a next time.
And before you point fingers at me, remember I'm not the one complaining about it.
Lmao you're a cartoon character.
Please do tell me how you expect another candidate to run against Biden if no one canvasses for them. Magic?
I canvassed for Bernie, that makes me exempt from your point then, yes?
Yes it absolutely does.
You are honestly the first person I have asked this to who has told me who they canvassed for. Everyone else just gets irate.
Well, if it's any consolation I'm irate over the whole thing.
Irate that America is in this position where we have to try and rally behind what I can only describe as elder abuse.
I'll likely hold my nose and vote Biden again but this is ridiculous.
Giving him a vote because he's the alternative, and supporting him are not the same
Not supporting him after he gets the nomination and just giving your vote isn't really enough if we want to stop a dictator.
Elaborate more please
We all need to do what we can to get as many of our peers to vote for him as possible, even if they don't like him. I don't like him. Dictatorship is worse.
I want people to be able to vote in 2028 and 2030 and beyond if possible.
Hmmmm... I see your point and agree
What is the downside of supporting him?
We know he advances progressive policies that benefit hundreds of millions of people.
Voting him in keeps a sane person in the White House.
He's already shown how active he is as president in his first term, regardless of his age.
I don't see the downside of voting for someone who has already proven themselves to be a good president.
At this point the downside is that if that debate is the best he can do then he’s absolutely going to lose.
If he does make it to Election Day without dropping out or dropping dead then yeah we may as well vote for him, but that seems like a terrible position to be in.
Because he was not a "good" president. He's been mediocre to a complete disappointment for many of us who are actually progressive and want to see some change for the better.
Actual pogressives care about lgbtq+ rights, sustainable technology, investing in critical infrastructure, taxing billionaires and fixing the climate, all issues that the Biden administration has dedicated significant time and resources to.
You don't know who or what you're talking about.
I think you're just upset that your geriatric genocide apologist candidate is disliked for very real reasons and is an active barrier to real change in this country. You're not a progressive. You are a centrist. A coward. A bootlicker.
Haha, no.
I'm sorry you're having such difficulty with reality, but civil rights and green technology is the future.
Must be difficult living in a progressive world leaving you behind.
You're a silly little fella I'll tell you what. I'm an actual leftist. You are a liberal with no real principles or ideology. You're controlled opposition and a joke.
edit: lol this fuckin nerd dm'd me to complain I'm insulting him for being a yellow-bellied centrist
There is no other space filler. We need Biden to run! But we really need a candidate for next time.
Is anyone voting for Biden because they really love him?
He could be replaced at the snap of a finger and it would not cost votes.
As much as I don’t think Biden should run at his age, you’re basing the “changing the nominee now wouldn’t cost votes” on nothing whatsoever. There is a proven benefit to incumbency. I don’t like it, but it’s true. And the other massive question mark is who does a majority of the country like enough in the Democratic Party (that the Democratic Party actually wants being its nominee) to just install? Because you also have to factor in the mileage the right would get out of “the Democratic Party’s nominee was installed like a dictator!” shit. No to mention the optics of a party elite-chosen candidate. You can’t say a change wouldn’t lose votes without a definitive other candidate to compare to and without considering the optics.
So basically, what you’re saying is mostly just nonsense. This is a terrible situation for us to have to be I . But we’re in it. No use pretending.
I am voting for Biden because he's a good president.
He could not be replaced at the snap of a finger, he's had an extremely active first term and already pursued and heavily invested in najor progressive reforms.
Unnecessarily replacing a candidate 4 months before the election would absolutely throw the election to the conservatives.
the country is less progressive now then when Biden was in office with Obama
on that note US citizens enjoy less rights than their counterparts living in the 60s
fucking sad Americans are willingly ready to suck Biden or Trump depending on your favorite color
all voters could just protest by voting someone else if the top two choices suck but hey the democrats wouldn't like that because that would be a vote for Trump
I see and hear a more progressive population inundated with more conservative news.
Totally agree about voting.
Not it wouldn't. A different candidate results in much higher odds of beating Trump. Do you actually want to beat Trump? Biden has done some good things but he will not be remembered for that if his elder abusing family gets their way.
That is absurd.
Biden led a good first term with many solid beneficial policies, let him lead a second good term.
You are high as a kite if you think replacing a known candidate with solid support 4 months before an election is a good election strategy.
It's a terrible idea and puts the Democrats at a significant disadvantage showing political instability, poor decision making and confusing builders.
It's a terrible idea to unnecessarily replace a good president.
Biden already hurt his numbers tremendously by supporting genocide. Now you're asking we support elder abuse as well? Polls have shown choosing other candidates help Democrats. Not sure why we should support elder abuse as well when it also hurts our own chances of even beating Trump. I think the only people in denial are the ones saying Biden should stay in. Maybe go look at some polls. Or we can bury our heads in the sand and blame Progressives and Palestinians when Biden loses, sort of like Dems blaming Bernie supporters in 2016.
He doesn't support genocide, he's actively against it.
The only people that believe that are idiots voting against him anyway.
Pulls are idiotic and do not predict anything useful.
You're repeating bandwagon myths and making inaccurate assumptions.
He doesn't even admit it is a genocide.
If you think what Biden is doing is "supporting genocide", I'm quite sure you don't want to see what other candidates will do. 1
You'll find some in the politics comms who love Biden
Yeah, maybe those that love genocide.
Come on! He's just a speaking head!
Hi, comrade! I love Joe Biden and I hate genocide, so there.
If there is a next time
Elder abuse
I saw with my own two eyes and heard with my own two ears too the state of Biden's health. Biden's family are elder abusers. His wife was so cringey too and came off as a power hungry megalomanic.
So, you are jealous that his wife showed support?
No that part is helpful. I mean afterwards where she says in front of an audience, "You did such a good job!"
There's some joke in here involving Jimmy Carter but I really hope he isn't in actual pain watching this go down.
I would never bet against Joe.
Can't see the point in betting against him here other than hopeful hipster cynicism being awarded with internet points.
I never did and then he and his campaign team went and proved me wrong. The whole recent issue with Merrick Garland has to do with Biden asserting executive privilege over the audio tapes of his national documents investigation where the special investigator found that Biden legitimately has a poor memory now not being able to recall life events. Instead Biden's team pressured the investigator to revise his report and said his assessment wasn't supported by facts.
They have the transcripts. They are only pushing for the tapes for sound bites for ads. There's no additional information that is related to national security that isn't provided in the transcripts
The transcripts has repetition and long pauses removed. I agree they will use those audio tapes against him, but for Biden's team to try to hide the memory loss and then say the other side is lying only gives Republicans more ammo. He must have known his base would be defend him only to be shown that the Republicans actually had something right for once.