Dems in Disarray! No, For Reals This Time
If nothing else, the current online commentariat freakout folks are having post-presidential debate is giving us some masterpiece metaphors, mixed and otherwise, and some deliciously over-the-top media hyperbole:
But during the four-state swing after the debate — during which he inaugurated a visitor center at the Stonewall National Monument and attended three fundraisers — Biden’s traveling entourage operated with a breezy, nothing-to-see-here attitude, as if pantomiming a thriving campaign not in the midst of an existential crisis.
A top aide to the first lady danced as Diana Ross blared on the tarmac in Raleigh in the wee hours of Friday. Mike Donilon, a longtime confidant to the president and chief strategist of his campaign, eschewed a suit for casual summer wear: a seersucker short-sleeve, button-down shirt and suede horsebit loafers. And aides scoffed at reporters when they asked the president whether he planned to drop out.
Two of Biden’s granddaughters joined him for the final day of the swing, before they reunited with the rest of the Biden clan ahead of a scheduled family photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz at Camp David — a tableau that, as party leaders privately fretted about a second Trump term ushering in the end of American democracy, had echoes of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
By necessity, it is an incomplete picture. As Mr. Biden has aged, the White House has limited his encounters with reporters. While he frequently stops for a couple minutes to answer a question or two, as of Sunday, Mr. Biden had granted fewer interviews than any president of the modern era and fewer news conferences than any president since Ronald Reagan, according to statistics compiled by Martha Kumar, a longtime scholar of presidential communication.
On the occasions that Mr. Biden has chosen to speak with reporters on short notice, it has not always gone well. In February, he angrily hit back against a special counsel’s report on his handling of classified documents, in which the special counsel, Robert K. Hur, characterized the president as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” The furious president defended himself and his memory to reporters but referred to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt as the “president of Mexico” in the process. On Monday, House Republicans sued the Biden administration in an attempt to procure audio of Mr. Biden’s interviews with Mr. Hur.
But those 23 days before Mr. Biden met Mr. Trump on the television stage in Atlanta may be viewed by historians as the most critical three weeks in a consequential presidency, as the president faced an opponent he not only loathed, but viewed as an existential threat to American democracy. Were the wandering, inconclusive thoughts broadcast live to more than 50 million viewers just a bad night, a product of the exhausting month, or something larger? Had he not been crisscrossing the globe so frequently — including leaving Italy for a trip spanning nine time zones to a fund-raiser in Los Angeles — would it have made a difference?
Or, as Alex Thompson quipped on Twitter in reporting on an “all-staff” White House call being set up:
“Dems in Disarray!” in the Trump era has become a subgenre of news media and commentary. It is a running joke and the pejorative phrase of choice in the commentary sections and talking head transcripts across the fruited plain. “Disarray” is subjective. What the Democratic Party is going through right now is the result of choices they themselves have made leading up to it. Joe Biden was the alternative to Bernie Sanders in 2020 that Democratic primary voters ran, not walked, to the polls to support starting in South Carolina and quickly wrapping up the nomination. The battle cry of the also-rans in that primary as they dropped out and supported Joe Biden was variations on the theme of “we must beat Trump no matter what.”
And Joe Biden did beat Donald Trump. The “no matter what” part that was the clarion call through the campaign didn’t make it into the acceptance speeches.
The age that a potential President Biden would be heading into 2024 was known then. It didn’t change. The Biden of 2020’s campaign was clearly not the Biden who handled Paul Ryan in a tv debate in 2012 where Joe constantly interrupted, used mocking laugher to great effect, and wielded his deep quiver of cliches to great effect against policy nerd supreme Paul Ryan. 2020 Biden, even diminished from than that classic performance, was good enough against a flailing, undisciplined Trump to drive home Biden’s best argument for the presidency of “I’m not Trump.”
Which is the core problem Joe Biden 2024 has post-debate: “I’m not Trump” doesn’t work if the Trump alternative is giving folks visceral reactions of “I can’t watch this” on tv.
What Team Biden is fighting right now against an avalanche of coverage is two-fold.
First, the Biden reelection effort is fighting a pent-up need for a compelling story in the 2024 presidential campaign. News media has been bored to tears and suffering with Trump v Biden round 2 not having much juice to it, so Dems in Disarray! to the level of calling for the sitting President of the United States to step down is just what the ratings, clicks, and ad revenue was needing. The smoldering embers of the political news business that have been yearning for the full blaze they have mostly enjoyed during the Trump era now has enough fuel to fire up the rest of the 2024 campaign with Biden speculation and Trump reaction. News media gets by on the news cycle diehards, but the medium’s business model really thrives when the average, non-political viewers start turning in.
Secondly, the President and his team now have the worst possible perception problem. Joe Biden has decades of gaffes, mistakes, and errors already in the books, and transitioning from slightly off Uncle Joe to frightening shell-of-himself Joe brings it all back up. Years of commentary and reporting on “he’s too old” – which gets worse every year as the man does indeed get older – now go from an accusation to a video reinforced fact for many folks. Joe Biden’s long history and well-known issues as a candidate, politician, and a man are all now under further review. A review by the merciless replay officials of an American press and media that mostly excused and ignored Biden’s decline until they could make content off not excusing and ignoring it, and an American electorate that doesn’t pay attention. Or, at least, didn’t pay attention until President Joe Biden declared “we finally beat Medicare” to 40 million viewers while attempting to answer a question about the national debt.
Neither of those two core problems have a strictly political answer to them. But political answers are all the Democratic Party has right now since they can’t do a thing about age and not much more about perception. Like a sports team whose fate at getting into the playoffs is no longer in their own hands and needs other teams to lose, the Biden 2024 campaigns best hope now is Trump self-destructs and allows the president to make what would be a historic comeback. Which is possible. But possible isn’t a plan. Thus, the scheming machinations of how to replace Joe Biden to stop an increasingly likely Trump second term is going to be all over our news feeds for the foreseeable future.
To whatever extent Dems in Disarray! is true, it is because there are always tradeoffs in politics. The Democratic Party decided beating Trump “no matter what” was worth nominating an historically old and legendarily gaffe-prone Joe Biden for president in 2020. The American electorate agreed and made Joe Biden President of the United States and rejected Donald Trump.
Now four years later, the bill looks to be coming due on the “no matter what” portion of that political equation. Some of the Dems in Disarray! caterwauling might well be a slow realization that, instead of removing Donald Trump from the White House forever, running Biden might have just delayed the second term of Donald Trump by four years. The public struggle session over “was it worth it” if that turns out to be the case will be a whole new level of Dems in Disarray! lore.
That’s the beauty of the Dems in Disarray! narrative; the natural ups and downs of a political party’s cycle in a two-party system means you can bust out Dems in Disarray! at least half of the time regardless of context. Meanwhile, there is a convention to have, decisions to be made, and an election to contest, if they can. The Democratic Party better get to work and do something about their Dems in Disarray! perception no matter how much validity it has. Besides the drama surrounding President Biden there is a US Senate majority in almost certain danger of going down, and a real possibility of taking the House of Representatives back.
No amount of “But Trump” is fixing the self-made situation the Democratic Party finds itself in. If Trump is to lose in November, Team Blue will need a lot of electoral help from the public who currently see the race as a “we don’t want either guy” contest between morally unfit for office and physically unfit for office.
But maybe the Democratic Party can overcome that. Just got to get in array, or something.
This is only true because legacy media seem to want to avoid discussing TFG’s various speech and mental issues, to say nothing of the danger that Project 2025 presents. You know, the real threats to the US from within.Report
I get the frustration. Trump is clearly neither mentally nor morally fit to lead. But because his mental decline manifests in long inchoate rants instead of fumbling to find the right word, he get seen a smore capable because more talking = smarter in a lot of peoples’ minds.Report
One thing that is weird is that, in 2012, I saw the election and thought afterward “man, the Republicans *AND* the Democrats have a deep bench… 2016 will be Clinton against Jeb, probably, and that’s going to be a rough election!”
And we saw how that turned out. The “deep bench” of the Republicans was a wet paper bag.
“Man, the Dems are going to go into 2020 with a monster bench, now that Clinton’s out of the way!”
Biden. Joe Biden.
And he’s showing signs of having slowed down. Like… badly. The arguments that it’s a conspiracy theory have been pretty much cut off at the knees. And arguments that he needs to step down and we need to replace him at the convention don’t get “the following candidates would do well” but, instead, get “NAME A NAME! NAME A SINGLE NAME THAT WOULD DO BETTER THAN BIDEN!”
Because… there isn’t one?
Deep benches have turned into mulch.
What the hell happened?Report
The Dems spent the last 20 years concentrating on the WH, and other the Gavin Newsome (who doesn’t need the national party for name recognition) they didn’t contest the governorships or state legislatures the way they needed to so a bench could e developed. They also have anemic uninspiring Senate leadership who most Americans can’t name, and while their minority leadership in the House is way closer to my generation then to the boomers, they all have to stay where they are so they can win back the majority.
The GOP decided in 2016 that their 40 year march to dismantle the regulatory state interfering with their greed could easily culminate in TFG, and they have now concluded that the other pillar of their process – gaining permanent minority rule – is also best accomplished with him.
Any other questions?Report
Remember the supposed deep bench going into 2020?
Booker, Castro, Warren, Klobuchar, Buttigeig… Even Beto O’Rourke!Report
What’s your point, that none of them have become president yet?Report
That none of them are mumbled about.
Maybe they’ll be tanned, rested, and ready in 2032, after Harris finishes her 2nd term. (I’m told that it’ll be the most important election of our lifetimes.)Report
Well, Warren’s still 10-15 years too young for the job….
I’ve actually heard Warren and Buttigeig mentioned in the past week. I haven’t been listening to the list of alternatives, though, because I think it’s got to be Harris. And she was also part of the 2020 bench.Report
And how do they poll against Trump currently?
That aside – I still maintain that Warren needs to replace Schumer leading democrats in the senate. Klobuchar is probably as far up as she is going to get. Ditto Booker – unless he goes home and runs as governor at some point.
None of them have the name recognition at this late stage to take over the campaign.Report
Warning PDF.
Buttigeig seems to be doing pretty good.
But, otherwise… yeah. They’ve all pretty much demonstrated that the bench that was supposed to be deep is… Well, what is “deep” supposed to mean, anyway? What’s a bench?Report
(dude, did a pdf attack a family member or something?)Report
Back in the day, if you clicked on a PDF, it would download, like it or not. This was *MURDER* on 56.6k modems.
Force of habit.Report
There was a brief period where PDFs ceased to be an annoyance on desktop browsers, because they would be put in the browser cache, where they get cleaned up automatically, and displayed right in the browser.
Phone browsers, inexplicably, make the same mistake originally made with desktop browsers: They go into your download directory and stick around indefinitely until manually cleaned up.
So after a brief golden age, PDFs are annoying again.Report
You’ll need to explain your Warren proposal to me. Replace someone (Schumer) who has been very good at finessing things using a very narrow majority with someone who is two years older?
Mark Warner, the other vice chair of the Democratic Senate conference is up to something. He just announced that he’s organizing a group of senators to urge Biden to withdraw.Report
I think Buttigeig has what it takes, but he’s still a bit green yet. Giving him Transport was a smart move, but he probably needs a little more time before he’s good to go.Report
It’s not just the Democrats either. As I noted on a previous thread there has been exactly one major party nominee for President who was born after the 1940s – Barack Obama. I have to wonder how much the lack of top tier talent contributed to making the Republican party vulnerable to a Trumpist takeover.
There are 350m people in the US and a lot of them were born after the 1940s, even after you exclude the under-35s. What is going on here?Report
Hey, I said The “deep bench” of the Republicans was a wet paper bag.
2016 had Trump go through the butter of the Republicans like a hot knife.
It was like nothing I’d ever seen.
He was like the Xenomorph.Report
Improved healthcare and the crew born in the 1940s have held on to the levers of power in the federal government tenaciously. The only exception is the House Republican conference. Gingrich changed the conference rules there to make seniority much less important/valuable. It’s the only place where a Paul Ryan could happen: chair both the Budget and Ways & Means committees, Speaker, and a little side gig as a VP candidate, all before he was 50.Report
Unsurprisingly, I am on Team Philip H. The whole media has had a field day over this and you can see pre-debate which ones were already down on Biden and this gave them fuel for their fire. Biden told his staff and Democratic governors he was still in it. The ones in disarray are either in R districts or low level.Report
I’ll grant that the reporting on the polls is terrible. A two-percentage-point movement in a week means nothing long-term. Harris running two points better than Biden means nothing. Bad reporters are relying on their usual tools, which they never really understood before either. I think your overall narrative on the debate and its consequences is completely wrong, though.Report
Biden sounds fine to me: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/05/us/biden-trump-2024-electionReport
Memo to: my lying eyes and ears
from: Saul DegrawReport
Fashion’s Invisible Hand: The Emperor’s Sartorial Triumph
Yesterday, our illustrious Emperor presented a sight that will be remembered for generations to come. As he paraded through the streets in what some mistakenly perceived as nothing, a profound statement was made about the nature of fashion, perception, and societal progress. The whispers and cries of “nakedness” are not only misinformed but fundamentally misunderstand the essence of fashion and the cultural moment we are witnessing.
The Emperor’s new attire, crafted by the celebrated artisans from distant lands, is a masterpiece of conceptual fashion. It represents the pinnacle of sartorial innovation—a testament to the sophistication of our society and its ability to appreciate the intangible. Fashion, after all, is not merely about fabric and thread; it is about the ideas and emotions that these elements evoke. The Emperor’s wardrobe is a groundbreaking departure from the material to the metaphysical, challenging us to rethink our preconceptions of clothing and beauty.
The Emperor’s new clothes are not a failure of perception but a triumph of innovation. They challenge us to rise above the literal and engage with the conceptual. They remind us that fashion is an ever-evolving dialogue between tradition and modernity, between the seen and the unseen. As we move forward, let us embrace this dialogue and the opportunities it presents for growth and enlightenment.
In conclusion, the Emperor’s sartorial choice is a profound and deliberate statement that reflects his visionary leadership and the sophistication of our society. To dismiss it as mere nakedness is to miss the point entirely. Instead, let us celebrate this bold and imaginative step forward in the world of fashion, recognizing it for the masterpiece that it is.Report
what’s your point jaybird?Report
I’m mocking those who defend the emperor’s outfit even after the kid yelled “HE’S NAKED!”
Are you watching the interview with George Steph… um…
Are you watching the interview on ABC?
Here’s the Political Director of ABC:
Report
You’ve made a compliment in here about liberals, even though I am sure it is entirely unintentional.
Biden supporters who ignore his unfitness are mocked because if they actually saw it clearly they would of course dump him for someone like Harris because they of course want a president who is fit to lead.
Left unspoken is why this same folktale can’t be said about Trump. And that makes liberals look very good indeed.Report
The best defenses of Biden I’ve seen over the last week all invoke Trump.
Sure, Biden is old, but what about Trump!
Sure, Biden messed up, but what about Trump!
You know what it reminds me of?
2016.Report
He is the best President of my lifetime and yes, he is the only politician who has defeated Trump in the general and electoral college.
Did you listen? Did you have any substantive problems? What were they?
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, they will be against Trump.
You’re a concern troll.Report
(Better than Obama? Clinton? Over only 4 years? Dang.)
Substantive problems? Eh.
It seems to me that he did well enough to argue against being replaced without doing well enough to fully allay fears.
Seems like the perfect outcome for both Trump Enthusiasts and Biden Enthusiasts.Report
Yes better than Clinton and Obama.Report
Bill Clinton’s approval rating was in the 70s, from what I recall. Maybe people were just pleased with gas prices and the quality of the pop music, of course.
Obama hovered somewhere between the high 50s and low 50s for much of his presidency.
I suppose it’s like wine. A popular wine doesn’t necessarily mean a *GOOD* wine.
A *GOOD* wine may only be appreciated by people with the finest palates. Something like Blue Nun might get an approval rating in the 60s but the *GOOD* stuff has a much more clarified appeal.Report
I’m talking about accomplishments as a progressive politician. Not approval ratings and it was a different time. Trump’s approval rating is basically Biden’s they are both equally disliked and liked by the same percentages but different people. This is negative partisanshipReport
He has forgiven a lot of college debt…Report
His Department of Labor is spot on, he supports Ukraine, etc
https://balloon-juice.com/2024/07/05/you-better-think/Report
You must feel pretty confident, then.
Awesome.Report
I notice that no one here is disputing the assertion that that Trump is objectively worse and that in the end, in a two person race, it would be preferable to vote for Biden.
I think that says a lot.Report
To the folks who don’t intake politics – and unlike us who discuss, dissect, and think on these things purposefully and for reasons – there is the basic issue of Trump’s bad but we’ve heard that for 9 years and its old news verses the bright shinny clanging object of let’s dog pile on Joe Biden video clips. The old saw about “Presidential elections come down to who more people want to see on their screens every day for the next four years” has a lot of truth to it, and relentless Trump dulls folks’ senses on his worst attributes, or at least has made them familiar enough to become a perverse new normal.Report
All very true, but it is why people like me tend to scorn most media pundits.
They strike a pose of being serious journalists, and of being savvy knowers of politics but in reality are theater critics treating politics like a reality show.
If you were to read the NYT or watch CNN regularly you wouldn’t know that one political party is promising to end democracy.Report
I think that the problem with journalists taking a side is that it’s really easy to assume that when they report something negative about the other side, well…
They’re just taking a side.
So you believe that Donald Trump will end democracy?
Wow. That’s really interesting.
Would you compare him to Hitler?Report
Yes, journalists should take a position that democracy and the rule of law is objectively good, the same way they should take a position that the earth is round.
I’ve said several times that the best analogy for Trumpism isn’t the big three of Hitler Stalin or Mao but rather all those miserable little tyrannies in history like the East Bloc countries, or Latin American or African banana republics.
Or maybe the closest comparison is America in the Jim Crow/ Gilded Age, since this is what the Trumpists themselves tell us they want.Report
Are you saying that because it’s true or because you’re being partisan?
Because, let’s face it, sometimes partisans just say things.Report
This is why we think you are a troll Jaybird. You are treating this all like a game and if Trump wins, you will just be another white guy in the background.Report
Saul, from my perspective, the people who are screaming that the emperor’s clothing is really awesome are the ones treating this like a game.
(And, let’s face it, we’re all white guys.)Report
I’m not the one saying it.
All I need to do is point to the words and writings of Republicans themselves.
They are the ones saying they want to return American to a pre-Progressive, pre-New Deal, pre-Civil Rights era.
Seriously, you can read it for yourself.Report
Oh, can you provide a link?Report
First lets set the goalposts.
What would be an acceptable support for my assertion?Report
Well, I’d hate to think that you’d say “They are the ones saying they want to return American to a pre-Progressive, pre-New Deal, pre-Civil Rights era” and then your evidence for this is someone saying “the Department of Education has failed… look at these charts of 3rd Grade reading levels”.
So I’ll ask you… Instead of saying “They are the ones saying they want to return American to a pre-Progressive, pre-New Deal, pre-Civil Rights era”, is there a different thing you want to say that they’re saying?Report
You’re not even disagreeing with me so why bother?Report
As someone who does some talking heading on TV and other media from time to time you are correct.Report
Here’s the r/politics thread devoted to the interview. It’s currently sorted by “best” but explore “controversial”, if you’re bored on a Friday night.
Here’s the Twitter trending hashtag #BidenInterview. It’s currently sorted by “Top” but also check out “Latest”, if you’re bored on a Friday night.Report
Better idea: TSN post up now here at OT with the full video for your watching and commenting pleasure:
Joe Biden Interview with George Stephanopoulos “I’m still in good shape”Report