r/politics • u/croato87 • 6d ago

America Lost the First Biden-Trump Debate Soft Paywall

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/america-lost-first-biden-trump-debate-1235048539/
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u/Wonderful_Way_7389 6d ago

“I know I’m not a young man, to the state the obvious. Well, I know I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth,” the president said. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. I know, like millions of Americans, I know, when you get knocked down, you get back up. Folks, I give you my word as a Biden, I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul I can do this job. Because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high.

I'm with him

18

u/Lazy-Street779 6d ago

And this fine message from set abramson:

If you’re a Democratic or independent voter who’s been suckered into the idea that Biden ending his campaign would do anything but ensure a second Trump term, it’s time to awaken from the fever dream.

14

u/golden_eel_words 6d ago

Bullshit. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.

Biden doesn't have the mental acuity to be the leader of the free world. That deterioration doesn't get better with age: it degrades further and further. We're basically saying that we're okay with voting for someone incapable of communication "because we have to". Bullshit.

I'll be voting for Biden but I'm not fucking happy about it. I like his administration enough to stomach voting for a guy who is no longer capable of fulfilling core parts of the job. That's pathetic and I don't feel great about it, but Trump literally means the end of the American experiment as far as I'm concerned, so it's all I've got.

If they put any other capable democrat in as a candidate my enthusiasm would probably return. It's unprecedented, yeah, but there's a better chance of Trump losing if Biden isn't his opponent. I truly believe that.

1

u/flickh Canada 6d ago

You say that but if they put in a new candidate you could easily be like “Yeah but he supported drone strikes” or “she’s too capitalist” or “they voted against single-payer” and we’d be right back here  - with a flawed candidate, but with much less time to build momentum

6

u/golden_eel_words 6d ago

I rank core cognitive functions above wedge issues like those. Being able to speak cohesively is a requirement first and foremost. Anybody who is capable of that is an upgrade, regardless of whether we agree on actual policy.

Case in point: very few people are talking about any of the actual positions or policies discussed last night, because it's hard to do that when this problem overshadows everything. If whoever replaced Biden had done drone strikes or voted down single payer it would be an easier pill for me to swallow than Biden's cognitive decline. Those issues can be discussed and changed, but you can't fix the brain.

In other words, yeah, maybe I wouldn't love everything about his replacement, but at least we'd be talking about issues again. And literally anybody is going to come out on top of policy versus Trump, even if they ate babies every Summer solstice.