r/politics • u/Murky-Site7468 • 4d ago

'Chill The F**k Out': John Fetterman Urges Democrats To Stick With Joe Biden | The Pennsylvania senator reminded panicked Democrats on Friday that he too had a bad debate once, yet he went on to win his Senate seat.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-debate-john-fetterman_n_667ea850e4b0415858d6a2f1
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u/essidus Minnesota 4d ago

The problem is that, right now, all of America believes that the Joe Biden we saw last night is an accurate reflection of how he is normally. If that's the case, we're in trouble.

Some people are saying that Biden has a cold or something. That might be (though it still doesn't reflect well on his cognitive function), but if that's true, Biden is going to prove it hard. He's going to need another extended public session showing how effective he really is. Otherwise, this debate is going to haunt him all the way up to the election.

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u/Ok_Abrocoma_2805 4d ago

Yeah and the people brushing it off as “it’s just a cold” are huffing copium. They need to read a transcript of some of what Biden said last night. A lot of it was literally nonsensical. Biden looked confused, tired, and scared. Having a sore throat doesn’t cause all that.

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u/TheIllestDM 4d ago

He literally said he "defeated medicare".

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u/BuckeyeForLife95 4d ago

He took the most slam dunk issue he has on Trump, abortion rights, pivoted it to immigration, and gave an anecdote that reinforces Trump's opinion that illegal immigrants are all violent criminals.

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u/justinlindh Montana 4d ago

This was the point that I lost it and started screaming at my TV.

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u/ExcellentLaw2066 4d ago

Yeah it’s kinda weird how folks are trying to change the narrative (“the debates don’t matter!”) after the world saw how incoherent and confused Biden was last night.

Look, I don’t want trump to win at all, he’s a threat to the country but ignoring Bidens declining cognitive functions…it’s reminiscent of Hillary’s camp ignoring advice in 2016. 

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u/TheMalarkeyTour90 4d ago

There's been a really weird shift in the last ten years. Pre-2016, campaigns were desperate to get all the negative feedback they could, as early as they could. It was essentially treated like a stress test. Find out your vulnerabilities, be honest with yourself about them, and work your ass off to address them.

Since 2016, campaigns seem to have been far more focussed on coddling their candidates, burying their heads in the sand, deflecting, and whatabouting perceived weaknesses. And that's not just a left or right thing. It's across the political spectrum.

I'm not sure if it's an effect of social media generations entering the political consultancy sphere. But it seems like nowadays unquestioning loyalty to The Team has become more valued than calling hard truths, or the sort of difficult self-reflection that used to allow campaigns to adapt, overcome their weaknesses, and win.

Polling is such an instructive example of that. A decade ago, campaigns were desperate to get their hands on negative polling. They'd pore through it endlessly - almost neurotically - to try and plug perceived gaps and deficiencies.

Nowadays, if a campaign gets wind of unfavourable polling, it's more likely than not to dismiss it out of hand as its favoured form of Bottery and Mischief.

I cannot overstate how counterproductive this approach is for those who actually want to win, rather than just feel good about themselves.

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u/ExcellentLaw2066 4d ago

Everything you said is spot on and a reality of the current political landscape. 

I’m not sure the dems realize all of trumps gaps and deficiencies don’t harm him as bad as the gaps and deficiencies would harm Biden. Trump literally said certain jobs were for Black and Hispanic but I doubt he’ll lose a many voters from it (along with being a felon).

Biden however will lose votes on his performance after last night. Plugging our ears does not make us win, it simply pikachu-faces us like 2016.

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u/sir_mrej 3d ago

Republicans vote in lock step. That’s why he’s not hurt by it. Democrats need to as well.

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u/_kraftdinner 4d ago

I think a lot of it has to do with 2016. We watched as a competent person win the popular vote but then still lose to a madman. I’m not saying Hillary is perfect, but I think Trump winning was the most terrifying election result in my lifetime. I happen to be a history nerd who was raised by an addict with a personality disorder….so Trump terrified me from very early on.

If the only other option wasn’t totally insane and trying to be a dictator, people would probably be way more chill about Biden’s age/mannerisms last night. We are feeling the pressure to be perfect because most Americans know that Trump supporters can’t be persuaded, aren’t logical, and will show up to vote. I guess long story short, we have ptsd at the societal level. Anyway, wouldn’t it be nice if things got better for once? 😂

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u/Gishra 4d ago

And a glorious victory for America it was!

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u/dltegme 3d ago

No he literally said he beat medicare. Why use the quotes for your paraphrase

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u/TheIllestDM 1d ago

OHHHH jeez sorry defeated and beat so different. It was right afterwards.

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u/StickingItOnTheMan 3d ago

Ummmm acktually he said “we finally beat Medicare”  I rate that’s a false on the fact check meter

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u/seasiren_666 4d ago

to be fair, sicknesses actually do affect the elderly much different. a simple UTI can cause delirium.

(not at all saying this is what happened, but they are super old so things will affect them differently)

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u/Ok_Abrocoma_2805 4d ago

You’re definitely correct. But that’s not reassuring to voters, that their president is so old and feeble that we have to worry about his physical and mental stamina if he gets a common cold or a UTI, something a non-elderly person could get through no problem. I say this as someone who will vote for Biden but it’s not inspiring confidence.

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u/Seamus-Archer 4d ago

If there’s a second debate it could be game changing. If Biden comes out just as flat it confirms suspicions that he’s old and feeble, if he comes out swinging and coherent then it’s easier to brush off the first debate as being sick or whatever. The undecided voters need confirmation that Biden is the guy or they may sit the election out and hand it to Trump.

A single bad debate performance isn’t the end of a campaign but Biden can’t have this be his only showing between now and Election Day, he has to convince people last night was the exception and not the norm.

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u/seasiren_666 4d ago

I absolutely agree. Biden is in his 80s and Trump isn't far behind. Trump is just as susceptible to UTI induced delirium as Joe. we need young people in office.

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u/Ok_Abrocoma_2805 4d ago

Yes please! Can we get someone younger than late 70s? It shouldn’t be such a big ask! Imagine a younger, confident-speaking Democrat to contrast to fat old rambling Trump who most people hate anyway? Dems wouldn’t even have to worry. What a sad state of our country.

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u/Cayucos_RS 4d ago

I agree, but I don’t want to wait through another 4 years of a Trump train wreck to get that. Biden will lose this election if he runs. He is not cut out for the job and we need better, now.

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u/fcocyclone Iowa 4d ago

Yep. The presidency isn't a job where you can be great on your great days and bad on your bad days.

You have to be on the ball 24/7, ready for that 3am call where suddenly you're headed to the situation room to deal with a crisis.

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u/no_one_lies 4d ago

Saying sickness affects the elderly differently does not help him beat the old and feeble allegations

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u/seasiren_666 4d ago

it wasn't supposed to. it's just the truth. both Biden and Trump are susceptible to illness induced delirium and confusion because they are old.

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u/WorkWorking4477 4d ago

True but do we also want someone so old that a simple health hiccup causes this stuff? Dude should be spending his remaining years with his family.

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u/seasiren_666 4d ago

100% agree. get the elderly out of office. why are we voting between two people that a simple UTI could take down?

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u/Randomfactoid42 Virginia 4d ago

When I have a cold I have problems concentrating. And everything Trump said was nonsensical, Biden was actually staying in touch with reality. He was obviously having trouble keeping up with Trump’s nonsense. So did a lot of people watching. 

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u/Businesspleasure 4d ago

I’m 33 and if I had a cold I would have been spouting nonsense too, and looked like shit