'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.

[u/Murky-Site7468]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-debate-john-fetterman_n_667ea850e4b0415858d6a2f1

[u/TheMalarkeyTour90]

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.

[u/ExcellentLaw2066 → u/TheMalarkeyTour90]

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.

[u/sir_mrej → u/ExcellentLaw2066]

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

[u/_kraftdinner → u/TheMalarkeyTour90]

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? 😂