r/politics • u/Murky-Site7468 • 6d 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 6d 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 6d 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 6d ago

He literally said he "defeated medicare".

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u/ExcellentLaw2066 6d 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 6d 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 6d 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 Washington 6d ago

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