r/politics • u/wsj The Wall Street Journal • 2d ago
I oversee the WSJ’s Washington bureau. Ask me anything about last night’s debate, where things stand with the 2024 election and what could happen next. AMA-Finished
President Biden’s halting performance during last night’s debate with Donald Trump left the Democratic Party in turmoil. You can watch my video report on the debate and read our coverage on how party officials are now trying to sort through the president’s prospects.
We want to hear from you. What questions do you have coming out of the debate?
What questions do you have about the election in general?
I’m Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Coverage Chief, overseeing our political reporting. Ask me anything.
All stories linked here are free to read.
proof: https://imgur.com/a/hBBD6vt
Edit, 3:00pm ET: I'm wrapping up now, but wanted to say a big thanks to everyone for jumping in and asking so many great questions. Sorry I couldn't answer them all! We'll continue to write about the fallout from the debate as well as all other aspects of this unprecedented election, and I hope you'll keep up with our reporting. Thanks, again.
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u/Revolant742 2d ago
How feasible is it really, at this stage, for Biden to be replaced with a new candidate for president?
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u/SodaCanBob 2d ago edited 2d ago
I feel like pulling your candidate 4 months before the election would usually be like shooting yourself in the foot, but with how unpopular both Biden and Trump are it seems more like the country is begging for literally anyone else (that isn't a nutjob like Kennedy).
At the same time, anyone who might have an actual shot (like Newsom or Whitmer) might not want a potential loss to Trump to be on their resume should they choose to run in 2028 and would ideally prefer a full-length campaign, so who the hell knows. I think we're really in unprecedented times.
Looking at the 2020 primary candidates doesn't instill a ton of hope either, Bernie is cool but replacing an old guy for an old guy doesn't seem like a smart choice, Warren isn't in the spotlight in 2024 as much as she was 4 years ago, and I'm not sure if the country is willing to vote in a gay guy with Buttigieg (and going even further back, John Kerry is also 80. Al Gore is only 76 though, so.. progress!).
Doesn't Ohio also have a ballot deadline that the party would be fighting against?
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u/TheBoggart 2d ago
James K. Polk was nominated shortly before the election, no? Not that something that happened 150 years is really a useful touchstone.
Edit: Except that maybe he voluntarily chose to only do one term…
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u/emaw63 Kansas 2d ago
James Polk was funny like that. Campaigned on annexing more land, did that, and then declined to run for reelection because he was like "what do you mean reelection? I'm already finished"
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u/TheAnalogKid18 2d ago
Polk is lowkey the best President ever at completely fulfilling campaign promises and then fucking off. I'm not saying that what he accomplished was necessarily exemplary, but he wasn't a bullshitter, and I respect that.
Now we can't get politicians to go the fuck away after they've half-assed campaign promises and spent half their time in an elected office just trying to get re-elected.
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u/Budget-Falcon767 2d ago
🎶"In four short years, he met his ev'ry goal! He seized the whole southwest from Mexico! Made sure the tariffs fell, and made the English sell the Oregon Territory! He built an independent treasury! Having done all this, he sought no second term!"🎶
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u/SodaCanBob 2d ago edited 2d ago
James K. Polk was nominated shortly before the election, no?
He was nominated at the convention in May, but I'm sure an election pre-Civil war, a hell of a lot less states, and lack of modern media looked a lot differently too. This was a time when the only people who could vote were white guys, so the demographics and number of people and groups you had to appeal to wasn't nearly as complicated.
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u/Eject_The_Warp_Core 2d ago
Nominating at the convention was standard at the time. When Garfield was nominated by the GOP in 1880, he was at the convention to support John Sherman. But when no candidate could gain the majority, someone suggested Garfield, and despite his protestations, he secured the nomination.
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u/IvantheGreat66 2d ago
That was before primaries, where conventions determined the winner. Defying them now wouldn't look good.
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u/DrPepperBetter 2d ago
Buttigieg would have annihilated Trump at the debate though. He went unchallenged so many times last night 🤦
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u/ehunke 2d ago
I have a bit of a facisnation every election watching the 3rd parties and independents...want to know why they don't do well? here is what we had in 2020 to pick from other then Biden and Trump: Howie Hawkins, Green party founder who was once a promising opposition candidate who has become a bit of a crybaby with a "its not fair" campaign. We had some nutcase Libertarian who thought the answer to our problems was defund everything and leave everyone to fend for themselves with for profit pubilc services. From there we had Don Blakenship with the constitution party thanks but no thanks, and a handful of far left and far right nutcases with no qualifications. I am a Biden fan, I will happily vote for him again. If you want another option, you have to get one of the minor parties to put together a platform, and get on the ballot everywhere, actual engage the voting public and above all that...get someone who people could actually see as President and make sure its someone who can actually do the job.
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u/MaximumPotate 2d ago
The only way a third party ever stands a chance, is if we get ranked choice voting. Since we don't have that, the two parties have too much power in and over our system of government that no third party candidate has or will ever stand a chance without an alteration to the rules that allows for it.
Our politics are ruled by a duopoly, which is only slightly better than a monopoly, which under democracy is almost effectively the same thing as a monarchy.
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u/Beginning_Cupcake_45 2d ago
The third parties need to more seriously start at the lower offices and build their way up. The Republican Party was a third party once. They didn’t just come out the gate with Lincoln and win everything. These other parties need to run for dog catcher and everything else rather than emerging every 4 years for the top spot and then basically quietly going away.
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u/PetFroggy-sleeps 2d ago
Newsom is a bad pick. Just look at California’s issues and anyone would agree the nation - especially swing states - do not look highly upon California.
It has the most revenue of any state government. It has the highest cost of living. It has the poorest outcomes for state-run services. Newsom is a bad choice.
Moreover he even stopped giving live State of the Union addresses due to the negative perception within the state itself
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u/willzyx01 2d ago
Newsom was at the debate for a reason. He knows he’s a perfect candidate for this.
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u/SRhyse 2d ago
Bigger problem is how to switch out Kamala because no one likes her, either. She’s potentially less liked than Biden. Which is a feat.
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u/JRFbase 2d ago
The Kamala issue makes this thing that much more complicated. She was a horrible choice for VP in 2020 and absolutely nobody likes her. There's a reason she dropped out of the race before the primaries even started. In a "normal" scenario Biden would resign and Harris would be the nominee as the incumbent. That's clearly not an option.
So now if Biden is replaced the Dems are going to face questions as to why Kamala was picked at all if she's clearly not up to the job. And that's not even getting into how some people will react to the black woman VP being passed over for the job.
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u/SRhyse 2d ago
She’d have to fail upward in some way, or be bought off. If people just came together and gave her a giant book deal or some kind of committee position that did nothing but made millions a year, I think she’d probably just take it if that was the price. I can’t see her stepping down of her own accord if it wasn’t being bought off to do that.
It all is a glaring example of how the system is rigged though. Nobody wants Biden or Kamala to run and nobody really did, they were just forced on people. Nobody really likes any of the candidates. Trump does have some authentic support but even with him it’s more that people don’t like the alternatives.
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
I would say it is feasible, yes. Is it likely, no? But last night wasn’t likely either. Democrats will have to decide fairly quickly what to do. If they are going to replace Biden, he’ll essentially have to step aside. It would take a tremendous effort to rapidly unify the Democratic party behind a single candidate at this stage and not have the party splinter into numerous camps, but they might not have a choice. They’ll know in the coming days how much damage occurred during the debate. If fundraising dries up quickly, they’ve got a big problem. So far it doesn’t appear that happened, but time will tell.
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u/NoHoHan 2d ago
The main argument coming from the most vocal backers of Biden is "anybody but Trump". I don't know why people keep pushing this idea that it will be hard for the party to unify around somebody else-- polls last year showed over 60% of Democrats were united in the belief that the incumbent president (of their own party) shouldn't run again. That is unprecedented.
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u/GigMistress 2d ago
And who would it be? It seems the reason this didn't get any serious consideration earlier in the game is that no one could come up with a viable replacement. Those many Dems would prefer, like Newsom, won't garner a single vote from the sane Republicans and moderate-to-conservative independents who were crucial last round.
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u/_TheWolfOfWalmart_ 2d ago
Those many Dems would prefer, like Newsom, won't garner a single vote from the sane Republicans and moderate-to-conservative independents who were crucial last round.
This. He's a slick politician and a good debater, but many of his policies are just a non-starter for too many people outside of extremely liberal places like CA and NY.
Gavin might lose literally every swing state.
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u/ardent_wolf 2d ago
This is why we need to have actual competitive primaries, without the DNC conspiring with candidates they prefer.
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u/deferential 2d ago
Obviously, The DNC must have had all along a plan B (and even a Plan C and Plan D...) in case Biden would suffer a medical emergency (or worse) that would make it impossible for him to run as a candidate. They just must have the guts to invoke that plan and go with it. Even if that would mean Kamala taking over the top of the ticket and picking another running mate.
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u/GigMistress 2d ago
That doesn't mean they had one that was going to work.
For example, maybe they did think they'd have to move Harris up to the top of the ticket and take the largest loss in presidential election history. Doesn't make it a good option, or mean they should accept defeat before it was absolutely clear they had no choice.
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u/NumeralJoker 2d ago
I don't love what happened last night, but there's a lot of time to get back on track and less than 24 hours after it happened, it seems to not be his new norm.
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u/9159 2d ago
It wasn’t just his voice or how he was speaking though. He was fumbling the most simple talking points. Basically anyone else in the Democratic Party would have done a better job. Objectively, removing his age and stuttering, he did an incredible poor job - and then came out and said he did an amazing job… he’s supposed to rise above Trumps level of delusion. Not sink to match it.
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u/ButtEatingContest 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yeah he should have brutalized Trump. It was a rare situation where Trump was lured out of his safety bubble and actually would have to confront somebody - anybody - who wasn't MAGA, and the media would be obliged to cover it. Then Biden dropped the ball bigly.
Biden might have gotten away with being a little fragile if he landed more hits and didn't say stupid stuff about "beating Medicare" and rambling on about golf. Not a good look.
Biden's inability to handle this easy set-up seriously brings into question his ability to run the country, and to deal with many of the serious foreign policy issues that are going on right now. Not to mention handling MAGA's attempts to steal the next election, which won't be that much of an issue if Trump genuinely wins.
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u/Illtakeaquietlife 2d ago
Seriously. The bickering about golf was infuriating. All he had to say was "I'm the president of the United States. I don't have time to play golf, you absolute felon".
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u/NoHoHan 2d ago
Yeah, that was incredible. Trump voluntarily highlighted something that everyone hates about his presidency-- the massive amount of time he spent playing golf instead of working. And instead of pouncing on that, like any rational person would do, Biden decided to go with "I play golf too and I'm better than you at it!" What the actual fuck, man...
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u/Entertainment-720 2d ago
This is exactly the point I've been trying to make to people.
We knew he was old and has a stutter, that's not news to anyone. The most alarming part of last night was how poorly he did tactically. He simply cannot react quickly or think on his feet at all anymore. He opened himself up for easy dunks countless times and showed zero ability to steer the conversation to his administration's strengths.
Sure, Trump wasn't answering the questions but strategy-wise that was a smart plan in this debate format whether we like it or not. Steer the conversation to your talking points and avoid your weaknesses.
For any fence sitters who (somehow) don't believe Trump is a threat to democracy, last night they saw one man who lied a lot but spoke to his strengths with conviction vs a man who looked wholly unable to handle the most difficult job in the world right now, let alone for the next 4 years.
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u/winnie_the_slayer 2d ago
There is a very frustrating amount of gaslighting coming out of the Biden campaign.
"The economy is super great! the 60% of you who are really struggling are just imagining things and need to look at these cooked statistics!"
"Biden did great last night! not sure what you were watching, but he really hit Trump hard with that alley cat line!"
"Biden is totally spry and high energy in meetings, even though his public appearances don't show that at all!"
"If we just talk about how great our policies are, people will love us and vote for us!"
etc. etc.
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u/ActualModerateHusker 2d ago
He did admit today he doesn't debate or speak as well as he used to. Honestly Biden being honest about his current state might be the best thing he can do now beyond dropping out. Even I almost feel sorry for him despite how deeply disappointed I am with the Democratic party for elevating him in 2020
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u/Equal_Present_3927 2d ago
That doesn’t matter. The clips of him looking senile and confused aren’t going away and is it worth the risk of him performing like this at the next debate two months before the election? There isn’t going to be a third debate and Harris can’t carry Biden and her own baggage
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u/One-Structure-2154 2d ago
Next debate?!?? There can’t be another debate. His campaign is on drugs if they think he should do another one.
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u/CarlottaStreet 2d ago
It had already been agreed upon and scheduled before the first debate happened. Sept 10th.
For Biden to still do it is likely suicide. For Biden to renege on doing it is absolutely suicide.
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u/Aldrik90 2d ago
Yeah he's okay in the middle of the day reading a teleprompter. That was never up for debate. But that does not change what happened last night and what millions of people saw in front of their eyes. He could have to take an important call at 3am and he's clearly not with it enough to handle that.
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u/MaineEvergreen 2d ago
Ya, it's like arguing John Elway could still be a starting QB because he threw a pass in the backyard
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u/YummyArtichoke 2d ago
As long as the worlds issues happen before 2pm, then all good!
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u/bgarza18 2d ago
Was last night unlikely? I don’t know a single person in real life who was surprised by Biden’s performance, mostly just sad that it was so bad. Why are media remembers, who have more access to the president, seemingly so shocked at last nights debate?
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u/BattlePope I voted 2d ago
I was surprised it was so bad. When you look just a couple months back to the State of the Union, that was a totally different vigor.
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u/scorpious 2d ago
This is the ONLY question I find compelling at this point.
The DNC handed trump 2016 by forcing Hillary on everyone. Now they are DOING THE EXACT SAME THING.
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u/ElonMusks12thChild 2d ago edited 2d ago
People voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary and it was a close general election.
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u/colluphid42 Minnesota 2d ago
A close election that should have been a Democratic landslide. It would have been with a candidate that people didn't hate. It's not totally fair how Clinton was portrayed, but the GOP spent years going after her reputation. The lies worked, and the Dem party faithful pushed her to the nomination anyway.
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u/elmorose 1d ago
This is worse. They lied and lied and lied about Joe, who can no longer speak reliably without a teleprompter. They declined the Super Bowl interview to hide it. They say he has lost a step. Lies. He has a problem. Do we see 82 year-old Bernie gaping open-mouthed, not blinking, and struggling for words? No. He gets on TV regularly without notes and hits his points pretty well.
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2d ago
Biden is the current president and is an (old) man - it's not the same situation as 2016.
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u/AssassinAragorn Missouri 2d ago
Well, I'll go with the title. Where do things stand with the 2024 election, and what could happen next?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
Smart questions if I do say so myself!! Before the debate, Trump appeared to be slightly ahead of Biden, leading in almost all of the key swing states. Biden was still within striking distance though. We’ll all be paying special attention to the post-debate polls (which will start coming out very soon). If even Democrats are saying Biden’s night was a mess (which they are), then it can’t help his polling. Trump didn’t have a dominant performance, but contrasted with Biden - side by side on the stage - it helped Trump tremendously because Biden couldn’t effectively attack.
What could happen next?
- Fundraisers could flee, causing panic and forcing Democrats to decide whether to try and nudge Biden off the ticket.
- Trump’s Supreme Court ruling on immunity Monday could change the focus back to his legal problems.
- The race could slip further from Biden’s reach.
- He could mount a massive comeback.
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u/Mindless-Ad-9803 2d ago
Is Trump given a pass on the mountain of lies and wins the debate; even without answering almost any questions the public is interested in hearing? Or does the media not have a responsibility to the public to report actual truths?
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u/UnstoppablyRight 2d ago
It's never about the questions, it's not a test.
It's whoever is more appealing on stage. It's theatre baby
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u/KingHavana 2d ago
Like the Kerry vs Bush debates. Kerry proved absolute mastery over every single topic, and Bush proved his ignorance. However Kerry was accused of looking like a "know it all". People declared him the loser.
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u/regmaster 2d ago
Damn, and to think hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Middle Eastern folks could still be alive today if Kerry didn't come off as such a know it all. God damn we're so stupid.
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u/DanoGuy 2d ago
HOW??????????????????????? HOW CAN A RAPIST, A CONVICTED CRIMINAL, WHO STOLE SECRETS, WHO SUBS FOR RUSSIA, IS A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR AND BRAGS ABOUT STROKE TESTS AND HAS ROE V WADE WRAPPED AROUND HIS THROAT BE AHEAD?
one day I will wake up from this coma - I know it.
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u/Aggravating_Pizza668 2d ago
Because we have a two-party system, and one of those parties is filled with uneducated, gullible voters who have been lured into fervently supporting a manipulative, narcissistic conman. And the rest of the country is now forced to rationalize and legitimize his success because he's now the leader of one of our two political parties.
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u/colluphid42 Minnesota 2d ago
This is the end result of how the GOP has operated since the 90s. They lied more and more, and it just kept working. And then along comes Trump, who lies about literally everything. And it still works! The GOP has accepted that truth doesn't matter now. Their voters are split between gullible true believers and people who are in on the scam but don't care about truth because they want to remake America into a theocracy.
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u/Aggravating_Pizza668 2d ago
Remember when the Tea Party was a fringe movement, not the entire Republican Party?
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u/I_make_things 2d ago
Because the news just wants to sell newspapers/views/whatever. They will ignore a mountain of lies to focus on someone flubbing lines in a debate, even if the intent behind those lines was perfectly clear.
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u/crazymemeer 2d ago
The Democrats have terrible PR you have a guy (Trump) who did very little to help the middle class as president. He did nothing to make healthcare or drugs affordable. He did nothing at the border before he could pass an order after covid hit. He actually screwed this cohntry during covid by acting like it was nothing and killed over a million people. He gave the wealthy a huve tax break while the middle class break is expiring. He also aleinated our alies . Why arent the democrats yelling this from the rooftops. And i hear very little pr on Bidens accompljshments.
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u/Mindless-Ad-9803 2d ago
They are screaming from the rooftops. Unfortunately, the WSJ and many other publications don't care to print the truth that you just stated. They would rather keep us reading click bait about Biden being old then remind us of who Trump was.
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u/Mindless-Ad-9803 2d ago
I just want to point out, now that you are finishing up, you haven't answered any questions from those of us who expressed concerns about the bias in your coverage and the lack of reporting on Trump. There are many concerns in this thread. Now would be a good time to acknowledge one, or admit you are unfairly biased.
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u/BigBeefnCheddarr 2d ago
Have you ever seen anything like this? Doesn't need to be at a national level.
How does what we saw compare to Regan's second term?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
Very interesting question. I need to watch Reagan’s debates more closely. During his second term (when there were rumors about Reagan battling dementia), he didn’t spend as much time ad libbing in the public view. Aides shielded him from scrutiny quite a lot. Biden tends to be out and about, but he frequently stays on script or uses a teleprompter. Biden seems to be incredibly comfortable mixing it up with the crowd, talking to people, and being himself. And that hasn't changed (he actually just delivered a fiery speech a few minutes ago...). But during the debate, he was low energy and at times looked lost. That image will stay with people for a while.
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u/whatDoesQezDo 2d ago
Aides shielded him from scrutiny quite a lot.
Biden hasnt answered unscripted questions from media in atleast the last year every time they get done the preordained questions the hoard of aides come in and start screaming.
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u/skillfully-ignorant 2d ago
The WSJ’s top headline is “Democrats privately discuss replacing Biden…”. Who would likely take the conversation public? What would that announcement look like? Is everything likely to remain “private” until Biden himself announces a decision to step down?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
Great question. IF it goes in that direction, which is a big IF, the most likely scenario is people close to him would encourage him to consider stepping aside and then only go public if he refused and they felt they had to. It would be an incredible moment. This all seems unlikely, but last night seemed unlikely too.
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u/Special-Affect-7928 Tennessee 2d ago
Are Democrats in Washington seriously considering looking for a way to replace Biden? Are there conversations happening around this? The Dems need a stronger candidate.
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
The timing of the debate is certainly not ideal for Democrats. Biden performed very well during the State of the Union speech in March. He surprised voters - and Republicans - leading to a feeling that he was ready to spring across the finish line in November. Here was a headline from Peggy Noonan on the editorial page "State of the Union Shows There's Life in the Old Boy Yet."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/state-of-the-union-shows-there-s-life-in-the-old-boy-yet-e1319b97
So several months ago, when the primaries were still ongoing and there might have been time to rush another candidate (besides Dean Phillips or RFK Jr.) into the mix, Biden looked stronger. Now the primary season is effectively over. That makes the process more complicated if Democrats decide they want another candidate.
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u/Special-Affect-7928 Tennessee 2d ago
Thanks for the response.
But what about the conversations Democrats are having today in Washington, if any? Not the people like Newsom and Whitmer who have come out in support of Biden and his performance. Are the Dems in the House and Senate having closed door meetings regarding the rest of this campaign and their re-election campaigns going forward from last night?
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u/puzzlednerd 2d ago
Is it fair to say that the extreme optimism after the state of the union address, and the extreme pessimism after the debate, were both overreactions? Frankly, I wasn't terribly surprised by either performance. It isn't surprising that he was able to hold it together for a well-rehearsed speech, but wasn't able to hold it together for a fast-paced back-and-forth affair.
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u/PeacefulAtheist 2d ago edited 2d ago
As someone not from the United States but aware of the importance of specific swing states in deciding the election as opposed to the national popular vote, is the Biden campaign facing a potential death spiral?
From my understanding he was already trailing in the major swing states and after last night’s performance it’s unlikely to get better. If anything, the gap might tend to widen.
What are the potential ways for Biden to turn this around or does he have to hope for external factors like Trump’s legal woes? As someone to the left of American politics, this looks like it could be a dangerous election to not win for the dems in terms of democracy for the United States.
Edit: I’m not even asking about Trump and fact checking his constant lies because that’s something that seemingly is not possible to be done in real time. I’m concerned about the sitting president and how he can ensure his campaign continues.
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u/Spare-Dingo-531 2d ago edited 2d ago
As someone not from the United States but aware of the importance of specific swing states in deciding the election as opposed to the national popular vote,
I talked about this in a comment on another subreddit.
https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/michigan
https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/pennsylvania
https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/wisconsin
Trump is winning each of those states in the polls, albeit by a small margin. This is really the Democrat's only opening, everywhere else that isn't a safe Democrat state, Trump is absolutely destroying the poll averages. And the Democrats need all three, no realistic combination of states can replace even a single loss in the Great Lakes states. You can play around with the map here if you want: https://www.270towin.com/
If the debate only keeps the poll numbers the same, assuming the polls are accurate, Trump totally wins the election.
What are the potential ways for Biden to turn this around or does he have to hope for external factors like Trump’s legal woes?
1) Do better on the second debate. Also, hope Kamala Harris does good in the Vice Presidential debate.
2) Hope for some sort of external factor. But even then, at this point, I don't know what that might be.
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
Great questions. Biden has been running a very controlled campaign. He has been mostly holding events that are closed to the public. He works off of teleprompters. He doesn't do many media interviews. He doesn't even meet as much as he used to with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. He probably needs to change the script. That could mean doing impromptu interviews. Putting himself out there more. He needs to SHOW Americans that he isn't the same person that they saw during the debate. And he might have to do it again and again.
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u/PeacefulAtheist 2d ago
Keeping your answer in mind and taking it further, I wonder if being more unscripted can prove to be a danger further to Biden considering how he seemed during the debate. While I personally prefer looking at the content of what’s being said, campaigning as a 80+ year old is already difficult and strenuous. The American public and even the media to a certain extent seem focused on general appearance, manner and body language. I worry if he’s going to be willing to change course so dramatically. Lack of Campaigning in particular swing states is what doomed HRC in 2016 according to many post mortems of that election.
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u/Upset_Version8275 2d ago
Honestly he seems to do better in unscripted settings or reading off a teleprompter. In situations like last night where he has to memorize scripted answers that's where he really struggles. You see him interact with people normally and he seems sharper.
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u/Loggus 2d ago
He needs to SHOW Americans that he isn't the same person that they saw during the debate. And he might have to do it again and again.
The million dollar question: in your opinion, would he actually be able of such a feat? We have been told again and again that Biden is sharp behind closed doors; what we collectively saw last night doesn't follow. Was this just an off night, or is this who he is at this point?
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u/YummyArtichoke 2d ago
Obviously not wsj, but imo the damage has been dealt. We all saw it and we all know he's old. This might not be how he always is, but that is how he was when the spotlight was on him.
People today pointing out his rally and how he's so much better. Sorry, but negotiations with world leaders happen off script and without a teleprompter.
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u/SurprisedJerboa 2d ago edited 2d ago
Poll averages show it is about even nationally, with Biden slightly leading last week
By Swing State, Trump has a small lead in Arizona. Fair lead in Georgia and Nevada.
Biden has a fair lead in New Mexico, Colorado.
The Fake Electors trials will impact Swing States significantly, that's what I would keep an eye out for. Trials won't happen this year, but there's evidence that will likely come out, as there are already been a few Plea Deals made.
As of this [June], elector cases have been filed in five states. Michigan and Georgia went first last summer. Nevada followed in December. Arizona and Wisconsin filed charges this year.
The Georgia prosecution is the only one to directly implicate Trump. It’s also the only case so far that has led to guilty pleas. To date, four of the original 19 defendants have entered pleas.
The Arizona case: 18 people were charged with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, including top current and former Trump aides like Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff; Rudy Giuliani, a former Trump lawyer.
Wisconsin brought charges earlier this month and was the only state that didn’t charge any fake electors at all, focusing instead on Trump campaign advisers.
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u/Universal_Anomaly 2d ago
Do you think it likely that there will be further debates?
I imagine that Biden would look for opportunities to make up for last night's poor showing, but every debate now poses a serious risk as anything other than a very strong performance would further feed into the now very dominant opinion that old age has caught up with him.
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
No, I don’t think there will be another debate. Trump has no reason to debate Biden, unless Trump stumbles badly or his legal problems force him to need to shake up the race in some way.
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u/Maladal 2d ago
Didn't they already agree to the second debate in September?
If the GOP believes Biden is weak they'd want to repeat this performance again closer to their election no?
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u/palwhan 2d ago
I don’t think that I agree with this logic. They already agreed to a debate, why would Trump want to look weak by withdrawing after Biden shot himself in the foot so badly last night? Much more likely he presses his advantage if he can, and at a debate closer to the timing of the election (this was a very early debate, which could be the one and only saving grace for Dems).
The best moments for Trump weren’t even when he was talking, it was when Biden was and stumbling.
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u/tweakingforjesus 2d ago
Biden was 100% improved at the Waffle House event after the debate. I'm not sure what happened in between.
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u/SewAlone 2d ago
His idiot advisers sent him out there to do what he DOESN'T do best, which is recite things. He's best when he's talking off the cuff. Doesn't help that he was sick.
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u/Ry-Vell 2d ago
I heard people comment on there not being water present at the podiums, and that he might have been dried out and stifling coughing all night. I'm not defending his performance, but that would check out if 10 minutes later he was Joe again.
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u/tweakingforjesus 2d ago
I was looking forward to watching Trump perform the two handed water bottle move again.
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u/Hipz 2d ago
Surely he can ask for a water during commercial brakes though right?
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u/Lordvalcon 2d ago
Who can even talk to Biden about how he truly did?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
His family and close aides. But he just held a rally an hour or so ago and looked like a completely different person. Full of energy and spunk. So maybe he just had a bad night? The problem is, it was a bad night to have a bad night.
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u/SlightRiverBend 2d ago
Why did the moderators refuse to moderate?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
CNN has defended the performance of the moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. It's a difficult balancing act, knowing when to step in and when to let the candidates debate. There were several occasions when Trump skirted a question (one in particular about Russia and another about Jan 6) when the moderators followed up to put him on the record. Those led to quite newsy moments.
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u/explosivepimples 2d ago
They cut both Biden and Trump’s mics at appropriate times. What would you have them do?
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u/Red_Persimmons 2d ago
Cut the mic when not actively addressing the question asked. The moderators literally told Trump he could talk about whatever the fuck he wanted.
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u/Assumption_Dapper 2d ago
The purpose of the debate is to let the candidates speak their mind and voters to make the decisiom for themselves. It’s untenable for the moderators to try and fact-check in real time (we’d still be at the debate right now if that were the case)
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u/explosivepimples 2d ago
His unwillingness to answer was a clear enough message to me.
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u/StrawberryPlucky 2d ago
Yeah but you're probably not someone he cares aboutb unless you were on the fence.
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u/KingGoldark New York 2d ago
If President Biden does end up withdrawing from the 2024 ticket, is it feasible for Democrats to nominate someone other than Kamala Harris without causing severe rifts in the party base?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
Replacing Biden with someone besides VP Harris at the top of the ticket would be a very difficult thing for Democrats to do, but it’s also very possible that the party might try to do that. Coordinating this all behind closed doors would be fraught.
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u/donkeybrisket 2d ago
Legit question: What happens if either one of these extremely old candidates dies of natural causes before the election? Do their running mates auto get selected, or is there a more nuanced process?
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u/gopoohgo 2d ago edited 2d ago
Hi.
What are the odds of an open convention after last night? Are there any legal/Dem party hoops that need to be jumped to make this possible?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
Yes, many hoops. But the odds are not zero.
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u/Sorry-Let-Me-By-Plz 2d ago
Why did everybody freak out over Biden being old and quiet when the actual substance of his performance was pretty standard and not very alarming?
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u/bwy97754 2d ago
I am but a simpleton and not the WSJ, but I'd say it's because in American politics it's all about optics. The average American voter could care less about the ins and outs of the policies that a candidate presents. They just care how you look while you say stuff. Biden looked like a frail and weak old man. Trump was just his usual self; boastful, non-stop word salad filled with misinformation and insults. Unfortunately, though, all the voter saw was a confident Trump and a seemingly weak Biden.
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
This is a very thoughtful question. First of all, I would say the substance of his performance was not pretty standard. A number of his answers were not complete sentences, trailed off, or didn't make sense grammatically.
But in terms of style vs substance, we've learned over time that the optics matter a lot. The Kennedy / Nixon debates are the best example. But George HW Bush checking his watch, Obama's peeved reaction to Romney in 2012, Paul Ryan gulping water in the VP debate. Those things leave an impression. Americans WATCH debates. They don't just listen to them.
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u/Mindless-Ad-9803 2d ago
How do you feel about the media latching onto a narrative of Joe Biden being underwhelming instead of pointing out the incredible amount of lies and misinformation being supplied by a candidate who has voiced an intent to be a dictator? Can the media be trusted to ever keep the truth accountable, or are you just excited to elect a demagogue?
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u/_WhiteOwl_ 2d ago
I don't understand how people can still say that was anything other than a complete disaster that should disqualify someone from driving a bus much less running a country.
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u/bebemaster 2d ago
It wasn't being old and quiet. It was him not being able to maintain coherent thoughts. Getting millions billions and trillions mixed up, "beat medicaid", rape from sisters when talking about abortion, golf, etc. I'm not freaking out, I just want a chance at a better president than these two bad and god awful candidates. There is no way in hell Trump would EVER step aside, and Biden has a real chance of losing.
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u/dynamobb 2d ago
Millions and billions seems unfair because it is more a slip of the tongue. The other stuff was very different and the most painful was when Trump called him out.
Theres a difference between being garbled and stammering and nonsensical. The moments when he appears to have lost track of what he was saying
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u/jonlmbs 2d ago
He clearly rehearsed too much and didn't have the mental capacity to save his train of thought or sentences when he got off track. It came off very poorly (obviously).
If you distill what he was trying to say it becomes obvious he rehearsed and understood the question. He just couldn't effectively debate and came across weak. He's really lucky Trump wasn't meaner - that would have probably benefitted Biden.
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u/bravetailor 2d ago
Because image matters more than substance to a large block of voters, sadly. Most people in here and commenting on them have already made up their minds; it's the ones who haven't we should be concerned about
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u/notcaffeinefree 2d ago
The debates have been about style ever since the debates were first done. Seriously, the first general election debate in 1960, between Nixon and Kennedy was a disaster for Nixon because he didn't look good on tv (even though he was a good debater).
That even the Democratic Party didn't/doesn't seem to understand this is mind-blowing.
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u/pluterthebooter 2d ago
Not the WSJ - but it’s because every election has always been a popularity contest. Very rarely if ever has the less charismatic candidate won, and Biden couldn’t string together a sentence while Trump was wrong but came off confident.
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u/Mindless-Ad-9803 2d ago
Millions of people didn't watch the debate and have been shown by the media that Biden looked old and weak while neglecting to report Trump ignoring the moderators, not answering any questions Americans wanted to know, and making up lies and false information. It is a failing of journalism. A failing of the WSJ and many others.
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u/figs_housecat 2d ago
I had the debate on in the background when I was making dinner, I swear I heard them boomerdrop “the blacks”. Did I mishear?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
According to the CNN transcript, here is what Trump said:
"He caused inflation. As sure as you’re sitting there, the fact is that his big kill on the black people is the millions of people that he’s allowed to come in through the border. They’re taking black jobs now and it could be 18. It could be 19 and even 20 million people. They’re taking black jobs and they’re taking Hispanic jobs and you haven’t seen it yet, but you’re going to see something that’s going to be the worst in our history."
He also said, re Opportunity Zones:
"It’s one of the most successful economic development acts ever in the country, opportunity zones. And the biggest beneficiary are blacks."
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/politics/read-biden-trump-debate-rush-transcript/index.html
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u/readingaccountonly 2d ago
What options are there for replacing Biden as the candidate? Does he have to willingly step down himself? Additionally I’ve seen plenty of people calling for X and Y as the replacement but how would one of them actually get chosen without a primary? Would the DNC just have to choose one?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
Great questions! We tackled some of them last night and we’ll be answering more of them in the days to come.
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
I particularly like your question about Replacement Candidate X vs Replacement Candidate Y. Since the primaries are effectively over, it would be hard to deal with a contested choice between two people trying to replace Biden on the ticket. It could get quite messy, especially when there are issues like Israel and immigration dividing the party.
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u/hellocattlecookie 2d ago
I can tell you ....
Per DNC current rule (((((((but keep in mind the DNC is a private corporation who can change or ignore their own rules at any given moment in time including writing a new rule to purge Biden at will))))))).
In a pre-Convention drop out, the simplified explanation is the bound delegates (3,894 of 4,000) become unbound, new candidates seek to gain a majority of delegates to cinch nomination. A bit more detailed explanation, if no candidate wins a majority in the first round then 740 “superdelegates” become eligible to vote to in selecting the nominee.
Post-Convention - Harrison consults Congressional leadership and the Democratic Governor's Association, he then takes their guidance to the DNC where per the party's call 438 DNC folks discuss and then seek a majority vote on who will be the new nominee.
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u/Fabulous_Sherbet_431 2d ago
Thank you for doing this!
In your opinion, how serious has the conversation been around a transition to another candidate? There’s a lot of speculation from the outside, but that doesn’t mean much.
If it did come to that, would you see a Kamala Harris run? Or another center-left candidate like Whitmer or Shapiro?
Do you think there’s any evidence to the kind of wacky conspiracy that this concern has been brewing for a while, and because the debate was Biden’s team’s idea, that it was insiders forcing the issue as early as possible?
You might not be able to answer this, but I feel like his cognitive decline has been there for everyone to see over the last few years, but there’s been a collective denial of it in order not to cede ground to the other party. I was wondering what your thoughts were on this.
Thanks again!
Signed, a concerned center left Democrat who has been really impressed with the Biden administration and incredibly concerned about Biden himself.
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
I won't express an opinion here, because I honestly don't know. I do believe that anything is possible. They do still have time to make a change, if that's what they decide they must do. But the decision really has to be Biden's.
Re his acuity, I'll share our story from a few weeks ago:
edit for free link: Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping
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u/nzernozer 2d ago
That article doesn't seem credible to me. It states very directly that almost all the people reporting signs of Biden "slipping" are Republicans, and the specific reasoning they give is incredibly vague. The few times the article describes actual events it's mundane things like mixing up a name.
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u/gopoohgo 2d ago
Follow up: do you feel any vindication after the vitriol your paper received after that story?
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u/AT2512 2d ago edited 2d ago
Obviously we have seen plenty of speculation in the media about whether Biden should drop out and be replaced by another candidate. Do you think that behind closed doors there are / will be people directly pressuring Biden to do that? Or if it were to happen (as unlikely as that may be) would it be entirely his decision?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
It will almost certainly have to be his decision, at the end of the day, but Biden does spend a lot of time consulting with longtime aides and family members. He listens to what they say. If certain people tell him certain things, he could be convinced. The question will be: If Democrats believe Biden’s poor debate performance could lead to a landslide blowout across the ticket, wiping out Democratic candidates for the Senate, House, and governorships, then it becomes a more existential problem for the party.
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u/hellocattlecookie 2d ago
Question about mainstream media's collusion
Biden's decline didn't happen overnight, so why did the mainstream media run cover prior to the debate and what was the deciding factor to change this course and why not closer to the convention.
Also who tipped off Charlie Kirk last week leading him to post :
Be ready for a July surprise.
Very possible they pull Biden and sentence Trump to prison on July 11.
The entire race could be just about to change.
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u/hypnofedX Massachusetts 2d ago
Keep in mind the sentencing Trump to prison is different from him actually going to prison. It's likely the sentence will be stayed pending appeal given the number of ways that the verdict lacks prior precedent.
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u/pluterthebooter 2d ago
There’s been plenty of grumbling from anonymous staffers that Biden was not up to the task, check out the reporting from Axios
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u/hellocattlecookie 2d ago
Biden's cognition (ie early symptoms of age-related decline) has been a political topic since 2019 but the mainstream media largely covered for him and accepted 'WH' clarifications over Biden's cognitive stumbles/gaffes with little pushback over the fact that Biden is POTUS and not some nebulous 'WH' who can speak over Biden.
I have nothing nice to say about Donilon.
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u/ProgressiveSnark2 2d ago
Biden stuttered and mispoke throughout his State of the Union speech, which the media and viewers declared was a victory.
Why do you think people viewed his debate performance as such a disaster when, arguably, the same challenges with Biden speaking were apparent in both events?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
I disagree. Biden’s performance during the State of the Union was forceful, energetic, and defiant. Even Republicans were taken aback by how well he performed. There were several big differences between the two events (both of which started at 9 pm). The biggest difference: Biden had a teleprompter during the State of the Union. During the debate, he did not.
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u/TheDeVirginater 2d ago
Do you think it's likely Biden will dropout? Who do you think would be best to replace him?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
It's certainly not likely. But it's possible. Who could replace him? There's a long list, but there's not an obvious choice.
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u/Trousers_MacDougal 2d ago
What sorts of things are Democratic officials telling you off the record that might surprise people? After the debate performance, are there things you've never heard before being said or unprecedented actions being considered?
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u/Zealousideal_Pay_778 2d ago
In the UK, replacing your candidate this late on would be suicide, and would give the opposition an open goal, would it be as frowned upon in the US? Cheers:)
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
It would be an incredibly risky move, yes. And - at least as of an hour or so ago - Biden and his team looked prepared to forge ahead and shake the debate off as a bad night.
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u/BioDriver Texas 2d ago edited 2d ago
Why are you and the rest is the MSM focusing so much on Biden’s age instead of all the glaring lies and threats to democracy Trump was spewing?
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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 2d ago
Biden is the president. The Wall Street Journal wrote an incredibly comprehensive story earlier this month about his acuity and his performance behind closed doors.
We also cover Trump very comprehensively as well. It was the WSJ, after all, that broke the Stormy Daniels story.
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u/Tyslice 2d ago
Yes but dont we already know he can pause and stutter? This wasn't about what if he needed to debate random candidates like is he going to need to debate someone other than trump at this point? This was about him debating trump. I get that we see that biden didnt perform in a way that would make him look good on a debate stage amongst many candidates, but he still made his position clear and answered questions. How did he do trump v biden? Biden stuttered, trump lied. Biden got tripped up but Trump literally didnt answer almost any questions. This was an easy win with the clips if you focused on substance for sure. Theres multiple instances of the same question being up on screen and trump uses all his time to talk about something unrelated or the last question. But no lets just focus on biden being slow, cause he is the president. It doesnt matter whats at stake. We all know the state of things is that mostly undecided independent voters may decide the election and how is this reaction supposed to help, the news saying "the democratic party is in turmoil." By focusing on bidens age when he is still the only one out of the two to actually give answers and a plan, instead of trump and his lies and dodging, its just telling/helping independents to vote for trump. Smart people on the fence could look past him being slow and see that trumps answers were FOS but they wont even see that cause you guys are "focusing" on the President and doing trumps damage for him.
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u/dynamobb 2d ago
At a certain point the delivery and appearance can be so shocking that it’s silly to just engage with the substance.
If Biden showed up in a black face, having shaved his head and wearing a wife beater, you wouldnt expect us to focus on the substance of the debate.
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u/fraohc 2d ago
Holy shit, this answer was so bad I might as well be watching Trump talk about migrants as a response to a question on climate change.
Maybe we could try again like last night?
Mr. WSJ, Ill remind you that the question was not about previous articles you've written or Stormy Daniels. Rather, the question is: why are you and the rest of the MSM focused so heavily on Biden's lack of charisma instead of the firehose of lies and fascism perpetrated by Donald Trump last night?
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u/swains6 2d ago
That's not an answer. Why are y'all ignoring the insane amount of lies he spews. That's what you should be covering, not an old man has a sore throat.
How about trump shrugging like a 4 year old when biden asked if he'll leave nato, or trumps comments on "black jobs" or the crazy lies about immigrants just walking around slaughtering everyone? Or just any sentence he managed to spew out since every single one was filled with lies.
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u/thisishowibro93 2d ago
The Biden campaign is pretending that he did a good job last night. What do you think is actually going on within the Biden campaign?
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u/Lenticulata 2d ago
Thank you. I made myself watch the whole thing, and the only comfort I could find was the thought that now they are forced to consider replacing him. But this morning the world is full of gaslighting denial about how bad he did. His answers were”quiet but clear “. He lost the plot on multiple questions. I love Biden and I love so many things he’s done, but he is finished. If he stays in the race,Trump wins, full stop.
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u/tcrypt 2d ago
the world is full of gaslighting denial about how bad he did
They've been doing it for years which is why people are so surprised now that they finally paid attention for 90 minutes.
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u/junkit33 2d ago
Problem is if they stop the gaslighting now, it raises an awful lot of questions about how long this has been going on for and why nobody who knows better has spoken up about it.
Either the guy we saw last night has been calling the shots, or somebody else has without the public knowing.
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u/Dag330 2d ago
Is being a politics reporter like you thought it would be? What has surprised you about the job?
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u/weird_al_yankee 2d ago
How can America realistically implement ranked choice voting? The parties are so entrenched that they don't care what the average person thinks. I don't expect things to change for this year's election, but it would be nice to have more viable options, and this year proves that more thoroughly than any other election cycle.
Note: I expect that both parties would fight this tooth and nail. The RNC and DNC don't want to give up an ounce of power, which is one more reason why it needs to be done and why it can't be done legislatively.
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u/brain_overclocked 2d ago
For those interested here are a couple of maps showing which states have RCV and to what degree, and which states have banned it:
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u/Lancerino1 2d ago
What percentage of prominent democrats that you are aware of are actually in favor of replacing Biden at this point?
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u/Mindless-Ad-9803 2d ago
Is it your responsibility as a journalist to keep power accountable? If so, why has there been so little reporting about the incredible amount of lies and misinformation being supplied by Trump, even though he talked louder and has a fake tan? Will you at the Wall Street Journal stand up and protect democracy, not through both side narratives, but by honest reporting of what the candidates would mean for the country if elected?
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u/NeverSayNever2024 2d ago
Who can believe anything what the Wall Street Journal has to say? They are owned by Rupert Murdock of FOXNEWS. And as we all know, FOXNEWS lost almost a billion dollars, in a lawsuit, for 2020 election lies.
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u/TheParadoxigm 2d ago
Why is the media intent on hurting America in exchange for ratings/views/clicks? Why allow people to peddle lies and self interest instead of fact checking and actually researching claims?
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u/anylastway 2d ago
What about this argument: 1) a debate is not a cheap entertainment ploy for clicks, it’s a tradition in US presidential elections
And 2) it’s Biden’s job to challenge Trump on the lies in real time. CNN did a huge fact check AFTER the debate. But it was Biden’s job to call Trump out
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u/dannyjeanne 2d ago
This is what really pisses me off. I understand freedom of the press is very important, but there is a difference between "the government not going after the media for telling the truth" and "holding the media accountable when it tries to lie."
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u/GeometricWolf 2d ago
Capitalism? What industry hasn't at some point tried to manipulate, or actively harm, customers for more profit?
Energy companies? Tobacco? Guns? Telecom monopolies? Pharma? Predatory lending? Factory work? Predatory food sales? List goes on and on. Why would media be different?
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u/Gator1508 2d ago
Explain why no one in the media is talking about Trump basically giving up on the Ukraine war in favor talking about of Biden’s stuttering ??? Trump literally said our ally cannot win. The implication being he will let them lose.
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u/TheTaoOfOne 2d ago
I'm not sure why it's even a question of who to support.
Our choices are between someone who occasionally struggles to answer questions but is well intentioned, or someone who will outright lie about everything and who wants to be a day-1 dictator.
Why are we pretending like Trump is even close to being a moral or better choice?
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u/flsurf7 2d ago
From a very basic perspective, I'd say mostly because this is our country's pinnacle of a leadership position, and the top candidates can't maintain a train of thought or speak clearly. Therefore it is really confusing as to why we're presented with these two choices.
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u/TheTaoOfOne 2d ago
I agree that it shouldn't have come down to these 2. The fact is though, that it is. Neither party is replacing their nominee.
So why are we pretending like there's even a choice as to who the better candidate is for this country.
One oversaw an insurrection and promised to be a day 1 dictator. The other stutters and is sometimes slow answering questions.
Like, in a normal, civilized society, there's literally no choice as to who is better.
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u/Simmery 2d ago
I am not saying you're wrong. But you are not going to turn apathetic voters around with the message "Sure, we aren't listening to you, but vote for us anyway because the other guy is worse."
This election will come down to margins. And I sure wish it would be a blow-out for anyone who runs against Trump, but people have to face that it's not going to be. Polls aren't everything, but they shouldn't be discarded. And the polling is bad. Biden is not improving the situation with what happened last night.
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u/opinionsareus 2d ago
Why didn't the press report widely on the FACT that Trump lied about almost every claim he made? Instead, they reported on Biden's "halting performance", without acknowledging that he was debating with a sore throat?
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u/rocksolid77 2d ago edited 2d ago
Hey guys Ask Me Anything! I just won't answer 80% of them and of those that I answer, half of them will be thinly veiled plugs (link and all!) for my absolute rag of a newspaper.
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u/Mikolaj_Kopernik Australia 2d ago
My question is this: what's the point of debates? Like, really? I know the media loves them for the show but realistically they have absolutely nothing in common with actually doing the job. I'm pretty confident that I could have beaten either of these clowns when I was 15 on the high school debate team. But 15-year-old me would have made for an exceptionally poor administrator of the world's biggest economy...
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u/Least_Geologist_5870 2d ago
I watched the debate and was panicked in the first 20 minutes with Bidens low energy and confusion. But as it went on, Trumps lying just got to me and I found Biden to be better. I was unhappy that the CNN panel was so negative. Do youthink they were feeding off the negative energy of their social media contacts and didn't have ample time to reflect on the outcome? I thought it was a knee jerk over-reaction, and Harris interview with Cooper confirmed it.
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u/TintedApostle 2d ago
Given all things in and commenting on Biden why is Trumps lies and rants allowed to go unquestioned? There is more than enough computer power in the world to handle both discussions.
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u/Barbarella_ella Alaska 2d ago
Not to be purposely gross, but a little over 2 hours into the debate, Trump audibly sharted. Only his mike was open, so it was absolutely him who lost control of his bowels on stage. Why isn't anyone pointing this out during this loud questioning of Biden's "fitness"? Biden isn't the one wearing diapers and sharting himself.
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u/trshtehdsh 2d ago
We want to hear from you. What questions do you have coming out of the debate?
Why is Biden the big story and not how Trump accused Democrats of murdering children? Or how everything he said was a lie? How he hasn't changed his rhetoric from his extremist Nazi rallies at all when speaking to the general public?
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u/ExactDevelopment4892 2d ago
Why does the WSJ work so hard to promote extremist right wing agendas?
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u/mikerichh 2d ago
Not seeing this talked about much but what are your thoughts on Biden sounding less hoarse and more energetic during the post debate speech and next day. What are your thoughts on this?
It’s insane to me how much different and better Biden sounds during the post debate speech or the next day
After debate speech:
https://x.com/acyn/status/1806525054295085188?s=46&t=fxCRZCvbTuxpZC-wjcE_cQ
Next day:
https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/1806743512613863537?s=46&t=fxCRZCvbTuxpZC-wjcE_cQ
At first I thought it’s the late nature of the debate but at 11pm the same night this voice is clearer and less hoarse and he has more energy/more volume. And the next day he sounds much better. crazy how different he sounds
If it’s the cold symptoms during the debate that’s really unlucky timing
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u/mrsunshine1 I voted 2d ago
I read that unless Biden or Harris are on the ticket, all money and resources the campaign has cannot be used for a replacement Democrat. Can you speak on this? And how big of an obstacle would this be to the idea that Biden can be replaced with only a few months to go?
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u/backpackwasmypillow 2d ago
Shouldn't there be a stronger focus on how one debater said very little of substance and very many false and inflammatory statements? Why isn't that just as bad?
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u/Signore_Jay Texas 2d ago
Why does the media just not also hammer Trump for his age? It’s a three year difference but why does Biden get the short end of the stick on this topic?
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u/Look_Im_Not_Sure 2d ago
I'm curious as to the importance of Gavin Newsoms' inclusion to the debate. Previously he debated Ron DeSantis, in what seemed like a mock-presidential debate (thought it was clearly a last ditch effort for DeSantis to defend himself against any democrat to gain traction with the republican party and ultimately against trump), and seems to have a great deal of things to say about being president.
Is Gavin Newsom being included as a standard bearer of the democratic party or is he attempting to vie for the presidency?