General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Post removed [View all]democrattotheend
(12,007 posts)I wish he had decided not to run again, which was his original plan (he strongly implied as much himself in his recent BET interview). He's done a great job and he deserves another term, but watching him over the past few weeks, I can't deny how much the presidency has aged him. I do believe he is still "all there" mentally, but he seems old and weak and unfortunately, perception is reality in American politics. I watched his interview with Lester Holt and his press conference and even though his answers were great on substance, he still just seemed old and tired and not nearly as sharp as he did in his debate against Paul Ryan in 2012 or even in the 2020 campaign. Most Democrats will still vote for him but they aren't excited about him (so may not turn out as much, donate as much, volunteer as much, etc.), and concerns about whether he will still be up for the job in four years will probably influence at least some swing voters.
On the other hand, I think switching candidates now is a big risk, especially if Biden does not go willingly, as it seems he won't. It would divide the party, especially since it seems that at least some influential people want to skip over the person we nominated four years ago to be his successor to the presidency. I think swapping out Biden with anyone but Kamala would be divisive, and while I personally would be really excited to vote for her, she seems to be not that popular either for reasons I don't understand. And she is far less well tested and experienced than Biden. I think there is a lot of risk but potentially more upside for a replacement candidate - higher ceiling but lower floor. It may be a risk worth taking if Biden's poll numbers don't increase in the next couple weeks. And make no mistake, being only 2 points down or even tied in the national polls is not good enough - he probably needs to win the national popular vote by at least 4 points to win the electoral college, and that doesn't even factor in the fact that Biden in 2020 and Hillary in 2016 did worse against Trump than the polls predicted.