It's Not Like The Dems Didn't Know That Biden Would Be 81y/o In Nov 2024......

[global1]

They knew this going into the primaries. If Biden's age is a factor - why didn't they put up challenges to Biden during the primary season?

Why is all this surfacing now? Did his bad debate performance bring all this to the surface OR was this age issue ruminating in the background all along?

All this Dem disarray could have been avoided if they would have just let a Dem Primary play out and address this age issue back then. It could have all been handled in the background without airing all this dirty laundry now.

At least we would have some viable alternatives as back-up to Joe now.

All this disarray is just letting the Repugs get the upper edge now -- because they have unified behind Tr**p (a convicted and treasonous felon) and because of all this commotion - they have fragmented the Dem Party.

This is a watershed election - that could be our last election - because we let Tr**p and the Repugs get the better of us.

We had/have one goal - and that is to prevent Tr**p from ever regaining the WH.

The longer this whole issue plays out - we're just creating the opportunity for the Repug Party (the one that always looks like they are on the brink of extinction) gain the upper hand.

[JohnSJ]

1. The problem isn't the people who nominated President Biden, but the big donors who are threatening to

cut off the donations unless they get their way.

[Scubamatt]

4. Logical

Nothing about what is happening makes sense to me. Your explanation is a logical one and because this supposed concern about his one debate performance appears to the average persons as "trumped-up" (no pun intended), you are left to speculate along the lines that you lay out. Why don't the big donors like him? Is it because of the tax audit thing?

[W_HAMILTON]

2. My theory is that...

...the big donors knew they could never put up a candidate that could beat Biden in the primary, and even attempting to do so would be political suicide for those with ambitions of higher office. That's how we ended up with Dean Phillips inexplicably dumb and pointless primary challenge.

But big donors knew they could dangle their dollars at other political nobodies to get them to mount a pressure campaign to force Biden out AFTER he had been democratically selected by the voters, because they knew this was their only route to select the nominee. They never had a chance at doing it through our democratic primary system because no one was going to beat Biden -- period.

[SheilaAnn]

3. I recall Joe saying he would serve one term, and then when trump announced he would run again, Joe said he was the only

one who could beat him and announced he would run again. I was an Elizabeth Warren backer and was surprised when Joe said he was going to run for the second term. I like him well enough and will certainly vote for him if he's the candidate. I think his statement that he would serve for one term and then changed his mind has confused many, I dunno just rambling here. This is all quite upsetting and the leadership is reall starting to look like bullies.

[ITAL]

5. He never said that

Biden at times implied he'd only serve one term (transitional president, etc), but he never actually said so publicly.

[Scubamatt]

6. Totally agree

What is leadership's plan to get all the people who voted for Joe in the primaries to not be totally pissed at what clearly seems an astro-turf campaign? Sure, I will vote for anyone who isn't Trump, but I know a lot of folks will likely stay home because this really plays into the "no difference between the parties" meme. (I don't agree with that, btw - but I know a lot of folks who think this way. If this election is all about energy and turn out, how is anything the leadership doing helping?

[Ms. Toad]

7. Knowing he would be 81,

and knowing the impact 81 might have on him are two very different things. The former may be just a general background-level concern - not sufficient to disrupt the normal scenario that if an incumbent president chooses to run again, there are no serious challengers.

The latter, as it played out on a national stage and in private according to some who have more access to him in recent days than I do, may be more concrete.

How people age can be unpredictable - and can change more quickly - than at a younger age. And denial is not just a river in Egypt. I know that from personal experience with a spouse who is experiencing a second major decline in abilities - who is completely unaware of it. A comment attributed to Biden shortly after the debate - "I thought it went Okay" really struck me - since it was so obvious it didn't go Okay.

It's not ideal. But dealing with it now would be better now than dealing with it two months from now. If there is something going on, beyond a bad night, I hope those closest to Biden can help him do whatever is best for the country. And it is dangerous to assume that those who do have access to him are working on behalf of big money, self-interests, hoping Trump wins, etc. It is much more likely that they can see things that we cannot.