I wish CNN would look at your results and realize that they should be talking about the content of the debate and not the optics. By repeatedly pushing the bad night they are normalizing the spouting of lies and rhetoric and avoidance of any meaningful response to a “debate” question.
And the problem is made worse by all of the Dems who are amplifying the media's focus on Biden's poor performance. The situation would be different if we all got behind Biden and told the media what we think of their poor coverage. I wrote NPR about a terrible "fact check" they did.
Getting behind Biden even with a poor performance is how you lose an election. It almost sounds like you want State run media. The media shouldn't cover up a story because it's negative about the President no matter what political party they are affiliated with.
Heather Cox Richardson wrote a great column about the tactic that Trump used during the debate. She indicated that the huge problem for anyone on the other side is that there are so many lies coming out, the other party can't figure out what to respond to in the limited time available. So they stumble. (It's easy for Trump to sound confident when he's just lying.) She said anyone who was in Biden's position would have struggled too.
Biden is not now, nor will he ever be a good at that is laughingly called "a debate." And that's fine with me because these events are a waste of time ... the only appearances should be town halls where the voters ask the questions, there is no time limit on the answer, and the moderator is available to fact check the speaker and/or draw out additional information.
I'd note too that Biden's travel schedule in the days leading up to the debate was bone crushing ... he was tired (we all would be). The poor performance is to be blamed on staff for putting him in that situation and for agreeing to terrible rules (e.g., no fact checking in real time).
Had I been advising Biden, I would have had him come out and tell the audience immediately "Go to Biden.com and Facebook where a team of experts will be providing real-time fact checking of Mr. Trump's statements." They also will be correcting me if I misspeak. And he should have told everyone he had a cold and apologized for the raspy voice.
President Biden is like former President Carter ... far better than we Americans deserved.
That CNN decided not to fact check the debate in real-time played right into Trump's hands, and he made great use of this opportunity that they handed him. Nothing he said was true, and no one called him on his lies.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. As Jay Kuo wrote in his newsletter, when Lyndon Johnson decided not to run in the 60's, a contested convention resulted in chaos and a lost election. This will be no different. This would all go away if the Dems (I'm an independent voter) would embrace Biden in spite of one bad night like the
R's embrace Trump in spite of his plethora of falsehoods. According to social media, every last one of my friends is still supportive of Biden, right after the debate he had an enormous amount of donations, and he had the same old +1 or -1 in the polls that he's always had. I do not know why Democratic leadership is so intolerant of someone having a bad day or a lapse in judgement, but I feel like this is Al Franken 2.0 but with more dire consequences. They really need to get over their tests of purity/perfection. It doesn't exist.
There is a difference between reporting an event and amplifying it. The media has been amplifying Biden's poor performance and ignoring all other aspects of the debate.
How can CNN justify not having real-time fact checks on a candidate who they know lies incessantly? That omission shows that they are not interested in objective reporting!
I want the media when we still had a Fairness doctrine and Walter Cronkite before Faux entertainment started indoctrinating viewers with daily opinion celebrities.
I want the news presented as facts with both viewpoints offered as options.
I want a Congress that debates and compromises on issues to benefit Americans and doesn’t just vote as a bloc with power as the only goal.
I don’t think we have any hope for the future I want if Trump wins the election. We need to fully support democracy, character, values and the policies of the Biden TEAM and not allow Trump and MAGA to continue the spread of spite, vengeance and complete control of our future and chance of any freedoms.
The media blackout of Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips during primary’s was horrific. The media is worse than state sponsored, it is corporate sponsored propaganda.
Reporting isn’t the issue. It’s the one-sided mass amplification, theorizing, grabbing bits of rumor & running amok with it is the issue. Yet not a peep about 115 lies Trump told. No, “reporting” isn’t the issue. The how is the issue.
Plus, a poor performance in a debate isn’t -or shouldn’t be - the measure of fitness for a presidency - which is bigger than one man, btw.
What media are you consuming? They were more than happy to report that Biden did poorly in the debate. And voting for Don the Con will surely guarantee that there will be state run media.
This is no longer a choice between Trump and Biden. This is a vote for or against autocracy. If Joe thinks he’s not up to it I have no doubt he’ll step aside. Quit listening to the click bait pundits. I’m sticking with Joe and democracy.
Yep. The 13 key historian says to stick with Biden.
We need to view the debate as a single data point. President Biden has had a lifelong stutter. Overall he has done well with learning to cope with his speech disability.
As someone with family members with speech difficulties I can assure you that they are cognitively intact even when they are struggling with formulating a sentence.
Having faced a patient using a Gish gallop against me I can tell you it’s very similar to being hit with a firehose. Now take the additional challenge of having to carefully formulate the response and you can see the net impact of a faceful of bull crap.
If you read the transcripts President Biden clearly answered the questions asked while also trying to confront the bull crap.
Now if you look at the last 2 days President Biden has forcefully and coherently made his points.
It’s not a good idea to toss a candidate who still has the core abilities to handle policy with the support of a gifted staff.
Yes indeed; it is appalling how the media shapes and influences the public’s perceptions. Putting front and center, for example, a previously anonymous Texas congressman, calling g for Biden to step down. Who the fuck IS this asshole?
In contrast, Trump is given a pass on his firehose of lies and outrageous distortions and his unending legal losses for fraud, rape, and theft, not to mention endless business failures. Then there is his treason and sedition and Two impeachments.
The Christian fascist SCOTUS, too Must be made the central issue in this election and its power leashed and circumscribed, else all is lost. “A Republic, if you can keep it,” Franklin once observed. We are on the razors edge
Exactly. The Constitution contains not one mention of God, Jesus, or Christian. Let alone immunity. The Ivy Leagues need to retract the law degrees they bestowed on this unethical cabal.
Biden needs to stay in the race. There is no viable alternative --none (unless Jeff Jackson were to run :) ). Seriously, Biden has been, and is, a good president. We don't need to throw him under the bus. We need to support him. Trying to run another candidate at this point is the same as handing the election trump. Which would mean dictatorship and Project 2025. No thank you.
Jeff, for what it's worth, I think President Biden had a bad night, but I do not think he should drop out of the race, no friggin way. The other candidate is a convicted felon, a sexual predator, a liar (which was evident during the debate) & hell bent on destroying our democracy. Joe Biden is one of the best Presidents this country has ever had & I firmly believe he is more that capable of serving another term with just as much if not more success. You can tell that to whoever in DC that's asking. Thank you for your updates & insights & I look forward to having you as our next AG.
Yep. The 13 key historian says to stick with Biden.
We need to view the debate as a single data point. President Biden has had a lifelong stutter. Overall he has done well with learning to cope with his speech disability.
As someone with family members with speech difficulties I can assure you that they are cognitively intact even when they are struggling with formulating a sentence.
Having faced a patient using a Gish gallop against me I can tell you it’s very similar to being hit with a firehose. Now take the additional challenge of having to carefully formulate the response and you can see the net impact of a faceful of bull crap.
If you read the transcripts President Biden clearly answered the questions asked while also trying to confront the bull crap.
Now if you look at the last 2 days President Biden has forcefully and coherently made his points.
It’s not a good idea to toss a candidate who still has the core abilities to handle policy with the support of a gifted staff.
If you didn’t see President Biden speak the next morning in North Carolina. He was perfectly fine. Everybody has a bad day. Everybody has a bad night and we should not be judged based on that one day. I was thoroughly energized, and my spirits were when the president spoke Friday. If you didn’t see the speech, look it up under YouTube and if there anybody else would do the same, we would not be having these discussions about replacing Biden at all. Jeff Jackson, stay true to who you are. That’s why we all love you for you're unique style and your truthfulness.
I also saw the rally in Raleigh. Biden performed well. Someone said his campaign should use the performance in campaign ads.....I agree. The whole tizzy of "Should we keep him or replace him" is using up all the air in the room. Music to Trump's ears!
Someone used my email address and I inadvertently got added to your mail database. This happens a fair amount to me and I normally just unsubscribe and move along. However in your case.... I haven't. I'm English and I live in Yorkshire, but I'm horrifyingly obsessed with American Politics - well, really with the potential prospect of the 'Orange One' being re-elected and the globally geopolitical impact that that could have directly on me far away here in England. I must say though that I have stayed subscribed to your mailshots because you have regularly provided me with a refreshing, lucid, and plain language insight into some of the more daily workings of American politics that has been both informative and educational. Sadly I see quite distinct bubbles of the increasingly partisan and strident tone of recent year American Politics take off over here now too, particularly with the more 'conservative' elements in the political system here as well as in other European Countries. I'd like to wish you all the best for you AG campaign and thanks for my regular update - I'm going to stay subscribed if that's alright.
I totally agree! I have been a reader and admirer of Heather Cox Richardson for quite a while. Each day she seems to put reason into chaos. I have seen a couple of interviews with her as well. I don't miss her daily blogs and look forward to her explanations and ideas of what's going on. She is an outstanding historian!
Absolutely all right! I was just reading about the situation in your country. Sounds like your choices are not easy from what I could tell, not being terribly well informed on the candidates.
Replace Biden please. There must be five or 10 candidates could fulfill the job and then we will win the election. I’ve been voting since 1968 and I am totally convinced. We are in a losing position if we stay with Biden, who is a good man, but not the man for the job at this point in time
I am not confident that any of the possible replacements can win the election, but I fear that Biden's campaign performance will slip even further and he will lose in something resembling a modern-day landslide. States like Virginia and Colorado could be in play. If so, the impact the down-ballot races would be devastating, making it far too easy for Republicans to take control of Congress and even more State legislatures.
Switching horses now is risky, but riding the one we have now into the ground is more so.
just going on the record to say that dumping our president, who not only is the only person to beat Trump but whose first term has been hugely impressive, and who has given the party some new swagger in advancing American interests abroad and doing much-needed work on tattered alliances...is political malpractice, madness. we are working ourselves up to throw away enormous advantages in this race that people are missing bc polls, while the essential contours of the race are unchanged even after the awful debate. pls read Stuart Stevens' brilliant wake-up call in The Atlantic, it clarified things for me and presents an analysis I haven't seen anywhere else. thank you, Jeff, for listening to your constituents and not jumping on the dump-Joe bandwagon. Dems have the pro-democracy, high-achievement, human decency candidate. we're skulking when we should walk proud. nothing in this world blows all that up like abandoning the man who has led us through this perilous time and who points to a democratic future, as opposed to the autocrat-in-training. show some spine, Democrats, stop playing into the stereotype that we're weak and lame. if we do this we turn the country over to Trump and Project 2025, and we will deserve it bc we will have done it to ourselves. "never surrender in advance" is one of the rules against autocracy. heed it now, fellow Democrats, or we will regret it for the rest of our lives.
All the debate about the debate is obscuring a crucial discussion:
6 SCOTUS judges just armed their Culture War president with the armor of absolute immunity.
I hesitate to say “Culture War” because for most voters, it’s a metaphor. I think for those judges, the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation, all the way down to the MAGA militias, it’s a *literal* war.
That asymmetry should now be in STARK relief. In every communication with voters. Not screaming, certainly, but it has to be talked about, no matter how uncomfortable that might be. I certainly don’t want to contemplate it.
The head of the Heritage Foundation just called this the “2nd American Revolution.” The first was freedom from King George. The 2nd, apparently, is “freedom” from our Constitution.
Never been a more fundamental difference at stake in an election. Ds need an understandable way to talk about it, and they need it ASAP
I personally think that the President should withdraw, but I see no reason for Jeff to comment on this any further. Let's stay focused on the AG race. Thank you for the narrative about what it was like on the House floor the morning after the debate. I hope and expect that you will be able to ride your bike to work in Raleigh in 2025!!!
Yep. The 13 key historian says to stick with Biden.
We need to view the debate as a single data point. President Biden has had a lifelong stutter. Overall he has done well with learning to cope with his speech disability.
As someone with family members with speech difficulties I can assure you that they are cognitively intact even when they are struggling with formulating a sentence.
Having faced a patient using a Gish gallop against me I can tell you it’s very similar to being hit with a firehose. Now take the additional challenge of having to carefully formulate the response and you can see the net impact of a faceful of bull crap.
If you read the transcripts President Biden clearly answered the questions asked while also trying to confront the bull crap.
Now if you look at the last 2 days President Biden has forcefully and coherently made his points.
It’s not a good idea to toss a candidate who still has the core abilities to handle policy with the support of a gifted staff.
Robert Hubbell said it best..."The media has latched onto the Joe Biden debate performance and has anointed itself as the kingmaker of Democratic politics. They have concluded that Joe Biden is out of touch and unable to focus. They are telling the American people what to believe because—of course—we should believe the press, right? When has the press ever been wrong before? They want Joe Biden out of the race—damn the damage to democracy!
The media is whipping itself into a self-sustaining nuclear reaction of disinformation—because they can smell the increase in profits just over the horizon if they can force Joe Biden out of the race."
Wise words - don't be a pawn of the media!
From Stuart Stevens of The Atlantic..."My advice to Democrats: Run on that record; don’t run from one bad debate. Show a little swagger, not timidity. Forget all this Dump Biden nonsense and seize the day. Now is the worst time to flinch. Your country needs strength. You can crush Donald Trump, but only if you fight."
Please call on Biden to end his campaign Jeff! In a moment where so few voices are brave enough to go against the party line, your voice would make a difference.
All of us feel lied to and we need someone to tell the truth. When Obama tweeted that "bad debates happen but it's still a race between a good man and a threat to democracy" he left our the option of OTHER good men / women standing in for Biden.
By contrast, you're one of the few politicians who actually treats his audience like they're sensible - and not stupid. Please represent our collective common sense on this one
You do not represent our collective common sense. The majority of us are behind Biden because we know he’s a good man, a good leader, a great President and is the only Democrat at this late stage who can win the election.
I recommend you read Christopher Bouzy on all the reasons trying to change the nominee would be a complete disaster and Trump would definitely win the election.
A Rob, I've read many good articles, pro and con. I don't agree with Bouzy. What I think is that we stick with Biden we lose, not just the presidency but also many downstream races. An albeit risky alternative to a doomed strategy is a sensible approach.
Thanks for the reference, I just read Bouzy's thread on the topic. His argument can be summarized as:
1) Biden has more capital, trust, brand recognition, the "incumbent advantage", and the bully pulpit
2) Replacing would cause more general and legal confusion, division among democrats, and lack of coordination for down ballot races
I think he's probably right about all of the points under #1, they're self-evident even though he doesn't give evidence. I think all the points in #2 need evidence and he hasn't given any that I've seen... E.g., how exactly would there be less coordination down ballot?
Who says the polls are correct? When have the polls ever been correct…
I put very little weight in the polls. There are two candidates basically one that wants to destroy our country and the other that has done everything to help our country and gets very little credit for all his accomplishments. I’ll be voting for Biden. I know Biden has a great administration that I trust if anything happens to him vs Trump who will gut the
Government and install a bunch of grifters just like himself. It’s actually an easy choice.
For what it's worth it's an easy choice for me too. I choose Biden. But I'm trying to come up with ways to evaluate Biden against alternatives beduase that's a legitimate thing to consider in this situation. To your point, it's impossible to make that comparison with any certainty :/
I have a belief - which is my biased belief - that all these things are outweighed by the reality of how much credibility Biden has lost over recent months. In effect,
1)Biden has LESS trust among most people which is why he polls so incredibly low. He only has more trust among people who are his fans
2) Let's say the incumbent advantage is a real effect (I have no knowledge one way or the other), that advantage is erased by Bidens current state as a poor candidate. I believe he's a good man, but he polls low and he's hard to understand when he speaks (and I'm not referring to the stutter)
We need to view the debate as a single data point. President Biden has had a lifelong stutter. Overall he has done well with learning to cope with his speech disability.
As someone with family members with speech difficulties I can assure you that they are cognitively intact even when they are struggling with formulating a sentence.
Having faced a patient using a Gish gallop against me I can tell you it’s very similar to being hit with a firehose. Now take the additional challenge of having to carefully formulate the response and you can see the net impact of a faceful of bull crap.
If you read the transcripts President Biden clearly answered the questions asked while also trying to confront the bull crap.
Now if you look at the last 2 days President Biden has forcefully and coherently made his points.
It’s not a good idea to toss a candidate who still has the core abilities to handle policy with the support of a gifted staff.
The average voter is not reading debate transcripts. The average voter is going to see campaign ads where Biden looks like he is too old to the job. Whether it's true or not does not matter.
Circling the wagons and fighting to keep lifelong Democrat voters interested in having Biden as a candidate already is a problem. Do you think swing voters (including those who stay home and not vote) will be convinced to come out and vote Democrat? This election is feeling like 2016 all over again.
Reagan also had dementia during his presidency and nobody batted an eyelash. Biden is a great president, and he also has a deep and very effective bench. I’m in for 4 more. It’s that or Putin.
Reagan had a 60%+ approval rating. Biden sits at 37%+. Also, Reagan was leading in every major poll going into the debate.
Biden doesn't have the luxury of that kind of wiggle room for mistakes this large on a national stage. To make a sports analogy you are asking why if Reagan won the game after his opponent made a 3 pointer when Reagan was up 12 points why can't Biden do the same when Biden's score is essentially (like it or not) tied.
Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your point that a stutter =/= failing cognitive ability, it's a good point. That said, I have two reasons for concern and boiling it down to Biden's stutter oversimplifies the situation, in my opinion
1) I could not understand Biden at all. So we had different impressions of how comprehensible Biden was. I was particularly stunned by his rambling closing words, which I'd have expected to be the best prepared part of the debate. Trump was more comprehensible, which is unfortunate because he said some messed up stuff. But again, it's not about Trump it's about having a better shot against him
2) it's a trend not a point in time. I feel that many democrats are currently ignoring what we've all seen in public view for a long time - Biden is getting harder to understand, whatever the reason may be. And I'm not talking about the spin, I am speaking to my personal and anecdotal experience trying to process what he says.
For many years it has been claimed that men take women sailing to have someone to scream at when anchoring. My own dear wife disabused me of this notion some 35 years ago on our sailboat when she quietly said, "As the volume increases the communication decreases." She was right then. Nothing has changed to make her wrong now.
I wish CNN would look at your results and realize that they should be talking about the content of the debate and not the optics. By repeatedly pushing the bad night they are normalizing the spouting of lies and rhetoric and avoidance of any meaningful response to a “debate” question.
Tell a lie enough, the world believes it.
And the problem is made worse by all of the Dems who are amplifying the media's focus on Biden's poor performance. The situation would be different if we all got behind Biden and told the media what we think of their poor coverage. I wrote NPR about a terrible "fact check" they did.
What ever one thinks about President Biden’s performance during the debate, we must consider that we still have to win congress; both houses.
There are Governorships that must be won by democrats.
There is a lot more than just the presidency at stake in this election.
This!! Think about SCOTUS! What if Alito & Thomas both retire & dumbass is POTUS??
We must think beyond one man as the president and think about the presidency overall!
It won’t matter if Trump wins
I’m not sure if I should encourage you to vote, or not.
The rapest can only win if people don’t vote dem.
Have you imagined what the U.S. will be like if we live under a dictatorship?
Your neighbors will rat you out just to get your house. Have you thought this through? Read some Solzhenitsyn!
Don’t get me wrong. I always vote blue down the ticket
Getting behind Biden even with a poor performance is how you lose an election. It almost sounds like you want State run media. The media shouldn't cover up a story because it's negative about the President no matter what political party they are affiliated with.
Heather Cox Richardson wrote a great column about the tactic that Trump used during the debate. She indicated that the huge problem for anyone on the other side is that there are so many lies coming out, the other party can't figure out what to respond to in the limited time available. So they stumble. (It's easy for Trump to sound confident when he's just lying.) She said anyone who was in Biden's position would have struggled too.
Biden is not now, nor will he ever be a good at that is laughingly called "a debate." And that's fine with me because these events are a waste of time ... the only appearances should be town halls where the voters ask the questions, there is no time limit on the answer, and the moderator is available to fact check the speaker and/or draw out additional information.
I'd note too that Biden's travel schedule in the days leading up to the debate was bone crushing ... he was tired (we all would be). The poor performance is to be blamed on staff for putting him in that situation and for agreeing to terrible rules (e.g., no fact checking in real time).
Had I been advising Biden, I would have had him come out and tell the audience immediately "Go to Biden.com and Facebook where a team of experts will be providing real-time fact checking of Mr. Trump's statements." They also will be correcting me if I misspeak. And he should have told everyone he had a cold and apologized for the raspy voice.
President Biden is like former President Carter ... far better than we Americans deserved.
That CNN decided not to fact check the debate in real-time played right into Trump's hands, and he made great use of this opportunity that they handed him. Nothing he said was true, and no one called him on his lies.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. As Jay Kuo wrote in his newsletter, when Lyndon Johnson decided not to run in the 60's, a contested convention resulted in chaos and a lost election. This will be no different. This would all go away if the Dems (I'm an independent voter) would embrace Biden in spite of one bad night like the
R's embrace Trump in spite of his plethora of falsehoods. According to social media, every last one of my friends is still supportive of Biden, right after the debate he had an enormous amount of donations, and he had the same old +1 or -1 in the polls that he's always had. I do not know why Democratic leadership is so intolerant of someone having a bad day or a lapse in judgement, but I feel like this is Al Franken 2.0 but with more dire consequences. They really need to get over their tests of purity/perfection. It doesn't exist.
Totally. Al Franken was a good Senator. The GOP keeps Jordan, Gaetz, Hawley and Santos until forced.
Just bc dump spoke loudly, didn’t make what he lied about true.
Thanks, Sharon. 100% agree with you.
There is a difference between reporting an event and amplifying it. The media has been amplifying Biden's poor performance and ignoring all other aspects of the debate.
How can CNN justify not having real-time fact checks on a candidate who they know lies incessantly? That omission shows that they are not interested in objective reporting!
I want the media when we still had a Fairness doctrine and Walter Cronkite before Faux entertainment started indoctrinating viewers with daily opinion celebrities.
I want the news presented as facts with both viewpoints offered as options.
I want a Congress that debates and compromises on issues to benefit Americans and doesn’t just vote as a bloc with power as the only goal.
I don’t think we have any hope for the future I want if Trump wins the election. We need to fully support democracy, character, values and the policies of the Biden TEAM and not allow Trump and MAGA to continue the spread of spite, vengeance and complete control of our future and chance of any freedoms.
Yes, yes, yes and yes.
The media blackout of Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips during primary’s was horrific. The media is worse than state sponsored, it is corporate sponsored propaganda.
Reporting isn’t the issue. It’s the one-sided mass amplification, theorizing, grabbing bits of rumor & running amok with it is the issue. Yet not a peep about 115 lies Trump told. No, “reporting” isn’t the issue. The how is the issue.
Plus, a poor performance in a debate isn’t -or shouldn’t be - the measure of fitness for a presidency - which is bigger than one man, btw.
What media are you consuming? They were more than happy to report that Biden did poorly in the debate. And voting for Don the Con will surely guarantee that there will be state run media.
Agreed.
And allowing all T lies to go practically unnoticed. Or at least unremarked on.
Hey provide me with your evidence for "terrible fact checking”. I call you a liar.
Only when “the world” loses its ability to think independently, and critically will “the world” believe lies. Question everything.
Right! They thought Biden was stable enough to debate. Then the dems believed it! Now the whole world saw. Stop spouting bs.
Read my comment I said similar things as you.
This is no longer a choice between Trump and Biden. This is a vote for or against autocracy. If Joe thinks he’s not up to it I have no doubt he’ll step aside. Quit listening to the click bait pundits. I’m sticking with Joe and democracy.
Yep. The 13 key historian says to stick with Biden.
We need to view the debate as a single data point. President Biden has had a lifelong stutter. Overall he has done well with learning to cope with his speech disability.
As someone with family members with speech difficulties I can assure you that they are cognitively intact even when they are struggling with formulating a sentence.
Having faced a patient using a Gish gallop against me I can tell you it’s very similar to being hit with a firehose. Now take the additional challenge of having to carefully formulate the response and you can see the net impact of a faceful of bull crap.
If you read the transcripts President Biden clearly answered the questions asked while also trying to confront the bull crap.
Now if you look at the last 2 days President Biden has forcefully and coherently made his points.
It’s not a good idea to toss a candidate who still has the core abilities to handle policy with the support of a gifted staff.
Thanks for mentioning the "Gish Gallop" ... I couldn't remember the name.
I’m inclined to agree and am waiting for this to sort out while reserving judgement on Biden.
Lincoln was assassinated in his second term, after a civil war, and we persevered as a democratic republic.
If Biden surrounds himself, as he has, with good cabinet members and appointees, democracy will survive.
If Dump is elected, we’ll have a civil war to fight.
I’m not going to live in an autocracy, a plutocracy, a dictatorship, or under any form of fascism.
I took an oath to protect and defend the constitution, that oath has never expired.
Project 2025 is unconstitutional.
Hear! Hear!
Yes indeed; it is appalling how the media shapes and influences the public’s perceptions. Putting front and center, for example, a previously anonymous Texas congressman, calling g for Biden to step down. Who the fuck IS this asshole?
In contrast, Trump is given a pass on his firehose of lies and outrageous distortions and his unending legal losses for fraud, rape, and theft, not to mention endless business failures. Then there is his treason and sedition and Two impeachments.
The Christian fascist SCOTUS, too Must be made the central issue in this election and its power leashed and circumscribed, else all is lost. “A Republic, if you can keep it,” Franklin once observed. We are on the razors edge
Michael Sartisky, PhD
Lloyd Doggett's a well respected Texan with a long history of public service ... but he's wrong on calling for Biden to leave the campaign.
May well be that I was harsh, it he is hardly a major player.
Let’s hear it for “selective” home schooling.
Omit history and this is what we get.
Ignore the Social Sciences and here we are.
Exactly. The Constitution contains not one mention of God, Jesus, or Christian. Let alone immunity. The Ivy Leagues need to retract the law degrees they bestowed on this unethical cabal.
Biden needs to stay in the race. There is no viable alternative --none (unless Jeff Jackson were to run :) ). Seriously, Biden has been, and is, a good president. We don't need to throw him under the bus. We need to support him. Trying to run another candidate at this point is the same as handing the election trump. Which would mean dictatorship and Project 2025. No thank you.
This
An air fryer, bicycle , and no TV
😎😎😎😎😎😎
It’s a pleasure reading your updates
And just be yourself ‼️
Jeff: Talk about "weaponizing" the Judicial Department. The recent Supreme court 6-3
Immunity decision has ended our democracy. The SC has abdicated all support for the
idea of "...no person is above the law...". If Trump is elected our way of life is over.
Regarding project 2025... if trump** is elected, they plan to INCREASE THE SUPREME COURT to 10, creating a 7/3 majority for the extremists.
Jeff, for what it's worth, I think President Biden had a bad night, but I do not think he should drop out of the race, no friggin way. The other candidate is a convicted felon, a sexual predator, a liar (which was evident during the debate) & hell bent on destroying our democracy. Joe Biden is one of the best Presidents this country has ever had & I firmly believe he is more that capable of serving another term with just as much if not more success. You can tell that to whoever in DC that's asking. Thank you for your updates & insights & I look forward to having you as our next AG.
Yep. The 13 key historian says to stick with Biden.
We need to view the debate as a single data point. President Biden has had a lifelong stutter. Overall he has done well with learning to cope with his speech disability.
As someone with family members with speech difficulties I can assure you that they are cognitively intact even when they are struggling with formulating a sentence.
Having faced a patient using a Gish gallop against me I can tell you it’s very similar to being hit with a firehose. Now take the additional challenge of having to carefully formulate the response and you can see the net impact of a faceful of bull crap.
If you read the transcripts President Biden clearly answered the questions asked while also trying to confront the bull crap.
Now if you look at the last 2 days President Biden has forcefully and coherently made his points.
It’s not a good idea to toss a candidate who still has the core abilities to handle policy with the support of a gifted staff.
You have repeated this 4 times!
If you didn’t see President Biden speak the next morning in North Carolina. He was perfectly fine. Everybody has a bad day. Everybody has a bad night and we should not be judged based on that one day. I was thoroughly energized, and my spirits were when the president spoke Friday. If you didn’t see the speech, look it up under YouTube and if there anybody else would do the same, we would not be having these discussions about replacing Biden at all. Jeff Jackson, stay true to who you are. That’s why we all love you for you're unique style and your truthfulness.
I also saw the rally in Raleigh. Biden performed well. Someone said his campaign should use the performance in campaign ads.....I agree. The whole tizzy of "Should we keep him or replace him" is using up all the air in the room. Music to Trump's ears!
Someone used my email address and I inadvertently got added to your mail database. This happens a fair amount to me and I normally just unsubscribe and move along. However in your case.... I haven't. I'm English and I live in Yorkshire, but I'm horrifyingly obsessed with American Politics - well, really with the potential prospect of the 'Orange One' being re-elected and the globally geopolitical impact that that could have directly on me far away here in England. I must say though that I have stayed subscribed to your mailshots because you have regularly provided me with a refreshing, lucid, and plain language insight into some of the more daily workings of American politics that has been both informative and educational. Sadly I see quite distinct bubbles of the increasingly partisan and strident tone of recent year American Politics take off over here now too, particularly with the more 'conservative' elements in the political system here as well as in other European Countries. I'd like to wish you all the best for you AG campaign and thanks for my regular update - I'm going to stay subscribed if that's alright.
Regards, Tim, Yorkshire
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I totally agree! I have been a reader and admirer of Heather Cox Richardson for quite a while. Each day she seems to put reason into chaos. I have seen a couple of interviews with her as well. I don't miss her daily blogs and look forward to her explanations and ideas of what's going on. She is an outstanding historian!
Absolutely all right! I was just reading about the situation in your country. Sounds like your choices are not easy from what I could tell, not being terribly well informed on the candidates.
Replace Biden please. There must be five or 10 candidates could fulfill the job and then we will win the election. I’ve been voting since 1968 and I am totally convinced. We are in a losing position if we stay with Biden, who is a good man, but not the man for the job at this point in time
There are many who could do the job of President. I’m not so sure any others could pull off an election in 4 months.
I am not confident that any of the possible replacements can win the election, but I fear that Biden's campaign performance will slip even further and he will lose in something resembling a modern-day landslide. States like Virginia and Colorado could be in play. If so, the impact the down-ballot races would be devastating, making it far too easy for Republicans to take control of Congress and even more State legislatures.
Switching horses now is risky, but riding the one we have now into the ground is more so.
Fear of possibilities doesn’t win elections. Look at what the successful presidency Biden has to run on.
just going on the record to say that dumping our president, who not only is the only person to beat Trump but whose first term has been hugely impressive, and who has given the party some new swagger in advancing American interests abroad and doing much-needed work on tattered alliances...is political malpractice, madness. we are working ourselves up to throw away enormous advantages in this race that people are missing bc polls, while the essential contours of the race are unchanged even after the awful debate. pls read Stuart Stevens' brilliant wake-up call in The Atlantic, it clarified things for me and presents an analysis I haven't seen anywhere else. thank you, Jeff, for listening to your constituents and not jumping on the dump-Joe bandwagon. Dems have the pro-democracy, high-achievement, human decency candidate. we're skulking when we should walk proud. nothing in this world blows all that up like abandoning the man who has led us through this perilous time and who points to a democratic future, as opposed to the autocrat-in-training. show some spine, Democrats, stop playing into the stereotype that we're weak and lame. if we do this we turn the country over to Trump and Project 2025, and we will deserve it bc we will have done it to ourselves. "never surrender in advance" is one of the rules against autocracy. heed it now, fellow Democrats, or we will regret it for the rest of our lives.
All the debate about the debate is obscuring a crucial discussion:
6 SCOTUS judges just armed their Culture War president with the armor of absolute immunity.
I hesitate to say “Culture War” because for most voters, it’s a metaphor. I think for those judges, the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation, all the way down to the MAGA militias, it’s a *literal* war.
That asymmetry should now be in STARK relief. In every communication with voters. Not screaming, certainly, but it has to be talked about, no matter how uncomfortable that might be. I certainly don’t want to contemplate it.
The head of the Heritage Foundation just called this the “2nd American Revolution.” The first was freedom from King George. The 2nd, apparently, is “freedom” from our Constitution.
Never been a more fundamental difference at stake in an election. Ds need an understandable way to talk about it, and they need it ASAP
I personally think that the President should withdraw, but I see no reason for Jeff to comment on this any further. Let's stay focused on the AG race. Thank you for the narrative about what it was like on the House floor the morning after the debate. I hope and expect that you will be able to ride your bike to work in Raleigh in 2025!!!
Yep. The 13 key historian says to stick with Biden.
We need to view the debate as a single data point. President Biden has had a lifelong stutter. Overall he has done well with learning to cope with his speech disability.
As someone with family members with speech difficulties I can assure you that they are cognitively intact even when they are struggling with formulating a sentence.
Having faced a patient using a Gish gallop against me I can tell you it’s very similar to being hit with a firehose. Now take the additional challenge of having to carefully formulate the response and you can see the net impact of a faceful of bull crap.
If you read the transcripts President Biden clearly answered the questions asked while also trying to confront the bull crap.
Now if you look at the last 2 days President Biden has forcefully and coherently made his points.
It’s not a good idea to toss a candidate who still has the core abilities to handle policy with the support of a gifted staff.
Robert Hubbell said it best..."The media has latched onto the Joe Biden debate performance and has anointed itself as the kingmaker of Democratic politics. They have concluded that Joe Biden is out of touch and unable to focus. They are telling the American people what to believe because—of course—we should believe the press, right? When has the press ever been wrong before? They want Joe Biden out of the race—damn the damage to democracy!
The media is whipping itself into a self-sustaining nuclear reaction of disinformation—because they can smell the increase in profits just over the horizon if they can force Joe Biden out of the race."
Wise words - don't be a pawn of the media!
From Stuart Stevens of The Atlantic..."My advice to Democrats: Run on that record; don’t run from one bad debate. Show a little swagger, not timidity. Forget all this Dump Biden nonsense and seize the day. Now is the worst time to flinch. Your country needs strength. You can crush Donald Trump, but only if you fight."
Please call on Biden to end his campaign Jeff! In a moment where so few voices are brave enough to go against the party line, your voice would make a difference.
All of us feel lied to and we need someone to tell the truth. When Obama tweeted that "bad debates happen but it's still a race between a good man and a threat to democracy" he left our the option of OTHER good men / women standing in for Biden.
By contrast, you're one of the few politicians who actually treats his audience like they're sensible - and not stupid. Please represent our collective common sense on this one
You do not represent our collective common sense. The majority of us are behind Biden because we know he’s a good man, a good leader, a great President and is the only Democrat at this late stage who can win the election.
I recommend you read Christopher Bouzy on all the reasons trying to change the nominee would be a complete disaster and Trump would definitely win the election.
Agreed
A Rob, I've read many good articles, pro and con. I don't agree with Bouzy. What I think is that we stick with Biden we lose, not just the presidency but also many downstream races. An albeit risky alternative to a doomed strategy is a sensible approach.
Thanks for the reference, I just read Bouzy's thread on the topic. His argument can be summarized as:
1) Biden has more capital, trust, brand recognition, the "incumbent advantage", and the bully pulpit
2) Replacing would cause more general and legal confusion, division among democrats, and lack of coordination for down ballot races
I think he's probably right about all of the points under #1, they're self-evident even though he doesn't give evidence. I think all the points in #2 need evidence and he hasn't given any that I've seen... E.g., how exactly would there be less coordination down ballot?
Who says the polls are correct? When have the polls ever been correct…
I put very little weight in the polls. There are two candidates basically one that wants to destroy our country and the other that has done everything to help our country and gets very little credit for all his accomplishments. I’ll be voting for Biden. I know Biden has a great administration that I trust if anything happens to him vs Trump who will gut the
Government and install a bunch of grifters just like himself. It’s actually an easy choice.
For what it's worth it's an easy choice for me too. I choose Biden. But I'm trying to come up with ways to evaluate Biden against alternatives beduase that's a legitimate thing to consider in this situation. To your point, it's impossible to make that comparison with any certainty :/
To give my two cents though,
I have a belief - which is my biased belief - that all these things are outweighed by the reality of how much credibility Biden has lost over recent months. In effect,
1)Biden has LESS trust among most people which is why he polls so incredibly low. He only has more trust among people who are his fans
2) Let's say the incumbent advantage is a real effect (I have no knowledge one way or the other), that advantage is erased by Bidens current state as a poor candidate. I believe he's a good man, but he polls low and he's hard to understand when he speaks (and I'm not referring to the stutter)
We need to view the debate as a single data point. President Biden has had a lifelong stutter. Overall he has done well with learning to cope with his speech disability.
As someone with family members with speech difficulties I can assure you that they are cognitively intact even when they are struggling with formulating a sentence.
Having faced a patient using a Gish gallop against me I can tell you it’s very similar to being hit with a firehose. Now take the additional challenge of having to carefully formulate the response and you can see the net impact of a faceful of bull crap.
If you read the transcripts President Biden clearly answered the questions asked while also trying to confront the bull crap.
Now if you look at the last 2 days President Biden has forcefully and coherently made his points.
It’s not a good idea to toss a candidate who still has the core abilities to handle policy with the support of a gifted staff.
The correct answer doesn't win elections.
The average voter is not reading debate transcripts. The average voter is going to see campaign ads where Biden looks like he is too old to the job. Whether it's true or not does not matter.
Circling the wagons and fighting to keep lifelong Democrat voters interested in having Biden as a candidate already is a problem. Do you think swing voters (including those who stay home and not vote) will be convinced to come out and vote Democrat? This election is feeling like 2016 all over again.
There are plenty of good speech clips for the Biden campaign to use to flood the zone.
It’s insanity to throw away the value of incumbency.
Reagan overcame a poor debate performance to win. Why not Biden? He actually has a great record, something that Reagan lacked.
Reagan also had dementia during his presidency and nobody batted an eyelash. Biden is a great president, and he also has a deep and very effective bench. I’m in for 4 more. It’s that or Putin.
Reagan had a 60%+ approval rating. Biden sits at 37%+. Also, Reagan was leading in every major poll going into the debate.
Biden doesn't have the luxury of that kind of wiggle room for mistakes this large on a national stage. To make a sports analogy you are asking why if Reagan won the game after his opponent made a 3 pointer when Reagan was up 12 points why can't Biden do the same when Biden's score is essentially (like it or not) tied.
Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your point that a stutter =/= failing cognitive ability, it's a good point. That said, I have two reasons for concern and boiling it down to Biden's stutter oversimplifies the situation, in my opinion
1) I could not understand Biden at all. So we had different impressions of how comprehensible Biden was. I was particularly stunned by his rambling closing words, which I'd have expected to be the best prepared part of the debate. Trump was more comprehensible, which is unfortunate because he said some messed up stuff. But again, it's not about Trump it's about having a better shot against him
2) it's a trend not a point in time. I feel that many democrats are currently ignoring what we've all seen in public view for a long time - Biden is getting harder to understand, whatever the reason may be. And I'm not talking about the spin, I am speaking to my personal and anecdotal experience trying to process what he says.
It’s all about the optics
Think back to Nixon/Kennedy
'Call on Biden to end his campaign', then what? I've heard plenty of the former, nothing of the 'what next.'
I think Jeff has everything he can do just running his campaign.
For many years it has been claimed that men take women sailing to have someone to scream at when anchoring. My own dear wife disabused me of this notion some 35 years ago on our sailboat when she quietly said, "As the volume increases the communication decreases." She was right then. Nothing has changed to make her wrong now.
Great wisdom 😎
She's still married to me, so I am forced to strongly agree.