MAINSTREAM COOLER - For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.

[Matt Allison]

New Marist poll out today has Biden up 2 points.

Newsom also polls 2 points ahead.

Harris at 1 point ahead, and Gretchen Whitmer tied at 49-49.

https://maristpoll.marist.edu/polls/contest-for-president-still-up-for-grabs/

[Bill Fite]

From Robert Reich's Substack: (highlights mine)

Who exactly is trying to push Biden out?

A lesson in where political power really lies in America

At a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, last Friday, President Biden said, “Some folks … are trying to push me out of the race.”

To whom was Biden referring?

Certainly not to Trump or the Republicans, who have been uncharacteristically silent about the whole question of whether Biden should drop out. They couldn’t push him out of the Democratic race anyway. 

Nor was he referring to Democrats in Congress. Almost all have been publicly supportive of Biden. Only eight House Democrats out of 213 have called for him to drop out, and only one Senate Democrat has gone that far.

Was Biden referring to the leaders of the Democratic Party? Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the Senate majority leader and House Democratic leader, respectively, have been supportive of Biden, at least in public. 

He couldn’t have been talking about the Democratic National Committee. Not a single DNC member has called for Biden to exit the race. 

Was Biden talking about the elite punditry on cable TV and on the op-edpages of The New York Times and The Washington Post — almost all of whom have called for Biden to drop out?

Doubtful. The chattering class has little or no influence on the preferences of average voters. How many people at that Wisconsin rally read opinion pieces in The New York Times?

Did Biden have in mind some collection of gray-bearded leaders of America — a group of unofficial elder statesmen, perhaps including Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, whose counsel carries extraordinary influence behind the scenes?

There is no longer any such group. (I recall a time decades ago when a few old Democratic fixers such as Lloyd Cutler, held significant sway behind the scenes of official Washington. Not any more.) 

But there is one small group of people in America with the power to push Joe Biden out of the race. Who are they? The major donors to the Democratic Party. 

They’re the ones Biden is angry with.

On Monday morning, Biden called into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and railed against the big-ticket donors who have been pushing him to withdraw.

“I’m getting so frustrated with the elites … the elites of the party,” he said on the air. “I don’t care what the millionaires think.”

Bingo. It was the first time any modern president has admitted that the elites of the party are the millionaires (and billionaires) who fund it, which gives them extraordinary political power — perhaps enough to push Biden out of the race. 

In truth, the Democratic Party is little more than a national fundraising machine, as is the GOP. 

I’m not faulting Biden for expressing his frustration with the party’s big money elite. He’s simply stating the truth. America’s donor class has become extraordinarily powerful, in both parties.

(cut)

Biden is trying to persuade the party’s major donors of his viability. Soon after Biden shared with the hosts of “Morning Joe” his frustrations with the moneyed elite of the party, he held a Zoom call with that very same elite.

In that call, according to The New York Times, he told them that they had to shift the focus of the campaign away from him and onto Trump.

Telling them to shift their focus seemed further evidence that, at least in Biden’s mind, the party’s biggest donors were responsible for focusing on Biden’s debate stumbles in the first place. And it was they who must shift their focus back to Trump.  

(cut Clooney comments)

You and I aren’t going to persuade Biden to stay in the race or to drop out. 

Only one group is going to persuade him — the Democratic Party’s biggest donors. If they decide to stop funding the Biden campaign, Biden has no chance of winning. 

It’s now becoming a game of chicken. If the biggest donors stop funding Biden and Biden stays in the race notwithstanding, he clearly loses. Yet so do we all. 

Biden’s efforts over the last few days confirm much of what I’ve increasingly observed over the years. The real political power in America, regardless of party, lies in the hands of big money.

[Sandy Larsen]

On 7/11/2024 at 10:11 AM, Kirk Gallaway said:

So you're actually holding up hope that Biden would kick ass in  second debate, and that's your strategy Sandy?

 

Kirk,

I don't care one way or another whether Biden is our candidate. The only thing I care about is that Trump loses.

At the moment, [Democratic Candidate] vs Trump polls show that Biden has a better chance than any other. So it's best to go with Biden.

Changing candidates midstream looks desperate. So it is best to go with Biden.

Having Biden destroyed in the second debate would look really bad. Probably best to switch candidates.

 

[Kirk Gallaway]

43 minutes ago, Bill Fite said:

But there is one small group of people in America with the power to push Joe Biden out of the race. Who are they? The major donors to the Democratic Party. 

I'd like to get the money out of politics, but this is only partially true Bill. In this situation, the donors are not alone by any means, and the dissatisfaction with Biden is present  throughout   almost all demographics of the party except  African Americans.

You can't evaluate Biden's standing in the party right now by saying that there's only 18 Dem. Congressman  (or not even 10%) who want Biden to step down. Obviously there's a lot of gratitude toward Biden and the Dems don't want to be seen to run Biden out of town. They're trying to appeal to Biden to gracefully go on his own.

Despite more lame gaffes, Biden did reasonably well at his press conference. Certainly 100 times as proficient and specific in foreign policy then Trump could ever be. And maybe it has slowed it down a little, but it has hardly stemmed the tide..

So the current situation is very anxious and uncomfortable, but it really couldn't be any other way. There are people trying to mount consensus and checking new polls every day, which have concluded over and over that both Biden and Trump are weak candidates.

So this upcoming week of Trump's coronation is really sort of opportune I think, for the Dems to quietly vet Biden some more, read the tea leaves and the polls and try to negotiate with him, and break it to him slowly.  No one wants to do something precipitous and any of the MSM trying to put deadlines on this up to now have failed.

I don't know if Biden is as stubborn as he's coming off, and maybe is now opening to the idea of leaving. But I would say after the respite this week after the Republic convention, then there will be a much greater urgency  and this should come to a head. because the convention will then be only a month away.

 

[Sandy Larsen]

13 hours ago, Matt Allison said:

I think it would be better for [Biden] to be viewed as an elder statesman now; a close confidant and consultant. My admiration for him runs deep but it might be best for him personally to pass the baton.

 

I feel the same way Matt. An 81 year old man has no business taking on the demands of the presidency. Biden deserves a break in his remaining years.

On the other hand, I fear the damage that could be afflicted on our democracy if Trump is elected. And at the moment I think that Biden has a better chance of beating Trump than does anybody else.

What I hope happens is that Biden stays on, wins re-election, and then decides it's time to retire and let Kamala take over. After which Kamala could use Biden as part-time consultant and elder statesman.

 

[Douglas Caddy]

10 hours ago, Bill Fite said:

To me, Biden's vote to give the Axis of Stupidity (w, Cheney, Rummy, Dr. Condi) the Authority to Use Force in Iraq in 2002 was a clear signal of his lack of good judgement.

Obama picking Biden as VP and Clinton as Sec of State was a disaster as far as I am concerned.

I could not agree more.

[Douglas Caddy]

Do not miss reading this article by Peggy Noonan:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-can-win-by-embracing-chaos-2024-election-1948-history-open-convention-5f6ed94d?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Edited Friday at 06:10 PM by Douglas Caddy

[W. Niederhut]

Climate Change update.

My youngest nephew is getting married today.

It will be 103 F in Denver at the time of the wedding.  😲

 

[Sandy Larsen]

I want to tell you all what I can't stand regarding this Biden controversy. It is all these people saying "Biden should do the right thing and step down."

I'm talking about the ones whose concern is that Trump might otherwise win.

Well excuuuuussse me, but who are these people to say that Biden stepping down would be the right thing? They don't know if their candidate of choice would beat Trump! They don't know if ANY other candidate would beat him!

It's entirely possible that Biden could have won the election had they not switched candidates, but lost because they did.

 

[Sandy Larsen]

11 hours ago, Bill Fite said:

Obama picking Biden as VP and Clinton as Sec of State was a disaster as far as I am concerned.

 

I'm curious Bill. Which presidents have you liked? Since you began voting.

 

[Bill Fite]

50 minutes ago, Sandy Larsen said:

Which presidents have you liked?

In my lifetime:

Presidents I liked - JFK.   I remember coming home from school, going to my grandma's and watching his press conferences, especially during the Cuban missile crisis.  He made a great impression on me.

I also liked Carter and Obama - all thought I'm disappointed in Obama's actual performance and his picking Biden and Clinton.  He could have done more and better.

I can add Truman -- he was president when I was born.  I like what I've read about him.

Presidential candidates I really liked and would have preferred to those the Democratic Party selected -  Harris and/or McCarthy over Carter - Bernie over Mrs C. & Biden - Bradley over Gore - Simon over Dukakis. 

In the first presidential election I could vote in I voted for the candidate I would have preferred to be president over the others I have voted for - George McGovern, who is another of my heroes.  I'm pretty sure that my vote wasn't counted in that 1972 election, though.

Since you're curious - I've only ever voted for 1 Republican in my life and I'd vote for him again -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_B._Ogilvie.

I will not ever vote for anyone who voted for The Authority to Use Force in Iraq, let alone the Democratic Cheerleader for that vote in the Senate, who gave a 20 minute speech echoing the Cheney-Rice talking points - Mrs Clinton.  

 

Edited Friday at 08:54 PM by Bill Fite

[Douglas Caddy]

Bad legal news for RG.

 

Judge throws out Rudy Giuliani's bankruptcy case, says he flouted process with lack of transparency (aol.com)

[Sandy Larsen]

29 minutes ago, Bill Fite said:

I also liked Carter and Obama - all thought I'm disappointed in Obama's actual performance and his picking Biden and Clinton.  He could have done more and better.

 

Thanks for your reply.

So since you began voting, you were happy with only Jimmy Carter.

Amazingly Carter is still alive... 100 years old this year!

[Douglas Caddy]

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/12/opinion/roberts-supreme-court-immunity-taney.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6k0.ZIBM.e5Z-grOY2-0k&smid=url-share

[Bill Fite]

19 minutes ago, Sandy Larsen said:

 

Thanks for your reply.

So since you began voting, you were happy with only Jimmy Carter.

Amazingly Carter is still alive... 100 years old this year!

yep I vote only to be disappointed.

I was happy Obama was elected.  He had a chance for real change and progress but passed on it.

Edited Friday at 09:24 PM by Bill Fite