![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Exist Unburdened
Jul. 26th, 2024 08:20 pmWell, didn't take long at all for me to get a face full of feathers. (Though much longer to get around to actually putting metaphorical pen to page.) Never bet against Pelosi!
I still don't like the panicky nature of the "hammer on the self-destruct button" ploy. The media gives Trump entirely too much of a pass, and seemed all in on making the Biden news instead of reporting it. It seemed like half the media wanted a Biden exit plan that was either "fantasy reality TV redo primary" (definitely not a thing) or "explode everything, month of chaos, followed by a repeat of '68" (very feasible, not a good idea). But the combination of Biden's insistence on a plan that was actually clearly better than the status quo and Pelosi's apparent ability to make that happen seems to have made the move go as well as it could have.
(I'm guessing that Pelosi had a carrot-and-stick sort of deal where the carrot was an orderly succession to presumptive-nominee Harris and the stick was who knows what but presumably something dramatic slated for the start of business on Monday. Plus having COVID and (I assume) feeling very not good probably put Biden in a "maybe I could do less" mood.)
Biden is loyal, and as the VP of an 81-year-old President, Harris was very much on the ticket to take that role if and when Biden stepped back or keeled over. So if he couldn't do it, Biden did not want her cast aside. Also, as a prosecutor, Harris is very capable of taking it to Trump, who is a liar, fraudster, cheat, and convicted criminal who surrounds himself with criminals.
Anyways, Dems who would have been fine with Biden seem to be happy to see the party suddenly surprisingly in array again. And as for the rest, well, while I can still argue that Biden is probably physically and mentally healthier than Trump by a lot of objective measures, that one shouldn't mistake Trump's manic nature for actual cognitive ability, that it's not a cover-up for an administration to be effective about mitigating the weaknesses of a leader who is strong overall, it's easier to just say, "Okay, Biden is gone, and Trump is real old and says crazy shit all the time and doesn't look like he's doing so hot!"
It's also great to see the Republicans in an absolute "no wait come back" panic, made worse by their terrible VP pick coming across as the sort of phony weirdo that he actually is.
I still don't like the panicky nature of the "hammer on the self-destruct button" ploy. The media gives Trump entirely too much of a pass, and seemed all in on making the Biden news instead of reporting it. It seemed like half the media wanted a Biden exit plan that was either "fantasy reality TV redo primary" (definitely not a thing) or "explode everything, month of chaos, followed by a repeat of '68" (very feasible, not a good idea). But the combination of Biden's insistence on a plan that was actually clearly better than the status quo and Pelosi's apparent ability to make that happen seems to have made the move go as well as it could have.
(I'm guessing that Pelosi had a carrot-and-stick sort of deal where the carrot was an orderly succession to presumptive-nominee Harris and the stick was who knows what but presumably something dramatic slated for the start of business on Monday. Plus having COVID and (I assume) feeling very not good probably put Biden in a "maybe I could do less" mood.)
Biden is loyal, and as the VP of an 81-year-old President, Harris was very much on the ticket to take that role if and when Biden stepped back or keeled over. So if he couldn't do it, Biden did not want her cast aside. Also, as a prosecutor, Harris is very capable of taking it to Trump, who is a liar, fraudster, cheat, and convicted criminal who surrounds himself with criminals.
Anyways, Dems who would have been fine with Biden seem to be happy to see the party suddenly surprisingly in array again. And as for the rest, well, while I can still argue that Biden is probably physically and mentally healthier than Trump by a lot of objective measures, that one shouldn't mistake Trump's manic nature for actual cognitive ability, that it's not a cover-up for an administration to be effective about mitigating the weaknesses of a leader who is strong overall, it's easier to just say, "Okay, Biden is gone, and Trump is real old and says crazy shit all the time and doesn't look like he's doing so hot!"
It's also great to see the Republicans in an absolute "no wait come back" panic, made worse by their terrible VP pick coming across as the sort of phony weirdo that he actually is.
