• nednobbins@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    41
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    edit-2
    4 months ago

    It’s silly to talk about a “pundit class”. It’s not like they’re a group with any coherent ideas, much less any sort of persistent group loyalty. They’re just people with opinions and a platform.

    This article tries to make it sound like he’s a really popular candidate and there’s some shady group of kingmakers trying to block him.

    The main reason that people are pushing for him to step aside is that they don’t believe he can beat Trump. It’s not that people were grumpy about a raspy voice. There was already a lot of suspicion that he’s going senile. He got the benefit of the doubt and the debate was his chance to prove the doubters wrong. Instead he confirmed their deepest fears. Since then, he’s provided a steady stream of examples of his diminishing mental capacity.

    A formal cognitive assessment might lay those fears to rest but, at this point, it’s unlikely. For many people, the conclusion is clear; the evidence is in and he forgets what he’s talking about mid-sentence. Many people look at the polling numbers around that just want someone who has a chance of beating Trump.

    • a9cx34udP4ZZ0@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      4 months ago

      Don’t disagree, but also curious why the same pundits aren’t ripping apart Trump’s senility? 30 seconds of watching a Daily Show weekly roundup will provide COUNTLESS examples of Trump rambling endlessly and forgetting what he was even talking about. Just because it wasn’t as stark at the debate doesn’t’ mean it isn’t happening. I’d also imagine that Trump was probably coked out of his mind at the debate after he spent weeks leading up to it claiming Biden would be on drugs. He has a well-documented history of projecting whatever he’s doing wrong on his opposition.

      • Revan343@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        18
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        Because Trump’s senility doesn’t matter; Republicans are going to vote for him regardless

      • nednobbins@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        14
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        It’s because we’re talking about two entirely different groups of people.

        More and more Democrats are calling for Biden to withdraw because they don’t believe he can beat Trump.

        Republicans are happy to stick with Trump because they’re fairly sure he can trounce Biden.

      • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        4 months ago

        Don’t disagree, but also curious why the same pundits aren’t ripping apart Trump’s senility

        Republicans are held to a lower standard.

      • ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        Those articles are out there.

        The key differences are Trump is the popular candidate. He is who the GOP electorate wants and who the GOP runs on.

        Biden is not a popular candidate and not who the Democratic party electorate necessarily wants: instead his whole candidacy and presidency has solely been not being Trump. This condition is fully transferrable to any candidate with support of the party.

        So the ramifications and implications are wildly different.

        • a9cx34udP4ZZ0@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          4 months ago

          Biden is not a popular candidate and not who the Democratic party electorate necessarily wants: instead his whole candidacy and presidency has solely been not being Trump. This condition is fully transferrable to any candidate with support of the party.

          Biden may not be a popular candidate on Lemmy, but he absolutely was prior to that debate showing with the general public. It turns out moderates and independents make up a large portion of the voting block and they aren’t all drooling at the prospects of Bernie Sanders. They WANT a boring president.

          • ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            12
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            4 months ago

            They want a competent president. Biden has been showing these signs for quite some time to a lot of resistance towards anyone willing to acknowledge it. But now? Shit I’ve seen hard leftists express willingness to support Kamala Harris so I think people are mostly on board for not-Biden in general.

          • anticolonialist@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            6
            arrow-down
            4
            ·
            4 months ago

            he absolutely was prior to that debate showing with the general public

            Only 25% of Democrats wanted him to run, he is not a popular candidate

      • Klear@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        My guess is - people have heard so many articles about Trump fucking up that they don’t get clicks any more. Tearing into Biden is much more lucrative, plus people then argue about it in comments (just look around here) further driving engagement.

    • thermal_shock@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      4 months ago

      the fact we should even need a cognitive test is Ludacris. age limits for presidential and high court positions. past retirement age? gtfo

      • Revan343@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        past retirement age? gtfo

        That has the unintended consequence of encouraging them to raise the retirement age.

        Better plan: base it on lifespan, cap it at some percentage of the average age of death. They want to stay in office longer? Gonna have to raise the average lifespan. Public healthcare would probably get them the biggest bang for their buck