If Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, our democracy will be replaced by an authoritarian government. Joe Biden has delivered as president. But is he the best candidate to defeat Trump?
Lee, I agree strongly with your point that defeating Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election is essential. I also agree that there's a difference between being a Good President and a Good Candidate; Trump established this in 2016. However, WHO (or, WHAT) would constitute a Good Candidate? Someone significantly younger? Someone more diverse? Someone more progressive, OR more mainstream? I don't have a candidate in mind. Maybe the WWD community can make suggestions, but in the meantime, let me pose a counter-question: What would it take to make Biden a better candidate, relative to Trump? More public contact? More concrete, attractive campaign promises? New running mate? New Campaign staff? More negative publicity against Trump and Republicans? And, just to round out the questions: How do we select/support Democrat Congressional candidates?
These are all excellent questions / thoughts. I can give you my personal opinions, but I can't back them up with data that you should have confidence in. I guess that's what makes this issue so hard.
For Biden to be a Better Candidate, he needs to engage much more in campaigning and speaking aggressively. What he did at the southern border yesterday is a good example. He needs to do lots more of it. He and his surrogates need to do much more to let people understand how what he's done is helping them and how what he will do if re-elected (along with a majority in both houses of Congress) will help even more. His campaign can't just be about "Trump is dangerous, etc" so vote for me. That will get him a lot of votes but it won't draw in the people who say that "they're all bad" or "none of them help me"
I'm skeptical that today's Joe Biden can be a Good Candidate. Biden looks and acts old and younger people are tired of old people being in charge. It is past time for a new generation of leaders and I believe that many young people who will remain disengaged until they see that generational change.
Regarding Democratic Congressional candidates, broad issues like the economy have a lot of influence over which party's candidates get elected, but more local issues are important too. Gerrymandering is, unfortunately, also a big factor in many states. For example, in NC after the 2022 election we have 7 Republican and 7 Democratic members of the House. The NC Supreme Court recently revisited and overturned the NC Supreme Court decision that forced the previous gerrymandered maps to be thrown out. With the NC Supreme Court backing off, the Republican-controlled NC legislature created new maps, which experts expect will give us either 11-3 or 10-4 after the 2024 election. Getting rid of extreme gerrymandering nationwide would do a lot in some states.
I haven’t been able to access the referenced podcast, I keep running into subscription requirements….but Ezra’s podcasts are available at apple if you know the title/date. Any chance you have the approximate date?
Lee, I agree strongly with your point that defeating Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election is essential. I also agree that there's a difference between being a Good President and a Good Candidate; Trump established this in 2016. However, WHO (or, WHAT) would constitute a Good Candidate? Someone significantly younger? Someone more diverse? Someone more progressive, OR more mainstream? I don't have a candidate in mind. Maybe the WWD community can make suggestions, but in the meantime, let me pose a counter-question: What would it take to make Biden a better candidate, relative to Trump? More public contact? More concrete, attractive campaign promises? New running mate? New Campaign staff? More negative publicity against Trump and Republicans? And, just to round out the questions: How do we select/support Democrat Congressional candidates?
These are all excellent questions / thoughts. I can give you my personal opinions, but I can't back them up with data that you should have confidence in. I guess that's what makes this issue so hard.
For Biden to be a Better Candidate, he needs to engage much more in campaigning and speaking aggressively. What he did at the southern border yesterday is a good example. He needs to do lots more of it. He and his surrogates need to do much more to let people understand how what he's done is helping them and how what he will do if re-elected (along with a majority in both houses of Congress) will help even more. His campaign can't just be about "Trump is dangerous, etc" so vote for me. That will get him a lot of votes but it won't draw in the people who say that "they're all bad" or "none of them help me"
I'm skeptical that today's Joe Biden can be a Good Candidate. Biden looks and acts old and younger people are tired of old people being in charge. It is past time for a new generation of leaders and I believe that many young people who will remain disengaged until they see that generational change.
Regarding Democratic Congressional candidates, broad issues like the economy have a lot of influence over which party's candidates get elected, but more local issues are important too. Gerrymandering is, unfortunately, also a big factor in many states. For example, in NC after the 2022 election we have 7 Republican and 7 Democratic members of the House. The NC Supreme Court recently revisited and overturned the NC Supreme Court decision that forced the previous gerrymandered maps to be thrown out. With the NC Supreme Court backing off, the Republican-controlled NC legislature created new maps, which experts expect will give us either 11-3 or 10-4 after the 2024 election. Getting rid of extreme gerrymandering nationwide would do a lot in some states.
I haven’t been able to access the referenced podcast, I keep running into subscription requirements….but Ezra’s podcasts are available at apple if you know the title/date. Any chance you have the approximate date?
Hmmm, I don't know why you're running into subscription requirements. In any case, the episode appears on Apple Podcasts on February 16th.
Feb 16