DEAN PHILLIPS is challenging Pres. Biden (1 Viewer)

[SteveSBrickNJ]

US Rep. (D from MN) DEAN PHILLIPS is challenging President Biden to represent the Democratic Party for President.
I only discovered this today (1/20/2024)
He is wealthy and expects to stay in the race even if it appears hopeless...because Biden is in his 80s and "ya never what could happen"
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U.S. Representative Dean Phillips

U.S. Representative Dean Phillips Proudly Serving the 3rd District of Minnesota

phillips.house.gov

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1) What do Democratic posters on madaboutpolitics think of him? Please consider separating your thoughts about him as a D congressman from your thoughts about his decision to challenge Biden. I'd enjoy it if you answered both...yet separately. Just a request that you naturally can ignore if you wish.
2) I anticipate that many will state that he is wasting his time, yet could his "waste of time candidacy" never the less harm Biden politically?

 

[coldseat]

It doesn't matter whether the truth is that Trump is senile, and Biden is sharp, but that isn't the way it seems from watching them interact, and a large portion of voters believe the opposite. I don't think Trump is senile, but I believe he has lost more than Biden, however Biden has always seemed slower. Since Trump isn't actually senile yet, his energy sets him apart. It also helps him to have Melania and younger family around him. It gives him an aura of virility, regardless of the truth.

Thus my acknowledgement of of media driven perceptions of each of them in my previous post. What you describe it exactly that. But if you look at them objectively, that's not the case.

I am talking about "what the truth is", not how people feel about them. We're talking about two different things.

PS, I rarely see Melania around Trump. Mostly just his two idiot sons advocating for him on rightwing media. So I don't know that it really adds to his virility, as you say. But I'm sure some people believe that.

Dean offsets that, because he comes across as vigorous, and in addition he is well spoken, intelligent, and advocates for most of Biden's policies. Dean has very little chance of winning, but I believe he is better for the party. I think he would crush Trump, and I think would beat Haley. The party needs new leadership from Dean's generation.

Dean does come across as younger, since he is. That seems to be his main appeal. I don't know that it would necessarily make him a better president than Biden or even more electable currently. I haven't seen evidence of that yet. He just doesn't have the clout, money or support to overcome an incumbent Biden in a primary.

 

[Lapaz]

Thus my acknowledgement of of media driven perceptions of each of them in my previous post. What you describe it exactly that. But if you look at them objectively, that's not the case.

I am talking about "what the truth is", not how people feel about them. We're talking about two different things.

PS, I rarely see Melania around Trump. Mostly just his two idiot sons advocating for him on rightwing media. So I don't know that it really adds to his virility, as you say. But I'm sure some people believe that.




Dean does come across as younger, since he is. That seems to be his main appeal. I don't know that it would necessarily make him a better president than Biden or even more electable currently. I haven't seen evidence of that yet. He just doesn't have the clout, money or support to overcome an incumbent Biden in a primary.

I agree that we're talking about different things. I also agree with you on the truth about Trump, but voters don't generally vote on the truth. They vote on their perceptions and how they feel, even if we would want them to vote rationally. I don't know if Biden will be able to overcome the perceptions that a large swath of voters have, but frankly, I think some of the perceptions are probably valid. He will be 82 years old before he were to begin his next term. I think it is asking a lot to expect him to remain healthy and effective until he finishes a 2nd term at 86, given that he has obviously declined since he last ran. I hear discussions about inflation, how Trump was so great for the economy (see what Obama left him), and possible criminality by association with Hunter, but I think all of those pale in comparison to concerns about his age and health. There is no better explanation for Biden to be losing in polls to a criminal, which implies that he isn't winning the perception battle, and frankly, like I said, I think it is more than just perception.

I know Dean seems to have good ideas, largely aligned with Biden, and is more than likely going to remain healthy and vigorous, so that is a huge appeal. Remaining healthy and vigorous for the next 4 years alone is a big factor in being a good president. We can't know for sure, but we have to choose based on likelihood. I think Biden's support is largely due to loyalty, which is great, but we must consider whether he is up to the job for another 4 years, and I think that is a tough ask.

 

[Dragon]

It doesn't matter whether the truth is that Trump is senile, and Biden is sharp, but that isn't the way it seems from watching them interact, and a large portion of voters believe the opposite. I don't think Trump is senile, but I believe he has lost more than Biden, however Biden has always seemed slower. Since Trump isn't actually senile yet, his energy sets him apart. It also helps him to have Melania and younger family around him. It gives him an aura of virility, regardless of the truth. Dean offsets that, because he comes across as vigorous, and in addition he is well spoken, intelligent, and advocates for most of Biden's policies. Dean has very little chance of winning, but I believe he is better for the party. I think he would crush Trump, and I think would beat Haley. The party needs new leadership from Dean's generation.

Biden talks slower because he has a speach imprediment. I would take someone who talks slow and considerate rather than a speed talking used car salesman who talk rubish every day

 

[Dragon]

When a politician changes his stance on something important like DEI because a donor tells him to do so, then that tells me that he is for sale. Aren't there enough of that already?

 

[Lapaz]

When a politician changes his stance on something important like DEI because a donor tells him to do so, then that tells me that he is for sale. Aren't there enough of that already?

I think that's overblown. The article says he changed the emphasis to justice. Seems more about semantics, and using less loaded language. I understand the concern about being for sale, but I believe Dean said something to that effect that he doesn't like the way that DEI is practiced at times, so he changed the language, and that didn't bother me. I think DEI is a variation of affirmative action, and I think it is reasonable to start weaning ourselves from that.

 

[Dragon]

I think that's overblown. The article says he changed the emphasis to justice. Seems more about semantics, and using less loaded language. I understand the concern about being for sale, but I believe Dean said something to that effect that he doesn't like the way that DEI is practiced at times, so he changed the language, and that didn't bother me. I think DEI is a variation of affirmative action, and I think it is reasonable to start weaning ourselves from that.

So because you partly agree then you can't see the issue? The issue is really not the most important part. The fact that a donor can tell him to remove part of his published policy and he then does it - is!

 

[samiam5211]

Dean isn't a real candidate, but I hope he gets over 40% tonight, because the Biden campaign needs a kick in the arse.

If he's not in mental decline, he needs to be talking to the public more.

He should have given a few prime time addresses (or at lest one) selling the public on his support of Israel. We should expect that from our President, no matter who they are.

We shat on Trump constantly for not doing enough press conferences or interviews with non friendly journalists, but he did 10x what Biden has done.

 

[MT15]

Dean isn't a real candidate, but I hope he gets over 40% tonight, because the Biden campaign needs a kick in the arse.

If he's not in mental decline, he needs to be talking to the public more.

He should have given a few prime time addresses (or at lest one) selling the public on his support of Israel. We should expect that from our President, no matter who they are.

We shat on Trump constantly for not doing enough press conferences or interviews with non friendly journalists, but he did 10x what Biden has done.

I don’t agree that Trump did 10x interviews with non-friendly journalists. He did them so very rarely I can only think of one that wasn’t Fox or similar. His press conferences were not ideal either, I think he only started doing them during the pandemic. I may be forgetting though, I would probably like to forget, lol.

Maybe Trump seemed more accessible because he was on Twitter all day every day?

Personally, I’m fine with a few major addresses and such from Biden. He’s actually doing stuff rather than staying upstairs watching TV until noon and tweeting.

 

[samiam5211]

I don’t agree that Trump did 10x interviews with non-friendly journalists. He did them so very rarely I can only think of one that wasn’t Fox or similar. His press conferences were not ideal either, I think he only started doing them during the pandemic. I may be forgetting though, I would probably like to forget, lol.

Maybe Trump seemed more accessible because he was on Twitter all day every day?

Personally, I’m fine with a few major addresses and such from Biden. He’s actually doing stuff rather than staying upstairs watching TV until noon and tweeting.

You just don't have a good recollection of Trump's time then.

He did several interviews with non friendly journalists. Which is several more than Joe has done. I'm not saying Trump did enough interviews with non-friendly journalists, but Biden has done 0.

Trump's press conferences were trainwrecks, but he did them. Biden has done fewer than any President except for Reagan during his second term, and I don't think anyone wants to talk about Biden being similar to Reagan during his second term.

Biden is the least accessible President in any of our lifetimes, and it's not even remotely close. It doesn't have anything to do with twitter.

Let's not pretend that Joe is doing stuff all day and is too busy to talk to us. His administration has performed well, because he picked good people. Mostly just recycled Obama people, which isn't a bad thing.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Biden has done fewer than any President except for Reagan during his second term...

...Biden is the least accessible President in any of our lifetimes, and it's not even remotely close.

Which one is it?

 

[coldseat]

You just don't have a good recollection of Trump's time then.

He did several interviews with non friendly journalists. Which is several more than Joe has done. I'm not saying Trump did enough interviews with non-friendly journalists, but Biden has done 0.

Trump's press conferences were trainwrecks, but he did them. Biden has done fewer than any President except for Reagan during his second term, and I don't think anyone wants to talk about Biden being similar to Reagan during his second term.

Biden is the least accessible President in any of our lifetimes, and it's not even remotely close. It doesn't have anything to do with twitter.

Let's not pretend that Joe is doing stuff all day and is too busy to talk to us. His administration has performed well, because he picked good people. Mostly just recycled Obama people, which isn't a bad thing.

Be at peace, Biden and his campaign have already heard you.

Smaller events, fewer ties — Biden is heeding advice to loosen up

As 2024 approached, Biden aides suggested a shift in his public style to help ease voters’ concerns about his age.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[samiam5211]

Which one is it?

It's both.

Reagan's second term, when he had Alzheimer's.

 

[samiam5211]

Be at peace, Biden and his campaign have already heard you.

Smaller events, fewer ties — Biden is heeding advice to loosen up

As 2024 approached, Biden aides suggested a shift in his public style to help ease voters’ concerns about his age.

www.nbcnews.com

He doesn't need to talk to me.

I'm not voting and there isn't anything he can do at this point to change my mind about it.

There are people he needs to be talking to though, and he needs to start talking to them.

 

[LA - L.A.]

It's both.

Reagan's second term, when he had Alzheimer's.

Regardless of why Reagan was the least accessible president, he and Biden can't both be the least accessible president. That's a literally and objectively irrational belief, which indicates you're probably not viewing the situation from a rational viewpoint.

Have you ever personally interacted on a regular basis with someone who was in mid to late stages of Alzheimer's disease? I have way too many times in the last 10 years, as well Frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body dementia.

Based on public appearances, Biden might be, emphasize on might, at the very worst be in the beginning of the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

If Biden is in the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease, then to rationally know what to expect one would have to know and understand these things about Alzheimer's disease:

• What the typical amount of time that it takes the disease to progress through each of the stages.
• At what stage does someone typically get confused enough in regards to their awareness of self, place, time, and situation that they are considered significantly cognitively or "mentally" impaired.

Despite what some deceptively edited videos try to portray and Biden's lower physical energy when speaking, there are no public indications that Biden has any clinical deterioration in his awareness of self, place, time, and situation.

On the other hand, people should read up on the behavioral symptoms of the early stages of both Frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body dementia, then take a long, close look at Trump's behavior in the past 2 years.

By the way, Lewy body dementia is the most common dementia causing disease for men. For women, it's Alzheimer's disease. This is based on postmortem diagnosis, which at this time is the only definitively accurate way to diagnose dementia causing diseases. Dementia causing diseases are one of the most misdiagnosed diseases.

Reagan showed signs of possibly being in the early stages of some dementia causing disease in the first year of his first term. Only the rarest of dementia causing diseases hit someone like a sledgehammer. Almost all of them progress very slowly. A person usually has 3 to 4 cognitively good years left from when the symptoms becomes frequent enough and disruptive enough to make a preliminary diagnosis.

Joe Biden has obviously declined in physical prowess and stamina, but when is the last time that we relied on a presidents physical prowess and stamina? The answer is never. We rely on presidents for their ability to understand, communicate and make decisions.

Someone please point to an unbiasededly edited video that shows Biden not able to understand, communicate or make decisions. A decision one disagrees with is still a decision.

Someone please point to an unbiasededly edited video that shows Biden unaware of who he is, unaware of where he's at, unaware of what day/month/year it is, or unaware of who he's talking to or about. Don't give me that nonsense of he was confused on where to go and that shows he has dementia, because that happens to completely neurologically healthy people all the time, so by that standard we all have dementia.

Accusing elderly people of being senile or demented when they have the same brain farts we all do at all ages is agism, plain and simple. It's the most rampant and unabashed form of discrimination in this country. What's absurd about it is we all age so we all end up facing that discrimantion. If all white people turned black later in life, I highly doubt there would be as much discrimination against black people as there is. At the very least, young and middle aged white people would make sure there were laws and systems put in place to keep them from being discriminated against when they turned black. Agism is self-destructive.

 

[samiam5211]

Regardless of why Reagan was the least accessible president, he and Biden can't both be the least accessible president. That's a literally and objectively irrational belief, which indicates you're probably not viewing the situation from a rational viewpoint.

Have you ever personally interacted on a regular basis with someone who was in mid to late stages of Alzheimer's disease? I have way too many times in the last 10 years, as well Frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body dementia.

Based on public appearances, Biden might be, emphasize on might, at the very worst be in the beginning of the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

If Biden is in the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease, then to rationally know what to expect one would have to know and understand these things about Alzheimer's disease:

• What the typical amount of time that it takes the disease to progress through each of the stages.
• At what stage does someone typically get confused enough in regards to their awareness of self, place, time, and situation that they are considered significantly cognitively or "mentally" impaired.

Despite what some deceptively edited videos try to portray and Biden's lower physical energy when speaking, there are no public indications that Biden has any clinical deterioration in his awareness of self, place, time, and situation.

On the other hand, people should read up on the behavioral symptoms of the early stages of both Frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body dementia, then take a long, close look at Trump's behavior in the past 2 years.

By the way, Lewy body dementia is the most common dementia causing disease for men. For women, it's Alzheimer's disease. This is based on postmortem diagnosis, which at this time is the only definitively accurate way to diagnose dementia causing diseases. Dementia causing diseases are one of the most misdiagnosed diseases.

Reagan showed signs of possibly being in the early stages of some dementia causing disease in the first year of his first term. Only the rarest of dementia causing diseases hit someone like a sledgehammer. Almost all of them progress very slowly. A person usually has 3 to 4 cognitively good years left from when the symptoms becomes frequent enough and disruptive enough to make a preliminary diagnosis.

Joe Biden has obviously declined in physical prowess and stamina, but when is the last time that we relied on a presidents physical prowess and stamina? The answer is never. We rely on presidents for their ability to understand, communicate and make decisions.

Someone please point to an unbiasededly edited video that shows Biden not able to understand, communicate or make decisions. A decision one disagrees with is still a decision.

Someone please point to an unbiasededly edited video that shows Biden unaware of who he is, unaware of where he's at, unaware of what day/month/year it is, or unaware of who he's talking to or about. Don't give me that nonsense of he was confused on where to go and that shows he has dementia, because that happens to completely neurologically healthy people all the time, so by that standard we all have dementia.

Accusing elderly people of being senile or demented when they have the same brain farts we all do at all ages is agism, plain and simple. It's the most rampant and unabashed form of discrimination in this country. What's absurd about it is we all age so we all end up facing that discrimantion. If all white people turned black later in life, I highly doubt there would be as much discrimination against black people as there is. At the very least, young and middle aged white people would make sure there were laws and systems put in place to keep them from being discriminated against when they turned black. Agism is self-destructive.

Biden is less accessable in his first term than Reagan was. Does that clear it up for you?

Yes, it is absolutely ageism. I am being unapologetic about that. No one Biden or Trump's age should be given the responsibility of the Presidency.

I'm not going to get into proving to you that Biden is fading away mentally. I do not consider it something that is debatable. Trump isn't any better, so it's not a suggestion that people should be voting for Trump.

It is a joke that we are choosing between two people who should be in retirement homes to run the country.

No matter who we vote for, we should be ashamed that we don't have better options.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Biden is less accessable in his first term than Reagan was. Does that clear it up for you?

Not really, but it doesn't matter,...

Yes, it is absolutely ageism. I am being unapologetic about that.

...because this clears it up completely and unambiguously. You are admittedly prejudiced against the elderly. There's no rational discussion to be had with anyone operating from any place of prejudice.

 

[samiam5211]

Not really, but it doesn't matter,...

...because this clears it up completely and unambiguously. You are admittedly prejudiced against the elderly. There's no rational discussion to be had with anyone operating from any place of prejudice.

Yes, I am prejudiced against the elderly.

Prejudice isn't always bad.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Prejudice isn't always bad.

Yes it is. Prejudice means you prejudge an individual based on a group you see them as belonging too. That is always a bad thing. Everyone with a prejudice thinks they are justified in their prejudice. White supremacists think they are justified as prejudging all non-white people as subhuman. You are doing the same thing to all elderly people, but of course you feel perfectly justified, that's exactly how prejudice works.

Like I said, there is no rational discussion to be had, because prejudiced people aren't operating from a place of rationality when they discuss their prejudices.