First presidential debate (2 Viewers)

[Optimus Prime]

Since we usually have a separate thread for these
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NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden begins an intense period of private preparations Friday at Camp David for what may be the most consequential presidential debate in decades.

The 81-year-old Democrat’s team is aware that he cannot afford an underwhelming performance when he faces Republican rival Donald Trump for 90 minutes on live television Thursday night. Biden’s team is expecting aggressive attacks on his physical and mental strength, his record on the economy and immigration and even his family.

Trump, 78 and ever confident, will stay on the campaign trail before going to his Florida estate next week for two days of private meetings as part of an informal prep process.

The former president’s allies are pushing him to stay focused on his governing plans, but they’re expecting him to be tested by pointed questions about his unrelenting focus on election fraud, his role in the erosion of abortion rights and his unprecedented legal baggage.

Thursday’s debate on CNN will be full of firsts, with the potential to reshape the presidential race. Never before in the modern era have two presumptive nominees met on the debate stage so early in the general election season. Never before have two White House contenders faced off at such advanced ages, with widespread questions about their readiness.

And never before has a general election debate participant been saddled with a felony conviction. The debate-stage meeting comes just two weeks before Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial.

“You can argue this will be the most important debate, at least in my lifetime,” said Democratic strategist Jim Messina, 54, who managed former President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign.

PRESSURE ON BIDEN


The ground rules for Thursday’s debate, the first of two scheduled meetings, are unusual.

The candidates agreed to meet at a CNN studio in Atlanta with no audience. Each candidate’s microphone will be muted, except when it’s his turn to speak. No props or prewritten notes will be allowed onstage. The candidates will be given only a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.

There will be no opening statements. A coin flip determined that Biden would stand at the podium to the viewer’s right, while Trump would deliver the final closing statement.


The next debate won’t be until September. Any stumbles Thursday will be hard to erase or replace quickly.………..

How Biden and Trump are taking very different approaches to preparing for next week's debate

President Joe Biden is beginning an intense period of private debate preparations at Camp David. His trip comes as officials in both parties scramble to set expectations for what may be the most consequential presidential debate in decades.

apnews.com

 

[LA - L.A.]

The rest of the candidates can complete sentences, and thoughts.

This is a purely emotional response and not at all grounded in reality. Biden even in his worst moments completes sentences and thoughts.

If you have to make stuff up to support your beliefs, then your beliefs are literally not grounded in reality.

It's your right to choose not to be grounded in reality, but you lose all claims to being the one who better understands reality, is seeing reality free of bias, and isn't gaslighting themself and others.

Your biases are owning you, because you won't own your biases.

 

[LA - L.A.]

He has failed almost every single time since that debate.

This is also not grounded in reality and based on blindly biased perception.

Most of that polling appears to be simply exposure.

You rely on the polls and polling numbers, until they show numbers that don't support what you believe and want others to believe.

Every time polling numbers from polls you rely on work against your argument, you have a ready made excuse why those numbers don't matter. Every single time.

"The only numbers and polls that matter are the ones that support what I'm saying," is textbook emotional rationalizing. It's neither rational or logical. It's irrational, illogical and self-contradictory. It's the result of a blindly biased mind.

 

[SamAndreas]

Everyone better watch this to see if he's been good or bad.

That means you might want to get some warm up chewing done on your fingernails before pressing the start button.



I thought he was doing good. Met and even exceeded my expectation.

Everyone gets to decide.


Which suggest through implication that no one but Biden actually gets to decide.

 

[LA - L.A.]

I do fear that we could be creating fractures that won’t be easily repaired in time.

It's by design by those who want to dominate and destroy our society. They have been flooding us with propaganda, most of it flat false and intentionally misleading. They've both sown doubt about Biden and given a ton of ammunition for people to use for infighting which creates chaos.

A lot of the very same people who laughed at the Republicans over their Speaker of the House infighting, have taken it to a hold my beer level of infighting. A lot of them want to also act like what they're doing is not hurtful, but also go so far as to claim it's healthy. Dysfunction is never healthy. Only a dysfunctional mind can see dysfunction as healthy.

For Trump, his supporters, and hostile foreign actors, this was their hail mary. Getting the Democratic party to turn on Biden and itself is the only prayer that Trump and the rest of them have at winning this election. They're preying on the legitimate concerns that people with good intentions have.

I don't ever want to hear another peep about American "exceptionalism" or "greatness." The UK figured this shirt out. France figured this shirt out. Germany is in the process of sorting their shirt out. America? It looks like we're flirting with high diving headfirst into an empty pool, because the jackass jackals have convinced to many of us it's full of water.

If American society fails, I squarely blame it on the Republicans who repeatedly degraded public education which created an American epidemic of the Dunning–Kruger effect. There are simply way to many Americans who are absolutely certain they know things that no one can know.

 

[LA - L.A.]

I agree. It's not the media's or the Democratic party's responsibility to protect the country against Trump - that's on American voters.

That said, I do have a certain level of anger and resentment toward Biden and the Democratic party for allowing the situation to come to this. In a fantasy world, I'd want a Shapiro/Whitmer ticket right now, but in the real world I recognize alternative options are risky or unrealistic if not impossible at this point. The only alternative I KNOW is possible is for Biden to resign the Presidency, right now, and Harris becomes President... and then we see what happens next. And honestly, I'll take that over where this looks to be heading.

Because if Biden isn't going to to that, or announce he's withdrawing his candidacy, I don't see any world where Biden's approval ratings improve between now and November. He's not capable of changing the perception of anyone who's decided he's too old, and if anything that perception will only get worse as we move forward. As the election nears, Democratic Senators and representatives are going to realize at some point that Biden is going to take some of them down with him, they'll finally panic for real and want to actually force him out, and by then it will be too late. In this scenario, our only hope is what J-Donk alluded to - maybe not quite Trump raping a kid, but Trump's approval ratings have to take a significant hit for some reason. Maybe focusing on Project 2025 will do that, but I'm not optimistic.

The approval rating does not translate very well or consistently to election results.

In the polls that show Biden's disapproval really high, those same polls show that in head to head voting, Biden and Trump are in a neck and neck race.

The reason the people that are beating the war drums for Biden to step down only quote approval ratings, is because that's all they've got to support their war drumming. They ignore the fact that in the very same polls they rely on, Biden is running and neck with Trump, and not a single replacement candidate is doing any better, and that's without being smeared like Biden is being smeared.

It's at least as likely that as soon as a replacement enters the race and starts getting smeared, they will do worse than Biden.

The approval ratings are being used like a magician getting you to focus away from everything that's going on. People keep quoting approval rating to distract people from seeing everything there is to see.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Biden won't be on the ticket.

Still waiting on those Super Lotto numbers, brother.

 

[SamAndreas]

The anatomy of this at this link is interesting:
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZjbmt0TXpZd1NoRUtEd2lONzhqN0N4Rnc4XzFCcmVua1J5Z0FQAQ?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

That's the Google news link to a show all list of article about the upcoming interview. It's the titles of those articles I'm reading. What's in that index will change as stories are added. So what I see might change over time if I comeback Latter. Three points I see.

Conservative sources are by and large running the cleanest titles by far. By that I mean there isn't hint of added narrative, they didn't sneak in a snark, it's all description about what is about to happen.

The more liberal it is the more I see some narrative, they are descriptions with some snarky added.

The third thing, there is only one NYTimes story. What is interesting there is that is clean title. The title reads:

Biden Sets Second Post-Debate Interview, This Time With NBC’s Lester Holt​

The interview will air in prime-time on NBC on Monday, the first night of the Republican National Convention.

And there are not six to eight other NY Times articles in a separate subscribed sources section.

That sectio might be added if they do add articles and the character of those titles might vary from clean to dirty, adding narrative is dirt added.

 

[LA - L.A.]

I share those concerns and I also wish Biden had chosen to be a one-term president. There are a number of things I wish had gone differently, including; Clinton had won in 2016, one of the younger candidates got the nomination in 2020. People looking for who to blame now, don’t overlook the big steps that got us here.

All the public spectacle feels like taking a wrecking ball to whatever chances we have. I do have to remind myself that there is a lot more going on than we see. Maybe Biden isn’t giving a private audience to people he should? Or maybe the behind the scenes interactions aren’t raising alarm?

I’d like to buy into the excitement of a contested convention but I absolutely don’t see that happening. If it happens, and it elevates the ticket with voters, I will be elated and relieved to be wrong. One fear I have is if we go the contested route and Harris doesn’t emerge as the nominee, we will do insurmountable harm within the base, and I’m not at all convinced she’d be our strongest candidate.

There isn't a single incident that I know of in American history, since the advent of telecommunications, that the party that had a contested convention won the election.

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

It amazes me how many people will say "those who forget history or doomed to repeat it" on the one hand and then on the other hand "a contested convention and new candidates will pump up the excitement and give a bump to the party" on the other hand. It's irrational thinking. It's wishcasting at the highest level.

 

[LA - L.A.]

The primaries were a joke. The only opposition was Williamson and Phillips.

Nobody else chose to run. If you think people were kept from running, provide credible evidence of that.

If you want to be mad, be mad at all the people that chose not to run, because the Democratic party can't make someone run.

Stop. Breathe. Think.

 

[J-DONK]

This is also not grounded in reality and based on blindly biased perception.


You rely on the polls and polling numbers, until they show numbers that don't support what you believe and want others to believe.

Every time polling numbers from polls you rely on work against your argument, you have a ready made excuse why those numbers don't matter. Every single time.

"The only numbers and polls that matter are the ones that support what I'm saying," is textbook emotional rationalizing. It's neither rational or logical. It's irrational, illogical and self-contradictory. It's the result of a blindly biased mind.

Its' clear the polling for potential candidates is just exposure after all none of these others are actually running.

The other thing that maybe true is that Biden is pretty much at the floor for a Democratic presidential candidate. That's why his polling isn't really moving much further down. It's already laying down in the floor. What supports this? Biden is polling worse then all the incumbent senate candidates up for reelection.

I'll remind everyone who keeps going with this talking point. There was leaked insider polling that showed all these candidates doing better then Biden.

 

[LA - L.A.]

I cannot vouch for this but it was on Twitter that Biden had recently angered Clooney and his wife. I don’t know if this is true or not.

It's very true and it's because of the Biden's administration's handling of Israel over their treatment of Palestinians. He and his wife have made their recent disapproval of him well known. There are plenty of reports to verify that.

Let's think this through. Allegedly Clooney said he's known from direct interactions with Biden since before the debate that Biden is not sound, not sure of his exact phrasing.

Why didn't Clooney say anything earlier if he was so concerned about it? Why did he wait until almost two weeks into the piling on following the debate?

Also, he said every single Democratic Senator, and I think the House too, was against Biden in private. That sounds more like something he wants people to believe and knows that some people are just dying to hear. Think about it. If every Democratic member in Congress wants Biden gone, why would all but 5 or 7 of them publicly act like they don't?

That's just two of the ways his own words don't add up or ring completely true. He's no doubt laced some truth in there to make what he's saying more plausible and easier for people to swallow.

No actor is who or how you think they are. Anytime they are in front of a camera or in public, they are performing. Clooney is an okay guy, but he has a reputation for being ruthless to anyone that stands in the way of what he wants.

In front of cameras, actors who work with him joke about all the fun and games had by all from Clooney's practical jokes. It's not always fun and games. A lot of it is bullying and harassment by Clooney. I know people who have worked on sets with him. The word of advice is stay out of his path, because you never know what will make him cross with you and once he is, he'll make your life living hell for the remainder of the production.

I hear a lot of things verified by multiple credible sources about a lot of people in the film industry. I don't usually mention anything from anyone I haven't witnessed firsthand, but even if everything Clooney said is true, this was a bush league way of him going about it and he did it more out of self-serving reasons than any other reason.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Nope... This is the real reason for Clooneys actions

George Clooney Called White House to Defend Wife Helping Bring War Crimes Case Against Israeli Leaders (Report)

The Washington Post says the Hollywood actor is concerned Amal Clooney may be impacted by sanctions threatened against the International Criminal Court for issuing warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and top Hamas leadership.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

You're exactly right.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Clooney just helped raise millions of dollars for Biden two weeks ago.

Yes he did. And Clooney said he's known for quite some time that Biden wasn't fit. So, why did Clooney wait until today?

What changed in the past two weeks that caused Clooney to go from raising millions of dollars for Biden who he "knew was unfit," two very publicly and very humiliatingly throwing Biden under the bus today?

George implied that he's known Biden was unfit farther back than the debates. So why continue to fund raise for him and then wait two weeks after the piling on that followed the debate to go public with "what I know."

My guess is George and Amal felt their fund raising would buy them influence they didn't end up getting, so now they are retaliating by trying to push him out of the way to get a candidate they think will give them what they want.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Sure buddy.

This is like arguing with SFL about Trump.

Yes, in a lot of ways you do act just like SFL when he's talking about Trump.

I'm glad you have that self-awareness, buddy.

 

[LA - L.A.]

I know they were normal, but do you deny that if the party knew what they know today...

Have you ever considered they know what you don't actually know, but mistakenly think you know. Did that ever occur to you?

A lot of the party people spent actual face to face time with Biden and still are. You never have. If you have recently spent face to face time with Biden, then by all means correct me.

So maybe, just maybe, you don't know what you think you know based on what little you've seen.

Nah, it can't possibly be that, it has to be every Democrat in government, and also every Republican, as well are covering for him.

Have you overlooked that he's had direct interactions with Congressional Republicans, many of whom willingly lie to tear him down, but not a single one of those Republicans have shared any stories about Biden being "a senile old man." Even during this feeding frenzy, not a single Congressional Republican has shared a anecdote of Biden being a senile old man.

I guess the Republicans are in on the cover up with the Democrats. Maybe there's hope for bipartisanship after all. Hooray.

 

[LA - L.A.]

This is what is so confounding. As much as people say Biden was hiding that is just bull. He had an active schedule as POTUS. He did fundraising, he visited swing states, he attended world events, he gave local interviews, he talked to the press sometimes on his way to the helicopter. He hosted events at the WH. He did another event last night at 8:30, I just read. I don’t know what gives.

He had direct interactions with Congressional Republicans. It's so good to know that those Congressional Republicans were kind enough to hide Biden's secret with all of the Democrats, military personal, world leaders, global business leaders. It's so heartwarming they all covered for "senile old paw paw Biden."

 

[LA - L.A.]

Biden was not that active.

You do know that the president interacts with members of Congress from both parties, DNC leadership, donors, expert advisors, military personal, state and local officials, foreign officials, business leaders, and a bunch of other people besides the press, don't you?

You do know that he doesn't report every meeting and phone call he has to the press, don't you?

It's 911 conspiracy level conspiracy to believe that there was any way that anyone could hide what so many insist was hidden from everyone.

Occam's razor says to believe in that level of cover up is ridiculous.

What's more likely is that his limited public exposure makes his moments of stumbling in public seem more frequent and predominant than they actually are.

Hey, but sure let's go with American and world leaders conspired to keep the public in the dark about Biden, including the Republicans. Yeah, that does sound so much more plausible than maybe you are mistaken. It's completely out of the realm of any conceivable possibility that you are simply mistaken.

 

[LA - L.A.]

This guy lays it out pretty sensibly.

Yeah, no one is actually pushing to replace Biden. Some are just trying to force Biden into stepping down.

I don't think Biden is going to do that. It would be the first time in his life he backed down.

I hope people are honest when they say they'll support and vote for Biden if he's the candidate, because that's the most likely outcome.

Clooney pretty much sealed it by publicly humiliating Biden. I don't see Biden backing down after that. I think it only makes it more likely that Biden tries to prove his doubters wrong, even if by chance they are right.