First presidential debate (7 Viewers)

Users who are viewing this thread

Optimus Prime

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2019
Messages
9,626
Reaction score
11,661
Age
47
Location
Washington DC Metro
Offline
Since we usually have a separate thread for these
=================

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.………..

 
This article that I linked before tells all the details that the White House and the media have been covering up. Biden is even worse off than I thought. OMG

My heart stopped as I extended my hand to greet the president. I tried to make eye contact, but it was like his eyes, though open, were not on. His face had a waxy quality. He smiled. It was a sweet smile. It made me sad in a way I can’t fully convey. I always thought — and I wrote — that he was a decent man. If ambition was his only sin, and it seemed to be, he had committed no sin at all by the standards of most politicians I had covered. He took my hand in his, and I was startled by how it felt. Not cold but cool. The basement was so warm that people were sweating and complaining that they were sweating. This was a silly black-tie affair. I said “hello.” His sweet smile stayed frozen. He spoke very slowly and in a very soft voice. “And what’s your name?” he asked.

Exiting the room after the photo, the group of reporters — not instigated by me, I should note — made guesses about how dead he appeared to be, percentage wise. “Forty percent?” one of them asked.

Hypocrite.
 
Lol, sure:







All that sounds similar because they were given messaging, which is normal.

All of the hopefuls aren't going to break rank on this when Biden is the person who can pick the nominee. In fact, the opposite, most of these people showed up in person to the meeting. Why? To suck up.




Lapaz is correct. There is nothing to really gleam from official party messaging like that.

In fact, if you can read between the lines. The fact that these hopefuls showed up person does say something about what they really think.

Thank you for your helpful answer! My follow up would be: Did my NJ governor show up in person? ....or is it known what Governor Murphy had to say?
 
Homie, linked a CNBC reporter twitter handle. I just about died.
I’m not gaslighting myself, I just know that it has to be Joe’s decision, at the end of the day. If enough people are truly worried, and get in front of him to convince him, I’m sure he will do the right thing even though he doesn’t want to.

Meanwhile, the press is absolutely running with this in a way that sort of sickens me, considering the way they don’t do this kind of feeding frenzy when Trump says and does truly horrible things.

Nobody ran with front page stories about Trump’s fitness for office when he fell asleep and farted his way through his trial. He fell asleep every damn day. It was covered as almost something comical. Now they are making snide remarks about Biden sleeping? Sorry, that is disgustingly one-sided.
 
Thank you for your helpful answer! My follow up would be: Did my NJ governor show up in person? ....or is it known what Governor Murphy had to say?

I don't know if he attended in person, or made a statement aftewards.

Here is the list, but I think these are just notables:

Among those at the White House were Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Andy Beshear of Kentucky. All three have been floated as potential presidential candidates themselves.

Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Kathy Hochul of New York, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Tim Walz of Minnesota were also at the meeting in person. Mr. Walz, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, organized a call with the governors on Monday to discuss concerns about Mr. Biden’s debate performance, which led to Wednesday’s meeting.

Fourteen governors were joining the meeting remotely, including Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Katie Hobbs of Arizona.
 
Reed Hasting, Damon Lindeloff, Gideon Stein, Mike Novogratz, etc. You can read that NYT article on it if you are interested.

I like the PAC idea and that they are at least putting their money on the line in a way that helps if a change comes. That will address some of the funding concerns if the party goes with a new candidate.

I still think the people demanding something must be done aren’t considering the potential major repercussions, depending on how a change to the ticket plays out. Bypassing Harris, for instance, could fracture the base with little time to unify.

Maybe I’ll feel better if an actual plan emerges that lays out a path beyond dump Biden.
 
I like the PAC idea and that they are at least putting their money on the line in a way that helps if a change comes. That will address some of the funding concerns if the party goes with a new candidate.

I still think the people demanding something must be done aren’t considering the potential major repercussions, depending on how a change to the ticket plays out. Bypassing Harris, for instance, could fracture the base with little time to unify.

Maybe I’ll feel better if an actual plan emerges that lays out a path beyond dump Biden.

I think if you go with someone other then Harris you have to do some kind of mini-primary election. I talked to MT15 about this yesterday. The optics of passing over a black woman would be god awful.

I don't think we are going to have major issues with unity. Most people right now just want someone who can debate Trump, and campaign.

The way I see it:

Harris is heir apparent/easiest transition
Whittmer is surest EC victory
Newsom potentially strongest candidate
 
This guy is better than me at explaining the press issue. Anyone who thinks the press has been covering this fairly is kidding themselves. Copy-paste because it’s long. His name is Matthew Chapman.

All right. Here is my long, nuanced take on the last week of Biden panic and media chaos. I'm probably going to make a lot of people on every side mad with at least part of what I have to say here.

1) Biden is genuinely older than he was, does not have the physical stamina he used to, and it is apparent in his speeches.

2) It is also apparent in his speeches he is cognitively fine. He answers questions sharply and with policy nuance. He just sounds tired doing it.

3) Biden is inherently distrustful of elite journalists and don't give them the access they believe they deserve.

4) This has caused a reporter vendetta that is fueling the current media cycle.

5) This has ALSO caused Biden's team to be ill-equipped in getting him visible with the public.

6) That lack of immediate visibility in the wake of the debate has caused real alarm among Democratic lawmakers that triggered leaks that further feed the media frenzy.

7) At the same time, Biden's antipathy to the press is exaggerated. He DOES sit for interviews often, just with local sources and talk show hosts, not Beltway reporters.

8) This further fuels Beltway reporter resentment towards him because they feel they're entitled to access.

9) Beltway reporters had a serious decline in quality in the Trump years, started asking dumber, more gossipy and less policy-based questions and this trend has continued under Biden.

10) That further intensified Biden's handlers' choice to limit his interactions with them.

11) The press focus on all of this is not nothing. It's based on real fears from Democrats who were banking a lot of their confidence he could bounce back in polls on voters seeing Biden's competence, and they're afraid that won't happen now.

12) Trump's and SCOTUS' threats to democracy and his own personal and mental issues are, objectively, still a much more newsworthy and important issue than all of this, and the feeding frenzy has completely shut it all out for many voters who need that information.

13) If Biden wants to survive, he has to suck up his resentment of the press, rightly or wrongly, and give them the access and unscripted engagement they are demanding of him.

14) If he can't, Democrats aren't wrong to have a serious conversation about replacing him with Harris.

15) Democrats can still win the election either with Biden or with Harris. Polls show just about every voter from 2020 who hated Trump still hates him.

16) If the election were held today, Trump would be the favorite. Democrats have to change course.

I know it’s long, but I agree with nearly everything he said. My disgust at the media for ignoring everything malign about Trump is growing every day.
 
This guy is better than me at explaining the press issue. Anyone who thinks the press has been covering this fairly is kidding themselves. Copy-paste because it’s long. His name is Matthew Chapman.

All right. Here is my long, nuanced take on the last week of Biden panic and media chaos. I'm probably going to make a lot of people on every side mad with at least part of what I have to say here.

1) Biden is genuinely older than he was, does not have the physical stamina he used to, and it is apparent in his speeches.

2) It is also apparent in his speeches he is cognitively fine. He answers questions sharply and with policy nuance. He just sounds tired doing it.

3) Biden is inherently distrustful of elite journalists and don't give them the access they believe they deserve.

4) This has caused a reporter vendetta that is fueling the current media cycle.

5) This has ALSO caused Biden's team to be ill-equipped in getting him visible with the public.

6) That lack of immediate visibility in the wake of the debate has caused real alarm among Democratic lawmakers that triggered leaks that further feed the media frenzy.

7) At the same time, Biden's antipathy to the press is exaggerated. He DOES sit for interviews often, just with local sources and talk show hosts, not Beltway reporters.

8) This further fuels Beltway reporter resentment towards him because they feel they're entitled to access.

9) Beltway reporters had a serious decline in quality in the Trump years, started asking dumber, more gossipy and less policy-based questions and this trend has continued under Biden.

10) That further intensified Biden's handlers' choice to limit his interactions with them.

11) The press focus on all of this is not nothing. It's based on real fears from Democrats who were banking a lot of their confidence he could bounce back in polls on voters seeing Biden's competence, and they're afraid that won't happen now.

12) Trump's and SCOTUS' threats to democracy and his own personal and mental issues are, objectively, still a much more newsworthy and important issue than all of this, and the feeding frenzy has completely shut it all out for many voters who need that information.

13) If Biden wants to survive, he has to suck up his resentment of the press, rightly or wrongly, and give them the access and unscripted engagement they are demanding of him.

14) If he can't, Democrats aren't wrong to have a serious conversation about replacing him with Harris.

15) Democrats can still win the election either with Biden or with Harris. Polls show just about every voter from 2020 who hated Trump still hates him.

16) If the election were held today, Trump would be the favorite. Democrats have to change course.

I know it’s long, but I agree with nearly everything he said. My disgust at the media for ignoring everything malign about Trump is growing every day.

That’s a really good summary of a lot of the key points. I’ve seen a number of verified people on social media speak to the same rifts (maybe not the best word) between Biden and the media, especially NYT. It’s not a good situation and whatever Biden’s reasons, shouldn’t have reached this point. It’s hurting him now and it’s not the sort of thing a lot of people will be understanding about, despite a lot of commonly held negative views of the press.
 
I also saw someone say that Biden is hiding away, or being hidden from view, or something similar. Please look at his official calendar, it’s publicly available. He isn’t hiding, not that I can tell. He hasn’t taken any time off either, unlike Trump who has been hiding since the debate.

 


BlueAnon:

There emerged a comical overlap between the beliefs of the nation’s most elite liberal Biden supporters and the beliefs of the most rabid and conspiratorial supporters of former President Trump. Resistance or QAnon, they shared a grand theory of America in 2024: There has to be a secret group of high-level government leaders who control Biden and who will soon set into motion their plan to replace Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee. Nothing else made sense. They were in full agreement.

This guy is a Beltway insider who posts things as he see them. Your “reporter” is contemptible.

 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Advertisement

General News Feed

Fact Checkers News Feed

Sponsored

Back
Top Bottom