I am taking a barometer on this thread as to what you think is the next play for the Dems, with Biden barricading himself into the Oval Office. Today would have been a good day to announce stepping aside for an Open Convention, but I haven’t heard anything coming up. [There is another forum thread “A Way to Remove Biden as Opposed to Hoping He Drops Out” which is similar to this; but this thread attempts to start thinking what might be done OUTSIDE the Dem Party.]
Oh, and to Biden’s braggadocious challenge that they should just challenge him at the Convention? Institute the vote procedure I discuss here (an initial non-binding anonymous round that neutralizes any threats of being targeted…) Feeling confident you’d do well in an anonymous vote, Joe?
I would like to point out that he is STILL refusing a COMPLETE neurological exam as recommended by this pro-Dem doctor (I would recommend that multiple be done in private by a PANEL of independent doctors…) With that refusal, at this point we are now just counting down to an Article 25.
It would be great to have a poll on this forum (perhaps Cenk can do it on his next show…) “Does the shooting make things hopeless for the Dems?” [what with Trump inevitably playing the victim card -the same guy who would never support a reinstatement of The Assault Weapons Ban…] Personally I don’t think so, but that’s why we have betting for horse races.
My call on the next step: any Dems with cojones left should visit in private by Monday and announce that unless he steps aside within 24 hours for a replacement ticket to be chosen at an Open Convention, they will be changing party affiliation to Independent and will be inclined to sign on to an Article 25. What about their funding? They should reach out to the PACs who have paused funding of Biden/Harris to fund their Senate and House runs. Forming a formal alliance could ease the ability to do that...
While your recommended step is logical in terms of using leverage, like Cenk needing to readjust his predictions, you have to calculate how weak and cowardly Democrats are.
So we have to unfortunately wait 48 - 72 hours hrs for 2 things:
for the news cycle to go through the motions about the Tr*mp @ssination attempt
to get more polling that damns Biden.
In lieu of that Dems are already caving, the window for hope and action is closing…
I’d like to point out that they have little to lose iat this point f they switch to Independent, provided they get some of that paused Biden/Harris donor money for their own campaigns. I strongly believe that after Monday we are leaving no time for replacement slates to get assembled and to revamp the Convention to be an Open one. So I believe they have to act by Monday to leave any chance for a replacement slate to have a fighting chance.
But try a final plea in private, warning what they are about to undertake…
I believe that anybody running from Dem side will lose to T and they all know it. I think no other candidates will even come forward to run as they know they will lose. I hope I am wrong there.
Let Biden run and then lose so that other Dems can run as new exciting candidates in 2028. Let Biden take the blame.
Since Dems are going to lose anyways why not let a progressive like Bernie Sanders or others like him put on the ticket and take the blame. This way Biden can leave with dignity and will not get blamed for the loss if that happens. At least the progressive candidate might give a good fight and we might be able to save the House yet.
I could be wrong, but I believe some would try knowing it’s pretty much a suicide mission, out of altruism and patriotism.
If a subset of Dems change party affiliation to Independent and secure funding from the donors who paused giving to Biden/Harris, we could be witnessing the very early stages of the formation of a new political party. But it won’t matter if Stupid Hitler gets control…
Well, here’s hoping that at least, say, 25 Congress people show up tomorrow to announce in private that they will go Independent if he continues to barricade himself in. They should be talking tonight to the PACs that paused the donations to Biden/Harris.
So he appears to be saying they’re doing a kabuki theater run. They can’t be bothered doing a real fight, so they’ll put on a good show and lose. They can’t be bothered fighting any Repub challenges to a new slate…
On these boards, let’s talk about how we can use our political power to pressure Biden to leave. I think that is a better use of time than predicting probabilities of what other people will do.
I think we should organize in-person demonstrations calling for Biden to step aside.
I support the practical and most likely to succeed strategy, unite behind the top 3rd party. On the week after the DNC all the small parties should announce that we pledge our votes to the person who leads the polls as the top third party candidate. We hold our nose and vote RFK and hope we have another election in 2028. The way it looks right now. I think TYT should host a third party debate. Have the top 3 candidates of all the small parties, independent included, on one stage. But we’d need to poll people and have all the small parties agree to the outcome.
That’s my argument/hope that a number of Dem congress people will convert to Independent if Biden continues to barricade. They can get money from the PACs who have paused for Biden. Once you have a walkout of 25 or whatever Congress people, the DNC careerists will be alarmed because that will mean a lot less donations after that.
I know someone else pointed out that you can’t be counting on them to do that, but if Biden barricades past another day, they have nothing to lose. They ride with Biden, you get a red wave and there will be no need for them after that. You show you didn’t sign on for nonsense in the Dem Party, constituents will support them and they can get a year of funding to ride out a transition to getting re-seated as an Indie,or they have time to transition to the private sector.
So I am just putting the idea out there to reinforce where they already see it is going…
Patrie, I like where you are going with this. In all honesty, I had hoped by now, that Biden would have reconsider stepping aside as POTUS and/or drop out of the race. Sadly, Biden is no longer there. I can already see with Biden a repeat of the fiasco and elderly abuse done to late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. With the recent event with his opponent, I now fear that Biden’s defeat is inevitable. I personally have lost all hope. I only see three options going forward: (1) Invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution per Biden’s disability. (2) Biden voluntarily stepping down, (3) non-political party voters going out in vast numbers and voting for the third candidate, which I’m not too fond of, Robert Kennedy, Jr. I don’t see any of these 3 options ever happening.
He can still step aside and they can defer to conduct an Open Convention.
Any hope for an Open Convention is now resting in the hands of a portion of Dem Congress members banding together to warn what they will (what I had suggested above…) if he doesn’t step aside within 24 hours…
I think Biden stepping aside is dead. The media has moved on and all eyes are on the RNC this week. Unless Biden royally fucks up the interview tonight. Then I could see the calls for him to step aside coming back into light and growing. We’re so fucked. I mean, we’re fucked regardless because it’s not like the democrats retaining office stops Project 2025. They have no actual plan to defeat fascism. All 4 more years would have done is kicked the can. The people are going to have to organize via mass civil disobedience, coordinated strikes, and willingness to challenge corporate rule. A party of neoliberal centrists isn’t going to do shit for us.
Trump and his MAGA cult are a stress test for America that we should be passing with flying colors. With Biden barricading himself in the Oval Office, WE ARE NOT BEING GIVEN A CHANCE TO EVEN TAKE THAT TEST. Biden and his coterie are at this point acting in a selfish manner and burning the house down. By denying an Open Convention and a CREDIBLE replacement ticket, the end of the American Experiment will be on THEM -not Trump.
his stated admission that he will now be powering down at 8 PM;
the reams of blunders now queued up, waiting to be used; and
his poor polling when that blunder footage has not even been deployed yet in strategic advertising.
Zen koan: “Sometimes inaction is the highest form of action.”
Those Dem Congress members who are refusing to sign on to a deadline that he step aside or they switch to Independent, possibly even consider signing on to an Article 25, will only be complicit in the burning down of America’s house.
I am NOT saying an Open Convention and a replacement ticket solves the problem; I’m just saying that at this point it is the only one that has a chance. It is a risk we are now forced to take.
PS Dem Congress members who can threaten AND act on a unified exit to Independent: you have NO time left. To give a replacement slate a fighting chance and prep the Convention to be Open, you would have to act NOW…
Both parties are completely in the back pockets of the Corporate/Billionaire elite. Being a successful Venture Capitalist (or thus sold as one), the picking of Vance as VP must certainly put to rest any fears that the powerful donors in this country have about Trump, who proved himself to be a complete idiot during the Pandemic. The only thing that could bolster their support for the Biden administration is that his handlers are seen as being better prepared to handle a certain economic downturn, which many in the investment community are concerned about at this time happening far earlier than later. As for, what can we the people do, we have been taken completely out of the equation at this point. The only power that we seem to have is to show up to the polls in force and make sure that Trump experiences a landslide loss unlike any seen in History. Likewise, someone is going to need to hold the Supreme Court in check, while making sure that MAGA not only loses seats in the House, but some of them face legal reprucussions as well.
