Belize

Rep. Random Democrat from Texas decided to go directly for the final boss while only being Level 5. They didn't think it through. It was actually pretty funny.

The idea that Rep. Random Democrat from Texas' 99th Congressional district could pressure the president of the United States to drop out always seemed a little rich.

Using the free, uninterrupted attention to campaign.

This phrase describes the whole plan of getting Biden to drop out because you're scared of losing.

I would like to add this. "Biden should keep running even if a bunch of rich donors threaten to stop donating; he can always come back to them anyway" is a complex strategy known as "calling someone's bluff". Assuming it's an actual concrete threat by a bunch of rich people.

I don't know whether the donors putting on hold their donations will affect Biden's decision to stay in the race or not. But what he could do is stay in the race and re-convince them later to donate. They've already donated to him, and it wouldn't take that much to get them to do so again. edit: Assuming this actually a real threat by some rich donors and not a thinly sourced news article that doesn't know what's going on.

I didn't watch the June 27 debate in it's entirety but of the moments that people are saying Biden was really bad in, I thought it was just a person having an embarrassing public speaking moment. Which has happened to me before. But then I forgot about it because I wouldn't judge someone by that anyway.

Confession: I wasn't that horrified by Biden's performance at the June 27 debate, and find the weeks long reaction to it very overblown. Edit: In the snap polls immediately after the debate, 33% of people thought Biden won the debate. So I assume others feel the same.

Now *this* is a great speech. The video itself, not necessarily the tweet quoting the video.

I'll spell it out: Biden completely has the floor. A bunch of people are expecting Biden to majorly screw up. But suddenly, Biden starts talking at length about how extensive his foreign policy experience is or how GDP growth is going to be strong for the year. So they've just given Biden the ability to promote himself to a wide audience.

But seriously, candidates would kill for the kind of attention Biden is getting right now. It's the kind of free attention the media gave Trump in 2016, when they aired Trump campaign speeches without interruption. With Trump, the media thought he was going to say outrageous things. Horrible things that would ruin his candidacy. But instead, Trump used that publicity to benefit him. This sounds familiar, right? Media is airing Biden speeches uninterrupted, thinking he's going to screw up. But can you guess what could very well happen?

What's happening with Democrats is old school politics. Biden is *not* going to drop out. The Democrats in Congress who think Biden is going to hurt their reelection chances are running away from him. The same thing happened to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Democrats who thought Pelosi was hurting them personally criticized her and said they would not support her as Speaker. Biden greatly helped himself with this press conference. He should do them more often. It'll significantly help him. He should figure out he has everybody's attention, and that's actually a *good thing*.

If we're suddenly listening to what Democratic members of Congress are saying:

"Probably every president could be attacked for hiding some kind of physically disability. Franklin Roosevelt hard hardening of the arteries. What did Kennedy have? Addison's disease. Lincoln had depression. Grover Cleveland had cancer. Woodrow Wilson had multiple strokes. And God knows what kind of venereal diseases Warren Harding had." --- a statement I heard tonight

I think it's a good summary of tonight's press conference.

One of my favorite moments in presidential debates.

Something that will have a greater effect on the outcome on November than what Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont thinks:

You know what? That's a really good post.

To directly answer your question, I have no specific alternative pick in mind. If we're talking about who my idealistic candidate for president would be, I'd have to think about it. But if I did, I would have supported them in the Democratic primaries. Not now, four months before the election. Because there is a proper time and place for doing that. I don't know what you mean by "grim" but if it's about Biden's merits and accomplishments, I think the president who has done the most to respond to climate change is the opposite of grim. I'm thankful a president is actually trying to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (relative to pre-industrial times). I'm excited to support that president. The Biden Administration Has Taken More Climate Action Than Any Other in History - Center for American Progress

I'm being "old school practical" as well. I think it's likely Biden will *not* drop out of the race. I don't think he's going to allow himself to be pushed out. Which would be good news. The only time I've ever felt threatened by Trump returning, so far, is with the idea of Biden dropping out. And if Biden stays, it'll be a relief.

I know, right? Bernie and AOC for Biden is weird.

Progressives' take on Biden. The strategy headlined by Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders is not unanimously popular across the progressive universe, some of which remains skeptical of aligning too closely with the president. But it reflects both the increasingly cagey approach to Washington politics adapted by some on the left during Biden’s presidency and an understanding, according to multiple sources familiar with internal conversations, that calling now for Biden to quit the race would have little effect on his decision while offering fodder for outside groups – as they did in working to oust Rep. Jamaal Bowman – to accuse progressives of being disloyal to the president and the party. “Even if we have been strong critics of Biden, especially over the Gaza stuff before the debate, it is not to our advantage, both in terms of being effectual in removing him or having him withdraw, to be the loudest ones calling for him to withdraw,” said one Democratic strategist in close contact with several progressive offices. “That would only backfire on them and actually maybe help him stay in power.” Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar told CNN on Tuesday that conversation around Biden’s fate is all but over. He will be the nominee, she said, and anyone who thinks otherwise is living “in an alternate universe.”