Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron@qoto.org

@DrPsyBuffy The debate won't change people's mind on its own, agreed. But if Joe can't coherently repudiate Trumpism anymore, which the debate showed he can't, then that will absolutely prevent people from voting for him.

@jmaris Newsom is the name I'm hearing, but he just has too much baggage (we all see how well California is going right now).

Whitmer is a name I didn't expect to hear, but I'm seeing it more and more...

@garry It would be nice if Biden was coherent enough to make that very case to the American public.

@feverspell The real threat is that the old man with the sore throat is too weak to beat the authoritarian.

@TCatInReality @bmzimmermann You maybe want to go back and review my initial list. Yes, the Afghanistan withdrawal pulls more from RW criticism, but the complaints about his handling of the border, Gaza, and Trump tariffs are all progressive left-wing complaints.

@TCatInReality @bmzimmermann To be clear: I'd vote for a moldy cheese sandwich over Trump. If Biden is the ticket, I'll vote for him.

But if he's unable to coherently defend himself against these talking points, he maybe shouldn't be the candidate.

@TCatInReality @bmzimmermann Have you considered the possibility that some of the issues the right are hitting Biden for are issues that moderates and dems are also independently concerned about?

@JeffC1956 Lol. Both of those things have literally already been happening for decades.

@TCatInReality @bmzimmermann I literally watch/read no "rightwing media", so your insistence otherwise just comes off as childish. Check my feed. Before this debate, I could have accurately been called a "Biden apologist."

Your responses are emblematic of the DNC's refusal to acknowledge how serious these issues are and how much of a liability they are for the ticket. Sticking our heads in the sand is not a viable electoral strategy.

@JeffC1956 Unfortunately, boycotts have the opposite effect in elections. The problem is that there is functionally no difference between refusing to vote and just not caring enough to vote. And refusing to vote doesn't actually send a message to anyone like reducing a company's profit does... it just cedes control to those who still vote.

@TCatInReality @bmzimmermann I'm a registered Democrat, and I'm far from the only one with these concerns.

As for Afghanistan, it wasn't just the loss of life, but also the rushed manner in which it was handled and the endless equipment we left behind. That Trump would have handled it worse doesn't make Biden's handling of the situation good.

"Fiercely" is an interesting adjective to choose.

@indigo8s Biden's team agreed to the "no fact checking" rule.

The bottom line is that Biden was the man most responsible for fact checking Trump and he wasn't up to that task.

@bmzimmermann Replacing a candidate at the last minute is a dangerous hail mary. From a simple logistics standpoint, if the ballots are already printed with his name, then you're running a write-in campaign. And that's before you get to issues like it making the party look weak and weasely.

If we're getting a new candidate, the only way to do it is with an open primary convention. Turn the democracy up to 11.

@TCatInReality @bmzimmermann "great job" is questionable given his poor handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, poor handling of the genocide being committed in the middle east, failure to repeal Trump tariffs and border policies...

Some of that would be forgivable if he could articulate his policies and promise to do better, but he can't even seem to do that coherently.

We're in deep trouble, whether he's the candidate or not.

@w7voa ...just not any who are willing to attach their name to their words.

@CardboardRobot @CNN Yeah, but that wasn't their job... it was Biden's.

@karlpybara I think the concern is less that he's too old to be president and more that he's too old to campaign effectively and that might be enough to hand the election to his opponent.

If he can't clearly articulate calling Trump on his lies, he doesn't belong on the stage with him.

@Flowermob Then why was she VP in the first place?

Like I said, it brings up a lot of uncomfortable questions.