Biden vs Trump June 2024 Presidential Debate

For anyone who cares, these are my thoughts on the recent presidential debate and the 2024 presidential race.

Biden choked. I don't know if it was the pressure or some of his staff have said he had a cold, he has recently had trips abroad, so jet lag and travel fatigue could have played a part, but whatever happened, he looked old, frail, and he had real cognitive trouble.

Undecided voters have concerns about Biden's age and his ability to do the job. Instead of relieving those concerns, Biden's performance exacerbated them.

I think Biden has done a decent job as president in his term in office. I think he has restored integrity and stability to the federal government and he has a strong team of staff working for him. His policies have helped to stabilize the economy after the pandemic. He ended the war in Afghanistan. He has successfully passed a number of important bills to invest in infrastructure, energy, and to help address climate issues.

Having said that, Biden's performance in the debate on Thursday night, concerns this supporter. This is not the Biden we saw on the debate stage four years ago. I don't think the cognitive issues that were on display in the debate are probably normal for Biden, but if pressure brings those symptoms to the surface, and our nation faces a crisis where minutes count and we need decisive action, those faltering moments can quickly add up, and if Biden were to have a health crisis in the middle of a serious situation, his staff, strong and wise as they might be, will be forced to scramble to take action to navigate around the president's health issues. That is not good for our country.

The other thing Biden failed to do in the debate is to put forward a clear message of his vision for the next four years, and contrast that vision with the complete nonsense Trump is proposing. Trump's performance was better than Biden's, but only because he was able to communicate somewhat clearer a handful of ideas that he wants to accomplish in another term. Against virtually any other Democratic politician, Trump would have completely lost the debate. Trump lied repeatedly, even taking credit for things the Biden administration has done (e.g. lowering prices on prescriptions and insulin for seniors). Trump was able to sucker Biden into an asinine argument over who was the better golfer. Trump resorted to his tired old tactics of saying everything is currently a disaster, that everything under his administration was wonderful and perfect. These claims could be easily disproved with a handful of data points that a skilled debater would have at the ready. Biden floundered. Trump is now a convicted felon with a long rap sheet of other offenses and dozens of serious indictments yet to be litigated. Biden's mention of these concerns was passing. He should have hammered this point home.

The moderators asked a question about abortion. The Democratic position on this issue is the stronger position among voters right now. Trump completely fumbled his response on the subject, but Biden 

The Best Thing for the Country

Donald Trump poses a unique threat to our country. We need someone who can convey a strong vision and clear contrast with the GOP nominee. While I know it will cause some temporary confusion and scrambling, Joe Biden needs to withdraw from the nomination and let the cards play out in the convention. I firmly believe this is what would be best for our country. No one can force Biden to do that, but pressure from others in the party could sway him.

Our Vice President, Kamala Harris, would be a fine candidate. I expect that virtually everyone who supports Biden would support a Harris candidacy if Biden chose to step down, and I think people whose anxiety about Biden's age would feel more comfortable.

I have also heard it argued that Biden's current struggles with support among younger voters related to Biden's unwillingness to criticize Israel. Kamala would not have the same baggage with regard to that issue as Biden and she could set a new tone in a new administration. This could help bolster flagging support among young voters.

If Biden Refuses to Step Down

What if Biden refuses to step down? If Biden refuses to step down as the nominee, I will 100% vote for him, and do what I can to get him elected. While I think it would be better if he steps down, I also think he's a good person, and I think he's doing his best to serve the country. I understand there are people who strongly disagree with him about policy. There are plenty of GOP politicians with whom I strongly disagree, but I don't believe they pose the kind of singular threat to our country that Trump poses.

In Trump's first term, his staff and cabinet roughly fell into two categories. There were people who were traditional conservatives who had served in government for decades because they care about this country and people who were loyal to Trump over and above anything else. Many who fell into the latter category were indicted and either found guilty of crimes or pleaded guilty. Trump pardoned a few as well. Those whose loyalty belonged to the country and the constitution have written memoirs in which they have explicitly stated that Trump should never be put in power again because he was trying to subvert the systems at every turn.

Trump has been a conman from day one. He speaks in superlatives about himself. He doesn't have the foggiest clue about public policy, and he doesn't care to learn. He claimed to have the best people, yet he had more people in his administration put in prison than any administration in history. He's been found civilly guilty of sexual assault. His foundation was forced closed after it was revealed that he was using funds from his charity for personal purposes. Trump is now a convicted felon, who would not be eligible to serve in the military, could not qualify for federal security clearances to deal with top secret information. He's also been indicted for mishandling national secrets and lying and obstructing investigations related to the documents he stole from our government.

Everything Trump does is for the benefit of himself and his family. He hired his children to work in the government. This is known as nepotism. If you're running a family business, it's probably not a huge issue, but in most companies, and government offices, it's not allowed because it can cause conflicts of interest.

Trump flagrantly violated the emoluments clause of the constitution by not selling off his business assets and putting them into a blind trust like every other president has done for decades and decades. Because he held onto his hotels and country clubs, foreign dignitaries paid for hotel rooms. The US government also used Trump accommodations. This put huge sums of money into Trump's businesses and it was used to curry favor with his administration.

But on top of all of that, Trump has undermined our justice system and our democratic institutions themselves. The 2020 presidential election was not stolen. There was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. There was no evidence of election fraud. Every time Trump's lawyers took his suits to court over the elections, the judges heard their arguments and basically laughed them out of the court. Here is a link to an article that details the results of each and every case they brought. His own Attorney General and Chief of Staff told Trump that the election was lost and lost fairly.

In spite of the complete lack of evidence, Trump repeated the lie that the election was stolen. And on January 6th 2021, Trump called his supporters to the Capital and urged them to march on Congress. When his supporters grew violent and Congress had to be evacuated, Trump sat and watched it unfold on the news. His staff and family members pleaded with him to get on TV and call his supports to stop and go home. Instead, Trump tweeted about Mike Pence lacking the courage to "do what should have been done." which only served to fan the flames and encourage his supporters. 

It was a couple of hours before Trump finally got behind a podium to call off his supporters. There is footage of him preparing and he refused to call their acts of violence against Capital Police, destruction of public property, and disruption of Congress criminal.

Trump wants power. Trump looks with admiration at the autocrats around the world. In a new administration, he is only going to surround himself with sycophants whose only loyalty is to Trump. There won't be people like Pence, Meadows, Barr, Pompeo, Tillerson, Sessions, Kelly, and others who helped keep the guardrails on his administration. 

Third Party?

I don't think the two party system is great for our country. I welcome new political parties into the arena. But politics is about working toward goals while making compromises in order to get things done. I don't agree with everything Joe Biden has done. I have concerns about his age. But for me, I am more aligned with the Democratic Party policies than any other political party. If a new party comes along, they have a platform I can support, and a candidate who isn't nuts, I would be willing to cast a vote for that candidate.

I don't see that anywhere in the landscape at this time. I disagree with more of what RFK says than I agree with him. Furthermore, I don't think his proposed policies are workable, nor will they keep our country safe. His stance on public health and specifically vaccines is not in line with science. And I believe he's being used as a political pawn to draw votes away from Biden. His funding and support is not from people who actually support his candidacy as much as from conservatives who want him to serve as a spoiler in the election. RFK is not a serious contender, nor are any of the other options, in my opinion.

At any rate, those are my thoughts, for whatever they are worth.

I know this is not the usual fair for my blog, but this is a deeply important issue to me, and I have grave concerns about the future of our country.

Thanks for stopping by.

Gavagai