To think Joe Biden needs to be replaced as a candidate

Yes why don't they have some younger candidates

The thing is, if Biden were to go totally ga-ga in office, at least they'd replace him. But they'd let Trump keep right on going.

FWIW, I don't think Biden has dementia or anything, but he is too old; a lot of people, even very capable ones, just get a bit vague and forgetful when they're older and that's not ideal for POTUS.

I don't know what's going on with Trump, but he does seem to be getting increasingly incoherent and uncontrolled. I'm surprised there was so little comment on him using the word 'Motherfuckers' at a rally last year; I mean, its hardly a crime but its deeply inappropriate in that context and shows how little self control he has.

Narcissistic megalomaniac who cannot be controlled by his party vs frail dementia sufferer who clearly is going to be a mere puppet for someone else in the White House is a horrendous choice. I still think the former poses a much greater threat to global stability, but the latter represents appallingly bad judgment on the part of the Democratic Party.

Why does the party "need her" ?

At the moment she looks like a liability.

If she were a strong candidate for Presidency it would certainly head off a lot of the concerns about Biden's health, because she would be there to replace him in the event of major concerns about his health.

I don’t know much about Gretchen Widmer, need to do some research.

Are you talking about last night's televised presidential candidate debate?

It wasn't an interview.

How do you get to be an adult in a western country and know so little about the way the world's biggest and most important democracy works?

No, the president is not just a figurehead.

She seems very promising but America isn’t ready for a ticket with 2 women, and I don’t believe KH is going anywhere. The party needs here (though not to stand for POTUS - she cannot win)

For the good of party, country, and world, rather than self-interest? Novel idea in current politics I know.

@poetryandwine Yes, the social safety net is better than most areas, but the social problems are dire too. My SIL lives in the Bay Area and it’s not a great place to live nowadays. Huge homelessness and drug problems, plus it’s too expensive for average people to live there.

I don’t live in a great area on the East Coast, but it’s far worse there now.

Why on earth would a sitting Vice President agree to be on a ticket as number two to some state governor? Never going to happen.

@poetryandwine Do you really think that California can be held up as a role model for other states? You couldn’t pay me to live there right now. I hope we don’t get Newsom as Biden’s replacement. I suppose I’ll have to vote for him if we do though!

I have CA connections also and spend time in the Bay Area. I obviously disagree with @BruFord except that yes, the entire West Coast is expensive. But the social safety net is relatively strong there. It’s the price you pay, and inflation is down

Surely America can find someone better than this guy for president? I honestly don’t know where they get these people from!

Neither party has held its convention yet. Neither man is the formal nominee of his party. Either could choose to release the delegates pledged to him during the primaries.

The American media are full of pleas today for Biden to do this. There are some excellent Democratic governors who could step up as well as the VP and some Cabinet members

Gavin Newsom/Kamala Harris might be a winning ticket. She can’t win the presidency right now but the party needs her. A ticket with 2 women is sadly a nonstarter. GN is the governor of CA, which is something like the 7th or 8th largest economy in the world and is doing pretty well. It is in many ways a microcosm of America. GN has been effective and is charismatic.

We can but wait and see, though not for long

If they keep Biden in, they're going to lose the election. He's going to have to agree to step aside or take the loss knowing it's his fault.

I watched the debate and Biden was painful at the beginning, he lost his train of thought and rambled a couple of times.

Then he seemed to get into the swing of it and made some decent policy points. Trump lied and massively exaggerated all the way through, and Biden pulled him up on this, which was positive. Trump was definitely more energetic though.

Some posters mentioned Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, as a possible replacement for Biden. Please don’t wish him on us, California is in a terrible state right now. My SIL lives there, the COL is out of control, shoplifting is rampant in some areas as people can’t be prosecuted if they steal items valued at less than $900…so gangs target stores daily and steal just under that amount.

We already have a massive fiscal deficit, I think he’d do even more damage.

@Misthios I agree with your larger point

Trump has stamina and conveys a sense of energy. But he frequently speaks in word salads, he lies like nobody’s business and thus it impossible to discern what he knows and understands.

If sticking in the general region of truth is a requirement, he speaks less well than Biden. Last night he told loads of porkies. Biden had no effective rebuttal but then part of Trump’s success is that he lies at such scale that this alone makes him difficult to debate. You either waste all of your time on his terrain or you let his lies go. Or both.

I would not say these are marks of health. Vigour is a different thing

Too Conservative, Bible belt, misogyny

One day, but I can't see it happening in my lifetime

What? Why?

They can't "just" replace him - they've spent months of a whole primary process determining that he will be their candidate for the election. if he doesn't want to step down then it's almost impossible to force him out at this stage.

However, he hasn't been officially announced as their candidate. That happens at the National Convention in mid-August. So if he decides, or is persuaded, to step down, and if a consensus candidate emerges during July, then they could do a reasonably elegant substitution at the convention and have the new candidate take the stage then. Or alternatively the possible candidates could fight like rats in a sack for the candidacy at the convention itself, which would be good if unedifying telly at least.

I watched the debate, wow a country with some of the best schools in the world and those are two top choices?

I don't know much about the democratic process in the US - certainly I understand a lot less than I do about the UK's constitution. Can they just 'replace' him? It always seems a lot more complicated than that.

My politics are much more aligned with the Democrats. But I agree, as a US citizen I'd be very concerned abiut the 'choice' at present.

Those comparing the UK's front runners to the US have completely lost the plot. Imagine having Johnson or Truss back in charge. Even Sunak is preferable to that. And I say this as a Labour supporter. And Starmer is perfectly respectable, and capable, regardless of whether you agree with his politics.

They really need to bring one in.