Joe Biden ist just like many octogenariens.....

The Democrats have really blown this. They thought the criminal cases against Trump would be enough to turn off the public to Trump once they had him convicted as a felon. That was their election strategy.

They tried to remove him from the ballot in some states,Colorado, Illinois and Maine, eventually found unconstitutional by high court.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/02/us/politics/trump-ballot-removal-map.html

Prosecusions for holding onto documents which he had not declassified which has now been deemed illegal because Jack Smith the prosecutor was appointed incorrectly
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/in-trumps-documents-case-aileen-cannon-tells-jack-smith-to-go-away

The January 6th charges have been dented by a presidential immunity decision and may be finished off by the fact that it was also instigated by Jack Smith

The only one that stuck was the hush money case which will not be appealed until after the election but the sentancing has been pushed back.

While Blue state prosecutors went after Trump in an over the top and unnprecidented way I think that they were unaware that quite a lot of Americans were alarmed about how abnormal this approach was, and also that they gave Trump an underdog persona, also pages and pages of free press exposure. He started the campaign as a weak, beatable candidate and they breathed life into his campaign instead of getting decent articulate smart dynamic candidates and good policies.

Rampant anti-Semitism, the sterilisation of gay children, men in women’s sports and bathrooms, institutional discrimination against whites and Asian-Americans, out of control crime, uncontrolled immigration, capitulation to China, the industrial scale murder of babies in the womb, etc, are all just fine with you then I guess. But not the majority of Americans who’ll thankfully vote Biden out.

As an American (longtime UK resident) Biden is already doing the job, and whilst I don't agree on everything at all, most of the policies pushed through by the Biden administration have been very good for the American people. The alternative is christofascism pushed by billionaires. Read Project 2025, so very scary...

Trump is only 3 years younger than Biden. And has been acting irrationally for years. Doesn't seem to have put enough people off.

Yes, possibly (I'm no expert on any alternatives tbh).
When I look at MO though I see a fellow 'backroom person' ie someone who works very hard in the background to make things work/support her family/do her job but who doesn't feel comfortable at the front, in the limelight.

Exactly. And there's still several months before election day.

"Brace yourselves for a whole lot of ugly coming at you from a never-ending parade of stupid." (Hairspray)

MO started along with Obama the path to polarisation. She doesn’t want the job anyway and was in fact happy to leave it all at Obamas’s last term.

MO didn’t even want to be First Lady, I doubt she wants to be president.

I hoped that.

They are both too old - Biden and Trump.

Not sure about generalising about all octogenarians though.

I don't disagree but for the greater good she is probably the only person who commands enough recognition and respect to turn this shitshow around.

I think MO is far too clever to campaign to be president. She's seen it all before from the inside and probably recognises how awful a job it is.
She would be crazy to jump back into that and I don't blame her.

There are two main problems:

Any democrat who might have the potential to win is going to want to wait until 2028 now to run so they have a proper chance. It’s such a long shot now for a dem to win as it’s late in the day, nobody wants to give up their chance.

Secondly, it’s money. The donations were given to the Biden/Harris ticket so only those two can use them without a lengthy process. Anyone else, no campaign money.

At this point, it’s now Biden or Harris. I’m not sure one is more likely to win than the other.

Trump doesn’t even need to campaign or speak at this point. He can just sit and watch the Democrats bury themselves. How depressing for Americans that those two are the choice they have to make. It’s an argument against a two party system that’s for sure!

Michelle Obama, your country needs you!

Trump has played an absolute blinder in picking J. D. Vance as his running-mate and heir apparent.

Instead of people worrying Trump might somehow try to stay on after 2028 despite the two term limit, now they’ll welcome the prospect of Vance as a 43 year old president. Possibly sooner, if anything happens to Trump.

He’ll be an exciting and attractive candidate for many Americans, with a coherent political philosophy described here:

www.nationalreview.com/2024/07/j-d-vance-pick-represents-another-nail-in-coffin-of-reagan-republicanism/amp/

I don’t know if the Democrats have anyone comparable. Newson I think is too compromised by out of control crime? Anyway Biden hasn’t put anyone exciting in place. All the more reason that he needs to step down, and then perhaps Kamala (if it must be her) can come up with someone new and fresh to join her on the ticket.

There is a minimum age for presidential candidates. There really ought to be a maximum as well. It's ridiculous that a man already in his 80s with cognitive decline is seeking a full on, high powered job for the next four years.

The big Hollywood donors (and by talking about activism I assume that they're the ones that concern you, not conventional business) have pulled the plug on donations to Biden.

We don't put upper age limits on jobs thankfully. That would be agism

Does that matter? Then they get shot. That's his call.

Trump is 78 ,its a very real possibility whoever wins the election could die during term .

Yeah but he's their favourite puppet and the next one might not be so amenable and put a stop to all the activism.

It’s very normal and expected for people in their 80s to decline rapidly. Why would anyone not predict this to happen for Biden? He’s exceptional only in that he’s also got the unbelievably high added stress of being President of the U.S. you couldn’t make it up! Ridiculous.

Staying on and not picking the most popular deputy he can find is so undemocratic. Trump is terrifying. Don’t give him the election! Covid offers a chance to resign that I really hope Biden will take. Resigning would not dent his record, but staying on doggedly definitely would do.

Watching him walk up the plane steps, last night on the news, was excruciating . He seems stiffer every week, never mind Health and safety preventing snipers on sloping roof's, what happens when the person you are guarding can't get to the ground quickly in an emergency ?

I feel so bloody sorry for Americans right now.
What a choice.
Also don't understand how Dems let it get to this stage, with Biden being so clearly incapable of lasting another 4 years.
Just don't understand it.

Yes, and 65 for PM with a 5 year term.

Sure there are outliers in every age cohort, but some younger blood in politics would be a good thing . ( I am 63 so ruling myself out now 😀)