Trump Trial Time - banish all memories of Mueller.

It's a bit "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself", isn't it.

I do recommend one Beau of the Fifth Column commentary about this subject:

I know a lot of people find him infuriating, but this appealed to me.

There is also

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

Completely agree with everything you said. I do worry though that the Dems' angst over this is going to be as damaging as the debate, if not more so.

And you can say this without being accused of being a "Biden apologist" by a troll, and mocked for it, which I find heartening.

Well, I didn't see the debate. It was on at 6pm and I was fast asleep in my chair. I don't know why I was so tired but there it is.

I haven't watched it (we have it on DVRr for late but we're up camping) and not sure if I'm going to. I've seen a few clips and read a lot of the reports. I have no idea what happened but the speech he gave the next day showed he was able to communicate.

I really don't think there is another viable candidate. Gavin is 'my' governor and I'd vote for him in a heartbeat, but for some reason his time has not yet come. I think he's preparing for 2028 (or beyond). Kamala wasn't given a real chance to 'shine' these last years, but then again, the role of VP is to 'not be visible' and be trotted out occasionally to back up the POTUS' vision and she's done that pretty well. One of the 'issues' with Kamala is that she was extremely tough on crime as CA AG and unfortunately she alienated a good percentage of some members of minority communities due to incarceration rates.

No, there's no one to replace Joe who has a snowball's chance in hell. I do think Joe is mentally up to the job on a day to day basis, I just think he's a poor public speaker. This sounds terrible, but as it stands I'd vote for Joe even if he was completely 'non compos mentis' because I do believe that Kamala is up to the 'top job'. And people need to remember that. Get Joe elected and inaugurated. Review the situation, and invoke the 25th if need be a bit down the line. I know that sounds terrible, but we need to do whatever we can to keep Trump out of office.

Am I terrified at this point? Absolutely! But I just don't see any other way.

I think the answer is probably that nobody except Joe Biden has the popular mandate from the primaries to run for President.

And it seems to me that he has made a pretty good job so far, a great deal better than the Thing he is running against did.

The strangest fact about Gavin Newsom is that his ex wife is Kimberly Gilfoyle, Trump jrs bonkers girlfriend.

OK, I see what you mean about Gavin Newsom, @Spandauer - particularly taken aback by the statistic that apparently he would definitely lose to Trump, according to some poll or other.
Just had a look at this article from The Economist, though I've no idea what to make of it! I think you might need to register to read it, I'm not sure. Will cut and paste if anyone is interested.
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2024/06/29/who-could-plausibly-replace-joe-biden

I stayed up to watch it (in the UK) and it was so awful I was just despondent yesterday even before those awful supreme court decisions which were like the dog shit icing on the cow shit cake. I've listened to a lot of Biden speeches and interviews over the last year and while I don't find him to be an amazing speaker, he's usually pretty in command of his information, so I couldn't believe how genuinely awful he was. I still struggle to understand what happened, but found this from the fabulous Heather Cox Richardson a really interesting (and credible) explanation. Still not sure where this leaves us, though.

"A depressing scenario." Fair enough, @Spandauer, but to my mind, not nearly as depressing nor as disastrous for democracy as if Trump were to get in again because the Democrats couldn't get it together and left Biden in the race, surely? (I have to say I know nothing about Gavin Newsom but if Trump hates/fears him, he must be a good thing, no?)
Off to google Gavin Newsom.

Some guy who led Arnie's campaign to be governor years ago said on radio 4 this morning that nobody can remove Biden now except Jill and Joe. That's their system.

Tragic. He needs gently leading out and replacing with some dynamic (relative) youngster who could tie knots in Trump the convicted fellon.

Edited because I've decided I need to start giving him his full title.

I have only seen a few clips but that was bad, very worrying.

Looks like the "Wonder drug" Trump insisted Biden was going to take didn't work.
The post mortem on the debate don't sound good for Biden. Fluent speech is one of his weaknesses while fluent lying is Trump's strength.
Fuck.
We're screwed

It's at 6 pm 'my time'.

MSNBC did a mock up with 2 commentators at the debate podiums. They're cutting the mikes when a speaker's time is up and they showed what that will sound like. Both commentators spoke in a normal tone of voice, one mike on, one off and you could just barely hear the 'cut mike' speaker. About like someone speaking in a normal tone of voice behind a heavy closed door, just muffled sound and you couldn't make out a single word. That's going to drive Trump nuts. I don't know if he'll be able to be silent or if he's going to start shouting to be heard.

There is also going to be no audience. Some have said that this may work for Trump as his 'stream of (un)consciousness' is usually due to getting a response from the crowd, making him ramp up to get even more of a reaction. The fact that there's no audience may make it easier for him to stay 'on topic'. Although I don't think he's very good at 'on topic' in any situation. I can't see him answering any of the questions 'directly', he'll turn it to Hunter, personal insults aimed at Joe, or some other bullshit.

I'm going to give it the old college try. But my college days are far behind me so not sure how well that'll go. lol

No. Time enough tomorrow morning to discover that Trump chickened out, I feel.

Anyone going to be up at 2am to watch the debate live?!

Bwah hahaha Yep. That'll be me, alright!

@Spandauer

I'm in a blue state too (CA). DH & I RV and we keep joking about parking the caravan in a battleground/'leaning right' state and registering to vote there lol. Obvs we'd never do that (illegal) and anyway it's not that simple.

Your reasons are the basic feeling I have re watching. I honestly don't doubt Biden's ability to do the job. I think he's sharp as a tack. I think the problem is that because of his speech impediment, there are times he has trouble getting his words out right. I think it's especially difficult when he gets flustered or agitated. And you know Trump is going to try hard to push all his buttons, especially about Hunter. To tell the truth I think Trump is pretty 'unflappable', nothing Joe says is going to fluster him, he's too up his own arse and too 'self-justified' to care about what's said.

As far as Joe bowing out, not gonna happen. Mainly because there is no other viable candidate at this point in time. Kamala is already on the ticket, so she's 'out' as a candidate. Newsom and Buttigieg are both eyeing 2028. Those are the three that have the 'name recognition' and the established 'national' reputation. Anyone else would be starting the race way behind as far as the public 'knowing' that candidate.

It's going to be a hellish election night, at least for me. I told DH that I may see my doctor and ask for a 'knock out pill' to take at 8pm (polls closing time here in CA) so I can just sleep through the whole thing. Otherwise I'll be up having panic attacks with every news report.