To think how on earth can Biden be President

[Viviennemary]

Just been watching the news about Biden's memory. He really needs to step down IMHO.

I don't get how someone as tarnished and clearly inappropriate as Trump gets near a party nomination.

However doesn't change problem the Biden is in clear decline - physically and increasingly mentally - and its showing to a world wide audience and denials just make the democrats look foolish.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68225999

Nikki Haley has vowed to forge ahead with her White House campaign after a humiliating defeat in the Republican primary in Nevada.
She received fewer votes than "None of these candidates" by a large margin on Tuesday, despite facing no competition in the absence of Donald Trump.

...
"Republicans keep doing the same thing and getting the same result: chaos," she wrote. "That's the definition of insanity."
She listed three major developments this week, including the news that the party's chairwoman had offered to resign in a meeting with Mr Trump, the party's inability to pass legislation in the House of Representatives and a court's finding that Mr Trump does not have immunity from prosecution.
"A vote for Trump is a vote for even more chaos," she wrote.

She's not wrong - manages with her digs at Biden and Trump ages to act like a politician takings - and is getting undermined by her own party.

Oh, hey...

Is there really nobody that can take him to one side and persuade him not to run again? It’s quite astonishing

That's why I mentioned his loved ones, @Clearinguptheclutter
No doubt it suits the appalling Hunter to have dad right where he is, but it's hard to believe his own wife wouldn't at least try to persuade him that this isn't sensible, even though it's getting a bit late for that election-wise

Or maybe he can't be persuaded - who knows?

At least she’s young and female though. And a good role model!

Biden looks like he’s about to drop dead any minute and Trump isn’t even worthy of any discussion.

Why cant the entirety of the USA produce anything better than these two?! Basically Biden is opening the door to Trump voters. Which is proper scary.

I'm surprised there aren't routine competency tests (from a medical pov) that a president has to undertake. There should be certain conditions that bar someone from being president or are reason to relieve them if diagnosed during their presidency. It seems a fairly important safeguard to me. Is that not the case?

It's a shame that he doesn't seem to have someone looking out for him, because at this stage it just looks cruel to keep putting him on the world stage while he is so clearly struggling.

Fuck straight off with your uninformed understanding of the US political system.

So thankful all you non-US armchair "political experts" fuckers can't vote.

Go fix your own shit - it's a fucking MESS.

Actually no, that was another poster - perhaps you're also getting confused?

I don't get how someone as tarnished and clearly inappropriate as Trump gets near a party nomination

Neither do I, @RhubarbGingerJam, but then that's politics for you - as said, the same politics which sees one candidate rightly charged and the other not

Kamala Harris doesn’t really have enthusiastic supporters in the US. Lots of liberals object to how she handled cases when she was a prosecutor, and lots of conservatives figure she’s a “diversity hire.” Which it appears she is, seeing as Biden, months before picking her as a running mate, announced that whoever he picked would be a black woman.

I haven’t run across anyone who can make a detailed case for Kamala Harris as a politician, strictly on her merits. A couple sentences in, it always turns to the “symbolism” of having a black and Indian woman as VP. When she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, her campaign had little support and little money and she dropped out before the New Hampshire primary (the NH primary being a significant race in the primaries).

Sorry, @FrannieSaid, but I'm not interested in obscenity-laden insults

Happily there are a lot of balanced, rational posters on these threads who make worthwhile posts even while disagreeing with each other, so I won't be responding to you again

I don’t know how America has got to the point where they have to choose between someone with dementia or someone who is accused of sexual assault/inciting a riot/fixing election results. What a sorry state of affairs.

Why cant the entirety of the USA produce anything better than these two?! Basically Biden is opening the door to Trump voters. Which is proper scary.

It is apparent quite a young country compared to most of the west/developed countries yet it is increasingly governed by a very old very elite section of society - that tends not to go well long term.

Having said that I'm unhappy with our current lot of politicians in UK - and think many in western democracies have similar gripes.

It's well known Reagan who was 77 when he left office and it came out later was suffering cognitive decline before he did so - I've seen it suggest Thatcher's increasing intransigence in later years may have been early sign of her illness. Mental decline doesn't hit everyone some miss it even in their 80s but Biden been clearly confused and stumbling for last year or so in public - it's sad to watch I just don't know how he'd be able to do 4 more years in such a demanding role.

I don't have a good grasp over how the US political system works, but in general challenging incumbent presidents within the same party is messy business. The party prefers to keep the field clear. History would indicate that when a party changes the presidential candidate the election is usually lost. Moreover, history seems to favour incumbent presidents for second terms in most cases. In this case it was Biden who beat Trump last time, and it seems the safer route to take.

From the Library of Congress: "Legal requirements for presidential candidates have remained the same since the year Washington accepted the presidency. As directed by the Constitution, a presidential candidate must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, and 35 years of age or older"

It's obviously more complicated than that since the public have to be persuaded to vote for whoever it is, but basically that's it - no medical, nothing - though they do often get tame medics to spout whatever's wanted as things move along

There's also the 25th (amendment) by which a president can be removed if clearly incapacitated, but ... well, politicss again

Democracy doesn't work that way. You can set unequivocal requirements like 'must be a citizen' and 'minimum age' (maximum age might be an idea) but realistically, it's up to the voters to determine who is 'fit' to represent them. Not courts, or doctors or anyone who isn't elected.

While I don't like Trump, I like even less that liberals are trying to keep him off the ballot because of his policies or things that he's done. And I go so far as to include criminality in that. In Northern Ireland, a convicted terrorist was elected to Westminster as an MP DURING serving his sentence in jail. Sounds a bit bizarre, but that's democracy at its finest and to erode that is to lead us down a very dangerous path.

@Puzzledandpissedoff jinx 😊

I can see why many democrats are sticking with him - for the reasons you say and why they feel need to rally round him. However I do wonder if this is a case of the rare exception.

On a world stage they are basically denying what people can clearly see for themselves - just as Trump and Trump supporter do. Trump still worse option for many many reasons - but I think both Biden and Trump weaken the USA on the world stage and just storing up problems for the USA internally.

Thanks - would have been gutted without your response.

💅

He wouldn't be the first president to make major gaffs, especially about other countries - American politicians often seem very insular. Ronald Reagan once made a speech about American relations with Third World countries, where he said repeatedly. 'America has a lot to offer the Third World War'. Gerald Ford gave his best wishes to President Anwar Sadat 'and your great country of Israel' (this was at a time when Egypt and Israel were mortal enemies).

Biden is far from perfect, and it's a pity that no one who'd be under 80 by 2028 is a serious candidate. BUT when considering Biden, let's remember that the alternative is Donald Trump: a supporter of truly vicious policies; a serial offender against both financial and sexual decency; a threat to his country's democracy, and thereby the world's stability. Almost anyone would be better for America and the world than Trump: A block of wood. Dan 'Potatoe' Quayle. No one at all, as happened in Stormont for two years and in Belgium for several months. Any Prime Minister we've had here, even Liz Truss. And certainly Joe Biden.

Also, history will be far kinder if he stands aside now, or declines to run in the election - rather than either become incapacitated during his next term or, more likely, lose because of refusing to step aside

Americans not understanding the proper use of “twat.” 🙄
You can’t look like a twat, you can only be or act like a twat.

cheers, hth

Is that true? A twat is a vagina, no? I would have thought looking like a vagina was easier than acting like one. I don't like it as an insult however it's used, personally.

On topic, I agree Biden is too old. I don't understand why leaders of countries don't have retirement ages like nearly every other job. I know it's not compulsory to retire at 65-70 but nearly everyone in a decently paid, well regarded job does and I bet most of those who don't are soon managed out. I think 70 should be the absolute upper limit for a job as key as running a country/the Western world!

Meh . I'm old enough to to remember the election of Ronnie ' Bedtime for Bonzo ' Reagan. My mate exclaimed ' they might as well elect Zaphod Breeblebox!'

On the radio phone ins there was universal horror from the callers. Reagan was gaga, he was a bomb happy tax cutter, a senile B movie actor etc. Platoons of experts were wheeled out to reassure the punters : Don't worry he won't be left near the Red button. The civil service have got this and so on. Which broadly speaking was about right.

The problem with Orange shigibbon is he actually knows the job a bit better this time and will have a plan to nobble the army and civil service. On the other hand - in 2016 he had the benefit of the doubt. And revealed himself as a criminal sociopath. Plus the economy favours Biden. For now.

Reagan was a better president than any that have followed him to date.

The only morally decent president since Reagan has been Obama (I’m talking about not executing people for votes, pushing cigars up interns, dodging enquiries into family members’ wrongdoing etc - not ‘moral’ in the sense of political morality.) And Obama ended up being a washout.

Nobody sane wants Trump again. But Biden is likely to be unelectable because the world can see that he’s seriously mentally infirm. So the Dems are handing it to Trump.

Well done Dems, top work. 👏👏👏

Regan was NOT the best president.

But agree that they are handing the vote to Trump

That's actually a very valid point, and it may also reflect well on the party for "allowing" him to leave instead of exploiting a clearly sick man

The problem of course is that they're leaving it a bit late in electoral terms and don't seem to have a realistic alternative to offer, and the problem's not going to go away as the ballot nears