Behind the Curtain: Top Dems now believe Biden will exit

IMO, as a final F you to Trump, if I was Biden I'd do it tonight just before Trump’s acceptance speech. Steal the news cycle and ruin Don's moment.

Yes, that would be a great move. Honestly, even if they've pretty much decided it Harris, they should keep it open and hold a few small debates. As long as all the candidates agreed not to go negative, it would keep the Democrats in the news cycle right up until their convention.

The bottom line: Don't underestimate how badly some Democrats simply want a ticket that can win in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Win those, and Democrats likely win the presidency. Lose them, they're toast.

It would seem that a Gretchen Whitmer / Mark Kelly ticket could get them that if they get enough exposure nationwide. Not sure if Kamala Harris and whomever she chooses would... and it would not be great if she is forced down our throats. Could they even get another primary going before the convention?

Interesting times ahead. Not fun, but interesting.

Maybe keeping Harris as VP would avoid the issues with either pushing her out or making her the nominee.
- I would hope that Harris is more pragmatic and clear-eyed about the situation than Biden has been thus far - specifically, that she understands the goal is literally just to stop the fascists from taking over, and build bulwarks against that. Biden doesn’t seem to get the first one, and has utterly failed to do the second by any meaningful metric.
- Yeah. Thought about that. Just don't know how she'd take it. Guess it will be up to the Dems to convince her... if any of this even happens.
Gavin Newsom has basically been Biden's media presence for much of the presidency. White male not very left I'd expect him as a contender for Harris' running mate as the DNC continues chasing the theoretical moderate.
- I'm in California and like Newsom as a governor overall.
  Ask me about how he's handled a few things and I'll tell you he's likely not fit for a post-primary introduction to the national stage. He needs vetted.
- Former Senator and A.G. from California with current Governor from California to get Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin voters? I dunno.
  I think they'd both be fine as President/Vice-President and I'd vote for that ticket. I just don't see the excitement and energy they'd bring... other than being younger than the other side. They will be listed as elites from the right.
Could they even get another primary going before the convention?
It’s not for another month, but…no. I don’t think so. I really hope there’s at least some semblance of voting before all the superdelegates start mouthing off in the press about their preordained candidate.
- I don't know how that would work with overseas voters on a really short timeframe. Not all mail in the world moves quickly, assuming even that we could get our ballot, fill it, print it, and get it to a post office in short order (me in Japan? yes. People in other countries such as in the Peace Corps in really rural areas? probably no).

We have Top Dems working on it right now.

“Who?”
“TOP Dems.”

If that's true, I'm hoping they put up AOC. Maybe I should say "wish" because I'm near-certain they won't.

Its definitely going to be Harris but there's no better president-maker position than VP and VP AOC has been my pipe dream for this election. I don't even think she's the best progressive but I've joked with my friends AOC getting the VP nod right as shes turning 35 would make me believe in God.
- She is in a completely safe district meaning that there are no downsides to promoting her as VP (or Senator for that matter). I could also imagine her going the route of Governor to gain some executive experience.
- It'd be really nice, yeah. 🥲
- personally, I think the dems make much more hay out a process over a coronation. have the debates, let released delegates decide on a nominee. these delegates, by-and-large do represent the communities they come from.
  I have some faith that a small, politically active sub-group of our citizenry will give us back the gift of pseudo-democracy.
  p.s. someone convince them to vote by ranked choice!
That would be great, but I'm not sure she would win. Obviously I don't know, but it seems like moderates on the democratic side do better.
- Last time I checked, which was quite a while ago, AOC was one of if not the most popular politician in America. Bernie would've won in 2016 if not for DNC shenanigans, and there's a strong possibility of the same for 2020.
I'd enjoy Katie Porter. Not sur how the rest of America feels about that, but if I don't get her as senator, I'd be tickled to have her as Prez.

Franken/Stewart 2024.

Let's do this.

Please don’t suggest this… I can only get so hard.
If she wasn't such a tool, I would go with Franken/Stein just for the lols.

President Mark Kelly with vice-president Kamala Harris.... Make an Astronaut President, let's go.

"The bottom line: Don't underestimate how badly some Democrats simply want a ticket that can win in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Win those, and Democrats likely win the presidency. Lose them, they're toast."

Democrats can't lose ANY of them. A Trump win in ANY throws him the election. Biden has to go 3 for 3 to win.

Here's a likely map:

Right now he's down in PA and WI and MI is a tossup.

I hate how the votes of people from 47/50 states have so much less value. What a terrible system.
- Not that they have less value, it's that they have an expected value.
  The entire west coast votes Democratic, that's just a given.
  The entire south votes Republican, that's also a given.
  So it comes down to the persuadable states.
- Well the population density in those areas is so low. And yet they still get two senators.

Great - another election where "heath issues" means that voters don't actually get to pick the democratic nominee.

not ideal by a long shot, but if the dems get their shit together and transparently let the country see how the sausage is getting made, I am willing to settle for a delegate vote on a range of candidates. thats why we have the delegates in tue first, place.
dems get bonus points for showing what responsible crisis management looks like.