• Zaktor
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    6 months ago

    This is more time than most countries campaign seasons and the overwhelming rallying cry hasn’t be “Biden”, it’s been “stop Trump”. Either Harris will take over and there will be no meaningful fracturing because a vote for Biden is already effectively a vote for President Harris or we’ll have a rush primary among mostly moderate options, which will limit how riled up people can get about any of them. I’m not particularly excited by any of the proposed options, but even the one I like the least will make me much more confident than keeping with Biden and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

    It’s not ideal, but Joe Biden will lose, so not ideal is a step in the right direction.

    • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Its just a terrible time for the right to have a cult leader and it feels like we have nobody. I dont think the polls mean as much. But I remember them from 2020 and Biden was not trailing this hard. So you’re probably right but its still not good and still could cause fracturing in a time when we basically need our own demagogue.

      • Zaktor
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        6 months ago

        I feel like being an inspiring charismatic leader is kind of incompatible with the gauntlet that would get someone pre-approved as a party-selected candidate. I’m having a hard time thinking of an establishment-favored figure who’s really charismatic. Buttigieg maybe? But he was sort of out of left field and it feels like he’s been more of a tool to deploy to soften bad news stories than someone the establishment is raising up as a potential next big thing. Booker is probably the most party-supported charismatic figure, but I don’t think relentless positivity is enough to lead in times where lots of people are legitimately angry.

        My theory is that Obama, for all the success he brought to the party, shook it up in ways the establishment structure really didn’t like. Since then they haven’t really been looking for the next Obama, because populism is dangerous to established power structures. That’s why the 2020 convention didn’t have a keynote speaker, it had 17 all saying a line or two from a speech, which means none of the “rising voices” actually has a chance to break out.