this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.

The decision comes after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside following the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers and failed to call out the former president’s many falsehoods. Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take on Trump, and encouraged his party to united behind her.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I just want to say, thank goodness for Beehaw. Out in the lemmyverse, the most upvoted comments are full of vitriol and emotion, and very little nuanced thought. At least here, I don't have to suspect half the population of being bots.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

God bless Biden for doing this one last service for his country. This must have been a very difficult decision to make. He was a successful president and leader, and he's done a helluva lotta good for us all. I hope his retirement is happy and peaceful, he's earned it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's only a service if his replacement wins.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I don't know that I agree.

The real service would be to abdicate fully, especially now that we've seen exceeding and very public displays of his cognitive decline. Only his handlers know just how bad it is in truth, but I've seen enough to know that I do not want that person making the decisions that affect my everyday life in this country.

If we had an actual, bipartisan functioning government I'm not 100% sure Biden could survive the invocation of the 25th.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

The last 4 years were some of the best I've seen under any president in my lifetime so I wasn't so concerned. I think a president is 99% who he surrounds himself with and his experience in pulling the levers of government (ie instincts), both of which were guaranteed to be far better than the alternative. If the dems lose because of this decision, it will surely be far worse for the country.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I'm glad it worked out well for you.

I'm fortunate to have my basic needs covered but the cost of living crisis has hit me pretty hard, especially with two eighty-year old parents forced to drive for DoorDash in order to survive. Biden gets to ride off into the sunset with an eight-figure fortune and a presidential pension.

I am glad to see Biden finally going away, but I have no doubt Harris will be just as bad as he was, and to me, that doesn't lessen the blow simply because Trump is worse.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I liked him and sad to see him go. His term was the best I have encountered in life (lets be clear this is in comparison to other presidential terms, not ideals) and I think a large part of that was experience. Especially as vp of obama. I will vote harris and hope she bring the experience she got as vp and continues the administrations work.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I agree. Best president since Carter. And I didn't like him at all in the primaries.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

me2 if you mean the first primary. I had a similar thing with my current governor. Not wild about him at first but he won the primary and the general. Was pleasantly surprised at his performance.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I hope she motivates people to vote for her.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I'm feeling like the odds are good even just because she comes off as competent and not ancient. On top of that voting for a female president right after roe vs wade was revoked feels motivating to me, personally.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

If anything just to watch the orange fuck explode when he loses to HER

I will make popcorn and enjoy that if it comes to pass

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Personally, I'm glad to see it. Biden's obvious cognitive decline has been very public for the last several years, and as we all saw with the debate, was impossible to hide when his appearance couldn't be stage managed.

He endorses Kamala. It would be an interesting turn of events if she were to be elected, but looking at her tough-on-crime record against nonviolent drug users and truants, I get the sense it would draw more comparisons to Kyrsten Sinema than Eleanor Roosevelt.

It'll be interesting to see where things go from here.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

While I'm sure you know this and are just stressing this to showcase the rhetorics opponents could use, it's important to note that she was "tough-on-crime" in a time when the popular policy was to prosecute martyrs to the death. Yes, she was tough, but also relatively very reformist. She even wrote a whole book about that.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Actually I don't, so I appreciate that reply. I just remember reading a ton of articles and material on how heavy handed she was as a DA and it made me wish Biden's running mate were someone less authoritarian and more progressive.

Is there actually policy on her part or a voting record to back it up, or is it more of a rhetorical position? (Genuinely interested here, not trying to be argumentative.)

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I'm very much anti-cop, and don't like a lot of her crime policies, because she was tough on crime, but she did have a big focus on programs to reduce recidivism, especially among minors.

In 2005, then San Francisco District Attorney Harris created a reentry initiative called Back on Track, which aimed to reduce recidivism among certain low-level, non-violent drug offenders. Over a two-year period, the program reduced recidivism among its graduates to less than 10 percent.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

A DA will be a nice foil to the convicted felon.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Could be. They can't do much worse than Biden as far as campaigning goes.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Can we also say that it is obvious and TOTALLY REASONABLE cognitive decline for a stressful job being held by an octogenarian.

Trump, who’s not far behind, has never been all there, gets no such comparisons.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You won't get any disagreement from me on that point, but unfortunately, neither you nor I are billionaires, so we have no power over the decision of rich people to pull a real-life Weekend at Bernie's routine.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Let's not forget that Bernie was a wealthy, criminal businessman from Manhattan in that movie.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:

Click here to see the summaryWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.

And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter posted to his X account.

The announcement is the latest jolt to a campaign for the White House that both political parties see as the most consequential election in generations, coming just days after the attempted assassination of Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.

Now, Democrats have to urgently try to bring coherence to the nominating process in a matter of weeks and persuade voters in a stunningly short amount of time that their nominee can handle the job and beat Trump.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, but the party had announced that it would hold a virtual roll call to formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin.

“His decision of course was not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “Joe, today shows you are a true patriot and great American.”


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