(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Joe's the candidate. Get used to it. Embrace it. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-28 Concerning the debate. I am a bit biased here in that I watched the debate the way very few Americans did. I watched it live. And then have been too busy until I got off work to see the talking head's reaction to it. My initial thoughts were Biden looked unsteady and Trump was delusional. That hasn't changed. The vast consensus among my co-workers who were 50-50 Democrats and Republicans was that the debate was an embarrassment, both looked old and out of it and it is sad these are our choices. I disagree with that. It has changed nothing about Biden being an excellent President who has guided us pretty damn well in both foreign and domestic policy in some really tricky situations. I do understand the temptation to want to switch horses. However for better or worse nothing has changed in terms of the dynamics of doing so. It still would be somewhere between risky and suicidal to do so for a few reasons. 1) No alternative Democrat polls even in the same ballpark as Biden. Ever. That is particularly true of Kamala Harris who would be the most likely replacement for Joe Biden. Almost all Vice-Presidents suffer from the job. Some are seen as irrelevant, some are seen as power mad for being too relevant, and all are seen as scheming if they try to be more relevant. Now a proper Presidential primary campaign can (though not definitely will) let them step out of that shadow. Kamala won't have that benefit. And like Al Gore will have trouble taking credit for that which has gone right while receiving all the blame for that which has gone wrong. It is why incumbency has an a certain advantage in most cases. 2) Trump is a better candidate than you give him credit for. In 2016 the narrative was Hillary Clinton blew the election and anyone else could have beaten Donald Trump. And certainly she made a number of fatal mistakes including not focusing enough on the Midwest. But Donald Trump is a confidence man, someone expert on the hard sell who has been selling himself with his job as a popular reality star for ages. And his technique of always staying in the mud and bringing everyone down to his level has been wildly successful. People forget how popular Hillary Clinton was when she entered the race in 2016. After the race I thought it was a shame Joe Biden never got in because he would've been more of a happy warrior fighting in the mud right besides Trump. And he certainly engaged better than Hillary who seemed to view the raw fight as beneath her. But Joe Biden was diminished. No one is saying, "You can't accuse a bipartisan centrist like Biden of being radical" anymore. You can't say, "No one can accuse Biden of being corrupt." Not that Biden is corrupt. But a lack of shame and a showman's flair can take a demagogue a long way. Trump is exactly what our founding fathers warned us about. So don't think Gavin Newsom won't be attacked for every wrong in San Fransisco or Whitmer for the Flint water supply or Josh Shapiro for being a "cosmopolitan" in league with George Soros. Winning is going to take raw toughness and a willingness to throw as much dirt as possible in as efficient manner as possible. No one is going to come out of this looking like a statesman or being all that popular. 3) Switching horses will be messy and unpopular. The second it is a serious conversation rather than being slow news day filler on Morning Joe the Democrats will crater. Every week of uncertainty will strengthen Trump. Know what’s worse than the fake “Democrats in Disarray” stories we always mock? Democrats actually being in disarray. You will have voters angry they were not consulted as the primary results are jettisoned without their input. This goes for the left, center, and right of the party. You will have factions (re)opening wounds on painful schisms in the Democratic Party such as Gaza. And the biggest nightmare scenario is an open convention in Chicago which will already feature far left demonstrators trying to subvert the party. A smooth transition to say a Kamala Harris and whomever as VP might be what you hope for. But who knows in a scenario where delegates are not bound. But here a few things some people are forgetting. 1) Bad debate performances happen. Did some Republicans panic when Ronald Reagan gave one the worse debate performances of all time in the first debate of 1984? A few did. Perhaps for good reason. He looked senile and lost. But then came back better in the second debate. And any chicken littles seemed stupid. Good thing Biden did well during his debates in 2020 or we would see this “panic” earlier. Bad debates happen and we’re still early in the general election cycle. 2) The election is not about which candidate is better in 2024. It is about who is worse. Coming into this debate all the excitement was out of morbid curiosity to see who would have the biggest senior moments or just outright drop dead. For this way too early and misguided debate none of us had very high expectations. That is the 2024 Presidential race. Both candidates have high negatives and are unpopular with the electorate. The winner of the election will be who is hated more among those who hate both candidates. If that depresses you join the club. But it is what it is. So stop fretting and hit Trump hard. Because his performances ranges from stupid to scary. Fixating on Biden just judges Trump on a scale where we are discounting his true awfulness. Or in other words stop whining and fight. There is no white knight parachuting in to help us. Joe Biden is all you have. 3) Biden is an experienced politician but let's be a bit honest here. Some weakness are not that he is a senior. But his own idiosyncrasies. He has always meandered and talked himself in loopy circles. He was not a spectacular debater in past debates. Particularly in his unsuccessful runs for President. His stutter gives him awkward diction. This all applies to 20 or 30 years ago as much as today. My point is not that he isn't capable of senior moments but don't set an unrealistic expectation. 4) Remember the stakes. Trump is threatening democracy here and abroad. A far worse man than Joe Biden would be worth fighting for over Trump. But Biden is a fundamentally decent man who has governed our country well. Don’t forget that. 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