(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . What Choice Do We Have? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-28 In a decades old career, i’ve listened to voters, volunteers, campaign staff and (more cynically) consultants and the press moan about the choices we face in numerous elections. You kind of get tired of it. And i always have the same response: run for office. I suspect that’s the most unsatisfying answer anyone’s ever heard. But the reality — the stark reality — is that our candidates are self-selected. There’s no hidden hand out there choosing our candidates (if there were, Trump would never have gotten the GOP nomination — or even out of Iowa). I woke up (way too early, btw) to more than 100 messages in various formats that could be encapsulated this way: “NOW can we replace Biden as the nominee?” Most, but definitely not all, came from Hope Springs from Field PAC [website] volunteers who were, to put it politely, alarmed by last night’s debate. Just focusing on our Hope Springs volunteers, i got a whole bunch of different questions. (As a contributor,) What should I do now? Or, how can I voice my dissent without hurting our chances. Do we still have a chance? How do I defend the president? et cetera, ad infinitum. The last thing i want to be doing today is to play the happy soldier. I was always surprised at how optimistic people think i am, especially in this forum, because i pride myself in playing it straight. I always told my clients, before they hired me, that i’m pretty blunt and won’t hold back. I ask volunteers who ask me, well, difficult questions, “do you really want to know the answer to that?” The reality is that we may be stuck with Biden, and there’s not a lot that we can do about that. We have to wait for the reality to sink in, and that might not happen until the election. But there’s a lot to lose if Trump wins in 2024. I’m not sure everyone understands the stakes (because most people don’t pay attention to campaigns until late in the cycle). So what choice do we have? In essence, the choice is Joe Biden’s and we have to hope he and his family — especially Jill — are thinking seriously about this. There is a foreseeable way out of this for the president. It really depends on whether he can do what it takes to reverse the perception that he is just too old to be our president. He walks stiffly, and his voice has lost its timber. If he can get out and campaign 5-6 days a week, without stumbling (both literally and figuratively), then, sure, he could win. I mean, can Trump seriously stay as disciplined as he did last night? But the gamble is more obvious now. Laid out for everyone to plainly see. The only people who know how big a gamble it is, for the president personally (and i am thinking mostly health wise) are the president, his wife and the few close aides who work with him day in and day out. But “wooden Joe” is probably not going to change many people’s minds. He has to be “vigorous Joe,” the Joe who runs to the podium, he brings the attack god back. And we simply don’t have the ability to know if he is capable of that. But the risk of Donald Trump choosing two more Supreme Court Justices is just too great. The threat is real. Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors again on March 2nd. We target Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans. Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up) and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/28/2249261/-What-Choice-Do-We-Have?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/