Isn’t this the problem with every Democratic president? Where the policies proposed have upwards of 70% approval, but once it’s mentioned that the person has a scary D next to their name, it immediately drops 30%?
Also, 57% have a negative opinion of Biden, and yet only 58% have a negative opinion of Trump? If that polling is accurate, what an absolutely fucked country we are.
I think a lot of it is also “national mood”. The world is a bummer right now and people feel fed up. For a lot of voters, including sadly many on the left, “vibes” are more important than facts.
It’s less that things are a bummer now, but that we have no idea what “better” even looks like. Instead of schlepping to the office in a gas car we schlep in an electric car? Instead of going bankrupt buying a fancy chemo treatment we go bankrupt buying a fancy mRNA treatment? Instead of conflict in the middle east we’ll have conflict in the middle east? Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my entire life?
One thing conservatives have an advantage on is vision. Everybody remembers the past. A lot of people remember it fondly. It’s easy to sell something like that. It’s why they use it to sell everything.
That’s why we call them out for the fiction they call the past. It never existed the way they paint it.
Of course it didn’t exist. It’s a cultural hallucination created by the Hayes Code. But that doesn’t stop it from being incredibly effective marketing.
many people have plenty ideas of what " better" looks like throughout the left side of the spectrum. anarchists socialists and communists would like a word.
centrists are the one stuck with a failed system they refuse to try and change meaningfully other than voting and toothless forms of protest.
This. Just like every time there is a Democrat in office, we get economic dooming before the election regardless of what the actual numbers say.
It would help Dems tremendously if there was any follow through on campaign promises. Immediately giving voters the cold shoulder in order to further the corporate agenda after getting into office leaves a bad taste in voters’ mouths.
I’m definitely more of a progressive than a democrat and I may not like Biden much, but I’ll sure as shit vote for him to prevent another Trump term. I feel like the media is trying to create a crisis here.
Not just the media but also… Am I the only one frustrated by the amount of “voting for Biden is dumb” posts on Lemmy? Yeah, he sucks, I don’t like him. He’s basically a 1950s Republican from back when they at least pretended to have some standards and acted like the government could occasionally do things. That’s not inspiring.
But what’s the play here? Don’t vote at all? Vote for Trump but ironically? I don’t get it. Voting is NOT the only thing you can do, and it’s not the only thing you SHOULD be doing, but it’s still a thing you absolutely should do.
The problem here is you are voting because you are afraid of a Trump second term rather than voting for a candidate that is qualified for the position.
If you are more of an independent and look at a crazy person on one side and a senile sun downing person on the other the choice is more of a 50 50.
The Democrats are playing with fire and doing undemocratic plays to keep viable candidates out of the race and hide a compromised Biden instead of having an open primary and that might cost all of regardless of who actually wins.
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I’m not playing down the seriousness of Trump’s actions. I’m just making the case that even with Trump on trial right now he’s leading in polls because Biden is so out of touch with what the base needs right now. It’s so bad that other prominent Democrats are calling out their own party and asking Biden to step down because they see it’s a liability.
My point is independents see both parties and candidates and the party in power are making it so Biden, who is unpopular, is the default to the point they are taking away Iowa’s first super Tuesday as a primary state.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/01/us/politics/biden-dnc-primary-south-carolina-2024.html
The reason why is they don’t want any potential primary candidate to work up the ranks, which is undemocratic.
Whoa, wait, you mean Trump in in touch with what the everyday joe needs?
That’s a deeper question and not what I was talking about but as a fake populist? Yeah, in the eyes of his base. He’s really good at messaging and straight up lying about being pro worker and for the people.
I feel the current administration has done tangible things policy wise to help people but the Democrats don’t know how to take a victory lap when they accomplish these achievements.
I think the general population, indicated by recent polls, think Biden is too old and not up to do a second term. They want anybody else to run against Trump.
the issue is you are thinking I’m cheerleading Trump and that’s not my intention. Im pointing out that there is voting block that is ready to sit out over the lack of enthusiasm for Biden and hatred for the political institutions that haven’t helped the average voter over the years.
It’s how Trump got elected in the first place.
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I think it’s already a disservice that we’re allowing this to be the narrative. Biden is certainly no spring chicken, but he’s nowhere close to “sun-downing” or “old man screaming at clouds” and this narrative only works because republicans are better at messaging by a mile, and Biden has and has had a stutter his entire life.
And though he’s no where near progressive enough for my tastes, he’s probably got the most progressive record of just about any modern president.
Tbh if we want to get somewhere, we’d stop letting Republican talking points turn into the framing for everyone else. The topic of Biden’s age now dominates any discussion about him on either side, as if Trump isn’t basically the same age, and actually frequently showing more and more real signs of senility, never mind the whole “criminal, rapist, insurrectionist, traitor using state secrets to curry favor.”
Hiliary’s loss can be chalked up to similar reasons, of course tossing in a hefty, heft dose of misogyny. We let RBF and “but her emails” turn into this mess.
Like, why are we doing far right republican’s messaging for them?
Okay but the other side is a senile sundowning crazy person. We act like Biden is so much older than Trump but it’s only three years.
Anyone ever see the orange Mussolini on a bicycle?
Oh for sure. Trump is high as balls on uppers and a cocktail of meds to have him bounce off the wall at rallys, I just wish Trump would let Biden take a hit off of whatever he’s using.
I think it’s about optics and looking at Biden on stage wandering around and falling down stairs/over his own words vs Trump who’s shitting on all of his opponents and captivating his base it’s resonating with a base that’s fed up.
I think Biden policy wise is a lot better than any president we have had in recent memory (chips act, leaving Afghanistan, covid relief, cares act, TRYING to get student debt relief) but the general population in today’s age needs to have a politician message to them what their party is actually doing for them and Biden and his admin of fail on that level so often.
Thanks for pointing out Biden’s record. He has been able to get a lot accomplished and I hate always seeing the fascist’s messaging has permeated so deeply that everyone calls Biden senile…
He is senile. That doesn’t mean I don’t like his administrations policies and that doesn’t take away that he has done more for a progressive agenda than what was expected.
He’s on the same path as Regan was with his age, the difference is social media wasn’t a thing so they could hide Regan easier.
Well I’m not an independent and I completely disagree that the choice is 50/50. I have seen what Trump did to this country and I believe it is vital that we do not allow him to have a second term. There are plenty of issues with Biden but they pale in comparison to what Trump will do if re-elected. You are damn right I’m afraid of a second term with him. He almost destroyed our democracy during his first term. Just look at the shit he is outright saying he will do if re-elected.
It sure is neat that the Democrat Party is assumed to he a bunch of pussies that will let him do what he wants. All you motherfuckas are constantly telling me that the President has no authority when I ask mine to do the same thing.
WHICH IS IT??
Sorry I prefer a senile person to a political strongman
I hope others feel the same as you but I’ve lost faith in the electorial college and the two parties a long time ago.
Me too, but all we can do is vote. They may cheat and lie or manipulate the results but we would figure it out eventually. The tree of liberty is parched.
It’s really not that close though, when the crazy person has such a history of fraud and corruption, is such a danger to our country, our society, has been so dividing, whose policies are responsible for so many pandemic deaths, so beholden to corporate interests and foreign dictators, etc. His approach to governing is a three year old throwing a tantrum and smashing Lego sets
I may not like Biden much, but I’ll sure as shit vote for him to prevent another Trump term.
That may work for us, but we absolutely need to get some people excited and motivated, or they’ll just stay home, handing the election to Trump…
Oh no, there is a crisis.
It’s an incredibly idiotic one. But it exists.
I dont know why Biden gets so much hate. He has been a fantastic president so far. Could he have done more? Sure, but I dont understand why the hate. They say “hold my nose” to vote for him… like wtf why?
Yeah I’m right there with you. Biden has accomplished a lot. I don’t agree with everything he’s said or done but as a whole he’s done a fantastic job turning America around. If he can beat Trump once he can beat him again and that is paramount. Plus it gives dems another 4 years to start pushing younger more progressive candidates into the spotlight.
Don’t forget Trump is dragging the Republican party down, big time. - he will destroy the country. He has allowed those who are enemies of the constitution to come out of the closet and attack democracy.
Biden on the other hand, has surprised us by being more progressive than we thought he would be. He may not be physically agile but he knows good policy, like forgiving student loans for example, and he knows how to get legislation passed.deleted by creator
A lot of people don’t understand how hard it is to fix things with a hostile Supreme Court and an obstructive congress. To the people saying “both sides are the same because Biden has only managed to clean up a few of Trump’s messes”, how would you do it instead? Biden has decades of experience, and he’s trying. Do you honestly believe someone else could do better?
Because he’s not charismatic.
People like to point to his earlier career not aging well to current social / political norms, completely ignoring that adapting one’s values as society evolves is a desirable trait.
But really, it comes down to charisma. He’s awkward and not particularly likeable, and people will bend over backwards to justify their dislike of him despite his accomplishments.
Then are the hardline progressives, who literally no electable will ever please. I’m sure even Bernie would have had to make compromises or fail to deliver enough to alienate these folks if he had taken the presidency.
If Bernie got elected hard-line progressives would be throwing themselves off their roofs onto the grass outside their mothers houses for how little he’s done and how all politicians are the same lol.
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Why do you think the left is becoming radicalized?
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Axelrod and a bunch of the ‘conservative’ left really, really dislike Kamala and fear her as a president.
Oh yeah? Well I love Joe Biden, and I’m not ashamed to say it. Let’s talk about the last two administrations:
Joe Biden tried to forgive my debt. Donald Trump tried to take away my health insurance. Joe Biden thinks we need more trains. Donald Trump thinks we need more walls. Joe Biden lowered my student loan bills. Donald Trump raised my taxes. Joe Biden released people who were convicted on marijuana charges. Donald Trump locked up children for coming to the US. Joe Biden wants to be president. Donald Trump wants to be Vladimir Putin. Joe Biden told me to join a union. Donald Trump told me to drink bleach.
Is the Biden administration perfect? Of course not, but the man has actually tried (and occasionally succeeded) to do things that would actually benefit me personally. https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/
The reality is that for most people on most days, what’s happening in DC has only a very small impact on our lives. Our state and local governments are vastly more consequential. But this administration, despite being faced with an opposition party composed of literal fascists, is fighting tooth and nail to make life better for real people without losing the Republic in the process. Given the current state of SCOTUS and Congress, it’s nothing short of a miracle Joe Biden has accomplished anything at all. He’s not as far left as me, but he’s as far left as we’ve got right now, and never mind the fact that the other guy wants to destroy our country so he can stay out of prison.
Joe Biden has conviction, he has compassion, and he has ability. I like the agenda, and I like the man.
Joe Biden is defending democracy.
Donald Trump wants a theocratic autocracy.
It really is that simple.
Everyone please vote in 2024 to prevent project 2025.
I’d really like for the Democrats to stop trying to make Biden appear young. Yeah, I would like a younger president, yeah I like that Biden can ride a bike or go for a walk, but these don’t make him look younger to me and I didn’t vote for him because I thought he was younger and super fit.
I wish the Biden team would lean into the memes, I feel like that’s when he’s been most popular. Appropriating the Let’s go Brandon memes, appropriating the “I did that stickers/meme,” leaning into the Dark/Dank Brandon memes, and back when he was VP leaning into the Uncle Joe vibe.
Fucking embrace that the dude is old and make him America’s great grandpa. Have him walk out onto a Mr. Rogers lookalike set in a red cardigan to talk about policy. Have him do a fireside address with a blanket and a coffee. Have him throw on the sunglasses and crack the goofy smile before going to get ice cream with a podcaster.
Hell, get the people who made this video to help on Biden’s public image.
You’re right. He’s not young. But he’s still a better President than I expected and he’s far, far better than any alternative that Republicans will nominate. So can we let go of the age thing for now until we have an opportunity to pick better candidates? I sincerely doubt this election cycle will be it.
Oh I totally agree. I guess the rest of my comment was about how they’re trying to make it an age thing and it’s the worst marketing for him.
Exactly. When the other side is literal fascists I will, begrudgingly, vote for whoever the non-fascist is.
“shut up or my guy might lose”
No. It’s a valid criticism. I don’t think I should have to set my concerns aside so the chosen moderate can stall progress for the next 4 years.
So you’d rather watch the world burn than accept progress that’s slower than you demand. How noble.
No, it’s not slower, it’s actively progressing the wrong direction. And having a president that’s happy to stall progress is tantamount to giving the GOP what they want next cycle.
I’m tired of ‘Democrats’ pussyfutting around for 4-8 years only to watch what little they accomplished undone immediately, and the GOP making massive gains towards a fascist agenda no one wants.
Give me a candidate with teeth or yes, watch it all burn down. Get the horror show over with. Anything less than relentless progress is a win for the party that’s willing to fight dirty for their bullshit agenda.
Really. This is the wrong direction?
What color is the sky on your world? It’s usually blue on mine.
How much of that is executive order that can be undone day one for the next president?
How much of that is wrapped up in a single spending bill?
How much of that is limited in scope when we need large scale change? Protecting a forest with an EO is peanuts on the scale of action we actually need
Fine. You show us how it’s done. Tell us how we pass good legislation in light of a hostile House of Representatives.
Go on. We’ll wait.
I’m pretty sure he selected Kamala specifically for the “well what if he dies” crowd.
The Biden HQ x formerly known as twitter account does lean into the memes pretty good. Even made an account on truth social.
hold your nose and vote for the lesser evil of two ancient, conservative candidates.
yay america… just ooozing with democracy
Biden is fine as president but I find it hard that a octogenarian can possibly understand the realities of my life and that’s the problem, the largest voting block isn’t old people anymore and democrats need to pivot for that. I’ll still vote for the old bastard.
I mean, even if he was 40 he wouldn’t understand your life. He belongs to a more rarified political class than we plebs.
It’s closer then Trumps life, things need to change and politicians are not gonna change it because it means radical financial changes in politics which they all love so I don’t really know. I would love to run for the house in my state but the minimum is 100000 just to get on the ballot. The lowest class will never be able to compete
Republicans’ dilemma: We will vote for Biden over literally any Republican so it doesn’t matter.
I never thought I’d be one of those people who votes party lines, but at least at the national level, there just doesn’t seem to be a Republican that’s not just despicable
Imma vote for that Brandon guy.
Do you think they will add “Dark Brandon” write-ins to Biden’s tally?
This article is so misleading.
Reuters considers the “Biden agenda” to be things like fighting climate change, infrastructure spending, and healthcare reform.
If Biden actually fought for the “Biden agenda” then he would be much more popular.
Already forgotten about the infrastructure bill? That also includes plenty of climate action.
I agree the infrastructure bill is a step in the right direction, but its mostly just clearing the maintenance backlog. Our infrastructure will be upgraded from “crumbling” to “poor”. Its easy to forget it, most Americans already have.
Now instead of being 20 years behind China, our infrastructure will only be 15 years behind. As the richest country in the history of earth, we can do so much better than this.
And as for climate, tinkering around the edges isn’t meaningful. We are still going full speed ahead towards climate ccatastrophe. We need radical change to save our civilization, and this bill ain’t it, jack.
As the richest country in the history of earth, we can do so much better than this.
This always pisses me off. Look how far we’ve gotten with such piss poor leadership for so long. Imagine what the nation could look like if we had even just mostly competent leadership for the last 50 years.
I dont agree that it’s a competency issue.
Our leaders are hyper-competent when fighting for the interests of wall street, the military industrial complex, the oil and gas industry, the insurance industry, etc.
Powerful moneyed interests are their real constituents. They only pretend to care about the needs of real working Americans when they need votes.
Maybe Biden should push more for “Biden’s agenda”. It feels like Biden is pushing harder for COPPA (require people to be 18 and have a license to go on the internet, allow state attorney general to censor LGTBQ stuff online) then popular stuff like marajana legalization or Roe codification.
Where on Earth are you getting that from? I read and watch the news extensively every day, to a fault, and that is not what he’s been pushing.
Comments sections, mostly. I’m guessing.
I’m not surprised Biden isn’t pushing marijuana reform. He’s one of the biggest proponents of the horribly racist, classist, and murderous drug war. He’s from a generation that thinks reefer madness is an accurate representation of pot, and his personal prejudice towards recreational drugs is widely known.
He’s always been the wrong candidate, but the Democrats can’t seem to find anyone better. All we can hope is that Republicans stay home and he gains votes that way
Biden stated during the 2020 election debates and town halls that he regretted supporting the drug war and some of the racist policies. I’m not clear on why people keep claiming he supports it, it’s all on tape to see and has been for years that he said he was mistaken.
He regrets thst it hurts his polling, maybe.
Big lot of good his regret does all the people who suffered. Especially when he’s not fixing the mess he helped create
Its not that Democrats can’t find anyone better. It’s that they won’t allow anyone better to advance through the ranks.
Its that Biden is exactly who the DNC wants in office.
Once upon a time, there was an argument that at least some Democrats tried to represent their constituents.
Those days are long gone. Citizens United stands. Corporations are “the people” the federal government represents. Money is speech. If you don’t have the money, they don’t have ears for you. Both parties represent the corporations, not the people, and Biden has a wonderful history of supporting all of those corrupt things that make the corporate overlords happy.
There are a lot of great Democrats out there, but there are plenty of bad ones too. I don’t think we’ll see real change until most of the boomers are dead and gone.
There’s also the issue that with Republicans losing their damn minds, big money and corporations have been shifting their support to Dems.
Because The Party is The Party.
But I agree that Boomers are the worst offenders of voting R or D regardless of whose name the letter is next to because they fancy their letter the lesser evil.
Gen X really amped up the problem on the D side though.
Please stop with the “both sides are the same” bullshit. We don’t need repetitions of Republican talking points.
Please stop with the “my color good, your color bad” bullshit.
I have never heard a republican say they are the same as a Democrat.
But just like a republican, if it doesn’t pledge fealty to your color, it’s the other color and its bad.
Stop treating America like a Grease high school rivalry.
Stop supporting corrupt politicians.
We’ve seen how the government works when Democrats have control. No one will call it perfect, but it works and they generally try to help people.
We also see repeatedly how government works with Republicans in power. They don’t do shit to help anyone but themselves and their donor class.
Until we fix the first past the post electoral system, these are our choices. Whining about it won’t fix it. We first have to eliminate the fascist threat posed by Republicans, then we can talk about reform.
Just because you’ve never heard a Republican declare they’re the same as a Democrat doesn’t mean you aren’t repeating Republican propaganda. They don’t care what you think of them. If you have no faith in government, they win. If you think Democrats are just as bad, they win. Shrinking government until it can be drowned in the tub is the point. Then they can break up its functions and sell them off to private interests. If you want to see a return to feudalism, keep repeating this bullshit. Just don’t think you’re going to be welcomed into the new nobility.
Bullshit.
Democrats had the oval office and a congressional supermajority.
The Patriot Act still exists in full form. Citizens United still exists in full form. Gitmo is still operational. Roe v Wade has not been codified.
In those years where we could have gotten universal Healthcare, they delivered everyone must pay for health insurance, employed or not.
In those years, the Iraq War not only continued, but the US added arial drone warfare to the military industrial complex.
When Obama spoke, he inspired, he lead, he made you feel something positive. He didn’t follow through on ANYTHING though.
Biden got us out of Iraq. I think he botched the exit, but at least we got out of Iraq under his presidency. Then he decided to triple down on funding a genocide.
I can name 3 democrats (and politicians in general for that fact) I still trust. Bernie Sanders, AOC (though the longer she is hanging out with the dogs, the more I fear she is hosting some fleas) and Katie Porter.
The rest of em are Hilary progressives that are only concerned with cozying up with wall street insiders and lobbyist funders.
Well, I see the Russian disinformation crew had joined us. Congratulations to lemmy for growing enough to become a target!
Is he? He’s said publicly that he supports it and his admin just pushed to reschedule it from schedule I to schedule iii. Which isn’t perfect but would be a HUGE step forward.
I suspect Biden is focusing on things he knows he can get done, rather than wasting time on things he knows will never get done. He’s a very smart politician.
Codifying Roe is super important, but it will never happen under the current House & Senate. Focusing on that might excite lot of people, but it won’t do any good right now. When election time rolls around, then you start pointing out what could happen if enough people vote for Democratic candidates.
I’ll definitely be voting blue but now would be the time to legalize weed or prostitution. The majority of the population would be in favor. In my opinion he has done nothing but maintain the status quo.
Weed for sure, prostitution I think you underestimate just how puritanical this country is.
The puritanical hold is slipping
Slipping, but in the wise words of someone much smarter, “you all aren’t ready for that, but your kids are going to love it.”
I’m not a huge fan of Biden for multiple reasons, and I’d often show up in the “disapproval” stats for him as a person. I’d prefer to vote for Newsom or Fetterman. But I’ll vote for Biden any day of the week over any Republican if he’s the eventual Democratic nominee.
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That sounds very authoritarian.
YES. If that’s what you call authoritarian (which pussies always do because they like to be bullied by fascists) then yes, that’s what I want, a center-left authoritarian.
At last, the right have found the straw man they’ve been pretending the left wants all along. Kind of you to validate them.
And kind of you to validate that you want Democrats be doormat pussies.
Right. Becoming what you claim to oppose doesn’t hurt your credibility at all.
When representation has been removed, benevolent iron-fisted dictatorship is necessary to re-establish it. Who else is going to eliminate lobbyist bribery and corporate control of Congress?
Name them. Please. Prove me wrong.
You have a desperately broken view of history. Please seek help. Urgently.
