>

He's not, but who do the Dems have otherwise? Even with record turn out Biden only won by tens of thousands of votes across 3 states - basically the same as 2016 except that time it went Trump's way. The old establishment guard in the Democratic Party needs to step aside and stop with this bulls*it where younger people need the permission of octogenarians or nonagenarians to run.
"being in your 80s is not great, trust me, I know from personal experience" >

Yeah, was kind of a pot and kettle situation lol >

Not really, seeing as how she stepped down.
I voted for Biden, but fuck no he shouldn’t run again. Find a good fairly left leaning candidate who is 
-Pro bodily autonomy
-Neutral on the 2nd Amendment
-Loudly workers rights/pro middle class 
Obliterate the GOP. Literally just don’t talk shit about guns and harp on all the under-14 year old pregnancies and it’ll be a slaughter. That’s all it takes. >

I disagree on the first point, the GOP was utterly eviscerated compared to the norm in the midterms, and a lot of that was driven by abortion rights. Three important data points:


Pew polling in May had <20% of the country in favor of a total abortion ban with no exceptions. Which Republicans are going for.


Kansas a bit after Roe was overturned voted to keep abortion legal in a state referendum. It wasn't even close. 


I believe it was Kentucky during the midterms that also had a referendum? And again no question, keeping abortion legal handily won.


The debate comes on where it should be legal, not if it should be legal. When people in red states overwhelmingly vote to keep abortion legal, it's something to capitalize on. As an added bonus, it's also the right thing to do. 
Unless you mean defining when it should and shouldn't be legal, in which case I agree, not the time to do that. I'm all for a strong workers/middle class push, but I do think we should temper expectations.
Edit: For the record I also voted for Biden but I think he needs to let someone younger run. He should build up possible contenders and give them experience now for later. >

Agree, and aside from it being politically smart to back bodily autonomy when it comes to abortion rights, taking a neutral position is throwing women under the bus. >

Yeah, if the next democratic nominee took a neutral stance on bodily autonomy, I would officially stop making fun of the bozos who claim that "both sides are the same". I'm not voting for anyone who doesn't stand up for bodily autonomy as sacrosanct. >

Exactly. It's also such a stupid tactical decision. Quit pulling punches. Abortion and body autonomy are incredibly popular. Red state lunatics shouldn't be pandered to. >

The neutral tactic was for 2A. Which I'm for. I absolutely believe we need stronger gun laws (basic stuff, like background checks and carry permits), but running on a Beto-ish "We're gonna take your guns" platform is shooting your candidacy in the foot. Pun intended. At least that's the way I read that post. >

That's an interesting comment. For her to say this publicly is meaningful. It's the first real doubt cast on him running by a Dem. She also said there are other candidates who could beat Trump. That to me is a signal that many Dems are hoping Biden doesn't run, one of the first such signals I've seen. Perhaps the recent document scandal has changed things or it's just that they think their chances are higher with someone else. >

Absolutely, the 2020 election cycle proved there was a lot of talent in the party. Just without the same clout as Biden. >

I can't think of one dem who could beat a non-Trump Republican candidate. Mayor Pete (who is a talented politician) and Kamala (who is as compelling as dry toast) would lose by 100 electoral votes. Not sure who that leaves. >

Keep in mind, most people were not aware of Pete or Kamala before the last primaries. And then you have Obama, who had no national presence before his run. 
My point is that there are candidates out there that we haven't heard of, and Biden is going to have challengers that will emerge. >

He won’t have challengers. That’s the dumbest thing democrats can do this election cycle >

Yeah, I don’t see any Democratic contender compelling enough to give up incumbency. Obviously he’s ancient and shouldn’t run if he doesn’t think he can do it, but he surely would have the biggest advantage at the polls. >

It’s not even about giving up the seat — if Biden announces he doesn’t want to seek re-election, it will cause a ton of infighting … while the Republican Party can’t decide between Trump or DeSantis >

This "infighting" could also forge the best candidate.  Obama had a tough primary and wasn't well known, but he emerged as the nominee and won the election AND he was a poc from Chicago!  On paper, not great odds, but it worked in 2008. >

True, but I really think this election cycle for republicans is an anomaly. It’s something we have never seen before, but I’m willing to bet it’s either Trump (who has already announced his run) bullying people into not running or another Republican (most likely DeSantis) challenging him. Either way, I don’t think a Republican can win this election cycle >

From your reddit comment to God's eyes(?).  Complacency is deadly.  I was one of the disbelieving characters in the Chappell/SNL skit about 2016 election night.  In fact, as a white male in the south I said, Trump is a joke, Republicans fucked up this time.  Then Wednesday morning 😶 >

For most careers in the US, being past retirement age makes it very difficult to get and hold a job. Yet, our congress is filled with people past retirement age. 
Why are people that can't work at a desk in a regular job making laws for our country? >

One of my direct reports is turning 71 this year and retiring.
Thank fuck. 
I mean this the best way possible, he can’t do shit barely without some type of accommodation which makes sense but holy cow.
It’s an obvious decline in mental acuity. I’m not like “hey it’s _____ my super old engineer that forgets shit and yells at everyone”. >

Yet we still raise the retirement age past 65... >

For US millennials, retirement will likely be 67+ >

Full SSN retirement age for anyone born after 1960 is 67. That's Gen X, never mind millennials >

She's not wrong. I like Biden more than the last guy who had his job, but this country really doesn't need more octogenarians in office. 
We could afford to clean out most if not all of the ones we already have. >

Right. I'm a fan, he's been a good leader overall, avoiding wwiii and all. I like the fact he's put some younger and competent people into cabinet positions... We need more people that get that exposure and an opportunity to do great things.
But the country needs someone in their 40-50s..   enough government experience to be competent, but young enough to have empathy for modern issues. Less burdened with yesteryear. >

And under the average American lifespan >

Which, from what I heard, was 77 pre-Covid, 72 during Covid, and slowly increasing post-Covid >

I don't recall Pelosi saying anything at all about Diane Feinstein... >

Actually she did... endorsing her for reelection in 2018 when she was a spritely 84 years old. >

Precisely my point, then - Pelosi is a hypocrite when it comes to octogenarian politicians. >


Pelosi is a hypocrite

Doesn't make her wrong though. >

82 year old politician warns that 80 may be too old for politics. >

She better announce her retirement soon then, and her comment won’t be hypocritical. >

She is well on her way. She resigned as speaker of the house, I imagine she won't run for re-election. >

Well, if anyone would know it would be an 82 year old. >

There's absolutely no way...
And I even like Biden. But an 82 year old can't be an effective president...
He should be happily living out his life on a beach somewhere. >

They mean her. She is 82. >

Biden is 80 and it looks like Trump turns 77 this year. I don't think we should have a president or vice president over the age of 65. I do value the expertise and opinions of those over 65, but they should be in consultant positions.
I have coworkers who are well into their 60s and 70s, and while they are brilliant, they've lost some of their sharpness, and more than one has fallen asleep at their desk in the afternoons. ETA that another older coworker has vision issues in low light, and has backed into more than one car in our parking garage. 
Another coworker is already drawing a pension from a previous job, but doesn't want to retire because he's divorced and his children are grown. He does not know how to use most of our software and is reluctant to communicate via text. Also adding that none of my older coworkers want to develop documentation or training resources for when they retire. >

I fell asleep at m desk in my 20s so I am ahead of the curve. >

Ha I slept through high school and I occasionally fall asleep while drinking my coffee in Starbucks parking lot lol >

I take naps right after drinking coffee more often than I care to admit >

You may have ADHD! Stimulants can make us sleepy. Adderal works like a sleeping pill for me. >

I think it would be wise for dems to shut up about Biden until they have a clearly better candidate. This is like throwing away your old shoes before you have new ones. >

It’s like people already forgot what a shit show the Democratic primaries were. >

You mean when the progressive candidate with overwhelming youth support was winning? So every DNC candidate except Biden dropped out to endorse Biden ahead of Super Tuesday? Even though it makes no electoral sense to do so because less than 20% of total votes were cast across 4 states?
Turns out running a 70+ candidate is still not enough for the neolibs if your geriatric candidate believes in horrible things like HEALTHCARE and  AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD WEALTH. >

People are making a lot of leaps. All she said was that age isn’t going to help him in an election, she didn’t say she thinks he’s demented. She didn’t even say she thinks he shouldn’t run. >

It's a simple enough statement to understand, but the discussion should be about why she chose to say it. >

The best thing is that she said it out loud, sending the signal to those who want to run, to get the wheels turning. Very sly but hopefully effective messaging to a Biden challenger. >

With the Republicans in the House getting ready to investigate his family for breathing, and the slow trickle of classified documents that keeps turning up when they should have been returned what? 6 YEARS ago?   
He should take the wins that he has had, and do the best thing for the party, step aside and let Kamala take over.  Why is that what's best for the party? As of 4 days ago if she takes over it does NOT count as her first term. So she would get the benefit of running as the incumbent,  and if she won both elections she could be in the office for a total of 10 years. Plus having the first woman president would piss off Republicans. >

I’m all for a woman president, however I don’t think Kamala is a good pick.. she’s had multiple chances to step up and show she’s got what it takes, and yet all she does is sit in the background. >

That is cause you don’t pay attention… she does a lot of diplomacy. If you lack interest in international issues, you’re not going to see what Kamala is doing. >

You definitely have a point! I can’t follow everything.. Although I think others will share my opinion, and if Kamala runs she will need to work on this to secure votes. >

Biden is old. Trump is old. If they go head to head again, I think Biden wins because most of America does not want to see Trump in office.
But if Biden ran against a 50 year old Republican, I think the contrast would prove disastrous for Biden. He's old. He seems tired. He's had a good presidency, but I don't think resume is good enough anymore.
That said, I can't think of one Dem who can beat a non-Trump republican. Maybe Whitmer? I think Josh Shapiro would be a good candidate in 2028. >

Reagan won against a much younger opponent too.
And you can easily say that if Biden ran against some generic, centrist Republican like Larry Hogan or something, there is a decent chance he’d lose.
The problem is, a generic centrist Republican is very unlikely to win the primary in today’s Republican Party >

The media will hit Democrats for admitting Biden’s age is not ideal.
But won’t hit Republicans for confidently declaring Trump one of the greatest political minds of the modern era… >

Look, he has to keep saying he’s running or otherwise he becomes a lame duck. Obviously he’s gonna wait to the last possible minute to announce if he’s running. Anything before that is just speculation.