Email from a friend on the DNC...

[brooklynite]

Friends: Many of you asked for my comments on the state of the election after the last 48 hours. I attended the NFC Meeting and Debate Watch Party in Atlanta on Thursday - here are my take-aways based on the debate and conversations with senior campaign staff:

It was an undeniably bad debate. Yes, the President had a cold and incumbents don’t do well in the first debate, but it was bad in multiple ways which will not easily be forgotten by the electorate.
However, the day after, Biden is still Biden and Trump is still Trump, they have the same values (or lack of values) and one cares about the country and the other cares about himself.
Some of the early, dial testing and focus group work, suggests that there was no change to Biden and Trump voters and Independents were annoyed and frustrated by the litany of Trump lies. Biden didn’t win them; but Trump lost some of them.
The Campaign definitely believes that while we missed an opportunity in the debate, and may have lost Morning Joe and The New York Times, voters still care about policies and the truth, and there was limited damage done there.
It was mentioned several times (and I believe this) that Biden has so much love and respect for the country that he would not run if he truly believed he wasn’t fit for office or the campaign.
And - the biggest take away for me was that the three largest hours of online grassroots fundraising for the campaign ever were on Thursday - with the largest of all coming from 11-12et, after the debate.

As to what happens next:

The President had a very good rally in North Carolina Friday afternoon - he was completely different than the Biden that showed up at the debate - and has a heavy weekend of fundraising this weekend in New York and New Jersey.
It is practically and legally impossible to remove the President from the ballot without his consent - so the talk of challenges at the Convention (or more importantly at the virtual roll call before the Convention) are just unrealistic.
If the President were to conclude he wanted to withdraw his nomination there would be a process at the Convention or via the DNC to determine a new candidate. The DNC would be prepared to manage this - and all of the practical implications.
Post debate polling over the next few days will be very informative and I am sure the President will have discussions on the next steps.

At the end of the day I believe that President Biden is a good man, with good values, and the experience to serve as President. I think ultimately the voters will prefer his truth over Trump’s lies.

Above all else, I am a member of the DNC Executive Committee and care passionately about getting Democrats elected up and down the ticket, all across the nation. I care about that now, I will care about it in November and I will care about in 2025 and beyond. And that is much more important than one bad debate.

Please keep in touch - your feedback and commentary is very useful - and I will pass along what I know.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Thank you, my dear brooklynite, for this refreshing honest take on the 'debate.' It is much needed. nt

[Elessar Zappa]

2. That letter matches my feelings about the whole thing.

[cachukis]

3. Thanks. Stay on it.

[Dorian Gray]

4. We may share a common friend

unless that email was copy and pasted among several Biden proxies.

[brooklynite]

11. C L

[Dorian Gray]

35. Not the same

I think those close to the candidates and acting as proxies are shoring up their language and how to talk about the debate.

Anyhow, I think from reading multiple people I trust in politics, it would be overly complicated to take Biden off the ticket, so working out unified messaging is very good.

[SalviaBlue]

5. Thank you for sharing that...

It says more about the reality of the situation and offsets all of the speculation and opinion… so it’s really helpful!

[gab13by13]

6. I do not need to be encouraged about Joe

I have concerns about the strategy his advisers laid out for him.

Can we do better with that next time?

[DoBW]

7. the wave is coming

ride it

[OneGrassRoot]

8. K & R and TY. n/t

[emulatorloo]

9. Thanks for sharing, my sentiments exactly.

[Fiendish Thingy]

10. I'm assuming your friend consented to you sharing this?

Because as reassuring as the letter is, it acknowledges that the topic of Biden withdrawing and finding a new nominee has been discussed and is a possibility- in other words, no blanket denial that it might happen.

Thanks for sharing.

[msongs]

12. oh an anonymous note whose creator wishes to remain hidden. nt

[brooklynite]

13. Not anonymous to me. And you wouldn't know the name if I mentioned it.

Do you have any objections?

[msongs]

15. I prefer attribution nt

[IbogaProject]

19. It was discussed because the topic is in the news

The idea of switching candidates became part of the post debate news cycle so it is resonable for the party to discuss. But that discussion can just be about what response to make. Our party has generally surpassed our poll numbers recently.

[Dorian Gray]

36. For what it's worth

I received emails from a friend in politics in Brooklyn that was very similar. I think that there are proxies firming up their messaging. Friend is different, but the messaging is the same. (And it's a personal friend who you wouldn't have heard of. She's never run for election, but she's peripherally involved in politics and hosts many political fundraisers.).

They're working on getting messaging out to their networks, getting feedback and strengthening their messaging with that feedback.

[SocialDemocrat61]

40. Exactly

It’s looks like the standard email that surrogates are give to send out to as many donors and supporters as possible.

[musicblind]

14. thank you for this.

do you think it is realistic for the dnc to request additional debates beside the one in september?

[LiberalFighter]

16. I have mentioned the following before

For voters in 2020 voting for Trump if they don't vote or vote for a third party candidate creates a one vote loss for Trump. Meaning the change favors Biden.

If those voters switch to Biden it is a two vote switch favoring Biden.

There are about ten million age 65 and older that will die between the 2020 election and this November. About six million are likely Trump voters. IMO new 65 and older will be leaning more Democratic.

Over a million died from Covid. Those of voting age were likely Trump voters.

I consider about 16% of the 46% that voted for Trump in 2020 are likely Magas. There will be Republicans, independents and others outside of the 16% that will not vote, vote for a third party, or for Biden. The size favoring Biden will be based on the state. Strong Democratic state or swing states.

Even Republicans have a limit on what they consider acceptable. 34 times convicted felon. Sexual assault. What he called veterans that lost their lives or just served liked McCain.

None of the issues were an issue in 2020. They will be a factor in 2024.

[dchill]

17. Biden never had the NYTimes. Does this mean that Morning Joe...

...now thinks Trump is the obvious better choice? And what about Mika? Do dish! A Democratic Party uprising at this point would guarantee a second Trump presidency. Or dynasty. Whatever.

[SoFlaBro]

22. Goddamn Morning Joe is fucking suspect. Didn't someone die in his congressional office under fuckery?

[Yoyoyo77]

25. To be fair Mika the co-host said Joe should stay in and was backed by Eugene Robinson.

[SoFlaBro]

26. Morning Joe better get his shit fucking mind right and come on in for the big fucking win.

[brooklynite]

27. "Biden never had the NYTimes"

Mr. Biden has been an admirable president. Under his leadership, the nation has prospered and begun to address a range of long-term challenges, and the wounds ripped open by Mr. Trump have begun to heal.

Donald Trump has proved himself to be a significant jeopardy to that democracy — an erratic and self-interested figure unworthy of the public trust.

If the race comes down to a choice between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, the sitting president would be this board’s unequivocal pick.

Perhaps you didn't actually READ the editorial before ranting?

[dchill]

31. I DID read that they recommended he step out.

I don't regularly read NYT editorials, no. Should I?

[brooklynite]

37. Couldn't hurt.

But you'll agree that "Biden never had the NYTimes" was wrong?

[Deek1935]

33. YUP!! Debates generally do not matter! So enough of the mindless bed-wetting!

FORGET THE DEBATE! FORGET ANY NEGATIVE POLLS THAT MAY COME OUT SHORTLY AFTER THE DEBATE!
THEY HAVE ZERO, I SAY AGAIN, ZERO PREDICTIVE VALUE!!!

Debates generally DO NOT MATTER!!! So all these people are bed-wetting just need to STOP IT!

If debates mattered so much, then Reagan, W.Bush, and Obama would not have been re-elected.

Biden/Harris is our ticket! If this was to suddenly change, it would throw the party into sheer chaos and would
definitely hand the election to Trump because we would have a nasty contested situation in the party AND we would
lose the predictive advantage of incumbency.

[LiberalFighter]

18. Member is being very rational.

They have done the analysis and created plans that will be implemented when it is time.

[markodochartaigh]

20. I think that the Democratic party leaders

need to emphasize to the public that the president is never alone. Every decision that a president makes is informed by those with whom he has chosen to surround himself. Of course authoritarians want a Strong Leader, a unitary executive, but even in the case of an absolute negligent and shoddy buffoon like Trump, there are always influencers around the president. To the one fifth or so of the US electorate who actually pay attention to fact-based news the parade of religious charlatans, unqualified grifters, and vicious courtiers circulating through the White House should be engraved in our memory. Of course the authoritarian reich-wing loves the chaos and violence that these types engender. But there is a good percentage "in the middle" who genuinely do not know how many Trump associates have been indicted or been forced out of office. Contrast Buttigieg with Chao, Dr Fauci with Dr Jackson, Granholm with Perry (esp. the Ukraine scandal), Raimondo with Ross "the king of bankruptcy", Yellen with Mnuchin "the foreclosure king".

[Sasquatchliving]

21. That was good to read

[DemocraticPatriot]

23. THANKS for posting this!

[hadEnuf]

24. I think the Democratic Party needs to cut the shit while they still can.

If we force our candidate out and throw him under the bus after one screw up what the hell does that look like to the electorate? It will make everything the Republicans say about us look true.

I can see the ads now. Trump in the Republicans will have your back. The Democrats will just stab you in it. Look what they did to their own president.

[LeftInTX]

38. The party is publicly standing behind Joe.

I'm sure there is lots of private handwringing, but there really isn't much of an option. If Biden drops out before the convention, sounds like it would be a huge nightmare.

Article explains how it works. Ignore the headline:

'It's a mess': Biden turns to family on his path forward after his disastrous debate
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/biden-family-path-forward-disastrous-debate-mess-rcna159591

[Joinfortmill]

28. One old gal's observations about Joe and the debate

It's interesting that folks in my extended family freaked out and never just stopped and looked at what was happening. From my perspective, Trump was his usual despicable self, so we'll let that fall where it may.

Joe on the other hand, in my opinion, was clearly suffering from a cold, sore throat or something similar. Also, all the talk about Joe's mouth hanging open is because Joe's mouth was hanging open in shock at the endless stream of lies pouring out of Trump's mouth like an open faucet.

One thing that I noticed was that Trump's voice was much louder than Joe's. This was seen by many as a sign of sickness/weakness in Joe. But, shortly after the debate when Joe was speaking with folks with another mic, his voice was much stronger. So, my question is, what was that all about? Was the volume on both mics the same? And, why was the camera on Joe when Trump was speaking and Joe was making shocked expressions to someone off camera? I can't be the only one that noticed these things.

I hope this is helpful for your post debate review. I don't think CNN is a friend of Joe Biden.
I'm happy that Joe went on the road right away and showed folks how strong he really is.

[shrike3]

30. Another Duer pointed this out.

I don't think I'm allowed to name them. But they have backstage experience and don't think a proper sound check was conducted. They also thought Joe's mic was adjusted as time went on. FWIW. No, you aren't the only one.

[PortTack]

29. A 27 million dollar haul by the Biden/Harris team in the 24 hrs following, all from small donors says

Ppl are riding’ with Biden!

[PatSeg]

32. Yes, I sincerely believe this:

"Biden has so much love and respect for the country that he would not run if he truly believed he wasn’t fit for office or the campaign."

For Joe, this is not about ego or politics. He was done with politics after serving as Vice President and had settled into a post political life. He came back not to prove anything, but to serve, because first and foremost that is who he is.

Well, there may be an itsy-bitsy bit of ego at play, but not enough to overshadow his integrity and character. This is a good man who has been treated poorly by the mainstream media for decades and they are still at it.

[mountain grammy]

34. I'll always remember LBJ's speech on that dark day in March,1968

when he announced he would not run for re-election. I'm that depressed. If Biden drops out I'm afraid we'll get trump as sure as we got Nixon and what a deadly mistake he was.

[Patton French]

39. This made me feel good.

Thank you.