democrattotheend
democrattotheend's JournalThe latest MSM conspiracy theory: Obama is working behind the scenes to push Biden out
This is beyond ridiculous. Politico's headline is "What Obama and Pelosi are doing about Biden." When you go on to read the actual article, all they say about Obama is that he supposedly "didn't object" when George Clooney called him to give him a heads up about the article (but also didn't encourage it). This despite the fact that Obama sent a pretty clear signal by being one of the first Democrats to come to Biden's defense right after the debate. If Obama were working behind the scenes to help push Biden out, we'd know it. There's no evidence of it and the media is grasping at straws, IMO. It's no secret that Obama discouraged Biden from running in 2016, so the fact that he's not playing a bigger role now in trying to push him out is telling.
Could Trump theoretically be disqualified from running in 2024? (Probably not, but fun to think about)
No, I'm not talking about his convictions. I'm talking about the 22nd amendment.
The plain text of the 22nd amendment is as follows:
Note that the first sentence says no person shall be elected more than twice, regardless of whether they serve both terms (or either) they were elected to. Most likely "elected" for this purpose means chosen by the electoral college, but since Trump claims he won the 2020 election and even sent his own "electors", I think the argument could be made that unless and until he concedes the 2020 election to Joe Biden, he is ineligible to run in 2024 because he's term limited. Probably wouldn't hold up in court, especially with this court, but I would really like to hear someone ask Trump about it. If, as he claims, he's already been elected to the office of President twice, how is he eligible to run again?
Trump challenged Biden to another debate. Biden should take him up on that, ASAP.
“I have the answer to the Crooked Joe Biden Incompetence Puzzle — Let’s do another Debate, but this time, no holds barred,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social during the Fourth of July holiday.
“An all on discussion, with just the two of us on stage, talking about the future of our Country,” he added. “The ratings were massive for the First Debate, record setting, in fact, but this one, because of the format, would blow everything away!”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-biden-next-debate-challenge-b2574868.html
IMO, President Biden should take him up on his offer and push for the next debate to happen ASAP. Prove that last Thursday was just a fluke, the result of him being sick. Part of the reason this has been so damaging is because the next debate is not until September. Obama was able to turn things around after his disastrous first debate with Romney in 2012 by doing much better in the next debate (and with Biden doing really well against Paul Ryan before that). If Biden can get another debate on the calendar soon, he'll have the chance to turn things around before the convention and leave no doubt that he's up to the job. Campaign rallies and even an ABC interview won't be enough to change the narrative. A much stronger performance in a second debate would.
Anyone remember Obama's first debate in 2012?
From what I remember, Obama was pretty terrible in the first debate in 2012 and everyone was freaking out. Ironically, Biden's debate with Paul Ryan a week later helped stop the bleeding, and Obama did much better in the 2nd and 3rd debate and went on to be re-elected.
Similar story in 2004 - W was terrible in the first debate against Kerry. In fact, Karl Rove even warned David Axelrod prior to the first debate about the phenomenon of incumbent presidents struggling with the first debate because they are more challenged than they have been in 4 years. Bush did somewhat better in the other debates (although he was never a strong debater) and went on to - whatever you call winning a second term when you didn't actually win the first.
The 1984 presidential debates happened when I was less than a year old, so I don't remember them obviously, but from what I learned in my poly sci classes I believe Reagan also did really poorly in the first debate and people raised questions about his age and it was the one time it looked like Mondale had a shot. We know how that election turned out.
TBH, I don't feel great about Biden's chances of winning reelection at the moment, but not because of one bad first debate, which is pretty much par for the course in recent history. And the fact that it's during the summer so long before the election helps mitigate any damage, because most people who are not already committed to a candidate are not paying attention yet. I'm way more concerned about Biden's approval rating, the inherent electoral college disadvantage, the fact that Republican legislatures have made it harder to vote in many swing states since 2020, and the overall mood of the country than I am about tonight's debate.
NY Times just called the PA Supreme Court race for McCaffery (D)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/07/us/elections/results-pennsylvania-supreme-court.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=election-results&context=election_recirc®ion=RaceLinkLooks to be about a 5-6 point race with 90% in. Most counties are pretty close in margins to the 2022 Senate race.
CNN: VA-2 (Luria) falls but VA-7 (Spanberger) holds
Per the NYT analysis I read yesterday, this points to signs of a Republican ripple, not a wave. The NYT's analysis was something like:
VA-2 falls --> Red Ripple
VA-7 falls --> Red Wave
VA-10 falls --> Red Tsunami
We held VA-7 and VA-10, so it's looking like the worst case scenario isn't happening, at least.
CNN Projection: Democrat Jennifer Wexton will win reelection in Virginia's 10th
This district was expected to stay blue, but I read somewhere, I think NYT, that losing this district would be a sign of the worst case scenario for Democrats. So the fact that she has already been projected to win seems like good news. If Spanberger is projected to win soon that would be even better news.
Breaking: Novavax files for EUA with the FDA
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/health/novavax-fda-eua-request/index.htmlThis may not be a big deal to most of you, but I've been caught between vaccine hesitant family members and the rest of the family for the past year, and Novavax might be the solution I've been waiting for. It's based on a protein subunit technology that has been in use for years, it seems to have fewer side effects than the other vaccines and potentially be more effective against Omicron, and even a right wing site that I stumbled on by accident when looking for news on it, which obviously I won't link here, called it a "pro-life" vaccine, so maybe some people with bogus religious exemptions will take it too, as well as many people who are hesitant about the current vaccines for health reasons. I'm really hoping this gets approved quickly and that my family members keep their promise to take a "traditional" vaccine once one becomes available.
Is the J&J vaccine no longer available?
I finally convinced someone who was vaccine-hesitant to get the J&J shot, but now I can't find it anywhere within a 50 mile radius. She's concerned about the mRNA vaccines and is only willing to get that one, but suddenly it doesn't seem to be available anywhere. Has it been paused again, or are places just not doing it anymore because the other two are more popular? Grrr!
Are there any traditional (attenuated) COVID vaccines in the works? What is their status?
I ask because several of my vaccine-hesitant relatives say they would take a COVID shot that works like a traditional vaccine, with a live, dead or attenuated virus. I believe them because they are not anti-vaxxers in general and had no problem with checking if their immunizations for things like MMR and TDAP were up to date before my son was born.
I found an article about one such candidate, a nasal vaccine that is currently in trials. But it seems like this is years away from becoming a reality. There's a vaccine with EUA in India, Covaxin, that seems to be a more traditional vaccine, but with my limited scientific knowledge I am not sure. My understanding is that Covaxin was denied an EUA and told to apply for full approval because there were enough vaccines already with EUA. If Covaxin is a more traditional vaccine, I think that is a big mistake on the part of the FDA, because at least some people would take the COVID shot if a more traditional vaccine were available.
Does anyone know if any other attenuated COVID vaccines are in the works or available in other parts of the world?
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