Neoliberalism
Democratic (neoliberal) Party
Joe Biden
Fig. 1. Joe Biden and Pope Francis, unknown photographer, April 29, 2016, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
From the start, Biden faltered in the debate, the first of the 2024 presidential election. He was hard to hear, mumbling and muffling his lines, some of which – were they delivered with the intended force – could have landed successfully. He said Donald Trump has “the morals of an alley cat”, but even that one-liner was difficult to discern.[1]
One major Democratic donor and [Joe] Biden supporter said it was time for the president to end his campaign. This person described Biden’s night as “the worst performance in history” and said Biden was so “bad that no one will pay attention to [Donald] Trump’s lies.”[2]
David Plouffe, a Democratic strategist and former [Barack] Obama campaign official, called the debate “kind of a Defcon 1 moment”.
“The biggest thing in this election is voters’ concerns – and it’s both swing voters and base voters – with his age, and those were compounded tonight,” Plouffe said. . . .
Nicholas Kristof, the leftwing political columnist, said on social media that he hopes Biden reflects on the debate and decides to withdraw from the race, letting the convention decide who should be the nominee. He suggested someone like Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Ohio senator Sherrod Brown or commerce secretary Gina Raimondo.
Former Missouri senator Claire McCaskill said on MSNBC that [Joe] Biden had one job, and he didn’t do it: He needed to “reassure America that he was up to the job at his age, and he failed”. Democrats are doing more than hand-wringing in private and wondering why the Biden surrogates, who were performing well to counter the Biden debate performance, aren’t the ones at the top of the ticket, she said.
“I know how this felt tonight: it felt like a gut punch,” McCaskill said.[3]
I’ll reduce Aaron Blakes “five takeaways” to two: Joe Biden did not do what he needed to do and in fact reinforced opponents’ perceptions of a doddering old man. Donald Trump’s usual lies went unchallenged.[4]
One adviser to major Democratic Party donors said they were texting from a meeting of donors in Atlanta on Thursday night, some writing “wtf.”
“Our only hope is that he bows out, we have a brokered convention, or dies,” the donor adviser said. “Otherwise we are fucking dead.” . . .
“No one expected a master class in debating from Joe Biden, but no one expected this nose dive,” said a senior adviser to top Democratic officials. “He was bad on message, bad on substance, bad on counter punching, bad on presentation, bad on non-verbals. There was no bright spot in this debate for him. The only bright spot is that this happened in June and not October.”[5]
My forecast now shifts to a slight edge for Trump, probably magnified in the electoral college. If the Democrats do indeed replace Biden,[6] the picture will change and I will reevaluate.
Aaron Blake, “5 takeaways from the first Trump-Biden 2024 debate,” Washington Post, June 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/27/presidential-debate-takeaways/
Rachel Leingang, “‘Defcon 1 moment’: Biden’s debate performance sends Democrats into panic,” Guardian, June 28, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/27/biden-trump-debate-democrats-reaction
Elena Schneider, Adam Wren, and Lauren Egan, “‘WTF’: Panicked Dems start looking for alternatives to Biden,” Politico, June 28, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/27/biden-democrats-replacement-00165672
Illiberalism
Fig. 2. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.
In France, too.
Ishaan Tharoor, “The twilight of Macronism,” Washington Post, June 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/28/macron-french-elections-loser/
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Fig. 3. The confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, with the “Golden Triangle” and downtown Pittsburgh. Photograph by author, October 15, 2023.
Jeff Himler and Haley Daugherty, “2 tornadoes suspected as severe storm causes damage, outages in Westmoreland, Allegheny,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 26, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/2-tornadoes-confirmed-as-severe-storm-causes-damage-outages-in-westmoreland-allegheny/
Quincey Reese and Joe Napsha, “Weather service confirms 3 tornadoes touched down in recent Western Pa. storm,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 27, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/weather-service-super-confident-2-tornadoes-hit-westmoreland-county/
So-called ‘ridesharing’
Drivers
Fig. 4. Yeah, this is me. The sign says, “If you’re whining about a labor shortage, STOP ignoring my job applications!” And the QR-code leads here. Photograph by author, January 16, 2023.
Preetika Rana, “Uber, Lyft Agree to Minimum Wage, Other Benefits for Drivers in Massachusetts,” Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2024, https://apple.news/AXEbdpkwbR8eQGDxc7n7KSQ
- [1]Rachel Leingang, “‘Defcon 1 moment’: Biden’s debate performance sends Democrats into panic,” Guardian, June 28, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/27/biden-trump-debate-democrats-reaction↩
- [2]Elena Schneider, Adam Wren, and Lauren Egan, “‘WTF’: Panicked Dems start looking for alternatives to Biden,” Politico, June 28, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/27/biden-democrats-replacement-00165672↩
- [3]Rachel Leingang, “‘Defcon 1 moment’: Biden’s debate performance sends Democrats into panic,” Guardian, June 28, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/27/biden-trump-debate-democrats-reaction↩
- [4]Aaron Blake, “5 takeaways from the first Trump-Biden 2024 debate,” Washington Post, June 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/27/presidential-debate-takeaways/↩
- [5]Elena Schneider, Adam Wren, and Lauren Egan, “‘WTF’: Panicked Dems start looking for alternatives to Biden,” Politico, June 28, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/27/biden-democrats-replacement-00165672↩
- [6]Rachel Leingang, “‘Defcon 1 moment’: Biden’s debate performance sends Democrats into panic,” Guardian, June 28, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/27/biden-trump-debate-democrats-reaction; Elena Schneider, Adam Wren, and Lauren Egan, “‘WTF’: Panicked Dems start looking for alternatives to Biden,” Politico, June 28, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/27/biden-democrats-replacement-00165672↩