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Mounting pressure inside party / large donors for Biden to step aside

edited July 5 in Off-Topic
Brave links to recent stories

From Politico

”There are multiple drafts of letters circulating among House Democrats and at least one would call on Biden to end his campaign, according to five people familiar with the efforts.” (excerpted from Politico 7/5/24)


Bloomberg is reporting: “A $14 Billion Walmart Heir Joins Novogratz Urging Biden Exit”

A coalition of top business leaders is taking their campaign to get President Joe Biden to drop his re-election bid one step further, penning a letter to him signed by billionaires and top executives. Christy Walton, Michael Novogratz and Paul Tagliabue are among the 168 signatories of the letter from the Leadership Now Project, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg. It states that "nothing short of American democracy is at stake this November" … (excerpted from Bloomberg Media 7/5/24)

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Comments

  • ...penning a letter to him signed by billionaires and top executives....
    So, @hank, um, isn't Biden bad for the 2025 tax expiration? Won't that cost these guys a lot? Are these normal Democratic candidate doners or people who would like to poison the election for Biden in order to usher their main squeeze back in?
  • edited July 6
    ”Isn’t Biden bad for the 2025 tax expiration? Won't that cost these guys a lot?”

    - I’m not sure what you mean here Anna. Biden and most Democrats would raise taxes on the very wealthy. So, yes, a Democratic victory in November might “cost these guys a lot.” To hold water, your argument would need to identify which Democrat might replace Biden on the ticket and whether his / her position on taxing the wealthy is more or less aggressive than Biden’s.

    “Are these normal Democratic candidate doners or people who would like to poison the election for Biden in order to usher their main squeeze back in?”

    I believe the signatories to the letter are “normal” donors and not people trying to poison the Democratic prospects. The full list is not yet public, so we really can’t say. It’s a bit of a loaded question in that you seem imply the very wealthy may not be “normal” donors, While small “Mom & Pop” donors might represent the greater number, I believe that for both parties most of the total funding comes from very wealthy persons. So the wealthy, perhaps sadly, are “normal donors.” See

    Anna - I don’t share your skepticism regarding the motives here. It is quite possible many super wealthy people also believe in and support Democratic principals. I’ll cite just Michael Bloomberg, Reed Hastings, Warren Buffet as three. I’m sure there are many more. Having great wealth does not exclude one from believing in principals supported by Democrats. And, as we are learning, being financially poor doesn’t dissuade some from being ardent Trump supporters.



  • edited July 6
    Joe needs to retire. There, I've said it. He was already running behind the Orange Criminal. (If polls are a metric of popularity, a bit more than half of the country, along with the Trumpster, holds to no fixed ethical Principles. A most regrettable state of affairs.)

    Now Joe is running even further behind. His excuses re: the debate performance are reasonable, but do we want the Chief Executive making excuses? I think not. Kamala Harris makes me itch. We shall see what happens. Perhaps Joe just needs some time to digest what needs to be digested. After all is said and done, the Criminal Orange Buffoon must not become President AGAIN.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/04/democratic-donors-wont-finance-party-until-joe-biden-drops-out.html
  • edited July 6
    Who's going to run? Buttigieg, I don't think America is ready for 2 men in the white house... yet,,, although he would kill it in debates. Whitmer, are we ready for a woman president? Newsom, maybe? Maybe Biden should change VP to Newsom or Whitmer. I don't think that it will ever happen but... if he's unable to do the job people can handle one the them. I don't know why Harris isn't acceptable but from what I've read she probably can't win. As I've said before I'm voting for a party due to women's rights so if he's still breathing Biden gets my vote.
  • Stacey Abrams! She was screwed out of being elected in Georgia, TWICE. Smart, articulate, more than capable. I'd love to see it.
    https://www.google.com/search?q=georgia+stacey+abrams
  • edited July 7
    I saw another article. Make Obama VP. He can't be elected President more than 2 times but the article says there is nothing saying he can't be VP and assume the position via the presidents demise. ADD: I would love to see that mostly because it would really piss some people off.
  • edited July 7
    Thanks for all the thoughts. It’s a very complex situation. Some s*** may hit the fan in the next week or two. No easy out for the Dems. But, I’ll just suggest here I think a Harris / Whitmer ticket would be very powerful - especially running against a convicted felon and known sexual predator..
  • +1 -- didn't think of that ticket.
  • edited July 17
    “The Buck Stops Here” - Harry Truman

    Reflect on that a moment.
  • edited July 21
    I think it had to come, whether or not it's justified. There's a lot to admire about Joe. His unlimited military support for Israel isn't one of those things. I've seen polls that show Harris is not moving the needle in the Dems. favor, either. I expect she'll give the Dems. a better chance of winning, though. Other polls show a high probability that Repugs keep the House and win back the Senate. Oh, joy! Oh, rapture! (Scarecrow, Wizard of Oz.)
  • edited July 21
    Biden is a good man whom I respect.
    He's accomplished a lot in his current term despite extreme levels of partisanship.
    The U.S. president is the "leader of the free world" and must project strength.
    Biden's performance in recent interviews and the presidential debate does not instill confidence.
    I believe he needed to drop out of the race and I applaud him for doing so.
    Of course, it would have been preferable if this didn't occur at the 11th hour.
  • Uncharted waters... no GPS, no radar or sonar, not even a sextant. Here be monsters, and here we go...
  • Yikes. The VP choice is gonna be a very big deal if KH inherits the mantle.
  • Truly the democracy is at stake across the globe. The DNP needs to come together quickly to nominate the presidential candidate. KH dropped out in 2020 before being selected to the VP. There are a number very capable candidates in battleground states that can fill both roles.

    The stock market acted strangely last week and they may expecting something big is coming.
  • PA governor Josh Shapiro, NC governor Roy Cooper, and KY governor Andy Beshear
    are supposedly at the top of the VP shortlist if Ms. Harris is nominated.
  • edited July 22
    Nicely said @Old_Joe

    I’ll be writing a check tomorrow. (Harris campaign)

    Still like Whitmer for VP. But suspect it will be a male figure with some military experience - for a variety of reasons. Don’t overlook Mark Kelly. Suspect he’d poll well among some male swing voters in the heavily pro-Trump rust-belt states. Pete Buttigieg’s name is being floated. Wouldn’t that be a wild ticket!

    I was surprised to learn NC has a Democratic Governor. Spend quite a bit of time around Charlotte. Very nice people. Beautiful area. But a very conservative place.
  • Sven said, "The stock market acted strangely last week and they may expecting something big is coming. "
    Futures show positive at this hour, but nothing to tell by their small up tick.
    Sleep tight, Derf
  • edited July 22
    From the WSJ:

    “How the Democratic Party came to the brink of nominating a candidate with an obvious flaw is a story of allies eager to look the other way, Biden advisers who worked to stamp out doubts about his vigor and a party apparatus that boxed out alternative candidates.”

    -

    At the (NATO) summit, Biden shook hands with all the leaders and greeted them for more than an hour. He was energetic throughout a three-hour meeting, sounded confident and spoke well. Biden, an official concluded, looked like he would get through the high-wire event unscathed. But in the final few minutes of the last day, when Biden referred to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin,” an audible gasp swept through the crowd.”


    WSJ: ”How the Bet on an 81-Year-Old Joe Biden Turned Into an Epic Miscalculation”
    Dated July 21, 2024

    Interesting lengthy article based on multiple sources
  • How the Democratic Party came to the brink of nominating a candidate with an obvious flaw is a story of allies eager to look the other way, Biden advisers who worked to stamp out doubts about his vigor and a party apparatus that boxed out alternative candidates.”

    Remember 2020 Primary season? Bernie was leading, until Clyburn, representing the Establishment Machine, endorsed Joe. It gave them all a rallying point, a pretext to push out the Senator from Vermont.
  • edited July 22
    Excerpts from Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American:

    "Biden’s announcement ended the month of suspense under which the Democrats have lived, and in the hours since, they appear to be coalescing around Harris with enthusiasm. Those who might have challenged her nomination have stepped up to support her: California governor Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg all backed Harris; Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said she does not intend to challenge Harris. By tonight, all of the state Democratic Party chairs were on board with Harris. Endorsements continued to pour in."

    "So did money. Following Biden’s endorsement of Harris, donors contributed more than $46.7 million to Democratic races before 9:00 p.m., and major donors, who had paused donations to Biden, have said they will contribute to Harris’s campaign. The Biden-Harris team also managed the paperwork to transfer the $95 million in Biden’s campaign coffers to Harris because the money was raised for the ticket, rather than for Biden alone."

    "The Republicans’ anger reflects that fact that if Biden is off the ticket, they are in yet another pickle. Just last week, the Republicans nominated Donald Trump, who is 78, for president. Having made age their central complaint about Biden, they are now faced with having nominated the oldest candidate in U.S. history, who repeatedly fell asleep at his own nominating convention as well as his criminal trial, who often fumbles words, and who cannot seem to keep a coherent train of thought. Democrats immediately pounced on Trump with all the comments Republicans had been making about Biden. Republicans have already suggested that Trump will not debate Harris, a former prosecutor."

    "In a time of dictators, Trump tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election and install himself in power against the wishes of the people. President Joe Biden voluntarily turned away from reelection in order to give the people a better shot at preserving our democracy. He demonstrated what it means to put the country first."
  • edited July 22
    “July 22, 2024 — The Lincoln Project is wasting no time in getting to work behind Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House, dropping a new ad this morning.“

    If you’re not familiar with the Lincoln Project, it is a group started about a decade ago by Republicans who find Trumpism antithetical to their values. They are very effective at using clever, sometimes humorous, ads online and over broadcast media to expose the absurdities of Trumpism and the dangers it presents to democracy.

    Link to The Lincoln Project
  • @Observant1, thanks for posting Professor Richardson’s excerpt from this morning. Remind me when I was learning history in college.
  • A selfless act by President Biden.
  • In the midst of all of this stuff, our all-mail Hawaii election apparatus is at work. Wife and I just received our (CLOSED Primary) ballots. Aug. 10th is the deadline to get them in and counted.
  • "So much money corrupting the entire process"

    Gee, now that's new. I'm pretty sure the Greeks and Romans never had anything like that going on.
  • Old_Joe said:

    "So much money corrupting the entire process"

    Gee, now that's new. I'm pretty sure the Greeks and Romans never had anything like that going on.

    You get so accustomed to stuff, and then you take it for granted. It still sucks mightily, though.
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