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www.politico.com

Democrats keep doing surprisingly well in special elections. The party’s most vulnerable Senate incumbents are running ahead of their rivals in key battleground states. One of Democrats’ signature issues — reproductive rights — has repeatedly proved a winning message.

And yet Joe Biden is struggling to pull even with Donald Trump.

It’s another ominous sign for the president: Even as other Democrats are running strong, the party’s down-ballot successes aren’t translating into momentum at the top of the ticket. Biden trails Trump in many of the states he needs to win to keep the White House. His job approval is underwater. And the coalition of voters that ushered him into office four years ago is fraying.

“Democrats are enthusiastic about trying to win the Senate and trying to win the House,” said Neil Oxman, a Pennsylvania-based Democratic strategist.

And they’re “not enthusiastic about Biden’s reelection,” Oxman said. “Period.”

  • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    1·
    14 days ago

    I saw a comment somewhere that can be summarized as “the biggest chance of either party to immediately gain a popular vote lead for presidency is for their own candidate to keel over before the election”, and frankly, I can’t say it’s incorrect. Neither one has any business making decisions for a future they won’t have to live through the consequences of. Biden is basically just running off of “not the other guy”, “business as usual”, and “we’ll totally do (insert predictably broken campaign promise)”.

    • Addv4@lemmy.world
      1·
      14 days ago

      And his approach is increasingly flawed, as he has backed an apparent genocide which sounds absolutely like something Trump would do. I keep hearing soooo many whataboutisms when mentioning this, about how Trump would be worse, about how questioning this could put Trump back in office if it causes people to not vote for Biden, etc. But that’s the issue, as Biden was elected largely because he was seen as a pretty nice guy who was pretty decently prepared for the role, and specifically would try to fix the problems Trump created. And to be fair, he has fixed a ton of them and has overall decent track record of recovery for the country. However, it’s pretty clear he’s trying to bow to AIPAC so that they don’t try to tank the democrats in the next election, and in turn it is greatly tarnishing their reputation, more so than I think they’ve realized.

      • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.caEnglish
        01·
        14 days ago

        I mean, Trump has stated he’ll let Russia have Ukraine.

        So It definitely can be worse.

        The Gaza genocide thing is fucking insane, the public is being shown the PR side from Palestinians, and are completely ignoring the military strategic side of things.

        Why the media isn’t discussing the fact that this is a proxy war with Iran. This isn’t conspiracy theory shit either, it’s quite well documented over the last 40 years. Israel is definitely doing harm to the Palestinians, but these people are literally being used, funded, and armed by a foreign government to attack Israel with the actual objective having nothing to do with a Palestinian state.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–Israel_proxy_conflict

        Iran sent 170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles and 30 cruise missiles in a direct attack against against Israel not two months ago after Israel bombed an Iranian embassy in Syria.

        This is why the US and the entire west is helping Israel, because they’re fighting Iran too.

  • warm@kbin.earth
    0·
    14 days ago

    For as long as FPTP voting exists and people won’t vote with their best interests in mind, you will be stuck with the least-worst option.

    • CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world
      01·
      14 days ago

      If you recognize that you’re stuck in a FPTP system, then voting for the least-worst option from the two major parties is the thing that is in your best interests.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.world
    0·
    14 days ago

    Biden’s biggest problem is definitely Biden.

    1992:
    Public: “THE ECONOMY SUCKS!”
    Bush: “Read my lips… no… new… taxes…”
    Clinton: (Bites lip) “I feel your pain!”

    2024:
    Public: “THE ECONOMY SUCKS!”
    Biden: “What are you talking about, Jack? The economy is better than it’s ever been!”

    • njm1314@lemmy.world
      0·
      14 days ago

      I’m not sure you’re making an argument you think you are here. Clinton felt your pain and then he deregulated the banking industry to the point that we have many of the problems we have today. Not to mention his dismantling of social programs . Clinton’s only second to Reagan among presidents who are the cause of many of our current economic woes.

      • jordanlund@lemmy.world
        1·
        14 days ago

        Clinton felt the pain to get elected. What he did AFTER being elected is totally different.

        Biden can’t get re-elected if he continues belittling voter complaints.

    • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
      0·
      14 days ago

      Every man who’s been president has the “I must complete two terms” stuck on loop in his brain. And that kind of thinking short-circuits critical thinking skills that would/could otherwise see their own selfish stupidity.

        • orclev@lemmy.world
          1·
          14 days ago

          “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running,” Biden said at a fundraising event for his 2024 campaign outside of Boston. “We cannot let him win.”

          The irony of this is breathtaking. If Biden wasn’t running there’d be much less of a chance of Trump winning. I really wonder what would happen at this point if Biden dropped dead of a heart attack tomorrow. I find it hard to believe anyone else could possibly be doing worse than him. Harris might do just as badly because of guilt by association, but at least she wouldn’t do any worse.

          If there’s any justice in the world both Biden and Trump will kick the bucket before the next election, and we’ll actually get a couple candidates that aren’t a few decades past the average life expectancy for once. Maybe get a fresh faced 50 year old for a change. God forbid we get a candidate that we don’t seriously have to worry about if they need a diaper change for once.

    • Eldritch@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      14 days ago

      Who were they supposed to force to run, and how were they supposed to do that? Biden initially talked about being a single term president. Only running again if necessary. The only Democrat that really chose to try to primary was Dean Phillips. Who recently begged a state governor to pardon trump. Biden already appeases fascists too much. With Phillips begging a state Governor to Pardon their leaders crimes. I can see why Biden would run again.

      I actually have some hope that there will be some decent Democratic candidates in 2028 if we can get there and still be holding elections.