Here's my take on Biden dropping out - flame away...

[Probatim]

I'm going to start this post by saying Joe Biden was one of the best, if not the best, presidents in recent memory. I'm going to follow this up by saying, I think he and his team knew his age was catching up to him and would be a liability over the next few months as his travel and speaking engagements picked up (from his already packed schedule).

The question is of timing - why did he drop out now?

I think there was discussion here that he did it on a Sunday afternoon after the morning talk shows to limit the amount of handwringing from the press. But what of the timing?

The RNC just wrapped up and Vance was selected as the VP candidate. FFF45 spent the entire week going after Biden's age and what a manly man he is. Picking the VP hints at the strategy (if you believe FFF45 is capable of strategy beyond being a victim) to be used by their campaign.

Regardless, those dies have been cast and the Rs aren't likely to switch horses (double metaphors FTW).

So we end up with a strong candidate, who's well-positioned against the challengers, and challengers who have spent the last year running against Biden's age.

We have just over 3 months until the election - which is plenty of time to watch them tear each other to shreds. We'll pick a strong VP candidate of our own (I think that's already done but being pushed out a few days to give the people a break). And the Harris team can run on continuing Joe's legacy.

Just my take.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. No. I think Biden seriously considered seeing this through to November.

But he's a reasonable man and listened to all opinions.

And once he made up his mind, there was no reason to wait.

And hence, 1:46 Sunday afternoon.

[PatSeg]

5. I agree

All indications said that he really intended to see it through until election day. He may have intentionally waited until after the Sunday morning shows, but I think until the weekend, he was still in the running.

[CentralMass]

2. Im not worried about our side, Im worried about their side.

The are on balance a misogynist racist bunch. It's academic now but Biden faltered. He was ill at the debate and that combined with his age resulted in a bad performance. I think Joe would have rebounded. The polls are tight and the prevailing wisdom is that the race will be run in the electoral college and that the swing states are critical. I hope this change results in a landslide victory but then I look at the GOP ?
I

[Wicked Blue]

3. Joe IS the best president. Not WAS.

[democrattotheend]

6. It seems like he was open to it as of at least a week before

He asked Schumer to give him one more week to consider. And I recall reading something even earlier, right after the debate, indicating he might be open to it. But of course he had to publicly be all in until he wasn't, and it seems like he was pretty stubborn until the end and didn't really make the decision for sure until the night before.

I think he made the right decision and it had to be done, but I really wish it could have been done without the past 3 weeks of public handwringing. If he had made the decision a little earlier, he could have gone out on his own terms without his admirable sacrifice being downplayed by people saying he was forced out. For that I am also angry with whoever kept strategically leaking private meetings instead of giving him a little space to reach the decision on his own.

[mackdaddy]

7. Supposedly there was some pretty disastrous inside polling given to Joe over the weekend.

This was on Harry Litman's podcast.

The inside polling showed that there was a strong chance Biden could loose to Trump and this was the final push. Joe wanted to stay in, but this was just too big a risk. He knew there was no way he could let Trump win, even if he had to drop out.

This was supposedly from some inside leaks and does sound plausible.

Here is his podcast report.

[Happy Hoosier]

8. I think Biden decided to withdraw when he was diagnosed with COVID

But as usual, he made sure his shit was together before making an announcment. He coordinated with party leaders and most critically Harris. he wanted to ensure Kamala was as well-positioned for success as possible. He was the consumate professional, even when planning his graceful exit.

[mopinko]

9. i think he was waiting for the post convention polls.

tho tsf didnt get the usual bounce, i dont think it’s crazy to expect that joe might, after that spectacle.