A poor debate performance has fuelled Democrat unease about Mr Biden's candidacy.

The first presidential debate is done and the aftermath has not been good for the incumbent, Joe Biden.

Some Democrat politicians and operatives reportedly texted CNN commentators with hopes that Mr Biden, 81, would step aside. Some floated the possibility of going to the White House and publicly stating concerns about him remaining as candidate.

But if Mr Biden were to drop out, it would be a free-for-all. There is no official mechanism for him or anyone else in the party to choose his successor, meaning Democrats would be left with an open (Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago from August 19-22.

    • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
      112·
      2 days ago

      Al Franken graduated cum laude with a poli sci degree from Harvard. I’ll let Jon Stewart himself tell you about his education.

      “My college career was waking up late, memorizing someone else’s notes, doing bong hits, and going to soccer practice”

      • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
        11·
        2 days ago

        George Washington wasn’t able to attend school after the age of 11, because his father died and he had to take over running the family farm.

        https://www.georgewashington.org/education.jsp

        Despite being the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, the President of the Constitutional Convention, and the first President of the United States, George Washington’s level of education was far lower than any of the other Founding Fathers of the United States. In fact, he was often scorned by some of the other Founding Fathers for this inadequacy. However, this lack of education was not George Washington’s fault. Upon the death of George Washington’s father in 1743, George’s formal schooling ended. He is thought to have attended the nearby grammar school run by Reverend James Marye, the rector of St. George’s Parish, up until this time. Therefore, the extent of young George’s formal educational training was in basic mathematics, reading, and writing.

        Although his older half-brothers had the opportunity to gain a formal education over in England at the Appleby School, George was required to take on the responsibility of running the family farm after his father’s death.

        On this list, every ranking places him as the highest-ranked President to ever serve other than one that places him at #2 and one that places him at #3:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States

        • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          1 day ago

          That was 200 years ago. I’m comparing Jon Stewart to one of his contemporaries, in the modern era.

          This wasn’t about Stewart anyway. My point was that Al Franken is a bad example of an entertainer breaking I to politics, because with his background it was entertainment that was the abberation.

    • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      112·
      2 days ago

      Didn’t stop Donald Trump or Ronald Regan.

      My point is that there’s more bad examples of Hollywood Actors or Reality TV stars becoming President for the worse of America, than the reverse.

      • Zaktor@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        81·
        2 days ago

        You have two counter examples, and one of them was incredibly successful, just for the side where success is bad for the country. Reagan wasn’t ineffective, he was effective for evil purposes.