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Handwringing over Biden's age has Democrats worried about a repeat of Ruth Bader Ginsberg's refusal to step down
(www.businessinsider.com)
this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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politics
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I don't think it's fair to say Stewart shouldn't critique Biden during a campaign just because dishonest talking heads will spin it to their advantage. Someone has to be willing to give an earnest and nuanced take that doesn't ignore valid criticisms of their own side. That's having integrity. And we need more of it, not less.
If Stewart had ignored all the criticisms of Biden during the show, the talking heads would have just spun some other show's takes like they always do. They're gonna do it regardless of how honest Stewart is cause that's their job.
It's not about if, it's about when.
People had three years to convince Biden that he shouldn't run. They didn't. Now you get Biden, and until he's elected again criticism equals promoting the Trump campaign.
I mean, Stewart isn't a complete idiot, he did make a case for both candidates being too old, which is a smarter counter than most of the Democratic campaign, let alone the Dem left, is using to push back. You're not gonna successfully deny Biden is old, but you can convince people that Trump is also, maaaaybe.
But that doesn't change the fact that any statement right now is a campaign statement. People think they can ignore politics for years and then act all surprised when they're told to postpone "valid criticism". Nah. The one thing Stewart said that I agree with wholeheartedly is that this is life now. Forever. And in this life you don't mess with your candidate's campaign even a little bit until after the votes are counted.
Biden said he wouldn't run again three years ago. We already did that.
Here's the thing that pisses me the fuck off: Biden is old - he'll be critized about that... Jon Stewart is basically the kids gloves warm up round. If pundits and Biden don't have counter arguments for Stewart then they'll be fucking worthless when it comes to Trump and Fox News... and those assholes will be a lot less polite and even in their attack.
I was a voter in 2016, I remember "Thou shalt not validly critize Hillary during the primary"... and Sanders didn't, he used fucking kids gloves on her and then in the general when she was accused of being a corporate stooge she deer-in-the-headlights and we got Trump.
Candidates will be critized, it'll happen regardless of what their party does - Trump's team has had a big folder of oppo research on Biden since 2018. It's the candidate's job to respond to that criticism and it's our, the candidate's buddies, job to attack him early to defuse those flaws so they don't come out two days before the election.
Trump is just as old. Ask a Republican, a conservative pundit or a vaguely conservative voter and Trump is the peak of the human form, strong as an oak and in full posession of superhuman intellectual prowess.
You want to complain that a candidate is old? That's the one you are supposed to be focusing on.
For the record, Sanders didn't criticise Clinton. His followers did. Ruthlessly. Constantly. With this exact playbook. He tried to stop them and we all realized in horror he couldn't. The berniebros didn't lose the 2016 election, because they didn't really influence much either way, but they sure as hell didn't help.