Harris has much better chance than Biden of beating Trump, says Nate Silver

Today Nate Silver, who ran the acclaimed 538 web site back when it was part of the New York Times, turned on his proprietary election prediction model (Silver maintained the rights to it after he became an independent analyst) following a hold when Biden withdrew from the presidential race. Now Silver considers that there's sufficient polling data for him to get the model up and running again with Harris as the Democratic candidate. Here's a couple of key figures from his Silver Bulletin, which I pay $10 a month for a subscription that gets more detail than his free offering.…

Netanyahu lied shamelessly in his address to Congress today

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's hugely unpopular prime minister, is that country's Donald Trump in this regard: Netanyahu lies shamelessly, seeks to cling to power to avoid being held to account for crimes he's committed, and avoids taking responsibility for his failures. Today Netanyahu used an address to Congress, which was boycotted by a large proportion of Democrats in the House and Senate, to continue spreading falsehoods about how Israel has been conducting the war against Hamas under his failed leadership.  I watched most of the speech, then couldn't stand all the B.S. that was flowing freely from Netanyahu's mouth, and fast-forwarded…

I’m a happy Democrat again, thanks to Harris replacing Biden

What a difference a day makes when it comes to presidential politics. I woke up on Sunday, yesterday, feeling fine about my personal life and crappy about the prospect of Biden refusing to withdraw from the presidential contest, thereby likely guaranteeing a Trump victory this November. Then, later in the morning, I checked my phone and saw that Biden had withdrawn. At first I couldn't believe it. Maybe it was a sick joke? But a bit more scrolling on X revealed that yes, it was true. I raced to find my wife and tell her the good news. We both…

BIden will destroy the Democratic Party if he doesn’t withdraw

Every day President Biden dithers around, now with Covid clouding his already-suspect thinking, trying to decide whether he should withdraw from the presidential race, he sets the stage for a catastrophic destruction of the Democratic Party if he fails to do the right thing and turn the nomination over to Kamala Harris. I say this as a (formerly) proud Democrat who always backed my party's candidate for president with enthusiasm. Now I rejoice in replying "stop" to every text message asking me to donate to Biden's campaign. I have no interest in helping his candidacy in any other way, either,…

Why I’m a depressed Democrat (it’s all Biden’s fault)

What a difference a debate makes. Prior to June 27, 2024 I was an optimistic Democrat, looking forward to watching President Biden kick Trump's lying ass face-to-face.  After the debate, along with many millions of other members of my party, I was deeply disturbed by the inescapable reality that Biden not only didn't do any ass-kicking, he appeared befuddled during much of the debate and at times couldn't express a coherent thought.  Some three weeks later, my mood hasn't improved. If anything, I'm even more depressed now. Politically, not clinically, thankfully. (I've experienced actual depression; it's way beyond what I'm…

It’s good Trump wasn’t killed. Now let’s defeat the S.O.B.

Let's not learn the wrong lesson from yesterday's attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. The biggest problem facing our country isn't toxic political discourse. It is Donald Trump. To believe otherwise is to deny some evident facts. That's why I disagree with the basic premise of Biden's speech to the nation today.  President Joe Biden used a rare Oval Office address on Sunday to condemn political violence and plead with Americans to turn down the temperature in the increasingly toxic political system after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. ...Speaking from the Resolute Desk, Biden decried that the political…

Here’s what I predict will happen with Biden. It doesn’t end well.

Everybody deals with stress in different ways. Being a compulsive writer, now mostly in the form of my three blogs, I feel better when I get things off my mind and onto a computer screen, then into cyberspace. So that's what I'm going to continue to do with my #1 stressor, President Biden's all-important campaign against Donald Trump for the presidency.  I can't do what I heard Michael Steele and Joy Reid pontificating about on MSNBC as I drove around this afternoon. Steele was super annoying, and dead wrong, as he loudly proclaimed that the only people who want Biden…

More bad news for Biden. He needs to withdraw, or our country is screwed.

Recently on MSNBC's Morning Joe program, President Biden phoned in to announce that he's not going to withdraw as the presumptive Democratic nominee, no matter what the "elites" say, because Biden claims to know that the average Democratic voter wants him to stay in the race.  As evidence he cited what people were telling him at campaign events following his debate debacle. Wow, what a non-shock: most of those who take the time and trouble to attend a Biden rally support his candidacy. Next Biden should attend a Kansas City Chiefs home game. He'll probably find that most of the…

Biden’s interview with Stephanopoulos showed why he shouldn’t run again

President Biden's debate with Trump was painful to watch, since Biden looked lost and confused, and often couldn't speak coherently. Yesterday Biden had a second chance, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC, to reassure Americans that he was capable of both beating Trump this November and of serving competently for another four years as president. He failed again, though in a different fashion than at the debate. Debate Biden appeared senile. Interview Biden appeared like an old man who has lost touch with reality, yet wrongly believes there's nothing wrong with him. It was fortunate for me that…

I’m a Dem eager to see Biden withdraw. Tell me why I’m wrong.

Maybe obsession for what I'm experiencing is too strong a word. But maybe it isn't. Because I can't stop thinking about how much better it would be for the country, and also for Biden, as I argued in a recent post, if he withdrew from the presidential race. My anxiety about Biden losing to Trump, which is looking increasingly likely, as I'll describe below, only increased after yesterday's Supreme Court ruling that basically said a president can't be held criminally liable for official acts during a presidency. I have zero worries that Biden will get all gangster'ish. I have a…