That was a deeply weird political stump speech masquerading as something important that Americans needed to hear. I'm 100% aligned with the idea of keeping Team Trump and The Trump Fan Club as far away from the levers of power that we can, but Biden wasted a lot of shot on something that won't budge anyone from where they were. Burned a bit of credibility in the process as well - the next time, I see that there's a Biden primetime address, I'm much likelier to skip it like I do all the other campaign speeches.
I agree with Kasparov on that one point. But Biden can’t claim to want unity and in the same breath condemn people who disagree with him politically by association--“vote for me and my party or you must be MAGA” is not unity.
I get the "Don't lump me in with those a**holes" feeling: think how it feels to have all Democrats be labeled as being evil socialists hell bent on destroying the USA, regardless of view on individual issues. That has been the standard approach for right-wing media and candidates for a really long time, and has contributed heavily to where we are today.
Do they not have culpability for voting for those candidates while knowing they are a threat? And if MAGA is indeed a threat, and the options are MAGA or a Democratic candidate (which realistically that is all there is at this time for 99.9% of the races) then voting Democratic to refute MAGA and allow the non-MAGA GOP to resurrect seems like the best course of action.
Oh, can we also disassociate conservatives with the GOP? I don't know about you, but there seems to be very little conservative anything in the GOP as currently exists.
Yes, this was a political speech. And as you noted he did make a distinction between MAGA minority and the GOP as a whole. That said: MAGA is in control of the party, and there's far too little pushback from the party to right the ship.
Does it matter if MAGA is a minority in the GOP if the rest of the GOP continues to vote for MAGA candidates? I dunno...
Did i ever mention, i dislike politics; a lot. I cringe often anytime one party or the other takes the airwaves. Most often, i change channels. I know what they are going to say and have no interest in them proving me right.
Last night, as we sat down to dinner and turned on the 5pm national news, there was Joe. I forced myself to listen, he simply doesn't inspire me. We know teleprompters are a politicians best fried, and their worst enemy. When i hear them reading the words rather than speaking from their heart, from their convictions, they lose me.
Joe would have done himself a favor by cutting the speech in half, make his points and sitting down. I read an article on Bulwark the other day where they interviewed a recent winner in a democratic election, and he was asked why he was successful. He credited being honest with the voters. His name escapes me, but he was a late entry and he won big. Does that tell us something about a shorter campaign season?
Speech writers are only half the equation. Reagan could take a speech and make it sound genuine, i suspect it was. Obama was exceptional with a mic in his hand. Joe sounds like he's reading everything he says. I don't have a problem with addressing the MAGA wing of the republican party, i hate he belabored it and prattled on way too long.
It's a lesson for every politician. Make your points, shut up and sit down.
You have more faith in Trumpists than I. I am grateful for my conservative family members who never voted for Trump and who, on Jan 6, 2020, said they were no longer Republicans.
As a former Republican, myself, I agree with Biden's observation about MAGAs and I believe the many who identify as Republicans, but not MAGA Republicans, agree with Biden, too, as they look on in horror at what is being done to their party under the MAGA banner.
That was a deeply weird political stump speech masquerading as something important that Americans needed to hear. I'm 100% aligned with the idea of keeping Team Trump and The Trump Fan Club as far away from the levers of power that we can, but Biden wasted a lot of shot on something that won't budge anyone from where they were. Burned a bit of credibility in the process as well - the next time, I see that there's a Biden primetime address, I'm much likelier to skip it like I do all the other campaign speeches.
Yes, could have made a MAGA speech really anytime since 1/6. My guess is the timing is geared to mid-term elections.
Most likely: I doubt he'd have made this speech right now if the GOP seemed to be doing better in polls, or if Sarah Palin had won.
While all true, I think Garry Kasparov provided some useful perspective on the matter:
https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1565501486582452224?s=20&t=Hnxu99r57kjqlQqmXu7Jtw
I agree with Kasparov on that one point. But Biden can’t claim to want unity and in the same breath condemn people who disagree with him politically by association--“vote for me and my party or you must be MAGA” is not unity.
I get the "Don't lump me in with those a**holes" feeling: think how it feels to have all Democrats be labeled as being evil socialists hell bent on destroying the USA, regardless of view on individual issues. That has been the standard approach for right-wing media and candidates for a really long time, and has contributed heavily to where we are today.
Do they not have culpability for voting for those candidates while knowing they are a threat? And if MAGA is indeed a threat, and the options are MAGA or a Democratic candidate (which realistically that is all there is at this time for 99.9% of the races) then voting Democratic to refute MAGA and allow the non-MAGA GOP to resurrect seems like the best course of action.
Oh, can we also disassociate conservatives with the GOP? I don't know about you, but there seems to be very little conservative anything in the GOP as currently exists.
Yes, this was a political speech. And as you noted he did make a distinction between MAGA minority and the GOP as a whole. That said: MAGA is in control of the party, and there's far too little pushback from the party to right the ship.
Does it matter if MAGA is a minority in the GOP if the rest of the GOP continues to vote for MAGA candidates? I dunno...
Did i ever mention, i dislike politics; a lot. I cringe often anytime one party or the other takes the airwaves. Most often, i change channels. I know what they are going to say and have no interest in them proving me right.
Last night, as we sat down to dinner and turned on the 5pm national news, there was Joe. I forced myself to listen, he simply doesn't inspire me. We know teleprompters are a politicians best fried, and their worst enemy. When i hear them reading the words rather than speaking from their heart, from their convictions, they lose me.
Joe would have done himself a favor by cutting the speech in half, make his points and sitting down. I read an article on Bulwark the other day where they interviewed a recent winner in a democratic election, and he was asked why he was successful. He credited being honest with the voters. His name escapes me, but he was a late entry and he won big. Does that tell us something about a shorter campaign season?
Speech writers are only half the equation. Reagan could take a speech and make it sound genuine, i suspect it was. Obama was exceptional with a mic in his hand. Joe sounds like he's reading everything he says. I don't have a problem with addressing the MAGA wing of the republican party, i hate he belabored it and prattled on way too long.
It's a lesson for every politician. Make your points, shut up and sit down.
You have more faith in Trumpists than I. I am grateful for my conservative family members who never voted for Trump and who, on Jan 6, 2020, said they were no longer Republicans.
As a former Republican, myself, I agree with Biden's observation about MAGAs and I believe the many who identify as Republicans, but not MAGA Republicans, agree with Biden, too, as they look on in horror at what is being done to their party under the MAGA banner.