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   Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 15-Feb-2024 03:43:09 JST Evan Prodromou

   So, part of the argument about Joe Biden's age is that he's the only Democrat who can beat Donald Trump.

   I'm not sure that's true. And it definitely didn't *have* to be true. There was a path in which Biden and the party could have prepared a successor and a coalition to take over for the 2024 election. I don't know how that could have happened, but I believe it was possible.

   But it didn't happen, and now we're here. It's OK to pause for a sigh before getting on with it.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 15-Feb-2024 03:47:06 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     One of the big problems with pinning all our hopes on an octogenarian is that there is an increasing risk of an unplanned transition.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 15-Feb-2024 05:13:26 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Lambic

     @lambic what?

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     Lambic (lambic@social.linux.pizza)'s status on Thursday, 15-Feb-2024 05:13:28 JST Lambic

     in reply to

     @evan why can't Kamala take over?

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 15-Feb-2024 07:12:09 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Lambic

     @lambic yes, there's a process where the president can either resign, or they can be declared incapacitated by the VP and a majority of the cabinet.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Section_4:_Declaration_by_vice_president_and_cabinet_members_of_president's_inability

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     Lambic (lambic@social.linux.pizza)'s status on Thursday, 15-Feb-2024 07:12:10 JST Lambic

     in reply to

     @evan Immediately. Biden would presumably have to volunteer to hand over the reins, or be committed or something.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Friday, 16-Feb-2024 02:08:46 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Archnemysis

     @Archnemysis if the important thing is winning against Trump, Biden should have started transferring whatever special election magic power he has to another candidate.

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     Archnemysis (archnemysis@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 16-Feb-2024 02:08:47 JST Archnemysis

     in reply to

     @evan Why is it Biden’s responsibility to prepare a successor? That is not how our competitive electoral system works. If people wanted other options they should have started organizing and building political power decades ago to be in a position to run credibly now (or more accurately run 4 years ago since the odds of winning a primary against an incumbent are astronomical).