Comment on The Utah Governor’s Lonely Crusade to Make Politics Nice Again

Sidney Blumenthal: “I saw western civilization pass before my eyes as Joe Biden drowned.”

“I have to also be very honest with you and tell you that I think the president was not terribly articulate to say the least, and he was not focused. He did not defend a very strong record.” — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), quoted by The Hill, on President Biden’s debate performance.

“Nikki Haley, the runner-up to Donald Trump in this year’s GOP nomination race, said Democrats need to dump President Biden as their presumptive nominee following his halting debate performance as she reiterated her calls for cognitive testing of all federal candidates,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “But the former South Carolina governor, in a Wall Street Journal interview, said Republicans shouldn’t assume replacing Biden would inherently help Trump.” Said Healey: “They are going to be smart about it: they’re going to bring somebody younger, they’re going to bring somebody vibrant, they’re going to bring somebody tested.” She added: “This is a time for Republicans to prepare and get ready for what’s to come because there is no way that there will be a surviving Democratic Party if they allow Joe Biden to continue to be the candidate.”

“The Democratic Party’s perennially nervous donor class descended into deep unease on Friday, as some of the wealthiest people in America commiserated over President Biden’s weak debate performance and puzzled over what, if anything, they could do to change the course of the race,” the New York Times reports. “There were discussions with political advisers about arcane rules under which Mr.

Washington Post: “Much of the focus of Thursday’s debate focused on Biden’s confusing and meandering answers, and the ensuing panic his weak performance caused among Democratic officeholders, donors and operatives. The consensus view among most Republicans and Democrats was that Trump was clearly the winner of the first 2024 debate.” “As for Trump, however, he repeatedly evaded topics he was not interested in speaking about, following the advice of advisers who encouraged him to move the conversation to friendlier ground such as immigration and the economy.

“Before President Emmanuel Macron of France went on national television to announce his call for snap parliamentary elections, he privately alerted President Joe Biden, who was wrapping up a five-day trip to France for the D-Day anniversary,” Politico reports. “At first, people in Biden’s inner circle were merely startled by Macron’s gamble, viewing it as the kind of daring maneuver that has defined Macron’s disruptive political career.