What are you seeing from people in your circle/IRL?

[wbrocks67]

I'd rather not have trolls come into this thread and actually have a real conversation. What are people close to you/ friends / family/ acquaintances on social media saying about the debate/its fall out since debate night?

I'm genuinely interested because even up to today I still see a rather different/muted reaction to the debate compared to the hysteria from the press.

On actual debate night, it was mostly "these are our options?" but no one really going out of their way to single out OMG BIDENS ABOUT TO DROP DEAD! I haven't seen a single person I know go out of their way for him to drop out.

There were definitely people who thought Biden did very bad that I know, but they also either thought Trump did just as bad or are still voting Biden b/c Trump is that bad. (saw a few "would still vote for biden in hospice over trump")  There was even a few Trump 16/Biden 20 voters who seemed more disgusted at the *entire* thing rather either/or.

You can call it cope, but the juxtaposition I've personally seen from the real world (not just liberal minded people) is much more muted and/or diverse rather than the explosion of overdramatics I've seen from the press and Dem "officials" and "strategists"

[Mehmentum]

No discussion about it from anyone.

[SnowLabrador]

It's mostly been my family, but they think Biden should drop out. They're still going to vote for him over Trump, though.

[King Brandon I]

I’ve had some of my less politically apt friends ask me questions about certain issues discussed but that’s about it.

[Big Abraham]

My mother, who is very anti-Trump, and has hitherto been a Biden supporter, even if a rather reluctant one, now says she cannot support him after seeing his televised senility on full display, and will probably now vote third party or leave the ballot blank (safe state resident).

[John Dule]

Some of the texts I've received from my friends/family members, verbatim:

Friend 1 (Mexican immigrant, progressive, lives in Seattle): "F**k dude I just finally watched it. Damnnn the next few years are gonna be a hell of a ride... what the actual f**k is America right now. That poor old bastard Biden looks like he legit dead."

Friend 2 (White, male, works in construction, apolitical): "Lmao, this is hard to watch. Has Biden lost his voice? I genuinely think it's a Reagan situation. I would vote for almost any candidate younger than 50."

Friend 3 (white male, law student, progressive): "The fact that the demonrats are even considering subbing in a different candidate says enough about how it went."

My dad (white male, prototypical apolitical boomer): "It was brutal. Biden is near brain dead - disaster. Will have to keep an eye on your mother - last night proved everything I've been saying however   and Biden should not be running."

Friend 4 (white female, progressive Christian): "I just saw some highlights this morning. It makes me sad."

Friend 5 (white female, French): "Hahah I saw none of it. But even on the French radio they were talking about how sh*tty Biden did. French news described the debate as a <<shipwreck>> for Joe LOL"

Friend 6 (Mexican immigrant, gay, never-Trump Republican): "I also have the feeling that it's over for Joe. His only chance at this point is if Judge Merchan imprisons Trump."



Which is not to mention the reactions of the people I was in the room with, all of whom could barely bring themselves to even look at the TV. Haven't even had the stomach to talk to my mom about it, who is a Sorkinbrained West Wing liberal. More than anything else right now-- the election, the future of the country, bar prep-- I fear for her mental state.

[wbrocks67]

Some of the texts I've received from my friends/family members, verbatim:

Friend 1 (Mexican immigrant, progressive, lives in Seattle): "F**k dude I just finally watched it. Damnnn the next few years are gonna be a hell of a ride... what the actual f**k is America right now. That poor old bastard Biden looks like he legit dead."

Friend 2 (White, male, works in construction, apolitical): "Lmao, this is hard to watch. Has Biden lost his voice? I genuinely think it's a Reagan situation. I would vote for almost any candidate younger than 50."

Friend 3 (white male, law student, progressive): "The fact that the demonrats are even considering subbing in a different candidate says enough about how it went."

My dad (white male, prototypical apolitical boomer): "It was brutal. Biden is near brain dead - disaster. Will have to keep an eye on your mother - last night proved everything I've been saying however   and Biden should not be running."

Friend 4 (white female, progressive Christian): "I just saw some highlights this morning. It makes me sad."

Friend 5 (white female, French): "Hahah I saw none of it. But even on the French radio they were talking about how sh*tty Biden did. French news described the debate as a <<shipwreck>> for Joe LOL"

Friend 6 (Mexican immigrant, gay, never-Trump Republican): "I also have the feeling that it's over for Joe. His only chance at this point is if Judge Merchan imprisons Trump."



Which is not to mention the reactions of the people I was in the room with, all of whom could barely bring themselves to even look at the TV. Haven't even had the stomach to talk to my mom about it, who is a Sorkinbrained West Wing liberal. More than anything else right now-- the election, the future of the country, bar prep-- I fear for her mental state.

Yeah I asked for things that actually happened IRL, not a bunch of quotes you just made up.

[Reactionary Libertarian]

Someone I know who is very pro-Trump and has long believed Biden is senile is now upset. This person believes the debate was a plot by the Dems to make Biden look bad so they can replace him on the ticket with Gavin Newsom.

[Mehmentum]

I don't think anyone who calls the Democrats 'demonrats' could be considered gettable voter, no matter how 'progressive' they consider themselves.

[John Dule]

Yeah I asked for things that actually happened IRL, not a bunch of quotes you just made up.

Can you read? I copied every single one of those verbatim from texts I've received over the past three days.

[wbrocks67]

Yeah I asked for things that actually happened IRL, not a bunch of quotes you just made up.

Can you read? I copied every single one of those verbatim from texts I've received over the past three days.

Yes, I completely believe that all 6 of your "friends" said the same exact thing just with different wording and none of them brought up Trump at all. Very believable!

[certified hummus supporter 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

the GC all thought Biden did sh!t and we're f-ed having both, Biden and Trump, as our potential next presidents

[John Dule]

Yeah I asked for things that actually happened IRL, not a bunch of quotes you just made up.

Can you read? I copied every single one of those verbatim from texts I've received over the past three days.

Yes, I completely believe that all 6 of your "friends" said the same exact thing just with different wording and none of them brought up Trump at all. Very believable!

You asked the question in the thread and I responded. Why ask a question if you don't want to be told the answer? Stick your head back in the sand and plug your ears again if you'd rather live in your own private fantasyland.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Yeah I asked for things that actually happened IRL, not a bunch of quotes you just made up.

Can you read? I copied every single one of those verbatim from texts I've received over the past three days.

Yes, I completely believe that all 6 of your "friends" said the same exact thing just with different wording and none of them brought up Trump at all. Very believable!

Yes the vast majority of people thought Trump easily won the debate including democrats. This is despite Trump not having a single memorable line which means the reason for that is Biden did historically bad .

So it makes sense people would just bring up Biden here

[John Dule]

Yeah I asked for things that actually happened IRL, not a bunch of quotes you just made up.

Can you read? I copied every single one of those verbatim from texts I've received over the past three days.

Yes, I completely believe that all 6 of your "friends" said the same exact thing just with different wording and none of them brought up Trump at all. Very believable!

Yes the vast majority of people thought Trump easily won the debate including democrats. This is despite Trump not having a single memorable line which means the reason for that is Biden did historically bad .

So it makes sense people would just bring up Biden here

For real; anyone who finds it implausible that Biden's display Thursday night overshadowed Trump's usual antics is a delusional moron. There's a reason why it's literally the only thing we've discussed on this forum for three days straight.

[VBM]

Yeah I asked for things that actually happened IRL, not a bunch of quotes you just made up.

Can you read? I copied every single one of those verbatim from texts I've received over the past three days.

Yes, I completely believe that all 6 of your "friends" said the same exact thing just with different wording and none of them brought up Trump at all. Very believable!

Seek help.

[Splash]

Nobody is really mentioning it. When I bring it up unprompted, the response I receive is a general lamentation of affairs (e.g., 'I can't believe these are our two candidates, what a joke') rather anything specific to Biden's debate performance.

[Alben Barkley]

Universal fear and concern from Democrats/Biden supporters and gloating from Republicans/Trump supporters. Others already hated both and are more resolved than ever not to vote or not sure who they will vote for or very reluctant about it.

My wife is a former Republican and moderate who is supporting a Democrat for president for the first time. Unlike me, she still plans to vote for him, but she’s like “Why did it have to be him?” and certainly shares my sentiments about replacing him. She wants Beshear, of course.

Not one single person I know IRL has pretended that debate was anything but an election-ending disaster. Says a lot about how delusional certain posters here are.

[John Dule]

One more comment I've gotten from one of my friends was particularly interesting to me. This guy is a very apolitical law student from Ohio whose family contains a mixed bag of blue-dog Democrats and genuine QAnonist MAGAbrains. I use him as a barometer for Midwestern politics.

"People make mistakes, parties do too--i think it would be a really respectable move for the party come clean and essentially say, 'we swallow our pride, we f**ked up, these people [Biden/Harris] are not the ones we think are representative of the partys vision and message anymore.'"

So maybe I've been overrating the negative impact removing Biden would have on this race. I still don't think there's any good course of action, but it's certainly possible that after eight years of nonstop snake-oil from the GOP, voters would respond positively to a party admitting a mistake and holding its leader accountable.

[DrScholl]

I've seen people acknowledge Biden's debate performance was poor, but they are still voting for him.

[Horus]

None have switched to Trump but several are thinking about staying home this year, though I think this was already the case before the debate. My friends are mostly not very political and I like it that way.

[Minnesota Mike]

For as much as I discuss politics on the internet with strangers IRL I almost never talk politics with acquaintances, just not worth it. Those few close family members I do discuss politics with are in the I can't believe these are our options but I would never vote for Trump camp.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Yeah I asked for things that actually happened IRL, not a bunch of quotes you just made up.

Can you read? I copied every single one of those verbatim from texts I've received over the past three days.

Yes, I completely believe that all 6 of your "friends" said the same exact thing just with different wording and none of them brought up Trump at all. Very believable!

Yes the vast majority of people thought Trump easily won the debate including democrats. This is despite Trump not having a single memorable line which means the reason for that is Biden did historically bad .

So it makes sense people would just bring up Biden here

For real; anyone who finds it implausible that Biden's display Thursday night overshadowed Trump's usual antics is a delusional moron. There's a reason why it's literally the only thing we've discussed on this forum for three days straight.

Furthermore the rules of the debate were set up to prevent Trump from his usual antics(by shutting of the mics) so all you got from Trump were a bunch  of prepared lines given to him by his campaign team . So Trump wasn’t really memorable at all in this debate as he didn’t have his usual antics, didn’t have a single memorable line , and had really no off the cuff moment too .

The fact is if Joe Biden was able to answer the questions in a semi coherent way , this debate would be remembered for how extremely boring it was . It would just be a two old men who are past their prime just getting their standard talking points in but really not landing a single punch on each other .

Its exactly why people are calling to replace Biden because this debate was not “ Trump destroys Biden” but rather “Biden destroys himself” as you can recover from the former but it’s extremely hard to recover from the latter .

[John Dule]

If getting 2022 predictions correct is the barometer of how much we should listen to someone's opinions, then for the record, I missed only two races that cycle. I have been consistently realistic and unbiased in my electoral analysis on this site, and I am telling you all point-blank, it takes an insane person to think that the current panic is in any way unwarranted.

[axiomsofdominion]

Some of the texts I've received from my friends/family members, verbatim:

Friend 1 (Mexican immigrant, progressive, lives in Seattle): "F**k dude I just finally watched it. Damnnn the next few years are gonna be a hell of a ride... what the actual f**k is America right now. That poor old bastard Biden looks like he legit dead."

Friend 2 (White, male, works in construction, apolitical): "Lmao, this is hard to watch. Has Biden lost his voice? I genuinely think it's a Reagan situation. I would vote for almost any candidate younger than 50."

Friend 3 (white male, law student, progressive): "The fact that the demonrats are even considering subbing in a different candidate says enough about how it went."

My dad (white male, prototypical apolitical boomer): "It was brutal. Biden is near brain dead - disaster. Will have to keep an eye on your mother - last night proved everything I've been saying however   and Biden should not be running."

Friend 4 (white female, progressive Christian): "I just saw some highlights this morning. It makes me sad."

Friend 5 (white female, French): "Hahah I saw none of it. But even on the French radio they were talking about how sh*tty Biden did. French news described the debate as a <<shipwreck>> for Joe LOL"

Friend 6 (Mexican immigrant, gay, never-Trump Republican): "I also have the feeling that it's over for Joe. His only chance at this point is if Judge Merchan imprisons Trump."



Which is not to mention the reactions of the people I was in the room with, all of whom could barely bring themselves to even look at the TV. Haven't even had the stomach to talk to my mom about it, who is a Sorkinbrained West Wing liberal. More than anything else right now-- the election, the future of the country, bar prep-- I fear for her mental state.

Progressive lawyer who says "demonrats"? Come on, that's not real.