Mark Pincus: Biden Is Even Riskier Than Trump

The Free Press ^ | July 18, 2024 | Mark Pincus

[Reno89519]

I’m a major donor to the Democratic Party. Only one strategy can rescue the Dems: an open convention.

Being a large donor to the Democratic Party is like having elective surgery. You know it’s the right thing to do, but you also know it will be painful. You are often going to be thrown under the bus by the very candidates you support.

I would know. I maxed out my giving in the last four presidential elections to the Democratic candidate: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Biden again, this cycle.

Perhaps that makes me sound partisan, but I don’t align with either party. Like many of my peers in Silicon Valley, my views can be described as libertarian. I’m skeptical of big government, and both parties have recklessly printed money and spent the U.S. into a deep, dark debt hole.

And unlike a lot of President Biden’s donors, I don’t think everything Donald Trump says or does is awful. I’ve been encouraged by the unwavering support for Israel he’s shown at the RNC this week. And looking back, I like that Trump was tough on China and Iran, and that he pushed European countries to contribute their fair share to NATO.

I am also very scared of the extreme left, who seem to hate capitalism—a force I see as the engine of our exceptional country.

So why did I throw my support behind Biden?

Because throughout this campaign I have thought that a second Trump presidency is risky. In the past he has supported right-wing policies on abortion and climate. He’s also been oddly positive about dictators like Vladimir Putin.

At this week’s RNC, the party of Trump sounds more mainstream. Who knows which Trump we will get? It’s a gamble.

In December I attended a small lunch conversation with Biden. He was engaging and thoughtful. Our interactions gave me confidence that he still had enough drive to beat Trump a second time and be a reliable leader.

Seven months later, I have a radically different perspective. Biden looks even riskier than Trump. His debate performance made his age and competency the central issue in the 2024 election. And Biden and the Democratic Party seem to be moving further left by the day.

Many of us are left wondering who is currently running the country. How else to explain the insane proposal he just put forward to put caps on grocery prices and rent increases?

Biden, in his current state, cannot beat Trump. Everyone knows this. Which is why, in the past few days, Schumer, Pelosi, and now Obama have called for Biden to step aside.

So what comes next?

There are those who suggest that the ticket should automatically go to Kamala Harris. I strongly disagree.

Only one strategy has a chance for the party and the country: an open convention. There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Turning the convention into an open forum would be dramatic and exciting, and offer the best chance to produce a leader with a positive, mainstream agenda for our country. Someone we could trust more than Trump, but with a platform that is also about economic growth, secure borders, support for allies like Israel, and climate and civil liberties protection. Josh Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer, and Cory Booker are strong contenders. There are also black swan outsiders who could energize this race.

Some Democratic insiders continue to insist on accepting fate and remaining unified behind Biden. That’s ridiculous. It’s time to get behind a candidate and platform that has a viable chance of winning and moving our country forward. Let’s find out who that is on August 19 in Chicago.

[Reno89519]

This is a quick read and great summary of where Democrats are and how Trump isn't really the evil incarnate. Pincus highlights a few key points that are dragging down the Democrats.

[bigbob]

I think the tone of Trump’s speech last night helped him with the indies and undecideds. At least they will not be looking at whatever the Dems do with a different Trump in mind than the one who made fun of Rosie O’.

[Jeff Chandler]

both parties have recklessly printed money and spent the U.S. into a deep, dark debt hole

Amen, Brother.

[calljack]

I maxed out my giving in the last four presidential elections to the Democratic candidate: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Biden again, this cycle.

Perhaps that makes me sound partisan

No, it PROVES you are totally partisan.

[AndyJackson]

What a pantload of smug BS. The democrats abandoned anything that looks like a mainstream agenda with the nomination of Barack Obama. The backroom deal that led to the nomination of loser Biden was as far from mainstream as you can get.

And the Billionaire class of Silicon Valley execs are self-satisfied fools who think that because they hire people who code they know how to run the country. Claiming to be libertarians they sound like crony capitalists colluding with Marxists to bring about their view of paradise on earth, where you as a member of excess white Native American population will not have anything and you will love it.

[SunkenCiv]

[snip] And unlike a lot of President Biden’s donors, I don’t think everything Donald Trump says or does is awful. I’ve been encouraged by the unwavering support for Israel he’s shown at the RNC this week. And looking back, I like that Trump was tough on China and Iran, and that he pushed European countries to contribute their fair share to NATO.

I am also very scared of the extreme left, who seem to hate capitalism—a force I see as the engine of our exceptional country.

So why did I throw my support behind Biden? [/snip]

Because you're a mealy-mouthed lying a-hole who's realized he has to CYA in order to 'endure' another four years of President Trump, but has also begun to worry about his personal fortune in the context of defunded police departments and debanking, and foreign terrorists arriving in the flood of illegal aliens thanks to Biden and Mayorkas.

[Aria]

Someone we could trust more than Trump, but with a platform that is also about economic growth, secure borders, support for allies like Israel, and climate and civil liberties protection.

Except for the bogus climate crap he gets all this with Trump. What a fool - a fool with a lot of $.

[Reno89519]

Yes, these guys need to be kept at arm's length. One cannot forget that they are the ones that replaced good American workers with cheap inferior H1B from India.

I worry that they will throw money to whoever keeps them supplied with cheap foreign labor.

[AndyJackson]

And just to continue, this idiot is bought into global climate change - showing that running high tech companies doesn’t inoculate you with a knowledge of the scientific process to protect you from the ravings of the Science as parcticed by the doctrinaire marxists he claims to be afraid of. And he is not open to any subtleties on the abortion issue like maybe there are more humane views of life than disembraining a health and 98% delivered human being who only needs good parenting to grow up and become a productive member of our society.

No, this is the face of the evil of the leftists democrats just like Bushites and the McCainiacs are the public face of RINOism, which is even more evil than Marxism because Marxism at least sees RINOs as evil, while RINOs think conservatives are evil.

[BlueStateRightist]

“Turning the convention into an open forum would be dramatic and exciting, and offer the best chance to produce a leader with a positive, mainstream agenda for our country. Someone we could trust more than Trump, but with a platform that is also about economic growth, secure borders, support for allies like Israel, and climate and civil liberties protection.”

He must be kidding.

[hinckley buzzard]

This is a guy who had one good idea (zynga) and no insight or self awareness. Still donated to Biden I note.

[AndyJackson]

And…..

Sounds like a guy who enjoys barbecues on the Bush Ranch and backslaps with the Dade Phelans of the world. This guy clearly does not live in the same world as those who are affected by $7/gal gas in Silicon Valley.

[caww]

It doesn’t matter ‘who’ runs for the Demorats....for them it's about their loss of power not who they run...therefore they will be ferocious to the end in order to retain that power. I understand Kamala is venting candidates to run with her now....Shapiro of Pa as VP is highly considered to seal Pa voters....

[AndyJackson]

So whoever emerges from this will be known by the friends he keeps like this guy.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Some “libertarian!”

[Reno89519]

Exactly. He is out-of-touch and dangerous. He's the type of guy that will throw $25 million to a candidate to get H1B extended and increased. They now see Biden as the losing path and they are looking for the winning horse, President Trump.

I posted his article because it offers a good insight into these people and to raise the red flag, as you are commenting, that they cannot be trusted and will directly undermine Trump's agenda.

[silverleaf]

Lol…Corey Booker?
Now there’s a real backer of capitalism

[Reno89519]

He’s a capitalist, pure and simple.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

IOW, his party stands likely to lose with Biden, and we can’t have that.

[The Great RJ]

This guy is finally waking up to the Democratic Party becoming Marxist and old Joe’s senility? Biden was showing signs of dementia during the 2019 campaign and the country has been run by a leftist cabal almost since Inauguration Day. Dumping Biden and having an open convention would be a total circus and with only clowns to pick from as a presidential candidate. Kamala will be thrown under bus almost immediately. Hillary will be plotting to be lowered from the ceiling as deus ex machina to save the party. The other oft mentioned names could never pull off a national campaign in the time remaining before the election. The theft of the 2020 election that put dementia Joe in the White House is backfiring. The chickens have come home to roost.