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Poor Debate Outing: Democrats Panic, Seek to Replace Biden

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4 months ago

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Democrats are so panicked over President Joe Biden’s faltering debate performance some are actively discussing what was once unspeakable: replacing him on the ticket.

Three strategists close to three potential Democratic presidential candidates said they had been bombarded with text messages throughout the debate. One adviser said they received pleas for their candidate to step forward as an alternative to Biden.

Another adviser said they had “taken no less than half a dozen key donors texting ‘disaster’ and [the] party needs to do something,” but acknowledged that “not much is possible unless” Biden steps aside.

They were among more than a dozen Democrats who spoke with POLITICO, most of whom were granted anonymity to speak freely.

One major Democratic donor and Biden supporter said it was time for the president to end his campaign. This person described Biden’s night as “the worst performance in history” and said Biden was so “bad that no one will pay attention to Trump’s lies.”

“Biden needs to drop out. No question about it,” the donor said in a text message, proposing an alternate ticket led by the governors of Maryland and Michigan.

At least two prominent potential 2028 contenders — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom — said they stood by Biden even after his performance.

Newsom, when pressed on MSNBC if Biden should step down, said that talk is “unhelpful” and “unnecessary.”

“You don’t turn your back because of one performance,” Newsom said. “What kind of party does that?”

Biden struggled throughout much of the debate, the first 2024 general election matchup between the president and former President Donald Trump. The 81-year-old president has long faced questions about his fitness for office, and the debate — the earliest general election matchup of its kind in modern political history — had been a gambit by the Biden campaign to reset the narrative around the race.

For weeks, Democrats had hoped a strong performance by Biden in the debate could ease concerns about his age. Instead, it did the opposite.

“No Labels and Dean Phillips won this debate,” said a former senior Biden White House official, referring to the outsider efforts to push a different candidate, not named Trump or Biden, into the race.

The pleas from within the party, while unlikely to actually result in a change atop the ticket, reflect a major turn in the campaign. Incumbent presidents have traditionally underperformed during their first debates — inundated by the demands of the job and often unable to dedicate serious time to preparation. But Thursday’s debate was unique in that it affirmed an existing preconception of Biden among many voters as a candidate past his sell-by debate.

One adviser to major Democratic Party donors said they were texting from a meeting of donors in Atlanta on Thursday night, some writing “wtf.”

“Our only hope is that he bows out, we have a brokered convention, or dies,” the donor adviser said. “Otherwise we are fucking dead.”

Nonetheless, the likelihood of a brokered convention or Biden stepping aside are unlikely, a reality that even those who privately complained about Biden’s performance acknowledged.

“Only one guy can decide, and it’s him,” said one Democratic strategist.

The Biden campaign pushed back on the critique of the president, with an adviser calling him “the only person who has ever beaten Donald Trump.”

“He will do it again,” the adviser said. “Donald Trump did not give voters any reason to vote for him tonight. On the issues, the American people are with Joe Biden.”

Asked if Biden would be dropping out, one campaign aide said “of course not.” The aide said the hour just after the debate — from 11 p.m. to midnight — was the campaign’s strongest hour of grassroots fundraising since it launched.

In a statement, Biden’s campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said Biden “presented a positive and winning vision for the future of America,” while Trump “offered a dark and backwards window into what America will look like if he steps foot back in the White House.”

Stephanie Cutter, a Democratic consultant, said, “President Biden is the Democratic nominee and that’s not changing because of one debate performance.”

She said, “We need to calm down and stay focused because Donald Trump certainly didn’t gain any voters tonight.”

But for many Democrats on Thursday night, the view was far dimmer. One down-ballot statewide Democrat running for election said: “I mean, it’s not great all around. Our president has a speech impediment, a cold, and is 81.”

“No one expected a master class in debating from Joe Biden, but no one expected this nose dive,” said a senior adviser to top Democratic officials. “He was bad on message, bad on substance, bad on counter punching, bad on presentation, bad on non-verbals. There was no bright spot in this debate for him. The only bright spot is that this happened in June and not October.”

Source: Politico

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2027: Dokubo Considers Alliance with North, Says Tinubu Betrayed Him

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9 hours ago

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October 27, 2024

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Former Niger Delta militant leader, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, has accused President Bola Tinubu, of betraying him after helping him (Tinubu) to emerge president in the 2023 elections.

Dokubo made the accusation in a viral video shared on social media on Saturday, lamenting how he emptied his bank accounts to canvas votes for Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election, only for the latter to abandon him and his Ijaw people.

 

 

The former warlord, however, vowed to form an alliance with the North ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“I apologise to our fathers because they were not wrong in allying with the North, and as young men, we will now start that same alliance,” he said in the video.

“From today, I will work and form an alliance with the North. President Tinubu betrayed me after I spent all my money and emptied my bank account campaigning for him.

“The Tinubu I know now isn’t the Tinubu I used to know. We will take this message across that only the Northerners can work with the Ijaw people.

“We can’t work with Yoruba people; they are a betrayal to us. We risked our lives by voting and doing everything, and this is what we get?”

“From today, I will work and form an alliance with the North. President Tinubu betrayed me after I spent all my money and emptied my bank account campaigning for him,” he insisted.

He also lamented the scrapping of the Niger Delta ministry in a recent cabinet reshuffle by the president, and the formation of a ministry of regional affairs under which the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDc) will come.

He said the ploy is to render the NDDC ineffective which using the resources from the Niger Delta region to fund other development commission.

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Botched Game: CAF Punishes Libya, Awards Three Points, Three Goals to Nigeria

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1 day ago

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October 26, 2024

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has awarded three points, and three goals to Nigeria for the missed Libya game.

The development comes after the CAF president, Patrice Motsepe, said a thorough probe was ongoing following the recent controversy surrounding Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya.

Motsepe had maintained that the continental body would not tolerate any lack of sportsmanship and unfair treatment in African football.

However, in the latest development on Saturday, a statement signed by CAF’s Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Board, Ousmane Kane said the decision to award Nigeria the points was taken after findings by the disciplinary committee it set up to look into the matter, found Libya guilty of the inhumane treatment meted out to the Nigerian senior men’s football team.

 

 

 

The 5-man disciplinary committee consist of; Mr. Ousmane Kane (Senegal) Chairperson, Ms. Njeri Onyango (Kenya) Vice-Chairperson, Mr. Felix Golbassia (Tchad) Member, Mr. Patrick Shale (Lesotho) Member, and Mr. Norman Arendse (South Africa) Member.

CAF said the disciplinary board decided that; “The Libya Football Federation is found to have breached Article 31 of the African, Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code, and that the match No.87 Libya v. Nigeria of the CAF African Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October 2024 in Benghazi) is declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).”

Following the conclusion of the board’s findings, CAF also ordered the Libya Football Federation to pay a fine of USD 50,000 within 60 days of notification of the present decision.

The players and officials were stranded for hours at a Libyan airport and denied access to food and the internet as they prepared to honour their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier with the Mediterranean Knights.

It took diplomatic efforts and social media callouts for the team to be cleared to finally leave Libya.

With the CAF decision, Nigeria is now poised to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, with two matches to spare.

The Eagles are now on 10 points from four matches, four points better than second-placed Benin Republic, while Rwanda have five points. Bottom-placed Libya have only one point and are out of the running for qualification.

Victory or draw against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan on Thursday, 14th November (a Matchday 5 encounter) will land the Super Eagles a ticket to the finals in Morocco, December 2025/January 2026.

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Tinubu Appoints Bianca Ojukwu in New Cabinet Reshuffle, Sacks Five Ministers

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4 days ago

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October 23, 2024

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President Bola Tinubu has dismissed five ministers from his cabinet and appointed seven new ones as part of a cabinet reshuffle.

The President re-assigned 10 ministers to new portfolios and nominated seven new ministers for Senate confirmation.  

He dismissed Uju-Ken Ohanenye as Minister of Women Affairs, Lola Ade-John as Minister of Tourism, Tahir Mamman as Minister of Education, Abdullahi Gwarzo as Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, and Jamila Ibrahim as Minister of Youth Development. 

Among the nominees, Tinubu selected Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Nentawe Yilwatda as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, marking the official end of suspended Betta Edu’s tenure. 

Other nominees include Maigari Dingyadi for Minister of Labour and Employment, Jumoke Oduwole for Minister of Industry, Idi Maiha for the newly established Ministry of Livestock Development, Yusuf Ata for Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, and Suwaiba Ahmad for Minister of State for Education. 

“The appointment of Shehu Dikko as Chairman of the National Sports Commission.

“The appointment of Sunday Akin Dare as Special Adviser to the President on Public Communication and Orientation working from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation,” the President said.

The President appreciated the outgoing members of the Federal Executive Council for their service to the nation while wishing them the best in their future endeavours. 

He then charged the newly appointed ministers and their reassigned colleagues to see their appointment as a call to serve the nation. 

Source: Nairametrics

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