Jon Stewart showed video of this beach scene after showing Trump's claims that Biden is going to come back and take over. "He's not coming back, Donald! Get over it!"

I don't know that Biden even really wanted the job when he ran in 2020. The impression that I got was that he was done seeking the presidency after 2016, it seemed like maybe the party convinced him he was the best chance to beat Trump.

I could be wrong, but it's hard for me to believe he wanted to do anything besides retire and enjoy his remaining time with his remaining family.

Once it became clear that he was NOT the best option to beat Trump, he dropped out. It might be as simple as that.

Still major kudos for dropping out either way.

I’m a bigger fan of him now

I'm a very big fan.

I agree with your assessment. Politicians also live a life where somewhere around half of all people think they are making the wrong decision at all times, so unless they have conviction they flop around way too much to succeed.

Also, for all people who are getting old, it's their first time, and they have no idea what they might seem like to anybody else. It's like you have been getting back up after being knocked down your whole life and suddenly you can't get back up again.

You were a Russian agent for implying that you wouldn't still vote Dem in the event that he didn't quit. Also the enthusiasm over Kamala, and now Walz as well, is great but absolutely unprecedented. While people certainly believed we could and would figure things out if Biden stepped down promptly, I don't think anyone honestly believed things would come together anywhere near "this" well. Which makes it all feel extra satisfying in the aftermath.

I love how people went from "if you vote for a Democrat you love genocide" to "damn with Biden gone, what other ways can we shit on anything resembling a Democrat?"

I'll say only that temptation is ever present. He took action and passed the torch. I don't want to take any credit away from the people that convinced him that was the correct course of action, but it ultimately came down to him actually doing it, something I can't say I believe anyone on the right (and a hell of a lot of people on the left) would have done.

I'm not so sure bowing out earlier would have been better. Dragging it out as long as he did let Trump lean more heavily into the age issue than he otherwise would have, which is now coming back to bite him.

Of course, I don't think that was a tactical decision, I think you're right on the money when it comes to Biden's motivations, but I do think the last minute about-face may have actually helped the Democrats here

I don't think he wanted another term. I really think he felt like he was the only one that could beat Trump.

Everybody in his shoes would be at least reluctant. Specially in Biden’s case who is known to overthink big decisions. What matters is that he made the right decision in the end.

Perfect and good? Sworn enemies I always say

Gen-X here, and likely to be downvoted to hell in this thread, but I remember Biden from the 90's. He was...not a good guy. He had what you might call MAGA energy back then. Constantly fear mongering about crime. Yes, both he and Clinton recently admitted that the "tough on crime" thing was a mistake, but that doesn't really help the situation we find ourselves in now where a significant portion of the population is incarcerated and facing near impossible odds if they ever get out. Their families and society as a whole have paid the price for a few men's political ambitions.

So, yeah, old man Joe ended up being a fairly decent president (after getting old as fuck, having one son die and the other become a total.loser piece of shit), but he was never "good guy Joe".