Honestly, your system sounds very similar to many US states, including mine. We call them open primaries, and infuriating shit can happen. For our recent US Senate primary, this guy boosted a fascist nut who has no chance in this blue state, just so he didn't have to compete against another Democrat. Him and the other Democrat honestly aren't too different on policy, but him increasing fascist turnout in a statewide race probably impacted local races in a negative way.

One thing to remember about US states is that many are the size of countries. Our biggest state has nearly 2/3rds the population of France, beating out Poland and Canada in size. You can drive for 10 hours in one direction at highway speeds without leaving certain states. Our least populous state has a higher population than the smallest EU member. Alaska, the largest state by land area, is not only bigger than any EU member, it's 40% the size of the entire EU. States in America are comparable to counties in Europe, and the US itself is comparable to the entire EU.

California's governor, Gavin Newsom, is a closer comparison to Macron than Biden. Newsom is a slimy liberal that a ton of Democrats dislike, with Biden probably being more trustworthy than him.

When people complain about Biden, not only do they ignore that the president is the most dangerous person on earth, but they don't understand that he's been the most left wing president since Jimmy Carter from the late 70s. This isn't a good thing, as Carter himself was right wing compared to his party, especially on economic issues. We've had only neoliberal or fascist presidents for half a century, with Biden moving away from neoliberalism in many respects.

Biden was only preferable to the actual billionaires in the 2020 Democratic primary, yet he's been better than I expected. The left didn't turn out in that primary, and don't seem to understand that they missed their chance to pick a better president. Being against Biden this year is even worse than in 2020, as Trump is more dangerous now than back then, while Biden has been better in office than the left should have expected. It's a repeat of that election only the choice is more obvious, which is why it frustrates me that this is a conversation. I get why it is, but it's still ridiculous.