Democratic Party Lacks Good Solutions for the Joe Biden Situation

Unless you have been living on an isolated island for past few days, it is hard to escape the diverse (and sadly predictable) range of reactions on both legacy media and social media sites about Joe Biden’s very dismal performance in the first presidential debate earlier this week. For reasons we will go into later, almost all declining main-stream media outlets are suddenly pretending to notice Biden’s cognitive issues when they have been plainly visible since at least 2019- if not before. In the past three days, these outlets have been flooded by the opinions of numerous “political pundits” and experts” who suddenly want Biden to step away from his nomination as the Democratic party candidate for presidential elections in late-2024. This sudden change of heart become especially amusing when you remember that these same outlets and “experts” were actively defending Biden from recurring questions about his mental status as late as the afternoon before that disastrous debate made it impossible to deny the obvious.

So let us start with the most common reaction of democratic party and mainstream political “experts” and “commentators” to Biden disastrous performance- namely, that he should just step aside from the nomination which he he has already won.. albeit in a primary that was completely rigged by the Democratic party establishment. While this might appear to be the simplest solution to this supposedly “unexpected” turn of events, it is anything but a solution. Firstly, Biden at 81 years is actually younger than many senior leaders in the Democratic party. If Biden is too old to do his job, what about Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn and many more. We all know how the Diane Feinstein saga unraveled and ended. Furthermore, age is not the real reason for Joe Biden’s cognitive decline- and is at best a secondary factor. Biden’s current health issues can be traced back to two major neurosurgeries he underwent in his late 40s to repair cerebral aneurysms. The short version is that serious head trauma or major neurosurgery causes a large increase in risk of dementia-like symptoms in later life.

But getting back to the topic at hand, why do Democratic party donors and operatives think that Biden stepping aside because he is too old will save the day? Won’t many voters, especially the non-partisan ones, start asking questions about other leaders in that party? But it gets worse, or even better- depending on how you look at it. Given that these issues have been public knowledge since 2019, and were acknowledged as such until the party establishment threw their support behind him- won’t voters start asking about why the party deliberately ignored and actively concealed this issue until the recent debate? It has been known, based in public polls, for at least three years that a majority of Americans had concerns about Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities. In other words, if Biden steps aside now it will immediately raise major unanswerable questions about what the Democratic party leaders knew about Biden’s declining mental state for past five years. And this is just the beginning.

If Biden claims that he is not fit to serve another presidential term, what makes him fit to finish his current term- given the number of embarrassing videos about his public appearances that have been seen by almost everyone in this country for past two years. Who wants to see Kamala Harris as the president between now and mid January 2025? And talking about her- she is the logical candidate to replace Biden on the presidential ticket if he steps down or cannot otherwise discharge his duties? many braindead party donors, mostly from Clownifornia, seem to think that Kamala is going to step away from the ticket- if senior party leaders tell her so. Given her particular path into politics and her personality, it is unlikely that she will comply for the simple reason that this is the most senior position she has ever attained and can ever hope. She has the cards, and she is petty and insecure enough to hold her own against any such demands. Furthermore, the optics of trying to force a black woman step aside from such a major position will be terrible for the Democratic party- and she know that.

I should also mention that both Biden and Harris have nothing to lose and everything to gain by resisting demands to step down from Democratic party establishment and major party donors. But let us assume that one or both do step down from the party presidential ticket. What happens next? It gets worse.. much worse. Firstly, there is the whole issue of legitimacy and poor optics for any candidate who is selected by the party rather than through a proper primary process. Any selected candidate is going to look like an elite and donor class plant- a contrast which becomes very problematic against Trump in these populist times. Then there is the even bigger question about who will be selected by the party establishment. Let us talk about the two main names floated by the clueless donor class. Gavin Newsom, while a favorite of the neoliberal elite, suffers from two major handicaps- being the current governor of California and his personality. While being the governor of California might not have been a big handicap in previous era- especially before 2015- it is now.

While the reasons are numerous and range from what the rest of country feels about California and its economy to the support of highly unpopular policies such as gun control, banning gasoline powered cars, allegedly progressive social policies etc- it is hard to deny that being a politician from ‘blue’ states is now a major handicap at the national level. Newsom also gives of a strong ‘American Psycho’ yuppie vibe. He is a politician who is almost tailor made for coastal cities in ‘blue’ states. Newsom reminds most people of the fast talking slimy middle-manager trying to screw everyone else to get that elusive promotion. Which brings us to Cruella De Vil.. I mean.. Gretchen Whitmer. Her first major liability is that she is from Michigan- a state which has been in constant decline for past four decades. In other words, she has nothing to show for her two decades in various elected offices. It does not help that her COVID-era policies were not popular- to put it mildly. She also has some issues with what is best described as peculiar decisions which benefited acquaintances and family members in the past. In other words, her being a woman is not enough to overcome basic issues with her background, history of nepotism and personality.

While some “experts” confidently claim that Trump would lose against a generic Democratic candidate- the reality is that there is no generic democratic presidential candidate- at least on the national level. Furthermore, unlike 2008 or 2012, external characteristics such as race or sex are no loner enough to guilt voters into supporting them at the ballot box, on the national level. The simple fact is that every potential democratic presidential candidate at national level is a polarizing figure supporting even more polarizing and unpopular policies- and this include Big Mike aka Michelle Obama. My point is that irrespective of what happens next, the menu of choices for the Democratic party is very bad. To make matters even more interesting, dropping Biden or Kamala from the ticket makes a bad situation worse- not better. I am, of course, going to watch how this all turns out- but not because I care about the future of that party. It is just too interesting a dumpster fire/ train wreck to ignore.

What do you think? Comments?