Joe Biden: Democrats Seem Stuck with Him – The Democrats should be well positioned to win the 2024 election given their most likely opponent.
The GOP primary is long from decided, yes, but the Dems are probably running their incumbent against one of the most divisive and unpopular figures in modern political history, Donald Trump.
Trump’s unpopularity seems to have inspired a contentedness amongst Democrats, what The Economist called a smugness. It’s true. The Democrat’s behavior suggests a belief that since Biden beat Trump in the 2020 matchup, voters will break the same way in 2024.
The Dems seem to be gearing up to just run a playback of 2020, while emphasizing the same themes: that Trump is racist, that Trump is isolationist, that Trump is a danger to democracy. And that would possibly be fine – if the Dems were offering an attractive alternative to Donald Trump.
Joe Biden is a flawed candidate
Voters are not excited about Joe Biden. They’re just not. And they’re never going to be. Biden squeaked through the 2020 DNC primary on an electability argument. The Democrats and their constituents prioritized ousting Trump from office above all other considerations and Biden made the strongest case that he was the guy capable of actually getting Trump out. Dems were rewarded for backing Biden in that Biden was able to oust Trump.
But the public kind of had this idea – an idea that Biden reinforced – that Biden was going to be a transitional figure, a bridge president who would establish a breach head in the Oval Office and then pass off the job to a worthy successor. Portions of the public held onto that idea for the first two years of Biden’s presidency that he would step aside. But he never did. He declared his candidacy.
And now he seems poised to actually run – despite the protests of a significant swath of Democratic voters.
The overriding concern with Biden is, of course, his age. The guy is about to turn 81-years-old. He’s already the oldest president ever and second term would take Biden through his 86th birthday. That’s a lot to ask of anyone. Especially of Biden – who, frankly, appears to already be in cognitive decline.
The simple fact is that Biden just doesn’t seem as sharp as he used to – which raises legitimate concerns about what Biden will look and sound and think like in another three or four years.
The growing consensus is that Biden is too old, and that the version of Biden running the White House in three or four years won’t have any business operating as commander in chief.
Democrats: ‘Pupper Mastering’ Joe Biden
The Democrats running Biden reminds me of the flick Weekend at Bernie’s in which two, young employees spend the weekend in the Hamptons pretending that their boss is still alive (spoiler alert: he’s not). So, the employees spend the duration of the flick manipulating their boss Bernie’s body. It’s a morbid bit of puppet work
. Get where I’m going with this? The Dems are the employees. Biden is Bernie.
The comparison is crude but I think it fits so I’ll stick with it. The Dems are puppet-mastering Biden, who is looking increasingly detached, into the 2024 election.
Obviously, Biden is not the strongest candidate, which leaves the Democrats vulnerable, even as the Republicans prepare to roll out their own weak candidate.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor and opinion writer at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
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