Biden Must Go

 

In the 1930s humorist Will Rogers quipped, “I'm not a member of any political party. I am a Democrat.” That was funny in the age of Franklin Roosevelt and Democratic dominance. These days it's descriptive. Once again the Democratic Party is poised to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

A lot of Democrats seemed shocked to discover that Joe Biden is as mentally sharp as an anvil. This shouldn’t be news. At age 81, Biden is simply not up to the task of another term as President of the United states. As a senior citizen I would be the first to say there's no shame in getting older. Yet I would also admit I am not as alert as I was when I was teaching. I forget things, struggle for words, and tire more easily. Though I’m younger than Biden if you asked me whether I had enough bandwidth to shape foreign and domestic policy, I’d remember the word “No!” in a heartbeat.

 

Biden simply should not have run for reelection. Starry-eyed supporters have tried to make excuses for his pathetic performance against Donald Trump last week. You can massage it, deny it, or deflect it any way you wish but Donald Trump ate Biden’s lunch. Of course, Trump lied; he wouldn't know truth if it bit him in his XXXL keister. Biden defenders trumpet all of the good things Biden did in his first term. They're not wrong, but they are clueless.

 

My wife's grandmother once told of hearing Adlai Stevenson speak in 1952. He was dynamic, a term seldom connected to Mr. Biden, and she and her sister rushed to the stage to congratulate Stevenson. One of them gushed, “That was a wonderful speech. I'm going to vote for you and so will every thinking American.” Stevenson merely shook his head and replied, “Not enough, not enough.” He was trounced in the general election by the genial political neophyte Dwight Eisenhower. General Eisenhower turned out to be a decent president in his two terms in office. That will not be the case if Trump wins.

 

American political life is considerably more impoverished today than in 1952. I'm not sure that any Democratic presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy has understood that. When Republicans accuse Democrats of being elitists, they're not wrong. It's a big reason why Democrats lose elections they should win. Instead of shifting tactics, party bigwigs create excuses. To the present day Democrats outnumber Republicans in voter registration, but more voters are unaligned than belong to the two parties put together. Democrats certainly fail to note that things such as sound bites, fear, and likability matter more than any issue other than domestic economics.

 

Let us survey lost elections Democrats should have won. In 1968, Hubert Humphrey failed to differentiate his from Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam policies. Did he not notice that antiwar candidates Eugene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy won 5.2 million votes in primaries he didn’t even enter? Four years later, one-note George McGovern was slaughtered by Richard Nixon, who was already being investigated for malfeasance. 

 

In 1980, Jimmy Carter struggled for traction against the vague Ronald Reagan. Yet voters deemed Reagan more likable partly because Carter allowed party policymakers to shape him into blandness. Carter was the first of non-entities to follow. Michael Dukakis anyone? How about Al Gore or John Kerry? In 1988, 2000, and 2004 Democratic regulars blamed dirty tricks for defeat. Was that the reason, or was it that Dukakis was a boring technocrat, Al Gore could have put caffeinated cheetahs to sleep, and John Kerry played the role of elitist?

 

Bill Clinton had charisma and energy, but also paved the way for Donald Trump by proving that morality and lying didn’t matter. He became a Republican in sheep’s clothing; look at policies Reagan failed to enact and Clinton passed them. Barack Obama stands alone in being a principled and truthful Democrat, though even he admits underestimating Republican perfidy. We all know what happened in the 2016 election. Hillary Clinton ran a horrible campaign and lost to the despicable Trump. Once again elitists cried she was treated unfairly and that Trump cheated. (Funny, that’s what he said about 2020.) Have Democrats been asleep since 1960? Politics are dirty! Winning has become impression management, not articulating policy. So-called presidential debates are all about impressions; they are not substantive debates at all!

 

 

 

If Biden remains on the ticket, the best hope is that Trump’s diet and temper induce a heart attack or that he will go to jail. Face it; he'll never see the inside of a jail and I doubt he has a heart. The wise course of action would be to thank Joe Biden for his service and replace him with a  more vigorous and mentally astute individual who can forcefully state Democratic positions on Ukraine, immigration, Israel, the economy, respect for minorities, climate change, and reproductive rights. If the election were held next week, only the last of those would have as much traction as a Smart Car.

 

Rob Weir