Where the Democrats stand

Despite his meltdown, they may be stuck with Biden.

Obviously anyone who was paying attention to the Trump-Biden debate a week ago Thursday noticed how dull Joe Biden looked and acted. Despite that, the Democrats have to believe the show must go on and they came up with seven talking points to try and convince independent voters to select him.

(By the way, I didn’t watch the debate as I had something better to do: watch the Shorebirds sweep the Down East Wood Ducks at Perdue Stadium. Certainly more entertaining than watching a train wreck.)

Spin, spin, spin…and here we go. In case you have a friend or neighbor who remains a Biden voter after enduring the last four years, here’s some suggestions on how to counter their talking points. I’ll take these one at a time:

• Yes, the debate started rough, but voters saw what a threat Donald Trump is to the country. It was more than just lying -- though he did plenty of that.

It seems to me the bigger threat is a senile old man as the figurehead while the real people in power - who are unaccountable to voters - do damage to our Constitutional republic. Heck, it’s not like Biden has never lied or plagiarized in his life.

All politicians lie about something, so calling Donald Trump a liar doesn’t get the job done. What gets liberals every time is that they take Donald Trump literally but not seriously, while we take him seriously, but not literally. We get that he uses a lot of hyperbole, as that’s part of the act.

• Actual voters perceived this debate very differently than those who pay attention to politics a lot (like everyone who is getting this email and everyone who goes on cable news). Breaking news: People think Joe Biden's old. They did coming into the debate, they do coming out of the debate. At the same time, though, a lot of people have rose-colored glasses about the Trump years. The most important thing about the debate was always going to be that people were reminded of what they hate about Donald Trump: that he's unhinged, out for revenge, and in it for himself. And they were reminded, in a powerful way.

See, I don’t think that about Donald Trump because I don’t hate him. He and I are probably different personality types but I’m not out to be his friend - I just want the best candidate possible, even if I didn’t vote for him the first time.

I have rose-colored glasses because there are indisputable facts about pre-pandemic Trump: inflation was in check, we had energy independence, and no one messed with our nation. Could he have done better? Of course, but compared to the trajectory we were on during the Obama/Biden years, Trump put us in good shape. Now it’s time to return us to that state.

• That's because the long-term impact of debates is overstated anyway.
  Let us all remember that Barack Obama lost the first debate in 2012 (and the media panicked too!). Bush lost in 2004. Ronald Reagan lost the first debate in 1984. They, as you'll recall, won their elections. And those debates were in October, not June!

All of them were already up in the polls IIRC. Biden isn’t.

• 90 minutes does not negate 3 ½ years of results.
  Joe Biden is extremely good at being president.

No, he’s really not. I think the only things Joe’s good at are deficit spending and wealth redistribution to special interests, including his family. And if you ask voters about a broad spectrum of issues, you’ll find they trust Donald Trump and his solutions more than they do Joe Biden and his trainwreck of a record and administration.

• The day after the debate, Joe Biden gave a fiery, defiant speech, where he tackled concerns about his age head-on.
  I don't know if you were watching, but Joe Biden left the debate stage, spoke at a rally, went to Waffle House, got on a plane, flew to Raleigh, hung out with 200 supporters on the tarmac, went to bed, woke up, gave an amazing speech, got back on a plane, went to New York, visited Stonewall with Elton John, and then spoke at a pride gala for LGBTQ+ supporters.

If there was any warning, Donald Trump would have 2,000 supporters on the tarmac. But look at where Biden went: besides the (certainly pre-arranged) photo-op at the Waffle House to attempt to make him appear like the middle-class boy from Scranton (and he still manages to look both frail AND creepy there), he went and pandered to one of his special interest groups, the Rainbow Mafia.

• The bedwetting brigade is calling for Joe Biden to "drop out." That is the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose.
  First of all: Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee, period. End of story. Voters voted. He won overwhelmingly. And if he were to drop out, it would lead to weeks of chaos, internal foodfighting, and a bunch of candidates who limp into a brutal floor fight at the convention, all while Donald Trump has time to speak to American voters uncontested. All of that would be in service of a nominee who would go into a general election in the weakest possible position with zero dollars in their bank account. You want a highway to losing? It's that.

I’ll take that, with plenty of popcorn (and not Corn Pop.) But that “bedwetting brigade” is getting bigger as polls come out and Trump widens his lead. While Biden and the Democrats insist he’s staying in, if the money dries up and people start seriously talking 25th Amendment, he’s going out.

• Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee, period. Rather than worrying about polls, our supporters are getting on board.
  Did you see the awesome clips of our supporters on the tarmac doing the Cupid Shuffle at 2am on the night of the debate? The biggest rally of our campaign yet on Friday? Well, no, probably not, because the media is busy hyperventilating and trying to manifest drama to boost ratings. But this

  isn't Aaron Sorkin's fever dream. It's Joe Biden's reelection campaign.

Was that the 200 supporters? Like I said, Donald Trump would have 2,000 supporters.

There really is no drama to manifest. A larger and larger number of people are finding out the emperor has no clothes. But the question they have to ask themselves is what more damage can be done, even in the next 6 1/2 months, by an obviously unfit President and cackling Vice-President whose sole qualifications for the job were her race and gender.

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But it’s also worth pointing out that the one initial argument for Joe Biden’s candidacy was that he would be a “bridge” candidate, serving just one term and selecting a younger running mate, which he indeed has done with Kamala Harris. Whispers from his campaign advisors acknowledged Biden would be 82 years old to begin a second term, but there was also this from the Politico story:

"He's going into this thinking, 'I want to find a running mate I can turn things over to after four years but if that's not possible or doesn't happen then I'll run for re-election.' But he's not going to publicly make a one term pledge," another adviser told Politico.

If you read that, then it’s apparent Kamala Harris has flunked her test. Of course they weren’t going to say Biden would run for one term because all that would do is make 2024 a free-for-all on both sides. If he had to, in order to maintain the leverage of his office, he could have secretly planned an LBJ before the primary season had gone too far. But that time is past.

So what do they do now? The only ones who can use the Biden campaign war chest are Biden or Harris, so unless a LOT of rules are broken for expediency, one of those two is the nominee.

Sucks to be a Democrat…and an American if they somehow finagle another “fortified” election win.

Until next time, remember you can Buy Me a Coffee since I have a page there.