A former advisor to Barack Obama, David Plouffe, is quoted in a New Yorker excerpt from ‘Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again’, a new book by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, lamenting the impact of Biden on the Democratic Party. The central theme of the piece, aptly titled ‘How Joe Biden Handed the Presidency to Donald Trump’, suggests that the failure of the Democrats to maintain their presidency stands firmly on Biden’s stubborn arrogance. Instead of owning up, Democrats are keen on playing blame games, with Biden becoming their favorite scapegoat. But their ignorance and unwillingness to address the main issues are quite evident here. It is not solely Biden’s shaky memory causing an unprecedented dip in the party’s approval rating.
It’s important to remember that it was the entire Democratic establishment in Congress that rammed through the Inflation Reduction Act, against strong advisory warnings from many economists predicting severe price escalations. The ‘semi-fascist’ scaremongering wasn’t entirely Biden’s brainchild either, the party as a whole was captivated by it. They’ve collectively embraced debatable gender-based social science theories which are predominantly championed by Democrats.
Were there any elected Democrats who took a stand against the chaos ensuing from unregulated immigration? If they did, it went unnoticed by most. Yet, as per a pre-election Pew poll, a staggering 78% of people considered border security to be in a state of crisis or a significant problem. Thus, completely ignoring the stance of the majority is a clear hallmark of a misguided leadership.
Another notable critique of Biden is his failure to step aside and make room for another potential candidate earlier on. There’s little doubt Kamala Harris would have been the nominee, regardless of when Biden stepped down. Is it conceivable that a politician as ambitious as Harris, who already secured a foothold in the White House would make way for a mediocre candidate to snatch the nomination away? It’s highly unlikely.
Out of all Democrats, only Michelle Obama surpassed Harris in most polls post-Biden’s public debate fiasco. So, the likelihood of Harris being the nominee was pretty high. But would giving Harris more time as the nominee lead to better outcomes? It’s doubtful. Her popularity saw an initial surge, but it couldn’t counter the ongoing decline. The more people heard from Harris, the less they seemed to like her.
Being compelled to carry the scepter of Biden’s problematic record, Harris found herself in a precarious situation like any other potential Democratic candidate. Their unpopularity was deeply rooted, visible well before the media shone light on the president’s faltering cognitive state. The Democrats really dropped the ball here.
The numbers told a grim tale with only a 36% approval rating for Biden’s economic handling, a meager 28% approving his handling of immigration, 33% approving his foreign policy and a shocking 30% approving his approach to the Middle East. Even though election results are influenced by pitched battles between differing viewpoints, these stats weigh heavily against the Democrats.
A CBS News poll highlighted a stark contrast with 65% of Americans fondling remembering the Trump era economy, whereas only 38% had similar sentiments about Biden. Can anyone genuinely think that Govs. Wes Moore, Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, or JB Pritzker possess the charm and strong narrative to shift this tide? That seems like a far-fetched conjecture.
Publicly, Plouffe was possibly one of the few Democrats who doubted the wisdom of putting forward a candidate whose mental sharpness had perhaps been past its prime for years. However, the entirety of the party and media continued to shield Biden until the day of the first presidential debates in 2024. The Democrats would have probably kept Biden’s condition under wraps, had he dodged the debate with Trump. His exposure left them with no choice but to turn against him.
It was revealed in The New Yorker article that even at an infamous Hollywood fundraiser. Biden had such a lapse that Barack Obama had to lead him off stage after he failed to recognize George Clooney. Even at this stage, major media outlets were actively misleading the public about the president’s decaying mental acuity.
CNN’s media newsletter published a piece calling these allegations ‘fabrications’, just two days after the debacle. Then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also propagated this false narrative, insisting that Biden was more lucid than he had been in years and dismissing all opposition claims about his mental decline as propagandist. Misleading moment like these indicate a lack of transparency.
According to the New Yorker piece, Schumer would often find himself on the phone with Biden who, after some small talk, would confess that he had forgotten the purpose of his call. Sometimes Biden rambled, other times he forgot people’s names. Rather than being alarmed by Biden’s cognitive issues, Schumer was more concerned with how it would look to the public. Whether such concerns prioritized party image over national policy is open for debate.
A negative optic of the president predicts negative outcomes for the party. As the president, Biden held the most powerful position in the world, and an oblivious Senate leader worrying about ‘optics’ rather than concrete issues is indeed a cause of concern. Unfortunately, this perspective seemed rampant through the party as a whole.
Though it’s a bitter pill to swallow, Democrats need to realize they have no one else to blame but themselves for the party’s collective failures and deteriorating public image. With Biden and Harris at the helm of their sinking ship, predictably guiding it deeper into troubled water, it calls into question the party’s leadership competency.
Adhering to misleading narratives, ignoring populist sentiment, and their refusal to own their poor legislative decisions are indicative of the Democrats’ dire state. Their unwavering commitment to protecting Biden’s declining cognitive state, despite having serious implications, concluded in catastrophe. This self-destructive course of action only illustrates a party on the brink of its own undoing, with no apparent plan for recovery.
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