I’ve often said advice is worth what you pay for it, so I’m going out on a limb to recommend to Democrats that they consider opening their 2024 presidential primary race to allow legitimate challengers to the current White House occupant on principle.
Why? Because there are lots of discontented souls in the Democrat rank-and-file these days, and to deny them a voice in who gets to face the Republican nominee (as of now, almost certainly Donald Trump) could ensure disaster for their party. The ugly truth that Biden was never really popular with liberals to begin with is starting to reveal itself, and the grumbles from the lower echelons are getting louder and louder. How do you solve a problem like Joe Biden? You pit him against competitors and therefore, force him to prove he’s still got it. In an article titled “RFK Jr.’s success leaves progressives pining for competitive primary”, Hanna Trudo reported at The Hill:
“Progressives who have watched Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tease the public are wondering what the lead up to the 2024 election could have looked like with a more credible primary challenger to President Biden. Their discontent with Biden has grown after he cut what they see as a raw deal over the debt limit, and the latest snub from the president who’s now running as an outright centrist.
“While Kennedy appears to be having a moment, progressives don’t claim him for their cause. Rather, some wish that a more inspirational candidate would have given Biden a real run for the nomination, with a handful still hopeful someone will. ‘We are renewing efforts to encourage a progressive primary challenge from a visionary officeholder,’ said Norman Solomon, a two-time delegate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). ‘Or a major leader of social movements.’
“That person hasn’t emerged yet. But it’s not for a lack of desire.”
But, as I’ve often pointed out, “Wantin’ ain’t gettin’.” For every liberal or Democrat who craves a challenger to broken down old goat senile Joe, there are a dozen others who cling to the hope that Biden will pull off another miracle and stave off relegation to the home for lying idiots for just a few more years.
Then there are the delusional old guard Democrats so practiced at denial and truth-bending that they insist Biden deserves more time because he’s done such a great job as president. No one in liberal land seems willing to concede that the economic ship is listing badly and could capsize at just about any moment. Last month, for example, it was revealed that tax receipts are down and the deficit is up due in part to a big boost in interest rates. Think this trend won’t continue? As the nation’s businesses falter, they’ll lay off employees and the cycle will worsen, just in time for the fall campaign season next year. It could get ugly.
I wouldn’t want to take odds among Democrats that Biden will even make it to Election Day in 2024, but this type of fatalistic attitude isn’t given much credence with politics-first folks who don’t care about anything other than holding onto power. And right now, all the power resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with a mentally (and physically) faltering career pol who seems okay with throwing huge “Pride Month” events and shaking hands with male humans wearing fake female breasts and then bearing them for all to see.
In this sense, the anti-Biden Democrats aren’t all that different than the anti-Trump group in the GOP. Although it can be surmised that no one in either party enjoys 100% popularity, the consensus has it that their incumbent president has the greatest chance of being declared the winner on or around Election Night, 2024.
Couple this with the fact that senile Joe won’t leave voluntarily, and, if you’re a Democrat, you’re in quite a pickle. Besides, with first lady Dr. Jill frequently standing by her husband and holding a proverbial dagger in her hands to employ if he ever steps out of line, the poor doofus doesn’t have a choice but to say he’s in it for the long run. The Bidens likely figure the media, the deep state and the in-Justice Department are in their corner, so what could possibly go wrong?
From the Democrat establishment’s point-of-view, what incentive would they have to offer a competitive process that includes RFK Jr. and crazy wingnut Marianne Williamson – or any other hubristic Democrat who believes they could challenge the party elites, and win? Why give outsiders a voice when you’ve got the big prize already? Williamson’s case is analogous to those who criticized former President Trump for agreeing to meet with North Korean communist dictator Kim Jong Un – not once, but twice. At the time, Trump’s enemies contended that the American president showed “weakness” by proposing such a shallow “summit”, arguing that the American commander in chief shouldn’t talk to just anyone.
Never mind the fact that the North Koreans possessed enough nuclear weapons – and probable delivery capacity – to make the far eastern American allies very uncomfortable, and also theoretically could even strike the west coast of North America if Kim truly went off the deep end. The naysayers said Trump would be embarrassed by seeking a conversation with a human being who treats his own people so badly. I said at the time, and still feel, what’s the harm in talking?
Likewise, why would it be “beneath” senile Joe and the Democrat crew to provide a forum for Williamson’s views? Doesn’t she have a legitimate shot to win the Democrat title? Heck no, but there must be a segment of the Democrat voter base that digs her crackpot spiel. If Democrats had the moxie to choose cackling Kamala Harris to be the nation’s number two – and they did so because of her claimed gender and the color of her skin – then why not build a stage for Williamson to attract the “out there” vote and put it firmly in the Democrats’ corner?
They won’t come right out and say it, but Democrats hope to nail down the Bernie Sanders vote before next year. The crazy Vermont senator, who is even older than Biden, opted not to run this cycle, probably because his chances of success were lower than in the past and time had run out on the actuarial table to make the Democrat party into a full-on socialist entity. Instead of embracing government owned and run-everything, Democrats just pass out checks and enact regulations to get what they want.
Oh, and weaponize federal law enforcement against their enemies, too.
Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has maintained a solid twenty-or-so percent in most polls, which indicates there is a sizable slice of Democrat voters who are open to an anyone-but-Joe scenario. JFK’s nephew turned heads with his out-and-out opposition to the COVID vaccines and has also taken other sensible-type positions on partisan politics and the broken nature of Congress, but clearly, RFK Jr.’s not the candidate the leftists are searching for. And neither is Williamson, though her personal style and airy platitudes would be a great follow-up act to Biden in the White House.
So essentially, yes, there is room for primary challengers to senile Joe, but who might they be? The first name on every Democrat’s list is Michelle Obama, but there’re few signs that the former first couple is considering another run for president. Here’s thinking if Michelle were to wage a campaign, that the post-office luster she now enjoys would tarnish rather quickly. The phony public friendship between the Bidens and Obamas would disappear and it would be open season for the various background blips of both to reach the surface.
Trudo’s article mentioned, again, California Governor Gavin Newsom as a possibility, but he’s practically unelectable nationally. The Golden State doesn’t receive much positive press these days and is becoming as well known for the sorry condition of its deteriorating, crime-ridden inner cities as it is for its hundreds of miles of pristine Pacific shoreline. Democrats have also turned Ronald Reagan’s home domicile into a haven for transgenders and freaks of all sorts. This wouldn’t play well in the swing states.
Democrats have plenty of celebrities who could conceivably emerge to mount an outsider campaign similar to Trump’s in 2016. Why not LeBron James? The NBA legend said a month ago today that he still hasn’t made up his mind whether he will play pro basketball anymore, so why not encourage him to make a switch to politics? Is there a better example of “woke-ness” than “King James”?
Or, as I’ve suggested a number of times before, how about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? The (still) young-ish New York congresswoman would instantly command the loyalty of the Bernie Sanders crowd, and she wouldn’t be the least bit reluctant to stare senile Joe in the eye (assuming he would even look at her) and tell him he’s not doing enough to save the planet from “climate change”. AOC was one of the outspoken “progressives” who argued Biden gave away too much in the debt ceiling negotiations. She’d be perfect as the next Democrat leader.
The way it is today, and the way it will (probably) be six months from now, Democrats find themselves in a trap they cannot escape. Keeping Joe Biden as the party’s figurehead seems almost as unfathomable as dumping him from their presidential ticket. An open presidential primary might help them, but then again, it could also make senile Joe crash (literally) to earth. I wouldn’t want to be a Democrat right now.
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