President Joe Biden couldn’t outline his position on abortion during his debate against Donald Trump. He rambled about how we need abortion access because in-laws were raping their family members en masse or something. It was a key Democratic Party issue, and Biden botched it. He screwed up his response on trimesters, allowing Trump to expose the Democrats’ extreme position on the subject brilliantly. Biden was too lost and slow to counter in what was one of the many low points during the 90-minute debate, a contest where the former president obliterated the aging, confused, and perpetually lost Delaware liberal, setting off the panic we’re seeing now among Democrats. There’s been a push to remove Biden from the ticket, and his ABC News interview did little to persuade either side, pro-dump and anti-dump, to back down (via Politico):
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Members of Congress and top Democratic operatives told POLITICO shortly after Biden’s sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos aired that the president was more energetic and forceful than he was on stage during last week’s showdown with Donald Trump — but it likely won’t be enough to tame the panic.
And many were shocked by the president’s blatant denial about his standing in the race, and his repeated dismissal of his party’s widespread concerns. It’s an approach some Democrats described as “dangerous.”
“He was more animated and made a strong case for what he has done. But the question the debate raised is about his fitness for the next four years, not his performance in the past four years,” said David Axelrod, the longtime Democratic operative who helped lead Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. “And he simply doesn’t acknowledge that concern. He also is in denial about where he is in this race.”
A House Democrat, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said: “Denial of the problem is not a solution or a path forward to convincing our constituents that he has the capacity or the vision for four more years.”
And another Democratic operative who has advised the White House called the interview a “stay of execution” but added that the president’s “acceptance of losing to Trump as long as he tried his best will make his hand significantly worse with every Democratic office holder who does not want to lose their seat.”
The freakout inside the Democratic Party has continued to metastasize in recent days. Few Democratic strategists believe the president’s interview on Friday will stem the onrush of Democratic incumbents and candidates who will call for Biden’s ouster. Already, four members have said they believe Biden should step down as the nominee, and another two have said they don’t believe Biden can beat Trump. And when Congress reconvenes next week, many in the party are bracing for more defectors.
[…]
Biden’s repeated dismissals and refusal to seriously address concerns about his age and mental acuity struck many Democrats watching the interview closely. A Democratic official who worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign said it appears Biden’s team “isn’t being straight with him, and that’s dangerous.”
And Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) said she particularly found Biden’s answer about taking a cognitive test unnerving.
“I found the answer about taking a cognitive test every day to be unsettling and not particularly convincing, so I will be watching closely every day to see how he is doing, especially in spontaneous situations,” she said.
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It’s not Hatfields and McCoys, but more like a political Peloponnesian War—Athens and Sparta’s epic war over who was rightfully Greece’s most dominant city-state. Sparta was a land power, whereas Athens controlled the seas. The point is that both sides have strengths that offset the other, which could lead to very bloody results.
In this showdown, the megadonors and the congressional Democrats face off against Democratic governors and the overall party base, two-thirds of which want Biden to remain. It also helps when a reign of terror emanates from Jill Biden over this matter to keep the frontline soldiers, the White House staff, in line for the most part; this administration has more leaks than the Iraqi Navy since June 27.
All of them with damning information about the president’s health, including the nugget that Biden is only semi-functional between 10 am and 4 pm. Also, reports of top aides, Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini, the first lady’s top adviser Anthony Bernal, and longtime aide Ashley Williams, who is part of the deputy chief of staff’s office, forming a “cocoon” around Biden to the point where he has no independence, according to Axios. It sounds like a coup, but we’ll get to that later.
Hill Democrats want Biden gone, as do the megadonors. Abigail Disney isn’t cutting another check until Joe dips. Money matters in these races, especially when the last stretch before Election Day is expensive, and the coffers aren’t what they should be. Democratic governors are Biden’s primary muscle in the messaging wars, though if polling continues to sag, watch this faction change allegiances. They only support Biden to prevent Kamala Harris’ stock from rising, especially in 2028.
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The Democrats are about to wage civil war over Joe Biden—that’s silly, almost absurd, that a man who has always had a case of diarrhea of the mouth is going to wreck the Democrats from within.
Also, what polls are being read to Biden to possibly take this disturbingly detached position that he’s doing well right now? Is it possible he’s reading old 2020 polls? Because that wouldn’t be shocking at all.
Joe is pushing his party toward a period of cannibalization, and I hope he remains so we can watch this gory show in all its messiness. The winner of this contest: Donald J. Trump.