Nancy Pelosi wants him out. Chuck Schumer wants him out. Even Barack Obama, who may have been the man in real charge of this entire administration, wants him out. Americans who are tired of suffering the nation’s slow and seemingly inexorable decline certainly want him out. But Old Joe Biden is digging in his heels. He and his dwindling coterie of supporters are the last people on the planet who still insist that their man is sharp-witted, energetic, and ready to serve until he is a hale and hearty 86 years old. And so it looks as if the Democrats are stuck with Joe. Or are they?
Despite Old Joe’s repeated insistence that he is going to finish the campaign, beat Trump, and stay in the White House until his ability to formulate even the simplest coherent thoughts is but a dim memory, every day the number of defectors from the Biden camp grows. According to CNN, the unpleasant old corruptocrat “faced a new round of defections Friday from Democratic lawmakers publicly calling on him to leave the presidential race.”
There are now more than 30 Democrats who want Joe gone, including Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Rep. Zoe Lofgren of Gruesome Newsomifornia. CNN frankly acknowledges that Old Joe’s longtime comrade Pelosi is behind this: “Two House Democrats close to Pelosi, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity and rawness in the party right now, attributed Friday’s new statements – especially Lofgren’s letter to Biden – to the former speaker and her belief that it is critical for the president and his allies to understand the effort to push him aside is not going away after the Republican convention, despite the campaign’s efforts to quash it.” Et tu, Ice Cream Lady?
It looks as if the entire Democrat leadership has turned against Old Joe: “A Democratic lawmaker told CNN that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his team are not discouraging members from continuing to speak out against Biden’s candidacy. The source said it was their impression that members were privately being encouraged to make such statements if they felt that way.” This, too, is likely to be Pelosi’s doing, as she still wields considerable power among House Democrats.
Biden, says CNN, is accordingly “described by a source with direct knowledge as ‘seething’ at Pelosi.” The Cackler is not so happy with the ruthless former House speaker, either: “Aides to Vice President Kamala Harris inside and outside the campaign have also expressed unhappiness with Pelosi and her talk of a quick process to find a new candidate should Biden step aside. To them, ‘process’ means trying to bypass the vice president in the event the president stepped aside.”
That coincides with what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Would You Like An Olive?) said Friday: “I’m going to say what a lot of these people aren’t saying. If you think that there is consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to leave, that they will support Kamala, that they will support Vice President Harris, you would be mistaken.”
These people face an uphill battle. Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said Friday: “Absolutely the president’s in this race. You heard him say that time and time again, and I think we saw on display last night exactly why. Joe Biden is more committed than ever to beat Donald Trump.”
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It is because Democrat leaders doubt that Biden can really beat Trump that party top dogs want to get rid of the candidate their voters chose. Lofgren wrote to Biden: “Simply put, your candidacy is on a trajectory to lose the White House and potentially impact crucial House and Senate races down ballot.” Rep. Greg Landsman (D- Ohio) likewise said: “Passing the torch is the right thing to do. That is the way to ensure that Donald Trump doesn’t win the presidency.”
Never before has a major party gotten rid of its presidential candidate after he won their primaries because of doubts that he could win the general election. And in light of statements from Old Joe and Jen O’Malley Dillon, they may not do so this time. Either way, however, it’s a bad look for the party that keeps insisting that only it can save “our democracy.” Faced with the widespread knowledge of what they’ve tried to conceal for years — just how far gone Old Joe really is — suddenly “democracy” is out the window.
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