Democrats Will Repudiate Joe Biden
A Fine Man. A Terrible 2023-24. Biden is Our Past, Not Our Future
During his first two years in the White House, I declared Joe Biden one of the best presidents ever. Unfortunately, during his last two years, he was among the worst. Mainstream Democrats need to acknowledge this and throw Biden under the bus. The first leaders to do so will guide the party forward. The model for this is none other than Donald Trump, who rose to power by pointing out to Republicans that the Bush family emperors they worshipped were actually naked, stupid, and dangerous.
Of course, there is much to praise about Biden. He led us out of Covid. He created a strong labor and stock market. The US economy under his stewardship outperformed almost every other despite persistent inflation. His legislative achievements were substantial and admirable. He was steadfastly pro-union (occasionally to a fault).1 He ended US involvement in Afghanistan. He appointed competent people. Ultimately, he stepped aside rather than die clinging to power like Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Biden Is a Good Man Who Failed
But the political scoreboard is clear and unforgiving. Biden’s 2020 candidacy was devoted to stopping Donald Trump. He has now failed at this spectacularly. Democrats are much worse off today than if Trump had narrowly beat Biden in 2020. Biden’s decisions alienated young, noncollege, Black, Latin, and Asian voters, as well as moderate business leaders. As the oldest president in history, he recklessly selected a VP of modest skills and no national reputation. Instead of helping her develop an independent following, he handed her his weakest issue, the asylum crisis on the southern border. Rather than step aside, he decided to run for re-election until his infirmities became so undeniable as to make this impossible. Once defeated, his lame-duck interviews dripped with arrogance, claiming that he could’ve beaten Trump again but for the dark machinations of Nancy Pelosi.
Biden, his wife, and his inner circle plainly misled the public. Most voters thought he was too old before the debate debacle, and his team’s attempt to hide the problem only made matters worse. Having picked a VP they didn’t believe in, they dragged the entire Democratic Party into a mess of their own making. Their hubris has left Democrats defending the indefensible. As Matt Yglesias points out, now only Republicans or fringe leftists are willing to admit that Biden’s face plants constituted political malpractice that left Democrats scrambling as GOP surges in trust on key issues.
Turn the Page
These problems will only be fixed by a leader willing to speak the truth. Biden’s handling of his age, his failures on immigration, and his willingness to yield to Warrenist staffers and “groups” have left the party a stinking mess. At the moment, Democrats hope the smell will somehow fade. It won’t until someone opens the windows and cleans up. This requires repudiating Joe Biden.
Kamala Harris didn’t even try. She stuck by Biden’s playbook and refused to critique his policies or acknowledge his mistakes. Maybe she thought voters would reward her loyalty, or perhaps she could not figure out how to criticize Biden. Her failure to articulate a clear vision left Democrats clinging to a narrative that Biden was flawless. Voters didn’t buy it.
Trump demonstrated how breaking from a disastrous party line can win voters. In 2016, he challenged George W. Bush and the GOP establishment, calling out their failures in Iraq and beyond. That honesty resonated without contradicting conservative values. The first Democrat willing to do the same with Biden’s legacy will help reconstruct the party.
Biden’s infirmities and arrogance hurt Democrats and hurt America. His weakness pulled down hundreds of down-ballot candidates. Thanks to GOP control, tens of millions of Americans may lose food stamps or Medicaid benefits. This is outrageous – and it is Biden’s fault.
As a Clinton appointee, I felt betrayed when the truth about the Big Dog’s indiscretions and lying emerged. Many of Biden’s talented staff will likewise be reluctant to criticize a man they see as honest and faithful. But once again, selfish decisions at the top have left the Democratic Party in shambles. Democratic leaders who dare to speak up will face blowback in the short term, but they’ll ultimately gain the respect and trust of the American people. I sincerely hope that Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and Reuben Gallego understand that the Democratic Party now reeks of Joe Biden’s mistakes. Pretending otherwise won’t cut it for long.
Biden’s support for the ILWU’s threat to shut down East Coast ports over automation and his decision to block the Nippon acquisition of US Steel are examples of his support for unions over what are arguably the interests of the workers involved.
Among the many challenges we have in the U.S. is blind commitment to party. the Democratic party has become so addicted to its own words that it hears no others. To call Joe Biden successful President for even the first two years is comical. the Democratic party has manipulated the media and messaging by labeling those who disagree are "uneducated, angry white men, southern bible thumpers" and all that noise. Another possibility is the Dems have gone so far off the reservation that their ideas no longer pass the giggle test. When minors are removed from their parents because the parents don't support mutilating them in the name of self-identity, that is not the parents being uneducated, simple minded, blah, blah... that is the Dems drinking their own Koolaid to the point of drunkeness. The same is true for hard core righties who believe no tolerance is better than total tolerance. There is a middle ground where You be you and I'll be me and it does not have to be totalitarian, as both parties seem to think.
To oversimplify only somewhat, he did not keep his promise to be a transitional president, and restore a good sense of succession in government. The farrago that was the debate eliding into the no-primary choice of Harris was avoidable; he needed only see himself as a one-termer, and oversee a process of primaries. As it was, the Harris nomination was, in the eyes of many, its own assault on the process.
Like most tragedies, the problem was the hero's inability to cope with mortality.