Previously Published in The Messenger
For a party that talks an awful lot about protecting ‘democracy’ – even though we’re more of a republic – it’s ironic that they have chosen to subvert the will of the people by successfully convincing President Joe Biden (D-DE) to take the historic move of suspending his campaign.
Biden is the first president since Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) to not seek a second term. Johnson at least had a bit more class and dropped out after narrowly winning the 1968 New Hampshire Democratic Primary, and as polls showed a humiliating defeat for him in the upcoming Wisconsin Primary. Johnson bowed out as Senators Eugene McCarthy (D-MN) and Robert Kennedy (D-NY), two Senators with established popularity, garnered momentum and used their candidacies as a referendum on Johnson’s handling of the Vietnam War.
But Biden – really more the Democratic establishment – couldn’t display the amount of respect Johnson had for the “democratic” process.
Biden wrapped up every single primary and caucus contest, save for American Samoa won in an upset by dark horse candidate Jason Palmer (D-MD), and his nomination was essentially presumptive from the start. Despite years-long public concerns of Biden’s health and mental acuity, Democratic leaders downplayed such reservations and pressed on with him as the nominee anyway, fully asserting that he could deny Donald Trump (R-FL) a second term yet again.
Polling since November has had Trump firmly in the driver’s seat this election, in both national and state polling. However, polling is a tough science on which to rely that far out from an election. However, Biden’s numbers have only deteriorated since then, as concerns of the economic and world stability made a case for another term of Trump. The Democratic campaign was essentially giving up on Iowa, Ohio, and Florida, and seemingly resigned to losing Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia. The Rust Belt states have given Trump consistent leads since the autumn, something a Republican hasn’t done since the 1980s. Meanwhile, there grew large uncertainty over Biden’s abilities to retain Virginia, Minnesota, Maine, New Mexico, New Hampshire, and even New York, where polls showing a typical Democratic margin of twenty points have been few and far between since 2022.
Still, Democrats insisted that Trump’s conviction would buoy Biden to a second term, albeit narrowly.
But the tone of the race changed single-handedly when Biden gave a disastrous debate performance one June 25. What started as a mostly unified ticket with just a few dissenters began the avalanche of prominent Democratic figures calling for Biden to exit the race. Rank-and-file House Democrats spared no expense in voicing their concern over their electoral prospects with Biden at the top of the ticket, as not only did the White House suddenly become critically endangered, but a weak performance at the top greatly affects Democrats’ abilities to hold the Senate and flip the House.
Meanwhile, top Democrats insisted there was nothing to worry about. Jim Clyburn (D, SC-06), Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D, NY-08), and even former President Barack Obama (D-IL) firmly asserted their support for Biden.
Biden’s attempts at saving himself with the George Stephanopoulos interview, followed by a weak press conference, only made Democrats double down on their calls for Biden to suspend, with others joining in.
As polls continued to tighten around the country, now showing competitive races in New Jersey and Rhode Island, prominent Democrats, such as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D, CA-11), Obama, and others finally joined the growing chorus of Democrats urging Biden to drop out. On the eve of Biden’s suspension, over thirty House Democrats and four Senators had publicly called for a new nominee.
And Biden made the historic decision on Sunday afternoon. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA) as the Democratic ticket now heads for the nightmare scenario of a brokered convention in Chicago next month. Harris, just recently, logged the worst vice presidential approval ratings since Dick Cheney (D-WY) and was regularly rated as one of the most liberal, if not the most liberal, Senator during her time in Congress.
But to say that Democrats are concerned about Biden’s health is more than disingenuous; it’s downright subversive. Biden had displayed signs of mental deterioration ahead of the 2020 primaries, an observation that resonated with early swing state primary voters. Biden tracked historically poor showing in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, yet went on to sweep Super Tuesday and win the nomination.
His administration has largely gatekept signs of his mental acuity and the mass media followed in lockstep, calling any talk of Biden’s perceived dementia-like symptoms as misinformation and any videos of Biden’s physical, vocal, and mental shortcomings as “AI-generated” right-wing propaganda.
Yet the media seemed to have no problem covering Biden’s sad shape accurately after the debate made it apparent to the country and the world that something is clearly wrong with him. Just mainstream media doing mainstream media things, desperately clinging to relevance by trying to be on the right side of history.
Remember when Trump held a glass of water with two hands at a campaign speech and Nancy Pelosi called for mental examinations and a possible vacation of the Oval Office under the provisions of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment? Yet she called Biden a “perfect president” and downplayed any concerns of his aggravated mental downturn. You can’t get any more transparent than that.
Democrats had their chance to replace Biden with a nominee who not only could deliver coherent debate responses but also run the country with their full faculties. Many have posited since Biden assumed office in 2021: If Biden is in no apparent shape to run the country, then who is running the country?
Democrats had their chance to avoid a contested convention after all states and territories had voted, and all but one backed Biden this year. Yet somehow, they say they’re acquiescing to the “will of the people” by having Biden step down. They reference recent polling that shows many Democrats’ lack of confidence in Biden’s mental agility and ability to run the country, that is, after they voted for him in 2020 and in the primaries this year.
What’s funny is that for someone who was hailed as the “most popular president in modern history,” and won eighty-one million votes, nobody seems too broken up that he’s not going to be on the ballot in just shy of one hundred days.
Democrats have embarked on perhaps one of the greatest “have your cake and eat it too” quests. As talks of election integrity and voter security elicit calls of conspiracy theories from the left – even though many deny Trump still legitimately won the 2016 election and haven’t peacefully accepted a Republican presidential winner this century – they seem to be committing some blatant double-speak. How can you say you prioritize “democracy” and “voting rights” when you’re okay with rich powerbrokers picking your nominee for you?
Democratic voters should have been more vocal had they not wished to bury their hands in the sand for four years. They made a bet that Biden would stand the test of time and that he would be the best candidate to beat Trump. It’s not an unfair assumption, as incumbency is usually the best advantage from most electoral standpoints.
But the mistake they made was doubling down when the dealer had a Blackjack, another testament to the short-sightedness of the general left, and one that could have disastrous ramifications for our country. If Trump loses this election, that means a Democratic nominee selected by DNC elites and deep-pocketed mega-donors would become president. That’s much equally illegitimate, if not more so, than what Democrats accused Trump and the GOP of in 2016.
This all comes down to their chances of winning the elections. Democrats have no problem following the rules and typical procedure until it looks as if they’re in a position to lose. Then, they call a time-out to improve their prospects.
To every Democratic elected official who called for Biden’s suspension: you had every chance to speak candidly with the public for four years. You don’t care about Biden’s health, you’ll do anything you can to ensure your party’s prospects this fall instead of respecting the will of the people and playing with the hand you’ve been dealt.
On a lighter note, we’ll say that we’re relieved for President Biden that in a few months, he’ll finally have some respite. What should have been a retirement after a long career in politics resulted in him taking on the most difficult job in the world, which very likely accelerated his mental decline. He deserves not to be humiliated in front of the world by Jill Biden and his handlers. He deserves to relax and enjoy the rest of his life peacefully.
The Democratic National Convention in August will certainly be one for the books, as no brokered convention has occurred since the RNC in 1976. President Ford (R-MI) did not receive a majority of the delegates during the primaries, but won the nomination in Kansas City over Ronald Reagan (R-CA). It’s a technically contested convention, but not one of these proportions.
Oddly, there are numerous parallels between this election and 1968.
Johnson and Biden, both Democrats, did not seek re-election.
The 1968 DNC was held in Chicago. The 2024 DNC will be held in Chicago.
Both elections had major third-party candidates on the ballot. We have Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. this year, and 1968 had segregationist Governor George Wallace (D-AL). Wallace is the last third-party candidate to win a state in a presidential election.
Both conventions took place amid mass unrest and social tensions. Both elections also saw major military operations taking place throughout the world. 1968 had Vietnam, 2024 has Ukraine and Israel.
1968 saw Vice President Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) receive the nomination. He had run briefly in the primaries, but did not contest any states. He received 2% of the popular vote. All intel points to Harris being the nominee. If so, she did not run at all this year, resulting in both Democratic nominees not winning a single primary state or caucus. Humphrey was defeated in November by Richard Nixon (R-CA).
Both elections featured a Kennedy. RFK Sr. was assassinated during the campaign, while RFK Jr. is running in this election.
Richard Nixon made his second bid for president after losing to JFK (D-MA) in 1960. Nixon is the second Republican, the other being Trump, to have won three nominations for president. Trump is the first Republican to have ever received three consecutive nominations.
Both incumbent presidents drew challengers from Minnesota. Senator Eugene McCarthy gave Johnson a strong challenge in 1968 and Congressman Dean Phillips (D, MN-03) provided Biden nominal opposition this year.
Some say Wallace spoiled the election for Humphrey and handed it to Nixon. Many polls today show RFK drawing more support away from Biden than from Trump.
If Trump wins, RFK will likely receive a “spoiler” badge of honor.
With waters as unchartered as these, it’s safe to say we’re seeing history being made right before our eyes.