I penned a column late last year arguing that President Joe Biden would be forced to quit his bid for re-election at or before his party’s national convention in August by uttering the words, “I have decided that I will no longer be a candidate for president in the 2024 election.”
I wasn’t prescient, just observant. His departure from the race now feels inevitable.
Then, as now, Biden’s approval ratings on every major policy issue that Americans care about were cemented in historic lows. It represents an abysmal report card of inept management and misjudgment, rendering him politically destitute.
Biden’s profound unpopularity is amplified by an embedded anxiety that he is too old to function effectively from the Oval Office. This is not strictly a question of age, mind you, but dotage or mental decay.
It has been painfully obvious for a long time that Biden is frail of body and feeble of mind. Often lost and confused, he is incompetent to serve another term. Thursday night’s presidential debate exposed for all to see his diminished capacity.
For viewers, it was beyond shocking or alarming. It was frightening and altogether sad. But his enfeeblement also constitutes a serious threat to America’s national security and well-being. Perceived weakness invariably invites foreign aggression.
Why did it have to come to this humiliating moment before a national audience? Why did Democrats persist in protecting their candidate in the face of unmistakable evidence of impaired speech, memory loss, and disorientation? There are several reasons.
First, Biden himself is notoriously stubborn. This inner flaw is compounded by his inability to self-reflect. But perhaps it is too much to expect a senile man to recognize his own senility. For that, he can be forgiven.
Second, there is no excusing the culpability of Biden’s wife and family. They know him best and surely recognized his failing cognitive state. Yet, they persisted in pushing him to run again for a demanding job that he is no longer capable of performing. I suspect they were driven by their own selfish reasons instead of the nation’s best interests. The perks of power and prominence can be addictive.
Third, Biden’s White House aides and his so-called “handlers” who manage the president every single day were absolutely aware that our chief executive’s mental acuity was in steep decline. It is shameful how they propped him up like a rag doll and trotted him out, albeit briefly, for carefully choreographed events while keeping him mostly hidden from public scrutiny. Whenever he wandered from their scripts, embarrassment ensued.
Finally, Biden’s media handmaidens bear considerable blame. They repeatedly assured the American people that their favored chief executive was sentient and sharp when they knew he was not. Too many journalists and political pundits were complicit in covering up his infirmities. They offered an endless array of vacuous excuses to obscure the truth.
As the presidential debate unfolded, the same members of the press who were instrumental in perpetrating the Biden charade began to disassemble. By the time it was over, they had changed their tune and belatedly admitted that the president’s electoral chances were all but over. The eulogies on MSNBC and CNN resembled a wake.
The prediction I offered six months ago now merits repeating:
“Don’t be surprised if prominent party members and wealthy donors quietly commence a private campaign of lobbying Biden’s family to convince him that his re-election bid is doomed. Behind closed doors, they’ll cite descending poll numbers that reflect the nation’s collection opinion that the president is too decrepit to serve another term and that he’ll only drag down other Democrats with him on November 5th.”
There is a fair chance that Biden himself is still capable of reading the writing on the wall. He may be willing to capitulate to the wishes of his family and party elders.
If so, there will be no mea culpas from the media or White House officials or even the Biden family for their deceit while putting the country through this piteous ordeal.
That would require honesty and integrity. And there is precious little of that these days in Washington.
