ByeDon
Prior to last Tuesday’s “Who woulda thunk it?” turnaround for former Vice President Joe Biden, his presidential campaign was on life support. He woke up that morning facing an all but certain end to a national political career which had begun way back in 1972 when he defeated two-term Senator J. Caleb Boggs (R-DE) by the razor-thin margin of 3,162 votes. Within 24 hours, Biden - whose campaign had next to no money, little organizational depth and virtually no “ground game,” had inexplicably won 10 of 14 primaries and was, like Bill Clinton in 1992, the “Comeback Kid.” Actually, comebacks are and were nothing new to Joseph Biden. With less than 3 months to go in his initial, 1972 senate race, Biden was trailing the well-funded Boggs by nearly 30 points. But Biden’s energy level, his attractive young family (2 of whom would tragically die in a traffic accident shortly before he could take the oath of office), and his ability to connect with voters' emotions, gave the 29-year old the victory. Thus, was a historic political career born.
Fast forward to the beginning of last week’s “Super Tuesday.” Biden, who had initially been the front-runner saw the field expand and expand until the point where he had sunk down to the level of “also-ran.” Lacking the fund-raising machine of a Sanders or Warren, the youth and energy of a Buttigieg, the rhetorical muscle of a Harris, Booker or Klobuchar, or personal wealth of a Steyer or Bloomberg, Biden came across as an old, creaky member of the Democratic establishment. He began sinking in the polls. Increasingly, it looked like the Democratic nomination would belong to anyone but Biden.
And then came South Carolina . . . the state Biden and his threadbare staff knew stood between resuscitation and retirement. Enter Representative Jim Clyburn, the House Majority Whip and without question, the most powerful, most universally respected politician in the Palmetto State. Just days before Super Tuesday, Clyburn endorsed Vice President Biden; Senator Sanders never called nor sought Clyburn’s imprimatur. Biden went on to manhandle the Vermont Senator in South Carolina with its huge African American voting bloc. This victory provided the Biden campaign with all the political muscle it needed to resurrect his campaign and go back to the top of the presidential heap.
How did this happen? Was it something the former Vice President did right or something the Vermont Senator did wrong? Actually, it was a bit of both. Looking at Sanders’ exit polling one notes that he received far fewer votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. Out of the 14 states in play on Super Tuesday, he only received more votes in 2 states this time around than in 2016: Texas and Tennessee. (He even received 35,000 fewer votes in his home state. Most notably, he had far fewer young voters casting ballots for him this time around. It would seem that the fatal flaw in the Sanders campaign was that they were unable to expand their base; his “revolution” had fizzled. His campaign staff long believed that all they needed to do was capture 30% of the delegates going into the convention, then demand the nomination. Thus, they built a campaign that demanded little of Sanders: no change in message, no effort to broaden the coalition. Like his utter lack of interest in legislating, his campaign had zero interest in building actual majority support.
In the case of Joe Biden, his best selling point was the man currently occupying the Oval Office. Trump’s utter lack of civility, truthfulness, worldly knowledge and programmatic chops - except undoing anything and everything enacted by the Obama administration - made Democrats think long and hard about who stood the best chance of defeating the man in the MAGA cap - as well as holding the House, recapturing the Senate and giving an able assist to down-ballot Democrats around the country. Add to this the provable fact that the former Vice President has a long history of enacting legislation, as well as possessing a dignified mien and knowing far more about the world and foreign affairs than ‘45 (and comes equipped with a Rolodex which is second-to-none) and one can easily understand why all the political stars are quickly aligning.
It has long been well known that Joe Biden is the one challenger who gives ‘45 the greatest number of sleepless nights. Were Sanders to become the Democratic candidate, all Boss Tweet would have to do is say the words “Socialist” and “Communist” a couple of hundred thousand times until his base would man the barricades. By terms of this scenario, Bernie Sanders could easily become the 21st century equivalent of George McGovern. With Biden however, the president would find his campaign strategy in need of a major retrofit. Consider the following:
Were Trump to bring up the issue of Hunter Biden (which had so much to do with ‘45’s impeachment), all the former Veep would have to do is utter the names “Eric Trump,” “Donald Trump Jr.,” and “Ivanka, and Jared Kushner.” He could then ask how Hunter’s $50,000 a month from Burisma compares with Ivanka and Jared’s reported $135 million in 2019 alone? Can you spell “hyper- nepotism?”
Were the president to revisit a September 1987 Biden speech in which the then-Senator (and potential presidential candidate) was discovered to have lifted phrases and mannerisms from a fiery British Labour Party politician (Neil Kinnock) at the end of a debate, all the Vice President would have to do is begin counting off the Trump lies . . . beginning with his first day in office. Trump would likely counter with the charge that he never lies . . . it’s all the fault of “fake news.”
At some point, POTUS will no doubt bring up the fact that VOTUS originally supported the war in Iraq, while businessman Trump was always steadfastly against it. This is a flat-out lie; as early as September 11, 2002 (six months before the American invasion of Iraq), Trump told radio shock jock Howard Stern “Yeah, I guess I would favor it [invading Iraq] . . . You know, I wish the first time it was done correctly.
Were Trump to attack Biden for being too old and use as proof some of his rhetorical gaffs, the Veep would have the ability to run more than 24-hours worth of YouTube captures of ‘45’s misstatements, mispronunciations and overly repetitive redundancies.
Look for ‘45 to tie Joe Biden ever tighter to Barack Obama over such issues as NAFTA, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), being anti-Israel, supporting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA” - the Iranian nuclear deal) and being a supporter of the Paris Agreement (which 196 countries and the European Union have signed). In just about every case, ‘45 has argued that Biden’s positions indicate beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a thoroughgoing socialist and cares not a whit about jobs for Americans. Unbeknownst to Boss Tweet, being tied to Obama is actually a pretty good thing: the 44th POTUS has ranked as the most admired man in America for the past 12 years . . .
For most of his presidency, Donald Trump has referred to V.P, Biden as “Sleepy Joe.” Events of the past two weeks show that Biden is anything but fatigued. He is gaining strength, endorsements and popularity. By the same token, the POTUS is likely beginning to be afflicted by nausea, insomnia and what might be diagnosed as “Nero-itis” . . . the urge to fiddle while his kingdom burns. Let him continue with his “Make America Great Again slogan, while Joe Biden and his campaign give serious consideration to making their’s
BYEDON 2020
240 days let until the presidential election.
Be careful, be healthy and WASH YOUR HANDS!
Copyright©2020 Kurt F. Stone