In the midst of the China virus/Wuhan flu pandemic, you can easily forget that we have an election this year. Eventually this pandemic will burn itself out, maybe by May, and then we will suddenly launch right back into the presidential campaign. The Democrat convention is in July so we really aren’t that far away.
The election has taken a back seat. Just a few weeks ago the fight between really old Commie Bernie Sanders and really old and creepy Joe Biden was the big news. Super Tuesday was March 3rd and with the big Biden win thanks to all of the other candidates conveniently dropping out, it looked like the general election match-up was all set. That was at the beginning of March but as I write this it is the end of March and when anyone bothers to think about Joe Biden at all, the question they ask is “Where is Joe?”.
The answer is “In hiding”. Trump is all over the news, holding daily press briefings and taking charge. Maybe not all that well but he is out there and active. Biden on the other hand is missing in action. He completely disappeared for a few weeks even before the lockdown and when he did show up he could barely manage to speak for a few minutes and no one showed up. Bernie was still drawing big crowds even though his campaign is basically over but no one is excited about Biden.
Last week Biden started doing some interviews from a webcam in his home, mostly with very friendly interviewers in the mainstream media, and in general it was a trainwreck. When he wasn’t coughing into his hand or touching his face, he was rambling and losing his place. In one interview he was so out of it that the CNN reporter looked visibly shocked. In another you can see where the teleprompter stopped working and Joe froze up. No wonder his handlers are hiding him, he looks lost and confused on camera. He can’t even function during a brief, carefully choreographed interview so what happens when he is trapped on stage with Trump for a couple hour long debate, on live TV with a live audience?
Trump’s handling of the China virus has exceeded my expectations in most respects and I am not alone as his approval ratings are at all time highs. People want a leader they can see who appears to be in charge, like Bush after 9/11. When people compare Biden to Trump, they are realizing that Joe is not up to the task of leading our nation through a pandemic and an economic calamity that needs leadership for the recovery. Biden is not the man for the job. He probably never was but now his health has deteriorated and continues to at such alarming speed that even if elected it is unlikely he would make it through the first six months of his presidency, if he even makes it to the inauguration.
Democrats realize this and are starting to panic. There is a quiet but growing groundswell movement to replace Biden with someone else, and not Bernie or Hillary. Last week a credible sexual assault allegation against Biden, far more credible than the Christine Ford/Justice Kavanaugh fiasco, quietly hit the news wires. It didn’t get much attention but that was by design. It simply set the trap. A party that talks about stuff like “Believe All Women” can’t be seen to ignore a credible accusation, especially since Joe is well known for putting his hands on women and young girls on a regular basis, on camera and quite recently.
There has been some quiet rumbling about drafting New York governor Andrew Cuomo to replace Biden. He has been very visible as the governor of the state hardest hit (so far) by the China virus. Cuomo is kind of a loud mouth and brash, and maybe people think he could go toe to toe with Trump better than Joe Biden. That is probably true.
Whatever the solution, Biden is a problem right now and once the Chinese coronavirus pandemic abates, the spotlight will turn to Joe and I am confident that he will completely wilt under the pressure. Friendly online interviews with softball questions or political rallies are one thing, but getting asked harder questions will make Joe unravel, like he did when an autoworker in Michigan pressed him about gun rights and Joe melted down and challenged the much younger and stronger autoworker to a fight.
This should have been an easy win for the Democrats. The media is fully on-board with them, Trump has very high negatives and an enthusiastic opposition base. Demographics are working in their favor. Trump had the economy to run on but little else. Now? Trump is looking hard to beat and the Democrats are going to offer up Joe Biden to get mauled by Trump on stage? Orange Man Bad isn’t going to be enough at this point to carry any candidate, they will have to make a case on their own to replace Trump and Biden can’t make the case. He probably has a lot of trouble controlling his bowels, much less commanding the stage in a debate.
The DNC is willing and able to kneecap just about anyone. With more and more party insiders realizing this thing is slipping away from them, look for the knives to come out. Maybe it will be a sexual assault allegation or maybe Biden will just drop dead from old age but whatever the method, it is growing more likely that the Dems replace him before the campaign season really kicks into gear.