“We want Joe! We want Joe! WE WANT JOE! WE WANT JOE!”
No, you’re not hallucinating, though I’m yet to hear a crowd of 2024-minded Democrats actually yelling these very words in rhythm. But as might be expected, in the aftermath of a federal midterm election where liberal party members were predicted to be swept out of power like an irresistible wave over an unreinforced sand castle at high tide, the fortunes of current president senile Joe Biden have swung somewhat in his favor relative to a few months ago. In this sense, shifting sands are a good thing for the incumbent chief executive.
Despite former President Trump having announced his 2024 run last week, we’re still yet to hear definitive word from Biden himself on whether he will give it another go. With Biden’s approval ratings remaining mired in the low to mid-40s and with little hope of passing much more of his race based fantasy big government “woke” agenda in the next Congress (because Republicans will control the House), the future looks murky indeed for the half-century career Washington DC swamp dweller. Will something else scare him away?
If there is such an occurrence, it isn’t likely to be public opinion polls that provide the fright. In a piece titled “Democrats more enthusiastic about Biden 2024 bid after midterms: Poll”, Tom Howell Jr. reported at The Washington Times:
“Democratic support for President Biden to run in 2024 has surged since the midterm contests, while the share of Republicans who think former President Donald Trump can win again has dipped, a new poll finds.
“A USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll said the share of Democrats who think Mr. Biden could win in 2024 is up to 71%, from 60% who felt that way in August. Exactly three-quarters of Republicans say the same about Mr. Trump, who recently announced a presidential bid from his Florida estate. That’s a better share than within Mr. Biden’s party, but 7 points lower than the 82% of Republicans who were bullish about the ex-president before the midterms.
“The GOP retook the House but did not produce a ‘red wave’ and squandered the chance to regain the Senate. The results put a spring in Mr. Biden‘s step after many pundits predicted doom for his party and his standing as a 2024 candidate, given he just turned 80 years old. Some in the GOP are looking for an alternative to Mr. Trump because some of his hand-picked candidates lost key races. They say he‘s become a drag on the Republican Party.”
So, in essence, senile Joe’s outlook appears rosier than ever after this year’s election and Trump’s prospects suddenly dipped. After all of the establishment media’s and ruling class’s negativity surrounding Trump in the post-vote ballot counting this month, one could easily surmise that the New Yorker joined the political walking dead beginning on November 8. Lots of people expressed opinions in the heat of the moment but the needle seems to be moving back to where it’s been all along.
We’ll have to wait and see if Biden’s own needle normalizes in the coming months. The senile Oval Office occupant could conceivably improve his chances even further with the annual holiday lull and the man’s public appearances at a minimum. Just picture how sprightly Biden will look with Dr. Jill at his side as he lights the White House Christmas tree. I wonder if he’ll be on time this year (he was late to last year’s ceremony, probably because he forgot about it or perhaps had to change his pants at the last moment)? So much for keeping the trains running on schedule, right?
At any rate, Biden’s noticeable leap in public faith for his 2024 reelection run is probably attributable to a couple factors. One, similar to finishing a long-distance race, the participants (in this case, the voters) experienced a euphoric feeling having completed the task without passing out or injuring themselves. For all the nasty and vindictive rancor of this year’s campaign, everyone emerged somewhat unscathed by the results.
Republicans didn’t take the senate, but they “only” lost one open seat and still maintain a comfortable margin to employ the filibuster if Mitch McConnell has the gumption to use it. And the GOP did win more than enough House seats to retire Nancy Pelosi from the top echelon of Democrat leadership. That’s got to smart a little bit for them, doesn’t it? Now “Chucky” Schumer’s going to need to pontificate and lie next to a relative (or completely) unknown face as Minority House leader.
Realize that Pelosi has been around so long (almost twenty years) that she’s the only clearly identifiable face among House Democrat leaders. If a poll were taken on how many Americans recognize Nancy P. vs. her likely successor, Hakeem Jeffries, the difference would be striking. Who the heck knows what Jeffries even looks like?
The second reason Biden’s poll number went up is because he was largely credited by the establishment media with helping Democrats do better than expected this year. And he did so by mimicking his 2020 strategy of staying the heck away from the campaign trail. If Biden has become such a strong presence in Democrat-land, why didn’t many office seekers want to be seen with him just a few weeks ago when pitching their last-minute case for votes?
Biden is still the same mumbling, shuffling, hair-sniffing, shoulders massaging old goat that he always was, but Democrats now have the warm and fuzzies from immense relief that Republicans failed to kick out more liberal incumbents. The status quo was the best they could hope for on Election Day, and though they didn’t get everything they wanted, Democrats came fairly close.
Joe Biden is the commander of the Democrat “army”, so the good feelings project onto him even though he really didn’t do anything to earn them. That’s just the way politics works, especially when the citizenry isn’t well-informed (at least the Democrat half) and intellectual lightweights are more concerned about their Thanksgiving Day guest list than they are about the tanking nature of the economy.
Here's thinking when the holiday break is over, the Republican House is sworn in and the conservative lower chamber majority begins its investigations (including on the border crisis where the R’s will hold hearings right in the epicenter of the problem) that Biden’s numbers will return to their pre-election basement.
Another reason Biden could be enjoying a small post-midterm “bump” is because Democrats have had an opportunity to survey the political landscape for senile Joe’s possible successor and discovered how pathetic and empty the party “bench” happens to be. I would think even the most ardent and loyal of Democrats would concede that Biden isn’t an ideal candidate to represent the party’s new and radical direction, but there just isn’t anyone “fresher” who’s ready to step into the role.
Put another way, if Democrats are presented the choice between another four years of Joe Biden or the likelihood of Kamala Harris taking his place on the ballot and losing – even to Donald Trump – liberals will take doddering Joe any day. Republicans are going through their own deliberations as they weigh whether Trump can wage another political comeback to make a strong case for a second term.
Unlike Democrats, however, Republicans have a number of very attractive candidates waiting just behind the former president – most notably Ron DeSantis – but who would the Democrats accept? Pete Buttigieg (as I’ve wondered before, would liberals really elevate a guy with “Butt” as part of his last name?)? Gavin Newsom? John Fetterman? Beto O’Rourke? Amy Klobuchar? Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren? Bernie Sanders?
Tulsi Gabbard? Oh yeah, the one reasonable “moderate” Democrat from 2020 decided she’d had enough of the hypocrisy and extreme leftism and exited the party.
Democrats see Biden with his multitude of flaws, but there’s no one immediately behind him, and there’s still the generally held belief among them that senile Joe is the best one to take on Trump or whoever the Republicans nominate. It’s still true that Biden has never lost an election, and most conservatives would admit that’s something to fret over. Somehow, Biden’s always overcome his lack of integrity and smarts by presenting himself as an “everyman” who people like.
As far as Trump goes, he’s clearly on another “down” cycle after having resurrected his political career after January 6, 2021, but only a fool – or someone who hasn’t studied his career – would rule out the possibility of another improbable comeback. Because a prominent handful of Trump’s handpicked candidates came up short two weeks ago, a heap of blame has been foisted on his weather-beaten shoulders.
If each race were studied individually, it might not be the case. Take, for example, the fact that Trump-basher Liz Cheney endorsed Democrat Katie Hobbs in Arizona against conservative firebrand Kari Lake. Should Lake end up losing the race, should credit realistically go to Cheney for swaying thousands of votes? Hardly. The credit/blame game goes two ways.
2024 is still a long, long way off and it’s impossible to tell today what voters will find most important when they vote in their individual state primaries in early 2024. It appears unlikely that polls taken in late 2022 will accurately reflect the voters’ choices a year and a half (or slightly less) from now. Joe Biden can enjoy his recent increase in Democrat support, but will it endure?
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