By Don Schmitz
With 51 million people, I watched the presidential debate, a 30 percent decline from the first Biden-Trump debate in 2020 when 73 million tuned in. Both candidates are a known element to voters, and in every debate cycle both sides claim victory, but not this time. Universally acknowledged, Trump trounced Biden. I watched the CNN post-debate panel in fascination waiting for the spin which was not forthcoming, as in dismay they speculated on what the DNC was going to do to swap out Biden for another candidate. Only Rachel Maddow tried to salvage it speaking about how incumbent presidents historically do poorly in the first debate, comparing it to Obama’s poor performance against Romney.
Obama, a brilliant orator, at his very worst was exponentially better than Biden. Any party faithful observing their candidate do well and defeating their opponent in a solid debate feels exhilarated, and as a Republican I should have been happy with what I observed.
So why did I end up feeling sad and apprehensive? I have always rankled when citizens say “He’s not my president” which I heard a lot about GWB and especially Trump. Biden IS my president, and although he’s been a disaster for America in an unprecedented fashion, he is the commander-in-chief. The mumbling incoherent sentences, the vacuous stares, illustrated for all the world to see that this 81-year-old man is losing his faculties and is not fit for office. For any of us that have been paying attention, this has been increasingly obvious for the last two years, but he has been protected by his handlers and the media, which is largely in the pocket of the DNC. He wanders off aimlessly on stages, tries to shake hands with people that aren’t there, and forgets where he is and what he is talking about. He refuses to take a cognitive test with the party faithful backing him, telling us not to judge him based on our own lying eyes of what we see on camera, because he is “very sharp” in meetings. Few news outlets questioned this ridiculous charade, and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the sad videos “cheap fakes.”
After a week of non-stop preparations, Biden utterly failed by any metric to defend his policies, record, or demonstrate his competency to be president for the next four years, let alone for the next six months. The emperor has no clothes, and although we all should have known it, the party faithful have pretended otherwise, yet they were stunned by this inevitable unmasking.
Americans are busy living their lives, going to school and work, raising their families. They can be forgiven for not paying attention, but I was surprised that the political experts on the CNN panel were shocked by Biden’s condition. Such willful self-delusion is surprising to observe, but when viewed through the radical partisanship that has gripped us, coupled with Trump derangement syndrome of many, I shouldn’t be surprised.
In reaction to the revealing debate a friend wrote “I would vote for Biden if he was a corpse before I would vote for Trump,” and there you have it. The DNC’s problem is that rabid hatred won’t win the White House, and there is open discussion on how to replace Biden. Eighty-two percent believe Biden should drop out, including 55 percent of Democrats. Seventy-two percent of voters believe he is not mentally fit to serve as president.
Watch for pressure from big donors, the Clintons and Obamas for him to withdraw. If he does, it will be a brokered convention in August, with open floor debates and back-room deals. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is fundraising, Gov. Newsom has been running national ads for the last year “just because,” and of course there is the unpopular VP Kamala Harris. Pass the popcorn. Should Biden refuse to step down, the vice president and cabinet could declare he is unable to discharge his duties and she would assume the presidency, as established in the 25th amendment. Biden could fight that, and it takes two-thirds of Congress to agree to remove him, but this would allow Harris to go into the convention as acting president, the Democrats could pivot to her, and she alone would have access to his millions in campaign contributions. All her statements to date, however, have been loyal to Biden.
This discussion of the 25th Amendment sadly centers on political machinations, rather than the good of the country. In 1919, President Wilson suffered an incapacitating stroke, which was covered up by his physician and wife Edith. Astonishingly, she functionally ran the executive branch for the next two years. Biden is increasingly demonstrating old age dementia. Is he qualified to make a snap decision at 3 a.m. if Russia detonates a nuke in Ukraine, or China invades Taiwan? No.