Biden Candidacy Would Result in 2nd Trump Term

Vice President Joe Biden being sworn in 2009 ( Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, USN)

I was never sold on former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election bid. I remembered his previous abortive bids and his frequent gaffes. But for a minute I thought that he could rely on his image as an elder statesman and his blue-collar charm to win over voters who want a return to normalcy. But that didn’t last long, the more I see of Biden, the more I’m convinced that if he’s the Democratic candidate, it will result in another term for President Donald Trump.

Here are some of the reasons why Biden would be a disastrous candidate:

The gaffes haven’t gone away. I don’t know if it’s age or Biden’s reputed stuttering problem, but the former vice president still stumbles over his words and gets confused about facts. The presidency is the most stressful job in the world, and the person in that office has to be on top of his game. Also, you can count on the pro-conservative Mainstream Media (MSM) to make a huge issue over this, even though Trump shows obvious signs of mental decline and has at least 10 senior moments a week! The MSM has been beaten over the head with the liberal tag for the last 30 years and in order to counter that, they’ve bent over backward to be fair to conservatives. “They’re nervous about being portrayed as part of the ‘liberal media,’” said media analyst Eric Boehlert in a Salon interview. This has essentially made them pro-conservative. For example, the so-called liberal New York Times allowed reporter Judith Miller to parrot George W. Bush administration propaganda that fueled the Iraq War. The Times was also reluctant to cover Trump’s ties to Russia and played up Hillary Clinton’s health issues and fake scandals. Even today, The Times refuses to call Trump a racist, even though there’s plenty of evidence. If Biden is the Democratic candidate, expect the MSM to pile on with stories about his age and health, even as Trump slurs his words on stage.

I don’t know if it’s age or Biden’s reputed stuttering problem, but the former vice president still stumbles over his words and gets confused about facts. The presidency is the most stressful job in the world, and the person in that office has to be on top of his game. Also, you can count on the pro-conservative Mainstream Media (MSM) to make a huge issue over this, even though Trump shows obvious signs of mental decline and has at least 10 senior moments a week! The MSM has been beaten over the head with the liberal tag for the last 30 years and in order to counter that, they’ve bent over backward to be fair to conservatives. “They’re nervous about being portrayed as part of the ‘liberal media,’” said media analyst Eric Boehlert in a Salon interview. This has essentially made them pro-conservative. For example, the so-called liberal New York Times allowed reporter Judith Miller to parrot George W. Bush administration propaganda that fueled the Iraq War. The Times was also reluctant to cover Trump’s ties to Russia and played up Hillary Clinton’s health issues and fake scandals. Even today, The Times refuses to call Trump a racist, even though there’s plenty of evidence. If Biden is the Democratic candidate, expect the MSM to pile on with stories about his age and health, even as Trump slurs his words on stage. The Hunter Biden issue. Hunter Biden, the vice president’s son, has already been cleared of corruption charges by Ukrainian authorities, but that doesn’t matter. As Hitler said, if you repeat a lie enough times, it becomes the truth. Right-wing media is already flooding the airwaves with Biden corruption stories, even if they’re incorrect. And it’s working, low-information Trump supporters, who haven’t bothered to actually read the story in-depth, already think Joe Biden is guilty of nepotism, and have assailed him at rallies over this issue. Meanwhile, Trump has “Princess” Ivanka and princeling Jared Kushner working in the White House and getting rich of insider deals. Trump sons, Don Jr. and Eric, are also trading off the family name, as they accuse Biden of corruption. I guess projection runs in the family because their dad frequently accuses others of the crimes he’s committing! In addition, The New York Times recently reported that Russian hackers penetrated Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company where Hunter Biden worked, looking for information they can turn into propaganda. This is the same strategy they used in 2016 on the DNC.

Hunter Biden, the vice president’s son, has already been cleared of corruption charges by Ukrainian authorities, but that doesn’t matter. As Hitler said, if you repeat a lie enough times, it becomes the truth. Right-wing media is already flooding the airwaves with Biden corruption stories, even if they’re incorrect. And it’s working, low-information Trump supporters, who haven’t bothered to actually read the story in-depth, already think Joe Biden is guilty of nepotism, and have assailed him at rallies over this issue. Meanwhile, Trump has “Princess” Ivanka and princeling Jared Kushner working in the White House and getting rich of insider deals. Trump sons, Don Jr. and Eric, are also trading off the family name, as they accuse Biden of corruption. I guess projection runs in the family because their dad frequently accuses others of the crimes he’s committing! In addition, The New York Times recently reported that Russian hackers penetrated Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company where Hunter Biden worked, looking for information they can turn into propaganda. This is the same strategy they used in 2016 on the DNC. Centrism is going out of fashion among Democratic voters. Biden’s centrism is going to be a problem. He has a spotty record when it comes to voting on progressive issues. He’s said he could work with segregationists, supported a bill that exempted college loans from bankruptcy and has stated that he wants to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans. That’s not what Democratic voters want to hear right now. Biden is clueless if he thinks that he’s going to work with Republicans, who have now become the Trump party. These are people who have aligned with Trump and his Russian overlord Vladimir Putin. Before Biden says he can work with GOPers, the sane ones need to win the civil war and defeat the fascists and neo-Nazis in the party. And right now, that’s not happening. Democratic voters don’t want a candidate to reach across the aisle if the people on the other side are insane! Also, one of the complaints about Hillary Clinton, and even Barack Obama, is their middle-of-the-road politics made them come off as “Republican-lite.” Many Democratic voters stayed home in 2016 because they felt the Democratic party has moved so far to the right, it had abandoned blue-collar voters and progressive ideals.

In spite of all these flaws, there are some Democrats who still think Biden can beat Trump. Surprisingly enough, black voters are still in his corner. According to a Washington Post poll, Biden has 48 percent support among black voters. Maybe this residual affinity comes from Biden’s closeness to Obama. Many black voters don’t think that a minority candidate, or a woman, can beat Trump, and we need an old, white man to defeat an old, white man. I find myself in that corner. Trump’s election was a backlash to the election of Obama. And Hillary’s candidacy showed that sexism was still alive and potent in 21st century America. Warren will face those issues too.

So who does that leave, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg or the two billionaires Tom Steyer and Mike Bloomberg? (It’s just a matter of time before Andrew Yang drops out.) Each of those candidates has their own issues and a well-publicized fight seems to have broken out between Warren and Sanders. As much as I don’t want to believe it, Trump could win again in 2020.