Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden makes a point during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and WMUR-TV at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Fox News’ Laura Ingraham sent colleague Raymond Arroyo to Joe Biden’s Super Tuesday Eve rally in Dallas, Texas to speak to his supporters.

“There are a lot of stories emerging about the mental acuity of Joe Biden. People are worried about his recall, the slippage of facts. Does that concern you in a debate situation?” inquired Arroyo.

One supporter replied, “Yes, it does.”

Arroyo asked, “What particularly?”

“Everything.”

Another said he didn’t think the slip-ups mattered. “I think where he stands in his heart and in his mind and who he surrounds himself with, is going to make the difference.”

Whom he surrounds himself with is the scariest part of all because Biden’s appointees will be running the country. All of the candidates who had no chance of winning the Democratic nomination, including Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke, will suddenly be making important decisions with far reaching consequences. These unelected officials will hold the real power, especially as Biden’s condition deteriorates.

Here are some of the other replies.

I wish he was younger, but he’s the best we got. I am concerned about it so far as a debate performance, going up against the other side with Trump, but like the gentleman before me said, I’ll take that any day of the week compared to the vile man who sits in the White House right now. We volunteered for him in 2008. And I see no difference between now and then. (Really?) If we’re going to talk about a few gaffes here and there, let’s talk about President tongue-tied that we currently have. A little bit. It’s one of the reasons I couldn’t vote with my conscience for Joe Biden. I don’t want to worry about mental issues. We already have mental issues in the White House. (Why is she attending the rally?) Absolutely. When he’s getting softballs thrown at him, and he can’t answer the question, it’s getting rougher. The hard times haven’t even started. He needs to get some rest.

Okay, these were Biden’s supporters.

Arroyo estimated there were 700 to 800 attendees. Describing the scene to Ingraham, he said, “There’s almost a defeatism in the air that he’s their only hope, so they’ve got to keep going with this. The feeling here is odd. There’s not the excitement or the drama of a Trump rally, for instance, or even a Bernie Sanders rally. It has the feeling of the Bob Dole campaign without the war hero.”

Ingraham mentioned that Beto O’Rourke had shown up to endorse Biden to which Arroyo responded, “It’s like a reunion of the also-rans.”

Over the weekend, CNN’s Van Jones said that Biden, as the former vice president of a successful two-term president, “Obama’s guy. He should just be sucking in money. He’s broke. That shows there’s a lack of enthusiasm, not just at the grass roots level where he needed it, but also at the top. He’s not filling stadiums like Bernie Sanders…”

Is it possible for a candidate, who is at best lackluster, to win the nomination? Sure, the Republicans nominated Bob Dole and Mitt Romney, and the Democrats nominated Al Gore and John Kerry. And dull nominees have gone on to win the presidency. George H.W. Bush was highly qualified, but he wasn’t exactly a firebrand. Nor was Jimmy Carter.

Especially when there is an exciting alternative like Bernie Sanders.

But what about a candidate who is clearly in the early stages of decline? I wouldn’t think so, but several of the voters Arroyo spoke to appeared to be in denial about Biden’s condition.

In a fair world, Bernie Sanders would probably run away with the nomination. If the Democratic establishment prevails in their campaign to keep this prize out of Sanders’ grasp, would his deeply disappointed supporters ultimately rally around Biden? I’m sure that the answer for his most dedicated followers would be no. For others, who would prefer Genghis Khan in the White House rather than Donald Trump, the answer is yes.

Arroyo asked Biden supporters if they would vote for Bernie if Biden loses the nomination and the responses were mixed. Some would. Others would stay home.

Fox News’ Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic political analyst, downplayed Biden’s chances on Monday. She wrote that, “Everyone loves a comeback story. Joe Biden finally won something in a presidential race, third try, and I’m glad he had that day. But I think we’re about to learn this is all about math. This is not about ideology or anything else. This is a math problem. … It’s a numbers game and the numbers are decidedly in Bernie Sanders’ favor.”

FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver, a statistician who analyzes elections, wrote that the odds of a brokered convention increased from 59% to 64% following Biden’s unexpected blow-out win in South Carolina. We’ll have a much clearer picture once the Super Tuesday results are in. Fourteen states (plus American Samoa) with (1,357 pledged delegates, 34 percent of the nationwide total) will hold primaries today.



MBA, former financial consultant, options trader

Mom of three grown children, grandmother

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Writer at RedStateMBA, former financial consultant, options traderMom of three grown children, grandmotherEmail Elizabeth at [email protected] Read more by Elizabeth Vaughn