By Chief
As predicted in this space, Joe Biden is toast. His poll numbers drop every week, his debate performances have been panned; there is no more saving grace. He has nothing left to prove and now national Democrats are sending his campaign a warning he may be embarrassingly defeated in Iowa! You hate to see it. Here is why Quid Pro Joe became a national laughing stock.
First Joe has always tried to maintain a “moderate, I’m one of you image.” He has worked hard to cultivate this blue collar political persona. He is from Scranton. He rode Amtrak. He never allowed Washington to change him. To his credit he carried and acted like a common man. Biden has tried to be the guy one could have a drink with after work and talk local issues. He parlayed this narrative into a 36 year career in D.C. as a Senator. He became known as a foreign policy wonk and when chosen to be Obama’s VP, the people said “OK. Joe is a moderate. He won’t let Obama get to far off course.” In effect, Biden gave Obama the gravitas which the junior Senator lacked in his bid for the White House in 2008. In many ways this image worked just fine for Biden and in truth, if he ran last go round, he may have gotten the nomination (assuming Obama endorses him, over Hillary).
His problems started not long after he left the White House. He tried to mold himself after the cool uncle of yours who let you have an extra soda or extra candy over mom and dad’s objections.
The problem is Father Time is undefeated and Joe has a long history of elected politics. Joe was elected Senator in 1974. This blogger and several new generations of voters were born in 1985 or later! To us, Joe is seen as a try hard; trying to be all things to all people, which is fine, but his record is his own worst enemy! He supported the war in Iraq, then opposed it, then supported it again. He went from being tough on crime and drugs to essentially decriminalizing and legalizing most crimes. His role as Obama’s VP also clouds his record further. It’s hard to claim policy differences when you served in the White House and ran for re-election on the same ticket as Obama. Biden in many ways is a liquid whose beliefs and policies take the shape of which ever mold he is poured into. The bottom line is while he may be trying to impress the younger voters, the older ones know Joe!
Joe Biden announced his presidential run and he figured the field would clear out for him…incorrect. He isn’t the Clintons who are still well liked (mostly due to fear of reaching room temperature) or the Obamas who will be loved forever. In fact, more Democrats jumped into the race because Joe has a penchant for gaffes and has a long political history that isn’t very favorable to him. Bernie is scared of no one, Liz Warren feels she will be the first female president, Sparatacus still thinks Kathleen Blasey Ford is telling the truth about Kavanaugh, Buttiegieg thinks he will be the first gay president, Tom Steyer has $$$ to burn and thinks he can influence the race. No one feels a need to drop out. Worse yet for Biden, those in the Democrat presidential field all view Trump as a failed president who is easily beatable.
Truth be told, Biden should still be the frontrunner, but he cannot get out of his own way! You see the primary is not one filled with moderate voters, so Joe had a small piece of the electoral pie to start with, He tried to tack left, but; Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, Harris, Booker and others have that wing accounted for. Then he tried to outflank everyone and get Obama to endorse him…didn’t happen, I am sure he told the Clintons to stay away, and I guess that worked. Truth is, moderate Joe always could get about 28% in a national poll, and if he stayed free of scandal while the others hammered each other he could have won…then the death knell came.
His son, Hunter, was discovered to be on the board of directors of a Ukrainian Gas company, paying him $50,000 a month. Month….not a year….he makes in one month what the average “middle class” worker makes in a year. The news media tried to provide him cover saying that a Clinton, Romney, and Kerry were on the board as well….then Joe became gaffe prone Joe again. At the most recent debate he addressed the issue saying “neither his son, nor himself did anything wrong” and essentially pulled an Obama in saying, “Move along! Nothing to see here.”
However there was something to see. Joe showed his true colors in a sense; he thumbed his nose at the public, specifically the working types who he tried to emulate. Hunter Biden knows nothing about how a utility operates, try getting on to any company’s board of directors with similar knowledge…it doesn’t happen. This is the real reason his numbers have dropped so bad. Biden likely finishes fourth in Iowa. He showed his whole act was phony from the get go. In the end, he is just another politician trying to advance his and his children’s wealth, not doing what is best for the country.
Unfortunately for Joe, this is a gaffe he can’t come back from.
The Chief