Imagine, if you will, a moment in time and space when the Democratic Party is caught between existence and non-existence. That may sound like the introduction to a special edition of The Twilight Zone, but it’s really the summer of 2022 in America. A Democrat occupies the White House, another presides over the House of Representatives and yet another serves as Senate majority leader. Still, it seems as though Democrat leadership is lacking, delinquent, or just absent. Despite an obvious restlessness throughout the country, there exists an almost eerie void within the political heart of America. Where has everybody gone? When will they be back? And how much does the rest of the nation care?
A Democrat Leadership Vacuum?
Did Joe Biden really recover from his recent bout of COVID-19 only to quickly become re-infected? Was it a “rebound” of the virus, or was his earlier negative test a false result? Whatever the case, Mr. Biden is extending his isolation again after another positive test result on July 31. He had already taken to Twitter – or someone had on his behalf – to assure the public he was not experiencing symptoms and was still working. But even though presidents are generally not out and about in public every day, it still feels a little weird that Biden is locked away and is not seen to be governing.
His political future also seems to be in limbo. Polls show that most Democrat voters do not want him to run for a second term and even one of his most reliable media cheerleaders, Washington, DC’s famously left-leaning newspaper, published an opinion piece in which various pundits weighed in on who should, or could, replace Mr. Biden on the 2024 ticket.
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi is, for some unclear reason, flying around the Far East. An environmentally conscious politician would have scheduled a bunch of video conferences, rather than jetting off to the other side of the globe and contributing handsomely to the world’s alleged carbon emissions problem. The big question for everyone right now is, will Pelosi go to Taiwan? The Chinese are angered by the prospect, with at least one Chinese media personality suggesting his government could have her plane shot down. If she does not visit, however, then it would appear the United States government has allowed China to dictate US foreign policy.
Kamala Harris also appears to be doing little more than sitting at a table wearing a blue suit. Apparently, this detail was important enough for her to point out at the beginning of a recent event. Confusion was avoided, though, because everyone could see it was Harris, and not the table, wearing the blue suit. She does not appear to be doing much of anything else, at the moment – which has been the hallmark of her time as Biden’s vice president.
Manchin’s Midterm Indifference
As if to give the nod to this decidedly lackluster Democrat leadership, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) could not even bring himself to express a hope that his party will retain control of Congress in 2023. NBC’s Chuck Todd asked him about the upcoming midterm elections, and he gave a wonderful politician’s evasive answer:
“I’m not making those choices or decisions on that. I’m going to work with whatever I have. I’ve always said that. I think the Democrats have great candidates that are running. They’re good people I’ve worked with. And I have a tremendous amount of respect and friendship with my Republican colleagues. So, I can work on either side very easily.”
Joe Manchin (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Manchin has been verbally smacked around by some of his colleagues and by Democrat leadership for not toeing the line on certain parts of the majority party’s legislative agenda. Despite becoming the public face of the party’s new Inflation Reduction Act, it would seem he really doesn’t care whether Democrats remain at the wheel or not. In fact, it might be unfair to say the senator’s answer was evasive; it could have been pretty clear – he was quite prepared to carry on doing what he does even if the Republicans take over.
Historical trends tell us that Democrats are looking at a blowout, come the November elections. The state of the economy must surely factor into what could be a staggering loss of seats in the House – and perhaps even a small net loss in the Senate. So, has the wind gone out of Democrat leadership sails? Is the party flailing about, hoping that the progressive wing’s outrage over recent Supreme Court decisions will pull them through this year’s midterms? Voter enthusiasm is the key to winning elections, and yet there seems to be a noticeable lack of it at the top of the Democratic Party.
