Someone set off a fire alarm in the House of Representatives on July 2, and for once, it wasn't outgoing Rep Jamaal Bowman (D-NY). Texas Democrat Lloyd Doggett Is the first elected office-holder from his party to call on Joe Biden to step aside and let someone else challenge Donald Trump in November. For months, rumors and speculation have swirled that Democrats would replace Biden before the election. But after the current White House incumbent’s failure to launch – or even locate the launchpad – during the first, and perhaps the only, 2024 presidential debate, most of the chief executive’s party has gone into full doomsday mode. Nevertheless, White House staff and a handful of possibly delusional senior Democrats continue to wave their arms about, yelling, move along, nothing to see here.
For his part, Joe Biden is determined to stay the course, to hold the line, and to boldly go where no 81-year-old has gone before. At least that's what we've been told. Is it possible that the poor old guy has been given his marching orders by his wife, Jill Biden – sorry, Dr. Jill Biden – who may be reluctant to turn her back on another four years of living like royalty as the First Lady? There's no knowing for sure, but in 2024 America, anything's possible.
Still, as Liberty Nation’s senior political analyst, Tim Donner, reported, White House heavyweight Ron Klain insists that Biden is “100% certain” to stay in the race.
To Save Democracy, Joe Biden Must Go
So, what exactly did Rep. Doggett have to say about prospects for the November election? He showed that he was a man of deep rational thought and not at all given to hyperbole or over-dramatization. "Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang," Doggett wrote in a statement, presumably with a straight face. A lot of people out there would contend that the takeover of which he speaks took place three-and-a-half years ago – but that's a whole other story. Doggett continued:
"My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved. Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden's first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.”
There’s a long-running joke among conservatives that Trump is living rent-free in Democrats’ heads. No surprise, then, that this call for Joe Biden to stand down was mostly about Trump, rather than the increasingly obvious reality that Biden himself appears neither mentally nor physically capable of serving another four years in the Oval Office – or even another four months, for that matter.
A Fear Campaign?
Jared Golden, a Democratic representative from Maine, had a slightly different take on matters. Seen as something of a moderate, Golden wrote in a July 2 op-ed that the disastrous performance he saw from Joe Biden at the debate did not surprise him. He also wrote something that, coming from a Democrat, seemed so unlikely that perhaps Donald Trump's critics are right, and the world really is about to end. “While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.”
Just moments before Hell froze over, Golden had the time to level Joe Biden and Trump's critics with a dose of reality. “Unlike Biden and many others, I refuse to participate in a campaign to scare voters with the idea that Trump will end our democratic system.” Conservatives might do well to note that there is at least one Democrat out there who retains the capability for occasional rational thought on this issue.
It's quite the quandary, now. On the one hand, Rep. Doggett seems to have hit upon the ideal narrative For Democrats concerned - whether they would publicly admit it or not – for Biden's health, stamina, and mental acuity: That Joe Biden must step aside because the most important thing is saving the country from Trump the Terrible, and that is bigger than any one man – well, obviously not bigger than Trump, but bigger than any other one man. On the other hand, Biden himself has told the country that he is the only one who can save it. The party faithful echoed this line almost to a man, right up until that fateful debate performance. It's coming down to the wire, though, and how many more elected Democrats will follow Doggett into the breach over the coming days and weeks will be interesting to find out. It may be time for Trump supporters to break out the popcorn.
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