Welcome to Thunderdome. When Joe Biden ran for president, he did the same thing he always does when he does anything: invented an obviously fictional story casting himself as a rescuing hero. In his framing of the situation, he — a lifelong politician who has demonstrated nothing but constant ambition for the White House — was a reluctant candidate pulled from the sidelines by the roaming threat of a dangerous Orange Man and his tiki-torch-carrying supporters in Charlottesville. Biden wasn’t running because he’d been trying to get the job for decades; he had the nobler purpose of healing the soul of the nation.

This was an obvious lie, but it had the virtue of being sufficient for a thousand segments of CNN and MSNBC spin casting Biden as some kind of moral authority instead of the hackish politician he’s been for his entire career. But the moment he was elected, it was clear the hackery would be the name of the game. Instead of an olive branch to the other side or a focus on finding moderate, centrist solutions to lower the temperature in Washington, Biden and his cabinet embarked on some of the most extreme policy decisions — monopartisan through and through — that the country had ever seen. There was no triangulation to be had with the administration. It was their way or being accused of being anti-government foes of democracy, racist radicals no different than the tiki-torch lot.

Well, after three years of that experience with this White House, Republicans and Independent voters have completely tuned them out. There is no effort underway by Biden to pivot toward a general election group. What you would like to see at this point as a smart Democrat is dedicated outreach to the political center, and particularly to the 10-15 percent of Republicans reluctant to support Donald Trump — Nikki Haley voters who are gettable, and Independents who care about crime, inflation and the border. Instead, his tenor, managed by idiots like Karine Jean-Pierre and Jon Meacham, has been that of a pompous emasculated old man rage that is steeped in a deeper leftism than Biden ever displayed in his Senate career. When he dons his aviators with AOC, he’s doing it as someone who essentially occupies the same political position she does — one that is in no way representative of the country.

The problem for the Democratic Party is contained in this picture. Witness the Latino maintenance worker proudly sporting a New York Yankees hat, defending his place of work against an entitled leftist masked youngster who seeks to violently seize this property as an act of political protest and a good way to gain points with the blue hairs — and understand this is Joe Biden’s doing and undoing. He ran as the guy from Scranton when he was actually the guy from the Swamp, and he was happy to deal with the swampiest of progs if their ribbits would get him — an old, out-of-touch white guy — elected in the age of wokeness. He’s scared of the left for a reason. But that’s no justification for doing what he has done, or relinquishing the direction of his office to the fringe of his party.

Today the president finally weighed in on the violent protests taking place at nearly 200 universities across the country, which have forcibly removed students, threatened Jewish students with violence, broken doors and windows and laws, set up encampments and engaged in rampant vandalism. None of this falls under the auspices of free speech, and Biden was correct to say so today. But it’s too little and too late. He’s not about to do anything meaningful to change any of this. The pressure campaign from these protesters has worked — it has pushed the administration to continuously undermine Israel’s ability to defend itself and the widespread endorsement of BDS is now essentially the mainstream position of the Democratic Party. The squad has won the argument thanks to a president unwilling to challenge them on basic aspects of policy. And Americans don’t like it, not one bit. You don’t need to see the numbers on the UNC frat GoFundMe to know that.

Joe Biden ran to heal the nation’s soul and sold his along the way. And that’s why today, he’s losing.

Fixing the debates in 2024

At The Spectator, I wrote on the absolute idiocy of the Commission on Presidential Debates being allowed to have any role in our democratic process. Lest you forget:

In 2020, the Commission on Presidential Debates (average age: recently deceased) engaged in one of the most public displays of misinformation, obfuscation and lying that we have ever seen in the context of an election. When then C-SPAN host Steve Scully was caught tweeting blatantly inappropriate question gathering to Anthony Scaramucci days before a debate he was supposed to moderate, the CPD went into full protection mode. They claimed Scully’s account had been hacked. They defended him as an honorable host. And they also defended the absurd decision to make the presidential debate virtual out of Covid concerns as opposed to rescheduling it.

All these steps were lies or based on lies — and they were advocated for by octogenarian CPD director Frank Fahrenkopf. He went to the hilt defending Scully, proclaimed that the virtual debate was essential for health concerns and repeatedly advocated for the idea that he and only his directorship of fellow decrepit ex-politicians be allowed to determine the format, hosting, broadcasting and so on of presidential debates.

So obviously no one involved in the CPD has any business being involved in the management of debates this time around. What should instead occur is the direct engagement between presidential campaigns and party heads with a hosting entity that can provide the necessary resources to pull off a debate smoothly — whether that be a cable or broadcast network, or more ideally a streaming entity such as YouTube, Amazon, or… hell, why not let Bill Maher host it on Max? Moderators should be considered not on a faux tendency toward centrism but without regard to ideology. There is no question Joe Rogan could moderate a debate more fairly than Jake Tapper, though you might end up with some questions about the Comanche. And a fundamental issue that has to be resolved is whether RFK Jr. is allowed on stage — something that based on poll numbers shouldn’t even be a question, assuming he’s made the ballot in the more than a dozen states where he currently claims to have the requisite number of signatures.

We cannot allow the debate process to continue to be outsourced to a decrepit, corrupt, lying debate commission which does not provide Americans the opportunity to hear from candidates about their views on the most important issues without slanting the direction to the left. The campaigns can negotiate this themselves — and with the plethora of platforms available to them, they can do so in a way that gives voters more access than any of the tired old options.

RFK’s campaign is chaotic but relevant

A WSJ deep dive into the weirdness of a campaign with a candidate who has appeal on both sides, but no background in politics.

As the presidential election was heating up in February, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign made an announcement to staff: Charles Eisenstein, the director of messaging, would spend weeks in Costa Rica, “reconnecting with spirit.” While there, he recorded a podcast interview in which he said some of his boss’s ideas were “actually repugnant” but that Kennedy was still the best candidate.

In recognition of his sojourn in the Central American country, Eisenstein took a pay cut for working less: rather than earning $21,000 a month, he started billing the campaign $14,000. 

The episode highlights the unusual nature of the Kennedy operation, which even by the standards of freewheeling political campaigns stands out for its eclectic mix of characters, poor financial planning and what some staffers describe as a dysfunctional, unprofessional atmosphere.

Kennedy, seventy years old, has surrounded himself with aides and advisors who have little political experience and, in some instances, histories that might have raised eyebrows on other campaigns. Former staffers complained that some top officials are more focused on raising their own profiles than helping the candidate, among other concerns. As a result of the disorder, several people have quit.

“I had felt left behind by both parties and thought someone like RFK could be the answer,” said Kiera Hall, who left the campaign recently and said she doesn’t know whom she will vote for. Kennedy’s campaign was rife with “grifters and opportunists,” she said. “If someone’s going to do that to their campaign, how do I know they won’t do that in their administration?”

One more thing

One thing to think about in the context of 2024 is that no matter who wins, they will be unable to run again — setting up a 2028 contest where everyone will be clambering over each other to try to lead the coalition. On the Democratic side it’s obviously a nascent Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro contest (or maybe John Fetterman? We can dream) — but on the right, it’s less clear what to expect, and Donald Trump’s VP selection may or may not be determinative. He may pick an heir apparent, or he may pick someone who is notably lacking in ambition. But people who are definitely in the running for the 2028 contest include J.D. Vance, Josh Hawley, perhaps another go round from Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley and then there’s Ron. Don’t forget about him — the governor may not have been up for the moment against Trump in 2024, but the facts are: he’s young, he probably learned some good lessons from the experience and he’s going to be a money monster for Republican candidates this fall. DeSantis’s future could even include a Trump cabinet appointment given that they’ve buried the hatchet… Homeland Security certainly wouldn’t hurt.