June is over, but every month is different in American politics. Pride month. Washington, Joe Biden is angrily refusing to step down, dashing the dreams of any cantankerous but weak politicians and pundits who really thought Washington, DC, functioned like a season of Aaron Sorkin’s “The West Wing.” And about 800 miles away in Milwaukee, former President Donald Trump’s campaign has effectively overwhelmed grassroots activists, breaking with convention and precedent to craft policies in keeping with the Republican candidate’s image.
But first, the Democratic Party. For four years, the party had contained Biden’s clearly deteriorating mental health with winks, nods and blacklists. His debate performance put an end to it, but to what end? Biden remained on his feet after the bullet smoke cleared, calling his favorite, “Morning Joe,” to blast his critics and boldly promise to keep the campaign going.
The past two weeks have shown no signs of any sudden honesty in the reporting, but instead a sense of panic that Donald Trump might win.
The president told George Stephanopoulos that only God himself could remove Biden from the Oval Office, and failing that, Biden’s arrogance would keep him firmly in his position.
While Democrats from critical battleground states held tearful closed-door meetings, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Dynamo, N.Y.) publicly endorsed the president, along with his New York colleague and left-leaning Squad Leader Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Meanwhile, the president held a video call with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who have held key chair positions under Biden and enjoyed access to the White House, pledged their loyalty and warned that black voters do not want the slate to change.
Conservative commentators who predicted quick firings were right to point to the Democrats’ determination to win at all costs, but they forgot that there was no special genius behind their brutality. The Democrats display a will to power rare in American politics, but that power is not concentrated in the editorial board of The New York Times, or the morning show hosts in Washington, or the Obamas on Martha’s Vineyard. And a great deal of it is in the White House.
That doesn’t solve Biden’s problems, though. His mental decline will be irreversible, one wrong move will leave him more damaged than he was before the June debate, a forceful teleprompter read at the NATO meeting in Washington will likely do more to soften than heal, and leaks from concerned world leaders years ago will take on new weight in this media environment.
But Biden’s chances of survival are obviously higher today than they were on Sunday. Memos have been circulating saying Biden has no intention of walking off the stage, which could mean more intraparty fighting that Republicans will use to their advantage. That could shut people up quickly.
It’s important to remember that the past two weeks have not seen the reporting suddenly become more honest, but rather revealed panic that Donald Trump might win.
If Biden can get through the first week of Democratic elected officials chasing him down the hallways for comments, he’ll have a week off while the Republicans meet in Wisconsin, then just a week and a half of Congress in session before the long August recess and the Democratic National Convention, and then he’ll be the nominee.
Speaking of conventions, there’s a bit of pride going on in Milwaukee, too. Republican representatives will fly in on Sunday for the quadrennial meeting to form committees and subcommittees, propose amendments, vote and finalize the party’s platform.
But this time, I didn’t do that.
There were no press, no activists, no subcommittees, no amendments. Delegates were handed a shiny party platform, entertained with speakers and multimedia presentations, and then suddenly a motion to approve was put forward, seconded and approved. Upset delegates were told to keep quiet, followed to the bathrooms to stop using their mobile phones, and generally bullied.
At the state level, we’ve seen this happen before: President George W. Bush’s team famously bulldozed the Texas convention in 2008 as a move to cement the president’s legacy. “Congressmen were escorted out of the chamber,” one attendee told The Blaze News. “It was a joke.”
But on the national level, it’s a different story. “This has never happened before,” Gail Ruzicka, president of the Utah platform committee, told reporters on Monday. “They wouldn’t allow any amendments, they wouldn’t allow any debate. They scammed us. That’s how they operate. I spent thousands of dollars to come here and everything they told us was, [do] “That didn’t happen. Nothing happened. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I don’t understand why they did that.”
Another representative confirmed the treatment to Blaze News, adding that it was “unprecedented.”
In the end, the Trump campaign got what it wanted: a watered-down version of life and marriage as part of a broader policy platform that reflects the candidate more than the party activists loyal to him.
And that’s not all. By Tuesday afternoon, rumors were circulating that the most popular Republican governor in the country, Ron DeSantis of Florida, would also not have a speaking role at the convention. “They exert an extraordinary amount of control over their conventions,” one Republican senator aide noted.
It’s all personal. The president is angry at some national pro-life groups, and he’s angry at the disappointing results of the 2022 election. He thinks these groups are partly to blame. He thinks many of them are crooks, and some of them are right. He also doesn’t like DeSantis, whose crimes include challenging Trump for the nomination and winning reelection in his hometown by a historic margin. In other words, these groups have hurt the candidate’s pride.
Sure, he may be right about this slight or that, but stacked against his treatment of delegates, activists, pro-lifers, and other Republicans is a pattern — a pattern that risks turning a pretense of unity into a pretense of strength. Trump is in an advantageous position right now; it would be arrogant and foolish to use that advantage to attack friendly forces.
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In other news
Republicans gear up for Wednesday’s fight
The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on both a bill from Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy that would ban undocumented immigrants from voting and a bill from Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller that would allow men access to women’s sports facilities and restrooms under the Biden administration’s Title IX mandate.
Neither bill will be considered in the U.S. Senate, but both fit neatly into the run-up to a summer election, and Democrats are likely to fall into both traps.
For example, the White House has denounced a bill that would explicitly make it illegal for the millions of people the Biden administration allowed across the border to vote, while arguing that illegal immigrants can’t vote in the first place. Officials say that’s not what’s happening, and they don’t want any laws to ensure that it isn’t. This may be good politics for activists, but it’s terrible for voters, who always have immigration at the top of their agenda.
Similarly, bills that would condemn women’s restrooms or men’s participation in sports face united Democratic opposition. What’s even more important about these bills is whether timid Republicans will join Democrats in opposing them.
