Biden has been heralded for his ‘courageous,’ ‘patriotic,’ and ‘selfless’ act of abandoning a second term in office. What’s troubling is how he was publicly coerced into this agonizing conclusion.
Mike Steinman
| Opinion contributor
Voters share reactions after Biden drops out of the 2024 race
Voters react to President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 race and endorse Kamala Harris.
Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment stated: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” This brief, yet comprehensive admonition, encompasses loyalty and pragmatism. No, blind loyalty is not something to prize, as following without questioning is the norm under totalitarian rule (often for survival). But there are times when loyalty must guide action and words. Such lack of loyalty shamelessly forced out President Joe Biden from seeking a second term as the greatest U.S. president in my 64 years.
Despite the calls for Biden to retreat from the campaign as being practical, such a call is not pragmatic. Calculations were made that Biden could not be reelected in 2024. Such projections were simply premature (as are many projections). In late August 1988, Michael Dukakis held a 17-point lead (if polls were accurate) over George H.W. Bush. There was never a President Dukakis (nor was there a President Thomas Dewey). Bush defeated Dukakis by 10%, thus demonstrating a 27-point turnaround by Bush.
Did panic, which is often irrational, set in toward Biden’s prospects? Does a perception snowball into a mythological inevitability? Yes, Biden should be praised for his prolific record of accomplishments plus initiatives that were thwarted at times (reference Donald Trump’s transparent plea to halt bipartisan legislation on immigration reform). Biden also has been heralded for his “courageous,” “patriotic,” and “selfless” act of abandoning a second term in office. No doubt these adjectives apply, but what is troubling is not the ultimate decision Biden made, but how Biden was publicly coerced into coming to his agonizing conclusion.
Biden admitted he had as bad a debate as can be imagined. Purposely, I did not want to use the term “performance” as, superficially, the debate was viewed as pageantry. Yes, it was one bad night − as shown, the worst time to have the worst articulation in Biden’s political career. In fact, following the debate, former President Barack Obama said that he had a poor “performance” when debating Mitt Romney in the first debate of 2012. More importantly, Obama reminded the nation that it was one night, and he rebounded. Obama asked for the same patience for President Biden.
But then again, the cover of the book often cancels out the content. Witness snubs about the incumbent Reagan’s first debate against Walter Mondale. Some mispronunciations by President George W. Bush. Falls by President Gerald Ford. President Jimmy Carter wearing a cardigan sweater when delivering a television address. What was and is esteemed is style points over substance. Why? It is simplistic, intellectually lazy, and herd-generating.
Then-former President Dwight Eisenhower said of presidential debates: “I have serious doubts about the value of debates in a presidential election. They tend to be a test of reaction time rather than a genuine exposition of the participants’ philosophies and programs.” Weeks leading up to Biden’s exit from the presidential campaign also demonstrates how fickle many people can be and, with such short attention spans, how a herd mentality (also due to media speculation) materializes.
After delivering the State of the Union address in March, Biden was lauded as a superstar and one in good position to be reelected president. Fast forward to June, and many of these same “supporters” turned against Biden and pushed for him to drop out of the race. Yes, this was Biden’s decision, but the onslaught of negative media coverage and politicians jumping ship undoubtedly pushed Biden beyond the precipice. Herd mentality is momentary, trendy and appealing for a short time until there is time for reflection. This is particularly exposed in young people who often cannot look beyond one year past for historical reference and crave immediate gratification.
After the rush to judgment following the debate, a draining of loyalty immediately followed in knee-jerk reaction. Again, simplistic and intellectually lazy. Patience for the president, who has been an exceptional steward for three and a half years, quickly vanished. There were some loyal stalwarts who backed Biden until his departure from the campaign, but many congressional members threw him to the wolves. Of note is that many of these members were quite young with nowhere near the experience of Biden or party elders.
Will this same fate await Vice President Kamala Harris? I hope not.
This brings us to the question if ageism played a role in Biden’s reelection collapse. Those accused of ageism (still prevalent in the workplace) will recoil at such a label, but from the media barrage of the over-used word “old” to the stereotypes associated with aging, there is much evidence that ageism has played a role in crippling Biden’s credibility. A little grey (silver on Biden’s head) comes with wisdom, something overly ambitious people who knock aging cannot understand. From exaggerated caricatures of the elderly to a CNN anchor jokingly saying to the older viewer to “turn up your hearing aid” as there will be a report on Kamala Harris being embraced by TikTok and other social media tools, reveals the misperceptions of anyone who is not “hip” to the trends (at lightning speed) of the day.
To a great extent, this behavior is endemic to the title of former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse’s book, “The Vanishing American Adult.” The problem that was plaguing Biden was more from the Democratic Party imploding than the damage Republicans were attempting with their assaults. But many Democrats have historically engaged in in-fighting in contrast to the more disciplined Republicans. Particularly, this is seen in many young voters (true, I am engaging in this reverse ageism). Young voters threatened not to vote for Biden nor Trump, but simply abstain from voting. This goes to the mantra “Biden or the couch.”
In the summer of 2016, I met a young woman in an art museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was wearing a “Bernie” shirt (for Sen. Bernie Sanders). I asked her if she was going to vote in the general election for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. She told me she was upset that Sanders did not get the Democratic nomination, and that she would either not vote or vote for Trump. Here was a young voter, of which young voters are not the most reliable for turning out for an election, who was willing to spite the party she supported and vote, not for Trump out of support, but against Clinton based on petty retribution. The young Democrats of today were staging the same revolt.
Ultimately, this comes down to a herd mentality of blind following. As one person steps on the dance floor to urge the ouster of Biden, others enter that floor en masse. The media, with its speculation before “the body was even cold” added to this stampede, as the speculation made for exciting reality television (the media needs something exciting until the next Super Bowl). This herd mentality is expressed in the following quote by Niccolo Machiavelli: “Men almost always walk in the paths beaten by others and carry on their affairs by imitating.”
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With all my heart I hope Harris defeats the Republican presidential nominee convicted on 34 felony counts and found civilly liable for sexually accosting (or assaulting) a woman. I hope that Harris defeats the man who cowardly inspired savages to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and continues to malign all stripes of people with the ugliest language. This is my hope, but I am far from optimistic, as Republicans historically adhere to Reagan’s 11th Commandment. Democrats, unfortunately, have historically panicked and self-destructed.
For the time being, Democrats seem coalesced around the vice president, but hopefully the unprecedented enthusiasm is not transitory. As I potentially watch the doom that awaits this country if Trump once again wins the presidency, I think if the Democrats kept this house-cleaning in house and fully backed Biden, with his ground game and delegates in place, there would have been a chance of Biden beating Trump.
My only happy reflection is that I am glad I am an independent voter (where is the late Joe Lieberman when we need him) and do not ascribe to either major party.
Mike Steinman lives in Covington and is the vice chair of the Covington Human Rights Commission. He served as an assistant press secretary on the general election campaigns in California for Al Gore and Michael Dukakis, as well as press secretary for two legislators in Sacramento, California.
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Publish date : 2024-08-07 05:26:00
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