Puppet Realisations: Biden Stands Aside

Having been endorsed as the only viable candidate to battle Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential elections, Joe Biden was subsequently browbeaten and harried into leaving the way open for another candidate. It involved some movement of political furniture, but nothing more.

The process resulting in Biden’s decision had increasingly bulked over the last two months. With each day, another Democratic figure would come out to suggest he pass the torch to another appropriate appointee of the establishment. Whispers became roars. Former President Barack Obama, whose deputy Biden had been, also joined the camp of dissent. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likewise.

With the announcement made, tedious commentary claimed it was a “shock”. What was shocking was the lengthy pondering from Democratic Party hacks and plotters that Biden had the reserves to carry off a campaign that would lead to another electoral victory. In doing so, the president was understandably gulled by the false assumption that he had the support that mattered. For a moment, the puppet had forgotten his various masters, the strings loosened, the fantasy in reach.

Confidence in his own indomitability was seemingly shattered by the June 27 presidential debate with Trump. But even then, he remained obstinate, his sense of delusion brimming. On July 7, Biden declared that the only force that would convince him to stand aside was the “Lord Almighty”. Subsequent interviews revised such a celestial standard by suggesting that matters of health or a sharp decline in the polls could also play a part.

A letter to Democrat lawmakers sent on July 8 had one purpose in mind: snuffing a movement that had begun gaining momentum. “I can respond to all of this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump.” In a heavily coloured account, he suggested that his position as a presumptive nominee had never been in doubt. “Only three people chose to challenge me. One fared so badly that he left the primaries to run as an independent. Another attacked me for being too old and was soundly defeated.”

To challenge his standing, imputed Biden, was to effectively ignore the rank-and-file of the party, suggesting a crude disenfranchisement. This was a gloriously rich assertion, given that presidential nominations have far more to do with corporate, unelected donor interests and stratagems conducted out of public view than they do with the average voting citizen.

The view was also patently deceptive, given that rival contenders were not allowed onto the ballot in certain states (take Wisconsin and North Carolina as examples) or permitted to face a proper primary process. Ironically enough, attitudes among the average voter Biden waxes lyrical over were already hardening in favour of an alternative candidate in polls conducted last year. In April 2023, an Associated Press/NORC poll found from a sampling of 1,230 US adults that 73% would prefer he not run again, with age being a critical factor.

It has been left to the Democratic establishment to maintain the illusion of presumptive nomination right to the point the decision was made to scupper the whole effort. Indeed, much of the Biden presidency has been stage managed, heavily padded and often choreographed to repel journalistic scrutiny of conduct and policy. The New York Times even went so far as to find this hermetic capsuling “troubling”, given that the president had “so actively and effectively avoided questions from independent journalists during his term.” By the end of June this year, the paper’s editorial board had openly endorsed the Joe Must Go viewpoint.

In a call-in to MSNBC’s Morning Joe after sending his letter of defiance, the president made no secret of his disdain for various party operatives who had begun to doubt his mettle. The measure was theatrical, given that those same operatives have been his prop and stay. Resorting to a tactic he has previously deployed, he scorned the unnamed elites who knew little about the true inclinations of the Democratic voter. Amidst his rambling answers to program hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, his agitation was clear enough: “I’m getting so frustrated by the elites – now I’m not talking about you guys – the elites in the party, ‘Oh they know so much more.’ Any of these guys that don’t think I should run, run against me. Announce for president, challenge me at the convention.”

A few days later, Biden’s performance at the NATO Washington summit produced sharp intakes of breath when introducing the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky as Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He also managed to mangle his Vice President, confusing Kamala Harris with Trump. The elites proved increasingly disgruntled. With the donor based now in open revolt, threatening withdrawal of support, the decision was a foregone one. Pity they are not willing to step aside as well.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University.

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