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Until last Sunday, the 2024 election wasn't just a campaign between a distinctly old man making uncalled-for mistakes and his opponent. It was between two distinctly old men, both making uncalled-for errors, and of the two, the one making the most disastrous errors (not just in language but in preparing the future for the rest of us) was, thanks to an assassination attempt on him, offered a free pass to the Republican convention. Who cares that, at a recent rally of his, he said things like "everybody has a water spot, where water comes out" and went on "nonsensical rants about whether it would be better to be electrocuted or attacked by a shark." And yet give him credit. Though in recent years he could never seem to stop talking, in the wake of President Biden's disastrous debate with him (no matter that he himself offered a nozzle full of errors, misstatements, and god knows what else that night), he kept his mouth remarkably shut for days on end and let the Democratic Party beat itself to" well, now that President Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 race, let's hope it's not death.
Certainly, Joe Biden had his problems. I'm thinking, of course, about the president who only recently called Ukrainian President Zelensky, "President Putin," while introducing him at a NATO conference in Washington, and briefly labeled his own vice president, Kamala Harris, "Vice President Trump." And that, for sure, was anything but pretty, but at least he's now left the race and we don't have to face the possibility of an 86-year-old president. But even a president who would leave office at 82 is -- let this 80-year-old assure you -- simply not a good bet.
In the meantime, while the Republican Party has, with the rarest of exceptions, become totally Trumpified, the Democratic Party suddenly faces a new world of sorts and it's not exactly in great shape, as TomDispatch regular Norman Solomon, who has had long-term up-close-and-personal connections to that party, makes clear. No one, of course, can faintly know how all of this or, given Biden's decision, election 2024 will turn out, but if you're not worried, believe me, you should be. Tom
The Democratic Party's Culture of Loyalty
How an Ethos of Compliance Made the Biden Debacle Possible
The Biden campaign drove the Democratic Party into a ditch and speculation is rampant about grim prospects for the election. But little scrutiny has gone into examining how such a dire situation developed in the first place.
Joe Biden was on a collision course with reality long before his abysmal debate performance led to his withdrawal from the race. "Several current and former officials and others who encountered him behind closed doors noticed that he increasingly appeared confused or listless, or would lose the thread of conversations," the New York Times reported five days after the debate. Some had noticed the glaring problem months earlier but kept quiet.
A culture of dubious loyalty festered far beyond the Biden White House. It encompassed Democratic leaders at the Capitol and across the country, as well as countless allied organizations and individuals. The routine was to pretend that Biden's obvious cognitive deficits didn't exist or didn't really matter.
Because his mental impairment was so apparent to debate viewers, some notable Democratic dissenters in Congress stepped up to oppose his renomination. But for weeks, relatively few colleagues followed the lead of Texas Representative Lloyd Doggett, who broke the congressional ice by calling for Biden to "make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw."
Heads in the Sand
Acuity came from Julia'n Castro, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration, who kept up a barrage of cogent tweets. One message referred to Biden's "unique political liability" and warned: "It's not going to get any better -- and has a high risk of scrambling the race again, sealing Dems fate. Burying our heads in the sand won't assuage voters concerns, which have been painfully obvious for years."
A literal heads-in-the-sand photo was at the top of a full-page print ad that the Don't Run Joe team at RootsAction.org (where I'm national director) placed in The Hill a year and a half ago. Headlined "An Open Letter to Democrats in the House and Senate," it said: "Many of your colleagues, and maybe you, are expressing public enthusiasm for another Biden presidential campaign in on-the-record quotes to journalists -- while privately voicing trepidation. This widespread gap ill serves the party or the nation" There are ample indications that having Joe Biden at the top of ballots across the country in autumn 2024 would bring enormous political vulnerabilities for the ticket and for down-ballot races. No amount of spin can change key realities."
But the spin never stopped and, in fact, went into high gear this summer with Biden trying to make his candidacy a fait accompli. Meanwhile, the culture of loyalty kept a grip on the delegates who'll be heading to Chicago in mid-August for the Democratic National Convention. As the second week of July began, CNN reported that "a host of party leaders and rank-and-file members selected to formally nominate Biden said they were loath to consider any other option." A delegate from Florida put it this way: "There is no plan B. The president is the nominee. And that's where I and everyone that I've been talking to stands -- until and unless he says otherwise."
The lure of going along to get along with high-ranking officials is part of the Democratic Party's dominant political culture. I saw such dynamics up close, countless times, during my 10 years as a member of the California Democratic Party's state central committee, and as a delegate to three Democratic National Conventions. I viewed such conformist attitudes with alarm at meetings of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
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