In the space of just a couple of days, both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris made essentially the same gaffe, referring to a coming “Harris Administration” as opposed to a Biden Administration. But are these really gaffes?
Rush Limbaugh astutely opined that the slipups might be intentional to reassure voters skeptical of Biden’s ability to assume the duties of president. So why isn’t President Trump debating Harris, the person who might really hold power in 2021?
Biden currently is fending off allegations that he receives reporter’s questions in advance and reads the answers on teleprompters and note cards. His appearances are infrequent and noticeably short when compared to the frenetic campaign schedule of the incumbent. When he wears a mask, he seems to gasp for air. Even his relaxed schedule seems too much for him, as he often appears tired and lethargic.
Biden’s grasp of world events seems tenuous. He robotically repeats lines about Trump calling white supremacists “very fine people,” and that fallen military servicemen are, “suckers and losers,” despite abundant evidence disproving these smears.
Moreover, Biden is surrounded by a grotesquely subservient press who obviously collaborate with the campaign. Yet all the handling in the world fails to stop Biden from saying stupid things. Practically every brief appearance features a stumble or wackadoodle statement that shows how out of touch he is. Everyone can see it. Yet his committed voters don’t care. Why?
The first and most obvious reason is that Biden is not Trump. Fifty-eight percent of his voters just want a chance to vote against Trump. His crooked grin and “aw shucks” speech style make him appear nonthreatening.
Second, while his supporters clearly imagine him snoring through important presidential meetings, they also envision a team of Washington, D.C. lifers handling the real decision-making. Who is the Biden attorney general? Not William Barr. Who is the secretary of state? Not Mike Pompeo. In their place, mercurial avatars appear to the mind’s eye of the Biden voter. When one asks a Biden voter who will really be running things, that voter will freely admit it won’t be Biden. It will be “grown-ups” we’re assured.
The advantage of this Trojan Horse strategy is that attacks on Biden essentially become meaningless, even when true. His incompetence, low energy, and lack of mental acuity are all completely irrelevant. Joe Biden could fall fast asleep in the middle of the upcoming debate with Trump, and it likely wouldn’t phase his supporters in the least.
Adam Mill’s iron rule of a scandal is that the negative information must change the way a candidate’s supporters think of him in order to cause him to lose support. People will never care about Biden’s infirmities so long as they believe he is surrounded by a stable of stable geniuses.
So Trump should demand a direct debate with Kamala Harris.
Seriously. Harris will run things soon enough in a Biden Administration and her deficiencies are not getting enough attention. Chief among them is the question of whether she will abuse prosecutorial powers for political gain. With the FBI and Department of Justice increasingly politicized, Harris will have powerful tools of oppression at her fingertips.
Biden’s harmlessness is irrelevant. He just doesn’t seem like he has four years in him. The very act of asking for a direct debate between Trump and Harris would showcase this duplicity.
I previously wrote that Biden might not exert 100 days of control over the presidency. Just following the playbook used against Trump, Biden might easily be met at the front door by his own Robert Mueller sent to investigate Chinese influence over the Biden family.
If that’s too slow, we always have the 25th Amendment approach of having him declared mentally unfit. The path has already been blazed. Why wouldn’t they tread it again?
Who will Biden pick for his cabinet? When the “brand” of the candidate essentially is to let the government run itself, this question is highly relevant. Looking at who he has tapped as campaign advisors, some disturbing insights can be drawn.
In foreign policy, Biden has a team of at least 1,000 national security experts spread among 20 working groups. Which among these security experts will be tapped to wield the real policy influence in his administration? That’s impossible to predict because of the vast field of candidates. And that might be the point. It allows the Biden voter to project whatever policy objectives he or she may have onto that faceless avatar she imagines will wield real power in Washington.
Former Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kendall III leads the defense working group. He may be our next Secretary of Defense and he is on record—no joke—for going to war against efficiency in the Pentagon. He is a defender of waste and bloat.
Biden has already signaled that he will tap Beto “hell-yes-we’re-taking-your-AR-15” O’Rourke to lead the coming roundup of privately owned firearms. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who promised to “save” capitalism by remaking it, is being mentioned as a possible secretary of the treasury. Biden also promised to cede the COVID-19 response decisions to the “experts.” This could empower a single unelected bureaucrat with sweeping power while the actual president stands aside.
Pointing out that Joe Biden will not be a strong president actually plays into a major selling point for much of permanent Washington. Many on the Left seek permanent independence of vital executive functions like the Department of Justice. So a weak president is a de facto realization of that goal.
Therefore, the American voter should see at least one, and perhaps three, debates between the real choices being presented to the American people: President Donald Trump and Senator Kamala Harris. So why would Trump waste his time debating Biden? Everyone knows Biden won’t be running things and his handlers have been dreading the confrontation with Trump. Let him off the hook and spare the poor man the humiliation.