Debate Prep Forgot President’s Throat Lozenge

Who will be on the ballot in November?

Well, that was special.

Seems that President Biden had a slight cold, and lack of a throat lozenge torpedoed his debate performance. At least that was the early reaction from the partisan tribe backing the president. 

How could this debate debacle have happened, why was it a surprise, what else was notable and what happens next?

Recall the work of Special Prosecutor Robert Hur. After documenting evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed sensitive national security information including classified military and foreign policy matters, compromised sensitive intelligence sources and methods and presented serious risks to national security, he declined to recommend prosecution.  Not that Hur thought crimes weren’t committed but because Mr. Biden would "present himself to a jury, as he did during our (Hur’s) interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." So, Hur was probably not surprised. 

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre recently claimed that videos of President Biden’s infirmities are just “cheap fake videos.” The White House is playing to the people who think the moon landing was faked. 

Talking heads and politicos were surprised, or at least acted like it. They quickly joined in with the partisan left in a unified chorus of outrage that the moderators didn’t help Biden by “fact checking” Trump. A reasonable expectation if history is any guide. See Donna Brazile, relaying questions to Clinton campaign, Candy Crowley backstopping Barack Obama.  

Yet, there was no covering for President Biden. After eight straight days of preparation, he tells a whopper out of the gate, when he claimed Trump suggested injecting bleach into arms. Obviously, this was a strategy as Biden fired off multiple rounds of misinformation that are popular with his base. 

Space does not permit an exhaustive list of the lowlights, but Mr. Trump cannot help himself with the superlatives and exaggerations. He reminds voters that he wants this important job and still spews out whatever pops into his head.

Trump asserts that Biden is a Manchurian Candidate with ties to China, instead of just responding to the costs of tariffs. Pointing out that Mr. Biden kept the Trump tariffs in place would have been sufficient. 

With a straightforward question about accepting the 2024 results, Mr. Trump’s initial answers seemed to indicate he would accept the outcome. However, when pushed, his patented butthurt over 2020 roared to the surface. With that momentum, Trump was soon claiming that Nancy Pelosi accepted full blame for the assault on the Capitol Building.

Republicans pre-debate worries were not realized. Handwringing over the fairness of moderators got a lot of airtime. The moderators did play it straight and thank all that is good for the microphone cutoff. 

The claim that Biden would be pumped up on Performance Enhancing Drugs also proved false. If he did ingest the PED’s, they obviously didn’t work, and he should get his money back. 

President Joe Biden at long last admitted that he caused the inflation that is devastating the country. The president offered scant defense of his border disaster and falsely claimed backing from Customs and Border Patrol. Defending the wars and chaos let loose in the world is good for US weapons builders isn’t a winning argument. What he was trying to convey by saying, “We beat Medicare” is a mystery. On the economy Biden said illegal aliens (his term) are good because their presence boosts business activity.  

The learned and patient David Axelrod, after expressing his sense of shock about Biden’s disorientation, offered that there will be discussions on whether he should continue his campaign for re-election. Which naturally means speculation on who the replacement candidate might be. 

So let’s look at the Democratic Party’s bench.  

Could an alienated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. kiss and make up with the DNC, or have party powers already classed him as a wild conspiracy theorist? How about the stifled Dean Phillips, who would have wiped the floor with Trump in the debate? Is Bernie Sanders, who, absent mischief from the DNC, would be finishing his second term, still answering his phone? Then there is the pathetic Gavin Newsom, who obviously wants the job so that he can become one more person fleeing California. Or Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker, who would probably lose his own state. Oft-mentioned Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID policy record wouldn’t withstand fair scrutiny. Which leaves the Democrats with 2% polling Kamala Harris or some surprise candidate. 

All this spells desperation ahead for the Democrats. The universal head banging over Biden’s performance can’t be underestimated. Lawfare is failing.  Former NY Governor and AG Andrew Cuomo said it out loud, i.e., that the charges would not be brought against anyone but Donald Trump and would not have been brought if Trump was not running for president. If the conviction itself was seen as a sham that resulted in huge fundraising for Mr. Trump, imagine the haul from a prison sentence.

With 130 days until November 5^th maybe the Democrats could put together a ticket that voters want? Despite their standing as the duo most lauded of late for helping defeat Donald Trump, a Michael Cohen-Stormy Daniels ticket would likely not get much traction outside of Manhattan. 

Not so fast Republicans. You still have Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. What could go wrong? What type of stream-of-consciousness chatter might an overconfident, gloating Trump provide? Count on Trump to exaggerate Biden’s infirmities to the point people will forget how bad they are. More troubling, Trump will have less incentive to pick a solid, ready-to-lead vice president. 

Last night’s debate is one more confirmation of why 70% of Americans want neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump to be president. When you are losing to “none of the above” it’s probably time to step aside.

More to come. In the meantime, let’s talk to each other. Whichever party you favor, whichever way your political leanings, you’ll find that Americans are better than their political leaders.

Onward.