AoSHQ The Morning Report
June 24 , 2024
The first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is approaching fast, and frankly, I’m still skeptical that it will even take place.In Other News
The mainstream media appears nervous that it will.
For example, MSNBC anchor Alex Wagner lamented last week that Donald Trump will be held to a significantly lower standard than Biden will be in the upcoming debates, and even argued that Biden has to overcome a “structural disadvantage."
"It already feels like the bar that is set for Biden to clear is so much more substantially higher than the one Trump has to clear. Which is literally, ‘Is he alive?’ ‘Is he standing?’ ‘Are there words coming out of his mouth?’" Wagner claimed.
Really? For months now, Trump has been setting a low bar for Joe Biden, saying things like he “can’t put two sentences together.” Senate Republicans told The Hill last month Trump is making a mistake by doing so. "They say Trump risks lowering the floor for Biden to the point that a decent performance, not a superlative one, will help the president,” the report explained. "And they say it’s familiar frustration to them, as Trump also lowered expectations for Biden ahead of the first debate in 2020 — a move that backfired spectacularly."
A favorite parlor game among American political junkies in 2024 is guessing just how and when the Democrats will "help" Joe Biden make a graceful exit from the presidential race. The guy can't walk 10 feet to a podium without committing dozens of mental and physical faux pas along the way, so it isn't a stretch to think that November must seem like a century away to those who have to measure time in Biden years.In Other News
Before I launch into this, I will issue my standard Election 2024 disclaimer. I have no special powers of prognostication when it comes to politics here in the Republic; anything can happen in these acid-trip, topsy-turvy times. My commentary arsenal consists solely of guesses based on 40 years of observation as a political activist.
Regular readers of mine know that I have been swimming upstream against the current of popular "replace Biden" conservative opinion, particularly the idea that Gavin Newsom will somehow be placed atop a unicorn and delivered magically to the ticket. As I've repeatedly written, there are way too many moving parts involved with removing the present vice president of the United States from the board.
Oh, I've heard all the theories; I just don't think any of them are plausible. When most conservatives speculate on what the Democrats might do, they apply conservative thinking to the Dems' motives. They don't realize how committed the Democrats are to celebrating the two diversity checkboxes their double historic first veep filled out for them.