OPINION

Brandon Campaigned for a Dem in Trouble and It Didn't Go Very Well

Larry O'Connor
Larry O'Connor  |  Feb 11, 2022
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

President Joseph Robinette Biden - "Brandon," to you and me - left his pretend West Wing video set and ventured about 50 miles south into newly Republican-run Virginia to campaign for Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) yesterday. 

It's possible Brandon won't be heading down to Fredricksburg any time soon. 

First, let's recall the last time "Mr. Under 40%" ventured into The Old Dominion. It was the last week of October 2021. Just one week before the gubernatorial election. He was brought in to seal the deal for Terry McAuliffe. 

After all, he had just won Virginia one year before by ten points. Mr. Popularity would be the perfect guy to make the closing argument for his buddy-ole-pal Terry. 

If you weren't paying attention, Biden didn't really move the needle... unless he moved it in the wrong direction. That ten-point margin for Democrats from 2020 turned into a two-point advantage for Glenn Youngkin and Republicans. McAuliffe, Brandon, and his policies moved the state electorate by 12 points. 

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Twelve points. 

The failed campaign appearance with McAuliffe occurred just a couple of weeks after McAuliffe asserted that he was in trouble partly because Brandon was so unpopular in Virginia. 

Did Terry think Biden gained in popularity in 21 days? More importantly, did Spanberger think Biden gained popularity in the past three months? 

Let's see how the campaign appearance went, shall we? 

First, Brandon addresses rising inflationary prices as this campaign event happened to coincide with another inflation report showing a rise of yet another 7.5%. 

Here's the Biden/Harris/Spanberger solution: 

Look, again, slight digression: Inflation is up.  It’s up.  And coming from a family when the price of gas went up, you felt it in the household, you knew what it was like, it matters. 

But the fact is that, if we’re able to do the things I’m talking about here, it’ll bring down the costs for average families.  It’ll bring down the costs for average families.  I don’t know why they keep moving all that, but the fact is: They keep down the costs for average families.

"I have no idea why prices keep going up, but if you only pass this multi-trillion dollar government spending spree, prices will go down. Even though I admit I have no idea why they're going up... but I'm pretty sure it's not related to all the taxing and government/deficit spending. Got it, pal?" - not a direct quote but could very well be. 

Next, Brandon addressed gas prices. 

In December, the Biden Energy Department assured us that gas prices would drop to $3.01 per gallon by January. Here's the proof. 

The actual national average is $3.48 per gallon as of Feb 11. Missed it by that much. 

Biden promises he's gonna fix it, though. Here he is... campaigning for Abigail Spanberger... incoherently rambling about gas prices. 

I’m going to work like the devil to bring gas prices down, which I’m going to — I’m working to make sure that we keep strengthening the supply chains to bring the cost of energy and everything else and the goods that come to America down by helping the ports 24/7, by changing a whole range of things that —

(It was at this point even the transcriber at the White House couldn't figure out what Brandon was saying, so they gave up and moved on to his next thought.) 

Maybe it's me, but if we were still energy independent like we were under President Trump, maybe a supply chain crisis and problems at our ports wouldn't have any impact on our gas prices. But that's just me. 

Next, Mr. 80 Million Votes decided to invoke her name in his speech... well... sort of. 

Look, healthcare is part of Abigail — congresswoman — your congresswoman’s background. 

Yup! That's right. He couldn't even remember her name. Or, he couldn't pronounce her name. Or... he had no idea where he was or what he was saying. 

To be fair, Spanberger is not the easiest name to master, I suppose. But these were prepared remarks! Maybe the White House advance team needs to move past writing things down in the English language and instead just cut out big, colorful pictures and paste them on his notes, so he has a chance to say something close to the right thing. 

So, for Spanberger, they could just have a big picture of a can of Spam and a big picture of a hamburger. Then he'd figure it out. Although knowing Brandon, he'd just yell "LUNCH TIME!" and wander back toward Jill, licking his lips. 

At this point, Rep. Spanberger has got to be refreshing her LinkedIn account so that she is properly positioned for her next gig. This 2022 midterm is gonna be awesome.