Everyone in the Democratic Party can feel the ship sinking into the sea. Barring another GOP legislative blunder, the 2022 midterms are bound to be a nightmare for Democrats. We all know Joe Biden’s approval numbers are a dumpster fire. Numerous Democrats are waiting to hit the networks to demand Joe Biden not run in 2024. The New York Times came out with a devastating piece about how the man simply cannot do the job and how his staff must account for his old age when it comes to scheduling. Biden’s poor performance is no longer something you can sweep under the rug. After Biden, Democrats appear to be heading into the electoral abyss with a base that’s too left-wing, a political base that’s too regional, and a candidate crop that’s beyond flawed. Besides age, the management of the White House is now a target from within.
Democrats reportedly mocked Biden’s speech after the Dobbs decision. It’s proof that it’s not just conservatives laughing at Joe and his teleprompter antics. Members of Biden’s party see the iceberg ahead. They know it will hit. The real question is whether they can recover by changing captains or whether everyone will drown. In the meantime, two top aides could be leaving soon. White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield is rushing towards the exit. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain could be looking to go in the future. Are these two the source of the damning leaks against Joe Biden? Erick Erickson wondered where these two are since both are absent from the recent spate of stories shredding this White House. We all know the age stuff, but now CNN is publishing stories from “senior” sources about how this White House remains stuck in the mud. (via CNN) [emphasis mine]:
Two dozen leading Democratic politicians and operatives, as well as several within the West Wing, tell CNN they feel this goes deeper than questions of ideology and posture. Instead, they say, it gets to questions of basic management.
More than a week after the abortion decision, top Biden aides are still wrangling over releasing new actions in response, despite the draft decision leaking six weeks earlier.
White House counsel Dana Remus had assured senior aides the Supreme Court wouldn't rule on abortion that day. A White House press aide assigned to the issue was walking to get coffee when the alert hit. Several Democratic leaders privately mocked how the President stood in the foyer of the White House, squinting through his remarks from a teleprompter as demonstrators poured into the streets, making only vague promises of action because he and aides hadn't decided on more.
Then, Biden's July 1 meeting with governors to talk about their efforts to protect abortion rights was planned so last minute that none of those who attended came in person, and several of those invited declined to rearrange their schedules to appear virtually.
Multiple Democratic politicians who have reached out to work with Biden -- whether it's on specific bills, brainstorming or outreach -- often don't hear anything back at all. Potential appointees have languished for months waiting to hear if they'll get jobs, or when they'll be done with vetting. Invitations to events are scarce, thank you calls barely happen. Even some aides within the White House wonder why Biden didn't fire anyone, from the West Wing or at the Food and Drug Administration, to demonstrate some accountability or at least anger over the baby formula debacle.
Inside the White House, aides are exhausted from feeling forever on red alert, batting at a swarm of crises that keeps growing -- enough for White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to make an offhand joke about the constant "eleventh hour" decision-making in the building when under fire at a recent daily briefing.
Several officials say Biden's tendency to berate advisers when he's displeased with how a situation is being handled or when events go off poorly has trickled down the ranks in the West Wing, leaving several mid-level aides feeling blamed for failings despite lacking any real ability to influence the building's decision-making. That's contributed to some of the recent staff departures, according to people familiar.
In neither story is Ron Klain, the White House Chief of Staff, named. White House staffers are openly blasting Biden. We know Klain intends to leave after the midterms. Is Klain one of the sources blasting Biden, covering his own ass on the way out the door?
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 7, 2022
Worth noting Kate Bedenfield is not mentioned either. She's now leaving the White House the same day Politico cites a "senior official" that the "moderates" have taken over messaging now.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 7, 2022
The internal bashing is fun to read because we all see the final product. When Afghanistan collapsed, Joe Biden shuffled out a few days later to unveil a COVID strategy we already knew about, and one that also didn’t work. What is he doing about the baby formula shortage? What is Joe doing about inflation and high gas prices? These economic questions will remain a thorn in the side of this administration as long as no one puts forward a plan to tackle them. I know that’s not earth-shattering news, but they will continue to dangle as long as Biden keeps blaming Russia for the price hikes, which voters know is facially untrue.
There’s no focus. Joe has to know that nothing will get done on gun control that resembles a ban on so-called assault weapons. He doesn’t have the votes. Most of what Joe Biden wants can’t get done because it’s too insane or all-around bad social policy. Giving speeches isn’t being presidential, especially when no one can understand you. You can’t run through the motions. You have to get things done. Donald Trump got things done. As we brace for failure with this trip to the Middle East, let’s not forget that Trump got the Abraham Accords done, something liberals said would be impossible. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to normalize relations with Israel, with Morocco, Sudan, Oman, and Jordan following soon afterward. It provided a platform for Middle East peace. That’s leadership. What have we seen from Joe Biden that matches this abroad? That’s right—nothing.
As the United States is on the eve of officially being in a recession, expect more leaks to follow about how this administration is just a rudderless ship.
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