Joe Biden is America’s Michael Foot. In 1983, Foot, a leftist leader of the Labour Party, was also in denial about the polling, leading to annihilation in that year’s general election in the United Kingdom. Biden exhibited the same qualities in that trainwreck ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos. His denial that he’s losing to Donald Trump alone calls for a cognitive test. It’s funny watching a man with no skill and an unremarkable career in public life sit atop like this as if part of the elite. Biden’s an old bag who got lucky and has shown how grossly unqualified he is for the job. Obama was our canary in the coal mine in 2020 when he warned that Joe wasn’t made of presidential timber.
After his disastrous debate, megadonors are revolting, withholding checks until Biden drops out. They’re also conspiring to pressure him out of the race, and money can be a compelling weapon in moving the unmovable right now. Abigail Disney was one of the most prominent top Democratic donors to declare her refraining from giving any more money to Democrats until Joe steps aside (via NYT):
After several days of quiet griping and hoping that President Biden would abandon his re-election campaign on his own, many wealthy Democratic donors are trying to take matters into their own hands.
Wielding their fortunes as both carrot and stick, donors have undertaken a number of initiatives to pressure Mr. Biden to step down from the top of the ticket and help lay the groundwork for an alternate candidate.
The efforts — some coordinated, some conflicting and others still nascent — expose a remarkable and growing rift between the party’s contributor class and its standard-bearer that could have an impact on down-ballot races, whether or not the donors influence Mr. Biden’s decision.
The president on Wednesday reaffirmed his commitment to stay in the race amid criticism of his weak debate performance last week. But that has not placated donors or strategists who worry that he cannot win in November.
A group of them is working to raise as much as $100 million for a sort of escrow fund, called the Next Generation PAC, that would be used to support a replacement candidate. If Mr. Biden does not step aside, the money could be used to help down-ballot candidates, according to people close to the effort.
[…]
There is a separate movement to steer money to candidates for lower offices. And financial supporters are urging elected officials at all levels to publicly pressure Mr. Biden to withdraw, signaling support for those who follow through. Some major donors like Reed Hastings have gone public with calls for Mr. Biden to stand down.
Gideon Stein, a donor and operative with deep connections in Democratic politics, said his family was withholding $3.5 million in planned donations to nonprofits and political organizations active in the presidential race unless Mr. Biden stepped aside. He said that virtually every major donor he had spoken with believed that “a new ticket is in the best interest of defeating Donald Trump.”
[…]
If Mr. Biden forges ahead, it could set up a dramatic impasse with a major donor base at the moment it is most needed: when the race enters its heavy-spending homestretch. While Mr. Biden narrowly outraised Donald J. Trump last month, it is not clear if he erased the financial advantage that Mr. Trump and his party held over Mr. Biden and his party at beginning of June.
It's a period of civil war within the Democratic Party. Democratic governors and the base versus congressional Democrats and the party’s top donors. It’s the Corleone Family versus the Tattaglia and Barzini families. It’s Athens and Sparta. I don't see this reversing course unless Biden pulls off a cognitive comeback that defies modern science. His interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos didn’t reassure any of his many detractors that he should remain on the ticket.