It has always been my experience that the Democrats and extreme leftists are just the worst when it comes to messaging. Somehow, they always manage to say something that comes across as easy to misinterpret or so poorly written that, well, what else is a reasonable person to think?
For example, “Black Lives Matter” should have been “Black Lives Matter Too” so as not to get the response “All Lives Matter” while still managing to stay focused on the argument. “Defund the Police” should have read “Fund Police Training” so as not to get pushback against those claiming Democrats want to put police into harm’s way without adequate resources.
Then we have the absolute bollocks (and guaranteed to lose voters) that is the Biden administration officially referring to women as “Birthing People.” This, along with other cult-speak from the woke, is yet another attempt to erase real women from society to appease the mentally ill. And, no, trans-women are not real women—they are trans.
The Administration of POTUS#46 has completely capitulated to the extremist language that promotes woke insanity. For this reason alone, let's consider the replacement for #46 long before he keels over and takes a permanent dirt nap.
Vice President Kamala Harris, for anyone wondering, is not just tainted but carries the permanent stain of failure from this administration on her pantsuit; therefore, she’s not much better either.
This means the Democratic Party had better find a star replacement soon.
And, don’t think there are not many other reasons to unthink uncle Joe. He came into office saying:
America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans—whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.
All Americans? 74,000,000+ Americans did not vote for #46. Are they happy? Do they like their government pandering to the woke cult? Are they pleased their kids are not back at school to appease the teachers’ unions? Were they overjoyed to perceive their country as humiliated during the withdrawal from Afghanistan? Do they like what they think of as the socialist tendencies of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her cohorts in “the Squad”? No, no, they do not.
Yet, that is who they understand to be driving the agenda of the current administration.
They blame #46 for what they are calling another border crisis. This, of course, is a biennial election gambit of the right. Like pumpkin spiced latte at Starbucks, the old chestnut of a border crisis regularly comes around to show bullshit pictures of marauding hordes and scare the bejesus out of FOXNews viewers just in time for Halloween.
And, as that failed, forgotten, and collapsing construction project on the southern border proves (which Mexico never did pay for), this play always works on the most gullible Republican voters, i.e., Cult45ers and CoupAnoners.
However, yet again, due to another loss in the messaging war, tens of millions of citizens believe the country is being overrun with immigrants taking American jobs. This is quite curious, as there are currently (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis research) more than 9,000,000 unfilled, low-paid jobs across the country.
The far-right see these situations as simultaneous but separate disasters.
No solution, even if dripping with irony, is ironically in their sight. But whoever said politics was logical?
Gas prices and Inflation are also being blamed on the current administration even though, for the most part, it isn’t their fault. Economics 101 teaches us all about supply and demand. During the pandemic, the demand was low, and supply was reduced for gas and other goods. Today, people are driving again and consuming again. Supply has not caught up with demand. Therefore, prices are up. Most countries are experiencing similar circumstances. And it would have been almost the same under any administration. However, once more, the Biden administration dropped the ball and let the other side control the national narrative.
Ultimately, unless there is a 180-degree turnaround in perceived success within the next few months, the administration of POTUS#46 will be a lame duck. The inevitable losses in the House and Senate in the midterms will end the ability of the Biden administration to get anything further done, and the story will be one of failure and disappointment. There will be no second term for an 82-year-old man.
What about the Infrastructure Bill? People Like That!
Yes, the Infrastructure Bill is popular in many ways. There is little argument that there is essential infrastructure work to be done in the United States and that it will create new employment opportunities. However, the size of the bill proposed by the far-left of the Democratic Party is an unimaginably high number that makes people very nervous.
On the one hand, the $1.2 Trillion bill has support from both sides and can pass. It has money for airports, roads, bridges, railroads, the power grid, broadband in rural areas, public transport, cybersecurity, water infrastructure, and even electric school buses.
However, when we get to the $3.5 Trillion wish list of a bill from the left, we also see things added that cause many to pause. This includes billions towards environmental committees, funding solar projects, developing clean energy, affordable housing, banking, and financial investment for poor people. Including lowering prescription drug prices, tax cuts for almost everyone, and getting the wealthy and corporations to pay more in taxes, universal pre-k education, green government, veterans affairs, small business, native Americans, and many other investments into government programs.
So, if, and most likely when, that triple-trillion-dollar bill doesn’t pass. What will the flagpole achievement of the current POTUS be? Fewer potholes on federal highways?
The polls have not been kind to the POTUS
A recent poll from the first-in-the-nation caucus state, Iowa, had bad news for #46.
62% of Iowans disapprove of his job as president, while only 31% approve and 7% are unsure. In March, he had 47% approval and 44% disapproval.
Meanwhile, the former president, #45, and likely Republican candidate in 2024 looks far healthier at this stage of the game, with 53% approving, 45% disapproving, and a mere 2% giving no opinion.
Will the previous loser run again?
We know that the dude who puts his name on everything and has an ego the size of the moon will run again if he thinks he can win.
We will have to see what his support does for candidates during the midterms next year. If his fellow travelers are elected, he will likely run again if his health permits. Why not? He would potentially become the second POTUS in history elected to non-consecutive terms after the Sam Elliott-level mustachioed Grover Cleveland as #22 and #24. He could also become the first candidate ever to lose the popular vote three times in a row. So, history either way.
If not, he is still likely to have an extraordinary influence on the next Republican candidate and the future of democracy in the United States.
Who are the top potential Democratic Party Candidates for 2024?
Here we have eight names that will likely start begging for change and competing for airtime over the next year or so. This is assuming, of course, that the Dems are not dumb enough to run either the current POTUS or VP again.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Having served in the Michigan House for five years and then the Michigan State Senate for another nine years, Gretchen Whitmer was termed out and went to work as the Ingham County prosecutor until running for Governor in 2018, which she handily won by about 10% points.
Whitman currently serves as Governor despite no less than 34 failed efforts to recall her. Her campaign focused on questions of a national theme, including infrastructure, such as clean water, the roads, veterans, women’s rights, and fighting for a more skilled workforce with better jobs. Recently, she has attracted the ire of Republicans for vetoing two of their “election integrity bills” or, in Democratic parlance, “voting suppression bills.”
Governor Gavin Newsom of California
Newsome grew up to be Mayor of his hometown San Francisco from 2004 to 2010 before becoming Lieutenant Governor of California from 2011 to 2019 and Governor of California from 2019 to the present day.
Like Governor Whitmer above, Newsom was subjected to a $300,000,000 recall effort, which he easily beat by getting about two-thirds of the vote. Newsom is handsome and charming and capable, but the Democrats already have California in the bag, so does he matter?
Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky
He’s the son of a former Governor of Kentucky; he previously served as the Attorney General of Kentucky and has kept his dad’s old seat warm as the Governor of Kentucky since 2019. And, he is the opposite of his colleague in California, being a Democratic Governor in the red state of Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
Beshear supports a woman’s right to choose, medical marijuana, and marriage equality for all. Along with gambling, criminal justice reform, and health care affordability. Beshear is attractive because he, like former President Bill Clinton, is a southern state governor who is also a Democrat. And, therefore, someone who may be able to reach across the urban/rural divide, for real.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg
The former Mayor of South Bend and now the youngest-ever Secretary of State for Transportation serves in the cabinet of POTUS#46, Buttigieg had previously brought a fresh-faced vitality to the Democrats nominations for 2020 and earned himself a cabinet position in the process.
Buttigieg went to Harvard, he’s gay and married with a baby, served in Afghanistan, and, although he seemed too young in 2020, at 42 in 2024, Secretary Buttigieg may just have gained the experience he needed to give it another shot.
U.S. Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey
Booker first held office in 2006 when he was elected Mayor of Newark, a position that he held until 2013 when he won a special election to the U.S. Senate after the death of the previous holder of the office. He then won full-term re-election to the seat in 2014.
He was discussed but ultimately not picked by President Barack Obama as his nominee to the United States Supreme Court in 2016. He then unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. As a Black man, he gives the Dems diversity, but we have seen him before, and, as a potential POTUS, nobody seems to be buying what he has to offer.
U.S. Senator Michael Bennet from Colorado
Born a United States Citizen in New Delhi, India, because his father worked at the embassy, Bennet was raised in Washington, D.C. After graduating from Yale Law School, he eventually moved to Colorado in 1997. In 2009, he was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Governor Ritter after the incumbent resigned. In 2010, Bennet won his election and has served in the U.S. Senate ever since.
He is regarded as an independent thinker and, although left-ish, is certainly not a left-ist. More than 45% of adults in Colorado have guns in their homes. It is a state where one can legally buy weed (and magic mushrooms too in Denver), but there are a ton of rural folk and hunters. It is, after all, the Wild West. Bennet’s urban/rural mix may give him an excellent chance to get folks to listen to what he has to say in a divided nation.
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York
A graduate of Boston University, AOC is young, 31, and she won the biggest upset of the 2018 primaries when she beat the ten-term, Democratic incumbent from her party for the nomination, and then took 72% of the vote in the general election. Becoming the Congresswoman for New York’s 14th District.
Ocasio-Cortez is the face of the highly progressive and leftist “Squad” of newly elected House Democrats. The Squad is currently comprised of five women and one man. All of whom are under 50 and persons of color.
She is particularly known for her media savvy and excellent skills at trolling Republican politicians on social media. Her takedowns of Senator Ted Cruz have been particularly amusing over the past couple of years.
Loved by progressives almost as much as conservatives hate her, AOC is a political star. However, a U.S. Representative would rarely get the nod for POTUS before holding a higher office. And she will be hardly old enough to qualify for the job (minimum age for POTUS is 35) by the time the next general election comes around. Therefore, I think she certainly needs a little more seasoning before going for the top job.
Former U.S. Representative Joe Kennedy III from Massachusetts
It’s true that most of us need another Kennedy in public life like we need a hole in the head, but that strange desire to create American royalty puts a third-generation hanger-on to the family legacy in the picture frame. It is an embarrassment to say so, but he is the Prince Harry of Connecticut. A lowly former U.S. Representative that dropped his House seat for an entitled U.S. Senate run in the 2020 primaries. And subsequently lost.
He has no legitimate chance of being elected President. However, some people still like him for the tradition, the name, and the glamour, so I’ll give him the namecheck. Personally, however, I see him as a waste of money, airtime, and oxygen.
So, there we have it, some stuff and nonsense that is certainly not too early to be thinking about if y’all know what’s good for you. Molloy