The Trump-Biden Debate Changed Everything, or Did It?

Joe Biden had one task during his debate with Donald Trump. In a format designed to protect him from failure, on a network notoriously hostile to his Republican rival, all he had to do was demonstrate sufficient focus and mental agility to discredit the argument that he has become too senile to remain president. He failed spectacularly, so much so that virtually that all the king’s spin doctors can no longer put Humpty Joe back together again.

The propaganda arm of the Democrats, that is, the entirety of the mainstream media, suddenly forgot the “cheap fakes” story line. Failing, catastrophically, in front of the whole country, and on CNN, represents a failure impossible to hide. And dense blue clouds are forming in the smoke filled rooms as, behind the scenes, the whole Democrat establishment goes into panic mode, struggling with the need to see Biden replaced, struggling even more with the question of “how” and, more importantly, “with whom.” (READ MORE from James H. McGee: The US May Become the Strong Man Whose House Was Plundered)

So, in very nearly the blink of an eye, everything has changed. Biden will be shuffled off the stage, and someone, Harris, perhaps, or Newsom, or, Whitmer will be rolled out to replace him. Despite all her protestations to the contrary, one can even see Michelle propped up on the Obama hand truck and rolled out onto the Chicago stage, a cheering throng propelling her to the nomination. Stranger things have happened, and, while the Kalorama puppet master might wish to still remain in the background, losing puppet Joe might compel a different approach to remaining in charge.

Yes, then, everything has changed. Or has it? Looking ahead, I’m not so sure. Perhaps, Dr. Jill decides to resist, perhaps Joe refuses to go quietly, perhaps the whole left wing establishment beats itself bloody trying to figure out who will be their candidate. But we saw this movie before, in 2020, when, fearful that Bernie Sanders would alienate key party constituencies, the Democrats shoved him aside in favor of Biden, the man whose only real convictions revolved around his desire to become president. One of the obvious reasons why no serious challenger stepped forward to face Biden in the primaries is that the party establishment remained convinced that “good old Joe” remained their best option.

But this doesn’t mean that they can’t win with someone else. Once there is a Biden replacement, the whole weight of the establishment will fall in line, differences will be papered over, and donor money will flow copiously. At the same time, once the burdens of defending Biden’s storied incompetence are lifted, the threat of a Trump presidency will re-energize every component of the party base, and likely bring potential defectors — black men, for example — back into the tent.

The Democrats understand, after all, that the presidency is too valuable a tool to let slip from their grasp. As Obama first demonstrated, and as his minions under Biden have perfected, the presidency represents an immensely valuable tool for implementing radical initiatives. Again and again, we’ve seen executive orders used to usurp the legislative role of Congress and subvert the plain meaning of Supreme Court decisions. The term “imperial presidency” may have been coined to describe unconstrained foreign policy, but the Democrats have made of it the vehicle for their dictatorial approach to such issues as immigration, abortion, and an unhinged insistence that DEI is the god that must be obeyed.

So while the Biden disaster may betoken significant disarray, no one should assume that this means a Republican walkover in November. The Democrats won’t yield the presidency lightly. Moreover, and particularly if it appears that they will lose the Oval Office, they will fight all the harder to gain a majority in the House, and to maintain a majority in the Senate, vantage points from which they can thwart any challenges to the continued implementation of the so-called “progressive” agenda.

In a different world, the morning after the debate disaster might occasion deep soul searching, might even open the door to serious questions about the direction the Democrats have taken in the 21^st Century. I’m old enough to remember when the Democrats weren’t slaves to the Planned Parenthood crowd, the Greta Thunberg climate agenda, or the blood-curdling anti-Semitism of the Hamas worshippers. I remember a party led by men like Mike Mansfield or Scoop Jackson, men who could work across the aisles, men who still knew something of the real America, men with whom one could disagree and yet work toward a common goal, the goal of making things better for Americans.

For about a week after the 2016 election, as the Democrats reeled in the aftermath of Hillary’s shocking defeat, it seemed they might be willing to take a a hard look in the mirror. Scarcely a week passed, however, and then they resorted to blatant election denial. Soul searching? Not at all, instead a doubling down on their radical agenda; after all, they know what’s best for the country, even if the voters don’t. (READ MORE: Biden is Deaf to His ‘Better Angels’)

Soul searching in the wake of Biden’s disastrous performance? I don’t expect it because the party, in its present form, seems not to have a soul to find. Instead it has simply become the tool of special interests, none of them much interested in the lives of their fellow citizens. The Democrats are about feeding at the public trough, rewarding their friends and punishing their enemies, and dressing it all up in “we know what’s best for you” pomposity. Joe Biden was good at that, and was rewarded accordingly. They may now be willing to show him the exit, but nothing save a crushing defeat, from school boards to the presidency itself, offers any hope that the Democrats might actually search their souls — and mend their ways.

James H. McGee retired in 2018 after nearly four decades as a national security and counter-terrorism professional, working primarily in the nuclear security field. Since retiring, he’s begun a second career as a thriller writer. His recent novel, Letter of Reprisal, tells the tale of a desperate mission to destroy a Chinese bioweapon facility hidden in the heart of the central African conflict region. A forthcoming sequel finds the Reprisal team fighting against terrorists who’ve infiltrated our southern border in a conspiracy that ranges across the globe. You can find Letter of Reprisal on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback editions, and on Kindle Unlimited.

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