What Happens if Biden or Trump Stumble?

Despite his obvious age-related mental and physical deterioration, if President(ish) Joe Biden remains more or less ambulatory and refuses to withdraw, Democrats are stuck with him next year.

Frankly, since Biden has never been particularly bright, it’s the Democrats’ own fault for nominating and dragging Jurassic Joe across the finish line in 2020. That decision is now haunting Democrats, as is Biden’s choice of his “natural successor,” arguably the least qualified person in history to serve as vice president.

Cackling Kamala “Word Salad” Harris makes even Hillary Clinton appear authentic and likeable.

But Republicans have problems, too, especially Donald Trump’s domination of pre-primary polling. Unlike Mr. Biden, President Trump has a significant base – but not a majority – of General Election supporters who would crawl over broken glass to vote for him again.

One Trump observer tweeted, “There is not a single Republican – declared or non-declared – that could muster this support out of the gate, much less after 8 years of relentless media slander and deep state persecution, 2 impeachments, 1 coup d’etat, and 91 felony counts.”

The Republicans’ problem is that the party establishment and more than half of America’s voting public dislike Trump/his style. But a majority of likely voters disapprove of Biden, too, plus he’s losing minority support. Right now, most polling shows Trump and Biden in a dead heat, so, assuming both are nominated, their campaigns will attempt to attract the roughly fourteen percent of voters who, according to polls, dislike both leading candidates.

But, trusting/reporting polls before primary voting begins is a lazy way to do “journalism.” However, today’s mainstream media outlets seem to hire the laziest, least-attentive, most-biased J-school graduates, few of whom will objectively review the front-runners’ in-office records, and make honest comparisons on the economy, the national debt, inflation, border security, national security, or foreign relations, among other contrasts that favor Donald Trump.

They’re all long shots, but let’s review the prospects of both side’s undercards, should any of them manage, for whatever reason, to dis- or replace their party’s frontrunner.

Although some have received endorsements, the remainder of the ever-shrinking Republican field have no chance at the nomination unless something major happens to Donald Trump. If something does, arguably, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is most likely to step in. Many voters see DiSantis as “Donald Trump without the baggage.” The media abuse DiSantis receives tends to confirm the left’s fear of him.

Although Kamala Harris’s list of “vice-presidential accomplishments” remains list-less, her hilariously vapid public utterances would fill a binder. Condescending Kamala talks to audiences like they – and she – are six-years old.

Examples: “It is time for us to do what we have been doing. And that time is every day,” and, “So, Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically, that’s wrong.”

Democrats who didn’t like Kamala in 2019 – she withdrew from the presidential race before the first primary vote was cast – still don’t. Harris will never be elected president.

His party disowned lifetime-Democrat Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. upon his candidate announcement. As a newly-minted Independent, Kennedy has no path to the Oval Office, but he has spoiler potential.

Democrat “non-candidate” Gavin “A little dab’ll do ya” Newsom, Governor of (The People’s Republic of) California, is lurking, hopefully, in the near background. During his years in office, hundreds of thousands of residents, including Newsom’s father-in-law, have fled California to freer, safer and taxpayer-friendlier states like Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Florida. Dozens of businesses have emigrated as well.

Today, California “boasts” 12 percent of the nation’s population, one-third of America’s welfare recipients, and 30 percent of all homeless people. California’s violent crime rate is now 26.4 percent higher than in 2014, and shoplifting is effectively legal there. California is already in recession.

To be fair, some women think Gavin’s kind of cute. Vain and hyper-groomed, Gavin thinks so, too.

On his gubernatorial record, though, Newsom would be a hard sell.

Voters’ negative impressions of the parties’ frontrunners may be fixed, but Democrats have the larger problem: Personality aside, the likely Republican nominee – and his backup – have strong executive credentials, impressive records, shown genuine leadership, and, as importantly, both are healthy.

https://www.pottsmerc.com/2023/12/04/jerry-shenk-both-parties-2024-problems-have-names/