If things stay as they are, we will have a Republican in the White House on Jan. 20, 2025.
And that Republican could be, would likely be, Donald Trump.
It is not a prospect that makes me feel good.
And we can thank President Biden’s ego for it since he insists on running for a second term.
Now don’t get me wrong. I think Joe Biden has done a marvelous job – he has probably done more in his first term than many of his immediate predecessors accomplished.
But he has two problems that could easily kill his and the Democrats’ chances at holding onto the White House: Age and perception.
He’s 81. He would be 82 on Jan. 20, 2025. Too many people apparently think he is too old for the job. His mind seems to be sharp, but at that age nobody has the energy they had had even ten years before.
But no matter whether he does or doesn’t have the necessary energy, too many people think he is too old. Perception can trump reality.
He faces an uphill battle convincing people he can still do the job.
Then there are all those people who blame him for failing to accomplish promises he made before taking office.
For instance, he didn’t accomplish forgiving student college loans. That ignores the fact that the initial effort was thrown out by the courts and his administration is coming up with another plan.
And many of his so-called failures stem from the fact that in the first two years of his term he had a 50-50 split in the Senate and two conservative Democrats who blocked or watered down much of his agenda. And now the Republicans control the House with a hard-right faction creating chaos.
But again, perception can be more important than reality.
Now he is being blamed for inflation and the deficit. Much of the deficit was created by then-President Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress who passed massive tax cuts favoring the wealth and corporations without paying for them. The deficit and inflation were also the byproduct of the money pumped into the economy during Covid that kept businesses afloat and families in their homes with food on the table.
But none of that seems to matter now. People aren’t feeling good – it’s all perception.
And that anger is falling right on the elderly shoulders of Joe Biden.
The danger isn’t really that people will vote for Trump or another Republican. The danger is people who voted for Biden in 2018 simply won’t vote. Biden’s margin was small enough in crucial states that they could swing the election to the GOP candidate, who will probably be Trump.
And that is not perception. That is reality.
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