A Stubborn Old Man or a Genius Master Plan?
- Carolina Oliviero
- Jul 19, 2024
- 5 min read
For months, the US and the world have discussed Biden’s candidacy. Is he actually fit enough to take a second term? Recent events create significant doubt. Not only among the opposing Republic party but even in his own rows, former fans and supporters doubt Biden’s eligibility for the Presidency. Let us start dreaming and hoping that this is more than an old, stubborn man who holds on to his heroic narrative but a genius master plan of campaigning. Perhaps Biden is only used to ward off Republican attacks on Democratic integrity.
Biden’s Assessment and Official Narrative
Biden’s tenure as President was not without its flaws. There were indeed areas where he could have done better. However, considering the multitude of crises that have unfolded since 2020, his overall political achievements could have been far worse. It’s a testament to Biden’s leadership that we’re not facing even more dire crises today.
At the same time, we talk about an elderly person whose physical and mental ability to lead a country must be scrutinized. The last TV debate was only at the top of the iceberg, on a list of situations, actions, and behaviors that questioned his health condition to be President. I am convinced that Biden himself and his closest advisors realize his declining fitness for the job. So why is Biden holding on so firmly to his candidacy, even though potential alternatives in the background could be pulled into the ring?
Publicly, Biden remains steadfast in his abilities. He overcame Trump in 2020 and is confident he will repeat this victory. Large parts of the Democratic campaign are built on this recurring clash between Trump and Biden. However, perhaps his unwavering pursuit of the presidency is only, on the surface, an indication of his confidence in his capabilities. It may be the biggest bluff US campaigning has ever seen.
The Need for a Shield
As the attack on Trump last weekend has profoundly proven, unexpectable situations, shifts, and developments can occur and disrupt the course of the election campaign. The attempted assassination, for instance, enabled the Republicans to create a new narrative that accuses the Democrats of establishing a violent sentiment against Trump (which is ridiculous since it is the Republican party and its supporters who don’t hesitate to use violent rhetoric and aggressive actions since 2016). Therefore, in the eyes of Republican voters and swing voters, Biden is not only old and incapable. On top of that, from a non-Democrat supporter’s perspective, he is depicted as the one who has incentivized an attempted murder of an opponent. Doesn’t sound like a candidate you would potentially vote for?
Additionally, the attack on Trump indirectly pushes the Democrats into a corner. Until the attack, the Democrats had argued for the Democratic vote with a vote against Trump. Their current campaign was primarily based on disqualifying Trump by emphasizing his characteristic incompatibility to be President, highlighting his weaknesses, and stressing his past misconduct. However, this strategy of disqualification seems inappropriate now after Trump narrowly survived a tried assassination. Thus, the Democrats need a decisive shift in their campaign.
It is tough to argue that the Democrats saw this attack and its effects coming. What is certain, however, is the Democrats’ awareness of the Republicans’ dirty game in campaigning. The Republican party has not played according to any moral or ethical rules over the past years and does not know any decency limits in undermining the Democratic candidate’s eligibility. It was evident that Biden would be absolutely destroyed by the Republicans’ campaign, to be precise, that the Republicans’ campaign would not focus on political perspectives but that its core would be the deconstruction of Biden as an eligible candidate.
Pretty evidently, this has nothing to do with Biden’s person in the first place. Any Democratic candidate would be exposed to and potentially neutralized by the Republicans’ populist attacks. So, what if Biden just plays the shield for as long as possible to protect the actual, final Democratic candidate from the Republicans’ assaults for as long as possible?
Why would one use Biden as a Protective Shield?
Unofficially and rooted in the country’s history, the campaign has already started months in advance. Historically, this premature campaigning increased a candidate’s time to become popular and collect as many votes as possible. With the unfairly playing version of the Republican Party 2024, this mindset might have changed, though. And legally, the Democrats have until their convention at the end of August to officially nominate their candidate.
As we witness, the Democrats’ campaign is primarily about evading the steady hard punches from the Republicans’ side and trying to limit the damage it causes for the Democratic candidate. Thus, being a Democratic candidate no longer means to thrill as many potential voters as possible but trying not to be eliminated through the Republican way of playing. And the Democrats know this. It might make sense to keep the campaign period as short as possible to avoid huge amounts of discreditation through the Republican campaign.
Therefore, Biden’s campaign is doomed to fail through Republican discreditation. His chances for victory are decreasing daily, with every video of him stuttering and stumbling and every video of Trump mocking him for it. The Democrats are aware of it. At this point, many Democrats are no longer hesitating to spell these concerns out loud. Biden’s defamation was foreseeable.
So, what if Biden’s candidacy does not target a second presidency but serves as the protective shield for the final candidate? Perhaps he is still on stage, not because he genuinely sees himself in the White House next year but because he takes as many Republican punches as possible. Maybe Biden remains in this position as long as possible to protect an actual candidate. Maybe Biden serves as the punch bag the Republicans can exhaust themselves with before the actual opponent enters the ring.
Could Biden, the Protective Shield, eventually save the Democratic Candidacy?
For sure, the Republicans would try to slander any Democratic candidate who would run for president. I am pretty sure that Trump’s campaign team already has collected files over files of potentially compromising documents in their drawers for every potential alternative Democratic candidate to establish a smearing narrative about each and every single one of them as soon as they enter the ring. However, the later a candidate enters the arena, the less time the Republicans have to implement this narrative and paint the denigrating image in the voters’ heads. On the contrary, after months of Republican campaigning, the “Sleepy Joe” image is already painted so sharply that even Biden’s supporters adopted it.
Hence, letting Biden absorb all the Republican defamation, therefore protecting the final candidate for as long as possible, and thus aiming to minimize the damage Republican campaigning could do to him or her would be a risky but genius strategy.
With this analysis, I might be absolutely wrong. Perhaps Biden is just an old, stubborn man who holds on to his self-image of America’s savior and cannot accept that his best times are over. And maybe the Democratic party is too naïve and weak to convince Biden otherwise. But in those difficult times, which endanger the foundations of American democracy, I am reluctant to believe that all we get is the inability and failure of the Democratic party to deal with this muddled situation adequately. I resist believing that the party’s incapability and despair to find proper, brave strategies and the collective naivety of Biden somehow rocking these elections is the end of the story.
So maybe there is this secret master plan, and we are currently observing the riskiest campaign strategy we have seen in a long time.
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