President Joe Biden did a great, thankless job as inarguably one of the best three Presidents of the last 55 years, and in my opinion the best.
It was maddening to watch the corporate media constantly harping about Biden’s “poll numbers being bad” as though they couldn’t have changed that reality merely by actually reporting all the amazing things he was doing: the climate bill, the infrastructure act, the inflation reduction act, dismantling 90% of the Russian military without a single U.S. troop death, the third stimulus, a quick reopening from CoVid, the first POTUS in 23 years to not have U.S. troops in a war, trying hard to get CoVid vaccines mandated but the courts blocking him (the thousands of CoVid deaths since are on their hands), the Chips Act, prioritizing American manufacturing in general, strengthening America’s alliances like “the Quad” to hurt our enemies such as China, a better post-CoVid economic recovery than Europe (worse inflation) or China (stagnant growth), the most diverse cabinet in U.S. history, the first real gun bill in decades, being the most pro-labor President since FDR, many small consumer protections most people aren’t even aware of, the price gouging task force announced in March un-coincidentally seeing prices lowered, and actual FTC antitrust enforcement for the first time in over 40 years. [I think the real reason Big Media and Big Tech was so hellbent on pushing Biden out was they didn’t like his regulatory department’s actual enforcement of the laws.]
Biden was able to do all this despite unprecedented opposition from the opposing party (most of whom didn’t certify his election victory), a not-entirely-cooperative senate (conservative “Democrats” Manchin and Sinema have since switched parties to “independent”), and an unhinged ex-President stalking his every move.
Even after the January 6th insurrection that should’ve seen Trump on a one-way plane to ADX Florence supermax prison in Colorado, he still did unprecedented things like actively campaigning for reelection from the moment he left–holding rallies only weeks after Biden took office and at peak-CoVid–and even lobbying members of congress to vote “no” on bipartisan legislation Biden was working on. To say it is “unusual” for a psychotic ex-President to want the country to fall apart so they can get reelected in the next cycle is putting it mildly, that said ex-President is also the first one to attempt to stage a coup in the first place is even more singular. Biden fought off the worst pandemic since the Spanish flu, the biggest European land grab since WWII, and the most tense political moment since the Civil War…Thank you Joe Biden!
But Joe Biden wasn’t just done saving the country while actively campaigning for reelection. Even during his withdrawal announcement, he acted selflessly to save the party, and save the country by firmly endorsing Kamala Harris as the best candidate to succeed him. He had doubtlessly heard the rumors that some of the people scheming behind the scenes to oust him (Barack Obama and especially Nancy Pelosi) also didn’t want Kamala to be the nominee, preferring instead the chaos of an open convention.
An open convention would’ve been an absolute nightmare for Democrats, and nothing but a gift for Trump. It would’ve let every scheming backbencher in the Democratic Party think “hmmm…perhaps it’s my turn.” The misconception some seemed to have is that a crack team of military-grade Democratic pollsters (we’re talking beyond Nate Silver) goes into a room and gifts the nomination to the most mathematically electable ticket. But there was no consensus on who that would actually be (the correct answer is actually Kamala Harris and Mark Kelly, the ticket we’re most likely to wind up with nowand without an open convention), and that let’s every scheming backbencher in the Democratic Party think “hmmm…maybe it’s my turn.”
Indeed, we heard that Joe Manchin was attempting to mount a convention bid that nobody wanted nor asked for. Probably, J.B. Pritzker (the billionaire governor whose Chicago is hosting the convention he’s partially paying for) would try to become VP and/or make himself kingmaker. Doubtlessly, Bernie Sanders would think “hmmmm…” …After all, an open convention means any ticket could emerge, and it’s just as likely that a Frankenstein’s-monster ticket would be far less electable than Biden and Harris.
However, Biden’s immediate support and endorsement of Kamala Harris–who he knew was blameless in the scheming against him–saw most of the best challengers quickly coalesce around her (Mark Kelly, Josh Shapiro, and Roy Cooper all announced before the day was over), and the momentum was so strong that she had secured enough delegates to be the nominee after only three days–thus stopping any mischief from Pelosi or Obama in its tracks.
Thanks to Joe Biden, Kamala Harris simply IS the nominee, she’ll be allowed to handpick her VP choice, and then that person is (probably) confirmed at the convention as well. “No need to cause trouble here mischief makers and poll watchers and spineless corporate toadies—we’re good. We’ve got our ticket and we’re good.” And it’s mostly thanks to the best POTUS of my lifetime! Thank you Joe Biden!