AMAC Exclusive – By Daniel Berman
![Biden](https://static-asset.amac.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/02115213/52902741842_c326394932_w-1.jpg)
Since announcing his re-election bid three weeks ago, Joe Biden has virtually disappeared.
Where is Joe Biden? The U.S. President has been increasingly invisible over the past month, aside from an international trip to Ireland. He has participated in talks with congressional leaders over the debt limit, and given a few brief public statements, but otherwise has been out of the media spotlight.
As a result, that spotlight has otherwise been dominated by Republicans, revealing a serious flaw in the Democratic Party, one which directly threatens its hopes for 2024: The party lacks any effective spokesman other than Biden, and any effort to fill the role is perceived as a direct threat to Vice President Harris. As a result, when Biden cannot speak, no one else can. The result is that increasingly no one speaks for the administration or the party.
The problems posed both by Biden’s age and Kamala Harris’s awkwardness and unpopularity have been documented extensively, but one of the less analyzed aspects is how they interact with each other. There is of course the issue of the succession. With Biden pushing age 80, there is a real prospect that Harris may be called upon to assume the presidency in an acting or even full capacity, and that prospect weighs on anyone contemplating a second Biden term. Politico featured a piece interviewing Democratic insiders on this precise issue this week. It noted how Republicans have already taken to attacking the prospect of a President Harris.
“I think that we can all be very clear and say with a matter of fact that if you vote for Joe Biden you really are counting on a President Harris, because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely,” Nikki Haley told an audience last month.
It is no secret why Republicans are raising the prospect of a President Harris. The vice president is deeply unpopular, even among Democrats, and the evidence from the tasks Biden has assigned her suggests those doubts are shared even by her boss.
But there is a deeper and less examined dynamic caused by the president’s age and vice president’s unpopularity: both have created a climate of political paralysis throughout the Democrat Party.
Biden was never a charismatic orator. A creature of the Senate, he failed three times to connect with voters in Iowa or New Hampshire, where retail politics is king, and his ascension to the presidency is a testament to his mastery of insider politics. He secured the vice presidency because he was the opposite of the young, inexperienced Barack Obama, and he won South Carolina and the Democratic presidential primaries thanks to deals with Jim Clyburn.
Even compared to 2020, Biden seems to have slowed down. He struggles to answer questions, recently commenting with regard to the Turkish election that he “hopes whoever wins wins,” simultaneously expressing indifference to the result while impugning the legitimacy of whoever emerges. His efforts have been consumed with debt ceiling talks where he has veered between negotiations and asserting he can use the 14th Amendment to avoid the need for an agreement altogether.
While Biden is no help to the party, Harris is seen if anything as a greater liability, and is hardly in demand as a campaign surrogate, as her presence causes additional problems. Her very political weakness, which prevents her from being an asset, also makes her position insecure enough that any other effective surrogate becomes a threat to her ambitions.
In another world, various Democratic rising stars such as Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer or Colorado Governor Jared Polis would be fundraising and holding campaigns for local Democrats. It would be a show of loyalty to the party and its current leadership that would earn them credit in the future.
The problem is that with Harris’s status as the “future” of the party open to serious doubt, what would otherwise be a show of loyalty would instead come off as disloyal. Rather than aiding a Biden-Harris ticket, an effort by Whitmer or Polis to fundraise for other Democrats would be seen as auditioning to challenge Harris, either if Biden cannot run in 2024 after all, or in 2028. That, at least, was the reaction when Gavin Newsom tried to “nationalize” in 2022.
With Harris unable to be effective herself and threatened by any effective action on the part of anyone else, the result is a state of paralysis which has left the Biden campaign conducting little fundraising, little campaigning, and barely any hiring. As late as the end of April, the campaign had only three full-time staffers, and the campaign manager, Julia Chavez Rodriguez, has never run a campaign before. The result is a twilight zone where the campaign functionally does not exist.
Until January 2023, Democrats had an additional surrogate in the form of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi was, like, Harris, far from a popular figure, but she differed from the vice president in that she could better be described as polarizing. While she was not well-liked by a large majority of voters, she was at least popular with Democrats and more importantly donors, unlike Harris who does not seem to be popular with anyone. In turn, Pelosi was respected by her opponents, and she was able to drive a message, whether it be through her high-profile visit to Taiwan, or the leading role she took in tormenting Donald Trump. While there were many Republican candidates who found her presence an asset to their campaigns, her departure seems, on net, to have badly hurt Democrats who lost an organizer and messenger.
Hakeem Jeffries, her successor, lacks any significant national profile. His status as a New York congressman limits his national appeal, and his African American background makes him a potential rival to the vice president’s control of that base. It may be for that reason that he has been entirely sidelined since Kevin McCarthy’s successful election as speaker. His absence from the debt-ceiling debate is striking.
As for the Cabinet, Pete Buttigieg seems to have failed to recover from the East Palestine train derailment in Ohio. He has also been a victim both of the better-than-expected midterm results, which raised the profile of state-level Democrats in Colorado, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and the hostility of the vice president. The senior officials who have been high-profile, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, are in the first two cases presenting themselves as non-partisan technocrats, while the latter is not seen as a major political force.
The net result is “All Quiet on the Democrat Front.” Biden having announced for reelection, no other Democrat can make a move. Biden being unable to campaign or take the lead, and the vice president unwilling to do so or to allow anyone else to do so, the consequence is that no real campaign is taking place.
At the moment this is disguised by the GOP primary, but at this point in 1995, 2003, and 2011, the Clinton, Bush, and Obama campaigns had fully formed and were even beginning to launch plans to use the primaries as dry runs of their general election machine. By contrast, the Biden campaign does not even know what the Democrat primary order will be.
The Republican primary is and should be the top story. But the sheer nonexistence of the Biden reelection effort deserves more attention than it has received. Not least because the structural factors crippling its rollout are not going to automatically resolve themselves by next year.
Daniel Berman is a frequent commentator and lecturer on foreign policy and political affairs, both nationally and internationally. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics. He also writes as Daniel Roman.
It’s no wonder his handlers are keeping him secluded, the fear of exposing a shell that’s an embarrassment to the free world every time he opens his mouth.
The elections are rigged. We have socialist and communist in the Democrat party. The American public is blind to the fact that we are now living in what is near a banana republic. Once the (fraudulent) mail in ballots are counted, the Democrats will win. Biden knows this, he does not need to be out front. His handlers (the Communist) will put him back into the position of power to be the puppet as he is now.
Had no campaign when he ran last time
Considering his last campaign was conducted from his basement, this should be no surprise. His handlers are tasked with keeping him otherwise occupied wherever they can keep him away from a micorphone and the voters. At least, if they do their job well, the voters will not need to be subjected to the Debates which have been reduced over the years to the equivalent of a bunch of 2 year olds in a sandbox. Hillary’s screeching is still echoing in my ears.
Biden did not have a campaign last time either. Further he has broken every single promise he made last time and thrown the country into ruin.
IT will not matter because the democrats will commit massive voter fraud again and the courts are too incompetent to stop them.
RFK Jr. looks good about now for them. Imagine a general election between him and DeSantis. It would be like the country took a bath.
Harris’s “awkwardness & unpopularity”. That’s a very nice way of saying mean, hateful, disgusting, Godless, evil socialist totally lacking in integrity, character, morals, or honesty. I wouldn’t leave a penny on a table in the same room as Cackling Kamala.
Look for the Democrats to kill Harris before election, blame it on Republicans and whoever they put up Biden will win with the cheating that will still go on.
That party has morphed into hard intolerant rigid body of demagogues and ideologues No democracy there Scary that there are people not aware of it
Why is it that it seems NO Republican politician has the nerve to CHALLENGE /CALL ANY of today’s so-called DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP as to being MORE COMMUNIST in their POLICIES?
. . . I’m disgusted that it appears so!
WHY DONT THEY RUN THE BUD LIGHT TRANNY `IT’IS A PERFECT REPRESENITIVE OF THE DEMOCRATIC MORONISM
The author asks why isn’t Biden out there doing any campaigning. My response is Team Biden, the people actually running the country with Joe Biden simply the puppet they manipulate, don’t see any need to put old, senile Joe out there to campaign. The Democrat Party controls the media and thus the media puts out a steady stream of useless distractions and deflections for the vast majority of the public to waste their time on. So most of the public isn’t clamoring for old Joe to hold either press conferences or do campaign stops to articulate any vision of what a second term of Team Biden would look like beyond more of the same old same old.
Secondly, you’ll notice that the Democrat Party isn’t pushing back against Team Biden’s decision to NOT have any Democrat primary debates. So for anyone out there still thinking there is some vast moderate base of Democrat politicians who secretly long for a return to the “the good old days of JFK”, the harsh reality is at least 95% of Democrat politicians are fully on board with the openly socialist agenda being pushed by Team Biden.
RFK Jr. may have some followers within the Democrat voter base, on a few issues, but he has NO real support in the Democrat political class running most of Washington. So he will get little to no coverage by the MSM and no real financial support from the major Democrat donors that are fully on board with the Democrat’s socialist agenda. Any other potential Democrat challenger will face the same obstacles as RFK Jr.
I do like how the author sums things up using the “All Quiet on the Democrat Front.” line. That pretty much states the lock the socialists have on the Democrat Party, the MSM, and all the departments and agencies in Washington, D.C.. At the end of the day, the Democrat Party plans to do everything they can, more legal and illegal, to ensure their puppet stays exactly where he is. That should concern every single American, as that is exactly how authoritarian regimes are run all around the world.
Biden’s NOT pushing 80, he turned 80 last November. And where in hades do they get that the Governor of Michigan is popular, she is hated by half or more of Michigan. She and the Democrats elected last election are ruining a state already in decline. They are now crying because the young are leaving Michigan, but don’t look now, but the state is overrun with illegal aliens working in every business, that’s why they are crying we need to freshen up our immigration laws, in other words, give all those grifters our citizenship for basically breaking our laws.
No wonder!!
Biden does not need to be on view of public since voting machines make sure his win.
Biden doesn’t need to campaign. After all, he won in 2020 from his basement! ????
Your story is incomplete without including RFK Junior And Marianne Williamson. I think probably Darth Vader could beat this guy in a primary. I see Trump 2024
They aren’t campaigning because they don’t believe they need to and don’t want to risk the damage control problems this addled old sock puppet would generate. They’ve gotten away with cheating in multiple elections for some time now. What on earth leads anyone to believe they won’t do it again? These communist, criminal trash think it’s in the bag folks. This one’s going to be interesting….
Turning Biden loose on a campaign trail is, no doubt, every Dem’s nightmare. The less he is exposed and “available,” the better.
Biden’s age is not the problem. The problem is that Biden is a serial fabricator who has no ethical compass. There are many people in their 80’s who are both mentally fit and patriots for the USA.
On the other hand, Biden is very corrupt and mentally a mess. He has taken so much money from the Communist Chinese that he has no interest in making America more independent and powerful. Is there any chance that Biden will be thrown into prison for his traitorous behavior? Presently, the prospects that Biden will actually be punished are very slim. The entire situation is a disgusting disgrace.
Who cares where joe biden is. He hasn’t done anything for this country ever since he was in congress. I will never respect him little alone recognize him as president. What a clown ????????
You mean “Biden’s NON existent BRAIN”!
MY PREDICTION: Biden knows how toxic Kamala is but if he replaces her with someone else on the ticket he will piss off women and the black vote. But there is 1 person he can replace her with that will not only make anyone mad, but electrify his base and that is Michelle Obama, another woman of color. Its gonna be a Biden-Obama ticket. Mark my words!
Biden doesn’t connect with voters because he is a jerk and always has been a jerk, a wanna be tough guy who is anything but tough.
Biden will reminisce about that time he was on the campaign trail in his basement while supporting President Harris during his days in the Senate, alongside Sen Byrd, who never called him Boy.
Biden’s problem…or one of them is once a liar always a liar…he’s lied and cannot be trusted or taken seriously
I live in Michigan. Grethen Whitmer is not that great of a governor, I worry she’s gonna turn my beautiful state into another Cluster f state like California.
You know, there’s another Joe who won re-election many times without bothering to campaign . . .
Nicely written, very long article explaining what may happen if….blah, blah, blah. Worthless article because that world does not exist. The dems will steal 2024, they’re already getting everything in place. F’ing cryptkeeper brandon will have one debate, questions in advance, moderated by some pos leftist plant. Done, lids all over, count will elect him a week later, by a landslideUNLESS SOME WORTHLESS FING RINOS GET OFF THEIR ASSESAND DO SOMETHING NOW!
Outta sight, outta mind. Maybe he thinks the American people will not remember his emptiness and nothingness that he has accomplished and the fact that he doesn’t want to make America strong again.
Joe needs to get a red-stripped stocking cap and start calling himself Waldo. This would all be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic.
Looks like the Democrats are planning to play the same election fraud game they played in 2020, create enough votes in the battle ground states to put ole Brandon over the top. No need to campaign.
The Dems want to stay in power and they will do anything to get there way not help this country to let this person who plays president and his lame VP stay in the White House is very sad they will bring this country down with voter having trouble to make ends meet, then to let any one come into this country from all over the world they are making this a third world country.
No worries, (Biden sure doesn’t); he will get millions of phantom votes from unconstitutional “harvesting”. No need to campaign when the fix is already In!
RFK will win New Hampshire. Then Biden will take a dive, like LBJ in 1968.
Like our dementia addled president, I am not entirely sure what is happening, or rather what will happen.
I cannot see how the befuddled and almost always lost mumbler in chief can campaign, let alone win.
He looks to have the stamina of a wet paper bag. His mind is even less.
Are the democrats and the deep state going to dump another pandemic on us to get the guy reelected so hunter can sell more “art” ?
How can they possibly cheat enough to win again minus a pandemic and twitter controlling social media ?
There HAS to be more to this than biden “running” for relelction, without the “running” part.
You cannot run when you are asleep most of the time and hopped up on drugs the rest.
The democrats are circling the drain.
The Democrats are morally and intellectually bankrupt. Their supporters are ignorant, arrogant, anti-American, intolerant, grievance and entitlement mongering and supporters of dysfunctional and criminal behavior.
“… as long as I count the votes, what are you going to do about it?” – Boss Tweed
Every Conservative in this country who values their freedoms and Country has got to vote in 2024. There are people who think that the Democrats control the election outcome and will not vote because they think their vote won’t count! Really? Well for sure it won’t count if you don’t vote! Get involved with your Legislative District and Precinct and work to make sure your votes count!
“Biden’s Non-Existent 2024 Campaign”??????????????????????? Biden’s Non-Existent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!