Let’s try a mental exercise – a game where we use a parallel universe to understand our own universe. Let me ask you a series of questions; let your answers reveal Democrat prospects in 2022.
The backdrop for this game is national polls, a slew of them – all remarkable in what they say about President Biden and the Democratic Party. Biden may not be in uninterrupted freefall, but he could be. Democrats may not be the defunct Whigs, but they are on that course.
Start with Biden. Imagine you have children and are going out to dinner, need a babysitter. If you do, then you have, and know what I mean.
You want someone you can trust, need to trust, the job is a big one, very important – not rocket science, but got to trust them. At what level of trust would you be comfortable? To be sure that your children are safe, 95 percent trust? 90 percent? 80 percent? Below that, it gets iffy, right?
Okay, now, let’s imagine you have your babysitter, head for the restaurant, but you are wondering. Is he or she sharp enough to remember to turn off the stove? Stay quiet when the kids are in bed? Remember to lock the front door? Beyond trust, how sharp is he or she?
Then you begin thinking, as appetizers come, will they be able to keep peace among the kids, exercise good judgment, keep unity in the house? Will he or she care when the kids need help?
As the main course comes, you wonder, will they be a good role model? Will they be gentle but firm, administering discipline with care, without indifference, wise use of authority?
The pasta is good, but your mind is only half on conversation, wondering. If anything goes wrong, will they be one of those who denies responsibility, or owns up, is responsible?
As dessert comes, you are only half wondering now, is he or she honest? Are drawers with special things untouched, cash in the jar fine, will they be honest about how the kids behaved?
By the time you are headed home, satisfied with meal and evening, thoughts turn to expectations, and you expect all to be well, trustfully upheld. All is good, you hope.
But here is the thing, at what level of confidence did you answer those questions to yourself? At what level of confidence are you content? What percentage of trust must you have for peace?
What level of sharpness and peace-making among kids, caring if needed, 100 percent right? How about the percentage chance he is a good role model? Keeps authority, owns up, is honest?
Likelihood is, for each of those questions, when you were picking a babysitter – or doctor, lawyer, financial advisor, insurance broker, car mechanic, carpenter, plumber, employer, or employee, you asked some version of those questions. Percentage you wanted? 100 percent.
Now, we turn to Mr. Biden, who has been entrusted with our nation’s welfare, solvency to decency, employment and education to safety in homes, at borders, national security to the economy.
What do the polls say? What they say is shocking. This month, only 73 percent of Democrats think Biden is mentally sharp, 43 percent of Independents, nine percent of Republicans. That would nix a babysitter right there, would it not? Likely to leave a burner on, the door unlocked. See, e.g., Biden Loses Ground With the Public on Issues, Personal Traits and Job Approval; Biden’s leadership is threatened by his loyalty to the hard left.
Then only 80 percent of Democrats think he takes responsibility, 49 percent of Independents, 13 percent of Republicans. There goes accountability. And for a good role model? Same numbers.
How about caring for the needs of ordinary people, like your kids – or you? Well, 84, 54, 18 percent – not great, not if the person to be cared for is you, your family, your solvency, future, life.
How about honest, well – 81, 51, 14 percent. You better check the cookie jar, jewelry case, liquor cabinet, long-distance phone bill. If that few think he is 100 percent honest, have a concern.
Hoping the place is not chaos when you get home, how about unity, keeping the peace, understanding people, making it work, chaos averted? Democrats, Independents, and Republicans put confidence in his unity-building below par.
On unity, only 55 percent of Democrats think he has it in him, 34 percent of Independents, eight percent of Republicans. Where does that leave you? The place is going to be a mess!
Here is the bottom line on Biden. If you were choosing babysitters, you would not choose him, ever. He has not got sharpness, intent to take responsibility, serve as a role model, care about people consistently, assure honesty, or keep unity.
In a nutshell, he is a mess, and now – most America, after Afghanistan, open border, overspending, inflation, pleasing China, pushing Marxist CRT, dissing parents, is coming to see. If he would not be trustworthy as a babysitter, how can we trust him with the Presidency?
On the Democratic Party, polls are similar for good reason. Unlike the independent thinking of average Americans, Democrats are goosestepping behind Biden, Schumer, and Pelosi, unless they are way off on the left, pushing the end of capitalism, no freedom, or Israel.
No, the Democratic Party is lost, caught in the wicked winds of leftism, unchecked by character or reference to their own – often noble – history. These winds are driving them far off course.
This is also what happened to the Whigs, founded in 1834, lost on a sea of political perversion, lifted and drowned by hatred of Jackson, gone by 1854. In that year, so-called “Conscience Whigs” joined the Republican Party, which soon thereafter nominated Lincoln.
In short, Biden and the Democrats may think they are on a “slow boat to China,” but they are off the list of trusted leaders – and if national polls are right, maybe on the fast boat to obscurity. Metaphors and analogies can be inapt, or accurate. This game is not going Biden’s way. Hard to see him as a dogcatcher, let alone a babysitter. As President, he is a loss, and most know it.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.