OPINION:
If you follow politics, you know that nothing happens by accident. So, let’s review the last few days.
President Biden had an absurdly bad debate with his Republican counterpart, Donald Trump, two weeks ago. At one point, the president said, “We finally beat Medicare.” Yeah, it was bad.
The disastrous debate led to this: First, Democrats defended the president’s performance. Then, a few said maybe Mr. Biden should be replaced — anonymously, of course. Then, a few Democrats came right and said Mr. Biden should bail out. Then, everyone was talking about Vice President Kamala Harris stepping in.
But that didn’t last long.
Over the past weekend, there was a new report that a neurologist and Parkinson’s disease specialist had made at least eight visits to the White House, raising new questions about Mr. Biden’s fitness for office. Another report said Mr. Biden has only a small time frame each day in which he can focus — and he can’t work after 8 p.m.
On Monday, a fiery Mr. Biden called into a morning TV show to declare “I’m not going anywhere,” and the White House said the president doesn’t have Parkinson’s. By Tuesday, there was talk of a “mini-primary” to pick Mr. Biden’s replacement.
Back to the top: Nothing happens by accident. Washington has a no-fly zone over it, but that doesn’t include trial balloons. Those are aloft every day inside the Beltway, and no one bats an eyelash when they get shot down.
Your guess is as good as mine about what’s really going on, but here’s my guess: The move to replace Mr. Biden is being masterfully orchestrated, and we’re nearly at the endgame: replacing him as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Let’s work through a couple of scenarios. First, it’s a no-brainer to think that top White House advisers knew that Mr. Biden was going to screw the pooch in the debate. They see him every day, they know he’s not, as he might say in his 1950s lingo, “with it.” He’s no longer a hep cat, and his staffers knew that when he walked onto the debate stage.
Then there’s the timing of the debate: June 27?! That’s the earliest by far in recent presidential campaigns. Why? My theory is this: They trot out a clearly confused president, everyone sees his diminished state of mind, the chattering class does what it does, the balloon of replacement gets launched, and off we go.
So what’s up with what followed? Kamala’s balloon was floated, then shot down, and despite a slew of prominent Democrats calling on Mr. Biden to disappear — no less than liberal firebrand film director Michael Moore called it “elder abuse” — the president vows to stay in the race?!
I’m still predicting Mr. Biden is not the 2024 presidential nominee. He’s 81, he’s fading fast, and he’s lost the faith of his brethren — and that includes donors, the real deciders of who is the nominee. A new report says few donors with deep pockets will even take his call.
My theory is that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is the anointed one, chosen by Mr. Biden to take over when he steps aside. Asked if he would run in an open convention, Mr. Newsom said: “That’s a legit question, but it’s exactly where the other party wants us to be is having this internal fight. And I think it’s extraordinarily unhelpful.”
That’s not a no.
Political guru James Carville on Tuesday laid out an intriguing path. He said that former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama could moderate four town halls with up to eight potential candidates to replace Mr. Biden and then delegates could select the party’s nominee at the Democratic National Convention in mid-August.
All the polls say Mr. Biden is going to lose the election — maybe really, really badly. It’s now or never. And it’s all been mapped out: Bad debate performance, chatter to replace, maybe Parkinson’s, Kamala bad, fiery Joe vowing to stay in the race — and then, replaced.
Nothing happens inside the Beltway by accident. Mr. Biden said he’d drop out only if God himself tells him to, but it’s unclear if God is playing favorites in the 2024 presidential election in the United States. If he is, it doesn’t appear he has chosen the pro-abortion Democrat.
Right now, whichever way you slice it, Mr. Biden is a loser in November. But there’s plenty of time to dump him — and Democrats will do just that.
• Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on X @josephcurl.
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