Jerry Shenk: Democrats’ August convention has epic entertainment potential  

President(ish) Joe Biden’s disastrous June debate performance put his precipitous cognitive decline on public display – and Democrats into panic mode – only four months before the November election.

Party elders who have always known Joe’s deficiencies, along with complicit media who drug Biden across the finish line in 2020, then deliberately covered up his senescence, are frantically signaling that he’s no longer useful.

However, perhaps because his domineering wife and felonious son need Joe’s reelection to provide something each loves far more than they do their ailing patriarch – personal power and a Get Out of Jail Free card, respectively – an intransigent Biden has said that only God himself can convince him to withdraw.

Biden’s orchestrated post-debate, brain malfunction-, gaffe- and falsehood-filled rehabilitation interviews and defiant, rambling “well…anyway…” press conference presented Democrats with their worst-case scenario. None convinced any honest observer of his viability, but, graded on his personal curve, Joe didn’t botch things badly enough to justify forcing him out. Nevertheless, Democrats – everyone – who saw the debate, interviews, and presser know he’s not up to the job.

Anxious Democrats may be ready to ditch Biden, but their options are few – and risky.

Democrats have only themselves to blame. They allowed former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to suck so much air out of party politics for so long that Democrats never developed a bench. Four years ago, Joe Biden was the best they had.

In fact, Biden may still be.

Biden’s “natural successor,” Vice President Kamala Harris, proved so unpopular that she abandoned the 2020 presidential race before the first primary vote was cast. Too many Democrats(!) didn’t – still don’t – like her.

Shallow, vapid, and un-presidential, Kamala did check the party’s melanin/gender “diversity” boxes, so Biden chose her as his running mate. She may also have been considered insurance against Biden’s eventual removal. Oops!

Kamala’s favorability ratings are worse than Biden’s. Majorities of rank-and-file Democrats who want Joe removed want Kamala bypassed as well, so nominating either could be an extinction-level event. But, as a melanin-rich female, Harris represents two core Democrat constituencies.

Democrats have been practicing identity politics for years, so, if Joe’s removed and Kamala is bypassed, the party faces mutiny by one or more of its widely-disparate factions.

Other than Harris, California Governor Gavin “A-little-dab’ll-do-ya” Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have been mentioned as replacements. Both are younger than Biden – but (gasp!) white – and only marginally better than Harris.

Whitmer is virtually unknown nationally, but the net-zero goals she would bring to Washington have driven Michigan energy costs to among the highest in the nation. And, if she runs, Whitmer will be reminded that America still suffers from a coronavirus hangover.

As governor, Whitmer’s draconian, dictatorial COVID mandates earned her the nicknames “Whitler,” and “The Gretch that stole Chrismas,” plus, she violated her own shutdown mandates by vacationing in Florida. Apparently, rules are only for the little people. Whitmer has since conceded, understatedly, that some of her decisions “did not make a lot of sense.”

Newsom’s California has set records for crime and homelessness. In under two years, Newsom turned a record $97 billion surplus into a $73 billion budgetary deficit primarily by driving productive taxpayers out of California and importing illegals. California has lost more than 1.2 million citizens under Newsom, mostly to red states. In 2022 alone, 817,000 Californians out-migrated. Hundreds of companies have fled to other, more tax-friendly and business-friendly states.

As a further complication, a majority of delegates are pledged to vote for Biden, so an open or brokered convention would cancel out the millions of primary votes Biden received and circumvent the party’s normal nominating process. So much for the “democracy” Democrats claim to be saving…

Then there’s the cash factor. According to federal campaign finance law, depending on timing, if neither Biden nor Harris appears on the ballot, hundreds of millions of dollars donated to the Biden/Harris campaign must be refunded.

Democrats have no perfect options. In fact, any move to replace Biden post-primaries carries considerable risk. No matter what they do, though, Democrats’ current panic over Biden’s senescence will appear orderly compared to the chaos that will inevitably ensue.

So, stock up on popcorn and beer, folks, and tune in. Biden in or Biden out, either way, the Democrats’ nominating convention promises to be epic!

Contact columnist Jerry Shenk at jshenk2010@gmail.com