The Democrats seeking to remove President Joe Biden from the 2024 White House race promise that this is not a coup attempt by elites to thwart the will of their party’s primary voters, but boy, it sure looks like one.
It would be one thing if Democratic leadership en masse decided that Biden was no longer fit to serve, and with a single voice, called upon him to step down. But that is not what is happening here. The truth is, they are just worried he is going to lose the election to Donald Trump.
To avoid the metaphorical label ‘coup,’ there would have to be near unanimity and a clear and obvious emergency. This looks more like a factional battle for power. And that sounds like a coup.
Biden has a right to be furious at his old boss, Barack Obama, and the sly, Machiavellian former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as they stab him in the back with the help of Hollywood celebrities like George Clooney, and seemingly every major liberal news outlet.
The president rightly insists that he has racked up 18 million votes and won every primary. Even though the people have spoken with a clarion voice, the elites are trying to take him down.
Where is the lie?
The latest maneuver, if you are keeping track, is for major donors to withhold money not just from Biden’s campaign, but from down-ballot races too, should the old man in the White House refuse to step aside.
Let’s think about what this really means: The powerful Democrats who seem to approve this move are all but admitting that left-wing billionaires can simply buy the Democratic nomination, the will of the people be damned.
Maybe I missed the memo, but I thought the Democrats were trying to save democracy from Donald Trump. Apparently, one must destroy democracy to save it. Quite a novel concept, indeed.
But not everybody is on board, which is why, at least thus far, the coup is failing, and making the party look utterly disunified and rudderless.
On Friday, current Speaker Hakeem Jeffries threw Biden a lifeline, assuring that he supports the president. So Biden has the head of ‘The Squad,’ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and the Congressional Black Caucus. Those are powerful, coup-blocking chess pieces.
By ridin’ with Biden, these Democrats are taking the chance that he can still win. And while it may be a longshot, it is far from impossible. An overwhelming ground game in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin could still work, especially if states like Virginia turn out to be fools gold for the GOP.
It’s worth thinking about what would happen then, if a successful Biden owed his entire second term, or as much of it as he can endure, to the most far-left and radical wing of his party. It is not much of a stretch to say that one of our two major parties could wind up flat-out socialist.
The funny thing about coups is that when they fail they often leave the target more powerful than he was to begin with. Should Biden’s candidacy survive, he will be bathed in the light of defiant power.
There is less than a month to go before Democrats virtually, but permanently, are due to nominate Biden ahead of their convention. If he can hang on until then, he is in like Flynn.
It will take more than leaked conversations and a handful of moderate Democrat lawmakers calling on Biden to drop out for a new nominee to be anointed. Frankly, the insurrectionists’s quiver is running on arrows.
Democratic voters, for better or worse, have chosen Joe Biden, and this effort by top party officials and billionaire donors to replace their choice may be running out of steam.
That is good news for Biden, and Republicans hope it is good news for Donald Trump. But if this election has shown us anything, it is that surprising twists and turns are to be expected. So buckle up, this thing is far from over.