It's that time again. The 2024 presidential election season is just getting underway. The candidates are out there giving their stump speeches and making their case for why they should be the next president to the American people. For a variety of reasons, we will be talking about the 2020 election for many years to come. It will stand out as one of the most unusual elections in American history, primarily because of the COVID-19 outbreak. But using the "never let a crisis go to waste" principle, Democrats managed to achieve their goal of removing former President Donald Trump from office using — yes using, let's call it what it is — the COVID pandemic. But in 2024, it is a new day, and Democrats have a whole new set of problems going into 2024. Their best option: Bring back COVID-19.
On the plus side for Democrats, Joe Biden did what Democrats wanted him to do: get rid of Donald Trump. The question of whether there were voting "irregularities" is not the issue. The goal was achieved. Trump was out, and Biden was in. But as is usual with Democrats, they never seem to be able to look much beyond next week, and it tends to come back to bite them. They are perpetually Wile E. Coyote, always opening that box from the Acme Dynamite Company. Now, in the run-up to 2024, even though he says he is running, it is becoming more apparent with each wandering trip he takes off a stage that Joe Biden's mental faculties are dwindling fast. His legal issues, both his own and those intertwined with his son Hunter, are going to do nothing but heat up and will become very uncomfortable for Democrats. The end of the year could see Democrats looking to dump Joe. Enter problem number one for Democrats.
What to do? Well, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has already stopped by the White House to measure the drapes but insists he is not running. But when Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity asked him outright, he wouldn't answer. If, for whatever reason, Joe Biden were to drop out of the race (and the easiest reason of all for them to cite would be "health reasons"), and Democrats were to go with Newsom, enter problem number two. Vice President Kamala Harris told a reporter in Jakarta, Indonesia, this week that she would be ready to go if Joe Biden could not complete his term in office. Besides the fact that she seemingly cannot complete even a word salad of a sentence without giggling, if Democrats so much as look like they are contemplating moving the white guy with the hair gel ahead of the black woman, well, let's just say that would not be pretty. The Biden people have already headed that off at the pass, saying such a move would be...wait for it...racist. Joe Biden picked her to be his Veep because she was a black woman, but because Democrats love identity politics, they are stuck with her for the same reason.
Problem number three is the fact that a new CNN poll shows that 67 percent of Democrat and Democrat-leaning voters want someone other than Biden to be the nominee. Of those polled, 46 percent said any Republican nominee would be better than Biden, 58 percent say Biden's economic policies have been bad for the country, and 70 percent say things are going badly in the country. A CNN/SSRS poll shows that in addition to Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie would all beat Biden. But wait, could COVID 2.0 be some sort of backup plan?
Democrats were no doubt sure that Donald Trump would be in jail at this point for something. But four indictments and 91 charges later, his poll numbers keep going up. They, along with their media accomplices, are beginning to panic, realizing that not only could Trump be the Republican nominee, but he might actually get reelected. That panic is also a sure sign that maybe they are not completely confident in all of those indictments. If they are totally sure Trump is going to prison, why do they need a backup plan?
Never mind if they will need it; they already appear to be putting it into place. On the heels of the cold and flu season, there are conveniently — at least for Democrats — new variants of COVID being detected. Last week, First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID, and recently, an elementary school in Montgomery County, Maryland, reinstituted mask mandates for students. So, what do Democrats get out of a sequel to COVID? Plenty. Joe gets to stay in his basement again, the return of mail-in voting, and ballot harvesting, and best of all, no massive Trump rallies. Voila, problem solved.
Fortunately, some Republicans are seeing this for what it is: more election interference. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) is expected to introduce a bill that would ban federal officials from issuing mask mandates in public schools, domestic air travel, or public transportation. But if Democrats decide to stick with Joe Biden, regardless of what kind of condition he is in, they may see pulling the COVID trigger as their only option, but it will have a very different result.