Let me start this post off with a thought that has been running through my head for months now: Trump has clearly disqualified himself from receiving my vote; however, in any normal year, Biden would have as well. I’m not talking in legal or technical terms, just in terms of how I look at the two candidates for President. We are not, however, in any normal year. So take this for what is: a critique of the very flawed campaign of a very proud old man, not an endorsement of the other idiot.
Now that I have a dog, believe it or not, I’m walking a lot more. Every day I pass one of those Dark Brandon lawn signs and every day it makes me sadder than it did the day before. As far as I know, this is the only presidential candidate in history whose campaign merch is primarily based on his drugged-up alter ego that appears a few times a year at important, public events like the State of the Union. The rest of the year, we’re hit with clips like these where the most powerful man on earth is led around by the hand. We’re told that in private he’s a wiz, but aides keep having to say that because in public he’s not looking so good.


The other thing that is sad to me about the Biden campaign is how little they seem to care about winning. Joe Biden’s website is basically devoid of substance other than a video about how Trump is Trump (as if that’s not already baked in) and how a couple million people have donated to his campaign. The white house list of priorities clearly hasn’t been updated since Joe took office as it still lists Covid-19 as its first priority. His campaign ads are almost completely focused on Trump’s character rather than the kitchen table issues that seem to matter to Americans like inflation, immigration, violent crime, and homelessness.
Yesterday, just as an example, he announced a plan to allow the spouses of American citizens to have a pathway to citizenship1 after multiple polls have come out showing majorities of Americans (including pluralities of Hispanics) in favor of deporting ALL illegal immigrants. And you might say “Well, he did just enact stricter guidelines for asylum at the border.” Well, yes, but very reluctantly. The White House Fact Sheet makes sure to point out that this isn’t permanent and it’s just for when DOJ is overwhelmed. The rest of the time, things will proceed as they have been which means if you arrive and claim asylum, we let you in and let all record of you get lost in the bureaucracy until you're here for so long it would be cruel to deport you.
And immigration is just one issue where it would be easy to lead. Trump and his cronies said the quiet part out loud when they killed the immigration reform bill that was going to pass earlier this year. They killed it because Trump wanted to be able to run on it and that’s a message Biden and his people should be hammering home. Biden could be doing unconstitutional things to prove how much he cares about illegal immigration and wanting to stop migrants and potential terrorists from coming here illegally. But instead, he’s doing unconstitutional things to make the people most likely to vote for him happy. He could be out there hammering Trump about how he doesn’t actually care about illegal immigration, he just wants to run on it; but instead Biden is relitigating things we’ve known about Trump for 8 years.
Immigration isn’t the only issue where Biden could be leading, there’s a whole slew of things that we know swing voters and/or republicans care about. Pollsters check on these things regularly. But Joe “Fund the Police” Biden seems to have forgotten how to run a general election campaign and is trying to shore up his base instead of running to the middle. He could be out there talking about how dumb the fed is and how he wishes rates were lower as presidents before him have done, he could be out there touting his many legislative accomplishments, he could be talking about the Americans still held by Hamas. He could be doing any number of things, but instead he’s courting the people who are already going to vote for him by talking about Trump’s character.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Trump has just been convicted of 34 felonies and seems to be more popular than ever. I see Trump flags waving loud and proud, especially in rural areas, but also in suburban areas. To be fair, his campaign ads seem to be primarily about his prosecution, calling it a witch hunt and not so much about the kitchen table issues. But his campaign website is littered with the populist messaging that got him into the white house in the first place and changed the trajectory of American politics. While he’s always rambled and said crazy stuff and is only like 4 years younger than Biden, last week he did an hour-long campaign event in 99-degree heat in Las Vegas; a feat that would have killed Joe Biden. The Republican party seems dead set on putting forward the most unpopular issue positions known to man, but people are so excited about Trump, it doesn’t seem to matter. A luxury Biden doesn’t have.
Can Biden do anything to turn this around and actually become popular? I’m not sure. The debate is next week and if he just absolutely wipes the floor with Trump that could maybe turn things around, but the Biden campaign needs to think seriously about the next few months beyond campaign events. The man is the President of the United States and can do more to become popular than give good speeches. He has actual power and actual levers he can pull; he just seems disinterested (or too tired) in doing so. Let’s hope things do change, because I’m voting Dem either way come November and I’d really like the electoral college to do the same, but right now I’m pretty sure I’m voting for a loser.
A plan I might support in theory, but the politics is stupid. Especially given that it’s in celebration of DACA, which Obama himself admitted was unconstitutional multiple times. So, to celebrate an unconstitutional plan, Biden is doing another unconstitutional thing? At a time when more and more Americans are listing immigration as one of their top issues?