By Dave Workman
Special to Liberty Park Press
ANALYSIS: The political irony cannot be more vivid as lifelong anti-gunner Joe Biden is literally being politically stabbed in the back by many of his closest allies on Capitol Hill who—according to mounting published reports—are urging him to step aside so their party’s chances of retaining power in November can improve.
The “Party of Gun Prohibition” has now become the “Party of Self-Preservation,” and predictions are surfacing that Biden may bow out of the 2024 race as soon as this coming weekend, according to Axios.
Further reinforcing the notion Biden is about to bow out is a report at The Guardian that the 81-year-old president has “become more open in recent days” to step aside because of growing concerns that he cannot beat former President Donald J. Trump in a rematch.
Some observers are skeptical about Biden’s COVID diagnosis as calls for him to step down increase. Fox News is reporting that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough told his audience Thursday, “It’s really incumbent on people that are around Joe Biden to step up at this point and help the president and help the man they love and do the right thing.”
The former president’s quick recovery from last Saturday’s attempted assassination may not have boosted his poll numbers a lot, but the Republican Party is showing a degree of unity which hasn’t been seen in a while. There is momentum up and down the ballot, while Democrats appear to be floundering. If the election were held today, or even next week, the GOP would likely take control of Congress.
If Biden does step aside, Democrats do not really have a deep well from which to draw a replacement. Vice President Kamala Harris could hardly run on her record. Gov. Gavin Newsom is not well liked outside of California, and the out-migration of Golden State residents shows he is not all that popular within the state, either. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is another name which has been suggested, but her policies on a national scale might not sell well, and her policy on guns is no better than Biden’s.
Democrats are in a tough spot, and they put themselves in it.
As Axios so bluntly put it, “The top leaders of his party, his friends and key donors believe he can’t win, can’t change public perceptions of his age and acuity, and can’t deliver congressional majorities.” With their convention less than a month away, Democrats are scared, probably more than they were in 1994 when Republicans led by Newt Gingrich put forth the Contract with America and, with key support from American gun owners, displaced more than 50 anti-gun Democrats who has rammed through the Brady Handgun Law in 1993 and the Clinton semi-auto ban in September 1994.
This all translates to an end to the Biden gun control agenda, which has penalized law-abiding gun owners since he took office in 2021. And the one thing which will prevent that agenda from moving forward is Trump back in the Oval Office and GOP control of the House and Senate. With Republicans in control of the Senate, Trump presumably can revive his efforts to fill federal court vacancies with conservative judges and, should the opportunity arise, Supreme Court justices.
The task right now will be to get a strong enough voter turnout to capture so-called “battleground” states and secure the necessary Electoral College votes.
Dave Workman is editor-in-chief at TheGunMag.com
