Democracy 2024: # 19

Panic may have been a theme of the week. Panic for Democrats. Panic for sane Republicans. Panic in the media and panic at large for a country that continues to not like the prospect of another year and a half plus of a Biden vs. Trump rematch. All the while,the U.S. remains on the brink in regards to a potential default and with the elimination of Title 42, our southern border seems more wide open than ever. This can lead to panic both for those who fear immigration in general and for those who are tasked with the very real responsibility of providing services in cities and states.

Political junkies woke up last Sunday morning to learn about a new ABC News/Washington Post poll showing Joe Biden's Presidential approval rating at just 36 percent and him trailing Donald Trump by seven points in a general election match-up. Those truly are "brutal" numbers for any incumbent. While other polls have shown Biden with a continued low approval number and in a close race against Trump and also Ron DeSantis, this particular poll seemed to make a lot of Democrats gasp in fear.

What I can see from the internals of the poll are that Biden's support is down among his Democrats and especially lowered suddenly among African-Americans. I have a hard time believing that those groups would not still put all reservations aside and vote heavily for Biden next November against Trump or DeSantis for that matter. Thus, people people should probably not get too exercised, in either direction, about this poll.

Biden has a lot of political problems though as seen in this poll. People simply believe he is too old to serve another four years as President, after his first terms ends in nearly two years. The perception that Biden is not "mentally sharp" enough for the job is becoming quite real and growing. This is not to say that most Americans believe the current President is suffering from dementia. If they did, they would be clamoring for an immediate resignation or removal from office, but the concept that Biden is starting to slip mentally and showing increasing signs of age is snowballing. This is leaving many Democrats to wonder if he truly is their best bet for victory in 2024. Right now though, he is running for reelection and protest votes aside (which will seemingly come more from the left wing of the party), he is not being seriously challenged for re-nomination.

 

Of course many of the voters who say that Biden is not mentally sharp enough to be President still intend to vote for him. That is pretty astonishing in and of itself but less so than the voters who told the same pollster that they believe Trump should be prosecuted for crimes but yet they will still vote for him.What is that saying about our democracy? Biden would be the obvious choice for many even if he were in a nursing home instead of the White House and Trump would be the obvious choice for many even if were in prison. How about another choice? Speaking for myself, I would want there to be a different Presidential option minus all the concerns about Biden's age and mental sharpness or Trump's seeming lifetime of criminal behavior or just being a sociopath in general. The two men are simply wrong on many, many issues, and are not good leaders.

 

As the week unfolded, a Manhattan jury voted unanimously to find that Trump was liable for the sexual abuse claims made against him by writer E. Jean Carroll for events that she alleged happened sometime in the mid 1990s. He was also found to have defamed her and ordered to pay her about $5 million. The jury did not find him liable on the specific allegation of rape. This leads to some understandable confusion as to why he was liable for defaming her regarding an allegation that was determined to be unfounded, but it also goes to show that this jury probably was taking their specific instructions seriously and were not just "out to get Trump." Of course, the person who was found by a jury of his peers to be a sexual predator expressed outrage over this verdict and is appealing. The effect this will have on Trump's campaign or political future remains to be seen. The Republican frontrunner definitely has a lot of other legal concerns beyond this civil judgment.

 

Then on Wednesday, Donald Trump appeared on CNN for the first time since 2016 and took part in a Presidential Town Hall in the First in the Nation Primary state of New Hampshire. It was moderated by Kaitlan Collins, a young anchor, who used to cover the Trump White House. This event became the biggest story of the week, which was not hard to predict.

 
Many believe that CNN did a disservice to democracy by having Trump on its airwaves and by giving him a platform. I completely disagree. For better or worse (and everyone should know my opinion), he is a major candidate for President and could very well be President. He is not someone that can be totally ignored. People have the right to hear from him so they can vote accordingly. That is what democracy is all about after all. Those who scream about "banning books" just understand the concept of why it was appropriate to have Trump and all other major Presidential candidates appear on the air and watch them face questions from journalists and voters.

 

Collins and CNN had a tough job that was nearly impossible to "win." I think she did about as well as could be expected. Trump spent about 70 minutes on stage telling one lie or distortion after another from matters such as the 2020 election and the January 6th riot at the Capitol. One could write many paragraphs about all the things he said such as saying he would pardon January 6 prisoners and  attacking E. Jean Carroll and defending his one-time remarks about celebrities being allowed to sexually grab women. He refused to say that he wanted Ukraine to defeat Russia in the war but claimed that if he is President the war would end in 24 hours (only if he cut support for Ukraine and allowed Russia to take it over.) Trump also tried his best to finesse the abortion issue neither saying he would or would not sign a national bill restricting the act, although he took credit for the Supreme Court decision returning it to the states, while also seeming to say it did not need to be returned to the states.

Collins did her best to fact-check Trump on many of the outright lies he told in real time, but there is only so much that could be done in that regard. His hard-core supporters do not care and were actually quite pleased over what became his combative exchanges with her. In simple, Trump was Trump, although I note that he did not get as personal with her as he probably was tempted to. He was actually holding back. He merely called her a "nasty person" instead of his old go-to of "nasty woman", although his remark was deemed to be misogynistic none the less. The whole program did feel like someone was telling Donald Trump he was wrong to his face and his not being able to respond more than anyone ever has on television before, but that kind of got lost in the shuffle. Collins could only push-back so much, but she still did so more effectively than Biden was able to in the 2020 debates. It is also noteworthy that Trump only got one dig in at Ron DeSantis during the appearance. He was said to have wanted to focus on the person seen as his main Republican rival more. Based on the latest Republican polls though, he may not have felt that was as crucial to do.

Much has been made by liberals and especially on MSNBC, an even more left-wing alternative to CNN, about the fact that the cable town hall event featured people in the audience who applauded for Trump and who laughed at some of his outrageous comments. Some said they were very surprised this happened. They should not have been  CNN has been hosting these kinds of events for politicians and candidates for years now and in regards to primary states, they are always filled with the voters who will take part in those primaries.The sad reality is that Trump has support of many New Hampshire Republicans.

In watching this though, based on the volume of the cheers and whatnot, it seemed clear to me that Trump definitely did not "own"the room. This was not the boisterous MAGA rally many Trump haters would want us to believe.  Many of the voters sat quietly. Some asked him questions, that despite their very polite and deferential nature, seemed to convey skepticism or displeasure with Trump. A former Trump Administration official, who was in the room with these New Hampshire voters said that many were quietly bewildered by Trump's behavior and turned off by it. Those voters should not have been surprised either. Trump did what he always did. This attitude seems to reflect the divide in the larger Republican Party as it has existed for years now. So many are turned off by Trump, but sit by quietly as to not rile up the very loud voices who will cheer for him and perhaps shout down the others who would express a contrary view. It has been a hostage situation since early 2016. Those who have the freedom to escape these captors should do so.

After it was over, Trump and his people were said to be happy with how it all went. To be expected, Democrats and many in the media expressed outrage. Personally, I was disgusted by Trump, as I usually am. Those in the Republican Party who have seen the actual political history of his leadership of the party worry that his focus on the past is going to lead them to defeat again, despite the Washington Poll from May 2023. The White House and Democrat professionals were said to be salivating over all the material Trump provided to them that can be used in a general election  

 

E. Jean Carroll is said to now be contemplating suing him for defamation again. Prosecutors from Georgia to Washington D.C. may have also gathered some important evidence from what Trump was allowed to say on CNN. While Trump looks to be riding high for the Republican Presidential nominations, other candidates, both announced and potential are said to be seeing an opening now over electability concerns. Some have been pretty quiet publicly since Wednesday night with the exception of the unannounced Chris Christie, once the top Trump enabler in the Republican Party, who has now fully turned on him and is signaling that if he does run against his old friend, he will be doing so with rhetorical guns blazing. Announced GOP candidate Asa Hutchinson has been very consistent in calling for the party and the country to move on from Trump.

As the old saying goes, "sunlight is the best disinfectant." The media has the responsibility to cover Trump and do so accurately. If he says something that is demonstrably false, that should be pointed out. If he says something that is in the realm of a policy difference, no matter how outrageous, it should be reported fully and the people will have the final say through their votes.

Needless to say, the same rules should apply to Joe Biden or whomever else seeks to be the leader of the Free World or seek to hold any office of public trust and responsibility.