The Right Resistance: Joe Biden’s approval ratings dive and the Rose Garden meeting that never was

Try, if you will, to hearken back to the days after last year’s presidential election.

I know, the memory is painful for Trump supporters, myself included. Who could ever forget the vote totals in several so-called “swing” states not-so-mysteriously moving in Joe Biden’s direction, creeping like a spider on the ceiling towards the Democrats’ column. The steady decline in the incumbent’s vote percentages mirrored the sinking hopes of nearly 75 million people who’d placed their trust and confidence that Trump would be able to make good on his vow to “Keep America Great” for four more years.

Lawsuits, or rumors of lawsuits, swirled. Trump himself refused to accept the counts or to concede defeat. News reports of fraud from this or that location continuously flowed in. Conservatives were outraged. Trump’s team of lawyers swore they had evidence that would prove the election was stolen by compromised Dominion voting machines and hackers in Venezuela. One truck driver said he carried hundreds of thousands of blank ballots from New York City to Pennsylvania on election eve.

It was crazy. I’m not asserting that none of it was true -- it may very well have been -- but there simply wasn’t the ability to thoroughly investigate the allegations in that short of a time frame. As the days passed by, faint hope turned to utter depression. Trying to find the magic piece of evidence that would reverse the tide proved as fruitful as dumping tens of millions of dollars into searching for the (still) missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared seven years ago.

The “ping” of the plane’s black box only lasted so long. After the batteries ran dead, the search over hundreds of thousands of square miles of uncharted and incredibly remote ocean bottom became virtually impossible.

Contrast the mood and desperation of Trump’s backers with the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris camp. Recall how they gleefully made the news rounds, wearing masks, keeping social distance while on camara and busied themselves setting up “The Office of the President Elect” and acting as though there was nothing fishy going on. Then they declared victory when one of the states was called for the challenger, officially putting broken-down Joe over the Electoral Vote threshold.

‘Now what?’ They must’ve thought. For years they and their media allies savaged Trump, completely ignoring or distorting all the positive policy achievements of the Republican administration. Deep in their hearts, Democrats must’ve realized they’d pulled an epic “fast one” on the American people, and now it was their turn to not only exact revenge, but to impart their schemes on the gullible and trusting country.

They probably also recognized the good times wouldn’t last long. How couldn’t they? It was all an illusion. Current polls continue to reflect the rapid deterioration of the goodwill that Democrats feasted on late last year. It’s getting really, really bad, folks.

Paul Bedard reported at The Washington Examiner:

“In the worst showing since becoming president, President Joe Biden’s approval has fallen to its lowest ever, and the public no longer feels his team is competent, honest, or led well.

“As Biden struggles to recover from the bungled Afghan withdrawal and an interparty feud over his spending and tax agenda, his approval has sunk to just 38% in the latest Quinnipiac University Poll. A majority, 53%, disapprove. The survey follows a similar pattern in other polls, notably Gallup, that recently had his approval at a poor 43%.

“While partisanship remains as strong as it was during the Trump era, independents are weighing in heavily against Biden. By nearly 2-1, independents disapprove of Biden, 60%-32%.”

Ouch! Imagine you’re a staffer in the White House political office as you read the hot-off-the-press numbers for the first time. How could you possibly put a positive spin on this disaster to the boss? Ignore it entirely? Substitute the survey findings from a poll done in February instead? Hope and pray that senile Joe is in a rare good mood and is more interested in hearing about son Hunter’s art sale than his own approval figures?

Bedard additionally reported that strong majorities of voters indicated: one, the Biden administration is not competent in running the government; two, it doesn’t have “good leadership”; three, they disapprove of his handling of the economy and of his job as commander in chief. Four, half of them said he isn’t honest. Lastly, two-thirds said he’s wrong on immigration and border issues.

In other words, the feeling around the West Wing these days closely matches the somber mood of Trump supporters in the two months before Inauguration Day.

Meanwhile, Trump’s backers have experienced a comeback of sorts, buoyed by the former president’s steady rise in 2024 prospects and visibility. If Trump chooses not to run again in 2024, a healthy number of Republicans would still support a candidate who shares his views. The MAGA agenda is a winner with conservatives and GOPers, which is bad news for Democrats and #NeverTrumpers.

Could Joe Biden experience a similar political revival? Not likely. He’s dumb as a floor board and there’s no way to improve on that condition. If you were advising the current president, what would you tell him?

--“Good golly, it’s a nice day, isn’t it?” Joe Biden remarked to Jen Psaki as they exited through a French double door and strolled towards the White House Rose Garden on this globally warmed afternoon in mid-October. Psaki hadn’t told her boss why they were headed outside in such a rush, or about the reason for hastily walking to meet with a small group of trusted Democrat brains assembled to discuss how to save his administration before he was deposed.

In no particular order, the eclectic group were seated in a straight line, each tasked with turning the president’s polling numbers around so as to avert disaster and keep party members from demanding that he abdicate in favor of Kamala Harris. There was Barack Obama, Senators Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren and Bernie Sanders, House members Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and, representing the states, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe.

Each was specifically selected by Psaki to represent a Democrat identity politics constituency and sense the mood of members of their ethnicity or gender.

In her typically scatterbrained manner, Psaki called the meeting to order. “Let’s circle back to the topic we all need to address in order to save our skins. The boss was so popular when he took office, remember? Now his numbers are not only underwater, they’re reaching the bottom. We either reverse the trend or he goes to the care facility. Judgment cometh -- and that right soon. You’re all political pros, and I know most of you. Who wants to talk first?”

Pocahontas Warren jumped to the front of the line. Looking directly at Biden, the bird-of-prey eyed old buzzard said, “Ya see, Joe, I told you that you shouldda picked me for your VP. If you’d tapped me to be border czar I wouldda gone straight to the nearest Indian reservation down there and powwowed with the elders to get them to give up their land and welcome the illegal aliens. There’re lots of natives in the southwestern U.S., with lots of property to house undocumenteds in tents and other makeshift shanties. If you’d picked me, your ratings wouldn’t be where they are.”

Biden looked at her with a blank stare. “I’ve never actually been to the border, Liz, so I don’t know about any of that stuff,” senile Joe replied. “During the presidential debates, every one of us raised our hands when the media stooge asked if we’d give welfare and health coverage to illegal aliens. My border policy is working perfectly. So your advice stinks…” his words trailed off as a plane flying overhead stole his attention from the faux Native American.

“I’ve got the perfect solution, Joe” Nancy Pelosi interjected without being called on by Psaki. “We’ll introduce a bill to make being a Republican illegal and pass it on fast track and through reconciliation, then you can get the Justice Department to send the FBI after anyone who objects to any of your policies. That includes a couple Democrats, too. We’ll sink Joe Manchin’s Houseboat in the harbor and remove all the stall doors from the bathrooms in Kyrsten Sinema’s school building… Then they’ll have to join us. And your approval ratings will shoot up like a junkie drug addict in a defunded inner-city police jurisdiction like in my San Francisco, the City by the Bay.”

Biden nodded his approval. “I like that one, Nance.”

Bernie Sanders and AOC were sitting close together, longtime chums from their joint fight to replace the Star Spangled Banner with the Soviet national anthem in Congress. “The Bern and I agree,” AOC stated confidently, “That all wealth should be confiscated and we’ll use some of it to fund universal Black Lives Matter Critical Race Theory courses for all government schools, and the rest will go towards purchasing ‘Tax the Rich’ dresses and vacation homes for old deadbeat socialist politicians. That’ll send just the right message to the voters.”

Sanders looked pleased. “And if you want to keep your doc-ta, you can keep your doc-ta.”

Senile Joe was confused. ‘Why is that young Hispanic woman sitting with that old coot Bernie? He's got more magic with the babes than Coach Urban Meyer in a bar after an embarrassing loss. Forget listening to them -- they’re the ones who convinced me to throw-in with the lefties to begin with. I’ll let’ em down gently, though.’ “Um, I like the dress part, lady. And we’re working on giving everyone houses through our infrastructure bill. So yeah, definitely.”

Biden then heard a squeak from a nasal sounding thick New York accented voice. It looked as though Chucky Schumer’d been crying again. “Joe,” Chucky could barely get out the words in between sobs. “Your polling is taking all of us down. I’ve waited all this time to be Majority Leader and it’s crashing right before my eyes. I told you a long time ago to get rid of the filibuster, and you didn’t support it. Now look at us. Your only hope to recover with the voters is to dissolve Congress, end Habeas Corpus and lock up half the country. We’ll get everything passed and the people who aren’t in prison will give you an 80% approval rating.”

“That’s a great one, Chucky,” Biden replied thoughtfully. “But we won’t have any room left in the prisons after we lock up the parents who protest and dare to speak at school board meetings. When Merrick Garland called them ‘domestic terrorists’ I almost busted my gut laughing. We’ll have to pass the infrastructure and welfare bills to build more detention facilities, for sure.”

“Wait a second,” Terry McAuliffe chimed in. “Joe, you’re unpopular in Virginia, and I’m the one who said those stupid parents ain’t gonna have no say in school matters for their kids. My parents sent me to Catholic schools my whole life, so naturally I know best about how government schools should run. Turn ‘em over to the teachers’ unions, then lock up the parents. Good call there, Chucky!

“By the way, if that Donald Trump wannabe Glenn Youngkin beats me, I’m going to lockdown the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. Or, I’ll get Ralph Northam to do it. He’ll be wearing blackface and a Klan hood!”

“You’re such a kidder, Terry,” the Big O said as he doubled over snickering. “You must’ve gotten your sense of humor from all those hours with Hillary Clinton. Anyway, my approval ratings were always pretty good, Joe, not because I did anything at all, but because I could legitimately claim that anyone who opposed me was a racist.” Obama patted his brow before continuing. “You have to really play up the race angle and then renounce your ethnic heritage. Pretend you’re an Indian like Liz over there. Or maybe even a Siberian. There is such a thing, right?

“If that doesn’t work, declare that you’re coming out as transgender and you’re starting to take hormones so you can join the military and get a sex change operation on the taxpayers’ dime.”

“Dang, bud, hadn’t thought of that one,” Joe grinned widely. “Or even better, I’ll tell Hunter to do it instead, so I can stay a guy for Dr. Jill’s sake and appear empathetic to the cause at the same time. That’ll nail down the liberal LGBTQ vote, and will give me an extra 1% bump in the polls.”

“Oops! One more thing, Joe,” Obama interjected earnestly. “If none of this has any effect, we can always hold a fundraiser in front of the White House and invite Kelli Stavast to cover it while everyone shouts ‘Let's go Brandon!’ from the street. Yeah, that’s it, buddy!”

Silent to this point, Psaki looked very worried. She thought bringing in the who’s who of the Democrat world would provide the magic answer to Joe’s polling dilemma, but clearly nothing of value was gained here. Rather than announcing an ending to the meeting, she’d arranged for an ice cream truck to play its little ditty and distract the president when she pressed an invisible remote-control button.

When the music began, all the Democrats save for AOC sprinted off to beg their moms for money to buy a treat. The New York Congresswoman said angrily to Psaki, “That is a wind powered truck, isn’t it? And ice cream? That dairy crap is the stuff of the rich. Count me out.”

--Joe Biden didn’t get the answer he was looking for. His approval ratings continued to crater, and his presidency went down as the worst in history.

The fact that Joe Biden’s poll numbers are falling through the floor brings little satisfaction to Donald Trump’s supporters now. The prospects for a Republican congressional takeover after next year’s midterms look bright, but we’ll still be stuck with senile Joe for another two years. Democrats should’ve figured it would end up this way. They deserve everything they get.

• 2020 Election

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• Joe Biden

• Jen Psaki

• Barack Obama

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• Let's Go Brandon!

• 2024 GOP presidential field

• Joe Biden approval ratings

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• Kamala Harris