In October 2016, President Obama probably thought he had it all figured out. His former Secretary of State was about to defeat her opponent the following month and continue his legacy as a liberal diverse force in American politics. His Vice President would sail into the sunset and enjoy a retirement full of book deals and luxury.
How wrong he was.
The shocking victory of Donald Trump and his ascension to the highest office in the land practically threw the left, the media, and the democratic party into chaos. Suddenly, they found themselves bankrupt and defeated; humiliated in a loss with every conceivable assist handed to them along the way.
Four years have gone by and not much has changed. There is still loud noise taking up the airwaves of American television and the news feeds of people’s social media. By any and all accounts, there is chaos in the world and one man was supposed to be the Messiah to fix the country’s problems and provide a ‘return to normalcy’. Now, more than ever, the future belonged to Joe Biden.
So what the heck happened?
After his second crushing primary defeat in New Hampshire, the chances of President Biden appear to be slimming by the day. It was only a few months ago that his candidacy would be the immediate and steady frontrunner among a sea of increasing left and extreme candidates. Biden was the safe, moderate, candidate who had global recognition and a chance to make America great again - at least in the eyes of Trump’s fiercest critics.
However, Biden’s campaign was plagued from the very first announcement. Ever since its promise of ‘no malarkey’, it stunk of boomer energy and out-of-touch language that would never quite resonate with a younger crowd.
And then there were the gaffes. My gosh, the gaffes.
Those on social media would be bombarded with new and fresh videos of the former Vice President forgetting what state he was in, stumbling over his words, or flat out insulting the everyday folk in the midwest. Joe Biden sure didn’t care if you liked him or not. Despite this, he was still trying to earn the nomination all while not bothering to earn their votes.
“If you don’t like me, don’t vote for me,” he said during multiple rallies.
“I refuse to suggest any Democrat can lose [against Trump],” he told Morning Joe. He declined to elaborate on why, if that were the case, he should be the party’s nominee.
He called a young voter a “lying, dog-faced pony soldier.”
There are clearly enough examples to list. After the initial few months of a forgiving press, news organizations had no choice but to report on what the masses were sharing, tweeting, and mocking: an elderly man clearly not in it to win it.
Biden’s endearing gaffes aside, the politician is also shadowed by objectively questionable behavior. There are countless photos and videos that show the 77-year-old getting far too close to young girls, often sniffing their hair or stroking their cheeks.
His son, Hunter Biden, is surrounded by controversy. From being discharged by the Army for cocaine use, to dating his brother’s widow only to go and cheat on her to father an illegitimate child with a stripper.
It also didn’t help that Hunter was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company that paid him $60,000 a month to effectively do nothing. When Biden boasted of a Quid Pro Quo on camera, Trump’s enquiry into his opponent's corruption would inadvertently lead to him becoming the third president to be impeached by the House, acquitted by the Senate. Three candidates running for president voted to remove their opponent from office - talk about a conflict of interest.
Ironically, it would be the Democrats’ impeachment of the president that would highlight these misdeeds, boosting them into the mainstream media and potentially ruining Biden’s career. All the while, the president can now boast record popularity. It's one of the most spectacular acts of self-sabotage in recent political history.
Since the press had no choice but to report on these inconvenient facts to keep up with the voices of social media, Biden’s imperfections were on full display and have practically sunk his campaign.
President Obama never endorsed Joe Biden. Perhaps he was saving it for the eventual nominee, or perhaps he knew something we didn’t. Plenty of polls have shown how Biden would have beaten Trump in a landslide in 2016. Today, he is unable to compete against a socialist.
It was Biden’s third attempt to win the White House. It was even his most likely attempt to win. After these recent results, it looks as though Biden will likely bow out of the race by Super Tuesday.
However, he does so with little grace or dignity. His legacy of being Obama’s right-hand man has been shattered as videos of him losing his cool and screaming at people will live on forever. He will likely be retiring as a man not with the prestige of being Vice President, but a man whose corruption has been exposed and name dragged through the mud.
It didn’t have to end this way. The fact it did for him is nothing short of tragic.