Don Surber
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Saturday, April 23, 2022
Biden heads for bunker. Democrats scramble
Maybe something will come of Hunter’s laptop, of leaving $83 billion worth of military equipment to the Taliban, and of mismanaging the pandemic after being handed three vaccines to fight it. The Washington Post reported that the White House already is going into its bunker mode to prepare for investigations next year by a Republican Congress.
There are not enough rugs in DC to sweep all the dirt under.
WaPo reported, “White House readies for tough probes that would follow a GOP takeover.”
The New York Times, meanwhile, had a less heroic description of Democrat reaction to the inevitable shellacking in November: “‘It’s Time to Head for the Lifeboats’: Democratic Fatalism Intensifies. Strategists and pollsters are increasingly talking about limiting the party’s expected losses in November rather than how to gain new seats.”
WaPo portrayed the president fighting back. Its story named a few of the flacks Biden will bring back to handle the press. Biden does not need a Platoon of Psakis.
He needs an army of attorneys.
The story said, “White House officials say their preparations are hardly surprising, given the Democrats’ narrow majorities in Congress and the uncertain outcome of the midterm elections. Democrats hold a 12-member edge (221-209) in the House with five vacancies, while the Senate is tied 50-50, giving Harris the tiebreaking vote.
“Biden officials also said the White House Counsel’s Office had been structured to respond to Republican oversight efforts from the beginning. During the presidential transition, Biden’s team had planned for Republicans to control the Senate; Democrats took control of the chamber in January 2021 after winning both runoff elections in Georgia.
“A White House official said the office is fully staffed, including with lawyers who have experience from prior administrations.
“The opposition party has long relished the committee chairmanships and subpoena power that come with a congressional majority, and has historically deployed them for substantive investigations, as well as to score political points.”
The spin for now is this is just routine stuff, just political payback.
Oh, and of course, WaPo blames Trump, reporting, “With large factions of the Republican Party increasingly conspiracy-minded and loyal to former president Donald Trump, the possibilities are legion for investigations that would enmesh the Biden White House.”
But things do not look well for President Al Z. Heimer because WaPo had to admit that, “Hunter Biden has emerged as a lightning rod for conservatives, especially after a laptop purportedly belonging to him surfaced at the end of the 2020 election. Republicans have seized on files purported to be from the laptop as evidence of wrongdoing, while some Democrats have dismissed them as disinformation.
“The Washington Post obtained a copy of the laptop’s hard drive, and two security experts who examined the data at the request of The Post said thousands of emails are authentic communications. Among the emails The Post verified are details of a deal Hunter Biden developed with a Chinese energy conglomerate, CEFC China Energy, for which he was paid nearly $5 million. Most of the data could not be verified by the security experts.”
Isn’t it funny that all these news organizations have copies of the hard drive of Hunter Biden’s laptop but no one has posted it online for us lesser beings to review.
WaPo quoted John Podesta extensively. This means he approved the article pre-publication as he did so many others in running Hillary’s 2016 campaign according to his leaked emails. He gave WaPo the spin they will use: “When things get overly partisan and too nakedly political, the public tends to tune them out. The Republicans have a hard time resisting doing that.”
The New York Times story, however, was pessimistic.
NYT said, “Some Democratic politicians have begun creating distance between themselves and the president. Senate candidates are stampeding to break with the administration’s immigration policies, for instance. Other moves are more subtle, such as those of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, who quietly removed the president’s name from news releases about federally funded infrastructure projects.”
She didn’t remove his name. It’s been kidnapped!
(Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.)
NYT said, “When Jim Kessler, the executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a center-left think tank, recently reviewed past midterms for a presentation to Democratic strategists and Hill Democrats, he found that the party in power typically lost around 10 percentage points during off-cycle elections.
“That suggested two main takeaways, he said. First, the Democratic Party’s current struggles are utterly ordinary by historical standards. And second, even candidates in safely blue political areas need to brace themselves for difficult campaigns.”
The spin is this is utterly ordinary.
But that is not what Kessler said.
He said, “If you’re a district that is Biden plus 12 or less you need to run like you’re losing.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Plus 12 means Biden beat Trump 56% to 44% in the congressional district. Any win by 10 or more points is a landslide.
Kessler is not describing an utterly ordinary midterm. He is describing 2010 when Obama lost 63 seats or 1994 when Clinton lost 54 seats and Democrats lost control of the House for the first time in 40 years. We are talking 1946 when Truman lost 54 seats and maybe even 1894 when Cleveland lost 105 seats.
Just a 40-seat gain would give Republicans their largest majority in 94 years.
And WaPo is not describing an ordinary set of congressional investigations. The crimes and slime from the Biden administration make Benghazi look like a picnic. Afghanistan alone should cost Biden his job.
Obama knows this. He has Biden heading for the bunker. Democrats are now on their own. This will be a self-immolation by Democrats
Forget popcorn. Bring marshmallows. We’ll sing camp songs.
NOTE: There will be a 7 PM post today.
Posted by Don Surber at 4/23/2022 03:00:00 PM
