White House Fires Back at the Democrat Base, as the Divisions Go Open

The Biden administration is, to my mind, the most chaotic and incoherent of all modern eras. This qualifier was not recorded prior, but it does exist. The “chaos” in the Trump Administration seems absurd now that the White House has set records for staff turnover.

No one seems to understand what is going on. That includes the President. Each public appearance only adds to the dysfunction. Biden’s handlers and he are always reacting. Forethought and leadership are two concepts that seem so alien they may as well have been invented by someone else.

Even the most brilliant minds might have trouble keeping it all together in this environment. The Biden administration certainly isn’t full of bright minds. This is not a matter of complaint only from the left. The Democrat base is growing restless, and the divisions are now exploding into the open, with the White House going weapons hot in response.

White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield:

“Joe Biden’s goal in responding to Dobbs is not to satisfy some activists who have been consistently out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party.” https://t.co/7HmSXD7wIh

— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) July 10, 2022

Huddling with top aides, including some who dialed in from the White House, Biden declared at the outset of the call that he wanted to endorse ending the Senate filibuster to codify Roe into law, a position he so far had refused to take, angering many Democrats in the process.

But Biden kept his decision private until three days later when, during a news conference in Madrid, he deployed the carefully crafted language he and his team had perfected just moments before, denouncing the “outrageous behavior of the Supreme Court” and calling for “an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision.”

For many Democrats, however, it was too little and too late — just one more example over the two weeks in which Biden and his team struggled to come up with a muscular plan of action on abortion rights, even though the Supreme Court ruling had been presaged two months earlier with the leak of a draft opinion.

There are some other pieces in the Post’s article worth discussing, but the main theme revolves around Biden’s administration being 1) constantly late on issues and 2) reluctant to “all the way” on policy.

Both these complaints are from a Democrat base who is tired of losing and sees more on the horizon. The White House seems stuck in a bind between two rock and one hard place. The White House has been courting and bowing to radicals so much that they now owe them. What can you say to people who view Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as an intellectual giant?

The White House message about Republicans being a threat to democracy has not helped. You create an expectation among your voters that all options are available to them in defeating the opposition. Boundaries no longer exist and Biden is not going to be credited for them.

But while the Democrat base lashes back, the White House is now lashing back.

White House officials explain the importance of Biden’s immediate response to the issue and defend his actions on abortion that they believe are consistent with mainstream opinion. In a Saturday statement, Kate Bedingfield, White House Communications Director said that the president had been expressing his outrage as an American since the decision was made. She also exemplified his bold plan which was the result of months of hard work.

“Joe Biden’s goal in responding to Dobbs is not to satisfy some activists who have been consistently out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party. It’s to deliver help to women who are in danger and assemble a broad-based coalition to defend a woman’s right to choose now, just as he assembled such a coalition to win during the 2020 campaign,” she said.

Overpromising and underdelivering is a terrible political strategy, and eventually, it catches up with any politician who tries it. It’s why first midterms have been historically so bad for new presidents. Reality of the US constitution quickly dampens the excitement at assuming office. Ironically, Kate Bedingfield who derogatoryly referred to Democrat activists is now leaving the White House. This further underscores the chaos.

Watching the Biden administration is like watching a car crash in slow motion. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion. You can see the end but it doesn’t seem to be happening. Every moment makes you cringe. What can be done to fix this? It doesn’t. It doesn’t. The top man is old, his base is mad, and the people around him would not be able to understand a coherent message from it if they punched him in the face. The situation only gets worse.

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