This far out from a presidential election, nothing is certain. However, it’s never a good sign when one of your own admits that 1) reality isn’t shaping up the way you planned, and 2) you’d better own that reality before it gets the better of you.
Unfortunately, for incumbent President Joe Biden, that’s exactly what he heard this week from CNN.
It happened on Sunday’s episode of “Fareed Zakaria GPS.” Like most CNN hosts, Zakaria is no Trump fan or even a GOP sympathizer. However, he can and does see the writing on the wall.
As he said rather bluntly, “As someone worried about the prospects of a second Trump term, I think it’s best to be honest about reality.”
And the reality is that Biden is not doing well.
When the ’24 race began to take shape, I thought Pres. Biden had a strong pitch to voters: a rebounding economy and a return to normalcy after the chaos of Covid & Trump.
Things haven’t played out that way.
My take: pic.twitter.com/WAwifAZjfB
— Fareed Zakaria (@FareedZakaria) May 12, 2024
As Zakaria explained, nearly all the polls show Trump leading, and in nearly all swing states – although the margin of victory varies quite a bit.
And it’s not hard to imagine why.
There is the issue of the ongoing Gaza/Israel conflict, which has some rather great rifts within the Democratic Party. And then there is the worry of the economy, which has pretty much everyone up in arms against Biden.
And certainly not to be forgotten is Biden’s age and/or possible cognitive decline. While it’s not surprising that Republicans would look at his age as a negative, young and progressive Democrats are also concerned Biden’s mental capacity may no longer be up to par.
Even Zakaria is worried about this one.
“The one that troubles me most concerns the question of who is more competent. Biden led Trump by nine points in 2020, but Trump now leads by 16 points in 2024. That 25-point shift could be a reflection of people’s sense that the president’s age is affecting his capacity to govern.”
And even more to the point, “there is very little that Biden can do to change that perception.”
Like I said, this isn’t looking too good for Biden.
As Zakaria says, Biden will need to do something “bold and dramatic to seize the initiative.” Of course, Biden hasn’t really ever been bold and dramatic. Certainly not now. Slow and senile is more his thing.
So no, we can’t exactly go about calling the election for Trump just yet. But as even a Biden fan like Zakaria has to admit, the signs of a Biden win are getting slimmer by the hour.
