Here's why Biden's Democrats will lose this year's presidential election.
“The stakes of this election don’t make Donald Trump’s opponent less subject to scrutiny. It actually makes him more subject to scrutiny.”
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I, and so many Democrats and liberals, have been guilty as much as anyone of accusing the Republicans of things like populism, talking out of both sides of their mouths, and some of the Republican electorate voting against their own interests.
It turns out, the Joe Biden-led Democratic Party is not much different, employing similar tactics and what some might call “do whatever it takes to win — including selling out your allies — politics” in an attempt to remain in the White House come this November’s election.
I get it, a politician is a politician is a politician. But as a born and raised Los Angeleno who grew up in a Democratic house and voted as such in 2008, 2012, and 2016 — it is incomprehensible how many Democrat and liberal voters are so quick to point out the Republicans’ questionable practices — yet become so defensive, ignorant, or naive about similar ones being deployed by Biden’s Democrats.
The Biden-Harris ticket will not lose the upcoming election because he is old. Donald Trump is only three and a half years younger than him. Instead, Biden will lose this race because he is showing, in an election year, that he does not stand up for quintessential American values and vital American interests overseas.
How hard is it to get on TV and say something to the tune of:
“Israel is a longtime, loyal ally that has done and continues to do a lot of meaningful work for the U.S. and our interests across military, defense, technology, academia, and other areas. We are standing by our Israeli partners and will support them wholeheartedly as they do the dirty work that no one else is willing to do — eradicate the Islamic fundamentalist, fascist, genocidal terror group, Hamas, from the Gaza Strip so that both Palestinians and Israelis can enjoy better lives.”
“We will ensure that, by using our weapons and equipment and other types of support, the Israelis consistently adhere to international law and humanitarian standards.”
“We will also ensure that our unwavering support for our true friend in the turbulent Middle East remains devout, just as the American people should. There is no place in the free world for Islamic fundamentalist, fascist, genocidal terror groups and their supporters, not on Israel’s borders and certainly not in the United States of America. I am sure that the vast majority of Americans agree with that.”
Or, as the HBO talk show host Bill Maher put it:
“Here in America, the troubling trend has been unfolding in recent years as the support that Israel could always count on from America’s liberals has faltered. I consider myself a liberal, but I am not part of this trend.”
“It comes from the fact that the values that Israel upholds and exemplifies are my values, and the values of the people who attack Israel are not. It boggles my mind that so many people in my country who consider themselves ‘progressive’ somehow wind up in the streets cheering for some of the most illiberal people in the world.”1
Why is it so hard for Biden to echo these sentiments? Why is it so hard for Biden’s administration to say the word antisemitism without including “Islamophobia” in the same sentence, every time they talk about rapidly rising Jew hate in America, against the backdrop of the all-time worst single-day attack on Israel by thousands of Muslim Palestinians in the explicit name of Islam?
Why did Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, spiritlessly unveil an anti-Islamophobia strategy in November, just one day after the FBI director told senators that antisemitism is reaching “historic levels” in the United States? And why are Biden’s official advisors meeting with Arab and Muslim American “activists” who do not hide their emphatic support for Hamas and Hezbollah, two archenemies of a true American ally?
The answer to all these questions can be found in the U.S. state of Michigan, which is home to the most amount of Arab and Muslim Americans. Michigan is considered a “battleground state” that Biden’s Democrats won in 2020 and Trump’s Republicans won in 2016 — and naturally the Democrats do not want to lose this state in November’s presidential election.
That is totally fine; I am not suggesting that the Democrats should engage in self-defeating practices. Yet there is a profound difference between on one hand not beating yourself, and on the other indulging in a group of people’s anti-intellectual, distorted versions of history and present-day reality, which contradicts what the majority of Americans believe (84 percent side more with Israel in the Israel-Hamas war2) and damages America’s relationship with one of its most loyal and important allies (Israel).
As a matter of fact, do you know what is definitively self-defeating? Catering to insignificant minority groups that, frankly, do not contribute much to the U.S. and oftentimes spew hatred about America and Americans. When will a U.S. president stand up and say:
“American values are free speech — not hate speech — as well as freedom of religion and democracy. These are the values our citizens should strive for and uphold. Those who are newer to this country, or want to come live in this country, ought to subscribe to these values as well. If not, we can help them find another country to live in.”
Come to think of it, I am pretty sure that Donald Trump was the last U.S. president to say this, in more or less words. I did not vote for Trump in 2016 or in 2020, and I find him to be personally appalling and professionally suspect in many ways.
But if Americans who actually cherish their country — not those such as many Arab and Muslim Americans who despise America despite living there — have the choice between one guy who is willing to stand up for American values, and another guy who caters to fringe groups, many of whom support the enemies of one of America’s greatest allies, who do you think they will be more inclined to give their vote?
Many people believe Benjamin Netanyahu is some extreme right-wing nationalist. He is not. If you look back at the huge sample size of his policies and decisions dating back to the 1990s, he is mostly what we can call “center-right.” Generally, he governs with realism and realpolitik, as opposed to the liberal worldviews that (while admirable) would make the Israelis victims of socio-political suicide at best, and ethnic cleansing and genocide at worst.
When Barack Obama was the U.S. president, Netanyahu and the Israelis tried to work with the Americans on using military force (the only real option) to stop the Islamic Republic of Iran, which predominantly destabilizes the Middle East and openly calls for Israel’s destruction, from developing a nuclear program. The same way that, circa 2005, Israelis and Americans collaborated on Stuxnet, a malicious computer worm that they used to successfully disrupt the Iranians’ nuclear technology.
Obama ran as a Democrat, but for all intents and purposes, he governed with and employed tons of government officials who advocated for and implemented poisonous “progressive” ideology. Thus, the Obama administration’s doctrine for dealing with an increasingly unhinged Iran — in a region that harbors one-sixth of the world’s wealth and half of the top ten oil-producing countries — became one of appeasement, perhaps driven by the progressive ideological strands of “cultural relativism” or “just say no to war.”
I know, I know, Obama inherited two dreadful military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, and won his first presidential election in part on the promise of ending them, but dealing with Iran militarily was unlikely to start another war. In 1981, for instance, Israel conducted airstrikes against an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor named Osiraq, located 17 kilometers (11 miles) southeast of Baghdad, in what is known as Operation Opera — and that did not lead to a war.
Former U.S. President (and fellow Democrat) Bill Clinton even expressed support for Israel’s attack, saying:
“Everybody talks about what the Israelis did at Osiraq, in 1981, which, I think, in retrospect, was a really good thing. You know, it kept Saddam from developing nuclear power.”
Thus, an American-Israeli assault on Iran’s nuclear ambitions would have served as legitimate deterrence and a stark warning to Iran’s oppressive, anti-Western Islamic fundamentalist regime. Even Ehud Barak, the leftist former Israeli prime minister, tried to convince the Obama administration to act militarily against Iran, saying:
“You could bomb from 50,000 feet. Nothing in Iran’s arsenal can shoot that high. You could destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities without interference or fear of losing a single plane. One hour of bombing and it’s over!”3
Thus, this was not an Israeli right-wing versus American left-wing disagreement, but a bipartisan solution to dealing with the Middle East’s big, bad bully. Instead, Obama chose to appease Iran with the 2015 nuclear deal, essentially saying to Israel: We prefer a deal with Iran over the national security of our great, loyal ally (Israel) — which ultimately pushed Netanyahu into the Republican party’s arms.
Hence why many are saying that Netanyahu is trying to wait it out until the November U.S. presidential election and, from his vantage point, hopefully a Republican victory. Not because Netanyahu is some hardline right-winger — while his current government is, he is historically not — but because many Democrats have in recent years decided that the Jewish state does not fit their progressive agenda.
Having lived in Israel for the last decade, I have learned that even moderate and liberal Israelis prefer Republicans over Obama and Biden’s Democrats — and certainly nowadays, the Republicans over the Biden administration’s flip-floppy public support of Israel that has somehow turned into the prospect of an American unilateral push for a Palestinian state, which would be the greatest reward for the Palestinians’ attempted genocide on October 7th.
Robert Gates, the former head of the CIA who served as Secretary of Defense in the Bush and Obama administrations, even said:
“While we have to state that ultimately a two-state solution is the only solution, we have to recognize that it is going to be a long path to get there, and the notion of recognizing a Palestinian Authority as a state now, I think, is a huge mistake.”
“There has to be a process, a sequence of events, and some established criteria, of changes that have to happen in the West Bank, in the Palestinian Authority, and among the Palestinians themselves with Arab support that over time will allow some confidence to be built on the part of the Israelis that a Palestinian state next door is not going to be an existential threat to Israel, is not going to be a threat for another October 7th. And that is going to take time.”4
Understandably, many Israelis are watching in dismay the Biden administration’s sudden infatuation with a Palestinian state, no less how hurried they are to erect one. The same tactics that we accuse Netanyahu of — namely, populism — are now being used by Biden’s people to effectively (in outcome, not intention) weaken Israel.
Meanwhile, many Americans have no idea what the hell is going on. The economy more or less seems fine for many folks, but the president looks old (because he is) and often appears slow, forgetful, and even contradictory.
After Israel was massacred on October 7th, Biden vigorously supported the Jewish state and became the first U.S. president to fly to Israel in the midst of warfare.
Now, only a few months later, he is talking about trying to help some random so-called refugee group called “the Palestinians” (who, oh by the way, perpetrated the massacre) establish a state because a few hundred-thousand Arab and Muslim Americans (many of whom hate America and other Americans) were incensed by Biden’s actually pretty good management at the outset of the Israel-Hamas war (which Hamas started).
“The president is willing to endanger Israel’s existence to gain the support of a voting bloc where Jew hatred is prevalent,” wrote columnist Michael Goodwin. “Ditto for the keffiyeh-wearing college radicals who have ignorantly swallowed the terrorists’ line that killing children, raping and torturing women, and taking hostages are forms of self-defense.”5
You and I are well-versed on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the day-to-day developments of this war. But for many uninvolved or uninterested Americans, they must be thinking: “What in the world is Biden doing?”
And for those Americans who are paying close attention, Biden’s administration looks feeble and desperate as they awkwardly try to negotiate a hostage release deal with the world’s fifth-most active terror group (Hamas) via a suspect nation (Qatar) which completely disingenuously bills itself as the Middle East’s “honest broker.”6
“Intelligent people are pretending they think Hamas is willing and able to respect a ceasefire and to negotiate a two-state solution,” wrote Alan Johnson, the editor of Fathom. “They know it isn’t. But this is how the debate goes in the West. We lie to ourselves about over there in order to manage our politics over here.”7
“Over there” most Palestinians support the October 7th massacre, despite the Biden administration harping about Hamas not being representative of the Palestinian people. Well, it looks like they are. This is why Netanyahu has insisted on, among other things, a credible plan to deradicalize Palestinian society.
But deradicalization takes years, a luxury that Biden’s team does not have. They are hellbent on winning an election this year, even if it means opposing a major Israeli operation in the Gazan city and Hamas stronghold of Rafah, which would deal a very necessary blow to the terror group and likely lead to its defeat in the strip.
You see, it is not that Donald Trump is so much younger, better, or more qualified than Biden, or that he would necessarily do a more capable job. It is that Biden’s team knows so well how to make the case for “not Trump” but is struggling more and more to make a case for “yes Biden.”
As the famous liberal satirist John Stewart recently said: “The stakes of this election don’t make Donald Trump’s opponent less subject to scrutiny. It actually makes him more subject to scrutiny.”8
And that is why Biden’s Democrats will lose this year’s presidential election.
“Real Time With Bill Maher.” HBO.
“Americans overwhelmingly support Israel in war with Hamas: poll.” The Hill.
“The Iran Delusion.” The Free Press.
“Robert Gates on Israel-Gaza conflict, Russia’s war in Ukraine and America’s global standing.” The Washington Post.
“Biden’s betrayal at the forefront as he demands ceasefire in Gaza to stoke his re-election campaign.” The New York Post.
“Qatar Is the Mideast’s Honest Broker.” The Wall Street Journal.
Alan Johnson on X
“The Daily Show.” Comedy Central.
I think you hit on one of the most fundamental issues with this divide — the Arabs unfortunately have not ever demonstrated a belief in, much less conviction for, the ideals that Americans hold as paramount. There are no examples of Arab nations that have freedom of religion or freedom of speech or freedom of the press. There are no Arab nations that espouse equal rights for people of different races or women. And of course equal rights for LGBTQ+ are worse than nonexistent. For Israel’s entire existence, curbs have been put on support for Israel due to the maneuverings of the Cold War and need for Middle East oil. The Cold War is thankfully over (although many of these know-nothing protestors and college populations seem to want to bring it back) and our dependence on foreign oil should be lessening. While we can, and should, support self-determination as consistent with American values, it cannot be at the expense of another people’s — a people that is the most loyal to the US of any on the globe. The Palestinians have regretfully never demonstrated any sincere interest in living side-by-side with the Jewish state. Just saying it won’t make it so. Nearly a decade of fostering a belief that the Arabs simply had to wait out the Jews will take a long time to undo, if even possible.
I have to say that I agree with you on this topic. The Democratic Party left the Jews behind after Obama took office. This is a man who grew up admiring Louis Farrakhan and listening to his anti Jewish rhetoric for years. I am also perplexed by the pursuit of an Iran Doctrine that had no connection with reality . Why was this policy allowed to continue considering the murderous intent of the Iranian government still leaves me baffled. I believe American Jews should pull their money from the Democratic Party instead of supporting a political party that wants your brethren dead.