In how President Joe Biden was forced out of his re-election campaign, you see how much the alliance of the Democratic Party, Deep State, and propaganda media cares about “democracy.” You also have witnessed a classic example of what professional politicians call “sandbagging.”
If I were a gambling man, I’d lay better than even odds that the sandbagging of Vice President Kamala Harris will soon follow.
One of the ruling elite’s constant refrains in recent years is the need to preserve “our democracy.” But as I have pointed out elsewhere, when they use the phrase “our democracy,” they actually mean “their oligarchy.” They have just demonstrated it again.
The Sandbagging Operation
Joe Biden received over 87 percent of the votes in the 2024 Democratic Party primary elections. There were primaries in 48 states, and Biden won all of them—by massive proportions. And that doesn’t count primaries in U.S. dependencies (such as Guam), all of which Biden also won.
Yet when the President no longer proved convenient to the oligarchy, out he went! Their commitment to “democracy” reminds me of how they cheered when the Supreme Court overruled 30 consecutive state referenda to impose same-sex marriage on the country.
The Biden sandbagging operation proceeded this way:
First, the oligarchy waited until the Republicans were committed to the nomination of Donald Trump. Now, despite Trump’s merits, politically, he is weaker than most candidates the Republicans could nominate. You can see this in the polls: Although so much is going against the Democrats this year and despite Biden’s obvious shortcomings, Trump hasn’t been able to get beyond a statistical tie with Biden.
True, polls often underrate Republican support—and especially Trump’s support. So he could have beaten Biden. But at this point, at least, it appears that he would lose to any other major Democrat candidate—except Harris.
With the GOP committed to Trump and the likelihood that Trump might beat Biden, the oligarchy decided that Biden must go. Once Trump sewed up the GOP presidential nomination, the president's political days were numbered.
But then the oligarchy ran into a snag: Biden himself. People suffering from age-related mental deficiencies can be irrationally stubborn. Biden could not be moved.
The next step was for Biden’s handlers to let him debate Trump. This certainly was something they did not have to do. They could have had Biden say something like, “I’m willing to debate any responsible Republican, as I have so many times in the past. But I’m not going to appear on a platform with a convicted felon and an insurrectionist.”
If he had responded in those words, the media would have backed him up—at least, if the sandbagging operation had not been underway.
But Biden’s handlers let him debate. They also withheld whatever they pumped him up with before the State of the Union address. His performance was predictably dreadful—so much so that it made Trump’s mediocre performance look good.
Next, the propaganda media outlets used the debate as a “hook” for story after story, pushing Biden toward his political doom.
Eventually, the “Big Guy” (or those invested in him) had to yield to reality.
But the episode doesn’t end there. Biden decided to exact his revenge by endorsing Harris as his successor—the other major Democrat most vulnerable to Trump.
If Biden had followed the oligarchy’s script, he could have said something like, “I am encouraged by the fact that the Democratic Party has many wonderful potential candidates—including my own Vice President, Kamala Harris.” Instead, he gave her a straight-out endorsement, potentially swinging a chunk of his convention delegates to her.
So now the oligarchy has another problem: how to get rid of Kamala Harris and replace her with someone more credible—preferably an experienced politician from a swing state. Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer comes to mind. The oligarchy has to perform this maneuver without alienating African-American women, who form a core party constituency.
What’s Next?
Look for three things to happen in the days ahead: (1) A media takedown of Harris, (2) announcements from other candidates, and (3) media puff pieces on those candidates the oligarchy prefers.
One last point: Cry no tears for Joe Biden. As I wrote last year on Townhall.com, Biden has been a very bad President. In fact, he has been a uniquely bad President.
Historians downgrade Presidents for scandal, poor policies, divisive rhetoric, failure to enforce the law, civil liberties violations, and incompetence. Biden may be the only President in history to check all those boxes.
Maybe he’ll redeem himself during the remainder of his term. For the sake of the country, I hope so.
Rob Natelson is a senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver and a former constitutional law professor at the University of Montana. He is the author of “The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant” (3rd ed., 2015) and was a grass-roots political activist for many years.