The past couple of weeks have been tumultuous for the Democratic party in general, and Joe Biden’s reelection campaign in particular. According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News-IPSOS poll, 56% of democrats think it would be best if Joe Biden dropped out of the race. While most of us have thought that Biden and Trump are too old, Biden’s debate performance on CNN solidified that notion, particularly, towards the current President. While some have doubled down on their support for President Biden, it is becoming increasingly evident that the Democratic party is in a shambles over how to approach this matter.
During all of this, the Trump campaign has gone eerily quiet, with only the occasional social media post from Trump making it into the news cycle, most notably being his denial of connection to and even knowledge of Project 2025 and who is involved with it (which is actually a lie, considering roughly 140 people who worked for him during his time in the White House, including his former Chief of Staff, are architects of the thing). To be fair, this is a rather smart move because Trump can just let the Democrats’ cohesion unravel in real-time, and he doesn’t have to say a word.
But Donald Trump is not much younger than Joe Biden, and the same scrutiny over cognitive ability and bizarre rambles that is being given to Biden should also be given to the former President. It is a genuine concern, or should be, whether or not these old men can successfully lead a country for another four years. I find myself asking the same questions. Biden’s debate performance and Trump’s comments about windmill cancer are both valid reasons to pause and reflect about what is best for our nation as a whole.
There is something, though, that is not being talked about, and that I think is of equal importance. As it has seemed to become clear that President Biden might not be up to the task, Democrats have started to acknowledge this and some have gone, so far off the record, to say that he is not fit for the office. The main reason being that he is too old. Yes, it has caused division in the party and a media frenzy that is pulling attention away from both Trump and the campaign as a whole, but it also shows that Democrats understand that, while winning is important, it is also important to win with the right candidate.
Republicans would do well to pay attention to this.
At one time, Republicans tried to rebrand themselves as the party of traditional family values. They had an emphasis on traditional Conservative Christian values, including opposition to gay marriage and abortion. They saw White Evangelicals as their ticket to political victory and those same Evangelicals saw the Republican party as the means to impose their theocratic dreams on the American people. In the process, both lost their way.
Core values were traded for political power and a “win no matter what” mentality took hold. As Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority faded into nonexistence, these Evangelicals saw political power even more clearly as the means to convert America. And Republicans saw that more than ever, they needed this voting bloc if they were to maintain power in the American government.
Enter Donald Trump.
At no point in his entire life has he embodied the traditional Christian values that either Republicans or Evangelicals claim to embrace. Married multiple times, a cheater, and now a convicted felon and sexual abuser with never an utterance that he has repented of any of this, the Evangelicals found ways to justify all of it in the name of maintaining their political power. Was he instrumental in the overturning Rowe v. Wade? Absolutely. Has he been instrumental in the advancement of anti-LGBTQ legislation all around the country? Yup. Did he encourage parents to confront their schools about exposing their precious children to “woke” ideas about racial inclusion and science? He sure did. One thing Trump is not lying about is how much he has done for the White Evangelical community. So they are, as is typical in a grift such as this, indebted to him. They owe him. Just like the Republican party owes him. They would not hold the power and influence that they do if not for him.
And so, despite his recent felony convictions, Republicans and Evangelicals have rallied around him and lifted him up. F*ck traditional family values. F*ck following Jesus. The important thing for these people is winning, no matter how dangerous that is to the message they claim to preach.
This should be pointed out at every chance. For every story about Biden’s age, there should be a hundred about the selling-out of the Republican party to a grifter. For every story calling for Biden to step down, there should be a thousand calling on Trump to do the same. The differences between the two should be made evident. Biden may be old, but at least he is not a perversion of the office of president and an actual real-life criminal awaiting sentencing.
Biden is definitely old, and every story sounds the exact same anymore. We get it. We understand the danger of electing a really old man. We get that people are asking these questions about him because many of us are asking the same ones, even if we are his supporters. But the moral hypocrisy and the betrayal of Christian values by embracing and lifting up Donald Trump is a much more appalling thing to watch. If Republicans actually held to their values, they would be calling for him to quit running with the same fervor, if not more, that Democrats are putting out there toward Biden. If the White Evangelical Community actually believed in the values they claim to believe, they would be doing the same.
This is the story. Not that Democrats are losing cohesion around their presumptive nominee, but that Republicans haven’t lost cohesion around theirs. The story is that Republicans have chosen to rally around a convicted felon and abuser. The story is that Republicans, in their desire to win, are willing to put the Nation at risk. The story is that Democrats are concerned about their man and Republicans aren’t. The story is that Republicans are fine with running someone who blatantly lied about voter fraud and who has thrown his associates under the bus for spreading his lies for him.
The story is that the Republican party has been, likely, irreparably corrupted. The story is that they have sold out the country for political power.
Judas would be proud.