Twenty-four hours after the Trump-Biden debate, Democrat politicians and pundits contemplated mass suicide. Hosts and panelists said out loud, “Biden has to go.”

But when the dust settled, they switched from throwing Joe Biden under the bus to telling the bus driver to swerve to avoid hitting him. The reason is simple. Biden has the delegates and cannot be replaced unless he wants to go — and Dr. Jill isn’t having it.

They realize even if they replaced Joe, black female voters would scream “racism and sexism” if Kamala Harris — who polls worse than Biden — were passed over. Michelle Obama is not riding to the rescue.

White man Gavin Newsom cannot step over Kamala without angering black female voters, the most loyal part of their base. Newsom polls badly against Donald Trump. Newsom is unpopular in California.

Dems/media, post-debate, quickly realized they are stuck with Biden and Harris. So, the strategy is clear: pretend like Biden’s bad debate doesn’t really matter all that much; that he was “overprepared”; that it was just “one bad night”; and that Trump “just lied” while refusing to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election.

The strategy has been formulated: Make sure Biden never again gets caught without a teleprompter and a speechwriter. Praise Harris and “put her out there more” so she can pick up the baton if Biden declines even more. Repeatedly chant “Abortion and our democracy are on the ballot.” And triple down on calling Trump a lying, election-denying, racist Nazi who “threatens our democracy.”

They rely on the Democrats/media to ignore the strategy’s defects and contradictions. As to Trump’s so-called election denying/refusal to accept results, the Dems/media have consigned to the memory hole the time Biden preemptively questioned the results of the 2022 midterms. At the time, most Democrats and Republicans expected a “red wave.” Asked if he’d accept the results, Biden said: “It easily could be illegitimate. I’m not going to say it’s going to be legit. … The increase of the prospect of it being illegitimate is in direct proportion to us not being able to get these (voting) reforms passed.”

As to Biden’s lies, they include, but are not limited to: how, why and where his son Beau contracted brain cancer; that Biden desegregated movie theaters and restaurants; that he finished in the top half of his law school class; that he got arrested trying to visit Nelson Mandela during apartheid; was “raised in the black church”; played football for the University of Delaware; claimed the driver who accidentally struck and killed his first wife and daughter was drunk; intentionally misstating what Trump said about Charlottesville; that Trump said to drink/inject bleach; that Biden didn’t pressure Ukraine to fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma; that Biden never discussed son Hunter’s business dealings; that a small kitchen fire “almost killed” his wife; that he was “shot at” in Iraq; that inflation was “9%” when he became president; the Border Patrol endorses him; the NAACP endorsed him in “all” of his elections; World War II’s Uncle Bosie was eaten by cannibals; that “no one” advised him the Afghan government would quickly collapse and the Taliban would return if he abruptly pulled out of Afghanistan; that Trump referred to World War I American vets who lost their lives as “suckers and losers”; that Trump praised Hitler; among others.

Biden, during the debate, accused Trump of having “the morals of an alley cat” and that Trump’s alleged affair with Stormy Daniels occurred “when (Trump’s wife) was pregnant.” Does Biden really want to go there?

The ex-husband of Jill Biden claims Biden met the married couple when they worked on his Senate campaign, and not on a “blind date” as Biden claims. Jill’s ex says Jill cheated on him with Biden. Biden ex-staffer Tara Reade claims the then-senator sexually assaulted her. When this accusation surfaced during the 2020 campaign, as well as allegations by other women of who accused Biden of unwanted touching and kissing, then-Sen. Kamala Harris said, “I believe them, and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it.”

Fortunately, Team Biden knows when it comes to Biden’s lies, election denying and questions about his morality, he enjoys a media safe space.

COPYRIGHT 2024 LAURENCE A. ELDER