DOUG SCHOEN: Two years after Biden’s disastrous debate, Dems still dealing with fallout
zohran
From the minute former President Joe Biden exited the debate stage in Atlanta two years ago, Democrats have wished to put that disastrous night behind them, but for a variety of reasons have been unable to do so.
Even now, barely a month can go by without some Democrat reminding us of the challenges Biden and Democrats faced, culminating in Biden’s withdrawal from the race.
Whether its former First Lady Jill Biden, former VP Kamala Harris, the widely-panned DNC "audit" of what went wrong, or other members of the administration, Democrats are reminding Americans that plainly, Biden had no reason running for a second term.
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They also remind voters that the party as a whole is struggling to recover from the defeat in 2024, a challenge made worse by Harris’ name and record consistently being in the spotlight as she considers a second run in 2028.
Moreover, in doing so, Democrats remind everyone of the lengths they went to hiding Biden’s declining capabilities at the very moment they were asking voters to trust them.
The former First Lady says as much. According to her memoir, she knew something was wrong, writing that she wondered if her husband was having a stroke, yet none of that seemingly mattered when she was forcefully defending him in the hours and days after.
And while voters are – understandably – still angry that the Democratic establishment did not admit what was obvious to the public, the political consequences of that night and the weeks after are still playing out. Indeed, as Carlos Lozada headlined a recent article in the New York Times, "The Biden Verdict is in. It Isn’t Pretty."
Describing a book summing up Biden’s presidency, Lozada writes that "The administration was ‘an ominous interregnum’" and that his term "ended somewhere between tragedy and farce."
Whether due to Biden’s age, stubbornness, or additional factors, throughout his presidency, the country lacked direction and an overarching vision.
Further, when the Biden White House did attempt to steer the country, they were often woefully out of step with what the majority of Americans wanted.
From throwing the Southern border wide open, to economic policies that stoked inflation – which ultimately proved to be Biden’s downfall – and a humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, the administration simply appeared rudderless.
Likewise, Biden’s emphasis on transgender issues generated considerable backlash, leading to perhaps the most devastating political ad in recent memory, President Trump’s "Kamala is for they/them, I’m for you."
Even when the administration did identify a problem many Americans cared about such as climate change, they routinely failed to promote their policies, resulting in virtually no political points.
At the same time, despite promising to be a bridge between older, moderate Democrats and younger, more progressive Democrats, Biden exacerbated that ideological struggle, setting the stage for the ongoing fight today.
Put another way, rather than bringing both wings of the party together in order to set a new agenda, Biden allowed progressives to rapidly ascend, while the pool of moderates shrunk ever smaller.
To be sure, the consequences of that cannot be overstated, as it threatens the political viability of all Democrats, especially for state or national offices.
While popular in deep-blue pockets, progressives struggle when the electorate expands from ultra-liberal cities to entire states, let alone for the presidency.
And yet, progressives have grown so powerful within the Democratic Party that moderates are being primaried out of existence by an insurgent far-left that could keep the party out of the White House for decades to come.
As evidenced by the New York City primaries last Tuesday, that is no longer hyperbolic. Insurgent socialist candidates, backed by socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani won three races against more moderate candidates.
In that same vein, in Michigan, Maine, and even Texas, where far-left candidates Abdul El-Sayed, Graham Platner, and James Talarico, respectively, have surged in the polls, with Platner and Talarico winning primaries and El-Sayed a frontrunner in his.
In some ways, the rise of the socialist left is the result of frustration with the Democratic establishment that Biden embodied.
Having tried to hide his diminished state, then forcing through Harris without a primary, Biden and his enablers undermined confidence in the Democratic Party’s leadership, creating the conditions for an ascendent far-left.
Beyond his impact on the Democratic Party, Biden’s presidency handed Trump and Republicans a gift. Despite Fox News polling showing Trump with just a 39% approval rating, and Americans signaling their desire for change, Republicans can – credibly – still run against Biden.
They can ask Americans, do you want to go back to unprecedented inflation and open borders? If not, give us a chance. In fact, they are making that very point. Speaking to CNBC on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stressed that current inflation is nowhere near the 21.5% cumulative inflation seen under Biden and that the Trump administration is still dealing with those effects.
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Whether or not voters buy it remains to be seen, yet it would not be surprising if a considerable number do.
Taken together, midterms are often referendums on the incumbent, and 2026 figures to be no different. But in the aftermath of the Biden presidency, Harris candidacy, the DNC audit, and continued drips coming from Biden administration insiders, Democrats have a number of hurdles to overcome.
Worse still, aside from the tell-all books, Hunter Biden, Joe’s scandal-plagued son continues to make himself an extremely visible presence on Twitter. As one USA Today article described Hunter’s "X-rated X posts" have gone viral, providing voters with constant reminders of a former First Family that many Democrats simply want to settle out of the spotlight.
Ultimately, viewed through these lenses, Joe Biden’s biggest legacy may not just be handing Donald Trump a second term.
Rather, it may be the ongoing polarization and division within the Democratic Party that may allow Republicans, notwithstanding Trump’s low ratings and his own baggage, to avoid losing one – or both – chambers of Congress.