The cacophony is growing. The Biden campaign, if not his very presidency, is living on borrowed time. However, Democrats have two massive problems for which they have no solutions.

1) They cannot force Joe Biden to quit the race, and
2) There is no agreement on who should replace him on the ticket if he goes.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Jill Biden (backed up by Hunter, most likely) has zero intention of pulling Joe out of the race. We have seen that from her own reaction to media pressure, and from the tap-dancing that Karine Jean-Pierre is still doing from the podium, insisting that Grandpa Joe can totally serve another four years in office.

"Does Pres. Biden commit to serving a full second term if re-elected?"

KJP: "Yes."

😬 pic.twitter.com/mDz8XnW5du

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 9, 2024

While our own eyes are telling us that Joe Biden has only a 50/50 shot of making it through the next four months, let alone another presidential term, Democrats are coming to the sickening realization that at this point, unless Joe exits of his own accord, they are absolutely and totally hosed.

The Democrats cannot legally compel Joe Biden to leave. Not even if most Democrats want him to leave. Not even if the number of congressmen begging him to drop out doubles, or even triples, in size.

And the reason why is that the Democratic Party is not democratic.

They were terrified of Bernie Sanders being the popular choice, so they created an arcane system of rules – complete with stacked primaries, convoluted regulations, and super delegates – that allowed the Deep State Cabal of Party Elders to circumvent the will of the people, so they could rig who wins the nomination. It’s as simple as that.

The same people who’ve destroyed the democratic process for their own voters are now arguing that they’re the only ones who’ll save democracy from Donald Trump. (Trust them, of course!)

But if the Democratic Party doesn’t even trust Democratic voters, why should anyone believe they’ll trust Republicans or independents? That’s not believable. As it turns out, Joe Biden didn’t just “beat Medicare” — he also beat the hell out of the Democrats’ credibility.

So now, Democrats are holding meetings and trying to convince themselves that it will be okay if Joe stays in, even as donors are starting to pull away, because it’s all they’ve got.

Putting a brave face on it seems to be what everyone has agreed to do if Joe doesn’t go. Hope and spin are all they have now.

In a closed-door meeting Wednesday, some of the country’s union leaders — many of whom are strident backers of Biden — said Americans’ doubts about Biden’s ability to do the job were damaging his candidacy and repeatedly asked Biden campaign officials for their plan to defeat Trump, according to two people familiar with their comments, who like others for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private comments. Two of the most outspoken leaders were Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants, and Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers, two of Biden’s biggest labor allies.

In a statement later Wednesday, AFL-CIO leadership “unanimously voted to reaffirm its commitment” to Biden, saying, “No president has been more invested in helping workers than Joe Biden.”

Meanwhile, Democrats say the defections are likely to increase in coming days, with lawmakers and donors privately signaling that, by the end of the week, they may publicly call for Biden to drop out. They argue they do not want to embarrass Biden during the ongoing NATO summit in Washington while also giving him time to decide on his own to exit the race.

On Wednesday, Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Democratic senator to call on Biden to drop out, writing in a Washington Post op-ed that he should do so “for the good of the country” because of the danger posed by Trump. In addition, Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), one of the party’s most vulnerable members; Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.); and Antonio Delgado, the lieutenant governor of New York who formerly represented a swing district in Congress, also called on Biden to step aside.

But there are still some that are holding out hope that Biden can be pressured out. (Clearly, they have no idea just how much Jill loves being president.)

Democrats have been privately sketching out possible scenarios and the timing of them, should Biden decide to leave the race, including Biden possibly endorsing the nomination of Vice President Harris. One Democratic strategist said time is of the essence: “Every iteration of this, earlier is better,” avoiding a “mad scramble” near or at the Democratic National Convention in August in Chicago.

This leads directly into the second problem. There is no backup plan for the Democrats when it comes to a nominee.

It’s been 2 weeks tomorrow and there’s no plan. An op-Ed from George Clooney is not a plan. Pelosi on Morning Joe and Whitmer on The View are emblematic of the whole party. They’re taking media hits, too comfortable, used to friendly intvws, and have no idea what to say, so they…

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) July 10, 2024

The entire post reads:

It’s been 2 weeks tomorrow and there’s no plan. An op-Ed from George Clooney is not a plan. Pelosi on Morning Joe and Whitmer on The View are emblematic of the whole party. They’re taking media hits, too comfortable, used to friendly intvws, and have no idea what to say, so they cause more havoc. They have no idea what to say bc the truth is Biden’s not really governing and very well may not win, and even if he did, he can’t govern another 4 years. We all kind of know this, but they can’t say it bc there’s no plan to do something else. They can’t jump off the boat while they’re building a half-assed dinghy. The longer there’s no dinghy, the more likely the Biden boat is the play. Inertia wins if there’s not unanimity on another option.

This has turned into the South Park Underpants Gnomes plan, except the Democrats’ version currently is:
1) Get Biden to leave the race
2) ?
3) Win election!
That question mark in the middle really has only one logical answer, even if it is a terrible one: Kamala Harris. It’s a testament to just how bad Kamala Harris is, and how generally disliked she is, that there is no great push to invoke the 25th Amendment right now in her favor, and no one is willing to hand over the nomination to her. RealClearPolitics started calculating the aggregate polls for a Trump vs. Harris election, and it isn’t working out for her. Not when the polls look like this:

NATIONAL POLL

2024 hypothetical matchups

Trump 46%
Biden 43%
11% undecided

Trump 49%
Harris 43%
8% undecidedhttps://t.co/sFmXGN2DiX pic.twitter.com/82lwi0bZnx

— Emerson College Polling (@EmersonPolling) July 9, 2024

The Democrats, in their dreams, want Joe Biden to withdraw from the race and announce an open convention, which would lead to a whole lot of politicking and wheeling and dealing that could definitely cut Kamala Harris out. If that happens, Kamala will not go quietly. She may have covered up for Joe Biden’s infirmities just as much as anyone else in the administration, but that was to make sure that she was the next person in line, and she is not going to sit idly by. Kamala Harris isn’t pushing for the 25th Amendment because she doesn’t need to right now. She wants to invoke that AFTER winning the election, not before. If the Democrats actually get an open convention, the knives will be out and backs will be stabbed.

Today is D-Day for the Biden campaign, White House, and “legacy.” The “big boy press conference” is scheduled for later today, at 5:30 pm Eastern. We have no idea how long it will last, or how many questions Biden will take. (I am laying heavy odds on him being late to the presser as well.) If Grandpa wilts behind the podium, as he did during the debate, the campaign is over and done. If he gets angry, loud, and defensive, he has slightly better odds of surviving the wave of calls to step down, because his campaign will know how to spin that. If he quits the presser in less than an hour, that’s a problem. In short, a lot is riding on this press conference – much more than the promised NBC interview next Monday, which will be prerecorded. Joe Biden is going to face something he really hasn’t had much experience with – an adversarial press corps. If he can’t handle this, then he is done. What the Democrats do with a president who refuses to leave is anyone’s guess – and they will own what comes next.

UPDATE 10 AM PDT
Either they are already building in the lateness into the schedule, or this is intentional.

With the White House moving Biden's press conference back another hour to 6:30 p.m. Eastern, this allows them to further bury it.

Why?

Stick with me for a second.

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 11, 2024

AND, because of this, ABC, CBS, NBC aren't as likely to carry it given they have newscast to air, meaning fewer people will see it.

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 11, 2024

I would buy the theory that they are trying to hide him in plain sight, but this has also become “must-see-TV” and we live in a world of viral clips now. At some point, everyone will see some portion of this press conference. It is inevitable.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click