Biden Goes Swalwell-Lite

The campaigns of Democrats seeking to challenge President Donald Trump in November 2020 seem to be on a never-ending quest to see which one can implode in the most spectacular fashion. We’ve documented the collapse of Representatives Eric Swalwell and Robert Francis O’Rourke, as well as predicted the demise of Senator Kamala Harris. Senator Cory Booker has also left the building, and Senator Elizabeth Warren has seen her support fade precipitously.

All (with the exception of Swalwell) of these candidates, at one point or another, were considered rising stars or poised to be embraced nationally as the new standard-bearer for the Democrats. And while Warren does remain an active candidate, her third-place finish (at least as far as we know) in Iowa was somewhat of a push for her among those making wagers on who will face Trump. Finishing a distant fourth in New Hampshire this week should be enough to tell her that a head-to-head against President Trump is simply not in her future.

Which brings us to the man who had been the frontrunner for the Democrats since he entered the race; former Vice President Joe Biden.

At one point last May, Biden held a commanding lead over his competition, hitting 41% support at the national level, and outpacing his closest rival by slightly more that 25%.

But oh, how the mighty have fallen.

The polling aggregators at Real Clear Politics recently put Biden in second place, his national support having plummeted by more than 20%. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is their new frontrunner.

In the Iowa Caucus debacle, where Biden once held a solid lead with 28% support, President Obama’s old running mate finished a dismal fourth (again, as far as we can tell). This week, in New Hampshire, Biden pulled out of the state before voting was even completed so he could focus on the upcoming South Carolina primary in a desperate attempt to salvage his campaign’s viability. As is a recurring theme with Biden, he once held a commanding lead in the Granite State with 34% support, but that support collapsed, and he fell even further back in the field, finishing in fifth place.

So, what do we make of the Biden collapse? To be honest, everyone should have seen it coming.

After all, Joe Biden has a propensity for making bizarre statements, and we’ve covered his gift for gaffes in the past. His curious approach to winning over Democrats continued while campaigning in New Hampshire, when he uttered one of the most odd insults ever offered by a candidate for president, after a young lady asked him about his lackluster performance in Iowa.

With a struggling campaign, what should a former frontrunner do? Looks like one approach Biden has chosen is to follow the lead of so many failed presidential campaigns during this election cycle; ratchet up the anti-gun rhetoric.

Of course, Joe being Joe, he had to add his own incomprehensible take on the subject.

During a campaign event in New Hampshire, before his hopes of a positive showing had completely flamed out, Biden lamented over the notion that “we’re unwilling to have a rational policy that says you cannot have 20, 30, 40, 50 clips in a weapon.”

Are those paper clips, binder clips, or just news clips of a candidate having yet another “senior moment?”

Biden regularly (although inaccurately) interchanges the terms clips and magazines, so does he think the gun industry has developed a new firearm that is capable of having dozens of magazines attached to it? Perhaps this is another one of those mythical guns that Biden has dreamed of before, like the “James Bond-style” of firearm he believes exists outside of a Hollywood movie lot.

But Biden didn’t stop there. While he didn’t go full-Swalwell (never go full-Swalwell) with the threat of nuclear weapons being used against American citizens, the foundering candidate did make reference to the futility of Americans offering any resistance should a tyrannical government ever rise to power.

“The fact is,” Biden proclaimed, “if you’re going to take on the government, you need an F-15 with Hellfire missiles.” In other words, don’t bother trying to resist a tyrannical government, as its military will be too well equipped. Tell that to the rag-tag group of citizens who banded together in 1775, armed with their hunting muskets often pulled down from over the fireplace, to face off against, and defeat, the greatest military power of the time.