For that matter, does anyone think Mr. Biden would still be in contention if Democrats felt they had a better bet? For all the hype of a “strong” bench, the top contenders poll as badly or worse against Mr. Trump. Democrats are frantically weighing individual strengths and weaknesses, blithely ignoring their one commonality: All are unrepentant progressives, promising to double down on a deeply unpopular agenda. The party remains unwilling to believe that voters—even many of their own—are looking for change, or that warnings about “threats” to democracy and abortion are losing their punch.
The Republican Party has problems too—and doesn’t it know it. How could it not after eight years of a media fixated on Mr. Trump and “MAGA,” drilling in on every proposal, internal battle and Truth Social post? But Democrats have been given a ridiculous pass, their policy failures justified, their weaknesses swept under the carpet. See the 16 “Nobel-prize winning economists” who last month pronounced the Biden agenda “vastly superior” to anything Republicans might offer. Really? See the 51 former intelligence officials who disappeared Mr. Biden’s Hunter liability before the 2020 election. See the press corps, which noticed Mr. Biden’s problems only two weeks ago—and still aren’t noticing anything else.
The current Democratic soul-searching is way too limited. Mr. Biden’s age is a problem. But his age isn’t the source of the party’s dismal approval ratings on the economy, the border, or crime. It’s not the cause of striking demographic shifts—under way for years—that show the working class, including minority voters, fleeing the party. Progressive policies will be on the ballot this fall as much as any one person’s name. If the party cared for its future—not just Nov. 5—it’d be having that debate.
