Is Joe Biden okay? If the 2024 election was held today, he might not be. In some polls the current president is lagging behind a former president, namely probable dictator Donald J. Trump. His approval numbers haven’t been great, despite a strong economy. Maybe it’s time to worry. On the other hand, the 2024 election isn’t being held today. Heck, it’s still 2023, at least for a few more days. Besides, polls aren’t always reliable. Remember the failed “red wave” of last year’s election? Perhaps, for now, we can chill. That’s what one prominent Democrat is advising, however bluntly.
Politico recently spoke with John Fetterman, the famously trolly Pennsylvania senator. Despite all the warning signs, he’s remained confident that Biden can again conquer his state, as he did in 2020. When asked about Trump trouncing Biden in the polls, Fetterman declared that “that doesn’t really matter.” Why not? Because there’s a “whole lifetime in politics between now and next November.”
Fetterman even singled out one of the loudest naysayers about Biden’s 2024 chances.
“I’ll use this [as] another opportunity to tell James Carville to shut the fuck up,” he said, referring to the longtime Democratic advisor and the lead strategist for Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign. “Like I said, my man hasn’t been relevant since grunge was a thing. And I don’t know why he believes it’s helpful to say these kinds of things about an incredibly difficult circumstance with an incredibly strong and decent and excellent president. I’ll never understand that.”
It’s quite the diss, and Carville wasn’t having it. When reached for comment by Politico, the “Ragin’ Cajun” consultant said other Democratic senators “apparently haven’t gotten the memo yet” that he’s lost his relevancy, citing that Fetterman’s fellow Pennsylvanian Senator Bob Casey Jr. “asked me to host a fundraiser with him last week.” Ditto Senator Sherrod Brown.
Carville did have something nice to say about Fetterman: About his health issues, Carville said, “I’m glad he’s feeling better.”
So, which is the better stance to take? Do progressives go Chicken Little panic à la James Carville? Or head-in-the-sand acting as though everything’s a-ok, like John Fetterman? Perhaps there’s some in-between space, where you worry and plan ahead without tearing one’s hair out.
(Via Politico)