Long before Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race I was saying that regardless of whether he started in the race, if Trump won the blame would fall primarily on Biden. Now that the election is over I want to share a slightly more detailed assessment of who bears the blame. (Spoiler, it’s not Kamala Harris. She did as much as could be hoped given the constraints of her situation.)
In chronological order, here are the three people whose choices brought us another Trump victory. (Trump hates each of them.)
Kevin McCarthy
Running down to Mar-a-Lago like a scolded puppy after Trump was impeached because Trump was mad that McCarthy had the audacity to acknowledge that Trump had been out of line (in the gentlest way he could) served to signal to the GOP that even under a second impeachment Trump remained at the center of GOP power. Had McCarthy not paid homage the GOP might have moved on without Trump in those early days while his dishonor was fresh in the minds of the nation.
Mitch McConnell
The political cowardice of McConnell after January 6th allowed Trump to escape when he was most vulnerable. If he had taken a stand immediately that impeachment was an appropriate response to Trump’s insurrection the House and Senate could have excised Trump from any future political power. Instead McConnell dragged his feet and put party over country hoping (irrationally) that Trump would go away without the GOP having to take any action.
McConnell magnanimously told his GOP Senate colleagues that they could vote their conscience in the 2nd impeachment after doing everything possible to hamstring the trial. He then had the audacity after voting to acquit (based on a contrived technicality that he arranged in advance) to declare that Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for January 6th and that “Trump is still liable,” that he “didn’t get away with anything yet,” and that Trump could still be held accountable in civil or criminal court.
In handing this blame to McConnell I don’t mean to pretend that he was uniquely cowardly. I’m confident that many GOP senators would have done the same thing in his position.
Joe Biden
If Biden had chosen not to run for a second term the Democratic nominee would have been able to run a campaign that lasted more than 4 months which would have allowed views to feel like they had a voice in the selection process and would have allowed the candidate to hone their message before the spring of the general election. Even deciding to run and then dropping out after October 7, 2023 to focus on the middle east would have been okay.
While this blame goes on Biden’s shoulders we can still recognize that the Democratic party was complicit in leaving him essentially unchallenged. The person in the worst position to challenge Biden was his Vice President since doing so would not only damage the party but would also have undercut both his work as President and her work as Vice President.
