Cagle World

While the contours of President Biden’s re-election campaign have yet to come into focus, early signs imply leaning greatly on surrogates to shoulder the heavy burden of promoting the president’s record and engaging in aggressive negativity against his opponent.

The strategy suggests shielding the president from the media and maintaining tight control over his public appearances. Expect Biden to face friendly audiences while strictly adhering to rigidly scripted campaign talking points to avoid stream of consciousness ramblings later corrected by his staff.

Freewheeling interaction with reporters that has been customary in national campaigns will not be tolerated. Television cameras, hand held boom mikes and hordes of notebook bearing reporters trailing behind the president on airport tarmacs, in diners or hotel ballrooms will be a rare sight.

The campaign will attempt to reprise its 2020 success, a campaign conducted largely from the basement of the president’s Delaware home in response to the COVID-19 virus. The pandemic threat has vanished, but expect Biden to take full advantage of his incumbency to justify a Rose Garden strategy that will often keep him in Washington and off the campaign trail.

Concerns about his age and physical stamina to withstand a traditional campaign are ever present, discussed openly in the media and in political circles. A severely truncated schedule will add fuel to speculation about his remaining in the race or – if re-elected – serving out a full second term, which he’d complete at age 86.

His record as president is dotted with a few physical incidents and mental slip-ups – stumbling on airplane stairs, forgetting names, recounting fanciful incidents from his career past –  which have raised concerns about his cognitive abilities. Keeping similar incidents to a minimum will be a top campaign concern. The least possible exposure to media intensity is crucial to that effort.

Enlisting members of Congress and state and local political, party, business and civic leaders to take on a more active role in promoting his record and agenda for the future is a vital component in strategic success and easing the burden on the president.

It will require arming the surrogates with scripted talking points and establishing an aggressive round of interviews and public appearances to relentlessly drive the message.

If his performance thus far is any indicator, the campaign will also demand any utterances or public statements include the phrase “extreme MAGA Republicans,” as often as possible, designed to portray the Republican candidate and supporters as captives of the Donald Trump wing.

It appears the Biden campaign believes the path to victory lies in emphasizing the threat to individual freedoms posed by extreme beliefs and ideologies. Democrats view the controversies over restricting access to abortion, banning books and certain teaching materials in public education and draconian cuts to spending on social programs to aid the most vulnerable  as an assault on a free society.

The strategy takes into account the re-election prospects of a president with a 40 percent public approval rating and a nation which two-thirds of the unsettled citizenry believe is headed in the wrong direction.

Inflation remains stubborn, costs of basic commodities have reached unaffordable levels, violent crime has driven businesses and residents out of big cities, the immigration crisis at the southern border shows no signs of easing and the war in Ukraine has devolved into a bloody stalemate, despite $40 billion in U. S. aid.

The Biden campaign strategy is a high wire balancing act, limiting the candidate’s public exposure while touting progress.

Working without a net will be challenging, indeed.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

Fifty-one years ago, the national Democratic Party and its presidential nominee were characterized as the party of ”acid, amnesty and abortion” in one of the more devastating, effective and enduring slogans in American political history.

Its goal was the portrayal of a party in thrall to a far-left fringe element whose policies and philosophy were well out of the American mainstream and should be rejected.

Acid referred to the casual acceptance of a drug culture exemplified by the use of the hallucinogenic LSD. Amnesty referred to forgoing criminal prosecutions and allowing young men who had moved to Canada to avoid the military draft to return home. Abortion referred to legalizing the procedure on demand and without restriction.

President Nixon won re-election in a landslide in 1972 against North Dakota Sen. George McGovern, carrying 49 states. As preparations ramp up for President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, he confronts his own version of acid, amnesty and abortion – inflation, immigration and in debt.

While lacking quite the same alliterative rhythm of the 1972 catchphrase, it could inflict a similar bite on the Biden administration if economic conditions worsen, tens of thousands of migrants continue streaming across the southern border and the nation teeters on defaulting on its debts for the first time in history.

The president enters his re-election phase with public approval around 40 percent and a clear majority expressing dissatisfaction with his handling of the economy and immigration.

Coupled with serious concerns about his age, cognition and his ability to withstand the meatgrinder presidential campaigns have become, a majority of Democrats have expressed a preference for someone else to lead their party into the 2024 election.

While inflation has eased slightly, fears of recession have increased, along with rising mortgage rates and dramatically higher costs of everything from cars to eggs.

Americans have turned increasingly to credit cards to carry them through, while the number of those who describe their situation as living paycheck to paycheck has risen. High profile bank failures have contributed to the unease in the country and a fear of what lies ahead.

The record influx of migrants has fractured Democrats as communities along the southern border deal with an unprecedented demand for social services and accommodations beyond their abilities to support.

Democrats in Congress have become increasingly outspoken in their criticisms of the administration’s response, while big city mayors have bussed migrants out of their towns and into surrounding communities, citing their own shelters as at capacity and earning the enmity of their neighbors.

The administration’s response has been one of blaming Congress, minimizing the situation and denying it exists while claiming the border is secure – despite overwhelming visual evidence and widely-viewed scenes of mass crowding at border crossings.

Meanwhile, the stalemate continues over increasing the national debt limit, with the president adamant in his demand for an unconditional increase. Congressional Republicans have agreed to raising the limit in return for trillions in spending cuts.

The administration has warned the government will default on its obligations as soon as the first week of June, upending the global economy and sending the country into fiscal chaos.

There remains hope that cooler heads will prevail and a compromise reached, but Biden will share much of the blame for whatever the outcome and for his perilous brinksmanship with the nation’s economic health.

In 1972, McGovern led far left-wing liberalism. With the positioning of today’s Democratic Party, he’d be considered a moderate.

The acid, amnesty and abortion critique was wildly successful in its time and has stood the test of political effectiveness by being cited a half century later.

It fit neatly on a bumper sticker or handheld campaign rally sign. Inflation, immigration and in debt may take up a bit more space, but the message is equally succinct.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

As Donald Trump maintains and builds on his commanding lead in polling of the Republican presidential nominating contest, the notion of  the former president’s “inevitability” gains momentum.

Trump’s nearest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has yet to announce his intentions but trails by as much as 30 points in the early surveys. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, despite an active campaign schedule, has failed to gain traction, as has former vice president Mike Pence. Others, like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, barely register.

Any candidate wouldn’t get a second look if they were weighed down by the baggage Trump carries – a criminal indictment, the subject of three state or Federal investigations, and on trial in a defamation suit connected to an allegation of rape.

Trump has airily dismissed all the allegations as part of a political witch hunt by a government/media cabal to deny him a return to the presidency.

In the face of all the legal issues, Trump’s grip on Republican voters hasn’t weakened. In fact, support rose following his indictment on business fraud charges by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Trump gave impetus to the inevitability theory by suggesting he would not participate in party-sanctioned debates, since the issue has already been decided in his favor and any face-to-face confrontations would be pointless.

The loyalty of the party base is a testament to his ability to connect at a visceral level with the disaffected, those millions who share Trump’s disdain for the “elites,” the upper class who look down upon working men and women as unthinking, uneducated rubes incapable of understanding the issues the nation faces.

In his 2012 re-election campaign, former President Obama described them as individuals who cling to guns and religion and demonize people unlike them.

In an America as deeply polarized as the country is today, Trump’s message resonates. His supporters delight in his swagger and his pugnacious personality. They see someone whose toughness will deter the nation’s enemies and is unafraid to challenge rather than cringe in the face of opposition.

Many believe his 2020 loss to President Biden resulted from a fraudulent and corrupt election process and are willing to overlook the lack of any contrary evidence. They share his characterization of the media as “an enemy of the people,” believing it guilty of misinformation, biased reporting, a hatred of all things Trump.

The presidential election is 20 months off and polling at this point is not a reliable indicator of the outcome. The start of the primary election season is less than a year away and a great deal can happen in the intervening months to dramatically change the political environment.

For instance, will his supporters reconsider or his support erode if he is charged with criminal conduct for allegedly interfering in the election process, possessing classified material or – worse yet – encouraging a mob of supporters to assault the U. S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to prevent the official certification of Biden’s victory?

His support at this stage appears unshakeable, but not invincible. For party leaders who fear his candidacy will cost Republicans the White House and control of Congress, it is their obligation to coalesce behind a Trump alternative, marshal the organizational and fund raising prowess at their command and convince Trump voters that their concerns are the party’s concerns.

President Biden enters his 2024 re-election campaign as one of the more vulnerable incumbents in recent history. His job performance remains mired at around 40 percent, inflation continues to punish the economy while crime and immigration remain chronic issues. His age, acuity and physical condition are matters of serious concern and a majority of self-identified Democrats prefer a different candidate.

The stars are in alignment for a Republican victory, but someone other than Trump must be the person reaching for them.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

It’s time for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to retreat to his executive suite in Tallahassee, take a deep breath and end his war with the Disney Corp.

DeSantis is on an utterly pointless crusade, revealing a petty, petulant personality motivated by revenge and a pathological need to prove he is correct. It can’t even be disguised as a matter of principle when it’s so clearly ego run amok.

While he is not yet an announced candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, DeSantis is the closest competitor to Donald Trump. But while the former president is tramping around the country raising money and collecting endorsements, DeSantis is locked in a wrestling match with a cartoon mouse wearing short pants.

Adding to the humiliation, the mouse is winning.

DeSantis’ preoccupation with finding ways to punish Disney stems from the company’s opposition to a Florida law banning teaching sexual orientation or gender identity in public school grades K-12. The legislation was quickly named the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Enraged at this display of corporate criticism, DeSantis struck back, winning legislative approval revoking Disney’s special tax status, only to be outmaneuvered when the corporation discovered a loophole to retain its status.

Unable to accept being challenged successfully, DeSantis threatened to develop land adjacent to Disney World, suggesting it could be used for warehouses, a competing park or even a prison.

Politically, DeSantis’ actions accomplish nothing. Those who agree with the legislation will continue to do so, as will those in opposition. His continued relentless obsession with conquering Disney has taken an embarrassing and counterproductive turn.

DeSantis has launched a jihad against a company that employs 75,000 people – the largest single site employer in the world – draws a global leading 60 million visitors annually, contributes $73 billion to the state’s economy and produces $6 billion in tax revenue.

He has used the power and authority of government to damage a private business merely because its leadership opposed a public policy.

It is precisely the type of action that Republicans and conservatives have repeatedly criticized their liberal opposition for embracing, warning darkly of government overreach and control of the private sector.

There is a case to be made that Disney should have remained above the fray and allowed the political and legal process to play out. The company’s decision may have cost it financially but like most private businesses, it was willing to allow the market to decide if it had made a wise decision.

The DeSantis unofficial campaign has faltered as his stepped-up activities and public appearances have drawn more intense media scrutiny.

Several members of Congress from Florida have endorsed Trump’s candidacy, implying that DeSantis is either not yet up the demands of a national candidacy and should wait until 2028 or that he is not qualified by experience, intellect or temperament and never will be.

He has failed to gain ground on Trump despite the staggering political baggage shouldered by the former president – a criminal indictment and three ongoing Federal or state investigations into criminal behavior on his part. Not to mention surviving two impeachment proceedings, politically motivated though they may have been.

DeSantis has been unable thus far to peel off any significant portion of Trump’s fervent base of support, while the former president has used his social media platform and millions in spending by independent groups to attack him and his record as Florida’s governor.

The feud with Disney is a continuous self-inflicted wound and it is time for DeSantis to reappraise his position with an eye toward ending it on as reasonable and positive a face-saving note as possible. Those advising him to continue the fight are doing him and his potential campaign a serious and potentially fatal disservice.

As for Disney executives, they should spend their time devising a way to avoid parents being forced to drain their children’s college savings account to finance a four-day vacation at the Magic Kingdom.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

Outwardly at least, the Democratic Party’s national leadership has exhibited no sense of urgency over the absence of any definitive announcement of a President Biden re-election campaign.

They appear willing to submerge their misgivings and accept the representations of the president, his circle of advisers and those close to him – including the first lady – that he fully intends to seek a second term.

While counseling patience, the president’s team has attempted to soothe worries and ease nervousness by pointing to Biden’s repeated assertions that “there is more work to be done” as an unmistakable signal that he intends to complete the task.

“‘I plan on running,” Biden said on the “Today” show this week.

A timetable for an official announcement has been a moving target – shortly after the first of the year, early spring, late April and now perhaps as far off as June.

With the opening of the primary season less than a year off, the uncertainty surrounding Biden’s decision has frozen the field, effectively forestalling any overt moves by potential competitors to build party support and lay the foundation for a national fund raising operation.

It’s also led to speculation that second thoughts have crept into Biden’s mind, producing a germ of self-doubt about his ability to withstand the rigors of a national campaign amid broad and persistent dissatisfaction with his administration’s record.

Tellingly, a solid majority has expressed a desire for a candidate other than Biden, citing his age and concern that at 82 years old, he wouldn’t be up to the exhausting pace and pressures of a nationwide campaign and the physical and mental toll it inflicts.

In the white hot campaign environment, Biden’s gaffes would be amplified as proof of an individual in cognitive decline who has lost the intellectual agility crucial to serving in the highest office in the nation and leader of the free world.

A campaign in constant damage control mode is a campaign which has lost initiative and message.

While surrogate speakers have fanned out across the country touting the administration’s legislative accomplishments, it hasn’t delivered much of an impact.

His public approval is stuck in the 40 percent range – in the thirties in some polls – and his record in virtually every area of concern to the American people is well below 50 percent.

Critics have blamed the administration for a punishing inflation level and cost of living that have devastated low income, middle class and senior Americans. He grades low as well in his response to rising crime, illegal immigration, and foreign policy, while nearly two-thirds believe the nation is moving in the wrong direction.

As the cost of living continues to rise, predictions of an impending recession have exacerbated fears that more difficult times lie ahead. Inevitably, the occupant of the White House is held responsible.

The president’s strategists have, it appears, decided to play for time, withholding an official entry into the race and hoping former president Donald Trump – the Republican frontrunner – will build an insurmountable lead and lock down his party’s nomination.

Trump, already under one criminal indictment and the subject of three Federal and state investigations into alleged criminal conduct, would be a seriously weakened candidate whom the Biden team believes would be soundly rejected by the nation’s voters.

Trump’s unhinged social media rants and his evidence-free insistence that but for massive voter fraud he’d have been re-elected is a reminder of the chaos and daily drama of his tenure and will not resonate beyond his base.

Democrats are gambling the Republican opposition will implode and validate their strategy of waiting and acting presidential rather than dealing with Biden’s every action seen through a partisan lens as a candidate. It appears a safe bet at the moment.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

He’s rude, crude, profane and insulting. He pins derogatory nicknames on his opponents, often ridiculing their physical characteristics. He accuses the media of corruption and “an enemy of the people.” He’s under ongoing Federal and state investigations into allegations of criminal behavior and stands in the shadow of an indictment.

And, as Americans prepare to elect a new president in 19 months, he’s the leading contender for the Republican nomination.

He, of course, is Donald J. Trump, president from 2017 to 2021, and he is precisely where he has always wanted to be – at the center of the national political discourse, the dominating presence in control of the narrative.

He holds no public office and his single term as president is his sole experience in elective politics and public service. Yet, stories are not written nor broadcast without Trump as a central figure. He can single-handedly drive news coverage like no other who’s come before him.

He can play the role of victim or victor with equal gusto and his force of nature personality has created a fervent band of followers dedicated to returning him to the White House and an equally fervent band of opposition dedicated to sending him to jail.

The prospect – some say certainty – of an indictment by the New York District Attorney for allegedly directing payments to buy the silence of a woman with whom he had an extra marital affair has failed to place even a small dent in standing.

He’s made clear that he’ll not be deterred, boldly declaring that his candidacy will continue even if he is criminally indicted.

While he’s lost the support of major donors as well as that of Republican groups like the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity, his grip on his rank and file base remains as firm as ever.

His lead over potential challengers has been consistent in poll after poll – often reaching well into double digits – while in a handful of surveys he runs ahead of President Biden.

His challengers, along with a number of Republicans in Congress, have tip-toed around Trump, avoiding a confrontation while carefully couching their criticisms in language calling for a new generation of leadership to move on from the past.

Tip-toeing around Trump, though, is like tip-toeing around the lion’s den at feeding time – he and the lion see it as an act of weakness and both will react accordingly.

As he declared in his 2016 primary contest, he’s asserted that he will not pledge support to the nominee and upped the ante dramatically with a threat to run as a third party candidate if denied the nomination, a prospect horrifying to the party establishment as certain to deliver the election to the Democratic candidate.

His closest rival – though as yet unannounced – is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who has registered encouraging polling strength in the 20 and 30 percent range.

Hand wringing Republican leaders seem at this point to be unable or unwilling to confront Trump, even though they are convinced the baggage he carries will be so great that the entire 2024 Republican ticket will suffer a landslide defeat.

They understand his base of support will continue to accept his insistence that massive fraud cost him re-election in 2020 and that he is innocent of allegations that he encouraged the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, but believe the broader national electorate will reject those claims.

President Biden is, they believe, seriously vulnerable, beset by a public approval rating in the 40 percent range while inflation and economic turmoil have taken a major toll on the American people.

At the same time, they believe, the chaos and uproar which marked the Trump presidency, along with his post-presidency controversies, will negate the shortcomings of the Biden administration, that Americans – when pressed – will opt for calm and concerned government rather than constant disorder and strife.

Trump’s style will not be altered, indictment or not. He cares not for the Republican establishment and it’s only available response is to care not for him.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

“Defund the police” – the rallying cry of the Democratic Party’s progressive left wing in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police nearly three years ago – was arguably the most self-defeating political slogan in modern history.

Its impact and potential for inflicting even greater damage reached into the White House itself. President Joe Biden has backed a Republican-led congressional resolution to overturn a criminal justice reform ordinance adopted by the District of Columbia city council to abolish some mandatory minimum sentences and substantially reduce penalties for a variety of crimes.

While Biden’s intention to sign the Republican legislation infuriated Democratic House members, it was, in truth, an easy political call, an effort to shed the de-fund the police reputation and wriggle out from under its burden.

The president was in a position to blunt the Republican strategy of portraying Democrats as soft on crime with its support of policies to hamstring law enforcement agencies while offering excuses for criminals.

With the White House and control of Congress at stake in 20 months, Biden and his circle of advisers understood that Republicans had gained significant traction with its hard line on crime strategy and an opportunity to stake out a pro law enforcement position was at his hand. No matter the internal strife it would cause in the party, it would have been a serious error to pass it up.

The president was accused of reneging on his long held belief that the District of Columbia deserved a full measure of home rule and its own decisions without interference or approval from Congress – a step toward eventual statehood.

As competing political issues – an esoteric policy wonk debate over home rule versus rampant violent crime – it is no contest. No matter the desirability of home rule or future statehood status, on the list of priorities of the nation’s voters, they don’t make the cut.

Homicides, assaults, robberies, carjackings, blatant daytime shoplifting sprees, and a sense that the citizens of cities walk the streets at their own peril are top of mind issues.

Voters are besieged daily by news accounts of corporate decision makers opting to move their headquarters out of cities like Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Atlanta and Portland, Oregon, among others, because they can no longer guarantee the safety and security of their employees.

Photos and footage of deserted or boarded up stores, tent cities and homeless encampments that too often become tragic crime scenes depict neighborhoods in decline.

The owners of small corner business establishments and pharmacies are in the heretofore unimaginable position of placing items such as toothpaste, household detergents and cleansers under lock and key to thwart out of control shoplifting.

In store video cameras capture individuals pushing shopping carts loaded with merchandise – even large screen television – out of stores without hindrance.

It amounts to an enormous stockpile of words and pictures that Republican campaign strategists and consultants will sort through and flood the media with ads accusing Democrats of opening the doors to lawlessness on a grand scale while ignoring the dystopia their policies have created.

Many of the 173 House Democrats who voted to uphold the ordinance blistered Biden for placing them in jeopardy, subjecting them to Republican attacks for supporting a proposal that even their president found so egregious that he blocked its implementation.

They complained bitterly they had received no advance warning of the president’s intention and blamed his staff for hanging them out to dry and creating serious trust issues going forward.

Democratic leadership allowed the “defund the police” message to resonate and embed itself as a component in the party’s agenda, even though some – including Biden -– sought to distance themselves from it.

For a movement that sprang three years ago from tragedy and controversy and never attained majority support in the country, defund the police continues to haunt.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

With public approval mired in the low forty percent range, with two thirds of Americans believing the nation is headed in the wrong direction and a majority of Democrats expressing a preference for a different candidate, President Biden’s intention to seek re-election has frozen the field of possible competitors and created a long term political headache for his party.

Even as some polls show him losing to former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical matchup, the party has rallied behind Biden, pledging support and loyalty despite private concerns about his age and the stamina needed to endure the exhausting pace of a national campaign.

While Biden benefitted from the national lockdown wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 that allowed him the freedom to campaign from the basement of his home, a full bore campaign against a younger Republican opponent – potentially as much as 30 years his junior – would subject him to at least six months of mental and physical strain that would test the endurance limits of the fittest of people.

As concerning as his well-being may be to party leaders, of deeper worry to the hard-headed political movers and shakers is a health risk or incapacitation leading to a withdrawal and the elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris to presidential candidate.

Her tenure has been mediocre, and she has achieved a reputation as one of the least consequential vice presidents in modern history. At 38 percent, her approval ranking is below Biden’s and she is not considered presidential material.

A Harris victory – as unlikely as that may be – would place in the nation’s highest office an untested, ill-prepared individual who has demonstrated no ability to assume the leadership of the free world, deal effectively with Congress or rally the American people to her cause.

Her rambling and often incoherent responses to media questions, breaking into giggles at inopportune moments, and her frequent inability to grasp the essence of complex issues have eroded confidence in her capability to sit at the pinnacle of global power.

Her campaign for the presidential nomination in 2020 – wracked by disarray and collapsing even before the first primary contest took place – is a clear sign that an equally disastrous outcome is a virtual certainty should she step into that role in 2024.

With that history in mind, the party establishment confronts the dilemma and politically fraught terrain to be negotiated to deny Harris a candidacy should Biden be unable to continue.

Moreover, a victory for the Biden-Harris ticket raises the sensitive prospect of an incumbent president unable to complete his term and turning the office over to his vice president, establishing her as the heir apparent in 2028, reviving all the concerns about her shortcomings.

With little more than a year before the presidential campaign begins in earnest, speculation has been floated quietly that Biden may choose to forego re-election in time for party leaders to convince Harris to stand aside – a not insignificant task, to be sure – by offering her a high profile position, such as the next opening on the Supreme Court.

No matter the pains taken to act with the utmost delicacy, any move to bypass Harris either as a presidential candidate or as a successor to the office will produce a firestorm of criticism and accusations of gender and ethnic bias.

She broke that glass ceiling – a watershed event in America’s politics – and her accomplishment should not be minimized, despite the unprecedented pandemic-driven limits on campaigning or the suggestion Biden’s victory was a reaction to the chaos and upheavals of the Trump administration rather than a validation of his agenda.

Both parties were dealt the same hand in 2020 and worked under the same restrictions and conditions. Biden and Harris won; that cannot be taken from them.

Biden may have frozen the field and thawing it will test the limits of party leaders, either through persuasion or serious hardball politics.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

Aside from occupying the White House itself, former president Donald Trump is exactly where he wants to be – at the center of the national political dialogue, a dominating media presence and a controlling influence in the selection of a Republican presidential nominee in 2024.

He was impeached twice, lost re-election to an opponent who seldom left his basement, remains under at least two Department of Justice investigations, is the subject of civil and criminal inquiries into his personal and business dealings and stands accused of encouraging a violent assault on the U. S. Capitol.

Despite what appears to be insurmountable baggage, he leads the field of potential Republican nominees, and in some polls holds a lead over President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 contest.

By any measure, his status is extraordinary, a testament to the most massive ego in modern political history. It’s also revealing about the overwhelming power of social media, which has supplanted traditional media as the primary source of news while trafficking in rumor, uninformed opinion and conspiracy theories.

For the Republican Party leadership establishment, sensing an opportunity to regain the presidency and control of Congress, Trump is a monumental problem, the essence of a deep fear that his candidacy would drag the party to crushing defeat.

A campaign whose central theme would be allegations of a fraudulent 2020 election produces heartburn among top party leadership, who blame the former president for the dismal showing in last November’s Congressional midterm elections.

Trump’s hold on a portion of the party base remains fairly strong, but signs of erosion have surfaced, notably polling that reveals a majority of Republicans prefers someone other than him as the candidate.

His most recent rallies were held in small venues to avoid televised coverage of rows of empty seats and, while the audiences were responsive, the atmosphere lacked the energy, passion and electricity of prior appearances.

Increasingly, leading Republicans have broken their silence and become more outspoken in their criticism of Trump, calling for new generational leadership while major donors, including the powerful Americans for Prosperity, have indicated withholding support.

Potential candidates, while making coyly encouraging noises, have remained in a holding pattern concerned with offending Trump’s dedicated base or becoming a target for his vitriol.

Only former South Carolina governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has committed to a candidacy, while speculation swirls around others, notably Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running a strong second to Trump.

There is no question the former president’s influence on the decisions and strategies of potential competitors is considerable. His frequent verbal grenades rolled into DeSantis’ office await anyone who poses even a minimal threat.

Party leaders, however, can no longer stand by wringing their hands and bemoaning the disaster that awaits if Trump repeats his feat of 2016 when he navigated a field of 16 candidates who splintered party support in the primary election grind and opened the path for him to secure the nomination.

Difficult though it may be, it is imperative the establishment shrink the field and convey to potential candidates whose appeal is narrow they should put their ambitions aside in furtherance of the larger and more crucial cause.

The primary season could assist in that winnowing, but the risk of Trump racking up small margin victories from state to state – as he did in 2016 – until he’s the last candidate standing remains genuine.

He will, of course, continue to bully and bluster, insulting his competition, embellishing and exaggerating his record and insisting he would have been re-elected if only he had received a fair count.

He’ll not be persuaded to stand down; his ego won’t permit that. It is necessary to marginalize him, to construct a reality that he is no longer the controlling element, that events have passed him by, his relevance has vanished and he should follow.

Trump may be where he wants to be at this early stage, but to suggest he is the party’s savior is an attempt to rescue a drowning man by throwing him both ends of the rope.

If the party relies on that attempt, it will slip beneath the surface. And deservedly so.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

A constant in the political universe is the quest to occupy the moral high ground, that space that sets apart those with noble intentions and pure motives from those driven by craven desires in pursuit of personal gains.

Unfortunately, the fall from the rarefied air floating above the moral high ground is steep, and the landing can be bone-jarring.

Such is the fate of the Biden administration, which was knocked off balance by the discovery of classified government documents stored at the president’s former office in a Washington, D. C., think tank and at his private home in Delaware.

The president’s staff and supporters immediately sprang into damage control mode. They argue there no comparison between Biden’s possession of classified material and former President Trump, who came under repeated attacks and demands that he be prosecuted for storing cartons of classified documents at his Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida.

The Biden administration’s attempts to change the narrative failed, and the controversy exploded across the political environment amid accusations of hypocrisy and a double standard in the administration of justice.

Press briefings were public relations disasters. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared out of her depth yet again, thrown on the defensive as she struggled through increasingly contentious exchanges with reporters by claiming the administration acted properly upon discovering the documents. Unable to provide substantive answers, she simply refused to respond and referred all inquiries to the Department of Justice.

The most damaging blow to Biden’s credibility came with the revelation the classified material was found on Nov. 2 but not acknowledged publicly until earlier this month after a media leak, a time line immediately attacked by critics as an attempt to keep the discovery secret to avoid it becoming a perilous issue in the week leading up to the competitive midterm Congressional election.

There are differences between how Biden and Trump handled their situations. Trump was reportedly in possession of a far greater number of classified materials, and resisted turning them over to the National Archives, insisting they belonged to him. It took an FBI search of his home last August to retrieve the documents.

These distinctions are matters of degree rather than matters of fact, and as is the case in political disputes and controversies, subtlety, nuance, context and policy-driven explanations lack impact.

The media and political shorthand drive the narrative, particularly in an environment dominated by social media, which has become the principal source of information and a major factor in shaping public opinion.

The vast majority of Americans who consume news in appetizer nibbles rather than entrée bites view the issue starkly: “Biden and Trump did the same thing.”

As he did with Trump, Attorney General Merrick Garland has selected a special counsel to investigate the circumstances of the document discovery involving the Biden administration, establishing him as an historically unique individual overseeing investigations of a sitting president and his immediate predecessor for the same alleged violations.

Legal scholars have already weighed in, speculating that the Biden document discovery creates a serious roadblock to a potential indictment of Trump.

Trump could not have scripted it any better. The administration handed him a massive political gift, one he can and will use to reinforce his allegations of a partisan witch hunt by the Department of Justice and an administration guilty of boundless hypocrisy.

His floundering, flailing 2024 presidential campaign has been given an adrenaline boost. His dedicated band of followers will crow they were right all along, and that Trump is an innocent victim hounded relentlessly by a vengeful and vindictive political/media cabal.

The moral high ground has vanished ,and the political damage has been done – Biden suffers and Trump celebrates.

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Copyright 2023 Carl Golden, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.