We are going to hold an election this fall, the President of the United States has said so himself.
I never even thought of changing the date of the election. Why would I do that? November 3rd. It’s a good number.”
The 24/7 news cycle coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic notwithstanding, things are happening on the proverbial “campaign trail,” – little noticed as those things seem to be right now.
Here’s an example.
New York did what seemed on its face to be an entirely logical thing this week and cancelled its scheduled June 23 primary. In so doing, they reminded us that Bernie Sanders isn’t really gone.
Sanders is furious. It’s an “outrage,” says Sanders. “A blow to American democracy.”
How so?, you may ask. Joe Biden is the last man standing. Sanders dropped out of the race. He endorsed Joe Biden. It’s over.
Well, yes and no.
Sanders knows he’s not going to win but he wants to be a name on a ballot at a primary election anyway. He wants to collect delegates. Delegates are coin of the realm at a political convention. They can be used to make deals. Sanders wants to use his delegates as currency to drive the party platform leftward.
That’s one explanation for Sanders’s outrage. There’s another.
Democrats are publicly uniting behind Joe Biden but privately they are concerned. Some believe that a Biden implosion remains a possibility.
For months there has been speculation and discussion on the subject of Biden’s cognitive fitness. On numerous occasions prior to the coronavirus lockdown, Biden has been seen on camera making rambling, incoherent statements and appearing to lose his train of thought. Those incidents have taken Biden’s long-established reputation for verbal gaffes to a new level.
Prior to Biden becoming the presumptive nominee, those discussions were even bipartisan. Leading Democrats were openly questioning Biden’s mental state.
Now there’s a new concern. Her name is Tara Reade. In 1993, she worked in Biden’s senate office as a staff assistant. Ms. Reade recently came forward and alleged that in 1993 Biden pushed her against the wall of a Capitol Hill office building and sexually assaulted her. Biden denied that allegation in a written statement. So far, has not been directly questioned on the subject by the media.
Since Reade’s allegation, two acquaintances of Reade’s have come forward and said that Reade told them of the incident at the time. Also, tape of a 1993 Larry King broadcast includes a call from Reade’s mother telling of her daughter’s problems with at “prominent senator.”
The parallels to the allegations raised against then Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford are striking. So far, however, the media is not reacting the way they did to the allegations against Kavanaugh.
But the Sanders crowd is all over this issue on Twitter. They’re hoping to create a crack in the party armor through which they can drive their guy. Continuing to collect delegates aids and abets that cause.
And that’s why Sanders is mad as hell about the cancellation of the New York primary.