We don’t take sides in a Democratic presidential primary. But we do want to flag something Joe Biden said on Wednesday that gave us pause.
He told reporters in Las Vegas that he was surprised at the lengths Trump has gone. “It’s way beyond anything I frankly thought he would do,” he said, referring to Trump trying to recruit foreign interference in the 2020 election. We now know Trump was trying to dig up dirt from Ukraine on Biden, the alleged constitutional malfeasance that triggered the House’s current impeachment inquiry.
How can anyone think this would be past Trump to do? Has Biden been following this president who acts as though laws don’t apply to him the past two years?
If the former Vice President lacks the will to understand what rotten-to-the-core individuals are capable of—and Biden’s been around the block! —then he’s not yet prepared to know what he’s dealing with in a general election. If you don’t know your adversary, it’s harder to win.
Biden is beating Trump in Texas, a shocking reality not lost on us (obviously). If the Democratic nominee wins in Texas, it’s game over. The GOP is done.
But setting that aside for a moment, what ultimately matters is the Democratic nominee winning the 270 electoral votes nationally in 2020, with or without Texas.
To win, history shows us — see Russia— that Trump will do whatever it takes, a true Machiavelli. (But a Machiavelli who understands the importance of digital communications. Biden just pulled his money out of the digital space.)
Trump is probably a mix of knowingly violating laws, just not having a clue, and just not caring. Whatever the pathology is, Dems must be going into this battle with eyes wide open, prepared to outfox the president —not a Pollyanna with his or her head in the sand, without a digital signal, to boot.
