MAGA set out to destroy Biden... and they did it. they did it too well.
this is the kinda thing that the GOP never sent MAGA the memo about... that these engineered issues are designed to perpetually demonize the opposition and motivate the base. they are NOT issues that you want to win! like crashing Roe vs. Wade! even Trump knew that it was a mistake. like fixing immigration... that was about to happen until Trump signalled that it would be another mistake. they were already beating Biden... destroying him was a mistake.
i suspect Kelly the astronaut will get drafted as VP.
Easy thing to say, but it robs the Democrats of both agency and responsibility for mismanaging their own affairs.
The Dems have pretty vast resources too, which could be used to foster new blood in the party, to craft effective messaging, to assess the public mood.
For more than a year now, I mean basically since the 2022 midterms were done, it was clear that there was no enthusiasm for another round of "Biden fighting Trump". Well, the "fighting Trump & MAGA fascism" part was popular, sure, but consistently more than half of
their own supporters saying they would rather it be someone else to lead that fight. (You know who wanted Biden the most? Republicans.)
Literally every poll has shown how unenthusiastic voters are for either "chosen one" of the Democrat versus Republican contest. The Republicans are not thrilled with Trump and his various scandals, but I suppose they are still more interested in making Democrats cry than whether their own candidate is some kind of crooked jackass.
Voters on both sides were told it was "inevitable" that these would be the nominees, and there was nothing they could do about it. Surprise surprise, they are not happy about it !
Meanwhile, the Republicans had a phony sort of contest in which the main contender could not be bothered to show up to debate, and his current VP nominee was not even in the picture. As much of a fake cakewalk that competition was, at least it existed. At least if that bullet had struck two inches to the right, the R's had some vague sense of who the replacement boss could be, some distant second-place contender who already showed interest in the job.
The Democrats did not even go that far, did not let themselves imagine any other eventuality. Instead, their party brass just arbitrarily decided that there would be no competition to see who would lead them. They just said (without saying it plainly) "If Trump is running, then Biden is running. You do not challenge your own incumbent if he wants to stay, so it's Biden, and we have decided it already". In short the same sort of "our membership does not get to decide this, we do" bullshit that led them to disaster in 2016.
I get that they did not want to diminish Biden's accomplishments as POTUS and many years of hardworking service before that, and the guy deserves credit for getting some very big stuff done while he was in office. But for the sake of not bruising some egos, they were risking losing their country to religious and racial extremists who have openly bragged how they will do much more than just reverse Biden's work, and shall rule through violence. And now that gamble has bitten the Dems in the ass.
Like I said, it is 6 months to a year too late to legitimize someone else through the primary competition process. The Dems will have to pick someone basically by party executive fiat or some convention process to confirm the VP taking the helm, maybe only having a competition over who her VP would be if she wins. And that allows the GOP to make all sorts of mischief regarding the process (which they have already begun). Plus they have to make their new candidate seem likable or at least relatable to ordinary people, which I am not sure they can, given the track record so far.
Is any of this fair or right ? NO. But for a long time now they have known the only way they can defeat their enemy is by not defeating themselves first.