A crowd of about twenty gathered recently to see Joe Biden in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin — the same week that President Trump held rallies in Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.  Aside from the Wisconsin trip, Biden appeared in his childhood town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his current home town of Wilmington, Delaware.  At every stop President Trump is met with thousands of cheering supporters.  By contrast, Biden's appearances have been a lot like hosting the neighbors in lawn chairs, and certainly with no questioning from real reporters. Is this any way to run a campaign?

Democrats are starting to think not.

According to polling, there aren't many who think Biden could do a good job of running the country.  In the latest polling voters say that Trump will do a better job on the economy, and the economy is the top issue in this as in previous elections. Biden supporters aren't voting for Biden — they just want to vote against Trump.  If it weren't for the coronavirus and the slowdown it brought about, Biden wouldn't have a chance.  Unfortunately, he does have a chance.

What kind of president would Biden make?

Presumably, because of what may be advancing dementia, he would turn the administration over to those close to him, including those on his transition team, which includes "top aides, former VP prospects and Obama administration officials."

This includes longtime aide Ted Kaufman, adviser Anita Dunn, Obama official Jeff Zients, and New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham along with Susan Rice, Sally Yates, Pete Buttigieg, Teresa Romero, and Vivek Murthy.

Lujan, a member of a prominent New Mexico political family, has been active in Democrat politics for her entire adult life.  Among other positions, she served as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.  Teresa Romero is a Mexican who entered the U.S. illegally and who is now president of the United Farm Workers, a union much involved in what is euphemistically called "immigration reform."  Pete Buttigieg is another longtime politician serving on the Biden team.

What kind of transition team is this?  In 2009, Anita Dunn famously said Mao Zedong was one of her two favorite political philosophers.  Susan Rice claimed on national TV that the Benghazi attacks were the results of a videotape, not the planned attack of terrorists.  As acting attorney general, Sally Yates refused to support President Trump's visa ban on countries associated with terrorism — a ban later upheld by the Supreme Court.  Following her firing, Yates sought to discredit the president during the Russiagate investigation and also provided testimony damaging to Gen. Flynn.  If there is one common thread on the transition team, it's that many of its members are soft on terrorism; soft on national defense; and soft on crime, especially crimes committed by so-called protesters.  This common thread is one indication of what to expect should Biden get elected.

Also, none of Biden's transition team has extensive, or in most cases any, business experience.  They are mostly Washington lawyers and professional political advisers.  Anita Dunn and her husband, Robert Bauer, have been called the D.C. "power couple."  How much do the D.C. power couple know or care about the real America?

Then there's Kamala Harris.  In the event of mental incapacity, the Constitution states that "the Vice President shall become president."  That might not be long in Biden's case. 

That would set Harris up for a potential 12-year administration.  Twelve years of Harris would transform America beyond recognition.  With drastically higher taxes and minority preference everywhere, and with no prosecution of looters and arsonists, there would be no reason for affluent whites to remain in the country.  Costa Rica might be a good option.  

Behind this concern about Biden's top advisers is the fact that Biden himself is nowhere to be seen.  At a time when his running mate is campaigning vigorously, Biden remains in the basement.

Actually, Biden was nowhere to be seen during his 36 years in the U.S. Senate.  In his last six years, he sponsored 42 bills.  They were all small bills that offended no one — such as S.574 (106th), "A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to make corrections to a map relating to the Coastal Barrier Resources System," or S.J. Res. 279 (102nd), "A joint resolution designating April 14, 1992, as 'Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.'"

So it was throughout Biden's career.  He was a liberal plodder, neither the most nor the least liberal in the Senate, churning out lots of little bills honoring "National Mammography Day" or "Harriet Tubman Day" but never challenging the underlying drift of America toward socialism.  Meanwhile, he was amassing a net worth of $9 million while his son Hunter amassed $3 million.  

Biden has always preferred the uncontroversial shadows, but now he refuses to answer questions of any kind.  He's gone from offending no one to not even answering, and the reason is obvious.  Sponsoring Harriet Tubman Day is one kind of invisibility, but now it's something different.  Biden wants to remain truly invisible up to the election.

Biden has committed one gaffe after another, many of them serious.  Like not knowing the difference between Iraq and Iran.  Not knowing what office you're running for.  Not knowing where you are or where you're scheduled to be the next day.  Not knowing the difference between a Biden-Harris and a Harris-Biden administration.  Not knowing that the Hispanic song you're playing is sexually offensive or that your own behavior with women may be.

Many Americans don't like President Trump's style or his policies.  Will they like an administration run by Biden's young anti-business and anti-American team of advisers?  They think a vote for Biden is just a vote against Trump. If they thought about it, they'd realize that voting for a team of professional politicians who despise the heartland is not an improvement.

In his first term, President Trump produced the best economy, the most opportunity, and the greatest freedom of any president in U.S. history.  Those who plan to vote for Biden should think carefully about the difference between freedom and prosperity under President Trump and Big Government under Biden's handlers.

Biden does have a nice smile, but there is something vacant about it.  Biden has been hiding behind that smile for a long time.  Is Biden's dental work and a record of inoffensiveness enough to qualify him for the highest office in the land?

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).

Image: Marc Nozell via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.