President Joe Biden has become a joke, confabulating tall tales about his past political exploits, shaking hands with phantoms, not shaking hands with world leaders, getting lost on stage, and frequently falling. These are all clear signs of his physical and mental decline, obvious to all but his most partisan enablers and sycophants.

He has announced his candidacy for reelection, but that is as credible as Jack Nicklaus announcing a run for the US Open next spring. The only question is how Joe exits the presidency and campaign, whether voluntary or by his handlers making him an offer he can’t refuse.

The latest polls should be a bucket of cold water on Biden’s aspirations and the hopes and dreams of his enablers. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll suggests the turkey in the oven is done, ready for carving. Mind you, any political poll is merely a snapshot in time, the sentiments of voters, or whoever was surveyed, in late September 2023, more than a year from the next election.

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The headline says it all, “Trump edges out Biden 51-42 in head-to-head matchup.” The normally Biden-worshiping ABC News doesn’t hold back.

President Joe Biden's job approval rating is 19 points underwater, his ratings for handling the economy and immigration are at career lows. A record number of Americans say they've become worse off under his presidency, three-quarters say he's too old for another term and Donald Trump is looking better in retrospect -- all severe challenges for Biden in his reelection campaign ahead.

This reinforces the question that Trump and Republicans should be constantly asking, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Clearly the answer is no.

The Washington Post claims this is an outlier but acknowledges, “Biden is broadly unpopular and doubts about his suitability for a second term are extensive.” In their hearts they believe Biden is beloved and trouncing Trump in the polls, just as they believe Ukraine is winning the war despite loads of evidence to the contrary.

The Washington Examiner ran this headline, “Biden poll freakout” reflecting Democrats having seizures over the poll results.

This is not some Qanon MAGA poll, as it was commissioned by two left-wing news organizations, ABC News and the Washington Post. Of those polled, 50 percent voted for Biden in 2020, only 46 percent for Trump, meaning this poll oversampled Biden supporters.

When in doubt about the diagnosis, get a second opinion.

Rasmussen Reports’ Daily Presidential Tracking Poll confirms. On September 22, Biden’s total approval sits at 45 percent compared to Trump at 52 percent. Looking at negatives instead, 45 percent strongly disapprove of Biden’s performance versus only 25 percent strongly disapproving of Trump’s performance, a 20-point difference.

NBC News, another Democrat party superPAC, has similar dismal news for the donkey party. In their poll, “Three-quarters of voters say they’re concerned about President Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness.”

They also note,

The warning signs for Biden beyond his age — including an all-time high disapproval of his job performance, fewer than 4 in 10 voters approving of his handling of the economy and lagging interest in the election among key parts of the Democratic base.

There is also bad news for the GOP establishment, “The poll also shows Trump expanding his national lead in the Republican presidential nominating contest to more than 40 points over his nearest competition.”

Lastly there is the HarrisX poll from mid-September showing Trump with a 5 point lead over Biden (46-41) and even more concerning to Democrats, an 8 point Trump lead among independents (42-34).

Say it ain’t so Joe. Why is lunch bucket Joe, the Scranton Kid, sinking faster than the Titanic? Start with “It’s the economy stupid” as the Bill Clinton campaign reminded a few decades ago.

That reminder came from James Carville, architect of Clinton’s campaign. Today he sees the current Biden campaign clearly, speaking recently on a Bill Maher podcast, “People need to ‘wake the f-ck up’ when it comes to the 2024 election because President Joe Biden would lose to former President Donald Trump if the election were held this year.”

Everything costs more – gas, food, homes, mortgages, cars, and other necessities. Crime is rising to the point that major American cities are becoming unlivable hellholes, dystopian movie sets rather than the America many of us grew up in. Young men from all over the world are pouring into the country by the thousands each and every day, sent to a city near you, enjoying life on your dime, free to steal, rape, or murder with little repercussion.

Our national debt is over $33 trillion, growing by $5 billion a day, with interest payments costing taxpayers almost $2 billion each day. We are close to entering a hot war with Russia, nukes and all, and a new world order is forming, with the United States on the outside looking in.

Our military is more concerned with gender pronouns and male officers wearing dresses than combat and weapon readiness. Fentanyl is killing our youth and all the government can say is get yet another COVID booster shot.

And Biden family corruption is clear as Rep James Comer presented bank records showing wire transfers from Beijing to Joe Biden’s home in Delaware. In the 2020 presidential debates, Biden told Trump, "I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life.” Oh really?

So, what are Democrats to do? In the ABC News survey, when asked who besides Biden they would like the Democrat party to nominate, “just someone else” was the clear winner with 20 percent, the other prospects in single digits. Given the choice of nominating Biden or someone else, “someone else” beat Biden 62 to 33 percent.

Get ready for Trump versus “someone else” next year.

Losing to Trump is unthinkable which is why Democrats’ politicized and weaponized FBI, DOJ, and legal system are attempting to send Trump to prison for the next thousand years. Trump is a force of nature with tremendous support of the people, and most of the Republican party.

Country club Republicans still hold out hope for Ron DeSantis, polling at 15 percent in the ABC News poll, or Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, or Tim Scott, all in single digits in their audition for Trump’s VP spot.

The easy path for Biden is to resign due to health reasons and to spend more time with the family. Does that mean more foreign influence peddling with son Hunter or showers with daughter Ashley? He could pardon his entire corrupt family on the way out and live out his days on a Delaware beach eating ice cream.

The harder path involves impeachment, which the Republicans threaten, but like most other campaign promises, often forget about. Even if they impeach him, Senate conviction is unlikely, as Republicans like Senator Mitt Romney claim to have not seen any evidence of Biden wrongdoing and Democrat senators will never help reach the required two-thirds supermajority.

Better to let the Democrats do the dirty work via the 25th Amendment, although Joe would likely resign before enduring that indignity. Joe recently received the latest COVID booster, and the annual flu vaccine and he could be one of many who suffer disability or mortality after such injections, stepping down for health reasons.

Clearly the Democrats are on the ropes. They can try their election cheating and rigging again, but the Trump campaign will likely be ready for that and already have counter measures in place.

Or is it time for a Democrat change of batter? Names like Gavin Newsom, Michelle Obama, and Gretchen Whitmer have been bandied about. Sleepy Joe is on the ropes and another Trump term is unthinkable for Democrats and the bipartisan ruling class. As Trump would say, “Let’s see what happens.”

Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a physician and writer.

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