by Ben Cohen
In The Art of War, Chinese military general Sun Tzu wrote that “the art of using troops is this: When ten to the enemy's one, surround him; When five times his strength, attack him; If double his strength, divide him”.
In the space of two years, Democrats have gone from being five times the strength of the GOP to only double — if that. After winning the presidency, the Senate and the House in 2020, Democrats have been hit with crises on all fronts; a deadly pandemic, soaring inflation and an energy crisis. They have structural advantages given they still control all branches of government, but the cascading catastrophes have put them on the back foot. The MAGA movement is still alive, the GOP is benefiting from not having the responsibility of governing, and the economy is providing them all the ammunition they need for a comeback. The GOP gets to lob bombs at Democrats all day long without ever having to offer sensible solutions of their own.
Unfortunately for the GOP though, they have made two crucial errors that have completely undone their comeback.
The first error was doubling down on right wing extremism. The conservative stacked Supreme Court rolled back Roe vs Wade and the GOP has continued to provide cover for Donald Trump. This has meant that Americans now believe the right has gone too far and is a genuine threat to democracy.
The result has been a series of stunning electoral successes for the Democrats in a year that should have seen them take heavy losses.
The second error was underestimating Joe Biden.
While much has been made of Biden’s age, alleged frailty, and regular public gaffes, Republicans appear to have vastly miscalculated their opponent’s shrewdness. While conservatives spread insulting memes on Twitter and pound him for the country’s problems he didn’t cause, Biden has taken it all with good grace. He has waited patiently for his moment and is now engaging in a full on counter offensive that has Republicans back foot. As Tzu wrote: “if your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected .”
The supposedly weak and ineffective President has turned out to be anything but. Having reeled the GOP into a false sense of security, he is now hammering them from all angles — firstly by passing groundbreaking legislation on climate, taxes, and the economy, and secondly by publicly separating the MAGA movement from the Republican Party. The latter tactic is proving to be one of the most important elements of Biden’s comeback.
Biden’s recent speech on the danger of MAGA Republicans was a masterful strategic move that will help divide conservatives and make them far easier to beat. He knows that the public has soured on Trumpism, and he knows that the GOP can’t survive without it. So he is denouncing the MAGA movement (and even publicly trolling them) while extending an olive branch to traditional Republicans. The olive branch however, is laced with poison. If Republicans accept it, they lose. If they decline it, they lose too.
Biden has also managed to keep Democrats relatively unified despite the internally warring factions. he has kept the Bernie Sanders left reasonably happy by passing student debt relief and taxing the rich, and he isn’t actively promoting or disavowing the identity politics crowd. Biden has also kept moderates happy by working with the few Republicans still willing to talk, and by not engaging in too much fiery leftist rhetoric. By refusing to cater too much to any one faction in the Democratic Party, Biden has been able to focus on the real enemy: the GOP.
The end result has been a truly stunning political comeback that will stand the Democratic Party in good stead for the midterms in November. As The Banter’s Justin Rosario wrote this week, there is now a decent chance that the Democrats will hold on to both the Senate and the House. If they do, the GOP will descend further into anarchy as it struggles to define its identity. Do they double down on MAGA extremism knowing it leads to electoral disaster, or defy their orange god in the hopes of returning to traditional Republicanism that no longer appeals to their base? This is the type of quandary Sun Tzu would have dreamed of for his enemies.
President Biden’s patience and cunning is paying off and setting up a new era of power for the Democrats. It might be impossible to get rid of the MAGA movement once and for all, but Biden is doing the next best thing and using it to cripple the GOP. “The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent,” wrote Tzu.
And so the doddering, weak old man keeps stacking up victories. Again, and again, and again.
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Our Worst Fears About Trump Have Come True
Yes, Trump really did take nuclear secrets to Mar-a-Lago.
by Bob Cesca
WASHINGTON, DC – There’s nothing quite as boring as hearing about someone’s dreams, so bear with me on this.
My dreams are always relatively mundane. They’re never surreal and I seldom have full-on nightmares. But last night, I had a creepy one. I dreamed that an unseen mad man launched a nuclear missile at a major American city – and I happened to be visiting that city while it happened. I remember the mushroom cloud on the horizon and running from the blast, searching for my car to escape the radiation and destruction. Unlike most dreams, this one stuck. I remember it vividly, as though it really happened – so much so that it continues to haunt me today.
And I know exactly why I had this dream.
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Great article. This is just my personal opinion. but I believe an example of Biden's political skill is his huge win in SC during the 2020 primaries which gave him the momentum to win the nomination. Going into the SC primary Biden was losing badly. Per polling Buttigieg was expected to win SC. Mayor Pete's down to earth campaign speeches appealed to SC democrats. Biden met with Jim Clyburn and everything changed. Suddenly Biden had Clyburn's endorsement and won SC big. I believe Biden promised Clyburn he would select a Kamala as running mate and appoint a black female judge to SCOTUS. Both actions were long overdue. But whatever was discussed in that meeting with Clyburn turned the tide in Biden's favor.
Also, commonly attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte: "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."