Cheer up, Republicans. While a red wave may not have washed over U.S. politics on Tuesday, the ultimate outcome could be even better for the GOP. Given the president’s lousy approval ratings and inability to speak coherently, a midterm shellacking on the order of 1994 or 2010 would have triggered an aggressive effort by Democrats to push Mr. Biden off stage before the 2024 elections. Now they may be stuck with him.
Here’s the deal: The comeback kid from Claymont can now argue that his leadership prevented the kind of midterm drubbing frequently suffered by the party of a first-term president. Pollster Mark Penn sees Mr. Biden as one of the night’s big winners. …
Incumbency has its advantages. The president is now in a stronger position to resist retirement and punish those who suggest it. Stories about Biden cognition may have to wait for White House staff memoirs, rather than appearing anonymously and immediately in the Washington Post. He’s ready and raring to run!
[If so, I’ll glumly accept an incremental win over a wipe-out. I’d still have preferred the wipe-out. — Ed]
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