Last night, the President of the United States shuffled on stage, addressed a crowd, and within 60 seconds was rambling about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.Earlier this year, Joe Biden informed us that MAGA Republicans were all but the scourge of the earth. The media has reminded us every day since. But apparently, President Biden needed to remind us again.He opened his primetime address on Wednesday lamenting the recent, tragic attack on Paul Pelosi. He wasted no time in drawing parallels between that incident and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Never let a good crisis go to waste, right?Then came the punchline: democracy is in peril.Because of Trump and his deranged band of thuggish election deniers, the President declared, violence in America is on the rise. Voter intimidation goes unchecked. And democracy falters.Or so he claims.I personally can not deny that not all Trump fans responded to 45’s defeat with blameless integrity. But to insist incessantly that MAGA Republicans threaten to topple the country they unquestionably love is, at this point, a lazy, hackneyed, ineffective message.Just the same, as midterm races enter the final stretch, it is the only message the President’s party has.Their only hope is to distract from Mr. Biden’s failures. To construct a Republican scapegoat and straw man. SEE ALSO: Political Establishment Staggered Voters Don’t Care About So-Called “Threat to Democracy” The president’s speech was chock-full of reminders that voters should be terrified that we might lose our country if “election deniers” win on election day. “I know there’s a lot at stake in these midterm elections,” he admitted before briefly touching on a few of the issues voters are concerned about–from inflation to crime. “But there’s something else at stake,” he added, predictably. “Democracy itself.”If I had a dollar for every time the left talked about saving democracy… For what must be the umpteenth time, Biden scolded voters for ignoring the so-called threat to American democracy. He insisted that “extreme MAGA Republicans” are attempting to “suppress the right of voters,” “subvert the electoral system,” and “[deny] your right to vote.” He waxed eloquent about the beauty of democracy and warned of “the struggle” for the very soul of America itself.” He made it the central issue of the upcoming election.“In our bones, we know democracy is at risk,” he whispered menacingly at the end of his speech. “But we also know this. It’s within our power, each and every one of us, to preserve our democracy.”All in all, Biden’s address was basically an overlong public service announcement aimed at undecided voters. The point was to scare them into voting against the “anti-democracy” party–even if that means voting for Joe Biden’s party.As I have pointed out many times, the Democrats have no chance of winning in 2022 if the midterms are a referendum on the sitting president. Biden’s first two years in office have been an unmitigated disaster and objective failure. His low approval ratings confirm he is deeply unpopular. According to one poll, 72% of Americans do not want him to run again. Not even Democrats want him to run again. SEE ALSO: Midterm Review: The Left is Intentionally Stuck on Trump But what if Biden-affiliated candidates were not on the ballot this year? What if democracy itself was on the ballot? And what if Republicans were a threat to “the very soul of America”? Democrats might actually have a shot at winning.Biden’s latest speech and the left’s hysteria about democracy, in general, represent a nefarious yet brilliant campaign strategy. So desperate to win, Biden is not only attacking GOP leadership but everyday Americans as well. He divides and maligns the American people and has the audacity to call for unity.“The President is taking the fight straight to We the People,” said Convention of States president Mark Meckler. “Ignore his silver-tongued cries for unity, his clichéd claim that he’s not the president of red states or blue states, but of … ‘oh you know the thing.’ Biden hates his political enemies. He hates us.”Whether or not the president’s tactics will work, remains to be seen. As I wrote earlier this week, voters do not seem all that interested in an abstract threat to democracy. Between inflation, crime, and sexualized education, everyday Americans have a myriad of problems much closer to home to worry about.Eighty-eight percent of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track. Whether they choose to blame the party in power or obscure Trump fans, conspiracy theorists, and election deniers will be the deciding factor next Tuesday.Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.
