Why a primary challenge would 'prepare Biden' for 'Voldemort' Trump: journalist

03 July 2023

Many liberal and progressive pundits — along with some Never Trump conservatives — have been angrily railing against President Joe Biden's two Democratic presidential primary challengers: anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and new age self-help guru Marianne Williamson. As they see it, RFK, Jr. and Williamson are potentially harmful for Biden's reelection campaign at a time when Democrats need to do everything they can to keep President Donald Trump or another MAGA Republican from winning in 2024.

But Politico's Jack Shafer doesn't see it that way. In Shafer's view, debating a fellow Democrat in a primary would make Biden more competitive — not less — in the general election.

Shafer uses a boxing analogy to make his point, arguing that Biden "needs a tune-up."

"In the middle of the last century," the journalist recalls, "prizefighters who weren't fighting frequently enough to keep sharp would schedule tune-up matches with capable boxers to shake the ring rust out of their form. Their managers wouldn't pick palookas or chumps, but boxers who could challenge their guy in a way that would reveal his weaknesses and indicate what part of his game needed more training."

Arguably, all the debating that Biden did during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary helped make him more effective in the general election. Biden took on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Kamala Harris — now his vice president — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and other aggressive debaters before winning his party's nomination and going up against Trump in two debates.

Shafer notes the "intraparty argument" that a primary challenger can weaken an incumbent president — for example, "Ted Kennedy v. Jimmy Carter" in 1980's Democratic primary or "Pat Buchanan v. George H.W. Bush" in 1992's GOP primary. But Biden, Shafer contends, is a "different case."

"Say what you will about Trump, who just turned 77, but he seems as competent — read that however you wish — as he was in 2016," Shafer writes. "The GOP is largely lining up behind Trump, but at least a growing number of ambitious Republicans are forcing him to run a real primary campaign instead of bowing to him. Just listen to Chris Christie raking Trump."

Progressive author Naomi Klein has warned the "Democratic consultant class" against being so dismissive of RFK, Jr.'s campaign. So has "Real Time" host Bill Maher, who is a Biden supporter and a scathing critic of Trump but featured RFK, Jr. on his show "Club Random" in late June.

Shafer, however, argues that RFK, Jr. and Williamson "aren't the right ring partners to prepare" Biden "for what will be his last electoral contest."

"With a tepid approval rating that puts him near to Donald Trump at his worst," Shafer writes, "Biden needs a primary opponent who can prepare him for the 2024 general election — somebody who can make him prove that he can still run the traps and beat whichever Republican he faces. If Biden can't vanquish a worthy Democrat in primary season, he has no business entering the general.

Jack Shafer's full article for Politico is available at this link.

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