The attacks by Democrats on President Joe Biden for the ugly Afghanistan exit are strategically foolish. Matthew Dowd hits the nail on the head.
Matthew Dowd is right. Democrats attack on Biden uncalled for
Over the last several days, it is clear that Democrats were flying off the wheel. Most seem to be attacking President Joe Biden‘s Afghanistan messy withdrawal with abandon. While Republicans are attacking him as well, I expected their attack to be much sharper.
But then again, it would do Democrats well to remember the phrase, “Never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.” It’s apropos.
I knew that the media would hyperventilate on the withdrawal. Worse, I knew that it would mean less coverage on what needs to be covered. And Matthew Dowd hit the nail on the head. He qualifies two specific aspects of Democrats’ behavior.
“The Democrats, time and time again,” Dowd said. “keep acting as if they are going to play by the old rules of we are going to be all nice to each other. … And we are going to feel guilty of stuff. And we are going to respond with a committee. … Democrats, we have noticed every single time there is some pushback on some crisis, some situation, not all Democrats, many Democrats just fold.”
He is specifically speaking about Democrats wanting Biden to fall on his sword and beg for forgiveness because of the messy start of the Afghanistan withdrawal. He further said, and I agree, that it is time for them to be vociferously standing by the President.
But he hits another important point.
“We are focusing on this issue,” Dowd said., “We are in the process of losing our Democracy at home. … It is pretty clear. Republicans feel zero shame on anything. Democrats feel it way too quickly and back off way too quickly.”
This week I have been covering this topic on Politics Done Right and in several blogs. I wrote two blogs that expanded on this issue. The first “Are we blowing it? We’ve no control of Afghanistan. But this is on COVID, Democracy, Infrastructure?” and the second “I feel for Afghanistan, but I wish the same concern for Afghans applied to the oppressed in America.” And it was great seeing National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan dispel the silly notion that leaving Afghanistan will increase America’s security risk.
If Democrats are to win, we cannot fall into the trap. We cannot be our worse enemy. We must keep our eyes on the ball.