The Tribune

With CHARLIE HARPER

A nationally syndicated columnist was writing over the weekend about US President Joe Biden’s sagging prospects, not only for re-election but for getting much of anything done for the rest of his current term. She mentioned in particular Biden’s huge social welfare package, the Build Back Better bill.

“If Biden doesn’t build himself better – and soon – he won’t have to worry because he won’t be back” after 2024, she wrote.

Liberal pundits and Democratic sycophants are publicly worrying now about not only their party’s discouraging outlook but also the President’s obdurate adherence to seemingly outdated concepts of bipartisanship in American politics.

Wrote one: “While Biden persists in sticking with policies that might have succeeded in 1984, with Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill so famously cooperating with one another, that time is long gone. Mitch McConnell understands that the name of the game has been bare-knuckled partisan warfare for 25 years and counting.”

Others are doing what seemed unthinkable just six months ago. They are comparing Biden with Democratic President Jimmy Carter of Georgia, who entered the White House in 1977 and was then dispatched by Reagan four years later in an election that ignited the Republican momentum which persists to this day.

Biden has declared he will run again for re-election in two years. There are doubters, but the fact is for American Presidents, serving only one term equals failure. If, with all the advantages that accrue to the incumbent, s/he cannot manage re-election, then their tenure is seen as weak and unconvincing.  And to admit that you won’t seek re-election makes you an immediate feckless lame duck to whose policy priorities no one should pay much attention.

Look at how Donald Trump has reacted to his own failure to secure a second term. He knows his White House tenure will always be regarded as a “loser’s” presidency if he doesn’t retake the White House in the 2024 general election.

Trump has certainly continued to hint at a renewed bid to return to Washington as President. He hasn’t formally declared his intentions yet, but he certainly relishes his strong grip on the support of Republican voters and the obeisance of elected GOP officials and office-seekers.

There are some Republican office holders who don’t publicly subscribe to the “Big Lie” that an eight million vote defeat was somehow stolen by a sinister collection of fantasy deep-state conspirators. Chris Christie, who won a couple of terms as a Republican governor in deep blue New Jersey and opposed Trump in the 2016 primaries before unsuccessfully seeking a cabinet job under Trump, is one.

Christie, whose successful prosecution of the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner when Christie served as New Jersey Attorney General was likely one of the big reasons he didn’t get a job in Trump’s cabinet, has said: “We can no longer talk about the past and the past elections. No matter where you stand on that issue, it is over. And every minute that we spend talking about 2020, we’re wasting time doing that. We’d better focus on recapturing the House and Senate and take our eyes off the rearview mirror and start looking through the windshield again.” he added.

To his credit, Christie said that shortly after the November 2020 election, and he has stuck to his position.

Once in a while, there are further cracks in the solid wall of support Republican still offer to Trump. Last week, South Dakota senator Mike Rounds said “the election was fair, as fair as we have seen. We simply did not win the election, as Republicans, for the presidency,” Rounds told ABC News. Trump responded by calling Rounds a “jerk” and “ineffective” and vowed “never” to endorse Rounds for re-election. Rounds is not up for re-election for another four years.

But there’s another threat on the horizon for the former President, and this one might be more menacing. There are now reports that Trump is quite angry with his one-time protegee, current Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Whether there’s any fire behind the smoke currently being blown by liberal pundits is unknown, but there are some signs that these two, currently Nos. One and Two in pre-season polls for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, may be increasingly impatient with each other.

A news report over the weekend speculated there may be some substance to rumours that Trump is sore that DeSantis has not ruled out running for President in two years, even if Trump himself runs again. This story is gift-wrapped for the “mainstream” liberal press, since it potentially weakens both Republicans.

According to numerous reports, there is a growing gap between Trump and DeSantis over the COVID-related shutdowns Trump initially ordered in the spring of 2020. Trump, ever focused on his role in the success or failure of others, is reportedly grousing to friends that DeSantis “would be nothing without me”. There is truth in that, as previously little-known DeSantis’ successful run for Florida governor was boosted tremendously by Trump’s endorsement.

The tantalising narrative continues with the alleged involvement of Senate GOP leader McConnell in stimulating this schism in order to bring Trump down and ensure the Republicans recapture the Senate later this year. McConnell, who clearly despises Trump, reportedly feels the former President is at fault for the loss of GOP control of the Senate one year ago. 

Home town favourites

The NFL has a name for virtually everything. Each play-off round now has a distinctive name, as though this confers a special status. Last weekend was the Wild Card Round, with one additional team from each conference participating like last year and allowing the teams in each conference with the best regular season record to rest for the first play-off weekend.

We picked five of the six winners in the Wild Card Round, including homestanding Tampa Bay, Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City and Buffalo, plus visiting San Francisco. None of those games was especially suspenseful on a weekend that has often seen some significant upsets. Our miss was on the Las Vegas Raiders, who disappointed as visitors to Cincinnati. That game was marred by some questionable refereeing, to the extent that the crew officiating the game will not work any additional play-off games this year.

As was the case last week, every one of the home teams in this weekend’s “Divisional Round” is favoured. This makes sense because they have better records this year, but also because the Divisional Round has generally seen fewer upsets than the first play-off round – or, in some years, later rounds. On Saturday, Tennessee is favoured by 3.5 points over visiting Cincinnati. The top-seeded Titans get star running back Derrick Henry back after several weeks away and this, coupled with dominant defensive line play, should enable Tennessee to advance.

Much is being discussed about the distinguished history of play-off games between Green Bay and the San Francisco 49ers, who will play the late game on Saturday. There have indeed been some classics, both recently and decades ago, as both franchises have gaudy play-off histories of postseason success. The top-seeded Packers are favoured by six points, and while they may not win by that much, they should prevail and advance to next weekend’s conference semi-finals. Maybe it will snow. The Packers’ green and gold uniforms always look good against a white snowy background.

Sunday’s games should both be very good. The Rams visit the defending league champion Buccaneers in Tampa, where seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady leads the hosts. No matter whether he wears the uniform of the Patriots or the Bucs, this man wins. If his offensive line holds up, Brady should pick apart the Rams’ sometimes wobbly secondary and prevail once again. The Bucs are three-point picks.

The late Sunday game also offers the prospect of dauntingly cold and possibly snowy weather as the Buffalo Bills visit the defending conference champion Chiefs in Kansas City. The Bills are very fashionable favourites to defy the two-point edge awarded by Las Vegas sports books to the Chiefs and win the game outright. It says here that won’t happen. Kansas City is hitting its stride, and the Chiefs are very tough to beat at home. Their established star quarterback Patrick Mahomes should outshine the Bills’ relative upstart Josh Allen.