For Republicans, the past few weeks are like Christmas in July | Opinion

Being a Republican right now is like waking up and realizing every day is Nov. 9, 2016, and you just found out not only did Donald Trump win the presidency, but the GOP also held the Senate and the House. It’s Christmas in July and all our presents are hilariously panicked struggle sessions from Biden supporters and the liberal media playing out across social media and the air waves. But, for ambitious Democrats like Andy Beshear, it’s becoming clear that their view of the post-presidential debate isn’t much different: Biden is barely alive.

No stranger to the discussion of presidential aspirants, Beshear officially entered the chat the week after the debate, first with an interview with Spectrum News followed by a longer interview with CNN. Both times, Beshear used the opportunity to get in a dig and prop himself up: Biden did terribly, Biden is really old, and Beshear thinks he himself has done a pretty great job in Kentucky.

On Spectrum News, Beshear pitched himself as a bipartisan leader who has worked with Republicans and it’s because of that teamwork that we have a booming economy. Lies, lies, and more lies.

Beshear has no business taking credit for pro-growth policies passed by Republican supermajorities who then had to override his vetoes. Not to mention the idea of Beshear having a working relationship with Republicans, which is one of the most laughed at and openly mocked suggestions in Republican circles across the Commonwealth.

Listening to what he said on CNN, you might think he was talking about a family member in their last stages of life. He described people questioning the President’s mental fitness as “showing concern for [him] but also just trying to make sure things are ok.”

Beshear took that welfare check mentality along with other Democratic governors straight to the old folk’s home itself at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue right before Independence Day. Notably, Beshear was absent from the post-meeting press conference in which only three Democratic governors put on a brave face to offer support for the suffering Biden campaign.

None of Beshear’s moves instill confidence or elicit visions of a leader.

Why? Because Beshear’s timeline for a possible Presidential bid just skyrocketed up from a 2027 decision to a 2024, 1-month-out-from-convention decision. Beshear hasn’t had months and years to prepare for this moment. He’s had 72 hours and a few conversations with senior advisors and top donors. Most of what you’re seeing isn’t tested or thought out, it’s just a self-interested person trying to show sympathy for the dying and their loved ones while also wondering what the inheritance looks like.

It’s also because defending Biden isn’t the goal — it’s a necessity or else face the wrath of an incumbent President. For now. The real goal is a spot on the ticket. That means slobbering praise for Kamala Harris, the would-be heir apparent should Biden step aside. In the CNN interview, Beshear made a lame joke about Harris, himself, and Fat Joe (not the President, the rapper) standing on a stage together in support of marijuana while talking about alleged work they did together.

Beshear might want to be president, but he knows he probably can’t outmaneuver the first black woman Vice President in a party filled with diversity-obsessed voters who put more value on race and sex than they do electability.

And that is important to remember. Polling shows Harris is as equally unpopular as Biden and one poll had her losing to Trump by double digits. On a call with major donors and Democrat consultants, one person reportedly said Harris is more threatening to voters “than a dead Joe Biden or a comatose Joe Biden.”

Like I said, Christmas in July.

Republicans stand to benefit from the utter mental collapse both literally and metaphorically of the Democratic Party. But so do Democrats like Andy Beshear, whose ambition is impatiently waiting behind a President on life support.

Jake Cox is the former campaign manager for Senator Rand Paul’s 2022 re-election campaign, Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles’ 2023 gubernatorial primary election campaign, and Treasurer Allison Ball’s 2023 campaign for State Auditor.