If Biden wants to win in 2024 this is the surprising strategy he'll use

Joe Biden is frantically cleaning house.

No, he’s not firing any of the incompetent ideologues in his cabinet. Biden hasn’t dismissed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, a once-respected economist who now shills full-time for her boss’ out-of-control spending, though he should have. Yellen was blindsided by "transitory" inflation and also by obvious signs our banks were in trouble. Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Banks failed on her watch; Americans will pay the price in higher inflation (because the Fed now has one hand tied behind its back) and slower growth for longer. Bravo, Yellen.

Transportation Czar Pete Buttigieg prioritizes fake emergencies (not enough white construction workers) over real ones like the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, but still has his job. As does Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Secretary, who told Congress our border was secure when it wasn’t and has allowed 6 million people to enter our country illegally. 

Remarkably, Jennifer Granholm is still Energy Secretary, even though she recently praised China, worst polluter on the planet, for their energy policies and encouraged the U.S. to "learn from" Beijing. Yes, we should study how to build coal-fired power plants as fast as humanly possible. 

Antony Blinken remains Secretary of State, even as we watch China take the reins of Middle Eastern diplomacy, thanks to the White House ignoring Trump’s ground-breaking Abraham Accords.  

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But I digress. The real story today is not the floundering of White House apparatchiks (did I mention Merrick Garland? Lloyd Austin? Kamala Harris?) but rather Joe Biden’s efforts to rewrite the history of the past two years. Even dotty Uncle Joe is aware that he is not popular and that only 22% of the country wants him to run for a second term. 

Biden knows he has work to do, and said so the other day when asked about announcing his candidacy. Biden told ABC News’ David Muir, "my intention … has been from the beginning to run, but there’s too many other things I have to finish in the near-term before I start a  campaign."   

What are those "other things"? First, he has to convince Americans that he is not to blame for soaring crime in our blue cities, which has emerged as a number one concern for voters.  

Second, Biden has to persuade Americans there is no crisis at the border and if they disagree, prove he is not responsible. 

Third, he must show Americans that he has a plan to beat inflation and that his "economic plan is working", as he frequently boasts. Fourth, he must signal that he is a centrist, as he claimed in 2020, despite his all-in push for "equity", support of woke causes, constant attacks on business and the wealthy and costly war on fossil fuels. When attacked for being too liberal, Biden bristles, claiming, "I'm not Bernie Sanders. I'm not a socialist. I'm a mainstream Democrat." 

Finally, critically, he must prove that he’s not too old to run again.

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These are enormous challenges. Reducing rampant crime and closing our border will enrage progressives whose votes he’ll need in 2024. He will never convince Americans their grocery bills are declining when they’re actually rising and, especially after the recent bank failures and still-high inflation reports, convincing Americans his economic plan is on track would take a magician.  With stock and bond markets down sharply and home prices swooning, Americans are poorer, not richer, and real incomes are down, not up.

Proving he’s not Bernie without alienating key support groups is tough. His latest feint in that direction was approving Chevron’s Willow oil project in Alaska, which infuriated climate zealots who would rather we just walk to work. 

Finally, hiding his evident and increasing infirmities will be impossible.

The alternative? Lie about everything, often and emphatically, and hope people will believe you. That is the road Joe Biden is taking.

On crime, his new pitch is that "MAGA Republicans are calling for defunding the police department…"

Seriously, the GOP is behind the call to give cops less money and less support? I don’t think so,

Joe. I remember when you yourself said, "Yes, absolutely," when asked if funding for cops could be redirected. It is Democrats across the nation who called to pull money from police after the murder of George Floyd, not Republicans.

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Yes, the GOP will vote against your absurd kitchen-sink $6.8 trillion budget which contains more funding for cops, because they reject your irresponsible spending, not because they reject cops.  

Biden also lies about inflation. Earlier this year, Biden claimed "Wages are up, and they’re growing faster than inflation." Even CNN fact-checkers cried foul, writing, "real average weekly earnings (which factors in the number of hours people worked) declined 3.1%" in 2022. The Dallas Fed has said the hit to middle-class incomes last year was the worst in 25 years. 

When celebrating the jump in January jobs, Biden said he took no credit for inflation, saying "Because it was already there when I got here, man." Reality? Inflation was 1.4% when Biden took office.

As to veering towards the political middle and reaching across the aisle, a promise made by campaigner Joe, his constant attacks on "extreme MAGA" Republicans show his true stripes. He blames his predecessor Donald Trump for nearly every mishap, including the Ohio trail disaster and the recent bank failures. And he shamelessly lies to Americans about Republicans’ plans to do away with Social Security. 

As to Biden’s age and mental acuity? His wife Jill claims he’s able to do things that would test a younger man. "How many 30-year-olds could travel to Poland, get on the train, go nine more hours, go to Ukraine, meet with President Zelensky?" she asked an interviewer.  My answer: all 30-year-olds.

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Joe says: watch me. Voters are doing just that, and 68% think Joe is too old to run again. 

It is abhorrent that an American president would build his campaign platform around lies. But, with the cascading failures of this president, that’s all he’s got.

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