Staff Reports
President Joe Biden is poised to take a permanent vacation from the Washington grind. As he prepares to pack up his office for good, speculation looms over who will occupy the executive office next year. Despite Biden’s departure, one thing is certain: his exit won’t be as breezy as his last trip out of public life. This time around, Biden can expect a rigorous inspection of his luggage, especially given his previous propensity for misplacing classified documents.
The Washington Examiner is digging into the chaotic nature of presidential transitions, noting that swapping power between rivals can be a tricky endeavor. In 2025, the focus won’t just be on who walks into the Oval Office, but also on who’s leaving it. Given Biden’s latest shenanigans with classified documents — and yes, those mishaps have followed him like a bad cold — there’s an increased interest in just how thorough the incoming administration will be in checking for any last-minute classified goodies left behind.
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While critics argue President Biden’s management of classified material while he was vice president leaves much to be desired, it’s notable that his own attempts at transitioning records have gone largely unnoticed. Particularly amusing is the Presidential Records Transition Task Force he created, which is likely fulfilling its primary function of serving as a hefty piece of bureaucratic wallpaper. The team, populated with former Obama administration staffers, appears about as invested in a smooth transition as a cat in a bathtub.
In the waning days of his administration, it seems Biden’s task force is facing some heat as not even the experts he consulted seem particularly aware of its existence. After all, wouldn’t you expect a campaign to tout their efforts in cleaning up a record of careless document handling? The irony is rich: Biden risks walking out of the White House with classified material intact, while a re-elected Donald Trump is waiting in the wings, eager to take a victory lap and point out that he was actually doing the right thing by contesting those very issues.
As for the campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris finds herself on shaky footing in critical battlegrounds. With Election Day looming, her efforts to solidify support in Detroit seem to echo the doomed approach of Hillary Clinton back in 2016: take it for granted and cede territory to a stronger opponent. Harris is clearly struggling with a disengaged base, and her strategy to capture urban voters is garnering warnings from local Detroit leaders that her campaign isn’t quite hitting the mark.
Amid her strategic missteps, Harris is attempting to charm big names in the Detroit area, but members of smaller communities feel overlooked. The concern is palpable: without a solid game plan that resonates with local voters, she risks forfeiting a state that many Democrats assume is in the bag. Adding to the conundrum is her campaign messaging, which primarily revolves around one-point agendas: “I’m not Trump!” That line, it turns out, doesn’t have the same punch it once did, leaving observers to wonder whether the plan to ride coattails is sustainable.
As the political landscape continues to evolve, it’s clear: the road ahead is rocky for both Biden’s exit and Harris’s campaign. Democrats are starting to come to terms with the possibility that, like those comedic attempts to steer a large ship through tricky waters, they may find their plans running aground under the weight of their own missteps. The outcome on Election Day promises to be anything but boring as these narratives unfold, with both candidates scrambling to shore up their bases while the clock ticks down.
