Published on July 6, 2024, 12:41 am

In recent times, the Democrats have faced in-house strife regarding President Joe Biden’s waning mental acuity and plummeting approval ratings. One could argue that this state of affairs did not emerge out of necessity. The Democrats, long lauded as champions of democracy by mainstream media, surprisingly offered scant resistance or significant primary challenges to Biden’s candidacy.

The specter of Ted Kennedy’s unsuccessful challenge to President Carter in 1980 may still haunt the Democratic party. After all, it’s hard to ignore the striking parallels between Carter and Biden on fronts such as their handling of international diplomacy and domestic levels of inflation.

Turning attention to the aftermath of a highly criticized debate performance by Biden, Katty Kay – a British journalist regularly featured on Biden’s favored news program ‘Morning Joe’ – posted an enlightening tweet: she pondered over what Dean Philips was thinking that day. Philips had expressed his frustration with his inability to gain traction in the public sphere or in primaries due to what he saw as an incumbent-dictated electoral process.

Indeed, Rep. Phillips whose main campaign thrust was challenging Biden’s cognitive decline was greately hindered by both incumbent-influence and press partners favouring incumbents. While Republicans led five debates without Trump, Democrats did not spearhead a single one . It caused outrage among the masses when democratic committees peremptorily refused Phillips’ inclusion in their ballots.

Phillips voiced his concerns loud and clear: How could Democrats purport to fight for democracy while removing him from ballots in states like Florida and North Carolina? He questioned their assertion of advocacy for free speech, freedom and democracy if they wouldn’t even acquiesce to a single debate scenario.

Following these grievances expressed by Phillips, mainstream news networks appeared equally wary about organising democratic debates. In an interview with Michael Steele on ‘The Weekend’, this sentiment was rehashed with directness: Steele challenged Phillips’ motives behind stirring up contention within established party lines, especially considering that the party had already chosen Biden in the 2020 election over alternatives like Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders.

Unfortunately, Phillips’ campaign undertakings were significantly thwarted, with ABC completely sidestepping any mention of his endeavour the day he announced his run. Even when Phillips secured a place on the ballot in New Hampshire amidst opposition from Biden’s Democratic machinery which refused to let New Hampshire host the first primary of 2024 due to racial imbalance concerns, media coverage remained scant.

Post-election, even as mainstream morning shows on ABC, CBS and NBC significantly overlooked Phillips despite him pulling in 20% of votes – seen mostly as a protest against either Biden’s failings or party mismanagement – focus was rather shifted to Biden’s campaign strategies and potential influence over Trump.

This situation marks another instance wherein media outlets, despite their proclamation as ‘the lifeblood of democracy’, have turned a blind eye to real news, trusted news originating from a differing perspective. An exploration into how major players feel about being dismissed as ‘wasted votes’ by reporters who ignored such campaigns for months could offer valuable insights into unaddressed challenges facing this system – all served through a Christian Worldview.