Like a Thanksgiving Turkey, Joe Biden was ‘pardoned’ by the midterms

American presidents always smile when they pardon a Thanksgiving Day turkey.

The White House tradition – which may have started with Abraham Lincoln in 1863 – invariably provides an opportunity for the president to chuckle for the cameras before everyone heads off for the holiday break.

But if there was a particularly light-footed jocularity about Joe Biden this week as he pardoned turkeys Chocolate and Chip, which had been brought from North Carolina, it was understandable: the now 80-year-old Biden was setting off for a family gathering in Nantucket after having just witnessed Democrats enjoy a midterm election results not bettered in 20 years.

In seeing off a potential “red wave” and managing to hang onto the Senate, despite his low approval rating, a turbulent economy and historical precedence that says parties that occupy the White House tend to take a pounding in this cycle, the midterms may have also acted as the Democrats’ own pardoning of sorts of the president.

His mood was no doubt helped by last week’s announcement from the Department of Justice that a special prosecutor would oversee two probes into Donald Trump, one into the classified documents recovered from his Florida mansion, and the second into alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election and transition of power.

For sure, there are still real and legitimate questions as to whether Biden ought to be the party’s nominee for the 2024 presidential contest. There are many who think the party should opt for a younger, more vibrant candidate, just as Democrats in the House prepare for life without Nancy Pelosi as their leader.

But as the implications of what the party managed to do on Nov 8 more fully sink in, it seems the now Octogenarian Biden has put to rest some of the doubts about his ability not only to run a convincing campaign, but to win a second term. Especially if his opponent is Trump.

“I don’t know if it persuaded all of the Democrats that Biden is the guy, but it definitely made the case that Biden stays winning,” Christina Greer, professor of political science at Fordham University, tells The Independent.

“I don’t know if it convinced all of his detractors, but he can say ‘I’ve delivered’ and he’s got the best midterm record in modern history.”

Greer says had…