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Donald Trump is the monster hiding under the bed. 

Because Democrats can’t think of much good to say about Joe Biden, they are casting the midterm elections as a referendum …not on their president, but instead, on Donald Trump. Who can blame them?

With eight weeks to go, President Joe Biden’s approval ratings, while slightly improved, are still dismal. In fact, they are about where Trump’s were at this point in his presidency. Since Biden has delivered high inflation, soaring crime, a collapsed border and a looming recession, he cannot campaign for Democrats on his record. As a result, has pivoted to attacking Trump and the tens of millions he calls "MAGA Republicans." 

Biden calls this confrontation a "battle for the soul of this nation."  

BIDEN’S MAGA-BASHING IS TURNING OFF CENTRIST HOUSE REPUBLICANS

He calls Trump (and his supporters) extreme, and a threat to Democracy. He imbues the former president not only with evil intentions but immense super powers. 

It’s worth noting that despite the demagoguery, Biden rightfully occupies the Oval Office, elections are proceeding apace and, importantly, Republican voters have moved on from Trump. In a recent Pew survey, only 39% of likely GOP voters say Trump should run for president in 2024.

In fact, Trump’s standing within the GOP has been steadily declining, as voters got fed up with his wrong-headed fixation on the 2020 election, and self-aggrandizement. His approval from Republicans was slipping until the Mar-a-Lago raid, which fired up his base and put him back on center stage. Perhaps that was the point.

HILLARY CLINTON PRAISES BIDEN'S 'MAGA REPUBLICANS' SPEECH AS ‘IMPORTANT SERVICE’ TO COUNTRY

Democrats cheer on Biden’s battle, which is not being waged against the moral decline of our nation -- against the rise in lawlessness, vanishing work ethic or the shirking of personal responsibility. It is not a battle against the ugly political divides and lost tolerance that have undermined our civility.

Instead, the battle for the soul of the nation is 100% aimed at obliterating former President Donald J. Trump, and eliminating his every policy.

Ironically, it is the waging of that war that has undermined Biden’s presidency. Trump’s policies, simply stated, were successful. Biden’s are not.

Biden in Pennsylvania

President Biden will speak in Philadelphia on Thursday about the "attack" on democracy from "MAGA Republicans."  (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Columnist David Ignatius, writing in the Washington Post, is so excited about Biden’s anti-Trump fervor that he has proclaimed it his legacy: "He is the person who moved decisively to stop Donald Trump." 

BIDEN TAKES AIM AGAIN AT 'MAGA REPUBLICANS' IN PENNSYLVANIA: 'THIS IS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT PARTY'

Biden, Ignatius explains, not only stopped Trump at the ballot box, but also "through his administration’s steady, unblinking application of the rule of law."

That is a startling claim. The Biden White House has broken more laws than I can count. The Supreme Court has batted down White House efforts to rescind President Trump’s Remain in Mexico provision, its mandate requiring that large companies demand worker vaccinations, its effort to regulate greenhouse emissions via the EPA and a lower court judge struck down Biden’s moratorium on oil and gas leasing.

Most likely, the courts will rule Biden’s student loan handout is unlawful, as well.

But, of course, what really excites Ignatius is Biden’s persistent prosecution of Donald Trump. The hounding of the former president culminated in the recent raid of his residence at Mar-a-Lago, which appeared to many a theatrical and unnecessary political caper. 

It also appears a distinctly unsteady application of the law. Any fair-minded observer will conclude that the rules that allowed Hillary Clinton to store her personal emails, which included classified information, on a secret server in her home, constructed for the sole purpose of avoiding public scrutiny, and that let her illegally destroy communication devices, will agree that charging Trump for possession of classified documents would be a grossly unequal application of justice. 

And, we haven’t even gotten to the non-investigation into Hunter Biden’s shady business deals with companies linked to the Chinese Communist Party and other questionable activities in Ukraine and Russia. Or Joe Biden’s involvement with those sketchy affairs. 

BIDEN SAYS ‘MAGA REPUBLICANS’ THREATEN DEMOCRACY AS HE AND DEMS CRANK UP ANTI-TRUMP RHETORIC AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

Surely a steady application of the rule of law would not allow FBI agent Timothy Thibault to shut down the investigation into Hunter’s nefarious laptop. A steady application of the rule of law would not have whistleblowers lining up to report political bias within the FBI – bias which has led to ongoing probes of former President Trump. 

For Ignatius and other Democrats, nothing tops defeating Trump, even if it means permanently scarring and dividing the nation. That is Ignatius’ excuse for Biden’s abusive speech in Philadelphia, in which he excoriated Trump supporters. 

President Biden speaking during an anti-MAGA speech in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 01: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a primetime speech at Independence National Historical Park September 1, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. President Biden spoke on "the continued battle for the Soul of the Nation."  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) ( Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Post columnist explains that ignoring Trump didn’t work as Biden hoped it would, so the president had to turn vicious. Hilariously, Ignatius recalls that in Biden’s inaugural speech "he used the word "unity" eight times… And he seemed to understand his place in the American story, replacing Trump’s "carnage" with something decent."

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That includes, apparently, going after Trump and his followers, insulting tens of millions as "quasi-fascists."  

Ignatius is quite cheered that Biden’s polling has improved, but he doesn’t explain why Biden’s approval was so lousy in the first place.

Biden is a failed president exactly because he made it his mission to undo everything that Trump did. On the issues voters care most about, Trump had the right policies. Policies that worked.   

Republicans are playing defense and allowing Democrats to win with this campaign against Donald Trump. Despite nearly 70% of the country believing we’re on the wrong track, Democrats’ prospects have improved. 

Biden said in Philadelphia that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans "represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic."

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Republicans need to remind voters what it is that Biden considers "extreme." That Biden thinks a secure border, safe streets, affordable energy, stable prices, a growing economy, states’ rights and parental involvement in our children’s education are "extreme" ideas. They need to tell voters that the so-called MAGA policies transcend Donald Trump, and constitute the bedrock of sensible ideas that work for America.

They need to make the midterms a referendum on Joe Biden. That’s an easy win.

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