Joe Biden's Supermarket Scanner Moment

In 1991, Operation Desert Storm was considered a rousing success as coalition forces led by the United States liberated Kuwait and marched to the outskirts of Baghdad, trouncing Saddam Hussein’s notorious and much-lauded Republican Guard in the process. The multi-national lead-up to the Iraqi invasion was called Operation Desert Shield, and it was so effective that it only took 100 hours of actual combat to win the First Gulf War.

Heroes of that conflict included Gen. Colin Powell, who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the United States Central Command. However, even more popular than Powell and “Stormin’ Norman” was President George H.W. Bush, who used his vast foreign policy experience and deep political connections to forge the largest military coalition since World War II.

In fact, polls taken shortly after Operation Desert Storm showed President Bush with approval ratings above 80%. And yet, the following year he somehow lost his re-election bid to Democratic challenger, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.

So, what caused such a dramatic electoral turnaround in such a short period of time? Most historians will blame a downturn in the economy, a trend that Clinton’s campaign strategist James Carville seized upon with his classic “It’s the economy, stupid” tagline. Others will fault the third-party candidacy of businessman Ross Perot, who garnered almost 20 million votes – many of them at President Bush’s expense – but failed to win a single electoral vote. And then there was Bush’s broken “Read my lips. No new taxes.” promise that came back to bite him.

However, I have a fourth theory that, when combined with the first three probable causes, resulted in Bush 41 going down to defeat.

It happened during a routine campaign appearance at a grocer’s convention in Orlando in February 1992. President Bush was reportedly amazed and had a “look of wonder” on his face as he watched a demonstration of a model checkout counter that included a barcode scanner. Since barcode scanners had already been in use for 16 years, a reporter for the New York Times (who wasn’t even there) was able to take a two-paragraph pool report filed by a journalist from the Houston Chronicle and turn it into a front-page story.

Once it hit the newsstands, the story was subsequently picked up by major media outlets across the country as well as the Clinton campaign, portraying President Bush as being socially elite and hopelessly out of touch with average Americans.

Well, last week, President Joe Biden had his own “supermarket scanner” moment and it may prove to be a pivotal turning point in the 2024 campaign.

In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Biden told – according to the New York Post – 15 lies in just 17 minutes… and some of them were real whoppers. First, he claimed that inflation was at 9% when he took office (actually it was only 1.4%). Next, he refuted poll numbers showing former President Trump with a commanding lead on economic issues in the most critical swing states, saying that “The polling data has been wrong all along.”

But Sleepy, Creepy, Sleazy Joe saved his best and biggest falsehood for last. When pushed about the high price of groceries caused by spiraling inflation, Biden responded, “They have the money to spend.”

Really, Joe? At a time when, according to Bankrate, 76% of adults making less than $50,000 a year are living from paycheck to paycheck, Biden’s comments made him look silly, cynical, and sarcastic. Most of all, his caustic words portrayed him as being either uncaring or hopelessly out of touch – just like George H.W. Bush in 1992 – and we all know how that election turned out.

To quote Bill Clinton, “I feel your pain” Joe, but I still predict you’re going down – and down hard – this November.