According to Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), President Joe Biden is “fit to serve” another term — never mind the lamentably obvious and heart-wrenching cognitive decline on display during the June 27 CNN presidential debate. 

As the oldest man to ever serve as the nation’s commander in chief, there was already substantial worry about Biden’s mental acuity among voters — a concern his gaff-prone and off-the-cuff politicking only exacerbated. However, last month’s debate made hot-mic F-bombs look positively endearing. His inability to string together complete sentences or stay on topic — often confusing unrelated issues and devolving into nonsensical utterances — was a cringeworthy spectacle to behold.

For anyone who has dealt firsthand with a parent or relative suffering from age-related mental decline, it was a difficult thing to watch. No wonder a sizable majority of voters think Biden ought to step aside and let someone more qualified (and winnable) assume the Democratic nomination. 

However, for some politicos, pundits and media personalities, Biden’s obvious liabilities don’t seem to matter. He is the presumptive nominee, and many within the party seemingly feel it’s their obligation to bitterly defend the idea he is “fit to serve” — even if it requires White House aides to carry out a real-life version of Weekend at Bernie’s in the Oval Office 

Given the debate performance and increasingly damning leaks from party insiders, Biden’s ability to endure the next four months — let alone the next four years — would seem like a reasonable topic of discussion going into the national convention. And yet, for some key Democratic members, toeing the party line is apparently more important than actually winning the White House in November. 

Horsford, for example, has vigorously defended Biden against doubtful Democrats. In a recent appearance on CNN, he even argued that the voters have already demonstrated great confidence in the octogenarian, pointing out that “14 million Americans have already voted for him, including those in my state of Nevada.” 

Of course, this line of reasoning is almost comically nonsensical, given the fact that Democratic voters were presented with virtually no alternatives. The one member of Congress who decided to challenge the president in the primary didn’t even file to run in the Silver State, and the smattering of lesser-known national challengers either suffered from abysmally low name recognition or ran as independents. 

Saying that millions of Democratic voters chose Biden is like saying the rubber-stamp Chinese parliament unanimously chose Xi Jinping for re-election last year — sure, it’s technically true, but only because his name was the only one on the ballot.  

With the Nevada delegation clearly split on the issue, Horsford wasn’t the only one to defend Biden’s position as the party’s nominee. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) has said she is “proud to stand with Joe Biden,” joining prominent high-ranking Democrats from other states in defending the re-election bid of the current commander in chief. 

The reason for such continued loyalty to an obviously flawed candidate is eerily similar to the reason once-principled conservatives have fallen in line with the Trumpian trajectory of the GOP: Retaliation from the party’s elites can be a swift and terrifying consequence for speaking one’s mind. 

“I would be crucified by them if I spoke out of line,” explained one Democratic state party chair to NBC News. “I know when you get out of line they all of a sudden have a shift of priorities and your races, your state is no longer on the map.” 

To a certain extent, party power brokers have long terrorized their own members in an effort to corral otherwise rebellious voices within their ranks — leading to the sort of partisan groupthink that currently dominates our political landscape. The Trumpian wing of the GOP, for example, has been brutally effective in ensuring such political homogeneity. With state parties run by Trump allies and family members taking the reins nationally, the GOP has all but expelled and excommunicated anyone who fails to demonstrate the proper amount of fealty to the party’s chosen standard bearer. 

That GOP primary voters were so married to the new Trumpian normal in their own party, however, should have been a godsend to Democrats hungry for another presidential victory lap in November. After all, despite leading in most polls, it’s not as if America is overly enthusiastic about a candidate who roused a rabble to ransack the Capitol building, dabbled in overtly authoritarian rhetoric, flirted with xenophobic political factions and has been convicted of 34 felonies.

Given the degree to which Democrats have insisted the next election is a literal vote about the future of our democracy, one would think more party members would find the courage to speak out against their own party nominating a candidate who has struggled endlessly to remain competitive against such an unelectable opponent. 

However, thanks to the stubbornness of leadership within both major political parties, such courage is well beyond what most politicians are willing to muster. Such intraparty dynamics have led us to the lamentable political reality of a Trump vs. Biden rematch, but it’s also raised a far graver concern for the future of our republic: How can we expect our “leaders” to courageously tackle the broader challenges facing America when they aren’t even willing to speak honestly about the failings of their own party?

Those who slavishly assert the emperor’s clothes are beautiful and Biden is “fit for office” are engaged in an embarrassing display of cultish partisan fealty — matched only by the cowardice of Republicans who refused to speak out against their own party’s descent into madness.

Michael Schaus is a communications and branding expert based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and founder of Schaus Creative LLC — an agency dedicated to helping organizations, businesses and activists tell their story and motivate change. He has more than a decade of experience in public affairs commentary, having worked as a news director, columnist, political humorist, and most recently as the director of communications for a public policy think tank. Follow him at SchausCreative.com or on X at @schausmichael.