How bad are things for Joe Biden at this point in the election cycle? They are so bad that Politico put no less than five reporters on a story detailing the "full-blown freakout" occurring within the Democratic Party over the president's re-election prospects. 

That's not hyperbole on my part. "Dems in full-blown 'freakout' over Biden" is the headline of the piece.

A pervasive sense of fear has settled in at the highest levels of the Democratic Party over President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects, even among officeholders and strategists who had previously expressed confidence about the coming battle with Donald Trump.

All year, Democrats had been on a joyless and exhausting grind through the 2024 election. But now, nearly five months from the election, anxiety has morphed into palpable trepidation, according to more than a dozen party leaders and operatives. And the gap between what Democrats will say on TV or in print, and what they’ll text their friends, has only grown as worries have surged about Biden’s prospects.

A quick check of the polling average shows that Biden has only led in one of the last eight polls, with the president posting just a single-point advantage according to Quinnipiac. Given the dynamics of the electoral college, which suppose a three to four-point lead would be necessary for Biden to prevail, that's simply not going to cut it.

No Democrat wants to be the one to admit it publicly, though they all know it. 

“You don’t want to be that guy who is on the record saying we’re doomed, or the campaign’s bad or Biden’s making mistakes. Nobody wants to be that guy,” said a Democratic operative in close touch with the White House and granted anonymity to speak freely.

But Biden’s stubbornly poor polling and the stakes of the election “are creating the freakout,” he said.

Let's be honest about what's really got Democrats losing their minds at the moment. It's not just that Biden is lagging in the polls due to his terrible tenure as president. It's that their lawfare gambit appears to be failing. It's not just the possibility of a conviction backfiring that has them needing smelling salts, though. Democrats are facing another outcome that could prove catastrophic.

Several months before this writing, I made the case that no one seemed to be considering what would happen if Trump avoided a conviction in his New York criminal trial. Given the absurdity and weakness of DA Alvin Bragg's case, that is now a distinct possibility despite the far-left judge's best efforts. When the star witness against the defendant admits to grand larceny on the stand, things aren't exactly going well.

READ: The Question No One Is Asking About Donald Trump's New York Criminal Trial

Maybe it's all rigged, but what if it's not? What if there's at least one juror who slipped through and sees the case for what it is? A hung jury is not at all out of the question at this point.

Will that happen? I don't know, but what I do know is that Democrats are starting to feel the pressure of the possibility, and they are cracking under it. Their "pervasive sense of fear" is driven by the fact that their lay-up bounced off the rim. This wasn't supposed to be close. Trump wasn't supposed to be consistently leading Biden. Their lawfare was supposed to be their ace in the hole, with a conviction in every case assured.

If that doesn't work, what else do they have? The other three criminal cases appear to have little shot of happening before the election, and Biden has no record to run on in. That leaves only the desperation heave of replacing the president at the DNC convention, something that would seem impossible unless he voluntarily steps aside. Let's just say Jill Biden will never let that happen. 

Things could change, but as they stand in late May, Democrats have every reason to be experiencing a "full-blown freakout." That Politico, a left-wing publication, is putting an army of reporters on such a story is evidence of just how bad it's gotten.