By way of disclosure before I write this, Biden is in the name of my avatar. You may take that as a warning of bias or what NPR and Slate does before every interview or article.
Let’s be honest. We cannot unsee what we saw last week. And it even wasn’t the way he struggled to speak and find the right words, it was the deer in the headlights look he made while Trump was speaking. My partner watching with me was alarmed that CNN was doing the split screen for no good reason. Yes. It was really bad and we can’t move forward without acknowledging that truth. Yes, also, Trump was actually worse. If you turned off the sound and ran close captioning Biden mostly made sense, while Trump sounded like he was on a three day meth jag and his brain went to sleep on day two. Black jobs? What are these black jobs he speaks of? If Biden weren’t so out of it that night he would have pounced. “Black jobs, Donald? You mean like President of the United States? I happen to know a black man who held that job. You might remember him.”
Unfortunately, that is not the Biden we got and we are left to wonder if this really was a bad night because he was sick, overworked and exhausted, or whether he has reached a wall where his cognitive skills are crumbling and crumbling fast. Hell, I can’t remember the last time I saw him on a bicycle. Are his aides really a cabal seeking to hide his infirmities from the public who foolishly thought they could fill him with enough talking points to put him out in public, or are they well meaning assistants who saw a person more than capable of debating Trump only to be as shocked as the rest of us? I do not know the answer to this question and I am taking with a large grain of salt all these anonymice from his administration allegedly saying this is an ongoing problem.
But here is the thing. I am a criminal defense litigator in my sixties. One thing I have learned is that I do not handle colds or the flu as well as I used to. Once, I could shrug it off with Nyquil at night and Dayquil in the morning with a shot chaser and some Certs in case anyone asked. Not anymore. I did a trial where I was so sick I should not have been in court. But my client was in jail and who knows when we would get another chance with so many other cases waiting to take his place. I had to plow ahead. My voice was raspy, my eyes bloodshot and watery. I was constantly reaching for tissues. I missed important cross exam questions, failed to catch witnesses lying and made what I think was one of my worst closing arguments ever, short of “Please, please let him go.”
The jury acquitted. They sure as hell didn’t acquit because of my skills. I was borderline malpractice, because I was so sick. They acquitted because the looked at the evidence and realized, like I did, he was innocent.
And this is the important thing. We make so much of how politicians appear and sound that they could spew absolute gibberish and we would call them statesmen if they made the triple jump and stuck the landing. Juries, not so much. A bad client could always con one or two people, but something about twelve people took away their persuasive powers. l believe the American people can and will be like jurors and look at the facts in front of them. Do they want a deranged narcissist backed by white supremacist, religious zealots and women hating incels, or the the guy that pulled us out of the pandemic and created the most successful economy since post WWII? Yes, people watch a lot of TV, but they also keep a close eye on their wallet.
First thing. Democratic leaders and donors need to shut up about replacing Joe Biden. They can voice these opinions in conference calls and meetings, but they need to step away from the mike, get off the phone with their favorite media access and focus on what happened and how to resolve it. Even among the most media addicted GOP reps do you see them rushing to a microphone whenever Trump slips? They know that if they want to win they get in line and keep their concerns in house. Even if they didn’t fear his mob followers, that is what they would do.
Which leads me to my final point.
Unlike being caught on the debate stage having sex with a dead woman or live boy, his misstep is not an automatic disqualifier. It wasn’t a bad night, it was an awful night. But if it was just a one off then he has 4 months to show otherwise; and if he is up for the task he can, and I personally hope he does. If he can defeat the pearl clutchers in his own party then he can defeat Trump.
If, on the other hand, he has lost it, then the Democratic Party has at least one month to rally around Harris, agree on her running mate, and support Biden until the bell has rung. Then put Harris on the top of the ticket, too late for the nattering nabobs of negativity to create a plan for tearing her apart. There should be no contested convention, no chance for social climbers to take over the party, no chance for the media to talk about Democrats in chaos. None of that. Just a consensus to ride with Biden until we can’t and then ride with Harris.
Biden says he is in it to win it and wants to fight. I don’t know if he is up for it or not, but I do know this.
Let him fight.