Earlier this week I wrote a diary complaining (sorry, but I have to be honest) about how we Democrats are doing the “old Democratic Party thing” — you know — chaos, panic, infighting and circular firing squads.
I do want to point out, however, that campaign operations are a different thing. Campaigns are a well-oiled machine — strategic and thoughtful. You can be absolutely sure, while panic is going on outside the campaign, inside the Biden campaign there is planning: Planning if they go forward, planning for an organized transition to Vide President Harris if he does not, polling for both of them on a regular basis, etc.
And I realize that all of this makes for an annoying juxtaposition — it makes the campaign look tone deaf while an ever-growing chorus of elected democrats, pundits and more call for the President to leave the race.
Yes, part of the delay is because that momentum is growing, and while I’m certain President Biden knows about it, he’s understandably in “how dare you” mode. Can you blame him after being such a great President?
But there is another reason why this decision might be waiting: Strategically, we don’t want to help Donald Trump, who is about to pick his VP candidate and then have his convention. It makes more sense to wait to end this fracas (especially if it means a change at the top of the ticket) until after Trump makes that pick, so he can’t use it to try and counter that change.
Sometimes, the instant of public attention means everything in a campaign. But more often than not, it’s the planning that means everything.