For those of us who saw the debate, when Biden lost his train of thought, spaced out, couldn’t say anything, and then said, “We beat Medicare” — that was a tragedy. Ever since, the rec list has been crammed with as many Emperor’s New Clothes diaries as it can fit- short little screeds about how sure each author is that Biden is fit to serve.
I know that “You don’t change horses mid-race” and all that, but we do have a problem, and to act like we don’t seems to be the specialty of Daily Kos at the moment. Yeah, the rest of the sites and media are freaking out. There is good reason for that. This is not Howard Dean’s yell. This is not some massive unfair targeting. This is people reacting to very clear cognitive issues with the sitting president. To act like that didn’t happen is beneath honest dialogue. To act like it was “just a bad moment” is dishonest.
Millions of Americans right now, people who always vote for Democrats, are in a state of despair because of what’s happening. Our candidate didn’t just look weak- he proved that the one constant criticism about him for years is grounded in truth. It doesn’t matter that Trump is almost as old. It doesn’t matter that Biden has accomplished more items on the progressive agenda than any other president. What matters is that he appeared senile and feeble when America tuned in. That is the image that is stuck in people’s heads.
But sure, let’s keep pretending that everything’s fine...