The June 27 CNN debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was already expected to be a low point in the history of our republic and the choices it allows itself to have in government, and if anything, it exceeded expectations.
Leading up to this debate, Republicans seemed so eager to talk down expectations that they almost seemed scared of Joe, like he was going to stage the same comeback he did at the State of the Union speech, cause he was on COCAINE! You’ve heard of Cocaine Bear? This is Cocaine Biden!
If Joe had been coked up, he might have been better off.
For the first time, I actually saw what all the Biden-haters have been seeing in him: Joe looked scared, and lost, and OLD. Meanwhile, Trump was doing his usual rambling, evading, bragging Gish Gallop, but at least he seemed to know where he was, which is more than you could say for him in the last few weeks. As many people pointed out, shutting off the other candidate’s mic was assumed to kill Trump’s main weapon, but it actually served to his advantage by allowing him to focus, and made it that much harder for Biden to counter him, when he actually did.
And after the fact I saw a whole bunch of commentators like Keith Olbermann say that the CNN anchors did not challenge Trump on his various lies and evasions about January 6 in particular, but the thing is, it is not the job of reporters to hold Biden’s hand – or the voter’s hand – and point out the stuff that everyone knows isn’t true. Saying “that’s not true”, like Kaitlin Collins did in rump’s townhall lovefest, isn’t enough. What matters in a debate is FIGHTING BACK, and fighting back twice as hard. Imagine if Joe had been just as forceful and direct as Trump was, but with facts on his side. Of course the facts were on his side anyway, but in a TV debate, everything is optics. In this particular case, facts don’t matter. Certainly that was Trump’s strategy. What you need to do is win the day, and as we have seen with the Republican Party, far too many people who know better are willing to meekly surrender and march behind a moronic, dick-swinging bully who shits on everything he touches, as long as it seems like he’s winning. And right now, it seems like Trump’s winning.
And Biden’s performance was the sort of thing that has caused people like Bill Maher to say that Joe shouldn’t be running, and it’s “selfish” of him to hold on when he could die any day. For one thing, there’s a big difference between the President and Ruth Bader Ginsburg: If the president dies, or has to retire, there’s already a replacement set to go. In this case, that replacement is Kamala Harris.
NOW do you see why Joe is still running?
Because if you tell most Americans the choice (if they can’t stand Trump) is either Biden or Harris, most Americans would prefer Biden, probably including a majority of Democrats. After all, if Democrats had preferred her in the 2020 primaries, she would probably be president now.
But that means the issue is both Biden and Harris. You would think that with all the advantages of incumbency, which Trump no longer has, that Democrats would be able to put off the issue of whether they wish to be led by Harris, and if not her, whom, until after they win in 2024, but now more and more Democrats are starting to wonder.
The Telegraph: “White House aides have spent the last three weeks claiming that any stories about the US president’s age and mental capacity were manipulated “cheapfakes” or outright lies. But those at home watching the two men on stage tonight were left with an unavoidable conclusion: Mr Biden struggled to hold his own, and Donald Trump wiped the floor with him.” Reuters, quoting “Top Biden Donor Who Did Not Wish To Be Named”: “There is no way to spin this. His performance was disqualifying.” Analyst Amy Walter: “To be sure, Trump did not ‘win’ this debate as much as Biden lost it. Trump lobbed multiple falsehoods and lies. He failed to make a positive case for his second term, spending more time litigating Biden’s failures. But, Trump is leading in the polls and doesn’t need a ‘rest’ in the way Biden does.” USA Today: “That’s a good man. He loves his country. He’s doing the best that he can,” said Van Jones, a Democratic political analyst for CNN. “But he had a test to meet tonight to restore confidence in the country and of the base, and he failed to do that.” Jones added: “We’re still far from our convention. And there is time for this party to figure out a different way forward if he will allow us to do that.”
Jones was not the only person to say that. And indeed, the Democratic National Convention is not until mid-August. But what are we saying? Are we saying that a party convention isn’t the de facto coronation of the guy who’s got all the organizational bigwigs on his side? Especially since he’s the president?
People say that this election, and this debate in particular, go to show us how screwed this country is, but if the United States is to truly be a representative republic, it has to be led by the people who matter the most: Really old white guys who have no clue what they’re doing.
Are we going to say that Democrats aren’t going to do what they’re “supposed” to, that they’re going to do what they did before the 1980s, and actually get people on the floor to put younger, newer leaders forward and let the community decide, on the basis of who the best choice really is???
What kind of Commie un-American idea is that?!?