Joe Biden addressing the nation on the coronavirus |
Under the cloud of uncertainty
stemming from COVID-19, the primary races are continuing albeit without the
grandeur of big crowd rallies and other forms of interpersonal campaigning. Even
the debate on Sunday between Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President
Joe Biden will take place at CNN’s Washington studio with no live audience to
distract from the candidates’ ability to enunciate their points. #hocopolitics
Biden is clearly the front runner
following a jaw-dropping comeback that has every pundit on earth scratching his
or her head. While Sanders is
mathematically in contention, the landscape looks bleak for the Democratic
Socialist with the upcoming debate the last realistic opportunity to change the
trajectory of the race.
To repeat the sentence Biden uttered
into a hot mic to a cringing President Obama following the signing of the
Affordable Care Act, this is a big fu****g deal. Where we stand now in the primaries and
caucuses, that sentence is apropos for Biden and, of course, Sanders.
How aggressive the now underdog Sanders
will go after Biden in this one-on-one matchup, the first of the primary
season, is unclear. Some Sanders’ supporters along with Trump supporters led by
Donald Trump, Jr. have been pushing the narrative that at a minimum, Biden is no
longer on his game and at the extreme end, he suffers from dementia. They site
Biden’s malapropisms, gaffes, and confusion at times as evidence. It’s sad that
people would use such a personal attack, but in the age of Trump, there are no
longer any rules.
Unquestionably, this debate will
provide the opportunity for Biden to prove the critics wrong. The less frenetic,
more casual setting should be better terrain for Biden. However, he is still
prone to mistakes and in the age of social media, the slightest slip-up will be
magnified and will be cycled through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and what-not.
And they will be compiled into a montage for ads as the election cycle
proceeds.
It is akin to attending the Indy 500
looking for a crash as opposed to the caring who the ultimate winner is after
dozens of laps. People will be
scrutinizing Biden’s style and fluidity of thought more than his actual policy
positions. Bernie’s style is already
baked in so he won’t be under that sort of microscope. And he is no longer the
frontrunner.
There is considerable irony that Trump
supporters are pushing the dementia button on Biden. This is especially so
following Trump’s pathetic dumpster fire of a nationally televised speech from the Oval Office this past Wednesday in a
Hail Mary attempt to quell the nervous financial markets.
Slurring many of his words, seemingly out of it, speaking like it was a hostage video, Trump piled up lie after lie, mistake after mistake while not seriously addressing the public health measures that the coronavirus requires.
Slurring many of his words, seemingly out of it, speaking like it was a hostage video, Trump piled up lie after lie, mistake after mistake while not seriously addressing the public health measures that the coronavirus requires.
The markets responded with the futures
dropping during each utterance like leaves falling from trees in November. And
on Thursday, the markets rewarded Trump, who sees the coronavirus and its
ensuing economic impact as a significant threat to his re-election chances,
with the worst day on Wall Street since the huge crash of October 1987.
Joe Biden receiving the critical endorsement from Rep. Clyburn |
By stark contrast Joe Biden, as did
Bernie Sanders, showed what presidential leadership is all about. Both
described the situation in calm, measured tones while articulating the correct
course of action to be taken. For Biden, this was a huge moment and he
delivered.
Facing this debate where Biden is only
one of the two last standing is, in itself, a miracle of sorts. Left for dead along
with other Democratic hopefuls after the first three contests, Biden received
arguably the most consequential endorsement in modern election cycles.
Normally, endorsements have minimal
effect; not this one. James Clyburn, the highly respected Congressman from
South Carolina and Democratic Majority Whip gave an emotional endorsement of Biden that propelled the 77 year-old candidate to a crushing
win in South Carolina. That victory, powered by African-American voters,
launched this comeback, also powered by that demographic, to major victories on
Super Tuesday and the primaries the following week. Other Dem hopefuls joined
the post-South Carolina parade by endorsing Biden and seeing him as the best
chance to defeat Trump.
#hocopolitics
For Joe Biden, who ran unsuccessfully
twice before and didn’t win his first primary ever until the South Carolina
game-changer, is at the precipice of finally reaching that goal. Clearly, Trump
doesn’t want to face him in the general election as he was impeached for his
efforts to sully Biden’s reputation.
Joe Biden needs to seal the deal this
Sunday. He doesn’t have to “win” the debate as that assessment will come from
the electorate who will view the debate through the lens of their candidate. But
he must be able to hold his own. If he does, the finish line will be near as
upcoming primaries loom favorable to Biden.
This is indeed a big f*****g deal.
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