An Age Old Question
Joe Biden has been a very good president. But things are looking really bad. You can blame the media for overemphasizing his age-related deficiencies. You can blame the Trump campaign for its constant attacks on a man who is clearly 100x more mentally fit than the addled criminal they support. You can blame leading Democrats for so publicly attacking Biden before they were sure about his willingness to step aside. You can blame the two weeks of media/donor/insider age-fixation that have probably done more damage than the debate itself. You can blame Freud who explained what’s going on in the Democratic party a century before it happened: “In psychoanalysis, the narcissism of small differences is the idea that the more a relationship or community shares commonalities, the more likely the people in it are to engage in interpersonal feuds and mutual ridicule because of hypersensitivity to minor differences perceived in each other.” No matter who’s to blame, the numbers aren’t good. Polls are notoriously bad. But they’re powerful when they confirm a gut feeling people have. And right now, a presidential race that should be all about the crimes and craziness of the most dangerous man to ever sit in the Oval Office is all about Biden’s age. WaPo (Gift Article): Most Democrats want Biden to drop out, but overall race is static, poll finds. “Overall, 2 in 3 adults say the president should step aside, including more than 7 in 10 independents.” Meanwhile, The Embattled Biden Campaign Tests Kamala Harris’ Strength vs. Trump.
+ In The Atlantic, Tim Alberta explains why Trump’s campaign is all but praying Joe Biden doesn’t drop out. “Biden quitting the race would necessitate a dramatic reset—not just for the Democratic Party, but for Trump’s campaign. Wiles and LaCivita told me that any Democratic replacement would inherit the president’s deficiencies; that whether it’s Vice President Kamala Harris or California Governor Gavin Newsom or anyone else, Trump’s blueprint for victory would remain essentially unchanged. But they know that’s not true. They know their campaign has been engineered in every way—from the voters they target to the viral memes they create—to defeat Biden. And privately, they are all but praying that he remains their opponent.”
+ NYT Editorial Board (Gift Article): Donald Trump Is Unfit to Lead. “Election Day is less than four months away. The case against Mr. Trump is extensive, and this board urges Americans to perform a simple act of civic duty in an election year: Listen to what Mr. Trump is saying, pay attention to what he did as president and allow yourself to truly inhabit what he has promised to do if returned to office.” (It’s good advice. But while they tell you to listen what Trump is saying, they’re spending a hell of a lot more coverage telling you to focus on Biden’s age.)
