Joe Biden, Hot Mess
The first step is admitting you have a problem: Viewed as one big, televised retirement party for a sharply declining President Joe Biden, last night’s debate was a success. Viewed as a showdown between two contenders jockeying for nuclear codes, last night’s debate was a shitshow.
Even Democrats who had up until this point been propping up Biden are finally admitting that they have a massive problem. At first, they went with “he has a cold” as the excuse for a stunningly poor performance. (Also: “He overprepared!”) Then, as the night wore on, they began to concede deeper problems.
“Right now, there is a deep, a wide, and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic Party,” said CNN’s John King immediately after the debate wrapped.
“It started minutes into the debate, and it continues right now,” added King. “It involves party strategists and involves elected officials. It involves fundraisers, and they’re having conversations about the president’s performance….Some of those conversations include: Should we go to the White House and ask the president to step aside? Should prominent Democrats go public with that call?”
King’s assessment is not unique. It was shared by strategists and normal people alike, all of whom seemingly want Democrats to win but increasingly doubt Biden’s efficacy.
Beltway panic: “It was a slow start, that’s obvious to everyone,” Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, admitted in a televised postgame. The New York Times described it as “a fumbling performance, and a panicking party.” The Washington Post practically stole that same headline. The Atlantic‘s riff was a little more novel: “Dropping out is Biden’s most patriotic option.”
It felt like the omertà  was finally broken. Back in March, talking heads would claim that Biden is the sharpest he’s ever been, and that his mental acuity is a selling point; after last night’s performance, nobody can delude themselves (or their viewers) anymore. But if democracy is on the ballot—the frequent refrain of much of the establishment media, particularly from CNN and MSNBC—why not be more choosy with your candidates?
Though members of the media, glancing at the headlines offered by other publications, may finally be free to admit what a problem Biden is, Democrats within the party have backed themselves into a corner. They have not fielded another clear alternative to Biden, and as the incumbent who would be unable to save face if he stepped aside, there’s really no hope of letting the president down easy and replacing him with someone who has better odds of beating Donald Trump.
On the issues, neither candidate revealed anything new or proposed any policies that would be welcomed by libertarians. Biden’s incoherence on entitlements, debt, and deficits should leave us all worried. It felt like a showdown between two immigration hawks, neither of whom articulated a clear solution for immigration reform or demonstrated any depth on the issue, being wholly derailed
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