Molly Magarik told me Beau Biden would not be available to further discuss his political intentions as long as he remains Attorney General (No surprise!). But we have a circular loop, because – as noted earlier on this blog – the Attorney General has been noticeably unavailable for media interviews ever since his hospitalization in Texas.
Loudell also wonders if Biden can simply not campaign and not make any appearances and just rely on the Biden name to get elected. The answer to that is a resounding no. And Biden and his people need to understand that. Because I am sure it has crossed some mind somewhere in the Biden camp. I will vote Republican if that is his plan, and I will work tirelessly for that Republican, and encourage everyone I know to vote Republican. Even if that Republican is Christine O’Donnell. Even if Sarah Palin herself moves to Delaware to hunt foxes and decides “you betcha this state is small enough for me to be Governor in.” I would place “Evil (R) for Governor” bumper-stickers all over my car. And the reason is that if Biden follows the Loudell hypothetical, it will be a sign of such disrespect for all Delawareans that the shower of that disrespect will need to be destroyed, in the figurative sense of course.
And there are other reasons too why the Loudell hypothetical is a non starter. It will send the message that Biden is not healthy enough to campaign. And if he is not healthy enough to campaign in the vast expanse that is Delaware, then he is not healthy enough to be Governor. It’s a stressful job. You have long days. Sleepless nights.
And I going to stop here for a moment and address what I now call the “Don’t-Mention-His-Health-We-Don’t-Need-to-know” scolds out there. Some of you think Biden is perfectly within his rights to not disclose any detail whatsoever about his health. If Mr. Biden were a private citizen not in a position of executive office, and not seeking another executive office, I would absolutely agree with you. Hell, if Mr. Biden had decided to not run for reelection and to retire from public office, I would let the issue drop. But he has announced that he is running for Governor. Our state’s Chief Executive. And he has a history of strokes. And then he disappeared to Houston for weeks to undergo an unexplained yet serious procedure on his brain, a procedure so serious and dire it required the Vice President of the United States to cancel his schedule and fly immediately to Houston to be at his son’s bedside. And then he disappears for months from public view, and the next time he is seen, his appearance is pale, gaunt, and his head is shaved.
And now he decides to skip a campaign in 2014. El Somnambulo is right. He is not skipping the 2014 campaign because he feels it would be dishonorable to think about running for one office in two years while campaigning for another four year term now that you know you may not complete. He would do that in a heart beat if he was able to. It was the plan as of last year. He is skipping the campaign because he is not healthy enough to do it.
And the very same scolds who say we are not entitled to know about Beau Biden’s health because it violates his and his family’s privacy will now scold me for engaging in what they call unfounded speculation over why Beau Biden made the announcement he did yesterday.
Well, if you don’t want me to engage in speculation then disclose. You can’t have it both ways.
And neither can Beau.
He cannot run for public executive office and keep his medical condition a secret, all the while using that medical condition as a reason to not make public appearances.
Running for public office involves sacrifice. Sacrifice of time away from your family. Sacrifice of long hours you rather spend watching baseball instead of another rubber chicken dinner at another RD fundraiser. And you sacrifice some of your privacy.
And I am not even talking about full disclosure. I don’t need every medical record, every prescription, every boo boo Biden has ever had.
No, we are entitled to know what procedure Biden underwent. What the diagnosis was. What the prognosis is.
All Biden would have to do to satisfy me is to come out and say, “Look, I have a condition called Arteriovenous malformation (Brain AVM). It can be life threatening. I could just drop dead with no warning like Nate Fisher on “Six Feet Under.” More than 50 percent of patients with an AVM have an intracranial hemorrhages. 20 percent to 25 percent have focal or generalized seizures. I could have an AVM in my brain right now, and not know it. And tomorrow, I could have a stroke. Sometimes, surgeries on the brain can correct some malformations, depending on where they are. Sometimes there is no surgical option. So that is what I have. But I still want to serve as your Governor, because I feel I have something to offer. And so I will be joining this campaign in earnest, and I look forward to meeting as many Delawareans as I can. And it will be up to them whether they want me to serve as their Governor.”
And then he can refuse to talk further about it, because we all will know the score. See how fucking easy that was.
People will respect him. People will admire the bravery and courage. People will have sympathy for him.
But when you think that the people are not entitled to know. When you treat the voters as children who cannot ever know the truth, then there is no trust. No trust, no sympathy, no respect.