I kinda wanted Biden as the nominee again, but I realize that was out of discomfort around the idea of replacing him as the nominee. Now I’m not sure we have a choice. Erik Loomis at LGM gets to the heart of it:
Biden is so massively out of touch with the nation. (See Biden Throws a picnic – NYT)Now, I do understand that this precise kind of posturing is why a certain sector of voters wanted him. But it doesn’t work, it won’t work, and at this point, it can’t work. That Biden thinks it can once again demonstrates him as a throwback to another era. He is just way past his prime.
(snip)
On the debate about whether to replace him as the Democratic nomination, I tend to agree we should replace him. I was actually pretty impressed by his first year. But two things have happened that have totally undermined him. One of them is not really his fault. He did the right thing by ending the war in Afghanistan and then was pilloried in the media for it. Well, sometimes that is going to happen when you do the right thing. What concerns me about this on his end is that he seemed genuinely surprised by this and hasn’t had a strong media strategy since.
More concerning to me is that one he realized that in fact he couldn’t get ol’Mitch on the phone and work out a deal and that Joe Manchin was going to veto anything he didn’t like as our personal lord and savior, he just had nothing. The energy disappeared. The agenda disappeared. And while I am by no means dismissing the challenges McConnell and Manchin provide, the fact that the administration was somehow caught so unbelievably flatflooted over the overturning of Roe is just a sign that this is a pretty lost bunch of people. This is always a problem when you actually believe your own rhetoric and Biden legit believes his. I have trouble seeing him getting his mojo back, especially when he thinks inviting Republicans over for a picnic is central to his strategy.
Lack of guile and fight in a time that calls for guile and fight.
Here’s an ho-hum, just another day at the office, barely commented upon artifact of the GOP’s level of guile and fight via Justin Baragona’s twitter:
@justinbaragona
Jake Tapper: “One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup.” John Bolton: “I disagree with that. As somebody who has helped plan coup d’etat, not here, but other places, it takes a lot of work.”