I have mixed feelings about where we go in the Democratic party. I think I’ll be relieved if Biden steps aside because it resets everything about this campaign. The people voted for Kamala Harris too and she will be able to articulate the message against Trump more clearly.
On the other hand, Biden has been a very effective president. He never gets the credit he deserves, and this post-debate rollercoaster is no exception.
I was thinking about one line from his interview last Friday. Asked about Mark Warner assembling senators to convince Biden to drop out:
Mark is a good man. […] He also tried to get the nomination too. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.
Now imagine Trump being asked that question. Trump only cares about himself so he’ll quickly attack any perceived disloyalty. Maybe that difference in respect is partly why Biden has been so effective with bipartisan legislation. He’s been around a while. He’s pragmatic.
After the interview, I watched John Fetterman answer questions about his support for Biden. When Fetterman makes up his mind about something, he sticks with it. He couldn’t care less what you think and I sort of love that about him:
Donald Trump is back, and what do Democrats do? We panic and piss our pants. After a bad debate and after 34 convictions — felonies — the Republicans show up and they dress like him and go all-in on Trump.
Maybe we could learn something here and just say, “Stand by our president through this.” After 50 years, and after almost four years as a great president, I think he’s entitled to make his case after a debate that we can all agree was rough. But I know what that’s like. I am not the sum total of a bad debate, and certainly the President isn’t either.
Last week I grew increasingly frustrated with the opinions section of The New York Times. It felt like half their home page was opinion, overshadowing the actual reporting. I cancelled my subscription. There are many places on the web to read opinions. More than ever, we need major news outlets to focus on reporting, not influencing. (I’m going with The Washington Post for a little while. Let’s see how they do.)
People are worried that Biden might lose. Good, be worried. If more people were worried in 2016, Hillary would be wrapping up her 2nd term right now.
