The sudden rise of Joe Biden to the top of the former heap of Democratic presidential candidates coincides with a retooled approach to his campaign. Appearing at campaign rallies before friendly crowds in St. Louis and Kansas City over the weekend — see “Biden on the trail” for links to the videos — Biden’s handlers limited his exposure to speaking for a few minutes at each event.
Even so, Biden struggled in the style to which we have become accustomed. The style to which we have become accustomed reveals his obvious mental decline. We can see the decline in real time — even when the guy is reading from teleprompters, as he was at these campaign events. Has any presidential candidate ever adopted this approach to campaigning in the modern era? If so, it wouldn’t have been because he couldn’t hold it together speaking for 30 minutes from a prepared text in public.
Byron York boldly identifies three reasons why Biden will never be president. Byron draws on historical precedent to argue his case. Each precedent works until it doesn’t (as in the case of Richard Nixon, which Byron discusses). Perhaps cumulatively they hold a power that emboldens Byron.
The thinking behind Biden’s current campaign strategery deserves to be weighed in the balance as well. It should be more powerful than any historical precedent. Can the Democrats’ mainstream media adjunct prevent observation of what becomes more obvious every day?
ALSO WORTHY OF NOTE: Ben Schreckinger’s Politico article “James Biden’s health care ventures face a growing legal morass.”
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